Chapter 24 24Holden Ford

Author: vaguely

Chapter 24 24. Holden Ford

Monday morning.

The sky was overcast, and thick cotton-like cumulonimbus clouds hung over Las Vegas, indicating a terrible rainstorm.

Dean asked Rust to take the Nikon F3 outside the baseball field.

Normally at this time, about twenty members of the school baseball team would have started training against each other under the organization of Bob and coach Tom, with nymphomaniac girls surrounding the sidelines, but today the baseball field was empty.

"Hey, Rust, who was that girl just now? She has a good figure and looks."

"Britney, last time I used her as an example at Bob's birthday party, she was very angry and asked me why."

"No, I think she has a certain affection for you." Dean said seriously, "She is deliberately trying to impress you."

"Is that so?" Rust said heartily,

"Well, you have to work hard and get out of singles as soon as possible. Okay, now take a photo for me and try to make it look as handsome as possible."

Dean grinned with white teeth and a bright smile, and made an OK gesture with his back to the net.

The "shadow" stood side by side beside him.

He was in a good mood and had already started implementing the extreme tempering method last night.

I fell asleep due to excessive mental exertion and the quality of my sleep was excellent.

Although the current Shadow of the Past proficiency level is still 0, Dean believes that if he keeps practicing, he will improve sooner or later.

…

Rust took a few photos of Dean, but he didn't notice the "shadow" floating around him through the camera.

Dean breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to wait for the film to be developed before checking again.

…

After the third class in the morning, Dean's long-awaited "trial" came.

The dark circles under his eyes were thick, as if the principal Ulysses, who had not slept for several nights, had found him.

Behind him, Rust, who had just been questioned, blinked at him worriedly.

"Dean, don't be nervous when you get to the office later. This is a routine question. It's absolutely fine to answer honestly."

Ulysses comforted him and then sent him to the door. Dean took a deep breath and quickly went through the original plan in his mind.

Entered the door.

Waiting in the office was a tall man with neatly combed black hair, a baby face, in his thirties, similar height to Dean, about 1.75 inches, and handsome appearance.

He exudes an elegant, gentle and trustworthy temperament, without any seriousness or indifference of COP.

However, Dean's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. An ordinary COP would not wear a dark blue suit, a white shirt, and a tie, with a sparkling quartz watch on his left wrist.

"Dean? I'm FBI agent Holden Ford."

The man first showed his ID, stretched out his hand to motion for him to sit down, and at the same time scanned Dean from head to toe.

"Don't be nervous, let's just chat casually. I had a great time chatting with your classmates just now."

His gentle voice makes people feel calm.

"Coffee?"

"Just a glass of water." Dean held the cup in both hands and tilted his head slightly to avoid the detective's scrutinizing gaze. "You, you are looking for me about Bob?"

"Have you heard?" Holden moved a chair and sat next to him, not too far but not too close, with sincere and candid eyes.

"I didn't know, but when I came to school this morning, everyone was discussing it, so..."

"How do you feel after listening to this?"

"Ah?" Dean lowered his head, pretending to be at a loss, "It sounds like a joke. Bob's family is so rich and popular, how could it suddenly disappear?"

"Mr. Holden, how did he die?" Dean took a sip of water and looked up, his expression timid and a little curious, "Everyone said the way he died was very strange."

Holden shook his head and laughed, his eyes met Dean's, and he actually said it directly,

"Bob died very simply. His head was shot with a gun, and the murderer left two letters next to his body..."

Um?

Dean felt something was wrong. They had just met for the first time. Why did the FBI reveal such inside information to a high school student like him?

Is this in line with the rules? Isn't he afraid of causing psychological shadow on himself?

But Dean continued to perform, his face turned pale and his lips trembled slightly, as if he was frightened.

Holden changed the subject, "Dean, I heard that your home is quite far from the school."

“I have to ride a bicycle for more than an hour to school every day.”

"Aren't you tired?"

"Just get used to it."

"How many people are there in your family?"

"Just an uncle, but he works in northern Nevada, and I'm home alone most of the time."

Dean answered honestly.

"Your uncle, what's your job?"

"bodyguard."

With a strange look in his eyes, Holden walked to the desk very close to Dean, leaned his hips against the desk, and faced him condescendingly,

Dean felt that he had said something wrong just now.

"Where were you the day before yesterday?" Holden asked,

Dean cheered up,

"Saturday? Rust and I went to the Barca Disco in the South District during the day."

"Are you allowed in the bar?"

"We managed to sneak in and have some drinks. At four or five o'clock in the afternoon, I went home and fell asleep. Mr. FBI, please keep it a secret for us," Dean begged,

"Is there anyone who can vouch for you?"

Dean thought about it in a pretentious manner. Fortunately, he guided him in advance and strengthened the neighbor's impression, "My neighbors Jacob and Tangya met me at that time."

Holden nodded,

"I heard from several people that you and Bob had a conflict in the cafeteria last Tuesday and you injured him?"

The topic suddenly became acute.

Dean felt slightly uncomfortable and nodded silently.

"What is the specific reason?"

Dean's hands were visibly clenched into fists, as if he was having a fierce psychological struggle. After a long time, he sighed.

"He used to hit me and scold me a lot."

"Oh, can you tell me more specifically?"

"I didn't do anything wrong, but because I have yellow skin, the racists have trouble with me and make trouble for me..." Dean covered his face with his hands, his voice trembling.

Holden stretched out his hand to straighten the tie between his white shirts, stood up and walked around the chair, glancing at Dean's palm.

"He used to bully you all the time, but you never resisted. Until last Tuesday, you couldn't bear it anymore and beat Bob to a bloody head."

"I can't help it."

"I didn't say you were wrong, you did the right thing..." Holden's eyes showed a look of admiration, "Blind tolerance cannot buy respect. Only fists can save yourself from the predicament."

Dean was surprised, this FBI was quite reasonable and did not instill those hypocritical and rigid principles into him.

"But Bob's identity is not simple. If you beat him, he won't let it go - has he ever threatened you?"

Holden stared into Dean's eyes and asked. Dean couldn't figure out what he meant by asking, so he didn't speak.

"Dean, I learned from the LVPD that the night you and Bob had a conflict, your home was smashed by a group of people."

"What do you mean? Are the two related?" Dean looked confused.

"There is no such coincidence in the world. As a smart and excellent student like you, you should have guessed it a long time ago. This is Bob's revenge!"

"Really? The LVPD police officers haven't given me a clear answer yet, nor have they caught the criminal who destroyed my home. Although Bob likes to bully people, he doesn't go so far, right?" Di immediately shook his head.

"But you can't deny that what happened that night scared you, right?" Holden asked in a determined tone,

Dean acquiesces.

"You feel fear. Fear leads people astray. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. Hatred leads to suffering."
To be continued...