Chapter 10 Chapter Four
Nick ran across the side yard and sprinted to Marcus' house.The door was unlocked, and he rushed into the hall without even knocking, and opened the door to the study, where he knew Marcus must be working.
"Oh, good afternoon." Marcus greeted, not paying attention to Nick's rash intrusion.He sat at a large desk, all three computers humming.
Nick took out the letter in his pocket and put it in front of Marcus.
"What is this?" Marcus looked at the water-stained envelope with curiosity.At last he recognized it was his own handwriting.
"Before you open it, I have to say, I need your help."
"Why are you always so polite? Sit down! Just open your mouth."
Nick reluctantly sat down on the high-backed chair opposite Marcus.
"I only have three minutes to convince you of this incredible thing. Everything said in the letter is true. You wrote this letter for me."
"What the hell are you..."
Nick raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Before you speak, you need to know that I will never lie to you or make fun of you. I want you to know that I am very clear now."
Seeing how serious he was, Marcus finally picked up the letter and opened it.
"Dear me," Marcus began to read.The handwriting was wet, but still legible, and most importantly, he recognized it as his own handwriting, "I know this sounds crazy. Oh, this is really interesting! When did I write this letter What?" He looked up at Nick, narrowing his eyes in confusion.
"Read on and find out," Nick replied quickly.
Marcus fell silent and continued reading.
Marcus glanced at Nick, then returned to the letter.
Marcus stared at his signature, at the company seal he had put away from his desk a few weeks ago, then reached into the envelope and pulled out the Wall Street Journal front page printed off the Internet, Go through it quickly.
It was a full minute before he looked up at Nick.
Without saying a word, he picked up the phone and dialed directly.
"Helen? It's me. I'm going to talk to Jason now."
Marcus listened quietly.
"What do you mean he's not here?" Marcus yelled into the phone, "Don't tell me this, tell his assistant to come over and answer the phone!"
There was a pause on the phone for five seconds.
"Christine, I'm Marcus, where is Jason?"
Nick sat in Marcus' Bentley convertible on Sunrise Drive, happy not to be driving himself today, and happy to have an ally he could trust with all his heart.Nick called and found Julia, who was at the gas station in Bedford Village, up north.Because all the gas stations in town were closed, she was running out of gas and had to drive five miles to get gas first, and then to pick up an old doctor who was going to help at the scene of the plane crash.
Julia told him in a trembling voice that she had disembarked flight 502 before it took off.He told her to stay where she was, to sit in the car and wait for him.
"I can't believe Jason is dead." Marcus shook his head. "I had no idea he was going to Boston."
"I'm sorry," Nick said.
The two fell silent.
"I believe you." Marcus was the first to break the silence as he drove past the dead city of Barry Hill, mentioning the things in the letter.
"Thank goodness." Nick nodded, looking at the Washington mansion he had just passed.
"This whole thing is incredible, but you have to tell me what it is."
It took Nick five minutes to convince Marcus about his near-death experience, about Dance and Travers and Julia and the mahogany box.
Nick took out the gold watch, uncapped it and showed it to Marcus.
"Take this thing away," Marcus said.
"Don't you want to see it?"
"There are things in life we shouldn't see, and we shouldn't know."
They drove onto Route 22 past Sullivan Field and fell silent.Flames shot upwards, black smoke filled the sky and blotted out the sun.It is now fifteen minutes past one, and the fire brigade from Bank Village, Bedford Village, Kisko Hill, Joy Village and five other precincts, plus volunteers from Barry Hill, have been battling the blaze for one Many hours, but this is a war with no winners.
"I hope you don't get me wrong, you are doing the right thing, and you would do the same thing if I were you. But have you ever thought that your actions might change the future? Do you think that every step you take, every step you follow Does the interaction of individuals have any impact on the future?"
A red Toyota sped by and interrupted him.I don't know where the car is going.
"The scope of our actions is so implicated that we can never see the real consequences." Marcus pointed to the SUV that had just disappeared at the end of the road. Effects, one event may well affect thousands of people involved.”
"A guy who went on a rampage on the highway caused a car accident that delayed countless people getting home. Some of them might be a doctor whose child just happened to swallow a rubber ball and got it stuck in his windpipe, his nanny Panicked and didn't know what to do, so the three-year-old died. Now, if the father can get home at the normal time, he can revive the child, make the child spit out the rubber ball, and then they can sit Come down, have a normal dinner. This kid may be so inspired by his father that he may grow up to work helping people with cancer."
"You'd love to kill that bastard racing down the highway, wouldn't you?" Nick said.
"But who knows the fate? Who knows if this child can really cure cancer when he grows up?"
"He will, you just said," Nick said.
"but……"
"You can't keep saying 'but' against..."
"However, he could have invented something worse and killed millions of people. If we had known in advance, the crazy driver might have saved millions. However, whether for noble or selfish reasons, Who's to say the consequences of our actions will lead to a better future for us?"
"A nail can destroy a kingdom." Nick quotes a proverb.
"Yeah, even something as small as a nail." Marcus nodded in agreement.
Marcus continued driving on the highway.The scorching sun was shining, and the whole world was dyed with dazzling light.He put on his sunglasses, reached into the pouch by the door, took out sunscreen, and rubbed it on his bald head.
"Think about it," Marcus said with a smile, "what would happen if you had that much power in your hands?"
"I'll bet on the horses," Nick said, smiling.
"Horse betting? What about stocks? Business transactions? You can know the result before your opponent makes a move." Marcus took out the letter he wrote to himself from his pocket, and pulled out the "Wall Street Journal", "Do you know , just knowing this news four hours in advance can help me earn millions?"
"All I can say is, glad you have capitalism alive and well inside you."
"Seriously, if you think about international relations and peace negotiations, you can change history, prevent disasters, and..." Marcus paused, "stop this air crash."
Hearing what Marcus said, Nick suddenly realized that he was only thinking about Julia, but never thought about the value of the things in his hands.
"It could change the outcome of a murder trial, it could catch a criminal..." Marcus' tone turned bitter, "and it could change a war. In case this thing gets into the wrong hands—everyone has a little Evil-mindedness—it's dangerous. Even the most noble and virtuous are easily corrupted by the power to see the future."
Nick hadn't thought about the power he held in his hands at all, nor had he thought about the consequences if this power was used for bad intentions.
"Promise me you'll destroy that thing when you're sure Julia is safe."
"No problem," Nick said.
Marcus looked at the Wall Street Journal again, slipped it back into the envelope, and handed it to Nick. "I really don't know how to tell you how attractive this thing is, just a phone call away..."
Nick put the envelope in his pocket. "All I can say is that it's nice to see that not everyone is so easily corrupted."
"Nick," Marcus turned to him, "does Julia know when she's going to die?"
Nick shook his head. "She's been through it, but it happened hours later. In terms of where she is now, she feels lucky to have survived the crash."
"I'll never get used to this sense of time." Marcus shook his head. "You talk about the future as the past."
"My life has been going on like this for eight hours."
"There is no continuous sense of time, and no one else remembers what happened. How can you keep your head clear? I can't concentrate at all."
"I just keep thinking about Julia. I don't care about time, I don't care about anything now, just find her murderer and stop him. As long as I think about her, I have a way to focus."
The flames climbed six feet high, and the intense heat kept firefighters from getting even fifty yards closer.The sound of raging flames burning upwards sounded like an inhuman beast roaring, burning the metal fuselage mercilessly. Clouds of white foam were sprayed onto the wreckage-strewn sports field to extinguish the fuel-fueled blaze.Eight large water guns and countless water pipes sprayed arc-shaped water columns into the air, repelling the flames that were gradually burning towards the surrounding woods.Fortunately, this flight only flew a short distance to Boston, and the fuel tanks in the wings were only half full; the price of fuel has risen recently, and less fuel can also reduce the load.But even that didn't help the firefighters, who were desperately trying to keep three thousand gallons of fuel under control. Many firefighters in fire suits scoured the ground, hoping for a miracle, but found nothing but mutilated bodies and metal fragments.National Guard soldiers brought in a truckload of manpower supplies.The curious onlookers were full of horror after seeing this scene, and had to be escorted or supported by others to go out. Danse paced among the burning wreckage, ignoring the jets of water spraying into the flames, beading his blue top.There are so many dead people in front of him, so much death and suffering, but Danse doesn't feel any pity; he can't shed a tear of sympathy for the dead.Somewhere in here was Sam Travers's body, and the box he'd been dying to let go was nearby, a box of extraordinary value waiting for him.If a millionaire like Sam wants this box so much, instead of other gold and diamonds, this thing must be worth hundreds of millions. He couldn't help snickering, knowing that Travers had gotten his comeuppance.He wished he'd known he was about to die a horrible death when he fell from the sky. Even if the box hadn't been destroyed in the crash, Dance wasn't worried about someone finding it before he did.The crash site is a crime scene in itself, and anyone who steals from it is guilty of multiple felonies while being blamed by the public.If that heavy wooden box had escaped the air crash, no one would know its value. As a law enforcement officer at the scene of the air crash, Danse would naturally enter the open space full of wreckage and steal it before others found out. With Sam's betrayal and death, it's up to Dance and his men to find and destroy the surveillance tapes, hunting down anyone who might have seen them, to annihilate the evidence. When Sam contacted him a month ago, Dance thought it was a trap set by the police's internal monitoring agency.He thought that the policeman in charge of the police had finally caught him and was going to hook him with gold and diamonds. But after he checked with the police detective's investigation method, he found that Sam Travers was the incompetent brother of Paul Travers, the president and founder of DSG Security Company.Paul, the architect of the security system for Shams Hannikol's Washington mansion, was said to be a brilliant and hard-working inventor.Sam is the complete opposite, a complete slob, greedy and ungrateful for his ridiculously high salary and good life. Sam is the best partner in crime.He is cowardly and easy to control.He is a miracle sent by the devil, and he is the best partner to help Danse get out of trouble and get rid of Rukai in one fell swoop. Dance has robbed drug dealers of income, stolen items in the evidence room, and blackmailed criminals, but he has never made him a million dollars to redeem his life. Although Rukai's ultimatum made him angry, he knew there was no one to help him, and he had nowhere to run.The Albanian boss has eyes and ears everywhere, following him, the chosen lamb, at all times.No one will sympathize with a policeman who has strayed from the path. All policemen and criminals will hate Danse.Lu Kai's notoriety is based on real events, not some alarmist rumors.His execution style was notoriously slow and grueling, with victims demanding death for hours before they could be freed.Lu Kai eats Danse to death, and his only way to survive is to pay a ransom of one million yuan. Dance met Sam four times at the Shun Shun Yuan restaurant in Manhattan, where they discussed work, plans, security, and how to sell stolen goods.Sam said they would have backup surveillance tape, if not to the police station, then to Hanneko's local law firm office. Sam was sure that Hannickle's lawyer was Julia Quinn of Iconreiner, and a backup copy of the security data would be synced to her personal computer at the office.Sam had planned to go to her directly after the robbery, pretend to care about the aftermath of the robbery in the name of his company, and plant a virus on her computer so that the backup could be sent to remote monitoring at 2:00 a.m. All evidence was wiped out. Now, now that Sam was dead, Julia's business had to be handled by Danse. He and a few of his subordinates don't know about viruses or internal security procedures, nor do they know what the law firm's regulations are for readers of security evidence, but Dans has other ways to make the evidence disappear. After the robbery of Hannickle's astonishing collection of gold, silver and jewels, and the death of Sam, time passed so fast that he couldn't risk himself being involved in the crime. The robbery that was supposed to go according to plan has now turned into a disaster.At the same time that this tight plan fell apart, the plane fell from the sky again, and all the