Thief Vision: Meet the Next

Chapter 7: Venture

The moment he saw the boy, Charles immediately pressed the buttons of the two elevators without any hesitation. When the elevator reached the thirteenth floor, the boy just reached the elevator entrance with his bicycle.

Charles blocked the elevator door with his hand and gestured to the little boy with a smile as if he was just an ordinary neighbor, "After you."

“Thanks,” the boy smiled back and pushed the bicycle to the elevator quietly, while Charles kept pressing the button.

As Charles imagined, the little boy swiped the elevator card and pressed the button on the first floor. Watching the elevator doors slowly close, Charles let out a long sigh of relief, and at the same time, a voice gradually came from the corridor.

"Captain, is this information accurate?"

"Of course, let me tell you, this is a clue provided by an informant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it."

While the two policemen were still discussing whether this clue was accurate or not, the elevator door slowly closed. Looking at the display indicating the elevator's descent, Charles just remained silent until the constantly changing number locked on to zero. When the elevator door opened on the first floor, Charles felt like he had gone through an adventure of life and death. What’s opening was not the elevator door, but his own door to rebirth.

Charles didn't rush out of his ‘door of rebirth’, but still helped the boy push the bicycle out of the elevator. This little boy was the one who brought him good luck.

After exiting the building, Charles saw two police cars at a glance, and the two fat policemen next to him looked suspiciously at Charles who appeared suddenly. This caused Charles's heartbeat to mess up again.

"Thank you, see you," the boy waved politely.

Charles nodded and smiled, and at the same time watched the two policemen from the corner of his eye to see if he aroused the police's suspicion.

Sure enough, Charles' ‘luck’ didn't last long. "Hi! You! Stop!" a policeman pointed at Charles.

Stop? Only the fool would stop in such a case. Charles immediately turned around and started running, as if there were not two policemen behind, but two tigers. Unexpectedly, the two policemen who were too fat to fit into their uniforms were not thrown away but followed closely behind Charles. Worse, one of the policemen desperately shouted into the walkie-talkie. Shouting, obviously, he was asking for support.

Charles has not dared to turn his head, just ran forward, any hesitation or delay may bring him back to prison. After turning around a few buildings, Charles quickly reached where he had walked over the wall before. At this moment, he did not hesitate, instead, with the help of running inertia, he bent his knees and kicked his feet on the ground, and then he jumped onto the wall like a rabbit. At this time, he could finally look back at the policemen who had been chasing him. Two fat policemen were out of breath and one of them even lost a shoe.

“Wanna catch me? You better work out a little bit more back to the gem,” Charles laughed at them, then turned sharply and jumped down.

Charles' father always taught him that the essence of escape was not to run but to hide. After taking his words in mind, Charles did not run around like flies but went towards the nearby vegetable market.

Mixing with stall owners or bargaining buyers, Charles knew that instead of running in a panic, mixing quietly in the crowd was clearly a better way.

He bought a bottle of mineral water. After sitting on the side, he took a sip of water and then began to slowly adjust his breathing. As soon as he finished his first sip of water before he had time to drink the second sip, the phone sang.

‘Unknown.’ This word showed on his phone’s screen.

Charles had no idea who the other party was or why this person contacted him. After experiencing the thrilling moment, Charles hesitated, not knowing whether to answer or let the bell ring to the end.

A hunch drove Charles. He had a foreboding that the person on the other side had something to do with this trap. Charles finally pressed the answer button.

Putting the phone to his ear, Charles didn't speak immediately but waited for the other person to speak first. The caller seemed to have the same idea.

After ten seconds, Charles finally couldn't help but cough.

"You were not arrested yet?" A surprised voice came from the phone.

It was a call from Mark.

"Sorry if I let you down. Are you expecting me to be caught by the policemen?" Charles was immediately irritated by this rhetorical question, wishing to pull Mark out of the phone and punch him hard.

"Calm down. Calm down. You see, I am calling you to confirm if you’re safe. If not, I will contact Big Jim to get you out.” Mark paused, “It's all my fault. You have reason to blame me. You may not believe what I will say to you, but I swear. I was supposed to cover you. I had a severe stomachache, so I went to the toilet, God knows the police will come when I was in the toilet. Sorry, sorry. It’s all my fault.”

Mark's explanation seemed impeccable. Charles was also moved by his sincerity, and he couldn't help but suspect that he was really too sensitive. Was it the police who were spotted by neighbors?

