Chapter 116 In the Name of Inspection, Taking Advantage
The four of us siblings have houses very close to each other. When the alarm went off at my place, Brian next door heard the commotion and rushed out of his house.
"Bella! What happened?"
I also came outside under Adrian and Cole's protection. Brian ran to my side, and I saw he was so panicked that he'd lost one of his slippers. I quickly reassured him, "Someone broke into my bedroom, but I'm fine—not hurt or scared!"
Compared to me, Brian seemed more shaken up.
He hugged me tightly and didn't let go for quite a while.
I looked down and noticed his bare foot, so I had Adrian go pick up Brian's slipper. After calming Brian down with a few words, I waited until he'd settled down before telling him what had just happened.
"Could his target be someone from the Saunders family?" Brian frowned, puzzled.
The only people who'd died directly by my hand recently were from the Saunders family.
But even if one of them really was that man's target, it would be totally crazy for him to want to kill me just because he didn't get to take care of the target himself!
"He must be a lunatic." Brian paced around in circles, frustrated. "We have to find him and kill him, or we won't be able to sleep peacefully!"
That's when Lucas showed up.
He didn't come close, stopping his car by the roadside about 30 feet away.
Brian recognized Lucas's car and muttered in surprise, "How did he get here so fast?"
After waiting a while with Lucas still not getting out of the car, Brian was confused. "Isn't he coming over?"
I suspected Lucas was doing this on purpose, since I'd told him Brian couldn't see us getting too close.
I almost showed a guilty expression. "If he's not coming over, then he's not coming over! Brian, let's just ignore him."
Brian looked at the black sedan, then at me. "I'm actually not as against you two seeing each other as Gale and Marcus are. Bella, if you want to see him, go see him."
I looked at Brian in surprise. "I don't want to see him!"
The night breeze was a bit cold. Brian rubbed his palms together and blew out a puff of white breath. "Rather than have you two sneaking around behind our backs, it's better to let you meet right under our noses."
Brian wrapped his warmed hands around mine and said gently, "We absolutely won't give him a chance to hurt you."
Hearing Brian say this made me feel even more guilty.
Especially half an hour later, when Brian returned to his house and I ran over and slipped into Lucas's car, I felt like I was doing something shady.
It was all Lucas's fault. He was the one who jokingly said we were like having an affair, which made me feel so uncomfortable!
As soon as I got in the car, Lucas hugged me, his warm body heat driving away the cold of the deep night.
He was only wearing a coat over his pajamas, with slippers on his feet.
"Where did you come from?" I asked.
"I just bought a new place nearby," Lucas answered, extending an invitation. "Want to go take a look?"
I shook my head, but Lucas had already taken the keys from his pocket and placed them in my hand.
Not just one key, but several on a keyring—clearly he'd opened up every locked place in the new house to me.
The keys felt like a burden. I quickly shoved them back at him.
"I don't want them." I said with a straight face. "You saw I'm not hurt. I'm going back now."
"Wait," Lucas held me back. "I haven't looked carefully yet."
He held my hands and checked each of my fingers one by one, then gently pressed and rubbed my right palm. "Does it hurt?"
"No, I'm going back now." I tried to pull my hand back, but Lucas held my wrist.
He pushed up my sleeve, then let it down before I could break free, and moved on to check the left side, all while seriously asking me about the details of my confrontation with the killer.
His expression was very serious, so I instinctively followed his questions, recalling and analyzing the situation.
"Who do you think wants to kill Santos?" I asked.
"We'll know once we catch that guy from tonight," Lucas said lightly.
After he'd felt me over from head to toe, I belatedly realized what had happened, my cheeks burning. I didn't need a mirror to know I was blushing.
"Have you felt enough!" I was both embarrassed and annoyed. What careful examination—he was clearly taking advantage of me!
"Not enough." Just when you think Lucas is shameless, he can be even more shameless.
He cupped my face. "Open your mouth. During a fight, it's easy to bite your tongue or the inside of your lips. Let me see if there's any bleeding."
"There isn't!" How could I obediently open my mouth? The atmosphere was already suggestive enough!
Lucas showed a look of regret, his fingers lingering as they touched my lips.
I kind of regretted coming to see him. Flustered and angry, I kicked him and hurriedly pushed open the car door to get out.
Behind me came his low laughter. Even after I'd walked far away, that pleased sound seemed to still linger in my ears.
When I got home, the house had been thoroughly checked. No one else was hiding there, but unfortunately the guy who escaped was hiding somewhere unknown, and they hadn't been able to catch him.
I reset the little mechanism in the lamp, then lay down to rest.
After all that commotion in the middle of the night, I was exhausted.
I hadn't slept long before I was woken by a phone call.
The sky outside was still dark. I grabbed my phone—the caller was Lucas. Frustrated and sleepy, I asked, "What is it?"
"Marcus is hurt."
Lucas's words instantly woke me up.
It never occurred to me that Lucas might be lying. I tried calling Marcus but couldn't get through, so I rushed to Lucas's new house nearby.
Lucas was waiting for me at the door. Seeing me covered in sweat, he told me not to worry. "Don't worry, Marcus's injury isn't serious."
He took my hand and led me inside. I was worried about Marcus, so I didn't fuss about holding hands.
Walking into the living room, I smelled a strong scent of blood and my face immediately went pale.
Lucas put his arm around me and said softly, "Don't worry, I promise Marcus only has minor injuries."
Then I could see the situation in the living room clearly. Marcus was lying on the sofa, unshaven and exhausted-looking. He was unconscious but had no obvious external injuries.
Lucas said, "He's just extremely tired and severely sleep-deprived."
I breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the other person.
It was a young man, lying on the floor. The strong smell of blood was coming from him.
His face was covered in blood, with multiple wounds on his body. The wound on his stomach was especially severe—it had nearly cut him in two!
Two people were helping stop the bleeding and clean his wounds. Lucas explained quietly in my ear that he'd accidentally run into Marcus while sending people to search for the killer.
At the time, Marcus was staggering down a small road carrying this blood-covered man on his back, with a section of the man's intestines hanging out. It was impossible to imagine what had happened.
"Did Marcus say anything?" I asked with a frown.
"He saw me and said 'damn it.'" Lucas's mouth turned down in displeasure as he spoke flatly.
"Then Marcus collapsed on the ground, and before passing out, he pointed at this man and said 'save him,' so I brought them both back."