Ch.124Chapter 124. El Paso (4)

Physiognomy being a science? Bull crap. It was all lies.

I thought these family members, with their typical macho man and strong woman faces, would obviously hold their liquor well, but…

“Hurrgh…”

“Smack, smack… Mmm…”

They all passed out instantly and were sprawled across the living room.

Alejandro was nearly dead too.

Among the elders, only Grandma remained sober.

“Oh my, my. Time to clean up now.”

“I’ll help you.”

“No, no. Guests should stay seated.”

As expected, the cleanup fell to those still conscious.

I laid Cuss on the sofa and started carrying empty plates with Juliane.

We were almost done clearing the table when…

“Mmm…”

“Oh, you’re awake, Cuss?”

Cuss rubbed her eyes drowsily as she got up.

She should just keep sleeping.

I was planning to put Cuss to bed and then go for a night walk with Juliane…

Of course, this time I meant a normal night walk, not one involving a naked person on a leash.

“Ugh. I’m so full.”

“Want to go for a walk outside to help digest?”

“Mmm, sounds good.”

“You two go ahead. I’ll help with the dishes.”

I thought it wouldn’t be bad to let them spend time alone together.

It would be good to create more memories between them to strengthen their bond.

Unless Juliane suddenly went crazy and tried to assault Cuss by lifting her skirt, there shouldn’t be any problems.

“But… I want to go with Jinsoo.”

“Just go, will you? Stop whining.”

“Ugh… Fine. I’ll wait outside.”

“Hey, Cuss. Let’s go together.”

This kid never listens.

I sighed and was about to help Grandma wash the dishes when—

Creeeeak…

The door opened with a chilling sound.

Suddenly, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“Cuss! Get down!”

Juliane’s sharp voice.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots followed, along with crashing sounds from the entrance.

Startled, I reflexively pushed away from the sink and ran toward the entrance.

There I found two dark men slammed against the wall, and…

“Cuss! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Where does it hurt?”

“Ugh… I think I wouldn’t hurt if Juliane would let go of me.”

Juliane was tightly embracing Cuss.

Was the situation already over?

Afraid of more sniper shots, I quickly closed the door and approached the two.

“Hey. You’re not hurt, right? Then get out of the way.”

“Eeeek…”

“Juliane! You’ve been shot!”

“Hehe. It’s fine. All the bullets hit my prosthetic arms with bulletproof plating.”

Three large holes in both arms.

Looking carefully, there was no sign of bullets passing through the prosthetics.

Examining Juliane’s entire body, I found no bleeding.

While I sighed with relief, I couldn’t shake my uneasiness.

What if they had been rifle bullets instead of pistol rounds?

Even without going that far, if they had been high-penetration pistol rounds, Juliane would have been critically wounded.

“You’re not fine. You could have died.”

“I’m really okay. This isn’t my first time experiencing this.”

“…”

“Oh.”

My mind went blank for a moment.

Not her first time?

Now I understood why she had the nickname “Wonder Woman.”

I stared at her in disbelief, and Juliane avoided my gaze, fidgeting uncomfortably.

I changed my mind.

Juliane should really quit the Ministry of Justice.

“Sigh. At least you’re safe. But these guys…”

“Looks like they came for us. We’ll have to move again. I wonder how our address leaked this time…”

Grandma walked in with her hands behind her back, wearing a relaxed smile.

These weren’t robbers since they didn’t bring bags to carry money or valuables, so they must be hitmen.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time hitmen had targeted Alejandro’s family.

“You guests should leave soon. I’ll call the police, and you should go to the station and take the first train tomorrow…”

“No. We can’t leave yet.”

“Juliane?”

“These two hitmen probably aren’t the only ones. There’s likely someone watching from a distance, and they would have seen Cuss’s and my face when the door opened. These are the same people who casually assassinate people in El Paso. Even if we safely return to LA, there’s no guarantee we won’t face retaliation.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“We need to find the source and eliminate it.”

“…”

Juliane grabbed one of the fallen men’s hair with a fierce expression.

I wanted to suggest we just run away, but seeing Juliane’s eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“Hey. Wake up. Hey. Hey.”

“Urgh…”

“Who sent you? Care to tell me?”

Squatting down and tapping their heads, Juliane’s demeanor strangely resembled that of a Chinese-Korean gangster from Daelim-dong, but I decided not to mention it.

“Heh. As if I would tell you… AAAAGH!”

“One finger for each question.”

Juliane suddenly broke the man’s index finger.

Is this allowed for a Ministry of Justice investigator?

I felt anxious that she might get in serious trouble if caught.

“Choose wisely. Do you want to die with every joint in your body shattered, or go to an American prison with air conditioning in summer and heating in winter?”

“We don’t betray our clients… AAAAARGH!”

“They all say that. Until they meet me.”

“Cuss. Cover your eyes.”

“Ugh…”

I raised Cuss’s hands to cover her eyes and plugged her ears.

Even though she claimed to have killed people herself, I didn’t want her to see something so horrific.

The interrogation continued for about three minutes.

Juliane finally extracted a confession.

“Urgh… ugh… We were supposed to exchange the corpse photos for money under the bridge.”

