——When the siren blared, Ryan Sullivan's usually clear and organized mind seemed to crash, going utterly blank. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't react; all he could perceive was the car accident scene before him, magnified and distorted, as shattered time and space roared in, swallowing all consciousness. In a daze, he was once again driving on the rain-soaked interstate highway from three years ago.

Yes, that day.

Far behind the car, police sirens wailed, red and blue lights flickering in and out of the rearview mirror. He was like a trapped beast fallen into a snare, charging blindly, with nowhere to run. Only one thought echoed in his mind: he absolutely couldn't fall into those people's hands, couldn't fall into his hands again—

He floored the gas pedal, and in the next second, a lane-changing truck shot out in front of him.

A crash, searing pain, dizziness, the world spinning. Countless car horns blared one after another, reality and memory alternating, perception and illusion blending together.

Then, Ryan Sullivan suddenly felt weightless, his whole world flipping upside down as someone scooped him up around the waist, a pair of strong hands breaking through his nightmare.

Logan Bennett carried Ryan Sullivan in his arms, striding across the intersection in just a few steps, rushing onto the sidewalk, and setting him down on a bench by the street. He grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Wake up!"

"……"

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Ryan Sullivan's gaze was unfocused, his lips trembling slightly, but then, as if waking from a nightmare, he suddenly grabbed Logan Bennett's hand that was holding his chin.

"…Sorry," Ryan Sullivan gasped, "Excuse me."

Logan Bennett looked down at him from above. At such close range, the face he hadn't seen clearly at the scene last night was now in sharp focus, every eyelash, the tired shadows under his eyes, and the pale corners of his lips all laid bare.

In that instant, a vague shadow surfaced again in Logan Bennett's mind.

—But it was immediately interrupted.

Ryan Sullivan suddenly realized his loss of composure and quickly let go of Logan Bennett's hand, leaning his upper body back to put some distance between them, then looked up and asked, "Officer Bennett?"

In that moment, the clear-headed Ryan Sullivan was back. Aside from his pale face showing a hint of distress, all his invisible defenses were instantly back in place with that single backward motion.

Logan Bennett stood up and cleared his throat.

"Sit here and wait for me." He gave a concise order, then strode off toward the traffic jam on the road.

Author's note:

Logan Bennett (xie)

Not Yan Ye

And not Yan Ya

Logan Bennett slammed the table arrogantly: "Tonight I'll stand at your bedside!"

Chapter 4

This intersection was only four or five hundred meters from the Night Palace KTV. Logan Bennett simply found a spot, parked his badly scratched Grand Cherokee, checked in with the traffic police, and returned to the spot—all in just ten minutes.

"What’s up with you?" Logan Bennett stood in front of Ryan Sullivan, tilting his chin. "Where’s that girlfriend of yours? Letting you wander around alone?"

Ryan Sullivan still looked unwell, but that was due to long-term bedridden weakness. He smiled at the question: "The doctor told me to walk more when I can. Emily Carter went out, so I just took a stroll by myself."

Logan Bennett reached out to help, but Ryan Sullivan signaled it wasn't necessary, so he withdrew his hand and lit a cigarette. "You don't mind, right?"

Ryan Sullivan asked, "Can I have one?"

Logan Bennett was a bit surprised. He rarely met men who didn't smoke, but for some reason, he had instinctively thought Ryan Sullivan was one of them—probably fooled by his refined and gentle appearance.

"Thanks," Ryan Sullivan took the cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a long breath. "Thanks to you just now, Officer Yan. Sorry about that. As for the car repair..."

Logan Bennett said, "Forget it, that's a government car! I'll just file a damage report when I get back."

Through the white smoke, Ryan Sullivan glanced at him, as if surprised that the Jianning police had such high-end cars. Logan Bennett caught his look and laughed, not bothering to explain. "There are some suspicious points in the case. I need to revisit the scene anyway, so I'll give you a ride back. What happened just now? You were standing in the middle of the road, frozen—were you scared stiff?"

Ryan Sullivan hesitated: "Just now... I was a bit stunned by the car accident. Maybe some post-traumatic stress reaction."

"Wow, and you still dare to go out alone."

Ryan Sullivan said, "I have to learn to walk on my own, right? Otherwise, I'd be useless."

He walked slowly, and Logan Bennett didn't rush him. The two of them strolled down the sidewalk, the neon lights of Night Palace KTV flashing ahead. Logan Bennett pointed at them with his nearly finished cigarette, teasing, "You have such a devoted and wealthy girlfriend—way better off than us on fixed salaries. What are you afraid of, becoming useless?"

Ryan Sullivan shook his head helplessly, but before he could reply, Logan Bennett naturally asked, "How did you two meet?"

Deputy Bennett really was a master at fishing for information—he'd been waiting for this.

"We both left our hometown to work in the city years ago, spent a few years in Gongzhou together. I made some money and went back home, while she came from Gongzhou to Jianning to open this KTV. Honestly, she's braver than me. The business kept getting better, and three years ago, when she asked me to come to Jianning to help, I got into a car accident on the way."

"How did it happen?"