Try Begging - Chapter 163.2

patreon for <try begging> has been released! Become a member!

When the dark-haired man in his mid-twenties replied, the staff member circled the desk and headed toward the body storage compartment.

“According to the phone number, it’s from the West. It looks like you came running as soon as you received the call.”

It was a five-hour train ride from Winsford. Seeing him arrive so quickly, rather than the next day, suggested he was quite eager.

At that moment, there was sympathy struck.

The young man opened the door wide and stepped aside as if giving way to someone.

Wasn’t this young man the one searching for the woman?

As the tall young gentleman strode confidently into the room, his eyes widened. From his immaculate appearance and elegant suit, he appeared to be quite affluent. The deceased woman, on the other hand, seemed poor. Perhaps she was a mistress who had run away?

The middle-aged man blinked blankly, indulging in such cliched speculations.

The young gentleman stopped in the center of the morgue. Though his eyes were obscured by sunglasses, it was clear he was casting glances at each of the tightly closed storage compartments as though searching for the missing woman.

“This way.”

The staff guided the man to the left. He nervously chewed his dry lips as he unlocked the 2B compartment.

What if it was the right one?

Whether the missing person was found or not, it was tragic. The tension in the morgue was thick, shared by everyone present. Even the calm-looking tall man seemed to be nervously twitching at the edges of his firm lips.

‘No matter how many times you do this, you never get used to it.’

The staff member sighed inwardly as he opened the door and pulled out the storage rack. The young man’s face darkened as he scanned the silhouette of the body covered in a white sheet.

How long had he hesitated over whether to lift the cloth covering the face or not? In the midst of the anxious ticking of the clock and the occasional sound of someone clearing their throat, it felt as though time had stopped for the man.

‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

Leon clenched his teeth.

The staff was looking at him with a pitiful expression, reminiscent of a recent nightmare. However, this time, he couldn’t bring himself to confidently assert that the woman under the cloth wasn’t his. He averted his gaze and nodded briefly.

The staff member, glancing at him, hesitated before reaching out to remove the cloth.

It was as ominous as the nightmare he had just experienced.

His heart raced with the same intensity as the first time he had seen the woman’s face in the nightmare. No, it beat even harder. The throbbing was so pronounced he could feel it in every extremity.

Then, as the cloth was pulled away, his heart stopped.

“….”

The staff member, solemnly waiting for the man’s reaction, stared in shock.

“Ha…”

Leon laughed.

Looking at the face of the corpse, he burst into laughter. He handed a banknote to the staff, saying, “Thank you for your effort,” before walking out.

“No, that’s not her. Please report back if you have any more information.”

Campbell, still looking puzzled, left the staff member with a final word of thanks and followed the Major outside. As they stepped into the pitch-black darkness outside the hospital, the Major removed his sunglasses and asked him,

“That stubborn woman wouldn’t be dead, right?”

“No, she wouldn’t be.”

The Major, with a precarious smile, took out a cigar from his gaunt hand, veins prominently showing through, and they quickly got into the waiting taxi. They headed back to the train station. Although it had taken six hours to get there, they had spent less than twenty minutes at the morgue.

In the back seat of the taxi, Leon closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his forehead.

This was the third time.

With the due date approaching, he had been waiting for a tip, but the phone hadn’t rung.

The days had passed quickly.

Frustrated by the lack of news, Leon had expanded the search to include hospitals and midwifery clinics. Just in case something had gone wrong during childbirth. After that, the ringing of the phone had become something he dreaded rather than looked forward to.

So, this was the third time he had stepped off the edge of a precipice only to retreat. What would happen when the day came when retreat was no longer an option?

As the sound of gunfire from the nightmare echoed in his ears, Leon quietly swallowed a sigh.