Chapter 255: Forget Upstairs

Jingwei kept his rifle pointed into the passage while the man with the radio reached around the stairwell door and caught the green jacket by its sleeve.

He dragged its owner back onto the landing, speaking close to his face. The camera caught the frightened shake of the man’s head before he pointed toward the wounded gunman.

The boatman who had dropped the metal bar crouched beside his companion.

He touched the spreading stain on the man’s coat, then wiped his hand against his trousers as though he hadn’t expected blood.

"Help me get him up," the boatman called toward the stairwell. He pulled at the wounded man’s shoulder, but his weight dragged him down again. "He can’t walk."

The man with the radio stayed behind the door. He looked into the passage without stepping far enough for Jingwei to see more than his face.

"We’re taking him," the newcomer called. "Don’t shoot."

"Leave his gun where it is," Jingwei replied through the speaker. "Keep your hands where we can see them, and take him downstairs."

The newcomer pushed the man in green ahead of him.

Between them, they lifted the wounded gunman beneath his arms while the boatman caught his legs.

His head moved against the newcomer’s shoulder, and one hand closed weakly around the wet fabric of his coat.

Jingwei watched until the last of them disappeared into the stairwell. He stayed behind the rifle while Hanchuan checked the next camera.

"They’re going down," Hanchuan said, following their progress on the screen. "Shichen, tell us if anyone leaves that staircase."

Shichen’s answer came through the radio with a faint rustle from the sitting room. "Zeyu has the other stairs. I’ll keep these men in view."

The passage outside was empty except for the gun, the metal bar, and the blood the men had left across the floor.

Jingwei closed the firing cover and stepped back. His shoulder felt stiff where he had held the stock against it, but his hands were steady.

Hanchuan looked at the abandoned weapon on the monitor.

"It can stay there until we know who else is in the building," Hanchuan said. He checked the locks without reaching to release them. "We aren’t opening this door to collect it."

Jingwei nodded and rested the rifle against his chest.

Beyond the stairwell door, the men were still struggling down the steps.

There were several empty floors between them and the people sheltering below, enough distance that the shouts from the lower rooms didn’t reach the microphone yet.

When the men finally reached the occupied level, people pulled their belongings out of the way. A woman caught a child by the wrist and drew him behind a doorway.

Nobody offered to help carry the gunman.

The man in green tried to step away once they lowered him onto a blanket, but the newcomer caught his collar.

"You said they had food," the newcomer snapped, shoving him against the wall. "You didn’t say anything about that."

"I didn’t know," the man answered, turning his face away from the fist bunched beneath his chin. "They never came down."

Jingwei watched the newcomer release him with another shove.

The man had expected strangers with a gun to solve his problem upstairs. Now he remained within their reach, and Jingwei doubted they would forget who had led them there.

Hanchuan called Qinghe to take over the entrance watch before they returned to the sitting room.

They passed him in the corridor carrying his radio and a bottle of water. Qinghe glanced at Jingwei’s hands, then his face, and continued toward the barrier without asking him to explain the shot.

In the sitting room, Zhiyi had taken Jingwei’s chair beside Shichen. She stood when he entered, moving aside so he could see the boat again.

"There’s another one around the corner," she told him. "It came closer after the radio call."

The second boat was longer, with an outboard engine and a sheet stretched over its middle. Two men waited beneath it while another held them against the building with a pole.

Jingwei looked back at the first boat, where the stolen shopping bag lay beside the engine.

"They have somewhere to put him," he said, setting his rifle within reach before sitting down. "Let’s see whether they leave."

Zhiyi remained beside him as the men carried the gunman to the window.

Getting him into the boat took several attempts. His companion lost his footing, and for a moment both men nearly went into the water before someone in the second boat caught the blanket.

The mother and child were no longer near the window. Jingwei found them on an interior camera, huddled beside the woman who had handed over her food. The child held the woman’s empty bag on his lap while his mother searched through her own pockets.

Below the window, the engines grew louder. The newcomer climbed into the second boat and spoke into his radio before they pulled away.

Jingwei followed them until the rain hid both sterns. Only then did he lower the outside sound and rub the back of his neck.

Zhiyi’s hand settled over his.

"Come away from the desk for a moment," she said. "Shichen can watch while you stretch."

Jingwei let her lead him to the sofa. She sat close enough that their knees touched, then reached up to ease his collar away from the place where the strap had rubbed.

He caught her hand and kissed her palm. She watched him without searching his face for regret, and he was grateful that she hadn’t come to ask whether he would have done it differently.

"I wanted to sit with you before all that started," Jingwei admitted, keeping her fingers against his cheek. "I was coming to find you when Zeyu saw the boat."

Zhiyi moved closer, resting her shoulder against his. "Then sit with me now. You can still see the screen from here."

He put his arm around her and stayed that way until Shichen called his name.

On the monitor, the man in the green jacket was approaching the tower’s open window again. One of the boats had returned, drifting close enough for him to speak to the newcomer beneath the sheet.

Jingwei leaned forward as Shichen raised the sound.

"I can find out when they come down," the man in green offered. "Someone has to come down eventually."

The newcomer shook his head and pointed toward the occupied rooms behind him.

"Forget upstairs," he replied. "Start with the people you can reach. Bring their food to this window, and we’ll let you keep some."

The man in green stood with his hands on the sill. Behind him, the woman who had surrendered her shopping bag was spreading a towel over the child’s shoulders.

After a moment, he turned to look at her.