Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Jian Yao is scared.  She pauses for a moment:  “I’ll call a taxi.’  She turns, estimates which direction the front door is and starts to walk slowly. 

    "Wait Jian Yao , I have something to say to you." Pei Ze’s voice is coming closer towards her.  

    Jian Yao:  “What is it that you want to tell me?”  

    Pei Ze suddenly laughs: “You are a brave girl. Wang Wan Wei, you know, your predecessor. The two of you look alike, but your personality is so different.”

    Jian Yao’s  heart starts to thump.

    “Why are you suddenly mentioning her?" Jian Yao asks with a calm voice, "She used to be your girlfriend?"

    Pei Ze replies: “Nah.  You remind me of her.  That’s all. Wait there, I’ll be out soon.”

    She can hear the sound of something being wheeled out. 

    “The Pei Ze you usually see, that’s not the real me ......" He says.

    Jian Yao’s getting more and more nervous: ”Then what is the real you like?"

    “You’ll find out.  But now, lets the show begin.” He smiles.  “Can you not tell, it’s my plan all along, that I would have some private time with you tonight?”

    “Do you have a torch or some candles at home?" Jian Yao tries to sound calm.

    "No, it’s more fun this way.” Pei Ze is getting closer and closer.

    Jian Yao starts to run towards the door: "! Do come near me...... ah"

    Suddenly, she trips over something.  Jian Yao loses her balance and her body falls forward to the ground.  In the chaos, the listening device has dropped out.  It only picks up sound within a small range.  Bo Jinyan might not be able to hear her anymore.  And with no lights, he can’t see what’s going on. She is completely on her own now!  

     She hears Pei Ze footsteps coming towards her: ".. I told you to wait for me.  Come, I’ll pull you up.  Suddenly, she feels something falling on top of her. It’s Pei Ze.  They both cry out of pain. 

    Jian Yao’s  whole body tense up and shouts: "Get off me!"

    Pei Ze is not moving: “Hey, you tripped me with your foot.  Come on, give me a kiss first.”

    Jian Yao can’t bear it anymore.  She kicks him in the chest.  

- Ouch! He quickly grabs her foot to stop her from kicking him again.  Jian Yao tries to break free from him, but he is stronger than her. 

    -

 After he has lost contact with Jian Yao, Bo Jinyan quickly gets out of the car and rush to the apartment.  

“What’s the situation like up there?”  He asks through the walkie talkie.  

“No. 1. 3, 4 and 5 has limited vision where they are positioned.  No.2 can see what’s going on in the lounge with his infra red night vision googles and through the telescope on his sniper gun.Suspect  A is lying on top of Bird.  Do you want him to shoot?”  

    "Suspect A" is Pei Ze code, "Bird" is the code name for Jian Yao.

    Bo Jinyan is walking into the elevator.  He ponders: “Be ready, but don’t shoot yet.  Continue to observe.” 

    The elevator has gone up two floors, sniper speaks again: "Report: bird struggled, the suspect has grabbed Bird’s right leg.  Should we…” 

    Bo Jinyan stops him in mid sentence: "What are you waiting for? Shoot!"

    -

    Pei Ze’s Penhouse Suite.

     Pei Ze is still not letting go of her.  But suddenly he laughs: “Don’t be so tense.  I just want to give you a surprise."

    He lets go of her leg :”Your skin is so smooth ...... Get up!  I ‘ll give you a hand.  Ok Ok, I will turn the lights back on.  Happy?"

    Jian Yao is not sure what he is up to.  She just wants to get out of there as soon as possible. 

    Just as she tries to sit up, she hears a small piercing sound.   "What ……? " He whispers something in his mouth.  Suddenly, Pei Ze’s body falls on her again.

He lies motionless.  Still as a corpse.  

Jian Yao quickly pushes him away.  She staggers to get up against the wall.  

    ...... What’s happened to Pei Ze?  As she wonders, the phone rings.  She reaches for her pocket.  It’s Bo Jinyan.  

    She quickly reports to him: “Bo Jinyan, Pei Ze is unconscious.  I am not sure what happened… ”

    "Open the door." Bo Jinyan interrupts her, "I am standing outside."

    -

    "You arranged a sniper?" Jian Yao looks at Bo Jinyan.  She is surprised.  Although it’s in order to protect her.  But it seems like his actions are a bit over the top.

    He turns the power switch back on.  He walks over to where the listening device is and picks it up.  

    Bo Jinyan leaps over Pei Ze’s unconscious body: “It’s just anaesthetic.  He will wake up in an hour’s time.”

    Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan walks into the next room, where there is a trolley on wheels.  There’s a white cloth covering the top.  This is what Pei Ze was trying to push out just now. 

    Bo Jinyan uncovers the trolley.

    A Cake.

    It is actually a fruit mousse cake with the words Happy Birthday on it.   There are candles on the cake, covered by a plastic lid.  Next to the cake is a plastic knife and a couple of paper plates. 

    Bo Jinyan turns to look at her: “It’s your birthday today?"

    Jian Yao is a little surprised to see the cake.  She nods.  It is her birthday, based on the Western calendar.  She usually celebrates her birthday according to the lunar calendar, as that’s the tradition of her hometown.  .

    She looks at Pei Ze, who is ‘lying dead’ on the ground.  He did all that, just to surprise her with a birthday cake? 

    Now in retrospect, those words seems to make sense: Tonight program, everything is planned, wanted to surprise you ......

   

    As if he could read minds, Bo Jinyan says coldly: “How can you be sure he didn’t have other motives?”

