“Friend?” Chang Jiang repeated.

Selina frowned at her so called friend.

“What’s your name?” Chang Jiang asked.

“Jiro,” Jiro replied. “I just came to look for a friend. She went missing an hour ago.”

Selina muttered something under her breath. They would be getting nowhere with this. Selina glared at Jiro as he seemed to be motioning something to her with his head. She bit her lip as Jiro suddenly hurried over and Chang Jiang began shooting. As she began running Jiro grabbed her arm quickening her pace.

“Come back here!” Chang Jiang screamed hurrying after them.

“Are you crazy?!” Selina screamed at Jiro.

“You’re the crazy one! How can you come here without knowing anything about him first!” Jiro spat back at her.

“I do know about him! Mrs. Chang told me it all!” Selina screamed back at him. “He’s the killer!”

Jiro turned away from Selina and dragged her after him as he made a sharp turn to his left. The trees were getting thicker and fatter the further they ran. They finally came to a stop behind a large bush.

“Turn around,” Jiro whispered.

Selina did as told and felt Jiro try to untie the rope around her wrists.

“Can you get it?” Selina asked after what seemed like a minute.

“I don’t know,” Jiro replied, “he tied it really weird.”

Selina let out a frustrated moan.

“Ok,” Jiro said.

Selina felt the rope drop down from her wrists and looked at them. There were red marks on her wrists, but it didn’t matter to her at the moment then they finally looked around.

“I’ve never been in this part of Taiwan,” Selina said to herself.

After looking around she turned to look at Jiro to find him staring at her.

“What?” she asked annoyed.

“Did he hurt you or do anything to you?” Jiro asked.

Selina glared at him then felt the back of her head. A bruise had formed from where she had been hit.

“Don’t worry I’m fine,” Selina replied.

“Lets go,” Jiro said glancing back and hurrying forward.

Selina hurried after him trying to make her footsteps as silent as possible. It felt like a different kind of chase from the one she had experienced with Evan. Was it because she actually knew Chang Jiang was a killer?

A loud gunshot from behind them stopped Jiro, but Selina kept going. She stopped a second later to stare at the gorge below her. What in the world was this place? A loud waterfall could be heard nearby. Selina turned to look back at Jiro as he hurried toward her.

“Wait! Stop!” Selina shouted.

Jiro’s feet came to a quick stop beside her. He glanced at her then turned back to look at Chang Jiang who was closing in on them.

“There’s got to be another way around,” Selina told. “Chang Jiang must use this area for hunting a lot he must know the way around. He’s just chasing us on purpose!”

“He’s going to kill us if we keep running that way!” Jiro snapped back at Selina. “There’s no more trees to protect us if we head down that way.”

Selina stared at Jiro than at Chang Jiang who had suddenly gotten a lot closer. She didn’t want to jump because she was sure there was some other way around, but it’d take some time to figure it out. She suddenly felt Jiro’s arms around her and soon enough they were making their way into the large body of water.

Selina could feel the force of the waves pull them apart as they plunged into the water. Selina felt the back of her neck become numb as she landed in the water. She opened her eyes to see a dark blue sea ahead of her. Swim…she had to remember how to swim. She moved her arms around and kicked at the water, but it didn’t seem to help. She was running out of breath.

===

Jiro appeared out of the water as the wave carried him. He took a deep breath to quickly gather himself then looked around.

“Selina!” he shouted. “Selina!”

Taking a deep breath he jumped back into the water to look around. Had he really lost her? No he couldn’t. Jiro spun around underneath the water then jumped back up to the surface. Gathering air into his lungs he hurried back in the cold water. He couldn’t have lost her…he felt the guilt ease into him slowly. As he made his way farther to nowhere he thought he saw a dark shadow nearby. Hurrying over Jiro recognized Selina’s unconscious body. Putting his arms around her he hurried back up to the surface to search for land.

It seemed forever until he reached the rocky ground. He pulled Selina after him and set her down on the rocks. He bent down to listen for her breath, but she was breathless. He felt panicked and unsure about what to do. Would it be alright to do CPR? Jiro bit his lip telling himself that saving her life at the moment was more important. He bent down opening and blew some air into her. After a few times of doing so Selina seemed to cough up water at him. Relief flushed through him as he watched her turn onto her side to catch some air. As Selina’s hand clutched the rocks Jiro pulled her up hugging her in his arms. He could feel Selina’s hand try to push him away weakly.

