Chapter 204 - 7: Bloody Fight

Kate was stunned. They were besieged, and there was no way to escape. It was a remote place, far away from downtown. A few passers-by fled when they saw the scene. Kate reached to her pocket for her cell phone.

John was outnumbered and was soon kicked down on the floor, as sticks and feet came down on him. Sarah turned pale and screamed like a siren.

Seeing John in danger, Kate shouted, "Stop! I've called the police. They're on their way."

However, her words did not threaten those people at all. After a pause of a few seconds, sticks continued to rain down on John. Kate intended to help John up during this pause but felt a strike on her back during the chaos. She became dizzy and suddenly fell on top of John.

John held his head with both hands and cried in panic, "Kate, are you OK? Son of a bitch! How can you beat a woman…?"

John roared with anger and rose up, about to put up a desperate fight.

Ed was watching the fight with his girlfriend in his arms. The moment he heard the name, he got startled and tilted his head to find the one on the ground that was the idiot girl. The other men with weapons also stopped for a while, as they had not seen a girl trying to protect a man.

At that moment, a siren sounded from somewhere in the distance. Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that the girl had really called the police. Ed waved his hand and ordered them, "You guys go first."

His bros were loyal to him. "Ed, we cannot leave you down here. We will stick with you, even in jail."

"Cut the crap. Just go. You guys staying here would screw things up. I can handle it myself."

Obeying Ed's orders, his bros got their weapons and scattered into the darkness. Only two men and three girls stayed where they were.

The police car stopped next to the scene. Kate got on her feet with John's help. She opened her hazy eyes.

"Are you OK?"

Two voices sounded simultaneous.

The other voice came from a face leaning out of the window of the police car.

A young face.

Kate focused her eyes on him. She was slack-jawed at first, but then recognition flashed across her eyes.

"It's you," she said in a low voice.

She struggled to stand up straight. John immediately lent support to her.

Two front doors on both sides of the police car were opened at the same time, and two policemen in uniform stepped out. "What's the matter?"

Ed held his girlfriend in his arms and walked to them, and said respectfully, "Hello, Sergeant York and Sergeant Pierce. Here's the case. My girlfriend was having fun inside the bar. These three guys beat her up." He lifted his girlfriend's chin and showed her face to them.

"You see, her fair face was ruined. This is beastly."

The sergeant called York swept his eyes over him.

"Edward Lockwood, Security Manager of Chasin Group?"

"Yeah, that's me." Ed smiled and stretched his hand out to Sergeant York.

Sergeant York ignored him and looked at the scratches on Ed's girlfriend's face.

"Who did it?"

The bangs girl pointed to Sarah in anger.

Sergeant York frowned and then pointed to Kate and asked Ed, "Then why did you beat her?"

Sergeant Pierce added, "Right. We saw you and a group of people beating this girl. It didn't look fair."

Ed responded casually, "You must have made a mistake, sergeants. There are only five of us here. I didn't touch her."

John, who was lending support to Kate, snorted.

Sergeant York swept his eyes over them and finally rested his gaze on Kate's face.

"Go to the hospital first and get checked out."

Kate waved her hand hastily. "Don't bother. I'm OK."

Sergeant York was stupefied.

Kate continued, "I fell to the ground just now."

John mumbled aggrievedly, "Kate, are you stupid?"

Sergeant York walked up to Kate and gazed at her for a few seconds. Then he suddenly reached out his hand and pressed her back. She soon cried with pain. Sergeant York frowned.

"What if you have a fracture or injury on your spine? Go to the hospital first. It is my call." York said firmly and sternly.

Kate was intimidated into silence. She kept her head down while being helped into the police car by John. Sergeant York ordered his company to take Ed's car, "You go with them. The scratches on her face also have to be treated in the hospital in case her pretty face is ruined."

***

Kate had an X-Ray at the nearest general hospital. After viewing the X-ray, the doctor said, "Your soft tissues are injured. Luckily it missed the really important parts by a little bit, your bones are intact."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Sergeant York was still frowning. He asked, "What is the cause of this injury?"

"Probably a thump from a metal club or something like that," answered the doctor.

Sergeant York glanced at Ed sternly.

Ed threw up his hands, "Don't look at me. I don't have anything in my hands. You can search for me."

Sergeant York curved up his lips.

"Why so nervous? I didn't say you did it. You were with your friends earlier, weren't you? Today is the birthday of your ex-boss, Dan Gilbert. You guys just left the Golden Bar, didn't you?"

John's face paled.

Sergeant York turned his eyes from him to Kate.

"You can sue them," York said in an official tone.

Kate looked muddled.

He explained, "This is an intentional injury. You can take legal action for compensation. We will investigate and assist in providing evidence."

Defying his expectations, Kate stated categorically, "I fell somewhere accidentally."

"Where?" Sergeant York asked while squinting at her.

A twinkle came into Kate's eyes. She answered calmly, "On the steps of the internet bar nearby."

Everyone was stupefied. There was indeed an internet bar on the 2nd floor with an outdoor iron stairway.

Sergeant York's face darkened with anger.

"Are you sure?"

Kate nodded.

"What about him?" He raised his hand and pointed to John.

Just now, the lights were rather dim outside, and at that moment, it could be seen clearly that John had quite severe bruising on his face and bloodstains on the corners of his mouth. Everyone in the room stiffened. Kate looked at him nervously and saw him grit his teeth and say, "I… rolled down the stairway."

Sergeant York snorted.

Ed laughed, "Ho-ho!"

He said innocently, "You did me wrong, didn't you? I'm a law-abiding citizen. You can't blame me for everything bad due to some past issues."

Sergeant York also laughed and said, "Then you'd better stay away from that gang. You're now a regular employee of a large corporation. Even if not for yourself, you have to behave for the sake of your corporation and for Mr. Fox. Chasin is the star enterprise of our state. It is under the spotlight."