offices and houses in the town were cut off. The action in the morning left many sequelae, so it is a good thing to encounter this air crash.Air crashes are the perfect distraction.The entire town was without power, and many people rushed home in panic, leaving Barry Hill as a ghost town.Confusion and confusion are the perfect smoke bombs for him to clean up what Sam has set in motion. His men would soon be entering the Icon Reiner facility to remove any video evidence that would implicate them in the case, even if it would burn the place down.As for Shams' personal lawyer... Dance took the phone out of his pocket.It was Sam's cell phone, which he had foolishly left behind at the scene of the robbery as he fled to the plane with the box in his hands.Dans opened it, found the address book, and found that Julia's company and mobile phone numbers had been set up, but Sam was unable to call her as originally planned, nor could he meet with her at the company to discuss the robbery follow-up matters. Dance selects her cell phone number and presses the dial button.Conveniently, the caller would be identified as Sam Drovers, and the first steps of the deception would have been planned. "Mrs. Quinn?" "I am, who are you?" "I'm Sam Drovers from DSG Security," Dance lied. "Oh, you are Paul's younger brother, we haven't had a chance to meet yet." "You must know why I called." "Yeah," she said, "I can't figure out how they got in there." "Did you see the tape?" Dance tried not to be too eager. "Not yet, they destroyed the computer server at Hannik's house, and now I haven't returned to the office because of the plane crash and power outage." "Because of the power outage, you probably couldn't see those files." Dance was glad that they could clear the files in her office computer before she saw the files. "Don't worry, my PDA has a backup, it's a huge file, but as long as I have access to a computer..." "That's really lucky." Dance lied again, trying to hide his anger. "I've already called Shams. It makes me sad to think about telling him the bad news." "So do we." Dance has fully integrated into the role he played, "Did you call the police?" "We're not going to get the police involved until he agrees, Shams doesn't trust them." "Smart move," Dance said, smiling. "Are you in town?" There was a long pause on the phone. "I was supposed to be on that flight this morning." "Really?" Dance pretended to be sympathetic, but he actually hoped that her body was lying on the playground now, and things would go a lot better. "This whole thing is so sad. Can we meet up?" Dance continued. "Maybe we can go find Shams together?" "I'll be out for a while now, but I'll be home later." "We can talk this afternoon." "Call my cell phone or my home number at..." "I'll take a pencil," Dance said, pretending to write down her home number, playing the role seriously, "tell me!" "The phone number is 914, 273, 9296." "...9296. Written it down. If you have time, call me at this mobile number." Dance hangs up Sam's phone.He hates new technology. He would rather talk than write e-mail, and would rather use a regular phone book and notepad than a computer. PDA...he hates PDA even more now.How did technology get so advanced that there was a way to put surveillance tape in a handheld device? Dance took out the walkie-talkie and pressed the code. "Listen," Dance said through the encrypted channel, "put down what you're doing, and go find Julia Quinn, an attorney at Ecolena, who lives in Barry Hill. Pull up the DMV information, Find her car, she's out there somewhere right now. Go patrol her house, I don't care what you do, we've got to find her, or our happy life will be over soon." "What happened to the box?" A voice seriously disturbed by static electricity came from the intercom. "Don't worry about that, that's my problem. You just do what I tell you to do. Repeat, Julia Quinn, if you find her, never let her out of your sight, call immediately Give it to me. If she runs away, just shoot her."
Julia hangs up her phone, glad to have someone else to help investigate the heist.Her mood today was like a roller coaster ride. She was glad that she had escaped death, but also sad that so many people lost their lives. She was also sad because there was a thief in Shams' basement, but she couldn't contact him.But mostly she feels guilty about surviving.The heaviness weighed down as she sat by the gas station in Bedford Village. When Marcus drove up, she turned her head, and Nick jumped out of the car, rushed to her quickly, and pulled her into his arms hard.Julia hugged him back as if she hadn't seen her in a month, tears welling up as she rested her head on his shoulder.All the confusion, the joy of surviving, and the sadness of this tragedy poured out. She almost left like this. The plane took all the passengers sitting beside her. gone. "Listen," Nick said, "I don't have time to explain, but we gotta get out of here now." Julia looked up and looked into his eyes. "I love you." Nick's smile widened, and he put his hands behind her head, pulling her closer, and kissed her softly, a kiss that could express more than words. "Hmm." Marcus, who was standing next to the car, cleared his throat deliberately, trying to get their attention. Nick took Julia by the hand and led her to the Bentley. "Hi, Marcus," Julia said, "I didn't expect you two to come here together." "Nice to meet you, Julia." Julia turned back to Nick. "I have to go to Pond Hills to pick up a doctor to the scene of the crash." "Let someone else pick it up!" Nick said suddenly. "What about my car?" "Don't worry about that, we have to get you out of here first." Nick opened the car door and let her into the back seat. "Why are you so nervous?" Nick got into the front seat, closed the door, and turned to face her. "It's about the Washington mansion robbery." "How did you know about the robbery?" Julia asked in surprise. "Just as if I heard the wind!" "It's unreasonable." Julia started cross-examination mode in the spirit of a lawyer, "How do you know?" Nick was thinking hard, he didn't want Julia to know the truth, he didn't want her to know anything about the pocket watch in his pocket, and he didn't want to tell her that he was trying to prevent a murder that would happen in the next eight hours.He had already told her twice that someone was after her.Once in the kitchen at six-thirty, before she died, and again in her office at five-thirty, before they got into a shootout.Both times it proved that revealing this information would do nothing to save her. "I talked to Paul Travers." "How did you know Paul?" Julia asked in surprise, still in lawyer mode. "I don't know him. He called the house." Nick worried that he was lying too much. "I had a little chat with him when he introduced himself. He mentioned to me about the robbery." It was the truest lie Nick ever told Julia. "Strange, I just spoke to his brother, Sam Travers, on the phone a few minutes ago. He wanted to meet with me to see the robbery surveillance tapes on my PDA." Julia pulled out the PDA. "What?" Nick was shocked, he knew that Sam had crashed and died. Hearing this, Marcus immediately started the car and started on the road.They drove along the twisty section of Route 22, past lakes and forests and the occasional house, and he kept going at seventy miles an hour and kept going. "Julia," Nick turned to his wife in the back seat, "listen to me..." "I don't like your tone, Nick," Julia said. "You're scaring me. Tell me what the hell is going on?" "The bandits are after you and your PDA," Nick said. "I don't want to take any chances." "Don't you think your imagination is too rich today? I'm fine." Julia showed him with her arms bent like a boxing champion. "This is no joke," Nick yelled, "They're going to kill you!" "Don't yell at me," Julia retorted. "Who's going to kill me? If you know who it is, call the police." "Absolutely not," Nick interrupted her. "Shams is right. Don't let the police get involved unless he allows it." "How do you know?" Julia stared at Nick, there was silence between the two of them, they paused for a moment, "I never told you this." "Yes, you have." Nick lied confidently. "Nick," Julia corrected him, "Shams did say that, it was his principle, but I never told you, never told anyone. The only person who knew was Travers Man, Sam and I talked about this about fifteen minutes ago." "Julia," Nick said gravely, looking into Julia's eyes from above the leather chair, "Sam Travers died in a plane crash, and I don't know who you talked to, but it wasn't Sam." For a moment Julia was speechless. The railway station at Barry Hill remains as it was in the early 20th century.The British style building, the ticket booth made of rough stone, and the waiting room have a copper green roof, which blends with the leaves of the big oak tree on the small parking lot.The old-fashioned platform is made of seventy-five yards of cedar planks. During peak hours, there will be hundreds of passengers lined up here, and the sound of people's footsteps on the planks echoes constantly in the station. However, at this time, there was no one in the small station except for the old conductor. Marcus pulled into the parking lot and parked directly in front of the ticket booth. "What's going on?" Nick asked in the passenger seat. "If you ask me for help, I can also ask my friends for help!" Nick looked around and saw no one except the man at the ticket window. "The express train to New York will be here in three minutes. The first stop is Grand Central Terminal, and Ben and his men will meet her on the platform. Of the people we know, who do you think she can trust her life to?" ?Even if an entire army came looking for someone, Ben would have the means to protect her, let alone a bad cop or two." Ben Taylor, a longtime friend of Marcus's for indeterminate years, retired after twenty years of service (five years in Naval Special Forces, five years as Delta Force captain, and another ten years no one knew what he was doing ).After retiring, he started a consulting firm with Marcus' help, and he was the first and only friend Marcus kept in touch with after boot training.Taylor's small company has done well and won many contracts at home and abroad. Marcus doesn't want to know too much about these.Marcus will continue to be interested in his actions, partly to collect gossip that he can brag about and play cool with, mainly after the quarterly executive committee meeting to play golf at the country club and share stories of each other's conquest of women. Talk about experience. "I'm not sure," Nick said hesitantly. "Who taught you how to shoot?" Marcus said defiantly. "Who bought you a pistol and a license so easily? Who would you give your life to? Ben suggested taking the train because he couldn't help it." Send someone over in the hour. That's your time limit, remember? He said as soon as she got on the train, she'd be taken straight to New York City." Marcus got out of the car, walked to the ticket booth, and bought a one-way ticket to Grand Central. He came back with the ticket and handed it to Julia. "Listen, he's coming to you on this platform, you must know him; he's six foot four, redheaded, super flirtatious. You saw him at my wedding." Julia nodded with a smile, got out of the car and gave Marcus a silent hug, and Marcus hugged her back. "You'll be fine, he's the one I trust the most," Marcus said. "That's what I was going to say, will you take care of him? Don't let him do stupid things?" Julia pointed at Nick. "It's not easy." "What are you talking about?" Nick asked. "I'm going with you." Marcus looked at him as a matter of course, "Do you think I'll let you do that alone?" "I don't want you to go into this muddy water." "What are you talking about? You've pulled me in." Nick couldn't deny it. "But I want you to go with her..." "I'll be all right," said Julia, "just a train ride..." Nick held out his hand to stop her from speaking. "Why do you think I asked Ben to take care of Julia?" Marcus said. "She's safe and out of danger now, and you can rest assured that we can focus on our business." The whistle of the train approached from the north. Julia took Nick's hands and looked into the depths of his eyes. "I love you, I love you more than my life." Nick gazed at her with fear, worried that she wouldn't be safe in the car alone. "I'll be fine." Julia squeezed his hand, just as her mother had comforted her when she was a child. "Be careful." "I will, I just want you to get out of here until I get this sorted out." "You will come to pick me up, because we still have things to talk about, and we still have to live." "I'll see you before ten o'clock tonight, I promise. But I don't think we'll be able to have dinner with Moles." "This is your plan to avoid dinner, isn't it?" Julia said with a smile. "I have something important to tell you when you pick me up, so don't be late." The train came round the bend towards the station. "I won't be late." Nick accompanied her onto the platform. "This should be given to you." After Julia finished speaking, she took out the PDA from her purse and handed it to Nick. "Thanks." Nick stuffed it into his pocket. "Remember what you promised me," she yelled at Marcus. "Don't be stupid." The train came into the station, screeching as it braked.After the door was opened, a gust of wind blew from inside the car to where they were standing. "See you at ten," said Julia. Nick pulled her over and gave her a lingering kiss, and the love of a lifetime flooded their hearts in an instant.The door beeps and is about to close.He reluctantly let her go. "Ten o'clock, I won't be late," Nick said. Julia walked into the car, and the door that separated the two of them closed. "I love you," Julia said lip-syncing from the other side of the car door. The train left the station. "It's my job to protect the goalkeeper," Marcus said behind him. "You're such an idiot." "Maybe!" Marcus tugged at his tie and tucked the hem of his white shirt into his trousers. "But this idiot is working for you now."