===

Selina was feeling more than annoyed with Jiro. If he hadn’t thrown her down into the water she wouldn’t be feeling the way she was right now. Her clothes were drenched and she felt more than cold. She was tired and her legs felt weak.

Jiro had offered to piggy back her, but she had refused. She wouldn’t let herself become a useless puppet or whatever. Selina stopped in the middle of wherever they were going and sat down. Jiro stopped and turned around.

“What’s wrong?” he asked calmly.

“I’m tired!” Selina screamed back at him. “Can I not sit down when I’m tired?!”

Jiro stared down at her and sat down beside her. She sure was not in a good mood.

“Sorry,” Jiro apologized, “but if we had started running the other way he would have started shooting us.”

“Good thing you’re sorry, but you don’t understand the situation!” Selina snapped then touched the back of her neck.

She let out a groan as she stared at the small plants on the ground. She felt Jiro move her long hair and turned to glare at him.

“What are you doing?” she shouted.

“You’re hurt,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to do with you. Don’t touch me,” Selina warned.

Jiro ignored her and moved her hair onto her right shoulder. Selina glared at him and turned away. He was so stubborn she felt too irritated to say anything to him.

“You want to see what I see?” he asked. “I see a large purple bruise the size of my hand.”

Selina glanced at his concentrated face for a few seconds then turned away.

“He knocked me out by hitting me with something,” Selina mumbled.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” Jiro asked. “But we also need to get out of here.”

Selina got up after him. She really did not feel like walking. Her stomach was hungry for food and her legs hurt. They walked around for a few more minutes and Selina suddenly gave up. Her ankle was starting to hurt.

“Do you want to sit for a while?” Jiro asked.

Selina turned her face away. A minute later she found herself on Jiro’s back holding onto his shoulders. His clothes were just as wet as hers and it didn’t feel any better than walking on her own feet. The sun was setting and Selina began to fear that she wouldn’t be back in Taipei by the time it was dark.

When the stars began to appear Selina finally gave her hopes up. They found themselves sitting under a large tree staring at everything around them. Would Chang Jiang still be looking for them? Or would he consider them dead?

Selina hugged herself wondering how things had ended up the way they had. Selina didn’t go to sleep until what seemed like two hours later. When she woke up she found Jiro lying down beside her. How had she ended up on the ground from sitting? Selina was about to wake Jiro up with a shout when she heard a loud engine nearby. Selina got up and took a step forward. The trees had gotten thinner. Were they by the road somewhere? Selina ran back to Jiro waking him up.

After hitching a ride Jiro dragged Selina to a hospital for a checkup. Selina sat alone in a hospital room on the hospital bed as the nurse gave her a short checkup. The nurse left and came back with the doctor.

“Your bruise isn’t too serious, but your ankle is swelling up. You’ve had a broken ankle very recently?” he asked.

Selina nodded, “Yes.”

“The swelling probably won’t go down until a few days. You should rest properly at home for a week,” he advised, “then return to daily activities after that.”

“Can I call my friend?” Selina asked.

“We’ve already notified her for you,” the nurse replied.

Selina smiled, “Thanks.”

As the doctor and nurse walked out Selina pulled her pants up to look at the red area around her ankle. Why was she so cursed with injuries? Selina hopped down from the bed and was about to make her way to the door when Jiro walked in.

“Are you ok?” Jiro asked. “What did the nurses say?”

“None of your business,” Selina muttered.

“My dad would like to speak to you,” Jiro said.

“Why? Tell me sorry?” Selina questioned.

“Don’t talk about him like that,” Jiro cautioned.

“Sorry Mr. Cop,” Selina said sarcastically, “I’ve told you before not to meddle in my business. You shouldn’t have come after me like that; you just made the situation a lot worse.”

“You could still be there right now then,” Jiro pointed out, “who knows what he could have done to you after tying you up.”

“I would have thought up of something! I don’t know why you’re so worried. You have no reason to come after me like that!” Selina began to shout.

“No reason?” Jiro repeated with a laugh.

Selina glared at him, “Then what is it? You have a reason? Or is it because I asked you to come after me the other night that you take my business as yours? I never asked you for help Wang Dong Cheng!”

“You don’t know,” Jiro said making it sound like a question as he stepped toward her.

Selina could feel the fury about his father not solving Xuan’s case and about Jiro nosing into her cases burn up in her. She wanted to scream at him and show him how frustrated she was, but she only glared at him. However, her glare disappeared as she felt his hand on the side of her face and his fingers dig into her hair. He slowly bent forward and gave her a long kiss which seemed to last for minutes.

“I like you,” he whispered as he released her.