Chapter 6

Excessive panic almost knocked the salesgirl down as more police cars kept arriving outside the shop and the helicopter noise filled the air.

“I think you come to the wrong place,” the salesgirl said and forced a smile on her face.

“Show us your surveillance camera then,” the officer said.

“My boss had locked it with a password and won’t tell me.”

“Give me your boss’s number. Need to phone him now.”

“You are wasting your time being here. Just imagine how bad you would feel if you later know the criminal didn’t come here. As you can see, this shop is too small to hide anything from you all. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I’m teaching you what to do.”

The officer let out a heavy sigh and walked past her, glancing around. After a while, his eyes caught a dummy staring at him. The dummy’s eyes weren’t white, they sparkled.

The salesgirl hurried to the officer when he took two steps forward. “You guys need to leave now. You are chasing away our customers.”

“Give me five minutes and don’t distract me.” The officer took out a knife as he walked close to the dummy, who was Johnny.

The salesgirl pressed the door remote, which was in her pocket, and all doors shut immediately. The policemen in the shop turned and prepared their guns. Some took out phones and talk with the police who were wandering outside the shop while others ran for a cover.

The salesgirl wasn’t satisfied yet, for the officer hadn’t stopped staring at Johnny. She then dashed to the wall and pressed a button on the wall, making the light go off.

“The light went off. Be ready to fire. Do you copy?...”

"What's going on?..."

"Don't shoot yet..."

“Silence everyone...”

The officer, who stood before Johnny, quickly turned on the torch on his phone. He was baffled as to how the dummy had changed its style.

“This dummy didn’t hold a baton before,” the officer said, and before he could attack Johnny with the knife, Johnny knocked the baton on his head.

Johnny tiptoed around in the darkness, knocking the baton on officers’ heads. Kai’s grandfather had made it easy for Johnny to attack in the darkness by taking him deep into martial arts.

The salesgirl bows down with her fingers in her ears, shivering. She widened her eyes as the light went on. Raising her head, she pressed her chest with her knuckles as she saw blood dripping from a baton that Johnny hold.

Johnny then walked close to her, giving her his hand.

“Stay away from me please,” she said and wept.

Johnny dropped the baton. “I want to leave, but we need to escape before they break the door in.”

“If we escape, what about the surveillance cameras?”

Johnny take the baton again and threw them at the cameras in the shop before he destroyed the laptops on the desk.

“Will you follow me now?” Johnny stretched his hand to her again, and she accepted it.

Johnny took out his phone to call Kai and found out that Kai had already called him twenty-six times. He quickly answered the call as his phone vibrated again.

“I’m up here in the police helicopter I stole. Hurry up here, my Johnny,” Kai said.

“Give me five minutes,” Johnny said.

“Why! It would take you just a few seconds to get here. Oh! Are you coming with someone?”

“Yes.” Johnny hung up the call, kept his phone in his pocket, and grabbed the salesgirl’s hand.

The salesgirl climbed the pole after Johnny destroyed the roof. Getting to the top, she quickly entered the helicopter first.

“He’s escaping up there.” An officer raised his hand for others to see.

Johnny lay on top of the shop as bullets flies rapidly from the policemen. Kai then dropped many teargases on the policemen, which chased them to the other side.

“Come on, Johnny.” Kai boomed enough for Johnny to hear.

Johnny rose and caught the ladder and then climbed it in as Kai flew the helicopter away.

The policemen couldn’t open the door of the small shop until Mr. Carter, the owner arrived with Detective Peyton. Mr. Carter opened the door and many journalists followed the policemen into the shop.

Detective Peyton dug his hands into his pocket and walked around, watching the broken surveillance cameras. He walked past groaning officers on the floor to the desk and carried the broken laptop.

“Fuck! He destroyed my laptop, too. Hannah was too careless. How could she allow him to enter here?” Mr. Carter raised his eyebrows and glanced around. “Wait! Where’s Hannah?”

“Can I take this laptop home?” Detective Peyton asked Mr. Carter.

“Yes. Can you retrieve the recorded video there?”

Detective Peyton nodded with a smile.

“Okay, okay. Please do.” Mr. Peyton sat on the chair and bow his head in sorrow for not seeing Hannah.

“Take heart, everything will be fine soon,” Peyton said and walked out with the spoiled laptop.

“I will kick your ass! Leave me alone!”

“Please sir, just a minute with you.”

“Wanna ask you if you need help?”

“Yes! I need to be left alone!”

Peyton looked back to see what was going on inside. It was Mr. Carter yearning at journalists. Then peyton hurriedly entered his car to dodge the journalists.

***

Peyton knocked on Luke’s door at night. Luke was his childhood friend and a computer technician.

“Hey, buddy! It’s a long time.” Luke looked at the damaged laptop Peyton carries. “You don’t even bother to visit me once this year. Why did you come with that? You think I will repair it for you after you snubbed me?”

Luke shut the door.

“It’s my job. I don’t even have time to get a girl for myself. Try to understand me, Luke,” Peyton said and knocked on the door again.

“Your job would repair it for you, then!”

Peyton knocked on the door more. “I’m sorry.”

Luke opened the door and moved aside for Peyton to come in.

“Thank you.”

After thirty minutes, Peyton watched Luke copy every piece of information inside the damaged laptop into a flash drive after connecting it with his system.

“Done.” Luke gave Peyton the flash drive and furrows his brow as Peyton rose. “Can’t believe you will leave after using your friend?”

“Would visit you tomorrow, buddy. I’m sorry.”

Luke opened the door and waited for Peyton to go out

Peyton rose, carried the laptop, and walked out.

“I understand you don’t have time for yourself. Don’t force yourself to come here tomorrow,” Luke said and shut the door.

“Thank you, buddy!” Peyton smiled and drove home.

Getting home, Peyton insert the flash drive inside his laptop and played every recorded video. After five hours of watching, he found and watched the video of Johnny talking with the salesgirl from the beginning to the end.

Peyton then took his phone off the stool and dialed Lucas’s phone number.