John nodded hurriedly and put on a modest expression.

"You're right, sir. I surely will take a lesson from this and not make trouble for our company."

Before leaving, Sergeant York took a long glance at Sarah, who had been hiding. She regained her calm demeanor at the moment Sergeant York left, and her face became pale after the shock of this incident. She felt that the sergeant might have seen through everything.

In a cab on their way back, John cursed indignantly on the back seat, "Son of a bitch! That was too much! Kate, were you beaten dumb? Why did you conceal the truth from them? Too good for them!"

Sarah, who had been silent, chipped in, "You're an idiot yourself. Do you know who they are? They're the Devil's Herd gang."

It went without saying that there were several underworld gangs in every city, and the so-called Devil's Herd was currently flourishing. They were also surely the most savage gang operating in Los Angeles currently. They had relationsh.i.p.s with big guys in all relevant departments, and everyone turned a blind eye to them.

People who suffered from them had to take it as bad luck to avoid further involvement with them.

Hearing Sarah's words, John became furious. He twisted his neck, turned back to her, and cursed, "Damn it! It was all because of you! You had nearly killed Kate. You go on taking your drugs, and they will kill you soon one way or another."

Sarah wanted to talk back, but seeing his swollen face, suppressed herself.

Kate hurried to make peace. "It is lucky it ended up this way. John, are you OK? Do you need to go to the hospital and have a checkup?"

John replied with his neck upright, "I'm OK. The sticks were just tickling for me. I'm a strong man."

"But…" Kate knew beatings by iron sticks weren't fun. "What if your bones are broken?"

John felt a lump in his throat. "Stop worrying about others. You thought we were as naïve as you."

***

Standing at the door of the Police Station, Kate's heart was beating fast. This place gave her a feeling of awe as if the air here carried deterrence. The persons in uniform were admirable to her.

She didn't know how many times the door had been opened and closed until three policemen came out with raucous laughter. They were all tall and manly, and the one in the middle was the most outstanding one. She shouted, "Sergeant York?"

The man looked over, paused at the sight of her, and then frowned.

The one beside him seemed to be making a joke and punched York on the arm. When he looked at her again, he walked closer and said coldly, "What is it? Regret?"

Kate was puzzled at first but soon understood and said, "No."

"Then what did you come here for?" His unfriendly tone made Kate panic, but she summoned her courage and said, "You don't remember me?"

Sergeant York stared at her and didn't speak. She began to get disappointed when he opened his mouth, "Two years ago, at Coastal Hotel Karaoke."

Kate was relieved. "You remember now?"

"I thought of you that night. But," he stopped for a second. "You are different from how you were."

Kate got back to her purpose of coming here. "All thanks to you that time, otherwise I would…I was so confused that I didn't formally thank you."

Sergeant York smoothed his brows and said, "You are welcome. That is what we do."

Kate knew that was what police do, but not all police were nice to ordinary citizens. Sergeant York was one head higher than her and with the police cap even taller. There was a big gap between them physically and psychologically. But she still managed to ask carefully, "Could we have lunch or a coffee?"

She had thought many times about thanking him over the past two years, but she didn't know how or where to find him.

Sergeant York raised the corners of his eyebrows and said, "Now?"

"No, no." Kate said hastily, "Any time. At your convenience."

Sergeant York thought for a second and said, "OK. You give me your phone number. I will call you when I get hungry."

Kate was delighted that he agreed so easily and gave him her number. He saved it on his phone and said to himself, "Kate, a nice name."

"Do you know my name?"

"Alvin York?" Kate made a joke.

"He is my great-grandfather. Ha-ha. Just kidding you. I'm Jimmy York."

A cough from not far away interrupted their conversation. Two of Jimmy's colleagues who were waiting for him darted a mysterious look at them, implying they might be gossiping about Jimmy now. Jimmy asked before she left, "Well, how's your back?"

Kate replied hastily, "Much better now."

"Take care. Go to see a doctor if it feels funny." Jimmy said.

Kate smiled and said genuinely, "Thank you, sir."

Her smiling face in the sunlight distracted him, then he waved goodbye to her and got back to his colleagues. The tall men soon went away. Kate stood still, listening to their unbridled laughter fade away.

However, a week passed, and Jimmy didn't call her. Kate thought he probably forgot about it or even lost her phone number. As she was weighing calling him, Jimmy called and asked where she was.

Kate told him the supermarket's address. Ten minutes later, he called her, asking her to come out.

The moment Kate walked out of the exit of the supermarket, she saw a Pajero parked on the side of the road. Jimmy slid down the window of his car and waved to her. He opened the door next to the passenger seat from inside.

He wore casual clothes on that day: a dark green windbreaker and a black high-necked sweater. Though he still looked rugged and uninhibited, he was gentler than he was in uniform. His short hair stood up on his head, a little unruly but spiritually strong. Kate thought, "He is full of vim, vigor, and vitality."

Jimmy turned his head and asked immodestly, "Where are you going to take me?"

Kate answered honestly, "I'm not familiar with this area. You pick."

"OK. I will take you to a good place. Buckle up."

Before she buckled up and turned back, he stepped on the gas pedal, and the car shot forward. Kate was jolted back in her seat by the abrupt acceleration.

"Is this a police protocol? He's even less reliable than John, the wild one." Kate thought in her mind.

Jimmy noticed and apologized laughingly, "Sorry, I get used to driving fast. Bad guys are fast, and we need to outrun them."

The relaxed smile on his face bemused Kate. It was that kind of lopsided smile with only one corner of his mouth curled up. He looked cool, very different from his solemn image at work. Who knew? Maybe this was what he really was like.