Horace Randall was six months away from retiring.After twenty-five years of hard work in the police force, he hopes to save enough money for retirement, but life is so helpless, and his retirement fund has been exhausted.In December, he was leaving the police force, and he didn't have a dime in the bank. He entered the police force at the age of twenty-eight, full of anger and resentment towards the society, and wanted to bring justice to others.But in a system where there is no right or wrong, there are gray areas everywhere. After working like this for a few years, time has worn away his youthful ambition.For the past ten years, he's just put on a show, written reports, and drank beer to get by. He never fired a gun while on duty, never chased a suspect, never experienced the legendary life of a police officer, and he lived a relaxed life anyway. Ten years ago, when Danse first entered the police force, Randall was responsible for mentoring him, taking him under his wing, teaching him the rules of the police world, and promoting him quickly to the rank of detective.He was well aware of the side errands Dance took on in his spare time, as long as they didn't affect Randall.He is not a model policeman, but he is a moral policeman who will never expose his colleagues. Randall weighed two hundred and forty pounds. He had gained ten pounds a year for the past eight years, and his thirty-two-inch waist was an extremely distant memory.Some young policemen thought he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses for fashion, but he had been wearing the same frames since he was fifteen. After Dans learned about Randall's situation, he suggested a solution to his pension. A generous bank deposit would allow him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Now, it's Randall's job to find Julia.Although they had originally planned to go to her house tonight, God knows what made Danse move up the schedule.It would have been easier if they had gone as planned. Everyone only knows that Randall is lazy, but most people don't understand that laziness can give birth to ingenuity; if necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the father of invention.Randall didn't want to drive around looking for Julia when a lot could be done with just a few words on the keyboard. While everything is on hold in Barry Hill, people still shop, eat and refuel.Faced with such a tragedy, life still has to be lived.Randall listed Julia as a missing person in the Northeast crash, emailing and faxing her photo to police stations and train stations in jurisdictions across the state line, as well as restaurants, gas stations and stores in the local and neighboring towns . She is a beautiful woman, and the photos placed in the DMV will not be ignored, and those who receive the information will pay special attention, but he did not expect that he would receive a call so soon.He is glad that in today's day and in this day and age, the citizens of the county can still unite in the face of catastrophe. The express train was almost empty.It's daytime and there's not much people going in or out of the city, unlike rush hour when you can't find a seat at all.There were only two other passengers in the car.An elderly lady in a Chanel suit, seemingly on her way to a Friday night social, is buried in a novel; a young man in a doctor's surgical gown is trying to sit up straight and stay awake reading a newspaper. Julia rarely took the train because it was inconvenient and restrictive, preferring to drive in and out of the city where she could listen to the radio and talk on the phone when she was free. When she was finally seated, she couldn't believe that she had been on flight 502, even buckled up her seat belt and waited for takeoff.However, now that she was fleeing on this train, the feeling of being lucky to be rescued and escaped death was really short-lived. She will never understand what is going on in the hearts of those who make others suffer. How can there be people who deliberately hurt others?She never worried that her life would be in danger, never thought about her own death, but in less than two hours, she found that she had looked at death from various angles, all of which made her cherish life more and even more Understand the value of time.Life is really a pretty precious thing. Both Marcus and Nick told her not to worry, but it only made her more worried.她不知道尼克为什么这么害怕，但他们在一起的十六年来，除了闪电和坐飞机之外他什么都不怕。她安抚自己害怕的心情，把一切全交给她的丈夫。他并不笨，甚至可说是聪明绝顶。他的才智不仅让他事业成功，连生活也很得意。如果这世上有人能救她，能解决这些困难，那人就非尼克莫属。 茱莉亚摸摸肚皮，她的肚子仍很平坦，但她感觉得到有个生命在她的子宫里成长，她跟尼克的爱情结晶能让他们永远联系在一起。不知道基因的会怎么运作？孩子会长得像尼克和茱莉亚吗？也许这孩子会是两人的综合？金发、褐发，也许是红发？他们双方家族都有红发。会是绿眼还是蓝眼？但毋庸置疑，这孩子一定会是个运动健将，他会跟随父母的脚步：又或许不会，要是这孩子讨厌运动怎么办？不管这个新生儿是怎么样的，她都会很高兴，因为这是他们的孩子，是他们新的生活重心，这个孩子将会改变两人生活中所有的先后顺序。 她本来计划一见到尼克就告诉他这件事，但要给他看那张伟大的超声波照片的惊喜已经泡汤了。马库斯跟尼克一起出现，因此她的好消息只好等一阵子再说。 当她想着这一切时，火车突然慢慢停了下来。茱莉亚看着窗外，突然听到心跳的怦怦声。他们停在半途，完全没靠近任何车站。这列车是特快车，下一站应该是中央车站，他们应该直接开进曼哈顿才对。 茱莉亚把头伸出来，望着狭窄的过道，目光穿过两节车厢之间的玻璃门，但什么也没看到。茱莉亚祈祷着这只是火车事故，跟她无关，希望这一切只是巧合，于是她又坐回座位上。列车长没有宣布任何事，没有人通知乘客现在是什么状况，检票员也没有现身，除了茱莉亚之外，没有人在乎。 门一下子打开了，另外两名乘客抬头看了一下，但很快又回到自己的思绪中，埋头看书或看报，完全不关心到底发生了什么事。 This is no coincidence.茱莉亚蜷在座位上，拿出手机。有生以来，她从不曾如此慌乱。她想逃，她跑得很快，可以跑赢任何人。但她却不知道该往哪个方向跑。 她拨快速键给尼克，求助的话语就要脱口而出。她的手机响着，响了又响，最后转到语音信箱。 那个人来了，就站在她身旁。一个发型很难看，戴着牛角框眼镜，身材肥胖，呼吸沉重的中年人。他肥大的手上拿着一张相片，先看看相片，再看看她。 “嗨，茱莉亚·昆恩。”
尼克读着茱莉亚的PDA。虽然打不开录像文件，但文件倒是能顺利阅览。他读着汉尼寇存放在华盛顿大宅木箱内的物品清单。莫奈、毕加索、雷诺阿和戈登·格林的作品，各时期的世界名画，古代到近代都有。古董和雕像数量庞大，种类也很丰富。 这份清单尼克已经读过三遍，每次都大为惊异，这些收藏品足以跟顶级的博物馆一较长短。但他怎么都找不到红木盒。他将这个文件以年份、种类、地点和时代来分别分类，但还是找不到任何有关那个红木盒的内容。 “有什么东西重二十五磅，装在两英尺见方的红木盒里，又能让百万富翁不肯说出其价值？” 马库斯摇摇头，开车穿过拜瑞丘后山的路朝市中心驶去。“几块金条或许有那个重量，但跟高价相差甚远，二十五磅的钻石倒有可能价值上亿。” "I think so." “你为什么要找那个？” “山姆拿走了那个东西，这场小劫案因此才变糟了。” “没有任何东西值得让人为它而死。爱情除外，你对某人的感情如果够强烈也许就会不一样。” “我不认为有人会为了自己想要的东西而死，他们内心总会认为自己可以活下来。” “如果那东西在飞机上，现在很可能早就被烧掉了，谁在乎呢？”马库斯追问，“问题是我们怎么才能找到那个丹斯？” “用诱饵。”尼克举高PDA。 “我们抓到他之后要怎么做？你怎么知道不是全警局的人都是坏蛋？” “我认识一个我信得过的人。”尼克打开手机拨号。 绿色福特和蓝色宾利敞篷车迎面相对，停在拜瑞丘高中的停车场中央，一条半英里长的空旷区域是唯一的出入口。由于学校目前没有人上课，加上一英里外的空难，这间学校也跟镇上其他地方一样空无一人。 “你是谁？”丹斯从绿色福特车上下来。 尼克瞪着他，压下对这个人的愤怒和怨恨。这个人在未来企图杀死他，还杀了二等兵马纳斯和保罗·卓弗斯，更是害死茱莉亚的主谋。 “你一个人来吗？”尼克问。 “没错，不过你似乎不是一个人。”丹斯看到站在宾利车旁的马库斯。 尼克举起PDA。“你知道这是什么吗？” 丹斯不发一语。 “这是一份安防资料的拷贝，里面有好几段影片都拍到你和你的朋友闯入华盛顿大宅抢劫。”其实除了一个尚未弄清身份的模糊影像之外，尼克根本没看到丹斯或其他人，但丹斯并不知道这点，“我想山姆搞砸了。” “谁？”丹斯假装不知道。 “你记得山姆吧，那个找你帮忙的人呀！你不是很兴奋吗？这个山姆现在已经跟两百多个罹难者的尸体一起躺在苏利文运动场了。” “那台PDA，”丹斯说，“应该是茱莉亚·昆恩的PDA吧。” 尼克不擅长面无表情，但他还是努力掩饰脸上的憎恨。 “我有东西可以跟你交换。”丹斯微笑着说，“她人在我手上。” 尼克感到放心，他知道茱莉亚正坐在去纽约的火车上，他有优势。 “搞不好是你犯的案。”丹斯继续施压。 "what?" “你知道贿赂警官是重罪吗？” “少来这套，没有用的。” 丹斯背对入口，所以没看到身后有辆绿色吉普车开过来。那辆属于军队的吉普车从丹斯身边驶过，然后停下。二等兵马纳斯从驾驶座走下来，后面跟着三个身穿国民警卫队绿色军服的人，他们腰上都佩着手枪，肩上挂着来复枪。 尼克很高兴看到这个年轻人还活得好好的。“我是打电话给你的尼克·昆恩。” “我不知道我们能做些什么，昆恩先生。这不是我们负责的范围，我们现在应该在空难现场才对。” “这件事不需要太长的时间。” “你怎么会认识我？”马纳斯问，“我不记得我见过你。” “柯隆尼·威尔斯给我你的手机号码。”尼克说。他知道只要提到长官，军人就不会再问问题。尼克没告诉对方他会在未来给他电话号码，对马纳斯来说，这个未来仍然不定，因为在下午结束前他就会死。尼克希望自己可以救人，希望能还给马纳斯一个未来。“你是射击课的高材生，刚拿到企管硕士学位，讨厌做汉堡。”他说。 马纳斯一脸惊讶，没想到一个陌生人竟知道这么多有关他的事。 “你怎么不快点坐上那辆小吉普车回空难现场去玩军人游戏？”丹斯咬牙切齿。 “那你怎么不稍微注意一下你的言行？”马纳斯反击。 “你在这里没有任何职权。”丹斯反唇相讥。 “这点州长会反驳你，宪法也一样。根据州长的说法，我们在紧急情况下拥有州长授予的最高权力，在各地都可以管事。” “我不需要听你这个小兵鬼话连篇。”丹斯说完便把手放在枪托上。 马纳斯立刻举起来复枪，并扳开保险栓，其他三个国民警卫队士兵也照做。他们都把枪口指向丹斯。