Chapter 16 16

The car drove forward and backward for five miles in the dark, with no moonlight or starlight at all.The clouds were low and thick, but there were only one or two drops of rain now and then, with a full ten-second interval between each drop, or about six drops per minute. When the drops hit the windshield, they spread into a wet pool about the size of a saucer. .Lee brushed off raindrops with his wipers and drove at a steady forty miles an hour along the trail, through grass.The trail turns left and right at random, basically headed south towards the storm.The ground was hard, the jeep wobbled and vibrated, and Fosse struggled to follow, her headlights bobbing side to side and up and down in the rearview mirror.Five miles from the Red House, the rain still hadn't fallen, and brush and cracked limestone were closing in on both sides of the trail.The surface structure under the tires began to change. At the beginning, what they drove was a vast desert plain. It might have been artificially planted grassland a hundred years ago, but now the ground slowly rises and becomes a platform. Under the illumination of the headlights, left and right There are many protruding rocks on both sides, generally oriented to the southeast.Then taller shrubs squeezed in, reducing the width of the road drastically, and soon there were almost only two deep car tracks across the hard ground.With so many overhangs, puddles, and thick thorny undergrowth, they had to follow the track, turn, twist, and feel like they were driving on a river bed.

The trail bumps upwards, levels out, and spreads out like a road on a small limestone mesa.The terrace was like a raised pan about the size of a football field, about a hundred and twenty yards long by eighty yards wide, and roughly oval in shape.There was no vegetation on the platform, so Li Qi made a big circle, turned on the far lights, and checked the surroundings. There was a drop of several feet in the surrounding ground, and the ground was covered with rocks.The stunted bushes huddled together, looking for any gaps where they could root down.Li Qi made a second lap, this time with a larger area, and was very satisfied with the terrain here.The little terrace stood like a bare dinner plate in a dead meadow.Smiling to himself, he calculated the necessary arrangements in his mind, satisfied with the answers he got.

He drove the car to the end of the stone table, where the track disappeared, and Alice parked Foss next to him, and Reacher jumped out and crouched by her window.The night air was still hot and humid, the wind was blowing violently again, and large raindrops were falling slowly and vertically.He felt as if he could walk through the cracks in the rain.Alice flipped the switch and opened the window. how are youhe asked her. So far so good.she says. Turn around and step back to the edge.He said.Block the exit. She moved the car, just like reversing into a garage in the urban area, backed up, and stopped in the middle of the exit of the track, with the rear wheels clinging to the sunken edge, and the front of the car was facing north, the direction they came from.Li Qi drove the jeep next to her and opened the tailgate.

Turn off the ignition, turn off the headlights.he cried.Help me get the rifle out. Alice handed him the Winchesters, one at a time.Li Qi leaned the gun against the side of the rear compartment, took the .22 rifle, and threw it directly into the bushes with all his might.Two boxes of 30︱30 bullets, original factory bullets and Bobby.Guriel's homemade, Li Qi put these next to the gun, then went around to the driver's door, and turned off the engine.The idling sound of the six-cylinder engine stopped, and there was silence all around.Li Qi listened intently, scanning the northern horizon.The trees rustled slightly in the wind, and invisible insects squeaked and made noise.Occasionally one or two drops of rain hit his shoulders, but otherwise there was no movement, and there was absolute darkness and silence around him.

Li Qi went back to the rear door of the car and opened the bullet box, which was full of bullets, with the firing pin at the bottom and the tip at the top.Factory-made shells are new and shiny, Barbie's a little worn, recycled copper.He took one out and looked at it under the interior lights of the jeep.I made it myself, Bobby said, and it was more powerful.There should be no nonsense. How could a bastard like Bobby want to make his own bullets?Of course it wasn't to reduce the power, that's for sure.Just like why someone wants to modify the car, of course it is not to be less powerful than ordinary cars, this is something young guys do.Therefore, Bobby may have packed a lot of gunpowder in each bullet, maybe thirty or forty gels more, and the gunpowder used should be stronger than the general explosive power.This creates a few hundred extra foot-pounds of muzzle energy and an extra hundred mph.There may be a lot of fire from the muzzle when it is fired, and it will also damage the breech casting, and the barrel will be twisted within two weeks.However, Li Qi smiled and took out ten more bullets from the box.It wasn't his gun anyway, and he suddenly felt that the fire from the muzzle was the effect he needed.

He fitted the first Winchester with a Bobby.Guriel's bullet.The second one, loaded with seven rounds.The third one is loaded in turn. One standard round, one Bobby's, and another standard round, until it is full of four standard rounds and three homemade bullets.He loaded the fourth gun with factory rounds.The guns are arranged in order from left to right, placed in the back compartment of the jeep, with the tailgate closed. I thought we only needed one.Alice said. I have changed my mind.He said. He went around to the driver's seat, and Alice sat in the passenger seat. Where are we going now?she asked.

He started the engine and backed away from the parked Volkswagen. Think of this mesa as a clock face.He said.We came in from the six o'clock direction, and now your car is parked at the twelve o'clock direction, with the butt facing the rear.You will hide on the edge of eight o'clock later, and walk there on foot. The task is to fire a rifle, just one shot, and then run to seven o'clock. You just said that there is no need to shoot. I changed my plans.He said it again. But I told you I wouldn't use a rifle. You can do it, just pull the trigger, it's easy.Don't worry about aiming or not, all I want is the sound of the gun and the flare.

Then what? Then you run to the seven o'clock position and watch carefully.I'm going to be busy shooting, and I need you to help me figure out who I'm shooting at. This is not right. Not bad either. you think so? Have you seen Clay.Alison's grave? Alice rolled her eyes.Li Qi, you should read your history textbook.Clay.Alison was such a total psycho that he once killed a guy who slept in his bed because he was snoring too loudly.The fellow is a right-and-wrong lunatic, plain and simple, with no dignity at all. Li Qi shrugged.Anyway, we can't back down now. Negatives don’t make positives, you know that, right?

It's a matter of choice, Alice.If we don't ambush them, they will ambush us. She shook her head.amazing.she says. Li Qi didn't speak. It's so dark, she said, how can I see clearly? I'll take care of this. How do I know when to shoot? you will know. Li Qi drove the jeep to the edge of the limestone table and stopped.He opened the tailgate, took out the first rifle, took his bearings, and ran to the cleft, laying the gun on the ground, with the butt hanging over the edge, the barrel pointed at the distance twenty feet in front of Foss. space.He bent over and pulled the lever back.The firearm moves with precision and makes a sweet click, great gun!

