Chapter 12 A Series of Happenstance

            “Wang Da Fa, please calm down. Don’t drag the reporter into this, she’s innocent!” A flustered Xie Fu said hurriedly.

                Needless to say, he didn’t expect things to turn out this way. He kicked himself mentally for not listening to his deputy in the first place.

                Deputy Director Wong warned in a serious tone, “Wang Da Fa, taking hostage is a criminal offense, do you understand?”

                No one expected Wang Da Fa to be so foolhardy to take a reporter as hostage and everyone handled this unexpected turn of events in their own way.

                 “I don’t care as long as it forces Gao Song out! I know she’s innocent so the moment Gao Song crawls up here, admits his wrongdoing and begs my dead wife and son for forgiveness, I’ll let her go. Or else, we’ll both end up down there!”

                Wang Da Fa put actions behind his words and inched closer and closer to the edge. In his desperation to seek revenge against Gao Song, he seemed to have lost all semblance of rationality.

                Being forcefully constrained by Wang Da Fa, Lee Wei grimaced in both pain and fear. However, she tried to be as calm as possible when she said, “Brother Wang, I understand where you’re coming from but don’t throw your life and future away like this!”

                She knew acting out wouldn’t help her situation, her only way out was to pacify Wang Da Fa!

                “I’m sorry lady, I know all of you are innocent but don’t worry, when Gao Song shows himself I’ll let you go.”

                Lee Wei’s empathy seemed to get through to Wang Da Fa. He loosened the grip around her neck to make her more comfortable. Realizing that, she pushed on, “Yes, you have your heart set on revenge but what about the family that survives you? You’re a good man who accidentally found himself on the wrong side of the law, but it’s still not too late. Do you think your wife and son will approve of what you’re doing?”

                “I said I’m sorry! I truly didn’t mean to drag all of you to hell with me but as long as Gao Song is alive, I will not let this go…”

                Wang Da said with contrition and frustration in his voice.

                “Wait, you repeated all of you twice, do you mean to…”

                Lee Wei realized with a start.

                She was truly a reporter that was worth her salt. She managed to keep a cold head to dissect Wang Da Fa’s slip of the mouth while being held hostage.

                However, before she could finish her thought, Wang Da Fa clamped his hand over her mouth and her words devolved into a series of incomprehensible mumbles.

                “Gao Song, get Gao Song up here!”

                Commissioner Xie on the other hand, was the opposite of Lee Wei. He had lost his cool and only hoped to close this case as soon as possible.  

                Deputy Director Wong opened his mouth to object but ultimately he sighed and relayed his superior’s orders through the walkie-talkie.

                Commissioner Xie was the highest ranking officer in the area. If he objected then and things took a turn for the worse, it would be him that’s on the chopping block during performance review.

“Bring Gao Song up now. Tell him to try his best to placate Wang Da Fa in any way possible for 2 to 3 minutes. The fire department will handle the rest!”

                “God damn it, Wang Da Fa if you want to die, you can do it alone, why would you want to blow up so many innocent peoples!”

                Se Cai cursed under his breath. It took all the might inside his body to stay put and not rush out and warn the officers about Wang Da Fa’s plan.

                He knew his sudden appearance would only startle Wang Da Fa and made things worse for everyone present.

                Se Cai fidgeted inside the air duct, trying to find a way to contact the police.

               It was impossible. Any small movement would alert Wang Da Fa because the air duct entrance was too close to him. If not for the shade inside, he would have been discovered long ago.

                He couldn’t even make a call because the battery was dead.

                “Gao Song, Gao Song’s here!”

                A portly and balding man was escorted by the police up to the rooftop.

                Gao Song’s reluctance to be there was plainly written on his face. He squirmed to a spot between Commissioner Xie and Deputy Director Wong. He offered awkwardly, “Mr. Wang, I’m sure this is all a huge misunderstanding… Why don’t you come on down and we’ll talk this out over tea.”

                In all honesty, Gao Song really didn’t want to meet Wang Da Fa but he had no choice because he knew his business would suffer if he dared cross police bureau’s Commissioner Xie!

                When Lee Wei saw Gao Song appear, she waved her hands frantically, signaling him to run but they misconstrued her actions as mere struggling.

                “Gao Song, you’re finally here!”

                Wang Da Fa said with fire burning in his eyes.

                “Die, you bastard!”

                Wang Da Fa shoved Lee Wei away and pulled a detonator out from his pocket.

                Lee Wei caught herself mid-fall, turned around and bit down hard on Wang Da Fa’s hand that held the detonator.

                Wang Da Fa screamed out in pain and the detonator slipped out of his hand.

                “It’s no use! You can’t stop me!”

                Wang Da Fa slapped Lee Wei away and swooped down to catch the detonator with his other hand. He lifted the detonator up in the air and laughed maniacally.

                “No! It’s a bomb! Quick, seek cover!”

                Deputy Director Wong yelled immediately.

                An ashen-faced Commissioner Xie though stood transfixed. When Deputy Director Wong tackled him to the floor, he was still mumbling, “It’s over… My career, it’s all over… I’ve tried so hard to get a reporter from Province X Tv Station to report on my new career move but now… it has come to bite me in the ass.”

                A case this big was impossible to cover and when it came time for performance review, as the field commander, Xie Wu was fated to fall.

                There would not only be civilian casualties, but also casualties among his men and a province reporter. Xie Wu could see his career blown into smithereens by Wang Da Fa’s bomb!

                Who would have thought Wang Da Fa could be so callous as to drag so many innocents to their death just to revenge against Gao Song.

                “He has gone mad, completely fully mad!”

                Deputy Director Wong punched the floor regretfully, sorry that he didn’t stand firm against Commissioner Xie.

                However, the blast that everyone was anticipating didn’t come.

                “What went wrong? I swore I tested it before…”

                The person that was most shocked was Wang Da Fa himself.

                Before he could react, a loud crash sounded across the rooftop!

                Wang Da Fa followed the source and saw the rusted cover of the air duct beside him being knocked into the air.

                Then, a shadow rushed towards him and tackled him down to the floor!

                The detonator was knocked out of his hand and it slid noisily across the rooftop.

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