CH 8

The night before in a secluded suburban area.

Liu Ergou exclaimed loudly, “You need me to cooperate with you? You untied me and was friendly to me not because you intend to let me go but because you have other plans?”

Du Xiaopeng cackled and turned to take a bag out from the trunk of the SUV. The bag was clearly labeled with the word “EXPLOSIVES”. He said very calmly, “It looks like I’m left with no other choice but to take this chance.”

Liu Ergou was horrified. “You want to tie these explosives to my body and use this to threaten the police into returning you the money? That’s too naïve! You might have taken me hostage, but I believe the police already know that I’m a thief. Do you think the police would return you the two million you robbed from a bank for the sake of saving another criminal? The police aren’t going to do that. They won’t give you the money! In fact, they might even ignore my safety and shoot you dead!”

Du Xiaopeng said calmly, “I’ve thought about all these things you just said a long time ago. Honestly speaking, if I can’t get the two million to repay the loan sharks, I’m going to die. If I try to threaten the police into giving me the two million, I’m also going to die. So, whether I get the money or not, I’m still going to die. I’m going to die either way, yet I still insist on doing this. Of course I’ve got other plans.”

Liu Ergou was curious. “Other plans? What other plans?”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

Liu Ergou sighed. “We’ve all ended up in this state purely because we owe loan sharks money. Since we’re in the same boat, I’ll be glad to be of help in any way.”

“Great! I will be tying these explosives to you, but they’re not real. Also, the one who will be conducting this exchange in front of the police will not be me, but the one who loaned me the money.”

Liu Ergou didn’t get it. “What do you mean? You’re not going to do this exchange? Then where will you be?”

Du Xiaopeng explained, “I’ll give the loan sharks a call in a minute and offer to be their hostage. Then you’ll lead one of their men to meet your leader to get the money back.”

Liu Ergou got it and was appalled by this idea. “You’re hoping that the police would think the loan shark guy is the bank robber?”

Du Xiaopeng nodded and continued, “That’s right. Once the loan shark guy gets the money, he would give the headquarters a call to tell them that he’s got the money and they will let me go. Once he’s finished making that phone call, open your jacket and reveal the explosives on yourself.”

“But this ruse won’t last long. Once the police realize they got the wrong guy, they’ll come after you!”

“Don’t worry, the police won’t get a chance to realize anything. Once I’m safely out, I’ll call the loan shark guy’s number. Once his phone starts ringing, you just need to yell at the police to stop him from taking the call and the police will think that his phone is the detonator. In view of everyone’s safety, the police will end up shooting the loan shark guy dead immediately. That way, even if the police realize that the explosives tied to you are fake, you just need to deny knowing anything about these fake explosives. The other guy is dead anyway, so the police won’t be able to verify if you’re telling the truth or not and they’ll have to just take your word for it.”

Liu Ergou really got it now. “Oh! So that’s your plan!”

Du Xiaopeng smiled without saying anything. Then he took his phone out and gave the loan sharks a call.