It's time to fire.He said.Here is eight o'clock, squat under the rock crevice, fire, and then run to seven o'clock.You have to squat low along the way, and then watch, very carefully.They might shoot in your direction, but I promise they won't hit you, okay? She didn't speak. I promise.He said.don’t worry. you sure? At this distance, holding a pistol, it was pitch black, and Superman couldn't hit him. Chances are they're lucky. No, Alice.They're definitely out of luck tonight, trust me. But when am I going to shoot? Shoot when ready.He said. Li Qi watched her hide under the rock crevice, an arm's length away from the rifle.

good luckHe said.see you later. amazing.she said it again. He climbed back into the jeep and drove to four o'clock on the opposite side of the mesa.Spin the tires, back up, and back the car under the rocks.The car fell two feet and was blocked by thick bushes.With the engine off and the headlights off, he pulled out a fourth rifle and leaned straight against the passenger door.He took the second and third with him, climbed back to the flat ground, ran across the open rock, and came to the estimated two o'clock direction.Carefully set the third gun next to the stone, then ran to Foss, got in, turned on the interior lights, opened the driver's door three inches, and held that position.Then Li Qi walked twenty feet clockwise and placed the second rifle on the edge of the terrace, between twelve o'clock and one o'clock, about half past twelve.No, it's about 12:17, if you want to find fault, Li Qi thought to himself.Then he walked back, lay down, and leaned against Foss, his right shoulder tucked under the small running board, his right cheek pressed against the wall of the front wheel.Taking a deep breath, the smell of rubber tires fills the nostrils, and the left shoulder is not covered, and large raindrops occasionally fall on it.He moved his body inward, and took a posture to wait.About eight minutes, he thought, maybe nine minutes. In the end, after waiting for eleven minutes, it came slower than Li Qi expected.He first saw a flash of light in the north, and at first he thought it was lightning, but when it appeared again, he realized that it was the headlights of a car passing over the uneven road and shining on the low gray clouds ahead.There was a car bumping along in the dark heading here, as expected.Because of the constraints of the terrain, it has no choice but to follow the track, and the headlights sometimes go up and down as the front of the car goes up and down.Li Qi was sweating profusely, the air around him became hotter, and he could feel the pressure and electricity in the sky above.The raindrops increased in size and speed, like a fuse burning, ready to detonate a storm.Don't come yet, he thought, please, give me another five minutes. Thirty seconds later, the sound of the engine appeared. It was a gasoline engine, running at full speed, with eight cylinders.The sound rose and fell as the car's drive wheels grabbed the ground, jumped up, hung completely in the air, and fell back down.Very stiff suspension.Cargo springs, he thought, probably Bobby's wagon, the one he used to hit armadillos. He moved himself closer to the chassis of the Volkswagen, and the sound of the engine became louder and intermittent.The headlights danced and turned left and right, dyeing the northern sky a little gray and bright.Then the distance is closer, and it can be distinguished that two beams of light penetrate the bushes, forming a strong contrast of light and shadow, and swinging with the vehicle.Suddenly the car appeared in front of me, it jumped onto the platform, the speed was very fast, the engine roared, it seemed that all four wheels were off the ground at the same time.The headlights jumped up, and then returned to the ground when the car fell to the ground. When it landed, it was slightly off. The headlights first illuminated a circle around it for an instant, and then pulled back to a straight line, and then began to accelerate on the flat ground.The engine was loud, moving towards Li Qi, faster and faster.At forty miles, fifty miles an hour, at a distance of seventy yards, fifty yards, forty yards, heading straight for him, until the jumping headlights hit Foss, who was standing still right in front of him.The yellow paint on Li Qi's shoulders was unusually bright, and then the truck came to an emergency stop, the four tires locked tightly on the limestone gravel, the rubber screamed, and the truck turned slightly to the left, facing the direction of eleven o'clock when it stopped , about thirty yards in front of Li Qi.The leading edge of the light shone on Li Qi, and he tried to squeeze himself under the Volkswagen. The dust smelled of raindrops. For a moment there was no movement at all. The truck driver turned off his headlights, which were reduced to a faint orange filament, then completely dimmed, and absolute darkness fell again.The sound of insects disappeared, and there was only the sound of the car slamming the brakes and the engine idling.Li Qi thought: Did they see me? Nothing happened. Alice, now, Li Qi thought. Nothing happened. Alice, fire!he thought.Hurry up and grab it, for God's sake. Nothing happened. Fire that damn gun, Alice, just pull the trigger. Nothing happened. He closed his eyes, paused for an endless second, and decided to rush out anyway.He opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and