Chapter Ninety-Six: Eliminated

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“Why invite her to dinner?”

That was Davis’s question, and he promptly got kicked out for it by Qiu Fengyu.

Why invite Ryoko Yonekura to dinner? It had nothing to do with romance. It was because of something she had said to him that day, something that made Qiu Fengyu feel he ought to treat her once, at the very least.

Could he trust her?

Qiu Fengyu could not have answered that very well, but from everything the woman had shown him, she was indeed trustworthy. He simply had never trusted a woman like that before. Never in Ukraine, and after coming to America, he probably would not now either.

In truth, the reason he wanted to buy her dinner was that he wanted to test just how much he trusted women at all. So far, though, she had been quite good. Very good, in fact.

At the very least, he felt there would be no problem working with her on certain things.

After driving Tim off as well, Qiu Fengyu thought it over and still went to the bar. That was the only place he could spend the evening: have a little to drink, linger until after ten, then go home and sleep the sleep of the dead until a little after six the next morning. Get up, go for a run, then chat with the beautiful policewoman. That was a much more pleasant life.

“I swear to God, man, Breslin actually got into a fight with Sandra.” As soon as Bragin sat down beside Qiu Fengyu, he began gossiping. “Everybody knows Breslin is a coward, but he actually went at it with Sandra. Want to know what happened to Sandra?”

“What happened?” Qiu Fengyu asked casually.

“Oh, that’s the best part. The bastard got his nose bitten open. Ha! Damn, that was a treat.”

Bragin looked delighted.

“So that’s why you run a bar? So you can watch people in this town make fools of themselves?”

“Ha, that would be one of the reasons.”

“You’re a real bastard.” Qiu Fengyu raised his glass toward him. “Why did those two go at each other? I mean, Breslin certainly wouldn’t have picked a fight with a bastard like Sandra on purpose.”

“Of course not. Sandra shot off his mouth and said something about Breslin’s wife. Who knew Breslin would go crazy like a cat with its tail stepped on? That was the result. Everyone in town knows Breslin’s wife is off-limits. You don’t mention her. But Sandra did. He knew better, so he must have been looking for someone he could kick around to blow off steam.”

“He should have been beaten senseless again.” Qiu Fengyu shrugged. “Only... Breslin has a wife? I’ve never seen her.”

“Dead for years.”

“Well, that’s really sad. Breslin is a good man. Good men shouldn’t be provoked.” Qiu Fengyu shook his head. “Sandra is just a bastard, and bastards like to pick on people.”

It was nonsense, of course.

But Bragin laughed all the same, because the bar door had opened and Sandra had come in, a patch still taped over his nose. He spotted Qiu Fengyu at the counter at once and walked over without hesitation.

“Hey, Sandra, leave me alone. I already told you, I’m not agreeing to anything.” Qiu Fengyu had no particular feeling about Sandra beating up Breslin. He never judged the good or bad in a person by what other people thought of them. He had his own standards.

“Fine. But... I hope you remember to think about me. You know I was in the Navy.” Sandra pointed a finger at Qiu Fengyu, then obediently went and sat down elsewhere.

“Oh, hell, I thought he’d come looking for revenge. He’s never much for backing down.” Bragin stared at Qiu Fengyu in surprise. “What did you do to him? Put a spell on him?”

“What’s there for me to keep in mind about him?” Qiu Fengyu gave him a disdainful look. “Pour me another one, man. Your vodka doesn’t taste as authentic as it used to.”

“No, no, it’s because your heart no longer knows how to taste good liquor. You must be bothered by something...” Bragin looked at him. “You know I’m curious. Maybe you can tell me.”

Qiu Fengyu actually nodded very seriously. “Of course I can tell you. But if I do, I’ll have to kill you. Who wants a bastard knowing his secrets?”

That shut Bragin up. Over by the other end, Sandra started shouting for Bragin to bring him a drink. Bragin merely shrugged and wandered off, grinning.

The next day, Qiu Fengyu got up and then received a call from Ryoko Yonekura.

“The weather will be great tomorrow. We can go hunting. I hear there’s a thick population of wild boar in the woods at the southern edge of Britt’s ranch.”

“When did you become so interested in hunting?”

“When did I ever lose interest in hunting? Do you know me that well?” Ryoko Yonekura replied, sounding startled.

“Fine. Why invite me? Trying to come on to me?”

“Go to hell. Remember to bring a shotgun tomorrow.” With that, the Japanese girl hung up, leaving Qiu Fengyu hardly any room to refuse. But he had no intention of refusing anyway.

To be honest, hunting really was a fine way to pass the time.

A shotgun? Well, Britt had one. Qiu Fengyu had no intention of buying a hunting gun just for this. He remembered that Britt’s own gun was pretty good.

What was strange, though, was that this woman had his phone number. He did not remember ever giving it to her.

After thinking it over, he picked up the phone and called Davis.

“Hey, boss, I haven’t even gotten out of bed yet. It’s not time for work. Don’t rush me like this.” Davis clearly had no idea why Qiu Fengyu was calling so early. It was probably the first time.

“Did you give my number to that Japanese girl?”

“What Japanese girl? Oh, my God, I knew it... Damn it, last night she asked me out for a drink. I must have been drunk... I don’t even know what I did. Boss, I didn’t mean to.”

“I was at the bar last night. How come I didn’t see you?”

“We drank at my place. Lord, you know it’s never happened before that a girl came to my house and asked me for a drink, let alone a pretty one like her, so I lost my head... God forgive me!”

“Yes, I forgive you. My fist won’t, though. Damn it.”

Qiu Fengyu hung up. Truth be told, he was not all that angry. It was simply a habit of his to make trouble for Davis. Besides, this whole thing was a little... strange. Why hadn’t the girl asked him for his number directly?

He called Britt and said he wanted to hunt in his woods. Britt sounded very pleased and laughed. “Don’t go to my woods. There aren’t any boar there. But I can find you a good place somewhere else.”

“But I need a shotgun,” Qiu Fengyu said.

“No problem. Use mine.”

Britt really was generous.

“Only, man, you have to let me take you there. Otherwise you’ll get lost. Okay? If you agree, that shotgun of mine is yours. If you don’t...” He did not finish, but the threat in his voice was unmistakable.

One more person did not matter. Besides, Qiu Fengyu had no desire to create any lonely-man-lonely-woman sort of atmosphere with Ryoko Yonekura and end up rolling around in the grass together. Well, not rolling around in the grass—more like getting into that sort of relationship between a man and a woman.

“Deal, Britt.” Qiu Fengyu agreed.

“Bingo—” Britt’s pleased laughter came through the phone. “I knew you’d say yes, Qiu. I guarantee you’re going to have a hunting trip you’ll never forget.”

“Let’s hope so, Britt. Don’t speak too soon. See you tomorrow.”

Qiu Fengyu hung up, changed clothes, and went out for his run.

“Hey, Qiu!” This time Sheriff Coffin greeted him first.

“Sheriff Coffin.” Qiu Fengyu waved a hand and motioned for Tim, who had been hovering annoyingly nearby, to get lost and run ahead.

As they ran, Sheriff Coffin said, “The two bastards from the Cobra gang who were locked up in prison got taken out. Right there inside the prison.”

“What?” Qiu Fengyu blinked, then smiled at him. “You want to see whether I’m reacting the way you expect? I’m not falling for it, Sheriff Coffin. This is a little trick of yours, right?”

“No, Qiu. This isn’t a joke, and it isn’t a test.” Sheriff Coffin spoke with complete seriousness.