"What do you want to do?" Watching Greg hang the black bag above Julia's head, Larry Griffin had a bad feeling.
"Of course, like you do to the hundreds of people here who got cancer because of you, show your kindness." Greg connected the IV to the bag of black substance with a mocking smile on his face.
"No, no, no, stop it, what do you want to do to my daughter?" Larry, who realized the situation was not good, was about to step forward when he was hit back by the other party with the butt of a gun.
"Please, didn't you always think this stuff was safe? Otherwise you would have handled it properly, right?"
"I don't understand, what are you talking about?" Larry Griffin asked in a tearful voice.
"It's just coal ash." Greg skillfully found the vein and inserted the IV needle into Julia's arm.
"Stop, I beg you." Only then did Larry finally wake up, understanding the man's demands. "I swear, I never illegally discharged any of this."
"How much do you want? Name me a number, whatever it is, as long as you release my daughter." Larry, trying to get closer again, was met with the cold muzzle of a gun pressed to his forehead.
Greg stared at him expressionlessly. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you can't solve everything with money this time."
"My father is a good man. He's never hurt anyone," Julia, strapped to a chair, pleaded desperately.
"Tell your daughter what kind of person you are. This is your last chance." Greg placed his hand on the adjustment wheel of the IV.
Seeing that Larry just stood there silently, the mocking expression on his face gradually turned into misery, "You see, now we are in the same situation, just like me back then, silently watching my daughter slowly die.
At first it was just nausea and vomiting, and then fainting from the pain, until finally, the painkillers were completely useless."
As the roller was released, a black liquid like ink slowly dripped down, and the three people present couldn't help but look at the transparent infusion tube that was stained by the black bit by bit.
"Every time the pain came, she would scream like those small animals caught in a trap, and then she would start losing weight, 10 pounds, 20 pounds."
Tears flowed from Greg's eyes and flowed down the sides of his nose. "Then she turned into a skeleton sleeping next to you, tiny, as if she were three years old again, or even two years old.
In the end, she was so weak that no matter how painful it was, she couldn't make much sound. I had to hold my breath and put my ear to her mouth to barely hear those few words."
Greg was choking and could hardly speak at this time. "She said 'Daddy, save me', but I couldn't do anything."
"Shut up!" Larry emphasized word by word as if insulted, "I have never done such a thing! There has never been any evidence to prove that I have illegally discharged coal ash."
"Stop lying!" Greg grabbed his neck, wanting to stab his forehead with the pistol. "I've driven a truck for you before, and we all know how this works.
Those truck drivers from other places took your money and unloaded those iron barrels full of coal ash nearby. The land next to this farm belongs to you!"
Seeing that Larry was finally speechless, Julia looked at her father with disbelief. "Is what he said true?"
The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence until Clay's angry shout came from outside the barn, "FBI, don't move!"
Before Greg could react, a stun grenade bounced twice on the rotting wood and landed at his feet with a resounding explosion.
The barn's high skylight was shattered, and almost as the rappel rope was dropped, a figure leaped from the nearly ten-meter-high window.
"Don't move," Jack said, kneeling down Greg, who was still struggling. His gaze was cold as Larry, who was trying to reach for the pistol on the ground, said, "That includes you."
The wooden walls of the already drafty barn were forcibly torn apart, and the most wanted criminals rushed in. Jiejie stepped forward, grasped the IV line, and removed the needle for Julia.
"You'll be fine. The substance inside didn't get to you yet,"
the terrified girl cried, hugging Jiejie.
"Baby, baby, I'm so glad you're okay." Larry climbed to his feet and tried to hug his daughter for comfort, but Julia instinctively hid behind Jiejie.
"You gave me the land next door, but when I asked to build a cabin there for vacation, you said no. So what that person said was true, right?"
Larry, initially shaken, suddenly frowned at Julia's questioning. "I'll explain this to you privately later."
"No, let's talk now," Julia said, her tone unexpectedly firm.
"You explained that the land was wet and soft because it was near a water source and unsuitable for building a house, but all I wanted was a cabin, so that doesn't make sense,"
Julia demanded. "So, since Grandpa, my family has been burying fly ash under that land, right?"
Jack had already handcuffed Greg and handed him over to the police officer who had come to assist. He then glared coldly at Larry Griffin.
"EPA investigators will be here early tomorrow morning, and the FBI will assist them. Mr. Griffin, why don't you save us some trouble?"
Seeing the FBI agents around him casting interested glances at him, Larry, who had been a little panicked, seemed to find courage from nowhere. He straightened his back and straightened his back, his attitude returning to its usual arrogance.
"That's private land. If you have any questions, please contact my lawyer. They'll handle everything."
Jack ignored him and turned to look at the girl. "I think I overheard that the land actually belongs to Miss Julia Griffin."
"Yes, that's not up to you, Dad." The girl looked up at Larry with a firm gaze. "I own the land, and I'm willing to cooperate with the EPA's investigation."
So sometimes Jack really likes white leftists; quite a few of them are just stupid, not bad.
—
The celebration in Margrave Town continued. The most wanted criminal team, having completed the case, left Jubal to clean up the mess and returned to Georgia.
Someone even more miserable than Jubal boarded a flight back to New York early the next morning.
(End of this chapter)