started moving. Alice fired. To his far right there was a violent muzzle spark, at least ten feet long, a supersonic bullet pierced the air with a buzzing sound, and a moment later, a loud thud rang through the space.Li Qi rolled out from under the Volkswagen, reached into the car door, and turned on the headlights.Jumping back into the bushes, rolling down, getting up and crouching low, watching from six feet away.The van was just shrouded in the barrel beam of bright headlights, and there were three people in it.A driver was in the cab, and two figures squatted in the truck bucket, holding the anti-collision bar with one hand.All three of them turned their heads suddenly, froze and stared back at the place where Alice shot just now. They stopped for another second before they reacted, and the driver turned on his headlights, and the van and Volkswagen shone at each other like they were racing.The other party's light made Li Qi feel very dazzling, but he still saw the two people behind, wearing hats and blue jackets.One of them is smaller than the other.woman.he thinks.Li Qi carefully recorded her location in his mind, and put the woman down first, which is a standard practice in anti-terrorist attacks.Experts said that women are more extreme. At this moment, he suddenly understood that she was the shooter, and she must be.With small hands and slender fingers, Carmen's pistol was just right for her.She crouched to the left of the other partner. Both held pistols, both stared sideways for an extra half second, then turned to look at the lights ahead, leaned against the roof of the van, and started shooting at the headlights of the Foss.There was the word FBI on the front of their hats, and Li Qi was stunned for a moment, what are they doing?Then he breathed a sigh of relief, great!Fake clothes, fake papers, a fake Crown Victoria!They just drove this car to Alice's place, and this is where they took Al.Eugene's attire when stopped.The two kept firing, and the powerful nine-centimeter pistol fired in quick succession, and the low and regular sound of bangs came into Li Qi's ears.The fired shell ejected and clattered onto the roof of the truck.The windshield of Foss exploded, the bullet pierced the steel plate, shards of glass fell, and the headlights of Foss went out.The headlights of the truck were blinding, making Li Qi completely unable to see what was behind him.He felt the pistol turn, and went back to aim where they remembered Alice had shot.There was a tiny gleam from the bevel of the muzzle, and he heard the bullets galloping that way.The gun on the left stopped, the woman's, already reloading, only thirteen rounds.He subconsciously said to himself, it must be the Sigsall P228 or the Browning 90. Reacher crawled forward to the edge of the mesa, moved fifteen feet to the left, and found the rifle he had kept at twelve seventeen.Winchester No. 2, filled with Bobby.Guriel's homemade bullets.He fired without aiming, and the recoil almost knocked him backwards.Huge flames burst out of the muzzle, like a flash on a camera.The bullet went nowhere, and Li Qi pulled the lever back to make a click, then rushed to the right to the broken Foss, and fired again.Two large visible flames, moving in a counterclockwise direction, as seen from the vantage point of the van, as if a person were moving from right to left.Clever gunners will shoot ahead of where the last spark appeared, hoping to hit a moving target.Off-angle fire, which they did, and the bullets bounced off the rocks next to the car, one of them hitting the rocks. But by this time he had moved in the opposite direction, clockwise again.After putting down his rifle, he stooped and ran to the next gun, the two o'clock position, and the third Winchester, reloading in turn.The first round was a factory round, which was enough to get noticed.Li Qi leaned against the edge to stabilize his posture, aimed at a dark target eight feet behind the headlights of the truck and four feet above, and fired a shot.Now they should think that there are three shooters, one behind them on the left and two on the front right.Li Qi had tinnitus in his ears, and he couldn't see where the bullet was going, but he heard a vague order from the woman, and then the headlights of the truck suddenly went out. He fired again at the same spot, this time with a homemade round.Flames shot out, illuminating the entire terrace, and then he moved five feet quickly to the right, fixed on the target in his mind, and fired the next round, the second factory round, standard, straight, and solid.There was a scream.Take another step to the right and fire the next homemade bullet.The flames from the muzzle revealed a figure that had fallen and fell out of the truck body, and the image seemed to be frozen in mid-air.One fell, but it wasn't the one he wanted.It's too big, it's the man.The next round was the factory round, and he focused, aiming just a little to the left of where the guy fell.Pull the lever, and the lever moves a quarter of an inch, firmly against the worn casing of the last homemade bullet. At this point two things happened.The first thing is that the truck starts to move, rushes forward first, then quickly leaves with the smallest turning radius, and turns back towards the direction when it came from the north.Then a pistol started firing close to Foss, and the woman left the truck and moved on foot