Upon hearing the gunshot coming from outside, the three of them paled. In the next second, they opened the car door and leaped out of the vehicle.
Winnie was worried that something might have happened to her grandmother, so she was the fastest of the trio.
Xavier subconsciously tried to run after her, but ever since Yulissa had injected large amounts of venom into him, he was no longer as physically fit as before. In fact, he was even a little slower than Winnie and Josiah at the start.
What he was most anxious about at that moment was Winnie’s rashness—that she would be met with danger if she was first to reach the spot.
Nevertheless, Winnie was much calmer than he thought she would be. Furthermore, police officers were up ahead, so she soon came to a halt.
While Xavier continued running after them, Josiah stopped.
Noticing that Xavier was slower than them, Josiah could not help but turn around and ask in concern, “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
Xavier nodded. “I’m fine.”
Despite his words, he was panting a little.
If he had no venom in him, he would have no problem running another thousand meters.
When Winnie heard Xavier and Josiah talking, she whipped her head around.
However, she did not notice anything amiss with Xavier. She only said in distress, “Please help me ask what’s going on there. The officer that was in your car earlier is just right there.”
“All right.” Xavier grabbed Winnie’s hand. “Come with me.”
With that, the two of them walked over to the police lieutenant from earlier.
On their way there, Xavier abruptly turned to glance at Winnie, a pleading look manifesting in his solemn eyes.
“Dumbo, can you promise me one thing? Situations like these are dangerous, so please don’t be the first to rush off, okay?”
Winnie froze when she saw the imploring look in his eyes.
It took her a moment before she could tell him, “I know that you’re worried about me. Even if you don’t believe in my capability to defend myself, you should have faith in the officers here. As long as I’m behind them, I won’t be in any danger.”
“Winnie.” Xavier tightened his grip on her hand. “I trust you, and I trust the officers here. But I don’t trust Zyon, and I don’t trust that accidents won’t happen. I instinctively fear any accidents happening to you, so promise me not to rush off that quickly next time, all right?”
Winnie blinked in a daze at the towering man, realizing that he was slowly opening his heart to her.
How could she reject him when he was this way? She would rather lie to him than outright say no to him.
Unable to hold herself back, she stepped forward to give him a hug.
“I know what you mean. Everyone has areas they excel in, and the police’s duty is to rescue and arrest people. They’ve gone through rigorous training, and I have not. If I intervene, I’ll only be making things more troublesome for them. So don’t worry about me next time because you have my promise.”
“Okay.” As if a weight had finally been taken off his shoulders, Xavier sighed quietly and momentarily tightened his grip on Winnie.
Soon, the two moved out of each other’s arms and came to the lieutenant.
“Lieutenant Zielinski!” Xavier went over to greet him. “What happened just now? Who was injured?”
“We’re not sure yet. The suspect brought the hostages to hide in the rest stop up ahead. They’ve sealed off all the windows, so we can’t see anything. However, based on what we heard, we’re guessing that the one injured is the young female hostage. We don’t know how her vitals are, and we’re trying to persuade him to let us send a physician into the rest stop to check on her.”
After saying that, Zayn Zielinski lifted his walkie-talkie and ordered, “Initiate a negotiation with the kidnappers and try to convince them to let a doctor in. Prioritize the hostages’ safety!”
“Got it!” The police officer with a megaphone immediately turned the device on to communicate with the kidnappers at the rest stop.
“Zyon Fairchild, you’re being far too impulsive! We haven’t prepared the cash yet, but if you give us a little more time, we’ll get everything you asked for. However, you have to ensure that the hostages are safe. It won’t do you any good if you kill her! Zyon Fairchild, do you hear us? We’re requesting to send a doctor to your place to treat the hostage’s wound. If the hostage bleeds too much, she might go into shock and die. It’ll be pointless for you to hold a corpse as a hostage!”
However, no sound came from inside the rest stop even after half a minute went by; Zyon had not answered the police.
Instead, a shriek rang out.
Promptly, Zayn snatched the officer’s megaphone and shouted, “Zyon Fairchild, we’re already preparing everything you’ve asked for. Please stop hurting the hostage!”
This time, Zyon finally made a reply.
He, too, was using a megaphone as he said arrogantly, “I just wanted to let you know that the stupid woman is still alive. I hope you remember that I have two hostages with me. Even if the young one dies, I still have the old one, so don’t you dare think of scaring me! Keep dilly-dallying, and this dimwit’s going to stop talking for good soon! Also, I said that you only have ten minutes. If I don’t get the money and the boat in ten minutes, I hope you’re ready to hold a funeral for this dumbass!”
In the rest stop, Zyon did not hesitate to turn off the megaphone after he was done spitting out the ruthless words.
Frankly, the police were already wasting too much of his time, and he was about to get cabin fever from being cooped up in the small rest stop.
He wanted to find out what was going on outside, but they had already covered up the windows with boxes.
If they wanted to know what was happening outside, they would have to move the boxes away.
Just as he stretched his arm toward the boxes, Jacinta’s yells stopped him.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to die? Put your hand down!”
Zyon reflexively retracted his arm. “What’s going on? Is there something wrong with the boxes?”
As Jacinta bandaged Rachel’s wound, she said, “Have some sense. The moment you uncover the windows, the sniper outside is going to blow your brains out.”
“Oh.” Zyon inhaled sharply before giving Jacinta a thumbs up. “Right. I nearly did something dumb. The old is always the wise. You’re amazing.”
Jacinta’s expression was cold. “I don’t think I am, or else I wouldn’t have ended up like this. We’re at the docks. Getting a boat and hundreds of thousands in cash aren’t an issue. They’re only dragging this out because they’re trying to find an opportunity for the snipers.”
“What do we do then?” Zyon’s subordinate could see the gravity of the issue as well. “There’s no way we can escape like this. Once we step out of this place, the bullets will come for us.”
“What are you afraid of?” Zyon scratched his head with the muzzle of his gun. “Don’t we have two hostages here? We’ll just grab one each, and if we’re fast, the snipers won’t be able to aim properly at us. If we drag the hostages around, they won’t have the guts to pull the trigger. After all, they’re afraid of hitting the innocents!”
“What about this one, then?” Zyon’s subordinate pointed at Rachel, whose leg had been hit by a bullet. “This idiot’s leg is about to give out, which means she’s going to be a burden if we bring her along. There’s no way we’ll be able to run fast!”
“F*ck you!” Zyon could not help but give his subordinate a kick. “Do you still want to live? If you do, run as fast as you can, or else the grim reaper’s going to get you!”
Meanwhile, Jacinta was staring at the back door of the rest stop for a long time. With furrowed brows, she said, “It’s too risky for us to head out, but I have another idea.”
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