Chapter 48 Section ten

They must have come in through the back wall.It was 3:07 in the morning.Decker knew the exact time because he had an old-fashioned analog alarm clock.When he checked it later, he found that the pointer had stopped at exactly that time. He was not asleep, he was lying on his side, admiring Beth's face by the moonlight, imagining that she had finished her business trip and returned to him, their separation was finally over.In the distance, there was a faint "bang-bang-bang" sound of firecrackers, set off by people attending a private party.Carnival celebrations continue.Tomorrow morning, Decker thought, would be littered with scraps of paper.Sleepy neighbors were kept up at night by those parties, and the police were again busy with complaints from all over.Curious to know how late it was, he turned to look at the clock.

He could see no light from the clock at all.He supposed he must have thrown some of Beth's clothes in front of the clock.He reached out to remove the covering in front of the clock, but bumped into the clock.He frowned suspiciously.Why is the night light of the clock gone?The firecrackers in the distance were still bang-bang-bang, but amidst the noise he heard another sound—the faint scraping of metal on metal. Feeling uneasy, he sat up.The sound was not the scraping of the legs of the bed, but the door on the right at the end of the light-filled hallway outside the bedroom.This door leads out to a small garden and yard.The faint scraping sound of metal on metal continued.

He put a hand abruptly over Beth's mouth.He faintly saw her under the moonlight, and she opened her eyes in surprise.She was just about to struggle to push his hand away, but he leaned his head on her left ear and whispered nervously: "Don't make a sound, listen to me, someone wants to break in." The sound of scraping metal continued. "Get off the bed and go to the closet, quick." Beth climbed out of bed naked and rushed into the closet on the right wall of the room.The closet was big enough to walk in, 10 feet long by 12 feet wide, had no windows, and was darker than the bedroom.

Decker quickly opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand and pulled out a Sig Saul 928 he'd bought when he first arrived in Santa Fe.He squatted down beside the bed, using the bed as a cover, and reached out to grab the phone beside the bed.However, when he put the microphone to his ear, he realized that dialing 911 was impossible. There was no dial tone at all. The scraping of metal stopped, and the sudden silence made Decker even more nervous.Decker rushed into the closet but didn't see Beth.Using the small dresser beside him as cover, he aimed through the open bedroom door toward the hallway outside, trembling nervously.Although his naked body was still sweating, he still felt chills.The rear door on the right creaked open, and Decker was about to oil it.

Who, he asked himself, wanted to break in?Is it a robber?possible.But the paranoia developed in previous life experiences prevailed once again.The unfinished business came to him again—he couldn't shake the thought that gave him chills. The intruder siren immediately emits a rhythmic beep, the brief warning that such a device gives before a piercing siren.But the alarm was useless—it was impossible to send the alarm signal to the security company because the telephone line had been cut.If the intrusion alarm hadn't been equipped with batteries in case the power went out, there wouldn't even be a warning beep.

The beeping then turned into a continuous squeal.Several dark shadows rushed into the bedroom.Blinding flashes cut through the darkness, and the staccato roar of automatic weapons hit Decker's eardrums.In the flash, countless bullets hit the sheets, feathers in the pillows flew everywhere, and the mattress stuffing burst out. Before the gunmen realized their mistake, Decker opened fire on them.He pulled the trigger continuously, two gangsters were shot and fell, and the third gangster fled out of the bedroom crawling and crawling.Decker fired a shot at him, but missed, and the bullet shattered a daylight window, and the man disappeared into the hallway.

Decker's palm was a little wet, but fortunately there was a non-slip square engraving on the handle of the gun.His naked body was dripping with sweat.His eardrums were jarred by the roaring gunshots and buzzed.He could barely hear the screeching of the alarm system, and he couldn't detect if another gunman was trying to sneak up on him.Therefore, he didn't know if these three were the only gunmen who broke into his house, and he didn't know how the two people who were shot were hurt.Would they still shoot him if he tried to get out of the closet? The blinding fire from the shot had ruined his night vision, and he anxiously waited for it to recover.What worried him was that he didn't know where Beth was.Somewhere in the roomy closet, yes.But has she found a hiding place?Perhaps she was hiding behind a cypress cabinet?He dared not risk a glance behind him to see if he could spot her in the darkness.He had to keep his eyes on the bedroom, ready to kill any intruders who rushed in.At the same time, he felt a chill run down his spine and realized with horror that there was another exit from the closet.This exit leads to the exit of the laundry room, just behind him.If the gunman went around and attacked from that direction...

