Bronze sat numbly on the rammed mound of dirt on Lindo Road, his back resting on the right rear wheel of an ambulance, his mouth on an oxygen mask. He felt that the gas he inhaled was dry and bitter, and perhaps the bitter taste was caused by the smoke he inhaled in his lungs, but he couldn't tell anyway. He heard the sizzling sound of the oxygen tank next to him, and an ambulance crew was checking the pressure scale on the tank. He heard the rumble of an ambulance vehicle. He heard the firefighters shouting to each other, and a multitude of faucets sprayed together towards the smoking ruins of Gong Yu's residence.

Bronze thought, it's my fault, it's my fault. Why? Why is this happening.

He must have said it aloud, because the ambulance worker frowned and asked with concern, "What?" "Take the oxygen mask off his face." How do you feel? Want to throw up? ”

Bronze shook his head. With this shake, his head hurt even more, and his body shrank into a ball.

"What do you want to say to us?"

"Nothing."

"No," said Officer Lan, who was next to him, "you say, 'It's my fault, it's my fault.'" The officer also removed the oxygen mask from his nose and mouth, which left an oval mark on his soot-covered face. Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault, and you can't anticipate it. ”

"Nonsense, I'm afraid she's in danger because she's with me." Bronze argued. The slime in his mouth was mixed with soot. "I really shouldn't have let her go home, damn it, I shouldn't-"

"Don't move." The ambulance worker said. He pulled up his bronze trousers and was examining the skin of his calves. "You're in luck. The flames scorched your pants, but they didn't burn. The hairs on your legs, on your arms, and your hair are burned. If you stay in there for a few more seconds, ...... I don't know if I'd ever be that brave myself. ”

The bronze tone is full of self-deprecation. "How brave is it, what about desperateness, I still can't save her."

"But you almost tasted death, and you've done your best." Officer Blue emphasized.

"Force?" Bronze coughed hard in pain. "If I had thought it through, I would have kept her protected in the hospital."

"Come, drink this." The ambulance worker said.

Bronze drank from the bottle, droplets running down his chin, leaving black and white marks on his soot-covered face. "I should have anticipated how easy it would be for them to enter her residence when everyone was watching my house. If I go into the house with her when I send her home, we'll both be in for the explosion at the same time. ”

Bronze's words made Officer Lan feel uneasy, and his eyes looked very melancholy. He was just about to say something when another police car, as well as a fire truck, came to the scene with a siren and distracted him.

Bronze drank some more water, then watched as the firefighters scrambled to spray the ruins with faucets. "Oh my God." He threw away the water bottle, covered his face with his hands, his shoulders heaved, and tears of grief welled up in his eyes. He felt breathless, and his heart was like a knife. "Alas, my God, Gong Yu, what can I do without you?"

He felt Officer Blue put his arm around him.

"It's my fault to blame me. Bronze said with tears streaming down his face.

That's when he heard an ambulance worker whisper, "We'd better get him to the hospital." ”

"No!" Bronze said firmly, "I'm going to stay here and help find those bad dog mongrels!" ”

"How do you see the bomb explodes?" Officer Blue asked.

"What?" Bronze is a little delirious. He tried to focus his attention on Officer Blue's problem. He warned himself that he must concentrate and control himself, and that it is impossible to find the murderer by hysterical episodes. "Maybe it's a remote control device."

"An initiator activated by a radio signal."

"That's right." Bronzer wiped away tears from red and swollen eyes. He remembered Gong Yu. Alas, my God, what would I do without you? It was my fault. "It can't be a timer, because they don't know what time or when someone is going to be in the house."

Officer Blue looked even more uneasy.

"Someone must have been standing outside the house with a detonator and pressing the button at the right time." "Maybe someone was hiding on the Cumbre del Sol with a telescope, maybe one of them was walking around the road pretending to be interested in last night's explosion." ”

"I've asked the police to talk to everyone in the area." Officer Blue said.

"It's too late, the person who pressed the button is long gone."

"Maybe there's an electronic signal in this area that happens to be at the same frequency as the detonator and happens to detonate the bomb." Officer Blue said.

"No, it won't. The detonator must have a sequence of two different frequencies for the bomb to explode. The frequencies they set are never going to be commonly used locally. ”

"You seem to be researching this." Officer Blue said.

