Chapter 214: The Gecko That Provided the Clues
Chapter 214: Chapter 214: The Gecko That Provided the Clues
Touched?
Kira Sawyer didn’t feel touched in the slightest. She was terrified.
"Leo, I don’t like you!" she stated her feelings clearly. "Please don’t show up at my house like this again! Also, I’m breaking up our in-game couple!"
The hand Leo was using to toy with his lighter froze. His full lips pressed into a thin line.
He turned his head to stare at Kira Sawyer, his eyes filled with malice. He sneered, "Kira Sawyer, what’s that supposed to mean?"
"Didn’t I make myself clear enough?" Kira Sawyer was getting impatient. "You need to leave now!"
"Kira Sawyer!" Leo clenched his fist and slammed it on the table.
The sound startled little Chewie the gecko. Gecko Mom quickly comforted it, peeking out to see what was happening.
Kira Sawyer flinched and shot to her feet, shouting indignantly, "What are you doing, slamming my table? Are you crazy?!"
Leo’s eyes were fixed on her, his jaw tight. "Kira Sawyer, why don’t you like me?"
"What do you think?" Kira Sawyer sized him up, her face a mask of contempt and disdain. "Who would like a high school dropout who’s just a shampoo boy at some salon?"
Her words pushed Leo over the edge. With a roar, he lunged forward and grabbed Kira Sawyer’s neck. "You think I’m not good enough for you? Think you’re so great because you’re in college?"
"You..." Pain contorted Kira Sawyer’s face as she struggled to force out two words from her throat, "Let... go!"
She fumbled for the phone on the dining table, trying to call the police, but Leo spotted her just as she typed "91."
"Trying to call the cops, are we?" Leo kept one hand on her neck while gripping her wrist with the other, a sinister sneer on his face. "Dream on!"
The pain in Kira Sawyer’s wrist was so intense she couldn’t hold on to the phone. It CLATTERED to the floor.
Leo dragged her into the living room, threw her onto the sofa, and started to unbuckle his belt.
Kira Sawyer took the chance to get up. She managed only two steps before the man yanked her back, sending her tumbling onto the sofa again.
Leo pinned her down, his hand ruthlessly hiking up her skirt. "Today, I’m going to show you whether I’m good enough for you or not!"
Kira Sawyer screamed in terror, "Help—"
Leo immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. He sneered, his lips close to her ear, "Kira Sawyer, you think you’re so high and mighty?"
Seeing this, Gecko Mom quickly ushered Chewie away. "Chewie, let’s go! This isn’t for little eyes. You’ll have nightmares if you watch. Let’s go!"
After leading Chewie away, Gecko Mom’s curiosity about Kira Sawyer’s situation got the better of her, and she snuck back to the living room.
She saw the twisted smile plastered on Leo’s face and the tears of despair and pain streaming down Kira Sawyer’s cheeks.
Gecko Mom shook her head and sighed. ’How pitiful.’
Gecko Dad, who had followed her, was also shocked by the scene. "This is just sick!"
From the geckos’ perspective, this was already a sick and twisted event, but they had no idea they were about to witness something even more depraved.
Leo got up from the sofa, buckling his belt as he spoke. "Kira Sawyer, from now on, you’re my woman!"
Kira Sawyer lay on the sofa, limp and lifeless, like a broken doll.
She stared at Leo, her eyes filled with intense hatred. "Don’t you worry. I’m going to the police. I’ll make sure you, you rapist, spend the rest of your life in prison!"
Her words provoked Leo. He yanked Kira Sawyer up from the sofa and snarled through clenched teeth, "What did you say?"
Kira Sawyer spat in his face. Her voice was venomous. "I want to kill you!"
"You think I won’t kill you first?" Leo threw her violently to the ground. His eyes fell on the fruit knife on the coffee table, and an idea sparked in his mind.
Leo pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket—the kind he used for washing customers’ hair—and put them on. He gripped the fruit knife and squatted in front of Kira Sawyer.
"Just admit you’re my woman, and I’ll let you go," he said, gesturing menacingly with the knife.
At that moment, Kira Sawyer’s hatred for Leo was absolute. She spat at him again and sneered, "Never! I’ll die before I ever admit that!"
"Is that so?" Leo’s eyes turned vicious. He plunged the sharp knife into her skin. "Then die!"
Gecko Mom was still frightened just recalling the memory. "That human was so cruel. I saw him stab her with the knife so many times. The blood just kept pouring out of Kira Sawyer, soaking her clothes red..."
"That’s right!" Gecko Dad added. "Then the human just tossed the knife aside and climbed away from the balcony."
"I understand. Thank you so much for your help," Renee Jennings said, looking at them seriously. "I’ll bring you some food later."
She turned to Sawyer. "Did you get all that down?"
Sawyer nodded grimly. "Got it."
"Good. Let’s go." Renee Jennings and Sawyer returned to the living room, where they saw Jonas Brooks and the others standing on the balcony.
The sight of the bloodstain in the living room made it hard for Leah Sawyer to breathe, so Jonas Brooks had suggested she get some fresh air on the balcony.
Renee Jennings walked onto the balcony as well. She scanned the area on both sides, her gaze finally settling on a window on the wall to the right, adjacent to the balcony.
"What is it?" Jonas Brooks asked softly.
When Leah Sawyer saw Renee Jennings approach, she asked urgently, "Have you found my daughter’s killer?"
"We have a lead," Renee Jennings replied, then pointed to the window. "Where does that window lead?"
Leah Sawyer frowned. "That’s the window for the hallway. Who is the killer?"
Renee Jennings’s tone was grave. "The killer climbed from that window to your balcony on the day of the murder."
"Consultant Jennings, what’s the lead?" Jonas Brooks’s eyes lit up.
Sawyer handed him the notebook. "I wrote it all down."
"Ms. Sawyer," Renee Jennings said, stopping Leah Sawyer who was trying to peer at the notebook. "Did you know your daughter knew a boy who was an apprentice at a hair salon?"
"No, I didn’t." Leah Sawyer shook her head, asking desperately, "Is that apprentice the killer?"
Renee Jennings nodded and slowly explained, "Yes. He liked your daughter, but she didn’t want to associate with him..."
"Officer!" Leah Sawyer fell to her knees before Jonas Brooks with a thud. "Please, you have to catch the killer!"
"Ms. Sawyer, please get up." Jonas Brooks quickly helped her to her feet, his expression stern. "Rest assured, we will do everything in our power."
He turned to Renee Jennings, his eyes behind his glasses filled with gratitude. "Consultant Jennings, thank you. You’ve been a huge help!"
"You’re welcome," Renee Jennings replied calmly. "I promised I’d bring food for the geckos who provided the lead. You might have to wait here for a bit. I’m going to go buy some now."
"Consultant Jennings, just have Conrad go," Jonas Brooks stopped her. "He’s more familiar with the area."
Renee Jennings was indeed unfamiliar with the area and didn’t have a car, so she didn’t refuse. She turned and instructed Conrad, "Buy some vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and snails."