After the Divorce, I Went Back to My Hometown, Pregnant and Became the Sheriff - Chapter 26

East City was a vast distance from the main urban center. Development there was sparse, and with the thick cover of trees, the roads were naturally difficult to navigate. The taxi driver grumbled the entire way about how he shouldn’t have accepted the fare, but Jiang Xu remained silent, offering only a singular plea for the man to drive faster.

Upon reaching the destination, Jiang Xu exited the car. The sound of the taxi’s receding engine hadn’t even faded before the phone in his pocket rang.

He didn’t answer immediately. The mountain wind rustled through the brush, and his shadow, cast long by the setting sun, flickered unsteadily.

The phone rang persistently. Jiang Xu finally pressed the answer key, and the man on the other end snapped irritably, “What’s the hold-up? You took forever to pick up. Weren’t you already there?”

“Where are you?” Jiang Xu asked.

The man chuckled at the exhaustion in Jiang Xu’s voice. He seemed to be savoring the situation. “Don’t be in such a hurry, Officer Jiang. Why don’t we play a game?”

“What do you want?”

“There are several buildings in front of you. Why don’t you guess where your precious son is hidden?”

Jiang Xu looked up at the cluster of unfinished high-rises. Each building stood in a different state of decay.

The building nearest the entrance appeared to be about twenty stories high, its outer walls mottled and unpainted. Standing parallel to it was a slightly shorter building that looked the most complete. To its southwest stood two unfinished twin towers, their roofs bristling with exposed rebar, looming over the quiet complex like predatory beasts. To the east, several more abandoned buildings of varying heights formed a dark, dizzying mass.

This site was originally intended for a luxury resort hotel, but corruption within the development firm had led to a collapse in funding. The project had been completely paralyzed, abandoned for years.

“Oh, it seems the Officer is having a hard time,” the man said. “Let me give you a hint. Back then, your department called it the ‘June 13th Kidnapping Case,’ right? Among these buildings, isn’t there one that’s nearly finished?”

Jiang Xu’s gaze landed on the shorter building. On its exterior wall, someone had painted characters in red. Though faded, he could make out the label: “Building 13.”

“Don’t hang up. You have five minutes to get to the corner of the 12th floor. I have a gift for you.”

Jiang Xu checked the time and dashed into the abandoned structure without hesitation.

The sun was nearing the horizon, and the interior of the building was dim, littered with the debris of reinforced concrete. Jiang Xu found the emergency stairwell and began his ascent up the uneven steps.

Back at the General Bureau, he used to undergo monthly fitness tests that involved climbing stairs while carrying heavy gear. Climbing twelve floors in five minutes wasn’t difficult for him. However, he had just endured his physiological heat cycle. Knowing his stamina had not fully recovered and wanting to conserve energy for the confrontation, Jiang Xu focused on controlling his breathing.

Each landing had a small window. As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the stairwell grew darker, and the red lights on the surveillance cameras became increasingly prominent. These cameras were all new, installed on every other floor.

The man’s amused laughter came through the phone. “Officer Jiang, your expression right now is truly something to behold.”

Jiang Xu ignored the mockery and reached the 12th floor, panting slightly. This floor had a small platform that other levels lacked. Inside the fire hydrant compartment sat a dark object reflecting an ominous light.

“Open the hydrant. There’s something you’ll like inside.”

Jiang Xu pulled open the dust-covered glass door. Inside lay a Type 05 revolver. “Where now?” Jiang Xu looked up at the camera.

“The roof. I’m waiting for you.”

“Tongtong. I need to hear his voice.”

“Officer Jiang, I’ll tell you again: do you think you’re in a position to make demands?”

“If I can’t confirm the child is safe, I won’t move another step.”

The man clicked his tongue impatiently. “Stop stalling! The sun is almost down! Listen carefully: I’ve injected him with a sedative. You won’t be hearing the brat’s voice anytime soon. Whether you believe me or not is no loss to me. If you don’t show up, I’ll blow his brains out. Haha, just like my brother blew that kid’s brains out five years ago. But your son is asleep; at least he won’t be scared when it happens. You should thank me.”

