âWho is it?â Sampson didnât want to open the door, because he wasnât sure who was knocking.
Dolores looked at the door. Her heart was pounding. She wondered if Matthew had tracked them here.
She was filled with anticipation.
The person on the other side of the door was very determined. He pounded on the door again loudly, âOpen the door now! Or weâll break in.â
Sampson seemed to realize who was outside the door. He cursed under his breath, âHow come there are officers here?â
He turned around and tucked Dolores into the comforter. He said, âNo matter who comes through the door, you canât make a sound.â
Dolores heard his curse a moment ago, so she knew roughly that it wasnât Matthew outside.
In fact, she doubted that Matthew would come looking for her.
She was very uncertain about him.
After all, they had been separated for a long time.
However, she still had a glimmer of hope, hoping for his rescue.
Since she wasnât sure she could successfully escape right now, she didnât want to expose her intention to Sampson. She nodded obediently, âI wonât.â
âGood girl.â Sampson rubbed her head. Then he turned and opened the door. When the door was open, people outside aggressively burst in. Then an undercover cop walked in with a solemn look on his face, âYou twoâ¦â
âExcuse me, officer. Please donât misunderstand me. We donât have an inappropriate relationship. The girl in the bed is my girlfriend. Sheâs not feeling well and sheâs mute.â As he spoke, Sampson pulled out his ID card with a bunch of cash underneath, about twenty thousand in all. He handed it all to the officer and said, âHereâs my ID.â
The cop took the ID card and secretly rubbed to find out how much was underneath. He put it all in his pocket without expression. Then he took a cursory glance at the card and said to other policemen, âAll right. Theyâre gone.â
They left the narrow room one after the other. The chief also gave them a gentle reminder before leaving, âYouâd better not stay in this kind of hotel in the future. Itâs unsafe and your relationship would be easily misunderstood.â
Sampson escorted him out and nodded, âYes, sir. I understand. Thank you.â
The agent lowered his voice and whispered to Sampson, âI know you are not a prostitute with your client because I know almost every prostitute in this neighborhood.â
Sampson was quite upset to hear him say such thinly disguised words. However, he had to keep smiling. After all, he wasnât on their turf. As rich and powerful as he was, he couldnât compete with a local tyrant and he didnât want to get into trouble. âUnderstood, sir.â
Sampson went back into the room and closed the door. He said, âHere are officersâ¦â
Before he could finish his words, he discovered that the woman in the bed had disappeared. The headboard of the bed was next to the window, which was now open. His expression changed and he hurried over. Then he peered into the window, to find a small roof below. It was not built on this building originally, but was added later.
As the officer said, almost all the registered guests in that kind of hotel were involved in prostitution, so those officers always had sudden inspections. In order for the guests to escape, such a roof was built under each window.
Although Dolores managed to walk down the stairs by stepping on the roof, the room was still far from the ground. She twisted her ankle as she jumped down, so she was unable to run fast.
Sampson saw her figure and roared angrily, âDolores Flores, stop!â.
Hearing his roar, Dolores quickened her steps as if she had heard the urgency of death. She ignored the pain in her ankle and only wished she could run faster so Sampson could not catch up with her.
After all, since she had managed to escape, Sampson would undoubtedly know that she had not yet lost her memory.
He didnât believe her, and she could imagine what he would do to her after catching her again.
Sampson hurried down the stairs and ran quickly to chase after her.
He couldnât let Dolores get away.
It was a small town, and even the streetlights werenât everywhere. There was little light and all kinds of streets in the neighborhood. Occasionally, there was a roadside barbecue stand. The air was filled with the smell of cumin and barbecue.
Dolores wandered into a small alleyway, which was quite dark. Nothing was visible. She did not dare to stop. Stretching out her hands and waving them in front of her, she tried to make her way through, quickening her pace.
âDolores Flores, you canât run away!â There was a flashlight. She heard Sampsonâs voice.
He was close to her.
Dolores suppressed horror and panic, kept walking forward. She was able to step on something, which stuck in her foot. Since she had been tied up by Sampson, she was not wearing shoes. She was running barefoot, which was beneficial in the sense that she wouldnât make any noise while running, but the shortage was that her feet would get nailed by anything sharp on the ground.
She didnât know what had been stuck in her foot. It hurt like hell.
He gripped the wall of the but he dared not slow down.
At the end of the lane, he saw the light. He lunged at it, trying to stop it, but the light quickly passed through.
Her hope was shattered. As Sampsonâs footsteps came closer and closer to her, she looked around in panic, trying to find a place to hide.
âHello, Lola?â his voice had become closer. She even saw the waving flashlight in Sampsonâs hand.
At that moment, how she wished there was someone to save her!
However, she was sure that she could only rely on herself to free herself from Sampsonâs abduction.
She encouraged herself. Despite the pains, she kept running forward.
There was a concrete road after she left the lane. There was a lamppost not far away, under which there was plenty of light.
âDolores Flores, you lied to me!â Sampson had caught up with her almost without noticing.
Dolores suddenly looked back, to discover that Sampson was standing at the lane exit with his phone in his hand. The flashlight on his phone was pointed at her. He looked extremely grim and annoyed, âDo you think you can get away from me?â.
Dolores stepped to the other side of the concrete road and snarled at him, âDonât make me hate you!â.
âDonât you hate me now? Youâve already hated me. I have no turning back. Will you come to me obediently or will I come over to drag you away?â
Dolores curved her dry lips into a bitter smile, âIâd rather die than go to the other side!â
After finishing her words, she ran toward the glowing lamppost, for she discovered that there was sparkling water over there. He guessed there must be a river or a stream.
When he got closer, he realized it was a river.
âDolores, are you crazy, you canât swim at all.â Sampson realized his intention.
Dolores looked back at him and curved her lips, âI remember you canât swim either.â
Then he jumped into the river without hesitation. The water splashed.
She would rather die than be caught by Sampson.
Sampson couldnât swim either. If she was lucky enough, Dolores believed she might still have a chance to escape.
âLunatic!â Sampson ran to the river bank, only to find that the river was moving fast and seemed quite deep. The river course was not clear, so weeds were growing in it.
He wanted to jump into the river, but he almost drowned as a child.
With that background in his heart, he didnât have the guts to jump into the river.
Sampson clasped his hands, âYou have a death wish. No one could stop you.â
The river was deep and running pretty fast. Dolores couldnât swim, so the river was choking her. She had seen it on TV: because she couldnât swim and jumped into the river, she couldnât breathe in the water. Otherwise, she would suffocate and even die if the water entered her lungs.
However, if the water entered his belly, he might have a glimmer of hope for survival.
Although it was almost impossible, she could not give up so easily.
Her children needed her. She told herself that she must not give up.
.
.
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