I can't hold both directions at the same time, Decker thought.Maybe everyone outside has run away. Will you run away? Maybe.hell. Fear made him strong.In the middle of the night, with both phone and power lines cut and unable to call for help or alert the police, the only thing the gunman feared was that his neighbors would be woken up by gunshots or sirens.But can these noisy sounds pass through the adobe walls?The nearest house was a few hundred yards away, and the distance would greatly attenuate the cacophony.Perhaps the gunshots were much like the distant firecrackers he had heard earlier.Perhaps the gangster thought he had a little time.

The gangster didn't rush in from the direction of the laundry room.The whistling of the automatic weapon was heard again outside the bedroom door, the flames flashing and the bullets flying into the walls on either side of the closet door.The gangsters kept shooting into the room, and the bullets hit the opposite wall, tearing up the clothes on the hangers, smashing the shoe boxes and clothing bags, and the swirling pieces of cloth, sawdust and cardboard fell down and hit Decker. bare back.The pungent smell of gunpowder filled the whole room. The ear-piercing gunshots sounded suddenly, and then stopped suddenly, leaving only the siren still beeping non-stop.Decker didn't dare to shoot at the muzzle flash, because the gangster had probably changed his position and was waiting there.If Decker fired back, he would have fired right into the flash of Decker's pistol.

Then Decker sensed movement in the closet.Beth's naked figure leaped out of a dark corner.She knew the house well and knew that there was a door leading to the laundry room.Just as she was holding the knob on the door and twisting it open, the submachine gun rang out, and bursts of bullets were fired at her.Decker thought he heard her moan.He couldn't make out the sound of the gunfire, so fast and loud, but he saw her put her hand over her right shoulder as she disappeared into the darkness of the laundry room.Decker wanted to rush to her, but he gave up the near-suicidal urge. The gunman was hoping that he would lose control and expose himself.Clinging to the small dresser, Decker posed, ready to shoot.He also hoped the gunmen would lose patience.