in the darkness.She fired continuously, and the bullets rained down, about three or four feet away from Li Qi.The truck was running fast, and the headlights were turned on again. From the corner of his eyes, Li Qi watched the headlights leave, jumping and shaking, turning left and right, gradually getting smaller, and finally disappeared at the end of the terrace.After the truck jumped off the edge of the stone table, it flew towards the red house. The noise of the engine gradually disappeared, and the lights gradually dimmed, becoming a halo in the distance, moving on the distant black horizon.The pistol stopped and was reloading again.Suddenly the surroundings became very quiet, and I couldn't see my fingers, but a second later, the sound of insects filled the surroundings, which sounded softer than before, and less frenzied.It turned out that the rain had changed, and the large raindrops disappeared, replaced by continuous drizzle.He turned his palms up and felt the rain getting heavier.Within seconds, the rain was visibly getting heavier, as if standing in a shower with an unknown hand turning the faucet wider and wider. Li Qi wiped the water from his forehead to avoid running into his eyes, and gently put the loaded rifle on the ground.The original soil had been wet and turned to mud, and Li Qi moved to the left, toward the pre-hidden jeep, about forty yards away.The rain was getting stronger, the water was increasing and seemed to be endless, and the bushes all around were hissing and roaring, but this was good and bad.The good thing is that there is no need to deliberately make noise, he can't move as quietly as the woman, especially at night when there is no light and surrounded by desert vegetation.Standing six feet five inches tall and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, such a figure has many advantages, but it is not conducive to advancing quietly among invisible thorns.So the noise of the rain was helping him more than she was, and that was an advantage.The downside is that visibility quickly drops below zero, and the two may even accidentally bump into each other back-to-back. At this time, the lever-type repeater is not a good choice, it is not conducive to rapid shooting, and it is too bulky to hold.Besides, after the Winchester rifle is fired, the cartridge case is ejected from the top, not the side. In a heavy rain environment, rainwater will be poured in from the cartridge case outlet.Moreover, this storm was bound to be a serious one. Li Qi felt that this rain should be intended to finish ten years of rain in one night. Back at the jeep at four o'clock, Li Qi found the fourth rifle leaning against the car door, which was filled with factory bullets.The gun was wet. He swung the gun, aimed it at an oblique angle at eleven o'clock, and pulled the trigger.The rifle fired without incident and is still in good condition.He fired four more shots in sequence, at twelve o'clock, one o'clock, two o'clock, and three o'clock.Fan fire, that's the bet.The advantage is that you may just be lucky and hit that woman.The downside was that doing so would make it clear to her that he was only one person, the shooter, and would give away his location.And if she was counting, she'd know he only had two rounds left in the magazine. So he stuffed the gun under the jeep and plodded west through the bushes, forty feet away from the edge of the mesas.Pull Alice's Heckler & Koch out of the pocket, flip the safety on, and crouch down.He grabbed the mud and smeared it on his hands and face, waiting for the lightning to strike.According to his experience, summer storms in tropical places must be accompanied by lightning, and huge thunderbursts will rub and vibrate on the top of the clouds, and the volt energy will accumulate to a very alarming level.He guessed that it should take another five minutes for the lightning to strike, either concentrated in a single point, or scattered in a single spot, and then the entire surface will be bright.He was dressed in khaki and had khaki mud all over his skin, which was unlikely to be the case for her. Reacher headed south, out of the jeep, back next to the shattered Forth, and continued to keep forty feet from the edge in the grass.You can't see your fingers, the heavy rain is merciless, the rain is so heavy that it is absolutely impossible to get bigger, and then it continues to increase.The potholes on the limestone have been filled with water, and the rainwater hits the water surface, and there are small rivers converging at the foot, flowing into the bottomless cracks all around.The sound is very scary, and the roar of the rain hitting the ground is indescribable.Then the rain got harder and louder. Li Qi found that the camouflaged mud was washed from the skin, which was inevitable.At this moment, the water in Carmen's shower is like a trickle in comparison.What he began to worry about was how to maintain his breathing?With so much water, isn't there no air to breathe?The rain poured down his face and straight into his mouth.He puts his hand above his lips, sucking air in between his fingers and spitting rain out. Now he stood opposite two o'clock, thirty feet from the edge.Then there was lightning, and in the far south a jagged bolt of lightning burst from the sky and struck the ground five miles away.A high concentration of white light, shaped like a bare tree that was picked up by a