"I've read about this, but it's all general common sense."

"Really?"

At this time, someone walked towards them, and the footsteps were heavy. Bronze looked up and found Officer Sang parked in front of them.

"The fire chief said that the temperature of the wreckage of the house had cooled down and it was already accessible." Officer Sang told his captain, "He thinks it is impossible to start such a fire unless it is an incendiary bomb." ”

"I've guessed that." Officer Blue struggled to his feet. His long hair was scorched, his shirt was covered in dirt, and he had been burned with small holes from sparks. "Can the fire chief tell us something we don't know yet?"

"He and his team have already started searching for the body. He said that because the walls are adobe bricks and the floor is red brick and tile, it is not as hot as a wooden house, so it is easier to find. So far, they have not found any trace of her. ”

"Anything else?" Officer Blue sounded frustrated.

"Yes, but—" Officer Sang glanced at Bronze, apparently finding it inconvenient to say it in front of him.

"How?" The bronze suddenly stood up, and the adrenaline in his body suddenly increased a lot. "What do you have to say?"

Officer Sang turned to Captain Blue. "Maybe we should go to the patrol car, I have something to talk to you."

"No," said Bronze, "you can't hide anything from me. Whatever you have to say, say it right here. ”

Officer Sang couldn't make up his mind for a moment and looked at his superiors. "Do you think it's okay?"

Officer Blue shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe if we don't carry him for something, he will also have something for not carrying us. What do you know? ”

"An incredible thing. You asked me to arrange for the police to question people in the area—maybe there were neighbors standing outside, maybe someone happened to be passing by, maybe there was a nosy person who was curious about what happened last night and happened to be wandering around, maybe someone witnessed the explosion. ”

Officer Blue asked hopefully, "Have we found someone who can help?" ”

"Oh, I think it's more complicated than helping." Officer Sang said.

"Don't be verbose, what the hell do you know?" Bronze took a few steps closer to him. "What do you want to hide from me?"

"A woman was looking for her lost dog along the trail, a street lower behind these houses. Just before the explosion, she was startled by a man who was hurrying out of the bushes and down the slope. ”

"It's the guy who detonated the bomb." Bronze said, "Did the woman provide the man's appearance?" ”

"Yes, the person she met was also a woman."

Bronze felt as if he had been stabbed.

She was carrying a suitcase. The policeman said.

"What?"

"She was very attractive, about 30 years old, with long hair and a pullover. Her right arm was wrapped in a pullover, as if it had been wounded. ”

Bronze propped up on the ambulance with one hand. The earth seemed to tremble, and he felt dizzy, his legs limp, and he was in a trance. "But that's exactly what you're describing—"

"Ms. Gong, it's her." Officer San said, "The woman who was looking for the dog said that there was a car parked on the trail with a man sitting in it. When he saw the woman coming with a suitcase, he hurriedly got out of the car, put her suitcase in the trunk of the car, and helped her into the car. Just then, the bomb exploded. They got in the car and sped away. ”

"I don't understand," said bronze, "it doesn't make sense, how can it—"

A firefighter approached and removed his wide-brimmed metal helmet, revealing his face covered in soot. He wiped a handful of sweat, reached out to take a bottle of water handed over by the ambulance staff, and said to Officer Lan, "There is still no trace of the victim." ”

Bronze's heart beats faster and she wants to vomit. His mind was in a mess. "But why is it ...... Is Gong Yu still alive? What is she doing on the slopes? Who was the man in the car? ”

It seems impossible, Gong Yu was not killed! He felt relief and hope in his heart, but also upset and frustrated by her mysterious actions.

"How did you meet Ms. Gong?" Officer Blue asked. They sat facing each other in the bronze living room.

"She came to my office and wanted to buy a house." Bronze collapsed on the couch and thought to himself, this is impossible.

"When did this happen?"

"Two months ago, it was July." Bronze thought, I'm going crazy.

"Is she a local?"

"It's not"

"Where did she come from?"

"The South of the Interior." Bronze has a terrible headache.

"Which city?"

"Somewhere around Hangzhou."

"Why did she move to Santa Fe?"

"Her husband died of cancer in January, and she wanted to forget the painful memories of the past and start a new life." Bronze thinks about it just like I want to start a new life.