    Jian Yao remembers some of the other comments he made… Nice skin… kiss me… 

    “What should we do now?" She asks.  When Pei Ze wakes up, he will be suspicious.  Their identities will berevealed!

   Bo Jinyan walks up to her: “Give me your taser.

Jian Yao hands it over to him.  

   Bo Jinyan knees down next to Pei Ze.  He pressed the taser onto his back.  Even though Pei Ze has lost consciousness, his body moved a little when the electric charges went through his flesh.

Bo Jinyan throws the taser back to her: “Solved.  Just tell him it was you.” 

    Jian Yao : "...... alright."

   Bo Jinyan suddenly reaches down and pull out a few hairs from Pei’s Ze’s head.

 Jian Yao:    "What are you doing?"

    “DNA testings." Bo Jinyan replies.   “To compare with some DNA results from the soil samples we collected from the resort."

  Jian Yao:  "……Oh."

    -

    Bo Jinyan takes a quick look around his apartment, then retreats back to the car.

  When Pei Ze finally wakes up, it’s past 9:00pm. 

    Pei Ze rubs his head and back, looks up at Jian Yao:” What did you do to me?” 

  

    Jian Yao looks at him: “ Sorry, I carry a taser for self defence.  Now that you are ok, I’d better go.” 

    Pei Ze stops her: “At least cut the cake before you go, I especially ordered it from the best cake shop in town.  Or else I won’t forgive you.”

    ——

   Pei Ze is not in the best of moods after what happened.  After eating the cake, he drives Jian Yao home. 

    Jian Yao : “Well, thanks for the ride.  See you tomorrow.”

    Suddenly she hears  a "thump" sound, the door is automatically locked. Pei Ze turns to stare at her: “After all that you have put me through, a simple apology is not enough.”

    Jian Yao : “Lunch is on me tomorrow?"

    "I want this." Pei Ze suddenly leans over toward her and pulls out a few strains of her hair. 

Jian Yao:   “…..??” 

    Ze Pei smiles: “I think the most beautiful part of a woman’s body is her hair. This is mine to keep, as compensation.  And we are going for lunch tomorrow too.” 

    While in the elevator, Jian Yao thinks to herself…. Bo Jinyan took Pei Ze’s hair.  Now Pei Ze takes her hair.  What is this all about?

    -

    Bo Jinyan needs to debrief his special force.  He told Jian Yao he won’t be home for another two hours.  Jian Yao takes a shower and get changed into her pyjamas.   She is exhausted.  

    She plans to wait up for him, but unwittingly falls asleep.

    And she has a dream.  

    In the dream, a man is pressing down her limbs to restrict her movements.  She struggles desperately, but is not able to break away.  The man is laughing. “Hi Jenny.”  He says. 

    Jenny is her English name.

    Jian Yao  wakes up in a cold sweat.  She immediately switches on her bedside lamp.  

  Must be due to  all the tension from today.  

    The doorbell rings. She looks at the clock.  1:00am.

  She opens the door.  Bo Jinyan is standing outside.  

    He glances at her. His eyes are clear and sharp as ever: “Everything is back to normal.  Goodbye.”

    He turns around, ready to go. Jian Yao says to him: "Wait."

    He turns back to look at her.

    Jian Yao steps forward, tiptoes, reaches out and hugs him.

    Her heart is still beating very fast.

   She can feel her hands trembling.  

    He just stands still for her to hug him.

    Jian Yao says softly: “I was really scared today."

    Jian Yao is about to release him, and she feels his arms around her waist.  He takes a small step forward.  Now their bodies are touching.  She can feel the  warmth of his embrace.

    Jian Yao relaxes in his arms. 

    She hears his deep voice: "3 snipers, five special force agents.  It’s enough to destroy a whole triad gang.  What’s there to be afraid of?”

    Jian Yao cannot help laughing.

    Jian Yao lets go of him.  Her face is flushing, but she tries to sound calm: “Good night.” 

    Bo Jinyan smiles: “Goodnight."

    He walks to the elevator.  Just before the lift doors closed, he pressed the ‘open’ button.  He looks out and says to Jian Yao: "Happy birthday.  I hope you will be… smarter… next year.”

    Jian Yao: “What sort of birthday greeting is that?"

    ——-

    Everything was normal the next day.  Jian Yao took Pei Ze out for lunch.  But much to Pei Ze’s disappointment, She also called all the other colleagues to join them. 

    After lunch.  In Director Bo ’s office.  

There are some documents on Bo Jinyan’s desk that Jian Yao has not seen before.  

    Jian Yao immediately asks: “Are the result back yet?"

    “Read it yourself”  Bo Jinyan says with a smile. 

    Jian Yao  picks up the file and reads carefully.

“1. In Zhou Qin’s backyard, they found a pearl earring;

2. Strains of Wang Wan Wei’s hair are found on the cracks of the front steps of Lin Yu Xuan and Shen Dan Wei’s residence. 

    Jian Yao looks at Bo Jinyan : “How are these evidences helpful?  Have you already guessed who is the murderer?”

   Bo Jinyan walks up to her, with a teapot in his hand.  He pours her a cup of tea.   That’s is so out of his character.  He must be really excited. 

    He replies to Jian Yao confidently: "Yes, I’ve figured it out. I need to verify a few things first.  After that, I’ll tell you.”

Jian Yao wants to ask another question.  But he continues :” Tell Yin Ziqi to arrange another meeting for the Customer 3 Division at the resort.  I want them to have the same room arrangement as last time.  And make sure you pick a rainy day.” 

    "What do you want to do?"

   Bo Jinyan looks down at her: “I will do a replay of what happened that night.”