The man’s voice, distorted by a modulator, sounded sharp and eerie, echoing through the dark stairwell.

Jiang Xu remained silent for a heartbeat, then replied quietly, “Fine.”

“Hurry up. I’m losing my patience.”

Jiang Xu turned and continued upward.

“Three minutes. Before my patience runs out.” The man’s words were cut off as the surveillance feed suddenly went black. “Hey! What happened? What’s wrong with the monitors?!”

“Go check it now!”

Jiang Xu’s breath hitched from the rapid climb. After a moment, he replied, “The power must have gone out or a breaker tripped.”

“What kind of tricks are you playing?!”

“Isn’t it normal for an abandoned building to have an unstable electrical system?”

“Unstable?” The man sounded suspicious. “Tch, whatever. Get up here. You only have a few floors left.”

The red clouds on the horizon struggled to stay lit as the last remnants of twilight vanished. A flock of birds flew into the vast night. In the dead silence, the only sound was Jiang Xu’s heavy breathing and footsteps through the phone.

The man watched the fading sunset, calculating when Jiang Xu would arrive on the roof.

The rusted iron door of a nearby rooftop groaned as it was kicked open. The man raised his binoculars to look at the roof of the building opposite him, only to find it completely empty.

“What the hell are you doing? Where are you?” the man roared into the phone.

“Over here.” Jiang Xu’s voice rang out.

The man jumped, spinning around in shock. Jiang Xu, who should have appeared on the opposite building, was standing right there, his face flushed and gasping for air as he braced himself against the iron door.

“How did you find this place?” the man asked in disbelief. “I clearly told you to go to the building opposite us!”

“The cameras.” Jiang Xu’s voice was laced with gasps. His gaze pierced the darkness, fixed on the small body lying on the ground. By the last bit of light, he could see the child’s chest rising and falling gently with each breath.

“What?”

“There were too many cameras in that building.”

“Ha,” the man gave a twisted laugh. He snatched the sleeping Tongtong from the ground and looked at the nearly finished roof of the shorter building across the way. “What about the cameras? I wanted to watch Officer Jiang tremble with fear as many times as possible.”

“I just thought it was strange. Under normal circumstances, why would you need a camera on every floor?” Jiang Xu’s eyes followed Tongtong as the man lifted him. He raised his gun, aiming it directly between the man’s eyes. “Rather than wanting to see me tremble, it’s more likely you wanted to track my movements through the monitors. To need that level of surveillance on my status… I thought it was possible you weren’t in that building at all.”

“And you risked going to a different building just because of that? Why were you so sure I was here?”

“Because you said ‘the sun is almost down.'”

“So what? It was the truth.” The man held Tongtong against his chest.

“Do you know,” Jiang Xu said, slowly walking toward the man, “in early February in G-City, the sun sets around 6:10 PM. I was on the 12th floor at about 5:40. At that time, the sun is very close to the horizon. In winter, the sun in G-City sets in the southwest. But Building 13 has two twin towers to its southwest that are taller than it is. The low-angle sun would have been blocked by those towers. From the perspective of the shorter building, the sun would have been ‘down’ long ago. The fact that you could say ‘it’s almost down’ proves your view of the southwest was clear. In this abandoned complex, the only building that fits that criteria is this one.”

“Heh, Officer Jiang,” the man said, his hand tightening around the back of Tongtong’s soft neck. “I suggest you stay right where you are.”

“Release the child.” Jiang Xu held the gun with both hands, continuing his advance.

The man was unmoved. “I heard Officer Jiang is an excellent marksman.” His thick fingers tightened. The sleeping Tongtong turned red and let out a few coughs. Jiang Xu gritted his teeth and stopped.

The man gave a cold, satisfied sneer. “Does the Officer remember how my brother blew that kid’s brains out with a single shot before he died?”

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