这些拿枪的人不超过二十二岁，有生以来应该从不曾碰到过这种情况。 “如果你想挑战权威，”马纳斯对这位中年警察说，“我建议你赶快打电话叫你同事过来，我跟你保证，如果选择拔枪，你就永远不会知道答案。我的权力大过于你。” “你干涉我的调查行动。”丹斯怒视着四根瞄准他的枪管。 “等你的手从枪上移开，我们就可以把事情弄清楚。” “等着瞧。”丹斯边说边看着马纳斯身后，“也许我们可以用不同方式解决此事。” 两辆警车从前面的路上驶来，引擎轰隆作响，闪灯旋转，警笛在静音状态。警车紧急刹车，四个穿制服的警察跳出来，拔枪站在车门后面，摆出射击的架势。 三名国民警卫队士兵立刻蹲到吉普车后，把武器转向那些警察。 “放下武器，”一个红发的巡警大喊，“马上放下。” 马纳斯仍拿着枪瞄准丹斯。“我是国民警卫队士兵马纳斯，纽约州长授权我们来处理案件，我们现在在这个镇上的权力超越你们的管辖权。你可以用对讲机确认。” “放下武器。”那位巡警又喊，瘦削的身子颤抖着。 紧张的气氛仍在持续攀升，没有人肯让步，空气中充满浓浓的火药味。警察和国民警卫队士兵从车后彼此对望；马纳斯的枪始终瞄准丹斯的额头，随时能让他一枪毙命；丹斯的手扣在手枪上方，蓄势待发。 尼克和马库斯则被困在中央。 “快打电话去问！”马纳斯大喊，“免得有人犯下大错。” 这一刻充满紧张的气氛，时间滴答滴答地过去…… 红发巡警突然消失，进入车内。其他三个警察仍留守原地，跟国民警卫队士兵一样高举着枪，没有任何人退缩。 尼克和马库斯交换了一下眼神，从没想过会演变成这种局面。 那位巡警下车，平静地从车子前面绕过来，他的枪在枪套里，两手垂在身侧。他转向同伴，示意他们收起枪。“你不知道自己刚刚做了什么，布纳哈特。”丹斯对这位年轻的巡警说。 “警探，”布纳哈特对丹斯说，“这个人说得没错，我建议你不要拔枪。” 丹斯眼中充满愤恨，却只能屈服。 “现在，”布纳哈特警官说，“有没有人能告诉我这是怎么回事？” “华盛顿大宅今天早上发生了一起抢劫案，”尼克说，“丹斯警官就是犯案的主谋。” 布纳哈特转向丹斯。 “你确定吗？”丹斯反驳说，“这两个人才是犯案主谋，他们刚刚还想贿赂我呢。” 马纳斯和布纳哈特将注意力转向尼克。 “这真是太荒谬了。”尼克指着那辆福特，他知道里面装了什么。“你们检查他的后备厢就知道了。” “那你为什么不检查他们的车子？”丹斯大吼，汗水从太阳穴滴落，“他们想拿价值一百万的钻石封我的口。” 二等兵马纳斯和布纳哈特警官面面相觑，思考着到底怎么做比较好。 “你们两个何不把钥匙交给我们？”马纳斯终于开口。 布纳哈特走向丹斯。“抱歉，长官，我需要用钥匙。” 丹斯拿出钥匙，用力放到布纳哈特手上，气呼呼地瞪着尼克。 马库斯把手伸进口袋，等布纳哈特走过来后把钥匙交给他。 警察们和国民警卫队士兵们都沉默地望着布纳哈特。布纳哈特先走到福特车后，打开后备厢车盖，他往里看时，身体挡住了大家的视线。他顿了顿，手伸进去一下，很快就盖起来。他一言不发地走到宾利敞篷跑车这边，打开后备厢，又看看里面，也很快地盖起来。他站在那里片刻，轮流看着尼克、丹斯和马库斯。然后又走向乘客座，打开车门，坐在豪华皮椅上，把钥匙插进去，打开置物箱。他把手伸进小置物箱时，大家的视线又一次因为被挡住而看不到。 布纳哈特从豪华跑车上走下，关上车门，拿出手铐。 他走向丹斯，用充满歉意的口吻说：“很抱歉造成您的困扰。” 随后，他转向尼克。“请把手放到身后。” “你说什么？”尼克望着马纳斯。 “警官，你找到了什么？”马纳斯问。 “请别让现在的情况更难堪。”布纳哈特对尼克说，强迫他转身，戴上手铐。 布纳哈特把钥匙交给马纳斯。 马纳斯走向马库斯的车，手伸进乘客座，打开置物箱，拿出一个小袋子。他解开那个小黑绒布包，里面有一大把闪亮的钻石。 “你这个王八蛋，竟然故意栽赃。”马库斯对布纳哈特大骂，然后转向丹斯。“到底有几个人替你办事？这些人全都是跟你一伙的吗？警官，你的廉洁到底值多少？”他转身对布纳哈特大吼大叫，然后又转向丹斯，“你逃不掉的。” “转身。”丹斯命令马库斯。 “你做梦，你这个禽兽。” 丹斯抓住马库斯的手臂，但他却犯了大错。虽然丹斯体格精壮，未满四十，但马库斯却在盛怒之中抓住丹斯的手，瞬间给他个过肩摔，然后又把他拉过来，向他用力挥了一拳，强劲的力道打在丹斯的下巴上，一拳就把他击倒在地。 马库斯又握起拳头，但马纳斯用枪托打中了他的后脑勺，将他击昏，他倒在警探身旁的地上。 马纳斯转向自己的手下，点头示意他们上吉普车。“很抱歉。”马纳斯对丹斯说。 丹斯瞪着这个兼差的二等兵。“也许你和你的同伴应该回空难现场去，让我们自己处理这件事。” “我向您道歉，警官。”马纳斯说。 这名士兵对丹斯伸出手，想拉他起来，但丹斯不理会他的协助和道歉，兀自站起身，揉揉淤青的下巴。 二等兵不再多说，直接跳进驾驶座，迅速驶离。 “布纳哈特，你帮忙把他们带进去。”丹斯转向另外三名警察，“这里接下来由我们处理就行了，快回空难现场去帮助那些痛失亲人的可怜家属吧！” 三名警察转身上车离开。 丹斯转过来，靠近尼克的脸。 “他知道吗？”尼克问。 丹斯继续瞪着尼克，沉默不语。 “知道什么？”布纳哈特蹲在不省人事的马库斯身旁，把他的手放到身后，戴上手铐。 尼克低头看着这个年轻的红发警察，他身穿崭新的蓝色警察制服，尼克花了好几分钟才认出他是谁。“我告诉你，伊森·丹斯警探打算把他后备厢内的重物绑在你的脚踝上，把你丢进凯斯克水库淹死，然后……” 丹斯用枪敲打尼克的脑袋侧面，把他击倒在地。 “也许我是打算把你丢进那个水库里。”丹斯说，又用力踢了一下已经头晕目眩的尼克。 “你到底跑到哪里去了？”才一下车，丹斯就大吼。 “事情那么多很难走开。”布纳哈特说，他关上身后那扇二十英尺高的大门走向车子后方，“你看到坠机现场了吗？真是太恐怖了。” 布纳哈特打开后备厢，从车里拿出两大袋东西放进丹斯车的后备厢里。 “我可能会被杀！”丹斯继续骂这名年轻的警察。 “别紧张，我不是救了你吗？”布纳哈特挥挥手。 “那些钻石在哪里？” 布纳哈特从口袋里拿出黑色绒布包交给丹斯。 “老天，要是有一颗钻石不见了……” “你这样跟刚救了你一命的人说话也太凶了吧！” “你给我小心点。”丹斯指着布纳哈特的脸，“那是因为我聪明，知道要先把这些袋子从车里拿出来，而且还知道要你带人来救我。” “是喔。要是我后面那个男的知道你跟这起劫案有关就惨了，不知道还有多少人知道呢？”布纳哈特靠近丹斯，近到侵犯他的私人空间，“还有，他刚刚说你会把我丢进水库淹死是什么意思？丹斯，你想杀我吗？你想杀了我们全部吗？我不认为你够了解我。” “你给我认真听着，”丹斯凑得更近，“你要小心点，否则一毛钱也拿不到。” “丹斯，”布纳哈特说，“你可别忘了，他们是冲着你来的，又不是我。” “你以为我会为你挡子弹吗？你真不了解我。如果情况变糟，我很可能真的会把你丢进那座湖。” 布纳哈特的脸色变得很难看，他斗不过丹斯，于是静静地从腰带上解下手枪交给丹斯。“这是我从那个人身上拿到的。” “干得好，布纳哈特。现在我们需要的指纹都在上面了。” 尼克和马库斯彼此相隔十英尺，面对面坐在一个阴暗的房间里，唯一的光线来自不锈钢门底下的缝隙。两人的手都被铐在后面，脚被绑在椅脚上。 “你没事吧？”尼克问。 “我没事，我只是快气死了，背又痛得要命。我一定要打烂那个打我的人的嘴。”马库斯大骂，他前后转着头，扭动手脚，“你知道我们在哪里吗？” 尼克看看四周，这是一片偌大的空地，墙边有一堆板条箱，角落有一张桌子。这里跟拜瑞丘其他地方一样，没有电力。 “我们在一个阴暗的房间里。”尼克试着安抚他的朋友。 “你这自以为聪明的家伙。” “这是一间仓库。” “真的假的？”马库斯夸张地说，“大家都跑到哪里去了？” “大家都在坠机现场或是家里。” “你知道我每年给警察退休基金会多少钱吗？”马库斯低头看着皱巴巴的衬衫和破掉的裤子，“我以后再也不会给他们钱了。他们毁了我完美的衬衫和裤子。” 尼克看看墙上的时钟，一点五十分。 “不要再看时钟了，”马库斯说，“再看时间也不会变慢。” 尼克只剩不到十分钟让自己和马库斯离开这里，否则接着他又要跳回过去，留马库斯独自一人面对残酷的丹斯。 尼克努力压下罪恶感。他想救茱莉亚，却让最好的朋友陷入险境。尼克不希望自己的手染上马库斯的鲜血，只要一有机会，他就会想办法救他出去，但他的动作得快一点，如果他们继续处在现在这种情况，就不大可能会有活命的机会。 丹斯从侧门走进来，砰的一声用力关上门。他沉默地走进房间，绕着两个俘虏打转，最后停在尼克面前，凑到他耳边低语：“尼克，你老婆在哪儿？” 尼克瞪着他，眼中燃烧着怒火。 “我问你，”丹斯转向马库斯，“她在哪？还有谁知道这起劫案的事？” 马库斯带着嘲讽的笑容，就像特有的那个表情，他在谈判桌上常用这种表情对付生意上的对手。 “你听到我说的话了吗？”丹斯突然火冒三丈，“她在哪里？还有谁知道这起劫案？” 丹斯举起拳头，重重地打在马库斯的鼻子上，这是马库斯一生中第四次鼻梁断裂。鲜血滴落，流到白衬衫和蓝色爱马仕领带上。 “我告诉你，”马库斯低语，完全不受刚刚那一拳的影响，“你才要听我说，懦夫。放开我的手我们再来较量，让我看看你有多厉害。” 丹斯又在马库斯脸上多揍几拳当作回应。 “告诉我她在哪里。”丹斯对尼克吼，并拔枪对准他，气氛紧张至极，“认得你的枪吗？” 然后丹斯突然转身，把枪抵在马库斯的头上，把枪管挤进他的下巴底下。 “告诉我你老婆在哪里，否则我就毙了他。”丹斯对尼克说。他不需要多做威胁，尼克从丹斯的眼神可以看出来，他说到做到。 尼克凝视着马库斯，感到一阵心痛，他必须选择谁生谁死。 马库斯看着尼克，微微摇头，笑了笑。那是个温暖的苦笑，当尼克没接到那颗能定输赢的球时，马库斯都会那样对他笑。那是一种“一切都会没事，因为我们是好朋友”的笑。每次，当马库斯的妻子离开时，两人就是这样一笑置之。 “好啊！有种你就开枪！到时我一定会杀了你。”尼克愤恨地说。 “想太多了，”丹斯说，“下一个就轮到你。” “你他妈的……”尼克死命地在椅子上挣扎，脖子上青筋突起，双手猛烈挣扎却无济于事。 “尼克。”马库斯轻唤。 “你给我听着，你这个混蛋！”尼克对丹斯大吼，不理会朋友的呼唤。 “茱莉亚已经安全了。”马库斯轻柔的话语仿佛在恳求一般。 “我要挖出你的心脏！”尼克对丹斯尖叫，拼命摇动椅子，感到无比的挫败。 “尼克。”马库斯又低声叫他，终于吸引了他的注意力。马库斯希望能让朋友镇定下来，这么轻柔的声音实在跟他的性格相反。“茱莉亚已经安全了。知道这点我就觉得很安慰，别为我担心。” 门缓缓打开，一名肥胖的男子站在门口，尼克认得他，他就是杀害茱莉亚的凶手的同伙。茱莉亚被杀时，就是这个人站在前门按电铃转移他的注意力，让他无法保护她。 “很好。”丹斯的口气放心了许多。 他扣下扳机，枪声震天，马库斯的头往后爆开，鲜血四溅。 尼克的目光完全无法从他死去朋友的身上移开，子弹射穿他头部的声音在耳中回荡不去，此时门口又传来让人血液冻结的尖叫。 尼克转过头去时，感到所有希望瞬间消失，所有努力都功亏一篑。他最好的朋友死了，他无力挽救，丹斯却逍遥法外。 那个站在门口害怕得大声尖叫的人，露出一脸惊恐的表情，那个人，是他从没想到的人。 他看到茱莉亚无助地站在那里时，心都要碎了。 随后，整个世界化成一片黑暗。
Notes: 中的虚构角色，形象是一只经常露齿嬉笑的猫。——编者注
The flames climbed six feet high, and the intense heat kept firefighters from getting even fifty yards closer.The sound of raging flames burning upwards sounded like an inhuman beast roaring, burning the metal fuselage mercilessly. Clouds of white foam were sprayed onto the wreckage-strewn sports field to extinguish the fuel-fueled blaze.Eight large water guns and countless water pipes sprayed arc-shaped water columns into the air, repelling the flames that were gradually burning towards the surrounding woods.Fortunately, this flight only flew a short distance to Boston, and the fuel tanks in the wings were only half full; the price of fuel has risen recently, and less fuel can also reduce the load.But even that didn't help the firefighters, who were desperately trying to keep three thousand gallons of fuel under control. Many firefighters in fire suits scoured the ground, hoping for a miracle, but found nothing but mutilated bodies and metal fragments.National Guard soldiers brought in a truckload of manpower supplies.The curious onlookers were full of horror after seeing this scene, and had to be escorted or supported by others to go out. Danse paced among the burning wreckage, ignoring the jets of water spraying into the flames, beading his blue top.There are so many dead people in front of him, so much death and suffering, but Danse doesn't feel any pity; he can't shed a tear of sympathy for the dead.Somewhere in here was Sam Travers's body, and the box he'd been dying to let go was nearby, a box of extraordinary value waiting for him.If a millionaire like Sam wants this box so much, instead of other gold and diamonds, this thing must be worth hundreds of millions. He couldn't help snickering, knowing that Travers had gotten his comeuppance.He wished he'd known he was about to die a horrible death when he fell from the sky. Even if the box hadn't been destroyed in the crash, Dance wasn't worried about someone finding it before he did.The crash site is a crime scene in itself, and anyone who steals from it is guilty of multiple felonies while being blamed by the public.If that heavy wooden box had escaped the air crash, no one would know its value. As a law enforcement officer at the scene of the air crash, Danse would naturally enter the open space full of wreckage and steal it before others found out. With Sam's betrayal and death, it's up to Dance and his men to find and destroy the surveillance