Mark continued, "I apologize to you. There is a meeting tonight. You have to cover it for me if anyone asks about this, bro! you got to help me! Charles, we have been working together for several months. Now that nothing happens to you, can you just assume that everything has never happened? Come on, you don’t wanna see your partner have two fingers cut off, do you?"

Listening to Mark chattering to persuade himself on the other end of the phone, Charles just felt like he wanted to go down the phone line and punch him in the face. This person has repeatedly framed himself and neglected his duty. Charles had no idea how Mark still dared to ask him to help cover it up. And his tone was not a plea but an order at all. Charles reminded himself once again. People in the gang were not trustworthy.

"Stop, stop, did you just say we're going to have a meeting tonight? What kind of meeting? Why haven’t I heard of it?" Charles quickly changed the subject.

"I heard it from Big Jim. He said that MadNine is going to have a meeting with us tonight. I guess Big Jim will inform you in a while. You must help me tonight, or I will..."

Charles immediately hung up Mark's call. "Help you? Do you think I am God or what? After you deliberately framed me so many times, I was crazy to help you!"

Thinking of Mark rolling all over the floor without his fingers, Charles felt relieved for a while. He was always curious why someone was so enthusiastic at harm others without benefiting himself.

Wait a moment! Having a meeting tonight? Meeting with MadNine?

The name of Dylan immediately jumped into Charles’ mind. Charles knew that Dylan's target was MadNine. As Dylan's informant, should he pass Dylan this clue?

Looking at the words "Monkey Julius" on the phone, Charles couldn't make a decision.

Just when Charles was hesitant, the phone started to sing again, and Charles almost jumped in fright.

The ringtone did not last long, because this was not a phone call but a text message.

The text message was not signed, but the content was simple. 9 o'clock in the evening, No. 8 Alpers Avenue. Charles knew that this text message came from Jim.

As usual, Charles deleted Jim's text message. Then he seemed to have made up his mind, as he picked up the phone again, and hid in a secluded place. After making sure that no one was nearby, Charles called Dylan.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Charles arrived at Alpers Avenue on time. Opposite the avenue entrance was a small supermarket. Whether it was for police or thieves, this place was the best place to put eyeliner.

However, Charles knew that there would never be a policeman's eyeliner in the small supermarket now. Charles didn't doubt the ability of the police, but he knew that the thief who was used to living in the dark was definitely more alert than the police.

Otherwise, MadNine would not have been in the gang for more than ten years.

Located at No. 8 Alpers Avenue was a small courtyard with a single gate. In the middle of the courtyard was a lush sycamore tree. The night wind blew, leaving the dark green leaves to rattle behind.

Standing in the middle of the yard, Charles looked around. He found that the yard was small, with three bungalows and two warehouses. The room in the middle was lit, but the curtains were all drawn. Charles found two persons standing on either side of the door. After a closer look, he discovered that they were collecting the phone of the person entering the room. It seemed that that was the meeting place with MadNine. Charles took the opportunity of trying his shoes and tucked the phone in his sock, then calmly walked through the security check and entered the room.

Charles coughed as soon as he entered the door, and he felt like he was in a fairyland. The room was full of smoke, and there was a long table in the middle, with a few people sitting on either side of the table. Charles didn't see Jim, only Mark and Robert were sitting in the room.

This was the first time Charles had shown on this kind of occasion and coupled with his second identity, he can't help feeling nervous.

Mark immediately beckoned to Charles, then pointed to the spot beside him, motioned Charles to sit over. Although Charles was extremely reluctant to sit next to Mark, looking around the room full of strangers, Charles knew that had no better choice but walked over.

"Charles, bro, don't forget what I told you today," As soon as Charles sat down, Mark put his hand on Charles' shoulder and whispered.

Charles smirked, the wrinkles on his face seemed to be able to trap flies to death, then he lifted his leg and quietly moved the phone from his sock to his trouser pocket.

‘Don't worry, I will tell everyone all your irresponsible actions. I will notify Monkey Julius to arrest all people inside after enjoying your punishment.’ Charles thought to himself.

Thinking of this, Charles couldn't help turning his head and glanced at Robert who sat next to him. Robert was playing a coin in his hand, and his fingers moved the coin flexibly.

People came in one after another in the room, and soon the chairs were filled, there were more than twenty people. But the room was very quiet, almost no one spoke, and only a few eye contacts were made.

Charles felt that these people should be attending such a meeting for the first time like him because these people sitting there looked nervous as if they were going to be in court.

About three minutes later, Charles heard the sound of footsteps in the yard, and then he saw Jim walking into the room surrounded by four sturdy men.

Charles immediately sat upright. Was Jim the MadNine?