tornado and fell over.Li Qi squatted down and looked straight ahead, looking for the image in the corner of his eye.nothing.The thunder followed the lightning, five seconds late, deafening.Where are people?Does she really think she's smarter than me?If so, she would be behind me by now.But Li Qi didn't look back, life is all about speculation and betting.She is indeed cunning and shrewd, but in her world.Put her on the street with Al.Eugene was face to face, and she was capable enough to deceive the other party.But if she was left alone on the open battlefield, at night, with heavy rain, she would have to fight for her life.This is my specialty, she is no match.In front of me, she could only cling to a certain place on the edge of the terrace, feeling extremely terrified in her heart, and she became a bag. The wind and rain were moving, and a second bolt of lightning appeared three minutes later, about a mile northeast of the first.This time it was a jagged scatter, flickering and flickering frantically for eight or ten seconds before disappearing into the darkness.Li Qi raised his head, scanned the front and the right, saw nothing, turned his head to the left, the woman was seventy feet away, squatting downwind of the rock.The hat has the words FBI in white, in big letters.She was staring straight at him, the pistol firmly in her hand, her arms fully extended.Li Qi saw the flame from the muzzle of the gun when it was fired, turning into tiny dark, almost invisible sparks in the wind and rain. The storm moved slowly to the northeast, pushing the rain cloud front ahead and reaching the motel.The rain fell steadily on the roof, and soon changed from a drizzle to a patter to a never-ending torrential downpour.The roof was made of sheet metal, and within thirty seconds, the sound became so loud that it woke Ellie from an uneasy sleep.She opened her eyes vigorously, and saw the short, dark man with hair on his arms, sitting motionless on the chair by the bed and looking at her. hi kid.He said. Ellie said nothing. Can't sleep? Ellie looked at the ceiling.raining.she says.very noisy. The man nodded, looking at his watch. She missed, and had no way of knowing how far the gap was.The lightning disappears, throwing the world once again into absolute darkness.Li Qi fired a shot at the target in his memory, and then listened intently.There was no sound, probably a miss, and it was raining heavily at seventy feet, so it was not easy to hit.The thunder sounded, a deep and loud noise that shook the world, and then slowly subsided.He crouched down again, nine rounds remaining.At this time, he began to think of a trick that was intertwined with reality and fiction: she must think that I can move, so I will be as immobile as a mountain.So he stayed where he was, waiting for the next lightning bolt to come, and he would know how high her standard was later.If it is an amateur, it will back off, but if it is a professional master, it will lean forward.If you are a master of masters, you will use the strategy of interlacing the virtual and the real and then interlacing to stay where you are. At this time, the rain had reached its peak, which was Li Qi's estimation.He was once stranded in the Central American jungle, and in a thunderstorm, he got wet faster than he could jump into the sea with his clothes on.That was probably the limit of the heavy rain imaginable, but this rain was not too much, and Li Qi was already soaked through.In fact, it was already indescribably soaked, and the rain was not dripping slowly under his shirt, but was pouring out like a torrent, rushing out of the buttonhole like a jet of water.Li Qi felt very cold, and the temperature dropped by about 20 to 30 degrees within 20 minutes.The noise was unbearably loud, as there was as much water splashing up all around as it was rushing down.Leaves and branches peeled off, drifted and whirled around, and built small beaver dams against rocks on the ground.The hard, hot gravel became six inches of mud, and his feet sank in it.The gun was soaked, but that's ok, Heckler & Koch could fire in the rain, but so would Browning or Sigsall. At night, a lightning bolt was still far away to the south, but when it got closer, it became brighter.This time it's a massive sideways shock that rips, explodes, and slices the sky.He glanced to the left, and the woman moved closer, now sixty feet away, still clinging to the terrace.Not bad, but not yet perfect.She fired at Li Qi and missed by four feet.The shot was hurried, and her hand came back from the south.south?She thought I moved.Li Qi felt a little humiliated. He raised his arms and fired back, but the thunder that followed completely drowned out the gunshots. He probably missed and only eight rounds remained. Then start to calculate again, what will she do next?How does she think I will act?I was wrong last time, so this time she will gamble, she will think that I will move forward, so she will move forward again, and immediately deliver a fatal blow. Li Qi squatted, not leaving his original position at all, with a trick of triple interlacing of fiction and reality.He raised it, swept it from left to right, aimed at the direction she would theoretically move, and waited for the precious flash.This time it came sooner than he had expected, with the wind and rain falling so fast that it erupted less than half a mile away.Almost at the same time, the thunder