tapes, hunting down anyone who might have seen them, to annihilate the evidence. When Sam contacted him a month ago, Dance thought it was a trap set by the police's internal monitoring agency.He thought that the policeman in charge of the police had finally caught him and was going to hook him with gold and diamonds. But after he checked with the police detective's investigation method, he found that Sam Travers was the incompetent brother of Paul Travers, the president and founder of DSG Security Company.Paul, the architect of the security system for Shams Hannikol's Washington mansion, was said to be a brilliant and hard-working inventor.Sam is the complete opposite, a complete slob, greedy and ungrateful for his ridiculously high salary and good life. Sam is the best partner in crime.He is cowardly and easy to control.He is a miracle sent by the devil, and he is the best partner to help Danse get out of trouble and get rid of Rukai in one fell swoop. Dance has robbed drug dealers of income, stolen items in the evidence room, and blackmailed criminals, but he has never made him a million dollars to redeem his life. Although Rukai's ultimatum made him angry, he knew there was no one to help him, and he had nowhere to run.The Albanian boss has eyes and ears everywhere, following him, the chosen lamb, at all times.No one will sympathize with a policeman who has strayed from the path. All policemen and criminals will hate Danse.Lu Kai's notoriety is based on real events, not some alarmist rumors.His execution style was notoriously slow and grueling, with victims demanding death for hours before they could be freed.Lu Kai eats Danse to death, and his only way to survive is to pay a ransom of one million yuan. Dance met Sam four times at the Shun Shun Yuan restaurant in Manhattan, where they discussed work, plans, security, and how to sell stolen goods.Sam said they would have backup surveillance tape, if not to the police station, then to Hanneko's local law firm office. Sam was sure that Hannickle's lawyer was Julia Quinn of Iconreiner, and a backup copy of the security data would be synced to her personal computer at the office.Sam had planned to go to her directly after the robbery, pretend to care about the aftermath of the robbery in the name of his company, and plant a virus on her computer so that the backup could be sent to remote monitoring at 2:00 a.m. All evidence was wiped out. Now, now that Sam was dead, Julia's business had to be handled by Danse. He and a few of his subordinates don't know about viruses or internal security procedures, nor do they know what the law firm's regulations are for readers of security evidence, but Dans has other ways to make the evidence disappear. After the robbery of Hannickle's astonishing collection of gold, silver and jewels, and the death of Sam, time passed so fast that he couldn't risk himself being involved in the crime. The robbery that was supposed to go according to plan has now turned into a disaster.At the same time that this tight plan fell apart, the plane fell from the sky again, and all the offices and houses in the town were cut off. The action in the morning left many sequelae, so it is a good thing to encounter this air crash.Air crashes are the perfect distraction.The entire town was without power, and many people rushed home in panic, leaving Barry Hill as a ghost town.Confusion and confusion are the perfect smoke bombs for him to clean up what Sam has set in motion. His men would soon be entering the Icon Reiner facility to remove any video evidence that would implicate them in the case, even if it would burn the place down.As for Shams' personal lawyer... Dance took the phone out of his pocket.It was Sam's cell phone, which he had foolishly left behind at the scene of the robbery as he fled to the plane with the box in his hands.Dans opened it, found the address book, and found that Julia's company and mobile phone numbers had been set up, but Sam was unable to call her as originally planned, nor could he meet with her at the company to discuss the robbery follow-up matters. Dance selects her cell phone number and presses the dial button.Conveniently, the caller would be identified as Sam Drovers, and the first steps of the deception would have been planned. "Mrs. Quinn?" "I am, who are you?" "I'm Sam Drovers from DSG Security," Dance lied. "Oh, you are Paul's younger brother, we haven't had a chance to meet yet." "You must know why I called." "Yeah," she said, "I can't figure out how they got in there." "Did you see the tape?" Dance tried not to be too eager. "Not yet, they destroyed the computer server at Hannik's house, and now I haven't returned to the office because of the plane crash and power outage." "Because of the power outage, you probably couldn't see those files." Dance was glad that they could clear the files in her office computer before she saw the files. "Don't worry, my PDA has a backup, it's a huge file, but as long as I have access to a computer..." "That's really lucky." Dance lied again, trying to hide his anger. "I've already called Shams. It makes me sad to think about telling him the bad news." "So do we." Dance has fully integrated into the role he played, "Did you call the police?" "We're not going to get the police involved until he agrees, Shams doesn't trust them." "Smart move," Dance said, smiling. "Are you in town?" There was a long pause on the phone. "I was supposed to be on that flight this morning." "Really?" Dance pretended to be sympathetic, but he actually hoped that her body was lying on the playground now, and things would go a lot better. "This whole thing is so sad. Can we meet up?" Dance continued. "Maybe we can go find Shams together?" "I'll be out for a while now, but I'll be home later." "We can talk this afternoon." "Call my cell phone or my home number at..." "I'll take a pencil," Dance said, pretending to write down her home number, playing the role seriously, "tell me!" "The phone number is 914, 273, 9296." "...9296. Written it down. If you have time, call me at this mobile number." Dance hangs up Sam's phone.He hates new technology. He would rather talk than write e-mail, and would rather use a regular phone book and notepad than a computer. PDA...he hates PDA even more now.How did technology get so advanced that there was a way to put surveillance tape in a handheld device? Dance took out the walkie-talkie and pressed the code. "Listen," Dance said through the encrypted channel, "put down what you're doing, and go find Julia Quinn, an attorney at Ecolena, who lives in Barry Hill. Pull up the DMV information, Find her car, she's out there somewhere right now. Go patrol her house, I don't care what you do, we've got to find her, or our happy life will be over soon." "What happened to the box?" A voice seriously disturbed by static electricity came from the intercom. "Don't worry about that, that's my problem. You just do what I tell you to do. Repeat, Julia Quinn, if you find her, never let her out of your sight, call immediately Give it to me. If she runs away, just shoot her."
