Chapter 194 I Want to Live Selectively
Elbert, looking freaked out and pale, said to Jasper, "I tried using Loren's radio to call for backup, but the frequency's locked. Couldn't connect to our channel. But my radio's working fine."
"You guys only have one radio, right?"
"No, I was worried we'd get separated, so I grabbed another one from the car."
Hearing this, Jasper slowly lowered his gun but still asked coldly, "Did the robber upstairs get shot?"
"Yeah, he got hit twice, both in the upper body. Captain James shot him..." Elbert explained frantically, "He was shouting just now, but now he's silent. I didn't dare go up alone, and Captain James is unconscious. Captain Lane, why are you here alone? Where are the others?"
Jasper didn't have time to think too much and responded hastily, "I was the closest. The others should be on their way."
"What should we do?" Elbert asked.
Jasper licked his dry lips and stared at Elbert, saying, "We're going up to catch that robber."
"Just the two of us? Captain Lane, they're desperate criminals. We should wait for the others."
"You don't get it!" Jasper glared at him and scolded, "He definitely has communication equipment on him. If he contacts his accomplices, we won't get any info out of him, and he might even choose to off himself. Trust me, we need to go up now."
Elbert looked at him, hesitating.
"Weren't you doing fine just now? What are you scared of now?"
"If I didn't fight back just now, I'd be dead."
"Trust me, he's injured. The two of us can take him down." Jasper glared back. "If he fights back, we can shoot him in a vital spot."
"Okay, okay." Elbert nodded.
Jasper gritted his teeth, yanked open the iron door of the building, and stepped inside.
In the dimly lit stairwell, Alexander was slumped in the shadows, watching Jasper enter alone.
Jasper glanced around and saw two people lying near the stairs, while Alexander was sitting on the right side. He froze in place.
Elbert followed in, urgently saying, "Let's go, Captain Lane?"
Jasper suddenly turned around, staring at Elbert, and asked, "Why are there two people here?"
"What?"
"Wasn't there supposed to be one upstairs?" Jasper blurted out.
"How do you know there shouldn't be two people here?" Elbert suddenly asked back.
Jasper froze, instantly realizing his verbal slip.
"You know how many robbers came to kill us, don't you?" Elbert asked again.
Jasper hesitated for a moment, then instinctively raised his arm to draw his gun.
Elbert decisively fired three shots into Jasper's chest at point-blank range.
Alexander was stunned, completely shocked, and almost instinctively shouted, "What... What are you doing?"
Jasper staggered back two steps, dumbfounded, looking down at the blood and bullet holes in his chest, his eyes dazed.
Elbert calmly swung his leg on the spot and kicked the gun out of Jasper's hand.
"I... You... Damn." Jasper raised his arm to point at Elbert, but before he could finish, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Elbert, slightly nervous and sweating, but thinking clearly, used his sleeve to pick up Jasper's gun.
"What are you doing?" Alexander asked in shock.
Elbert didn't reply. He picked up the gun, turned, and aimed it at the unconscious robber. After a brief hesitation, he decisively pulled the trigger.
Two more gunshots rang out. The robber convulsed violently, but with his hands tied to the radiator, he could only twitch for about five seconds before his body went stiff.
Alexander stared at him, seemingly realizing something.
Elbert bent down, placed Jasper's gun back in his hand, then turned and untied the robber's belt, quickly fastening it around his own waist.
"This is risky," Alexander growled, eyes wide.
"Everything is risky," Elbert replied quietly. He then used his sleeves to drag the dead robber to the stairs.
Alexander watched in silence, knowing he couldn't stop anything now.
After positioning the robber's body, Elbert used his sleeve to awkwardly grip the gun he had used to kill Jasper.
Alexander looked at him and said, "Jasper's dead. We'll be thoroughly investigated by the police."
"Alexander, he was a big problem, but I solved it for you," Elbert said, lowering the gun. "We're in this together. I'll do what you can't. If this doesn't get out, fine. If it does, I won't say a word."
With that, he shot himself in the left side of his abdomen, staggering back a step.
Alexander, even more shocked and conflicted, was speechless.
Elbert slumped to the ground, carefully placing the gun in the robber's hand, his expression blank as he gasped for air.
Alexander, leaning on the ground, closed his eyes and asked, "Why?"
"I don't want to be sidelined, just an apprentice. I want to be in this with you," Elbert replied quietly.
"With who?" Alexander asked.
"You, John, and Samuel," Elbert responded bluntly.
"Why? What's the point?" Alexander shouted urgently, "You're still so young. Why rush?"
Elbert was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alexander, do you remember how Uriel died?"
Alexander was stunned.
"I remember..." Elbert's voice trembled. "He was run over with no choice. I saw it with my own eyes. That day...was my first day in Pine City."
Alexander's mouth twitched as he looked at Elbert under the dim light.
"I have nothing at home, but I want to live with choices," Elbert said, his voice trembling, "Alexander, I'm willing to fight, to risk my life. Take me with you."
Just then, John and his men burst through the iron door, looking panicked. "We heard gunshots. What happened?"
Alexander closed his eyes, not responding.
Jasper lay on the ground, covered in blood, his eyes wide open. In his pocket were three tickets to a children's amusement park.
He had promised his daughter to spend a day there with her.
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