Sun Tiger showed us around and picked up a thick gun. "Kiddo, have you ever used this? Come on, give it a try," he said.
"A signal flare?" I aimed at the open space and pulled the trigger, only to see a huge net appear in the room.
Sun Tiger laughed while Xiaotao teased, "Director Sun, don't you have anything better to do?"
Sun Tiger straightened his clothes nervously, "This is the first time I’m commanding such a huge battle!" He turned to the other officers, "Take a break but don't leave. We will start at seven o'clock sharp!"
The officers stood to attention and then went on their break.
"Xiaotao, fetch your team so they can get familiar with the equipment. Tonight, the SWAT team will attack the enemy while the criminal police are responsible for wiping out anyone who tries to slip out of the net. The armed police will be responsible for external support," explained Sun Tiger.
Xiaotao gave her team half an hour to prepare themselves. Soon, several police cars carrying the officers in the team including Wang Yuanchao arrived. Many officers were participating in such a task for the first time and were extremely excited.
Compared to the militarized special police, the criminal police seemed rather carefree and sloppy. Xiaotao called for their attention but these officers dilly-dallied, testing her patience. Finally, bursting into anger, she turned to Wang Yuanchao, "Deal with them."
Wang Yuanchao walked up to the front and shouted, "Stand up!"
When the officers were all standing, Wang Yuanchao swept his eyes across them, scanning for mistakes. His gaze landed on two officers who were out of place and pointed to the ground, "I want a hundred push-ups from the both of you."
The officers smiled bitterly and argued, "Yuanchao-ge, are you serious? It’s not like we’re actually going to do anything tonight."
"Obey orders!" Wang Yuanchao coldly barked.
The two officers dropped down to the ground and began doing their push-ups, making a good example for the rest. Wang Yuanchao was obviously an experienced instructor. The others immediately stood as straight as arrows.
Much later, Xiaotao mentioned that Wang Yuanchao was the candidate of choice for the head coach of the Armed Police during the change of the leadership in 2015. However, Wang Yuanchao preferred to work in the criminal department so he refused the offer. At most, he taught some of the new cadets to give them a hand.
Past 7:00 pm, Sun Tiger didn't show any intention of setting out so Xiaotao and I went to look for him. He was repeatedly dialing on his cell phone.
“Director Sun, is something wrong?" asked Xiaotao.
"I’ve lost contact with the four officers I sent to monitor the factory..."
Xiaotao and I exchanged a look of consternation as Sun Tiger hung up the call. "There may be a situation. Let’s get started at once!"
Xiaotao and Sun Tiger instructed their teams respectively and five minutes later, we left the premises. When I saw the factory once more, I couldn't fight the panic that welled up inside of me. What happened that day had become a source of phobia and being back here made my thoughts spin out of control.
There wasn’t a soul in sight in the entire factory which was very strange. Sun Tiger decided to send a small team to explore the factory. Wang Yuanchao volunteered to lead the team and at the same time release drones to observe the situation.
Wang Yuanchao put on his gear and went in with a team, quickly disappearing from our sight. After a while, Wang Yuanchao's voice sounded from the radio–
"Zone A, clear!"
"Zone B, clear!"
"Zone C, clear!"
It was as if the people in the entire factory had disappeared in an instant. Suddenly, someone shouted, "Turn around! There’s a bomb in there!"
The UAV detected explosives fixed to several buildings of the factory and the countdown was at the last minute so it was too late to dismantle them. Sun Tiger ordered Wang Yuanchao to evacuate immediately while the rest of us waited anxiously. A loud explosion almost shattered our eardrums and flames rose from the ground. Several buildings slowly crumbled as a cloud of smoke covered the night sky.
"Yuanchao!" Sun Tiger yelled into the radio but all he got was static.
Consumed by worry, we tore down to the front of the factory and waited with bated breath. As the seconds ticked away, our hearts pounded anxiously.
Sun Tiger cried, "Send in another team for rescue!"
"No, it’s too dangerous inside,” argued one of the squadron captains. “Some buildings are at the point of collapse. The slightest movement will cause the disintegration of the building structure. I can’t send my men in to die."
Sun Tiger paced back and forth until an officer pointed in front and shouted, "Look!"
Much to our relief, Wang Yuanchao and the SWAT officers walked out of the smoke, covered in ash, holding four plainclothes officers. When they found the missing officers, Wang Yuanchao decided to rescue them without a second thought. Contact was lost due to the short-wave interference of the explosion.
Sun Tiger punched Wang Yuanchao in the chest and growled, "You scared me half to death. Don't do this next time!"
"They have something to report," said Wang Yuanchao.
A plainclothes officer explained that the entire gang left at about four in the afternoon. They hadn’t expected the Dog Trainer to make such a big move and they were captured before they could report the situation. Then, they were tied up in the factory which was loaded with bombs. The time of the bombs was set at 7:30 pm, which was right about the time when we rushed in.
The Dog Trainer calculated the time almost perfectly which made us suspect that someone might have leaked the operation. Sun Tiger hesitated for a moment before waving, "Let’s go back to the station first!"
Our teams were divided into two. Xiaotao took the criminal police back to the criminal department while Sun Tiger returned to the SWAT compound with the SWAT team. In the conference room, Xiaotao began, "Boys, it's not that I don’t believe you but it's better we confirm everyone’s innocence. Please hand over your cell phones."
The officers placed their phones on the table and I was no exception. After examining our phones, Xiaotao determined that several officers made phone calls in the afternoon. She assigned someone to check these numbers. Right then, an officer pointed out, "I saw someone in the bureau this afternoon."
"Who was it?" Xiaotao asked.
"It was Duan Yunjie who was rescued with Consultant Song last time. I saw her in the archives and she claimed she was looking for her own files," replied the officer.
Xiaotao and I were taken aback by the news. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" fumed Xiaotao.
"I assumed she had returned to the force so I didn't stop to think further," explained the officer.
We rushed down to the archives. Because I was here for a considerable amount of time last year, I was familiar with the archives. I glanced at the criminal case files and found one missing from the serial number.
When I reported my discovery to Xiaotao, she asked, "Do you remember which case?"
I smiled bitterly, "How can I? There are thousands of files here."
"Do you have Duan Yunjie's number?" queried Xiaotao.
I grabbed my cell phone and called but she didn’t pick up. Unexpectedly, the ringtone sounded in the silent building. I gestured for Xiaotao to follow the sound.
In the women's toilet at the end of the third floor, we found Duan Yunjie. She was crouching on the ground with her head in her arms. There were torn documents all over the ground. Upon seeing us, she appeared frightened.
"Ahh! Who are you?" Duan Yunjie’s voice seemed different from the usual.
"Are you still pretending?!" Xiaotao pulled out his handcuffs, "Duan Yunjie, you are under arrest."
I motioned for Xiaotao to hold on while I stared into Duan Yunjie's eyes and asked, "Do you know me?"
"No."
"What about her?" I pointed to Xiaotao.
"I have seen her before. Her name is Huang Xiaotao. She was also at the police academy!"
"You can tell she’s lying!” retorted Xiaotao. “The plan must have been leaked by her. We can question her after I put these handcuffs on."
I shook my head, "No, she’s not lying. She might have a split personality!"