Julia hangs up her phone, glad to have someone else to help investigate the heist.Her mood today was like a roller coaster ride. She was glad that she had escaped death, but also sad that so many people lost their lives. She was also sad because there was a thief in Shams' basement, but she couldn't contact him.But mostly she feels guilty about surviving.The heaviness weighed down as she sat by the gas station in Bedford Village. When Marcus drove up, she turned her head, and Nick jumped out of the car, rushed to her quickly, and pulled her into his arms hard.Julia hugged him back as if she hadn't seen her in a month, tears welling up as she rested her head on his shoulder.All the confusion, the joy of surviving, and the sadness of this tragedy poured out. She almost left like this. The plane took all the passengers sitting beside her. gone. "Listen," Nick said, "I don't have time to explain, but we gotta get out of here now." Julia looked up and looked into his eyes. "I love you." Nick's smile widened, and he put his hands behind her head, pulling her closer, and kissed her softly, a kiss that could express more than words. "Hmm." Marcus, who was standing next to the car, cleared his throat deliberately, trying to get their attention. Nick took Julia by the hand and led her to the Bentley. "Hi, Marcus," Julia said, "I didn't expect you two to come here together." "Nice to meet you, Julia." Julia turned back to Nick. "I have to go to Pond Hills to pick up a doctor to the scene of the crash." "Let someone else pick it up!" Nick said suddenly. "What about my car?" "Don't worry about that, we have to get you out of here first." Nick opened the car door and let her into the back seat. "Why are you so nervous?" Nick got into the front seat, closed the door, and turned to face her. "It's about the Washington mansion robbery." "How did you know about the robbery?" Julia asked in surprise. "Just as if I heard the wind!" "It's unreasonable." Julia started cross-examination mode in the spirit of a lawyer, "How do you know?" Nick was thinking hard, he didn't want Julia to know the truth, he didn't want her to know anything about the pocket watch in his pocket, and he didn't want to tell her that he was trying to prevent a murder that would happen in the next eight hours.He had already told her twice that someone was after her.Once in the kitchen at six-thirty, before she died, and again in her office at five-thirty, before they got into a shootout.Both times it proved that revealing this information would do nothing to save her. "I talked to Paul Travers." "How did you know Paul?" Julia asked in surprise, still in lawyer mode. "I don't know him. He called the house." Nick worried that he was lying too much. "I had a little chat with him when he introduced himself. He mentioned to me about the robbery." It was the truest lie Nick ever told Julia. "Strange, I just spoke to his brother, Sam Travers, on the phone a few minutes ago. He wanted to meet with me to see the robbery surveillance tapes on my PDA." Julia pulled out the PDA. "What?" Nick was shocked, he knew that Sam had crashed and died. Hearing this, Marcus immediately started the car and started on the road.They drove along the twisty section of Route 22, past lakes and forests and the occasional house, and he kept going at seventy miles an hour and kept going. "Julia," Nick turned to his wife in the back seat, "listen to me..." "I don't like your tone, Nick," Julia said. "You're scaring me. Tell me what the hell is going on?" "The bandits are after you and your PDA," Nick said. "I don't want to take any chances." "Don't you think your imagination is too rich today? I'm fine." Julia showed him with her arms bent like a boxing champion. "This is no joke," Nick yelled, "They're going to kill you!" "Don't yell at me," Julia retorted. "Who's going to kill me? If you know who it is, call the police." "Absolutely not," Nick interrupted her. "Shams is right. Don't let the police get involved unless he allows it." "How do you know?" Julia stared at Nick, there was silence between the two of them, they paused for a moment, "I never told you this." "Yes, you have." Nick lied confidently. "Nick," Julia corrected him, "Shams did say that, it was his principle, but I never told you, never told anyone. The only person who knew was Travers Man, Sam and I talked about this about fifteen minutes ago." "Julia," Nick said gravely, looking into Julia's eyes from above the leather chair, "Sam Travers died in a plane crash, and I don't know who you talked to, but it wasn't Sam." For a moment Julia was speechless. The railway station at Barry Hill remains as it was in the early 20th century.The British style building, the ticket booth made of rough stone, and the waiting room have a copper green roof, which blends with the leaves of the big oak tree on the small parking lot.The old-fashioned platform is made of seventy-five yards of cedar planks. During peak hours, there will be hundreds of passengers lined up here, and the sound of people's footsteps on the planks echoes constantly in the station. However, at this time, there was no one in the small station except for the old conductor. Marcus pulled into the parking lot and parked directly in front of the ticket booth. "What's going on?" Nick asked in the passenger seat. "If you ask me for help, I can also ask my friends for help!" Nick looked around and saw no one except the man at the ticket window. "The express train to New York will be here in three minutes. The first stop is Grand Central Terminal, and Ben and his men will meet her on the platform. Of the people we know, who do you think she can trust her life to?" ?Even if an entire army came looking for someone, Ben would have the means to protect her, let alone a bad cop or two." Ben Taylor, a longtime friend of Marcus's for indeterminate years, retired after twenty years of service (five years in Naval Special Forces, five years as Delta Force captain, and another ten years no one knew what he was doing ).After retiring, he started a consulting firm with Marcus' help, and he was the first and only friend Marcus kept in touch with after boot training.Taylor's small company has done well and won many contracts at home and abroad. Marcus doesn't want to know too much about these.Marcus will continue to be interested in his actions, partly to collect gossip that he can brag about and play cool with, mainly after the quarterly executive committee meeting to play golf at the country club and share stories of each other's conquest of women. Talk about experience. "I'm not sure," Nick said hesitantly. "Who taught you how to shoot?" Marcus said defiantly. "Who bought you a pistol and a license so easily? Who would you give your life to? Ben suggested taking the train because he couldn't help it." Send someone over in the hour. That's your time limit, remember? He said as soon as she got on the train, she'd be taken straight to New York City." Marcus got out of the car, walked to the ticket booth, and bought a one-way ticket to Grand Central. He came back with the ticket and handed it to Julia. "Listen, he's coming to you on this platform, you must know him; he's six foot four, redheaded, super flirtatious. You saw him at my wedding." Julia nodded with a smile, got out of the car and gave Marcus a silent hug, and Marcus hugged her back. "You'll be fine, he's the one I trust the most," Marcus said. "That's what I was going to say, will you take care of him? Don't let him do stupid things?" Julia pointed at Nick. "It's not easy." "What are you talking about?" Nick asked. "I'm going with you." Marcus looked at him as a matter of course, "Do you think I'll let you do that alone?" "I don't want you to go into this muddy water." "What are you talking about? You've pulled me in." Nick couldn't deny it. "But I want you to go with her..." "I'll be all right," said Julia, "just a train ride..." Nick held out his hand to stop her from speaking. "Why do you think I asked Ben to take care of Julia?" Marcus said. "She's safe and out of danger now, and you can rest assured that we can focus on our business." The whistle of the train approached from the north. Julia took Nick's hands and looked into the depths of his eyes. "I love you, I love you more than my life." Nick gazed at her with fear, worried that she wouldn't be safe in the car alone. "I'll be fine." Julia squeezed his hand, just as her mother had comforted her when she was a child. "Be careful." "I will, I just want you to get out of here until I get this sorted out." "You will come to pick me up, because we still have things to talk about, and we still have to live." "I'll see you before ten o'clock tonight, I promise. But I don't think we'll be able to have dinner with Moles." "This is your plan to avoid dinner, isn't it?" Julia said with a smile. "I have something important to tell you when you pick me up, so don't be late." The train came round the bend towards the station. "I won't be late." Nick accompanied her onto the platform. "This should be given to you." After Julia finished speaking, she took out the PDA from her purse and handed it to Nick. "Thanks." Nick stuffed it into his pocket. "Remember what you promised me," she yelled at Marcus. "Don't be stupid." The train came into the station, screeching as it braked.After the door was opened, a gust of wind blew from inside the car to where they were standing. "See you at ten," said Julia. Nick pulled her over and gave her a lingering kiss, and the love of a lifetime flooded their hearts in an instant.The door beeps and is about to close.He reluctantly let her go. "Ten o'clock, I won't be late," Nick said. Julia walked into the car, and the door that separated the two of them closed. "I love you," Julia said lip-syncing from the other side of the car door. The train left the station. "It's my job to protect the goalkeeper," Marcus said behind him. "You're such an idiot." "Maybe!" Marcus tugged at his tie and tucked the hem of his white shirt into his trousers. "But this idiot is working for you now."