"It's not a cheap area," Officer Blue said, "how can she afford that house?" ”

"Her husband left a huge inheritance."

"It must be a lot of money. What is his profession? ”

"I don't know."

Officer Blue was confused. "I thought you were very close."

"Yes."

"But you don't even know anything about the basics of her past."

"I don't want to ask too many questions." "It's been less than a year since her husband died, and I don't want to bring back memories that bother her. ”

"Like, where did she live in the past? How could it be upsetting to tell you such a thing? ”

"I just don't want to ask." Bronze lied again. He knew exactly why he hadn't inquired about it. In his former life, he had always ascertained in as much detail as possible the private circumstances of everyone with whom he had dealings, and he regarded it as his own business, though he never knew when those circumstances would come in handy. But from the moment he came to Santa Fe, he started a new life. He wanted to reinvent himself, and he was determined to change the way he had planned to live.

"After she buys the house next to you, will her husband's insurance money still be enough to support her?"

"She paints for a living." Bronze said.

"Oh? Which gallery? ”

"Maybe in Beiping."

"What's the name?"

"I don't know." Bronze repeated.

"Think about it."

"I've met the guy who opened the gallery. He came to visit, and his name was Dai Hongxing......"

"When did this happen?"

"Thursday, Sept. 1."

"How do you remember to be so specific?"

"That was just nine days ago. I remember this day because it was on this day that Gong Yu signed the purchase contract. But there was another reason why Gu Bronze remembered this day so quickly - it was that night that he and Gong Yu ...... for the first time. Gong Yu! He called out to her in his heart. What's going on here? Why did you run off the slope behind your house? Who is the person waiting for you in the car?

"Mr. Gu."

"I'm sorry, I-" Bronze blinked, realizing that he was distracted and didn't hear Officer Blue's next question to him.

"You said that the guy with the remote detonator must have been keeping an eye on that house."

"That's right."

"Why didn't that person detonate the bomb while you and Ms. Gong walked to the front of the room together?"

"Unless I get inside, they don't know 100 percent sure if the bomb will serve its intended purpose."

"So the guy on surveillance decided to wait until you left before detonating it, right?" Officer Blue asked, "Does this tactic make sense?" ”

Bronze shuddered.

"That means if you're the target." Officer Blue added.

"Gong Yu is the target of the attack?" Bronze felt colder and colder, and couldn't help but shiver. "You mean to say that the events of this afternoon and last night weren't directed at me?"

"Obviously, she was afraid of something, otherwise she wouldn't have run off the slope behind the house."

Bronzer felt the heat rush to his upper cheeks. "Oh my God, they're here for Gong Yu." In his life – whether in the special forces, or in the intelligence services – there was no experience comparable to what he was going through now. He had never been emotionally hit so strongly. And, before he came to Santa Fe, he had never given up on self-protection and made himself emotionally vulnerable, as he did now.

"You just talked about detonating bombs remotely at radio frequencies," Officer Blue said, "where did you learn so much about detonating buildings?" ”

Bronze didn't care, he was busy analyzing the intricacies of the situation. For more than a year, he has been adopting an attitude of self-restraint. He firmly believes that as long as he is honest with real life and completely abandons the prudent and shrewd habits of his previous life, he can get the greatest satisfaction. But now that he had not hesitated to return to those habits, he was amazed. He picked up the phone book, found the column he was looking for, and pressed the number eagerly.

"Mr. Gu, what are you doing?"

"Call the hospital."

Officer Blue looked confused.

After one of the operators answered the phone, Bronze said, "Please transfer to the nursing station in charge of room 3116." ”

After another person answered the phone, Bronze said, "You have received a wounded person who was shot, named Gong Yu, and she has just been discharged from the hospital. I'd like to talk to any nurse who has ever cared for her. ”

"Please wait."

The other person picked up the phone. "Yes, I helped take care of Ms. Gong." A pleasant female voice said, "Of course, I took over at 7 o'clock, and before that, she was cared for by other nurses. ”

"I was one of the officers in charge of investigating the incident about her shooting."

"Hey," Officer Blue asked, "what do you think you're doing?" ”

Bronze held up a hand, motioning for him a chance. "Has anyone visited her?"

