“Bruno, come pick me up, right now!”

“Okay, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Chris hung up the phone, feeling a bit of a headache.

If the original person was still alive, what would he do?

Chris wasn’t quite sure.

Actually, he didn’t really want to get involved in this kind of thing, but it involved Bruno and Mia.

After waking up in the hospital, Bruno and Mia came to visit him every day, keeping him company, talking with him, helping him relax.

When everyone else’s eyes hid mockery, disdain, and pity, Bruno and Mia didn’t. They stayed with him like family, afraid he might do something foolish. At that time, the just-awakened Chris didn’t really understand what was going on, and could only use indifference to cover up. But Bruno and the others didn’t mind, giving Chris a lot of warmth and care.

So, Chris couldn’t just ignore it.

He glanced around the office and saw a safe behind the desk, so he walked over.

Using the same code he used last night to open the safe at Thomas’s house, he easily opened this one. Inside, apart from a handgun and two boxes of bullets, there was nothing else.

Chris took out the gun, checked it, and tucked it into the back of his waistband.

His gaze swept over the display shelf behind the desk, and he walked over to take the sword from the rack.

It was a Tang horizontal saber.

Chris drew the blade from its sheath. The blade shimmered blue, the pattern was gorgeous, and a flash of blood-red glinted along the edge.

A faint smell of blood drifted over. Chris’s eyes flickered, and he clicked his tongue.

Thomas sure had guts, leaving a murder weapon so brazenly displayed in the office, and no one noticed.

He sheathed the blade, then went to the bedroom closet and grabbed a hoodie to put on over his clothes.

Chris was quite tall, so most people’s clothes didn’t fit him well.

But Thomas’s clothes fit just right, so Thomas was probably about the same height as him.

After getting everything ready, Chris found a piece of cloth to wrap the sword, then went downstairs.

He opened the front door just as Bruno’s car pulled up.

“Chris...”

Chris turned to close the door, walked quickly over, and got in the car.

“Drive!”

Bruno didn’t waste words and started the car.

“Where’s Mia?”

“She’s still with Jimmy.”

“She’s alone?”

“With Jimmy.”

Chris shot Bruno a sidelong glance. “Isn’t Jimmy dead?”

“Then she’s alone.”

“What exactly happened?”

Bruno was much calmer now, though his voice still trembled a bit.

He said softly, “We found Jimmy, and Mia gave him the money. At first, he seemed normal, but after Mia said she wanted to break up with him, he got a little agitated. He started cursing at me and Mia, saying I was having an affair with her...”

“No need for those details!”

Chris said, “Bruno, why do I feel like you kind of enjoy hearing that?”

“I don’t, I didn’t, you’re talking nonsense!”

Seeing Bruno’s face turn red as he explained, Chris couldn’t help but laugh.

“All right, go on.”

“Jimmy got more and more worked up, and even demanded another fifty thousand from Mia. They started arguing, and then he suddenly hit Mia. I tried to stop him, but Jimmy is stronger than me, and maybe high on something—I wasn’t his match. Then Mia came over and pushed him away, but he went after her again. I panicked, grabbed a baseball bat, and hit Jimmy on the head.”

Bruno didn’t continue, but the meaning was clear enough.

“Chris, what should I do?”

“Don’t panic, let’s go take a look first.”

As they talked, they quickly arrived at the scene.

“Canarsie Pier?”

Chris got out of the car and couldn’t help asking, “Why is Jimmy living here? This is pretty far from West 6th Street.”

“He owes Melissa money, so he hasn’t dared go back to West 6th Street lately. Plus, he already sold his house, so now he’s living in an abandoned RV. This is the Canarsie Pier union’s turf, he works here, and Melissa and his people don’t dare come over.”

“No wonder!”

Chris followed behind Bruno, walking into an abandoned construction site.

“He lives alone, and there’s no one else around.”

“How did a guy doing this badly get Mia to like him?”

“I don’t know, but I once heard Mia say he wasn’t always like this.”

Chris hefted the sword and shrugged.

The two of them came to a battered, abandoned RV. Bruno stepped up and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and Mia stood there, covered in blood.

That beautiful yellow floral dress was now half stained with blood.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, and when she saw Chris, she couldn’t help but start crying.

“Chris...”

“Whatever you want to say, save it for later.”

Chris stopped Mia, took off his outer garment, and tossed it to her.

“Put this on first.”

He walked into the RV and saw a strong Black man lying in a pool of blood. His head had a gaping hole, and blood mixed with brain matter was all over the floor.

“Bruno, you really didn’t hold back.”