Horace Randall was six months away from retiring.After twenty-five years of hard work in the police force, he hopes to save enough money for retirement, but life is so helpless, and his retirement fund has been exhausted.In December, he was leaving the police force, and he didn't have a dime in the bank. He entered the police force at the age of twenty-eight, full of anger and resentment towards the society, and wanted to bring justice to others.But in a system where there is no right or wrong, there are gray areas everywhere. After working like this for a few years, time has worn away his youthful ambition.For the past ten years, he's just put on a show, written reports, and drank beer to get by. He never fired a gun while on duty, never chased a suspect, never experienced the legendary life of a police officer, and he lived a relaxed life anyway. Ten years ago, when Danse first entered the police force, Randall was responsible for mentoring him, taking him under his wing, teaching him the rules of the police world, and promoting him quickly to the rank of detective.He was well aware of the side errands Dance took on in his spare time, as long as they didn't affect Randall.He is not a model policeman, but he is a moral policeman who will never expose his colleagues. Randall weighed two hundred and forty pounds. He had gained ten pounds a year for the past eight years, and his thirty-two-inch waist was an extremely distant memory.Some young policemen thought he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses for fashion, but he had been wearing the same frames since he was fifteen. After Dans learned about Randall's situation, he suggested a solution to his pension. A generous bank deposit would allow him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Now, it's Randall's job to find Julia.Although they had originally planned to go to her house tonight, God knows what made Danse move up the schedule.It would have been easier if they had gone as planned. Everyone only knows that Randall is lazy, but most people don't understand that laziness can give birth to ingenuity; if necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the father of invention.Randall didn't want to drive around looking for Julia when a lot could be done with just a few words on the keyboard. While everything is on hold in Barry Hill, people still shop, eat and refuel.Faced with such a tragedy, life still has to be lived.Randall listed Julia as a missing person in the Northeast crash, emailing and faxing her photo to police stations and train stations in jurisdictions across the state line, as well as restaurants, gas stations and stores in the local and neighboring towns . She is a beautiful woman, and the photos placed in the DMV will not be ignored, and those who receive the information will pay special attention, but he did not expect that he would receive a call so soon.He is glad that in today's day and in this day and age, the citizens of the county can still unite in the face of catastrophe. The express train was almost empty.It's daytime and there's not much people going in or out of the city, unlike rush hour when you can't find a seat at all.There were only two other passengers in the car.An elderly lady in a Chanel suit, seemingly on her way to a Friday night social, is buried in a novel; a young man in a doctor's surgical gown is trying to sit up straight and stay awake reading a newspaper. Julia rarely took the train because it was inconvenient and restrictive, preferring to drive in and out of the city where she could listen to the radio and talk on the phone when she was free. When she was finally seated, she couldn't believe that she had been on flight 502, even buckled up her seat belt and waited for takeoff.However, now that she was fleeing on this train, the feeling of being lucky to be rescued and escaped death was really short-lived. She will never understand what is going on in the hearts of those who make others suffer. How can there be people who deliberately hurt others?She never worried that her life would be in danger, never thought about her own death, but in less than two hours, she found that she had looked at death from various angles, all of which made her cherish life more and even more Understand the value of time.Life is really a pretty precious thing. Both Marcus and Nick told her not to worry, but it only made her more worried.她不知道尼克为什么这么害怕，但他们在一起的十六年来，除了闪电和坐飞机之外他什么都不怕。她安抚自己害怕的心情，把一切全交给她的丈夫。他并不笨，甚至可说是聪明绝顶。他的才智不仅让他事业成功，连生活也很得意。如果这世上有人能救她，能解决这些困难，那人就非尼克莫属。 茱莉亚摸摸肚皮，她的肚子仍很平坦，但她感觉得到有个生命在她的子宫里成长，她跟尼克的爱情结晶能让他们永远联系在一起。不知道基因的会怎么运作？孩子会长得像尼克和茱莉亚吗？也许这孩子会是两人的综合？金发、褐发，也许是红发？他们双方家族都有红发。会是绿眼还是蓝眼？但毋庸置疑，这孩子一定会是个运动健将，他会跟随父母的脚步：又或许不会，要是这孩子讨厌运动怎么办？不管这个新生儿是怎么样的，她都会很高兴，因为这是他们的孩子，是他们新的生活重心，这个孩子将会改变两人生活中所有的先后顺序。 她本来计划一见到尼克就告诉他这件事，但要给他看那张伟大的超声波照片的惊喜已经泡汤了。马库斯跟尼克一起出现，因此她的好消息只好等一阵子再说。 当她想着这一切时，火车突然慢慢停了下来。茱莉亚看着窗外，突然听到心跳的怦怦声。他们停在半途，完全没靠近任何车站。这列车是特快车，下一站应该是中央车站，他们应该直接开进曼哈顿才对。 茱莉亚把头伸出来，望着狭窄的过道，目光穿过两节车厢之间的玻璃门，但什么也没看到。茱莉亚祈祷着这只是火车事故，跟她无关，希望这一切只是巧合，于是她又坐回座位上。列车长没有宣布任何事，没有人通知乘客现在是什么状况，检票员也没有现身，除了茱莉亚之外，没有人在乎。 门一下子打开了，另外两名乘客抬头看了一下，但很快又回到自己的思绪中，埋头看书或看报，完全不关心到底发生了什么事。 This is no coincidence.茱莉亚蜷在座位上，拿出手机。有生以来，她从不曾如此慌乱。她想逃，她跑得很快，可以跑赢任何人。但她却不知道该往哪个方向跑。 她拨快速键给尼克，求助的话语就要脱口而出。她的手机响着，响了又响，最后转到语音信箱。 那个人来了，就站在她身旁。一个发型很难看，戴着牛角框眼镜，身材肥胖，呼吸沉重的中年人。他肥大的手上拿着一张相片，先看看相片，再看看她。 “嗨，茱莉亚·昆恩。”
