Chapter Three: Please Kill Me

Investigator Zhou, your employer is less real than my marriage.” For the first time, Zhou Lin's composure cracked. The photograph in his badge was fading, its official seal dissolving into a cinnamon-colored stain. 12:11. He groaned. Blood spread across his chest. There was no bullet and no blade, but something invisible was tearing him open from within. Zhiwei pressed both hands to the wound. Hot blood flooded between her fingers. “Kill me.” Zhou Lin dragged her hand toward the gun. “Otherwise the contract selects another price. You may be next.” “Do you want to die?” “I want to complete the mission.” “Who assigned it?” He had no answer. 12:12.