Decker said to himself, God, please, please, please don't hurt Beth. He stared hard at the door of the bedroom, hoping to hear the movement of the gangsters outside, but his tinnitus got worse.Why not change tactics, he thought.Since he's hearing impaired, whoever wants to kill him won't be able to hear well.This may be a good way to turn common disadvantages into your own interests.Next to the dressing table that shades him is a waist-high metal ladder that he uses to reach things that are kept high.The ladder is about one shoulder wide.He grabbed a shirt off the dresser and draped it over the low step.In the dark, the profile of the ladder resembles a crouching figure.He pushed the ladder forward, wishing the gangster was really hearing impaired, and wishing the siren system would drown out the sound of the ladder scraping the floor, he thought.He gave it a hard push, and the ladder came out of the closet and slid across the bedroom in the direction where he had seen the culprit. A barrage of fire tore shirts to shreds and toppled ladders.Almost immediately, Decker fired several times at the muzzle flash in the aisle.In the flash, a person fell on the tiled floor, huddled in pain, and the ground was riddled with holes from the submachine gun.The frantic shooting died down as he fell to the ground. Worried that the flash of his pistol would make him a target, Decker rolled over to the other side of the closet entrance, shot the man he had just fallen, and then fired at the two men he had just shot. The individual fired a few follow-up shots before quickly retreating into the darkness of the laundry room. Beth, he had to find Beth, he had to find out if she was hurt or not, he had to stop her from running around and giving herself away again until he was sure there were no other thugs in the house.The smell of detergent wafted from the laundry room, and the strong smell of gunpowder was even more disgusting in contrast.Decker felt movement in the gap between the hot water tank and the hard water softener.He moved slowly and found Beth there.At this moment, the closed door of the laundry room was suddenly pushed open, followed by a burst of violent shooting.The sudden shooting knocked them overwhelmed, and they fell to the ground. Decker's night vision was already disturbed by the strong shooting light that was very close to him. After the second strong shooting light flashed by, he felt that his vision was even more blurred.A tall black figure rushed in and shot again.Decker fell to the ground and fired with the gun pointing upward. A hot stream of liquid ran over Decker.is blood?But this liquid is not only hot, it is hot, and it is not a stream, but pouring down like a waterfall.Decker thought desperately that the tank must have been broken.He tried his best to endure the pain caused by the hot water pouring on his body, and focused on staring at the dark place where the fire was shining a few seconds ago.In the flash just now, he saw the man with the gun.He felt Beth panting in panic beside him.He smelled a bloody smell, yes, like the smell of copper, very pungent.But this smell did not come from the direction where the gunman was, but seemed to come from around him.A terrible thought came to mind, Beth was hurt? After his night vision recovered from the impact of the bright light just now, Decker noticed a black silhouette of a body on the floor of the laundry room door.Beth trembled beside him.Decker felt her twitch in horror.He counted the approximate number of bullets he had fired before realizing that there was only one left.He tried his best to suppress his panic. The scalding hot water had soaked him through.He put a finger on Beth's lips, motioning her to be quiet.Then he crawled across the wet floor of the laundry room to the door.With the moonlight coming in from the skylight in the corridor, he saw the submachine gun next to the corpse. Or, at least Decker hoped it was a dead body.He was about to fire the last bullet, but felt the man's pulse first.The man had no pulse, and he breathed a sigh of relief.He reached out with his left hand and retrieved a revolver from under the man's trench coat.He immediately threw the submachine gun into the laundry room and returned to Beth, who was hiding in the darkness.He groped for the floor door leading to the service passage under the house and opened it to let Beth through.The vast majority of houses in Santa Fe are built on concrete slabs and have no basements, and only a few, like Decker's, have a 4-foot-high service walkway under the floor. Beth tensed up, struggling not to go down the wooden ladder.A dusty smell emanated from the dark passage.She later accepted the shelter anyway.She walked down trembling quickly, and the hot water poured down with her.Decker squeezed her right arm, hoping to reassure her.Then he closed the wooden door. The beeping of the alarm system made Decker increasingly agitated.In the darkness, he crawled into a dark corner far away and leaned against the boiler.From there, he can shoot at either of the laundry room entrances.He holds the gangster's revolver in his left hand and his own in the right.If it doesn't work, he still has the gangster's submachine gun that he has brought to his side, and I hope there are still bullets in it. But there was something else that made him restless, that added to him a terrible sense of urgency.He understands that patience is the most important thing for survival.If he got up and searched the house, he would have exposed himself to those who were hiding out.The best way is to stay put and let others expose first.Even though he thought so, he still couldn't suppress his eagerness.He thought Beth would feel more and more frightened squatting naked in the musty, dark passageway.He also thought of Beth's growing pain.When he grabbed her right arm just now to show comfort, he smeared some liquid thicker than water on his fingers.The liquid was hot and smelled of blood, and Beth must have been hit. I've got to get her to the doctor, Decker thought, and I can't wait any longer.He crawled out from the boiler and slowly crawled towards the passage, ready to rush out.He pointed the gun first in one direction, then in another.Suddenly, he froze: a flashlight shone on the body lying in front of him. Decker clung to the inside wall of the laundry room.He stared at the laundry door for a moment, then glanced nervously at the door to the closet.Sweat and water mixed together on his body, making him slippery.Why do they use flashlights?There's no point in exposing yourself.The flashlight must be a trap, he thought, trying to attract my attention so that someone else could attack me from the opposite side, that is, from the dark closet. But to his surprise, the flashlight moved away and turned back to shine it on the front door.It doesn't make sense.Unless... Can he believe his own thoughts?Maybe the neighbor heard the intermittent muffled sound and decided it wasn't a firecracker; maybe the neighbor had called 911; maybe the person with the flashlight was the police.That's what a lone cop would do—he found a body, but he didn't know what it was, maybe there had been a shootout.At this point he would immediately step back and radio for assistance. Decker's heart almost jumped out.In another case, he would never have dared to risk revealing his hiding place.But now, Beth was shot, God knows how badly she was hurt.He couldn't wait any longer, Beth would