尼克读着茱莉亚的PDA。虽然打不开录像文件，但文件倒是能顺利阅览。他读着汉尼寇存放在华盛顿大宅木箱内的物品清单。莫奈、毕加索、雷诺阿和戈登·格林的作品，各时期的世界名画，古代到近代都有。古董和雕像数量庞大，种类也很丰富。 这份清单尼克已经读过三遍，每次都大为惊异，这些收藏品足以跟顶级的博物馆一较长短。但他怎么都找不到红木盒。他将这个文件以年份、种类、地点和时代来分别分类，但还是找不到任何有关那个红木盒的内容。 “有什么东西重二十五磅，装在两英尺见方的红木盒里，又能让百万富翁不肯说出其价值？” 马库斯摇摇头，开车穿过拜瑞丘后山的路朝市中心驶去。“几块金条或许有那个重量，但跟高价相差甚远，二十五磅的钻石倒有可能价值上亿。” "I think so." “你为什么要找那个？” “山姆拿走了那个东西，这场小劫案因此才变糟了。” “没有任何东西值得让人为它而死。爱情除外，你对某人的感情如果够强烈也许就会不一样。” “我不认为有人会为了自己想要的东西而死，他们内心总会认为自己可以活下来。” “如果那东西在飞机上，现在很可能早就被烧掉了，谁在乎呢？”马库斯追问，“问题是我们怎么才能找到那个丹斯？” “用诱饵。”尼克举高PDA。 “我们抓到他之后要怎么做？你怎么知道不是全警局的人都是坏蛋？” “我认识一个我信得过的人。”尼克打开手机拨号。 绿色福特和蓝色宾利敞篷车迎面相对，停在拜瑞丘高中的停车场中央，一条半英里长的空旷区域是唯一的出入口。由于学校目前没有人上课，加上一英里外的空难，这间学校也跟镇上其他地方一样空无一人。 “你是谁？”丹斯从绿色福特车上下来。 尼克瞪着他，压下对这个人的愤怒和怨恨。这个人在未来企图杀死他，还杀了二等兵马纳斯和保罗·卓弗斯，更是害死茱莉亚的主谋。 “你一个人来吗？”尼克问。 “没错，不过你似乎不是一个人。”丹斯看到站在宾利车旁的马库斯。 尼克举起PDA。“你知道这是什么吗？” 丹斯不发一语。 “这是一份安防资料的拷贝，里面有好几段影片都拍到你和你的朋友闯入华盛顿大宅抢劫。”其实除了一个尚未弄清身份的模糊影像之外，尼克根本没看到丹斯或其他人，但丹斯并不知道这点，“我想山姆搞砸了。” “谁？”丹斯假装不知道。 “你记得山姆吧，那个找你帮忙的人呀！你不是很兴奋吗？这个山姆现在已经跟两百多个罹难者的尸体一起躺在苏利文运动场了。” “那台PDA，”丹斯说，“应该是茱莉亚·昆恩的PDA吧。” 尼克不擅长面无表情，但他还是努力掩饰脸上的憎恨。 “我有东西可以跟你交换。”丹斯微笑着说，“她人在我手上。” 尼克感到放心，他知道茱莉亚正坐在去纽约的火车上，他有优势。 “搞不好是你犯的案。”丹斯继续施压。 "what?" “你知道贿赂警官是重罪吗？” “少来这套，没有用的。” 丹斯背对入口，所以没看到身后有辆绿色吉普车开过来。那辆属于军队的吉普车从丹斯身边驶过，然后停下。二等兵马纳斯从驾驶座走下来，后面跟着三个身穿国民警卫队绿色军服的人，他们腰上都佩着手枪，肩上挂着来复枪。 尼克很高兴看到这个年轻人还活得好好的。“我是打电话给你的尼克·昆恩。” “我不知道我们能做些什么，昆恩先生。这不是我们负责的范围，我们现在应该在空难现场才对。” “这件事不需要太长的时间。” “你怎么会认识我？”马纳斯问，“我不记得我见过你。” “柯隆尼·威尔斯给我你的手机号码。”尼克说。他知道只要提到长官，军人就不会再问问题。尼克没告诉对方他会在未来给他电话号码，对马纳斯来说，这个未来仍然不定，因为在下午结束前他就会死。尼克希望自己可以救人，希望能还给马纳斯一个未来。“你是射击课的高材生，刚拿到企管硕士学位，讨厌做汉堡。”他说。 马纳斯一脸惊讶，没想到一个陌生人竟知道这么多有关他的事。 “你怎么不快点坐上那辆小吉普车回空难现场去玩军人游戏？”丹斯咬牙切齿。 “那你怎么不稍微注意一下你的言行？”马纳斯反击。 “你在这里没有任何职权。”丹斯反唇相讥。 “这点州长会反驳你，宪法也一样。根据州长的说法，我们在紧急情况下拥有州长授予的最高权力，在各地都可以管事。” “我不需要听你这个小兵鬼话连篇。”丹斯说完便把手放在枪托上。 马纳斯立刻举起来复枪，并扳开保险栓，其他三个国民警卫队士兵也照做。他们都把枪口指向丹斯。这些拿枪的人不超过二十二岁，有生以来应该从不曾碰到过这种情况。 “如果你想挑战权威，”马纳斯对这位中年警察说，“我建议你赶快打电话叫你同事过来，我跟你保证，如果选择拔枪，你就永远不会知道答案。我的权力大过于你。” “你干涉我的调查行动。”丹斯怒视着四根瞄准他的枪管。 “等你的手从枪上移开，我们就可以把事情弄清楚。” “等着瞧。”丹斯边说边看着马纳斯身后，“也许我们可以用不同方式解决此事。” 两辆警车从前面的路上驶来，引擎轰隆作响，闪灯旋转，警笛在静音状态。警车紧急刹车，四个穿制服的警察跳出来，拔枪站在车门后面，摆出射击的架势。 三名国民警卫队士兵立刻蹲到吉普车后，把武器转向那些警察。 “放下武器，”一个红发的巡警大喊，“马上放下。” 马纳斯仍拿着枪瞄准丹斯。“我是国民警卫队士兵马纳斯，纽约州长授权我们来处理案件，我们现在在这个镇上的权力超越你们的管辖权。你可以用对讲机确认。” “放下武器。”那位巡警又喊，瘦削的身子颤抖着。 紧张的气氛仍在持续攀升，没有人肯让步，空气中充满浓浓的火药味。警察和国民警卫队士兵从车后彼此对望；马纳斯的枪始终瞄准丹斯的额头，随时能让他一枪毙命；丹斯的手扣在手枪上方，蓄势待发。 尼克和马库斯则被困在中央。 “快打电话去问！”马纳斯大喊，“免得有人犯下大错。” 这一刻充满紧张的气氛，时间滴答滴答地过去…… 红发巡警突然消失，进入车内。其他三个警察仍留守原地，跟国民警卫队士兵一样高举着枪，没有任何人退缩。 尼克和马库斯交换了一下眼神，从没想过会演变成这种局面。 那位巡警下车，平静地从车子前面绕过来，他的枪在枪套里，两手垂在身侧。他转向同伴，示意他们收起枪。“你不知道自己刚刚做了什么，布纳哈特。”丹斯对这位年轻的巡警说。 “警探，”布纳哈特对丹斯说，“这个人说得没错，我建议你不要拔枪。” 丹斯眼中充满愤恨，却只能屈服。 “现在，”布纳哈特警官说，“有没有人能告诉我这是怎么回事？” “华盛顿大宅今天早上发生了一起抢劫案，”尼克说，“丹斯警官就是犯案的主谋。” 布纳哈特转向丹斯。 “你确定吗？”丹斯反驳说，“这两个人才是犯案主谋，他们刚刚还想贿赂我呢。” 马纳斯和布纳哈特将注意力转向尼克。 “这真是太荒谬了。”尼克指着那辆福特，他知道里面装了什么。“你们检查他的后备厢就知道了。” “那你为什么不检查他们的车子？”丹斯大吼，汗水从太阳穴滴落，“他们想拿价值一百万的钻石封我的口。” 二等兵马纳斯和布纳哈特警官面面相觑，思考着到底怎么做比较好。 “你们两个何不把钥匙交给我们？”马纳斯终于开口。 布纳哈特走向丹斯。“抱歉，长官，我需要用钥匙。” 丹斯拿出钥匙，用力放到布纳哈特手上，气呼呼地瞪着尼克。 马库斯把手伸进口袋，等布纳哈特走过来后把钥匙交给他。 警察们和国民警卫队士兵们都沉默地望着布纳哈特。布纳哈特先走到福特车后，打开后备厢车盖，他往里看时，身体挡住了大家的视线。他顿了顿，手伸进去一下，很快就盖起来。他一言不发地走到宾利敞篷跑车这边，打开后备厢，又看看里面，也很快地盖起来。他站在那里片刻，轮流看着尼克、丹斯和马库斯。然后又走向乘客座，打开车门，坐在豪华皮椅上，把钥匙插进去，打开置物箱。他把手伸进小置物箱时，大家的视线又一次因为被挡住而看不到。 布纳哈特从豪华跑车上走下，关上车门，拿出手铐。 他走向丹斯，用充满歉意的口吻说：“很抱歉造成您的困扰。” 随后，他转向尼克。“请把手放到身后。” “你说什么？”尼克望着马纳斯。 “警官，你找到了什么？”马纳斯问。 “请别让现在的情况更难堪。”布纳哈特对尼克说，强迫他转身，戴上手铐。 布纳哈特把钥匙交给马纳斯。 马纳斯走向马库斯的车，手伸进乘客座，打开置物箱，拿出一个小袋子。他解开那个小黑绒布包，里面有一大把闪亮的钻石。 “你这个王八蛋，竟然故意栽赃。”马库斯对布纳哈特大骂，然后转向丹斯。“到底有几个人替你办事？这些人全都是跟你一伙的吗？警官，你的廉洁到底值多少？”他转身对布纳哈特大吼大叫，然后又转向丹斯，“你逃不掉的。” “转身。”丹斯命令马库斯。 “你做梦，你这个禽兽。” 丹斯抓住马库斯的手臂，但他却犯了大错。虽然丹斯体格精壮，未满四十，但马库斯却在盛怒之中抓住丹斯的手，瞬间给他个过肩摔，然后又把他拉过来，向他用力挥了一拳，强劲的力道打在丹斯的下巴上，一拳就把他击倒在地。 马库斯又握起拳头，但马纳斯用枪托打中了他的后脑勺，将他击昏，他倒在警探身旁的地上。 马纳斯转向自己的手下，点头示意他们上吉普车。“很抱歉。”马纳斯对丹斯说。 丹斯瞪着这个兼差的二等兵。“也许你和你的同伴应该回空难现场去，让我们自己处理这件事。” “我向您道歉，警官。”马纳斯说。 这名士兵对丹斯伸出手，想拉他起来，但丹斯不理会他的协助和道歉，兀自站起身，揉揉淤青的下巴。 二等兵不再多说，直接跳进驾驶座，迅速驶离。 “布纳哈特，你帮忙把他们带进去。”丹斯转向另外三名警察，“这里接下来由我们处理就行了，快回空难现场去帮助那些痛失亲人的可怜家属吧！” 三名警察转身上车离开。 丹斯转过来，靠近尼克的脸。 “他知道吗？”尼克问。 丹斯继续瞪着尼克，沉默不语。 “知道什么？”布纳哈特蹲在不省人事的马库斯身旁，把他的手放到身后，戴上手铐。 尼克低头看着这个年轻的红发警察，他身穿崭新的蓝色警察制服，尼克花了好几分钟才认出他是谁。“我告诉你，伊森·丹斯警探打算把他后备厢内的重物绑在你的脚踝上，把你丢进凯斯克水库淹死，然后……” 丹斯用枪敲打尼克的脑袋侧面，把他击倒在地。 “也许我是打算把你丢进那个水库里。”丹斯说，又用力踢了一下已经头晕目眩的尼克。 “你到底跑到哪里去了？”才一下车，丹斯就大吼。 “事情那么多很难走开。”布纳哈特说，他关上身后那扇二十英尺高的大门走向车子后方，“你看到坠机现场了吗？真是太恐怖了。” 布纳哈特打开后备厢，从车里拿出两大袋东西放进丹斯车的后备厢里。 “我可能会被杀！”丹斯继续骂这名年轻的警察。 “别紧张，我不是救了你吗？”布纳哈特挥挥手。 “那些钻石在哪里？” 布纳哈特从口袋里拿出黑色绒布包交给丹斯。 “老天，要是有一颗钻石不见了……” “你这样跟刚救了你一命的人说话也太凶了吧！” “你给我小心点。”丹斯指着布纳哈特的脸，“那是因为我聪明，知道要先把这些袋子从车里拿出来，而且还知道要你带人来救我。” “是喔。要是我后面那个男的知道你跟这起劫案有关就惨了，不知道还有多少人知道呢？”布纳哈特靠近丹斯，近到侵犯他的私人空间，“还有，他刚刚说你会把我丢进水库淹死是什么意思？丹斯，你想杀我吗？你想杀了我们全部吗？我不认为你够了解我。” “你给我认真听着，”丹斯凑得更近，“你要小心点，否则一毛钱也拿不到。” “丹斯，”布纳哈特说，“你可别忘了，他们是冲着你来的，又不是我。” “你以为我会为你挡子弹吗？你真不了解我。如果情况变糟，我很可能真的会把你丢进那座湖。” 布纳哈特的脸色变得很难看，他斗不过丹斯，于是静静地从腰带上解下手枪交给丹斯。“这是我从那个人身上拿到的。” “干得好，布纳哈特。现在我们需要的指纹都在上面了。” 尼克和马库斯彼此相隔十英尺，面对面坐在一个阴暗的房间里，唯一的光线来自不锈钢门底下的缝隙。两人的手都被铐在后面，脚被绑在椅脚上。 “你没事吧？”尼克问。 “我没事，我只是快气死了，背又痛得要命。我一定要打烂那个打我的人的嘴。”马库斯大骂，他前后转着头，扭动手脚，“你知道我们在哪里吗？” 尼克看看四周，这是一片偌大的空地，墙边有一堆板条箱，角落有一张桌子。这里跟拜瑞丘其他地方一样，没有电力。 “我们在一个阴暗的房间里。”尼克试着安抚他的朋友。 “你这自以为聪明的家伙。” “这是一间仓库。” “真的假的？”马库斯夸张地说，“大家都跑到哪里去了？” “大家都在坠机现场或是家里。” “你知道我每年给警察退休基金会多少钱吗？”马库斯低头看着皱巴巴的衬衫和破掉的裤子，“我以后再也不会给他们钱了。他们毁了我完美的衬衫和裤子。” 尼克看看墙上的时钟，一点五十分。 “不要再看时钟了，”马库斯说，“再看时间也不会变慢。” 尼克只剩不到十分钟让自己和马库斯离开这里，否则接着他又要跳回过去，留马库斯独自一人面对残酷的丹斯。 尼克努力压下罪恶感。他想救茱莉亚，却让最好的朋友陷入险境。尼克不希望自己的手染上马库斯的鲜血，只要一有机会，他就会想办法救他出去，但他的动作得快一点，如果他们继续处在现在这种情况，就不大可能会有活命的机会。 丹斯从侧门走进来，砰的一声用力关上门。他沉默地走进房间，绕着两个俘虏打转，最后停在尼克面前，凑到他耳边低语：“尼克，你老婆在哪儿？” 尼克瞪着他，眼中燃烧着怒火。 “我问你，”丹斯转向马库斯，“她在哪？还有谁知道这起劫案的事？” 马库斯带着嘲讽的笑容，就像特有的那个表情，他在谈判桌上常用这种表情对付生意上的对手。 “你听到我说的话了吗？”丹斯突然火冒三丈，“她在哪里？还有谁知道这起劫案？” 丹斯举起拳头，重重地打在马库斯的鼻子上，这是马库斯一生中第四次鼻梁断裂。鲜血滴落，流到白衬衫和蓝色爱马仕领带上。 “我告诉你，”马库斯低语，完全不受刚刚那一拳的影响，“你才要听我说，懦夫。放开我的手我们再来较量，让我看看你有多厉害。” 丹斯又在马库斯脸上多揍几拳当作回应。 “告诉我她在哪里。”丹斯对尼克吼，并拔枪对准他，气氛紧张至极，“认得你的枪吗？” 然后丹斯突然转身，把枪抵在马库斯的头上，把枪管挤进他的下巴底下。 “告诉我你老婆在哪里，否则我就毙了他。”丹斯对尼克说。他不需要多做威胁，尼克从丹斯的眼神可以看出来，他说到做到。 尼克凝视着马库斯，感到一阵心痛，他必须选择谁生谁死。 马库斯看着尼克，微微摇头，笑了笑。那是个温暖的苦笑，当尼克没接到那颗能定输赢的球时，马库斯都会那样对他笑。那是一种“一切都会没事，因为我们是好朋友”的笑。每次，当马库斯的妻子离开时，两人就是这样一笑置之。 “好啊！有种你就开枪！到时我一定会杀了你。”尼克愤恨地说。 “想太多了，”丹斯说，“下一个就轮到你。” “你他妈的……”尼克死命地在椅子上挣扎，脖子上青筋突起，双手猛烈挣扎却无济于事。 “尼克。”马库斯轻唤。 “你给我听着，你这个混蛋！”尼克对丹斯大吼，不理会朋友的呼唤。 “茱莉亚已经安全了。”马库斯轻柔的话语仿佛在恳求一般。 “我要挖出你的心脏！”尼克对丹斯尖叫，拼命摇动椅子，感到无比的挫败。 “尼克。”马库斯又低声叫他，终于吸引了他的注意力。马库斯希望能让朋友镇定下来，这么轻柔的声音实在跟他的性格相反。“茱莉亚已经安全了。知道这点我就觉得很安慰，别为我担心。” 门缓缓打开，一名肥胖的男子站在门口，尼克认得他，他就是杀害茱莉亚的凶手的同伙。茱莉亚被杀时，就是这个人站在前门按电铃转移他的注意力，让他无法保护她。 “很好。”丹斯的口气放心了许多。 他扣下扳机，枪声震天，马库斯的头往后爆开，鲜血四溅。 尼克的目光完全无法从他死去朋友的身上移开，子弹射穿他头部的声音在耳中回荡不去，此时门口又传来让人血液冻结的尖叫。 尼克转过头去时，感到所有希望瞬间消失，所有努力都功亏一篑。他最好的朋友死了，他无力挽救，丹斯却逍遥法外。 那个站在门口害怕得大声尖叫的人，露出一脸惊恐的表情，那个人，是他从没想到的人。 他看到茱莉亚无助地站在那里时，心都要碎了。 随后，整个世界化成一片黑暗。
Notes: 中的虚构角色，形象是一只经常露齿嬉笑的猫。——编者注