“Is that all? What about other sicarios?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know if they hired more people to watch us…”

“That’s enough. You can call the police now.”

Juliane ripped off some tape and skillfully gagged the two men, bound their limbs, and stood up.

She was adjusting her clothes in a way that suggested she was about to go outside.

The signs were ominous.

“Juliane. Let’s not do this. Let’s send the police to the bridge.”

“These guys can smell cops from a mile away. If we report it, they’ll definitely escape. I’ll go.”

“You know what might happen if you go.”

“No, I don’t. But I do know that if I don’t go, Cuss will be in danger.”

“…”

I grabbed Juliane’s wrist.

But she firmly answered and forcibly removed my hand.

Her eyes were already determined.

No matter what I said, it seemed impossible to persuade this stubborn woman now.

“You might just make things worse. Logically, who would send assassins all the way to LA for revenge against a silver-haired girl?”

“These people don’t operate on logic. And I don’t want to leave any possibility that Cuss might be in danger.”

“Juliane. Please don’t go.”

“…I’m sorry.”

She tied her hair tightly with a string, then opened the door and darted out.

I could only stare blankly at her retreating figure.

I couldn’t have caught up with her speed anyway…

Would Juliane be okay alone?

Surely the nickname “Wonder Woman” wasn’t given for nothing.

Perhaps fighting alone would be more comfortable for Juliane.

As I tried to rationalize it this way…

“Damn it.”

I felt utterly pathetic.

Was I just being a coward?

No, that wasn’t it.

No way would the mighty Jinsoo Kim be scared.

Rather than fear…

“Jinsoo.”

“…”

It was because of this damn kid.

I needed to go after Juliane right now, but I couldn’t move because of her.

I was afraid to leave her behind.

I was scared to leave her alone.

I felt an urge to just call the police and hold Cuss in my arms the whole time.

“Don’t worry. Leave her here, and I’ll protect her.”

Grandma was standing guard with a shotgun.

Her handling and grip on the weapon were no amateur’s.

She did say she was from an intelligence agency.

Her skills seemed trustworthy.

The remaining issue was between Cuss and me.

“Are you going too, Jinsoo?”

“Yeah. I’m going.”

“No. Don’t go, Jinsoo. I’m scared… When the guns were firing earlier… I was so scared. Aren’t you scared?”

“Of course I am, dummy. How could I not be?”

“So then…”

“That’s why Juliane went. To keep you safe. She went for you. But Juliane is in danger alone.”

“If you go… will Juliane be safe?”

“Of course.”

I told a blatant lie.

I couldn’t guarantee that both of us would return safely, but I said so to reassure Cuss.

“I want to go with you, Jinsoo. I want to go too…”

“Hey. That’s…”

“I know. It’s not possible. I was just saying it.”

“…”

“I don’t want you or Juliane to get hurt. So Jinsoo. Please save Juliane. Come back without either of you getting hurt.”

Cuss looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

I had expected her to throw a tantrum, crying and insisting on coming along.

I thought she would say she hated Juliane and that we should abandon her.

But despite her tears, Cuss was saying something admirable.

She looked so beautiful that I knelt on one knee, stroked her head, and gave her a deep kiss.

“Mmm… puha.”

“I’ll be back. Be good and listen to Grandma.”

“Okay…”

“Please take care of her.”

“Sure. Take care.”

I left the house, leaving Cuss and Grandma behind.

They definitely said a bridge.

There was only one bridge in this area.

As I ran vigorously through the empty pre-dawn streets…

“This is really fucked up.”

An indescribable feeling of frustration washed over me.

We just came here for a vacation, so how did it come to this?

***

“What’s taking so long?”

Under the dark bridge.

A lighter clicked repeatedly until a small flame caught on a cigarette.

Leaning against a car, the old man took a drag on the cigarette with an annoyed expression.

“Are these guys really legitimate?”

“They’re not ones we trained, but they have solid experience and are trustworthy.”

“Then why are they handling this job so poorly?”

By now, the job should have been completed with time to spare.

If the cleanup was taking longer, at least one of them should have come to explain the delay.

These young punks’ work ethic was really disappointing.

“I wanted to see those bastards die with my own eyes…”

Those detestable people.

How could an entire clan be involved in taking down cartels?

It had been his lifelong regret not to have killed them all earlier.

Carrying out assassinations on American soil meant he couldn’t risk going to confirm the bodies himself.

Especially in El Paso, where police arrived within five minutes, it was too dangerous.

Weeeooo…

“Are the cops coming already?”

A siren sound came from the distance.

A neighbor must have heard the gunshots and called the police.

Ten minutes? That was long for El Paso standards.

“Is that… them coming over there?”

“Huh?”

Just then, movement was visible from the opposite side.

It was backlit, so only a shadow was visible, but it clearly had a human form.

However, there was only one person, not two.

Had one of them come to explain why the cleanup was taking longer?

“Sicario?”

“…”

No response.

The figure just kept walking toward them without saying a word.

Starting to feel uneasy, he reached into the car window for his gun.

A pistol loaded with high-penetration anti-android bullets.