"It's just one of her boyfriends."

Bronze thought, maybe it's me. But he didn't stop there. "What does that guy look like?"

"Tall, sturdy, about 40 years old."

"Short hair?"

"I think so. He was stout and handsome. No one had come but him. ”

"What about the phone?"

"Oh, she's called so many times."

"What?"

She also received a couple of phone calls. Sometimes the phone rings incessantly. If I were in her room, she wouldn't talk to anyone who called, and she would wait until I left. ”

Bronze felt his chest suffocate. "Thank you," he said to the nurse with a strong spirit, "you have helped a lot." He put down the phone and fell into deep thought.

"Why are you calling like that?" Officer Blue asked, "Do you know what kind of punishment you get for impersonating a police officer?" ”

"Gong Yu has made a lot of phone calls and received a lot of phone calls. But as far as I know, I was her only close friend in this place. So, who is she calling? And who was calling her? ”

"If she's making a long-distance call, and it's not a pay call, then the phone number she calls will be recorded." Officer Blue said.

"I could have looked it up, but I suspect it's a local phone number — she's talking to the man waiting on the trail. When I brought her a few clothes to change into and be discharged from the hospital, she told me that she felt dirty and embarrassed to change in front of me. She asked me to wait for her in the hallway outside. At the time, I thought that she was injured and should need help, and this was not the time to be shy, but I gave in. Now that she thinks about it, she used the opportunity to make one last call to the man, telling him that she was going to be discharged from the hospital, and making an appointment on what time he would wait for her. But who is that man? ”

Bronze was both relieved that Gong Yu was still alive, but also puzzled by what she had done. In addition to other disturbing emotions, he suddenly sprouted a new kind of annoyance and jealousy. He thought, oh my God, how is this possible? Gong Yu actually has a secret lover? During the time she was in contact with me, did she keep dating another person? Doubts churned in his chest. How did she meet that person? Did the man follow her from the south? Was it someone she knew in the past?

"The guy waiting in the car—did the woman who had seen him see what he looked like?" Bronze asked.

"Officer San will know."

Bronze hurried towards the front door, where Officer Sang was guarding the house. At this moment, the front door suddenly opened.

Officer San appeared at the door, startling Decker. "There are two people who claim to be your friends and they want to see you."

"Maybe it's a neighbor, maybe it's a colleague of mine, tell them I'll see them later. Listen, I have something to ask you. ”

"These two men insisted on seeing you," Officer Sang said, "and they insisted that they were your old friends, friends from a long time ago." They said their names were Lao Yang and Xiao Li. ”

"Old Yang He—" Bronze tried his best to hide his surprised look. "Yes." He tensed his reactive nerves. "I know them. Let them in. ”

More than a year ago, when Bronze resigned in anger, two agents, Lao Yang and Xiao Li, had been watching him in the foyer of the hotel. After repeated questioning of his motives, they determined that he did not pose a threat to the security of the country and allowed him to go to the Santa Fe sanctuary. However, they implicitly warned him that although the Shanghai incident had made him angry, he had better not be carried away by the anger and talk nonsense about it to outsiders.

Now Bronze had to assume that they were investigators sent by his former boss, presumably in response to the emergency call he made after the attack on his home. The two of them appeared at the door, and Bronze noticed that they were not much different from the last time he saw them - thin and tall, about 170 pounds, 1.8 meters tall, about his own age, 41 years old, with a resolute appearance and an alert gaze. The only difference between the two of them is that Lao Yang's hair is long and combed straight back, while Xiao Li's hair is cut very short. They wore sturdy loafers and sturdy loafers. They took a cursory scan of the living room, estimated Officer Blue's identity, and set their eyes on the bronze.

"What's going on?" Lao Yang asked, "Why are there police outside?" What's going on over the road? ”

"It's a long story. This is Officer Blue. Officer, let's get to know Lao Yang and Xiao Li. "Their surnames are all fake, but Bronze knows that this is consistent with the fake documents they usually carry with them." When I was working in Nanjing, we often got together. They told me they were coming here for a recent holiday, but I think I forgot that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. ”

His statement is known to everyone to be very false. But in a hurry, this is the most reasonable nonsense he can make up. Otherwise, what else can be done? I can't explain it.

。