was louder than the ears, and the light was stronger than the sun.He looked forward, the woman was gone, turned to the left, and a mass of bright blue retreated in the opposite direction.Li Qi instinctively opened fire, and shot slightly in front of the mass of objects, the flash disappeared, and darkness, noise, and chaos descended again.With seven rounds left, he smiled to himself, but just one more round would suffice. The loud thunder frightened her, a sound she had heard before.That was when Joshua and Billy were going to put the new roof on the garage, and it was a big piece of tin that made a twisting boom when it was moved and an awful noise when it was nailed.Thunder is like billions of sheets of roof tin twisting and rumbling in the sky together.Ellie shrank her head under the sheets, and the room became extremely bright and flickering because of the lightning outside the window. Are you afraid?the man asked. She nodded, still hiding under the sheets, her hair rubbing against the sheets, but she was sure the man could see her head moving. do not be afraid.said the man.It's just a big thunderstorm, big girls are not afraid of thunderstorms. She didn't speak, he looked at his watch again. Her strategy is very obvious, although she is a master in the middle, but it is not so that people can't see through it.She pushed all the way along the edge of the mesa, because it provided a false sense of security.Her pattern is forward, backward, forward, forward.The trick of double staggering and triple staggering is hard to guess.Smart, but not enough.She moves forward first, then back.She'll move forward now, and then move on next time.She thought that Li Qi would sum up the principles and expected Yo-Yo to move backwards, but she went forward in the opposite direction, which caught him off guard.And since she intends to get close, she must be very close. For an expert like her who likes to aim at the head, Li Qi guessed that her favorite distance is within ten feet. He jumped up from his crouch and began to run like a sprinter, going back and to the left, making a big circle at a very fast speed, like a panicked animal scurrying through the bushes, leaping, Walk through bushes, puddles, and mud.At this point he didn't care how much noise was being made, because there was absolutely no other sound to be heard beyond a yard.The only thing that matters now is how fast he is, and he has to flank him before the next bolt of lightning appears. After a long frantic circle, he slowed down, slowed his pace, and crept closer to the edge of the limestone, about twenty feet north of where he first saw her.She went south and then came back, so she must be going south now, about thirty feet ahead, directly in front of Reacher.He followed her, fast and easy, as if walking down some kind of sidewalk.He slowed down, trying to figure out the frequency of the lightning, ready to lie down in the mud at any moment. The short, dark man looked at his watch again. Ellie was still under the sheet. It's been more than three hours.the man said. Ellie said nothing. Can you tell the time? Ellie straightened her body and pulled the coverlet down slightly to expose her mouth. I am only six and a half years old.she says. The man nodded and said: Look. He straightened his hands and turned his wrists. Another hour.He said. what will happen The man turned his head away, Ellido looked at him, and then covered his head with the sheet again.Thunder rumbled, lightning leaped. Lightning brightly illuminated the area for several miles ahead, and thunder followed.Li Qi squatted down and widened his eyes.gone?No one was in front of Li Qi, and after the lightning disappeared, the thunder continued.For a moment, Li Qi wondered, would he hear her gunshot?can you?Or would the first thing he felt be the fatal impact of the bullet?He was completely lying on the ground, lying still; he felt the heavy rain beating his body like a thousand small hammers.OK, rethink.Does she also outflank?It's possible she's done the exact same thing as him, only in the opposite direction.If so, it means that the two of them quickly made a big circle from opposite directions, which is equivalent to exchanging positions.It is also possible that she found a pothole or crevice and went underground.Or she spotted the jeep.If she looked back when the lightning appeared, she would see the car was there, and it should be easy to guess that he had to get back in the car in the end, or how would he get out of this desert?So maybe she's just sitting there waiting, maybe in an ambush in the car, maybe hiding under the car.If so, Li Qi would give away a Winchester rifle with two bullets. Li Qi lay in the mud, thinking hard, completely ignoring the next lightning strike.He pressed against the ground, calculating how to make a decision.He ruled out the possibility of outflanking, the soldier instinctively told him.The gunmen we are facing now are ordinary people, not infantry, and infantry will not aim at people's eyes, because it is not easy to hit.So she probably ran to the jeep, Li Qi turned around in the mud against the mud, raised his head, and waited. The next bolt of lightning was a frantic spread of light, illuminating the bottom of the cloud like battlefield artillery fire.The jeep was far away, too far away, and if she had already run there, retreated too far, too far, there was no immediate threat to Reacher.So