Chapter 259: Can You Take Me Home?
Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Can You Take Me Home?
The eyes are one of the most fragile parts of the body. Even the slightest irritation can cause intense discomfort.
The fake pregnant woman and the woman in the shirt clutched their eyes, howling in pain.
"Am I going blind?"
"My eyes hurt so much..."
Clementine and Millet were very pleased with their handiwork.
The German Shepherd felt the same way as the two birds. It had bitten the boy in glasses until he was begging for mercy. ’Heh heh.’
"I’m done biting over here. Who should I bite next?" it asked expectantly.
"Bite whoever," Clementine said, flying toward the old woman who was pounding on the door.
Millet followed, descending upon the old woman in a flurry of pecks.
"Then I won’t hold back!" The German Shepherd scanned the room, then ran toward the fake pregnant woman and the woman in the shirt.
The living room was a chaotic mess, with screams rising and falling one after another. When the officers from the local precinct arrived, they could only stare at the scene, completely bewildered.
Henry Stark and his team also arrived at the scene shortly after. He strode toward the closed door, his deep voice tinged with worry. "Renee Jennings, are you in there?"
"I’m here," Renee Jennings’s voice replied from inside the room. "Give me a second."
She bent down, picked up the white dress that had been tossed on the floor, and put it on the unconscious girl.
The girl’s face and body were covered in all sorts of strange patterns.
Renee Jennings took out her phone and photographed the patterns. She then fastened every last button on the white dress before turning to open the door.
Henry Stark quickly scanned the room, his eyes taking in the bruised and swollen face of the man in white lying on the floor. His gaze returned to Renee Jennings’s face, a hint of concern hidden in his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine," Renee Jennings said softly.
Henry Stark’s gaze froze when he saw the distinct finger marks on her neck. His dark brows knitted together tightly. "Did he do that?"
Renee Jennings blinked, realizing what he was referring to. She raised a hand to her neck, which was a little sore. "He suddenly rushed me and choked me."
"That’s too dangerous." A flicker of heartache crossed the man’s eyes.
"Renee!" Inky looked at her neck and cried out worriedly, "You’re hurt!"
"What!" Clementine shrieked in panic, flying from the living room to land in front of Renee Jennings. "Renee’s hurt? Is it serious?"
Millet followed, gently rubbing its feathers against her neck. "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn’t hurt. It’s not a big deal," Renee Jennings said, smiling at them.
Inky was furious. It flew at the man in white on the floor and pecked viciously at his face. "You bastard! How dare you bully our wonderful Renee! Robin will avenge Renee!"
Clementine and Millet also flew over to get their revenge on the man in white.
Hearing the commotion, the German Shepherd squeezed into the room, barking excitedly. "How can you get revenge without me! Your mouths are too small! Let me do the biting!"
With that, its expression turned ferocious. It snapped its jaws open and sank its sharp teeth firmly into the man’s finger.
A split second later, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the entire house.
The man in white was jolted awake by the pain. He shook his hand frantically, but the German Shepherd held on tight, refusing to let go.
Henry Stark watched this unfold, his eyes dark and unreadable. Suddenly, a voice spoke up from the side.
"If it keeps biting like that, is his finger going to break off...?" an officer from the local precinct muttered.
After a dozen seconds or so, Henry Stark finally said to Renee Jennings, "Tell it to stop."
"Okay." Renee Jennings walked over, crouched down beside the German Shepherd, and stroked its head. "Hey, friend. Thanks for your help. You can stop now."
"Heh heh." The German Shepherd immediately released the man’s hand and gave her a goofy grin. "You must be the Renee that Inky was talking about!"
Renee Jennings glanced at the man’s finger, which looked like it was dangling by a thread, and looked away in disgust. She smiled at the German Shepherd. "That’s right, I’m Renee. What’s your name?"
"I don’t have a name." The German Shepherd’s deep, dark brown eyes gazed at her expectantly as it eagerly added, "Could you give me a name and take me home?"
Renee Jennings was stunned for a few seconds before asking, puzzled, "Don’t you have an owner?"
"I did at first," the German Shepherd explained. "But he never gave me a name. He always called me ’little beast’ and hit me, so I ran away. Now I’m a stray."
The German Shepherd’s story was simple, but Renee Jennings could sense the hard life it had lived.
Without hesitation, she stroked its furry back, her voice full of sympathy. "Okay," she said softly. "I’ll take you home."
"That’s great!" the German Shepherd yipped, its tongue lolling out excitedly.
Renee Jennings stood up and pointed to the spot directly above the bed. "There’s a camera up there," she told Henry Stark. "I don’t know what he was doing, but he used watercolor markers to draw a lot of strange patterns on the girl."
"Alright." Henry Stark gave a slight nod and turned to start delegating tasks.
Renee Jennings led the German Shepherd and the three small birds into the living room. She raised an eyebrow slightly at the miserable state of the other people there.
"Renee, we bit all the bad guys until they cried! Aren’t we awesome?" the German Shepherd asked expectantly.
Renee Jennings nodded. "Very awesome. But you can only bite bad people, not good people."
"Got it!" the German Shepherd nodded obediently. "This is my first time biting someone!"
Something suddenly occurred to Renee Jennings. She walked toward the opposite door. The old man in the wheelchair had been so scared he’d wet his pants; a puddle was spreading out from under his wheelchair.
Seeing the German Shepherd beside her, the old man cried out in terror, "Don’t bite me... Don’t..."
"If you don’t want to be bitten, you’ll start talking," Renee Jennings commanded in a cold voice.
The old man waved his hands frantically. "I don’t know, I don’t know anything..."
"You’re lying," Renee Jennings said with a frown.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF—" The German Shepherd barked at him, taking a few steps closer.
The old man squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body trembling. "I-I really don’t know! My wife arranged everything..."
The whole houseful of people was taken away one by one in ambulances. After their wounds were treated and they were given rabies shots, they were taken back to the police station for interrogation.
* * *
The old woman’s eyes were wrapped in layers of gauze, revealing only her wrinkled forehead and cheeks. Her hands were secured to the interrogation table by a pair of silver handcuffs, but they couldn’t stop trembling.
"Name?" Levi Hollis asked, his voice low.
The old woman answered in a quavering voice, "Ca... Cathy... Lee."
Levi Hollis asked, "Why did you have human traffickers send a young girl to your home?"
"I didn’t," Cathy Lee said, shaking her head in terror. "I didn’t. I don’t know any human traffickers."
Henry Stark’s expression darkened, his voice laced with anger. "The other criminals have already confessed. Are you still going to deny it?"
"I... I..." Cathy Lee was so scared she trembled from head to toe.
Levi Hollis frowned and tried to persuade her. "Ma’am, stubbornly refusing to confess will only lead to a harsher sentence. You’d be better off just telling us the truth."
Cathy Lee hesitated for a long time before saying tremulously, "It’s all my fault. It’s all on me. I was just afraid my son was too lonely, so I wanted to find a woman to keep him company..."