"Dad!"

Echo Wang woke up.

In his mind, he heard two voices: one childish, the other strange but somehow familiar.

After a while, he sat up on the sofa, his heart pounding and throbbing, while his left eyelid twitched. Mistle Luo, his late wife, was like this back then.

It's not a good sign.

Byron hadn't called yet. It seemed that today, that son of a gun was going to cut me some slack, again. Echo looked at his watch. It was almost ten o'clock, and the rain hadn't stopped.

"Bart? Let's have a barbecue for lunch. Son?

Mr. Wang noticed that the boy did not make a sound. He thought that his son was misbehaving.

"What? Are you still mad at me? Tell you what, we'll get some beef tongue later, your favorite, okay?"

He said before entering the boy's bedroom. There was no one inside, but the window was open, and there were a lot of raindrops on the desk by the window.

He looked out the window and saw that there was no one downstairs. He glanced at his old Jetta and stopped. There was a black object that resembled a plastic bag attached to the right rearview mirror.

* * *

"Byron, something has happened to Bart."

As soon as Byron Gong opened the door, Echo rushed into the apartment, clutching a black plastic bag in his hand.

"What's the matter, brother-in-law? Sit down, take your time."

Echo Wang seemed grim. He stood by the table and opened the plastic bag. From inside, he picked out a half sheet of A4 paper, on which a line of characters was printed.

We have the child in our custody, and he can be released for a fee of 30,000 RMB. You will arrive at Furnace No. 6 at two o'clock this afternoon. Call the police. He's dead.

"It happened this morning."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Byron's expression turned dark as he pulled out his cell phone. "What the f***, brother-in-law, didn't you call the police?"

"If the police had been of any use, Sunny and your sister-in-law would be alive today."

Byron scratched his head. He remembered that his brother-in-law had been holding a grudge for so many years. The police said that Sunny Wang's death was a suicide, but his brother-in-law did not believe it for even a second. Henceforth, he had never asked the police for help in all these years as a taxi driver. Only God knows how many troubles he had run into, but he chose to deal with them in his own way.

Echo's face was covered by the raincoat, so Byron could not see his expression.

"Brother-in-law, what would you do if we didn't call the police?"

"Gather the guys."

"Gather what?" Are you kidding me?! Only a true kinsman, like myself, is willing to help. Everyone else will turn their back on you, don't you understand?"

"There's this guy who I'm sure will help; he owes me."

* * *

At the end of the music, men and women on the dance floor, old and young, returned to their corners, talking excitedly while taking a break and waiting for the next dance. Mr. Wang saw Deschamps Ma wearing a black tuxedo with short, carefully combed hair. He seemed a little nervous, and his partner looked much younger than him. She was wearing a willowy crimson dress, radiant and full of life.

Byron sounded envious. "Well, Captain Ma is doing well. I think he nailed the ‘international style of ballroom dancing’."

Deschamps's eyes met Echo's. He was obviously startled, then muttered a few words to his partner and walked toward them.

"I’ll be damned! Isn't this Mr. Wang? You're Byron Gong from Steel City, admin, am I right?"

Byron started to speak, but was interrupted by Echo.

"Captain Ma, I haven't seen you in years. The way you dress, people will mistake you for that detective, Marlowe."

"Come on, I can't be Marlowe, just like you cannot be Watson. My wife insisted on taking me to dance with her. It was all for fitness. Enough pleasantries. Why are you here?"

"It's Bart; he's been kidnapped." Said Byron.

"What?" Deschamps stared at Byron with disbelief. "You must be joking, don’t you?"

Echo glared at Byron and handed the piece of paper to Deschamps. "I assume it was someone who knew me, so they didn't ask much. In the past few years, similar incidents have happened in our district. They just take the money and release the hostages. No one kills anymore."

"I hear you, brother-in-law; it is possible. The police are cracking down on criminals quite hard this year. Some of them may be short of money."

"Are you still blabbing about being an undergraduate student from the 90s? I bet now that all you get is your intellectual temperament, judging from your insights", Deschamps chuckled. "It's true that I have been retired from the force for nearly ten years, but there's definitely something wrong with the perp kidnapping a child and only asking for that sum of money. Listen to me; call the police now."

Echo put the paper back slowly, and he said, "I came to you against my senses, Captain Ma, because I don't trust the police. After all these years, I couldn’t forget about Sunny's death, not even one second. Sooner or later, there will be a reckoning. But I also realized that you are a good person—the kind of person who will stand up in difficult moments like this."

Byron looked at Echo Wang and Deschamps Ma, stunned and speechless.

"Hey, let me talk to the wife first."