he turned back and continued to climb south, checking the clearance area by area.Slowly crawl forward on knees and elbows, ten feet, twenty feet, twenty-five feet.It's like an individual basic trainer, crawling forward, and then suddenly he smells the perfume. The smell seemed to be stronger because of the rain, and he found that the whole desert smelled different.The rain had changed everything around him, and he could now smell the plants and the earth, which combined to produce a strong, pungent natural smell, but mixed with a woman's perfume.Is that perfume?Or something that grows naturally?For example, a flower that bloomed at night suddenly bloomed in heavy rain?No, it's perfume, a woman's perfume, no doubt about it.Li Qi stopped moving forward and remained motionless. The bushes were moving, but the wind was causing them.The rain slowly receded into a normal torrential downpour, and a strong, wet wind blew from the south, teasing him with the smell of perfume.It was dark all around, and he raised his gun, but he couldn't see anything, like a blind man. Which side is she facing?Not the east side.She must be squatting, and there should be nothing to the east except for a low wall two feet high at the edge of the terrace.If she's facing south or west, it's fine.If she's facing north, she's facing me, except she can't see it now because it's so dark.And she can't smell me because I'm downwind.Li Qi propped up his body with his left arm, raised his right hand horizontally, and aimed.If she was facing south or west, he could easily attack her on the back.But worst case, she's looking north, and we're face to face, maybe five feet away.So now it's purely a gamble, who will react first when the lightning strikes? Li Qi held his breath and waited for the lightning to come. This period of time was the longest wait in his life. The storm had begun to change, and the thunder was long and loud, but it no longer shook the world.The rain was still heavy, spraying mud and gravel from the ground in his face and slapping the bushes.A new stream of water formed around his prostrate body.Half of his body was submerged in the water, and he felt very cold. Then there was an astonishing strong sound in the sky, a huge thunderbolt crashed down, and lightning appeared at the same time.The white light was dazzling, and the entire desert was brighter than daytime.The woman was three feet in front of him, lying face down on the ground, soaked by the rain and covered in mud.She looked small, frail and lifeless, with her knees bent and her arms crouched beneath her, the gun dropped by her shoulder.白朗寧九〇手槍，槍身半埋在土裡，有一小群樹枝已經堆在槍的另一側。李奇趁著最後一絲閃電的光芒抓住她的槍丟到遠處，然後光芒消失，他藉著視覺殘像找到她的脖子。 沒有脈搏，已經死亡。 偏差角射擊。第三發子彈，本能地朝她行進的前方開槍，那時她正要往反方向移動，剛好跳進子彈的彈道。李奇的左手手指不敢離開她停止跳動的脈搏，怕在黑暗中找不到。他坐下來等候下一道閃光，左手開始顫抖。原本他以為是手的角度不自然，可是沒想到他開始笑了起來，而且很快就笑開了，像雨一樣。他剛才花了二十分鐘時間追蹤一個已經被他打死的女人。Accident.李奇笑得無法自抑，直到雨水裝滿他的嘴巴，讓他開始咳嗽，不斷噴水。 男人站了起來，走向書櫥，從擦亮的木頭上把槍拿起來。他彎下腰從黑色尼龍手提箱裡拿出一個長長的黑色消音器，仔細裝到槍口上，回到椅子邊，再次坐下來。 Time is up.He said. 他把手按在愛莉的肩上，愛莉在被單下感覺得到，掙脫開來，往下鑽，蜷起身子。她想尿尿，很急。 Time is up.那個男的又說了一次。 他把被單拉開，愛莉躲開，把被子另一邊緊緊抓在膝蓋中間，瞪著他看。 你說還有一小時。she says.一小時還沒到，我要跟那個小姐說，她是你老闆。 男人的眼神變得茫然，他轉頭看著門口，一會兒之後把頭轉回來。 good.He said.等妳覺得一小時到了再跟我說。 他把被單放開，愛莉再次把自己包起來，頭蒙住，手摀住耳朵，擋住雷聲轟隆。她把眼睛閉上，可是透過眼皮跟被單還是可以看到閃電的光芒，紅色的光。 下一道閃電又是擴散的形式，模糊四散、閃爍不定。他把屍體翻過來，只想再次確認。李奇拉開她的夾克和襯衫，子彈擊中她左邊腋下，貫穿身體，由對面穿出。大概打中了心臟，可能連肺部跟脊椎一起打中。點四〇的子彈可不是什麼溫馴的東西，要讓一顆這種子彈停下來得付出很大代價。打進去的傷口很小、很整齊，可是出口就不是這樣。雨水把開口沖得很乾淨，稀薄的血液流得到處都是，然後馬上消失。胸口的洞現在裝滿了水，看起來就像醫學圖表，李奇的手甚至可以整個放進去。 這個女人身材中等，金髮，沒被FBI帽子遮蓋的頭髮沾滿泥巴。李奇把帽簷往上推，看看她的臉。她眼睛睜開，瞪著上方的天空，眼角滿是雨水，就像眼淚一樣。她的臉看起來有點眼熟，似乎以前見過。Where?閃電熄滅，她的影像殘留在李奇腦中，鮮明、蒼白、顛倒，就像張底片。餐廳，漂浮可樂，星期五，放學時間，維多利亞皇冠，三個乘客。那時他以為他們是業務員，又錯了。 good.他大聲說：比賽結束了。 他把愛麗絲的槍放回口袋，往北邊走去，回到吉普車那裡。因為實在太黑，而且眼裡都是雨水，所以他還沒發現車子之前就先撞上車子側邊。李奇手扶在引擎蓋上，順著車身找到駕駛座的門，打開、關上，再打開，只為了讓車內燈亮起來，享受可以控制照明的感動。 把車子開回臺地上費了番工夫，輪胎底下原本應該存在的沙礫現在都成了爛泥巴，讓車子沒有摩擦力。他把大燈打開，雨刷快速轉動，選擇四輪驅動模式，打滑了老半天前輪才抓住地面，將車子拉上臺地。李奇把車子往前往左繞了一個大圈，開到七點鐘方向。他按了兩次喇叭，愛麗絲從樹叢裡走出來，現身在大燈光束中。她也全身濕透，水從身上不斷流下，頭髮貼在頭皮上，耳朵稍微凸出。她往左邊走，跑向乘客座車門。 我想這就是大家都在講的暴風雨。He said. 外面再次亮起閃電，左邊遠方一道鋸齒狀光芒，伴隨著巨大的雷爆。雨勢正快速往北移動。 She shook her head.這麼一點小雨？這只能算前菜，明天你就知道。 明天我就離開了。 Really? He nodded.how are youhe asks. 我不知道什麼時候該開火。 妳做得不錯。 What happened? 李奇開動車子，往南邊轉，做之字形回車，大燈在臺地上來回掃出一片扇形。破爛的福斯三十呎前，李奇發現了第一個傢伙的屍體，他背部隆起，一動不動。李奇切成近燈，讓光線直接照在屍體，然後跳下車。這傢伙已經死了，溫徹斯特的子彈打中他的肚子，不過沒有馬上就死。他的帽子不見了，他還把夾克撕開捂住傷口，爬行了很長一段距離。這人身材高大、體格壯碩，李奇閉上眼睛，回想當初在餐廳的影像。在收銀機旁，一個女人、兩個男人。一個高大帥氣、一個矮小黝黑。李奇走回吉普車，坐進車上，整個座位都濕掉了。 兩個死了。He said.that's all.可是司機逃了，妳有看清楚他嗎？ 他們是來殺我們的，對不對？ 計畫是這樣，妳有看清楚司機嗎？ She didn't speak. 愛麗絲，這件事很重要。He said.愛莉的命全靠他了。我們現在沒有舌頭，那個部分就沒辦法進行，這兩個都死了。 She didn't speak. 妳有看到嗎？ She shook her head.沒有，沒看到。she says.對不起，我那時候在跑，大燈只亮了一、兩秒左右。 李奇記得似乎不止一、兩秒，應該要久得多。不過實際上，或許她講得沒錯，搞不好他還高估了。有可能只持續了四分之三秒，因為他們扣扳機的速度非常快。 這些人我之前見過，他說，星期五的時候，就在十字路口那裡。一定是他們殺了尤金後在偵察附近的情況。他們一共有三個，一個女人，一個高的男人，一個黑黑的矮男人。我可以確認那個女的跟高的，所以今晚開車的是那個矮小的男人嗎？ 我真的沒看見。 Intuition?Li Qi said.第一印象？妳一定至少瞄到一點點，或是看到側影。 你都沒看到嗎？ He nodded.他的臉不在我這邊，那時候我在看妳開火的方向。光線很刺眼，他的擋風玻璃上有很多雨滴，接著我開始開槍，他就開走。可是我不覺得他身材很矮。 她也點點頭。直覺，他不矮，也不黑，只是一團模糊。我認為他的身材應該不小，或許是金髮。 Reasonable.Li Qi said.他們留了一個看守愛莉。 那開車的是誰？ 他們的客戶，雇用他們的傢伙，這是我的推測。因為他們人手不夠，也需要人帶路。 他逃走了。 李奇微笑道。他可以跑，不過躲不了。 他們去看看被打爛的福斯，但已經沒救了。愛麗絲似乎不很在意，只是聳聳肩，把頭轉開。李奇從福斯的置物箱中拿出地圖，把吉普車掉頭往北開。回程往紅屋的路程實在是番折磨，因為跨過臺地還沒問題，但下了臺地後，沙漠上的車軌因為炙烤得太硬，完全無法吸水，整個表面積滿了水。原本覺得像河床的地段就真的是河床，湍急的洪流淹沒了輪胎，樹叢連根拔起，被大水沖走，還有整棵大樹跟著洪水往南奔馳。大樹堆在吉普車的車頭，跟著車子一起前進，直到橫向水流把樹給帶走。地上的坑洞完全被大水遮住，不過雨水消退得很快，已經變成毛毛細雨，暴風眼往北吹走了。 開到很接近車庫旁邊時，他們才發現它的存在。這棟建築一片漆黑，李奇用力踩下煞車，繞過去，看見紅屋的某些窗戶裡有淡淡的光線搖曳。 Candle.He said. 