bled to death in the manhole.He must act. "Wait!" he yelled, "I'm in the laundry room and I need help!" The flashlight no longer moved out, but shone along the aisle and stopped at the door of the laundry room.Decker knew immediately that he was taking a bigger risk.His ears were buzzing, and he couldn't tell if someone was shouting at him.If he doesn't answer, or if his yelling has nothing to do with the police's questioning (assuming the person is really a policeman), he will certainly arouse the suspicion of the police. "I'm alive and here I am!" Decker yelled. "Someone broke into my house! I don't know who you are! I dare not come out!" The flashlight flickered back and forth, as if the person holding the flashlight was looking for something to cover in a doorway. "I can't hear what you're saying! It's all that goddamn gunfire, my hearing is ruined!" Decker yelled, "If you're a cop, throw your badge in the hall, I'm going through this doorway You can see it!" Decker waited, scanning nervously through the doorway to the opposite door to the closet, worried that he was exposed and vulnerable.But he had to seize this opportunity.All he could think about was Beth, and I had to save Beth. "Please!" Decker yelled again. "If you're a cop, please throw your badge over!" He didn't hear the badge slide.So he was taken aback when the badge suddenly appeared on the brick floor in the hallway.The badge was blocked by the dead body of the gangster. "Great!" Decker swallowed with difficulty as his throat hurt. "I'm sure you're wondering what the hell is going on! You must be as nervous as I am! When I come out, I'll put my hands up! I'll put my hands out first!" He lays his pistol on a laundry stand to the right.If the situation changes, he can quickly roll back to get them. "I'm coming out! Don't worry! I'll stretch out my hands first!" He walked out of the doorway empty-handed, raising his hands above his head.The flashlight moved quickly and shone on his eyes.For a while, he couldn't see anything, and he felt even more lonely and helpless. Time seemed to stand still.The flashlight kept shining on him.Although the badge was still thrown on the ground, he suddenly became suspicious.The cop (if he was a cop) didn't move, just kept eyeing Decker. Perhaps a gunman was aiming at himself? The prolonged exposure of the flashlight stung Decker's eyes.He wanted to lower a hand to shield his eyes, but he dared not move, afraid to annoy the man who was looking at him.The flashlight moved to his naked body, then back to his eyes. At this moment, time starts running again. The flashlight is shaking, getting closer and closer.Decker's mouth was parched, his stinging eyes couldn't see the looming figure clearly, he couldn't see the clothes of the figure clearly, and he couldn't see who it was. The flashlight and the person holding the flashlight were very close, but Decker still couldn't tell who was facing him in front of him.His raised hands were a little numb.It seemed to him that the man was speaking to him, but he couldn't hear anything. Suddenly, the man leaned over.Only then did Decker vaguely hear the man's shout. "Can't you hear?" The halo of the flashlight reflected the figure of the man.He was a stocky Mexican-American in uniform. "My ears are almost deaf!" The harsh sirens and the buzzing of the eardrums made him unbearably painful. "You are……?" "What?" Decker felt his voice come from far away. "Who are you?" "Steve Decker! I own the house! May I put my hands down?" "Yes. Where are your clothes?" "I was sleeping when they broke in. I didn't have time to explain! My friend was still in the manhole!" "What?" It could be heard that the policeman's tone was slightly confused, but more of a surprise. "In the manhole. I've got to get her out!" Decker said, staggering toward the laundry room, the flashlight following him.With trembling hands, he grasped the metal ring in the recess of the wooden door, and with a sharp jerk, the small door swung open.He groped down the dark wooden ladder, and the damp smell of the earth and the unpleasant smell of blood filled his nostrils. "Beth!" He can't see her. "Beth!" The flashlight beamed down from above his head, illuminating the maintenance access.He saw Beth curled up in a corner naked, trembling all over.He rushed towards her.The flashlight could barely reach that corner, but he could still see how pale her face was.Her right shoulder and chest were covered in blood. "Beth!" He knelt down and hugged her, ignoring the dust and cobwebs stuck to his body.He felt Beth sobbing. "Everything is fine, you are safe now." Decker wondered if she answered, he couldn't hear anyway.He was busy leading her to the steps of the maintenance passage, and helped her climb up in the face of the flashlight.The policeman stretched out his hand to pull her, and when he saw her naked body, he couldn't help but startled.Decker took a dirty shirt from the laundry room basket and draped it over her.Shaking weakly, she walked down the hallway toward the front door with Decker helping her. Decker felt as though the police were shouting at him, but he still couldn't hear him. "The switch for the siren is near the front door, I'll go and turn it off!" When he went to pull the electric switch on the wall at the entrance of the corridor, he was still wondering, how could the siren go off when the power was off?But he remembered right away that the alarm system had batteries connected to a backup power source in case the power went out.He pressed a few digits, the siren went silent, and he slacked his shoulders. "Thank goodness," he whispered.Now all his troubles were the ringing in his ears.He was still supporting Beth.When he found her throwing up, he couldn't help but panic. "She needs an ambulance." "Where's the phone?" the policeman yelled. "It doesn't matter! The power and telephone lines are cut off!" Decker's ear pain has eased and his hearing has recovered slightly. "What happened here?" Beth collapsed powerlessly in a panic. Decker hugged her and set her down on the brick floor in the foyer.He felt a cool breeze blow in through the open front door. "Go and ask for help! I want to guard her!" "I'm going to use the patrol car's wireless phone!" The policeman rushed out of the house. Decker looked in that direction and saw two headlights glowing silently outside the courtyard gate, behind which the policeman disappeared.Then his full attention turned to Beth. He knelt beside Beth and stroked her forehead. "Hold on and you'll be fine, the ambulance will be here soon." After a while, the police came back.He leaned over Decker and said something, but Decker didn't catch a word. "The ambulance will be here soon," Decker told Beth.Her forehead was wet and a little cold. "You'll be fine soon," Decker thought, and I'll have to cover her with something to keep her warm.He opened the wardrobe behind him, grabbed a coat, and covered her body. The policeman moved closer to him, speaking louder.This time Decker got it right. "The front door was open when I got here! What happened? You said someone broke in?" "Yes." Decker was still stroking Beth's hair, he really didn't want the police to disturb him at this time. "They must have come in through the front door and the back door at the same time." "them?" "The man in the hallway, and others." "other people?" "It's all in my bedroom." "what?" "Three people, maybe four, were all killed by me." "My God," said the policeman.