一定是停電了。Alice said.閃電打中電線。 李奇再次踩下煞車，輪胎在泥巴裡打滑，他把車頭大燈對著車庫裡面。 看出什麼端倪嗎？he asks. 巴比的貨車又回到原位，可是車子濕濕的，滿是泥巴。水從車斗上往下滴，在地上聚成一灘一攤。 good.Alice said.What now? 李奇檢查後視鏡，然後轉頭看著北方的馬路。 somebody is coming.He said. 模糊的頭燈出現在他們後面，忽起忽落，還有好幾英里。在吉普車窗上的雨滴中幻化成一千個光點。 我們去跟古瑞爾家的人問好。He said. 他把愛麗絲的槍從口袋裡抽出來，檢查一下。永遠不要托大。不過沒問題。上膛，而且上鎖，剩下七發。李奇把槍放回口袋，將車子開過濕透的院子，停在門廊階梯前。雨幾乎停了，地面開始冒出蒸汽，輕輕往上飄，在大燈的燈光下旋轉。兩人下車，濕氣很重，溫度又開始回升，昆蟲叫聲也一樣。淡淡的蟲鳴合唱，聽起來小心翼翼而且十分遙遠。 李奇帶頭走上門廊階梯，推開門。大廳裡只要找得到平面的地方，都有支架插著燃燒的蠟燭。淡淡的橘色光芒，讓整個大廳看起來溫暖而迷人。李奇帶著愛麗絲到客廳裡，然後讓她先進去。這裡有更多蠟燭在燃燒，大概幾十支，都用融化的蠟固定在碟子上。靠後面牆壁的書櫥上，放著一盞露營汽化燈，輕輕發出嘶嘶聲，十分明亮。 巴比跟他母親一起坐在紅色桌子旁，四周陰影忽隱忽現、靈活跳動。燭光對羅斯緹很溫柔，讓她看來年輕了二十歲。她衣著整齊，牛仔褲搭襯衫。巴比坐在旁邊，眼神不是特別集中。微小的火焰照亮了他的臉，此刻似乎正抽動著。 so romantic.Li Qi said. 羅斯緹動了，有點不自然。我怕黑。she says.天生如此，沒辦法。 妳是該怕黑。Li Qi said.因為壞事都在黑暗中發生。 她對這句話沒有回應。 Are there towels?Li Qi asked.地上滴滿了水，愛麗絲也一樣 在廚房裡。Rossi said. 一條有條紋的薄毛巾掛在木頭吊桿上，愛麗絲將臉和頭髮擦乾，拍拍襯衫。李奇照做，然後回到客廳裡。 為什麼你們兩個沒睡？he asks.已經凌晨三點了。 兩人都沒有回答。 你的卡車今天晚上開出去了。Li Qi said. 可是我們沒出去。Barbie said.我們一直待在裡面，就像你說的。 羅斯緹點點頭。我們兩個一起。 李奇微笑道：互為不在場證明。He said.在陪審團室裡，他們會笑掉大牙。 We did nothing.Barbie said. 車子靠近，李奇聽到輪胎的微弱聲響，壓過潮濕的柏油路面減速，引擎蓋下驅動皮帶轉動發出細微噪音。車子轉進大門後，緩慢地輾過潮濕的地表。沙礫、石頭在輪胎下劈啪作響，車子停在門廊下。煞車碟發出小小的高頻音，引擎熄火後回歸寧靜。車門關上，咚！腳踏上門廊階梯，房門打開，腳步跨過大廳，客廳門打開。蠟燭火焰搖晃閃爍，海克．沃克走進房間裡。 very good.Li Qi said.We are running out of time. 你去搶劫我辦公室嗎？沃克回道。 Li Qi nodded.I'm curious. What are you curious about? detail.Li Qi said.我是個很仔細的人。 你不需要硬闖，我會拿給你看。 那時你人不在。 反正你不該闖進我的辦公室，你現在麻煩大了，這點你知道吧？大麻煩。 Li Qi smiled.厄運跟麻煩是我唯一的朋友。 海克，坐下。He said. 沃克頓了一下，穿過幾張椅子，坐在羅斯緹．古瑞爾旁邊。燭光照亮他的臉，露營燈在他左邊發光。 Do you have something to say?he asks. 李奇在對面坐下，手放在桌上，掌心向下。 我這半個警察也算是當了十三年。He said. so? 我學到很多東西。 for example? 比方說，謊言很難搞，說太多會露餡。不過真相也一樣難搞，所以不論在什麼情況下，事情應該都有破綻。每一次只要我看到什麼事湊得天衣無縫，就會非常懷疑，而卡門的情況確實十分難搞，謊話連篇。 But? 我發現有幾個破綻太過明顯。 for example? 比方說，她身上一毛錢都沒有，這點我確定。銀行裡有兩百萬元，她卻要大老遠跑到三百英里外，身上只帶著一塊錢？睡在車上，連飯都不吃？從一個加油站跳到另一個加油站，只為了能繼續前進？對我而言這就講不通。 她是裝的，她就是這種人。 你聽過尼古拉．哥白尼嗎？ certainly.Walker said.老天文學家，應該是波蘭人。他證明了地球繞著太陽轉。 Li Qi nodded.他說的不只如此，他要我們都去想想，人身為世界中心的可能性有多高？有多大機會我們所見的一切都是獨一無二的？不論好壞？這是個很重要的哲學觀點。 so? 所以如果卡門這樣，銀行裡有兩百萬元，卻只帶一塊錢在身上到處晃，只為了萬一能找到像我這種可疑的傢伙，那她絕對是世上準備最周全的騙子。而老哥白尼就問我，這種可能性有多高？讓我剛好遇到世上最頂尖騙子的機會有多高？他的回答是，真的不太可能。他說有可能的情況是，如果我真的碰上了騙子，一定會是很普通、二流的那種。 所以你到底在說什麼？ 我在說，這些事湊不起來，這讓我開始去想錢的事情。然後又出現另一道破綻。 什麼破綻？ Al.尤金的人把史路普的財務資料快遞過來，對吧？ 今天早上，感覺上好像已經很久了。 真正的情況是，我看過艾爾的辦公室，去博物館時，從法院就能看到。走路只要一分鐘，所以他們把東西快遞過來的機率有多高？為了艾爾的朋友，難道他們不能用走的嗎？尤其還是急件？光是撥電話給快遞公司就要多花十倍時間了。 燭光舞動閃耀，照亮整個紅色房間。 大家都習慣叫快遞。Walker said.這已經成了常態，而且天氣太熱不適合走路。 Li Qi nodded.maybe!那時候還不算什麼異常，可是又有另一件事有破綻，鎖骨。 鎖骨怎樣？ 李奇轉頭看著愛麗絲。妳玩直排輪摔跤的時候有摔斷過鎖骨嗎？ No.Alice said. 有什麼傷痕嗎？ 手破皮，還有很多擦傷。 妳有伸手去擋嗎？ 反射動作。she says.Most definitely. 李奇點點頭，在燭光中轉頭回去面對沃克。 我跟卡門星期六時一起騎馬。He said.這輩子第一次，屁股痛得要命，可是我記得很清楚，馬背非常高，坐在上面很恐怖。所以這麼說好了，如果卡門從上面摔下來，從那種高度，摔到沙礫石頭上，堅硬的程度足以撞斷她的鎖骨，那怎麼可能手臂上完全沒有擦傷？ 搞不好她有。 醫院的紀錄可沒寫。 搞不好他們忘了。 那是一份非常詳盡的報告，新的人事，認真負責，這點我有注意到。Ke Wen.布雷克也看出來了，他說他們寫得非常詳細，不可能忽略手臂上的傷口。 她一定有戴騎馬手套。 Li Qi shook his head.她說過，這裡沒人會戴那種東西，因為天氣太熱。而如果手套曾保護過她不受嚴重擦傷，那她就更加不會這麼說，她一定愛用得不得了，一定也會叫我戴，因為我是新手。 so? 所以我開始懷疑，會不會鎖骨的傷口是肇因於史路普打她。而我認為是有可能的，或許她那時跪著，大拳頭由上而下砸過來，她的頭閃了一下。只不過她也說過史路普曾經打斷她的手、下巴，也打斷過她的牙齒，而報告裡也都沒提到那些東西，所以我就不再懷疑，尤其是後來我發現戒指是真的。 桌子左邊一盞蠟燭熄滅了，燭芯燒光，冒出一縷輕煙，頭一秒鐘垂直向上，然後開始狂亂地旋轉。 她說謊。Walker said.that's all. 鐵定是。Barbie said. 史路普從來沒打過她。Rossi said.我兒子絕對不會打女人，不管她是什麼身分。 一次一個，好嗎？Li Qi said quietly. 然後他停了一下，屋裡有著不耐煩的氣氛。手肘在桌上移動，腳在地板上拖磨，他先轉頭看著巴比。 你說她說謊。He said.我知道原因，因為你不喜歡她，因為你是個種族主義大狗屎，因為她跟那個學校老師有婚外情，所以除了那些你拚老命想讓我遠離她的原因外，大概還有一點對史路普的忠心。 然後李奇轉頭對著羅斯緹。我們很快就會講到史路普幹過跟沒幹過的事，可是我現在要妳閉嘴，好嗎？海克跟我有事要談。 What's up?Walker said. this matter.李奇說著，然後把愛麗絲的槍擺在桌上，槍托靠著桌面，槍口對準沃克的胸口。 你這是在幹什麼？Walker said. 李奇用拇指把保險打開，喀！在房間裡顯得特別大聲。燭光閃爍，露營燈輕聲嘶嘶作響。 我想通了鑽戒的事。He said.接著所有一切就豁然開朗了。尤其是你特意給我們兩個徽章，派我們來這裡詢問羅斯緹。 what are you saying? 就像魔術一樣，這整件事。你對卡門非常了解，所以你知道她一定會對我講什麼話。那些話從頭到尾都是實話，那些關於她身世的話，關於史路普對她的作為，所以你就把所有東西顛倒過來，就這麼簡單。一個漂亮讓人信服的魔術。比方說她告訴我，她是從那帕來的，然後你就說，嘿，我敢打賭她跟你說她是從那帕來的，可是你知道嗎？Actually not.比方她跟我說，是她打電話給國稅局，你就說，嘿，我敢打賭她跟你說是她打電話給國稅局，可是實際上她沒有。講得好像你什麼事都知道，而且很不願意戳破她老是在講的那些謊言。可是實際上在說謊的是你，一直都是。這種策略非常有效，就像變魔術，再加上你包裝的方式是假裝很想救她，於是把我耍得團團轉。 我確實想救她，而且我正在救她。 放屁，海克。你一直以來唯一的目標就是逼她自白，要她承認她沒做過的事，計畫自始至終都很明確。你聘請的職業殺手今天綁架了愛莉，所以你可以逼卡門自白，而我是你唯一的眼中釘，因為我一直賴在這裡不走，還找了愛麗絲幫忙，從星期一早上就在你面前晃來晃去，於是你就讓我們白忙了二十七小時，慢慢讓我們失望，一樣一樣。你做得很漂亮，應該說，幾乎。但要真的做到百分之百，那你就必須是世上最高明的騙子。而就像老哥白尼講的，世上最高明的騙子剛好出現在佩科斯的機會有多高？ 沉默，只有劈啪響的蠟燭，露營燈的嘶嘶聲，五個人的呼吸，老舊冷氣機沒在運轉，因為停電。 You are crazy.Walker said. 我沒瘋。你為了騙我，裝出一副很遺憾卡門說了那麼多謊的樣子，還說你多想救她。你甚至還高明到故意透露想要救她的私心，是因為你想當法官，所以我才不會對你高尚的人格起疑。海克，這招真的高，可是這段期間你都在跟她通電話，把你的聲音蒙住，好騙過樓下法警，說你是她的律師。然後你警告卡門，如果她敢跟真正的律師說話，就會要愛莉的命，這就是為什麼她拒絕跟愛麗絲講話。接著你就在自己的電腦上打出一大堆假的銀行交易紀錄，弄得跟其他列印文件很像，再自己偽造信託證書及社工委託書。我想你應該很清楚真正的文件長什麼樣子。等你接到消息，說小孩已經到手後，就打電話給卡門，告訴卡門要怎麼自白，把你跟我講的謊話餵回去給她，再派助理去樓下聽。 什麼跟什麼。 Li Qi shrugged.那就讓我們來證明吧！我們先打電話去聯邦調查局，問他們看看搜索愛莉的行動進行得如何。 The phone went dead.Barbie said.因為雷擊。 Li Qi nodded.好，沒關係。 槍口繼續瞄準沃克胸口，他轉頭看著羅斯緹。 告訴我聯邦探員問了妳什麼。He said. 羅斯緹看起來很茫然。什麼聯邦探員？ 今晚沒有聯邦探員到這裡來？ 她搖搖頭，李奇點點頭。 是你在演戲，海克。He said.你說你打過電話給聯邦調查局，還有州警，說四處有路障，天上會有直升機，而且地面布署了一百五十人。可是事實上你誰也沒通知，因為要是你真打了電話，他們會做的第一件事就是來這裡，他們會來找羅斯緹問上幾個小時，還會帶素描專家跟鑑識專家過來。畢竟這裡是犯罪現場，而羅斯緹是唯一目擊者。 你錯了，李奇。Walker said. 調查局的人確實來過。Barbie said.我看到他們出現在院子裡。 Li Qi shook his head. 他們只是戴著調查局的帽子。He said.兩個人，不過現在帽子已經不在頭上了。 Walker said nothing. 你犯了大錯，海克。Li Qi said.送我們那兩個愚蠢的徽章，派我們到這裡來。你自己是執法人員，你知道羅斯緹是關鍵目擊者，你也知道她不會跟我們乖乖合作，所以這種決策對個檢察官來講實在匪夷所思，實在讓我難以置信。後來我就知道為什麼你要我們別擋路，而且你必須時時刻刻掌握我們的行蹤，這樣才能派人來追殺。 who? 職業殺手，沃克，戴著調查局帽子的那些人，你派去殺艾爾．尤金的人，你派去殺史路普的人。他們確實有兩把刷子，非常專業，可是專業人士會有個問題，就是他們將來還得繼續幹活。Al.尤金還好，反正地處荒郊、死無對證，可是史路普就不一樣了，他剛出獄回家，有一陣子不會離開這裡，所以你就得在這裡動手，風險很高。因此他們要求你要替他們擦屁股，嫁禍給卡門，而你就要求他們兼差幫你綁架小孩。 It's outrageous.Walker said. 你知道卡門有買槍。Li Qi said.你跟我說過，買槍的文件會經過你辦公室，而且你很清楚她為什麼買這把槍。