Chapter 25
Louis Koo – Brad Chung aka Leo**********Chiu’s Manor*********
Cries could be heard from a distance if people were outside the gates of the Chiu Mansion. They were not cries of laughter, but cries of pain. Inside the home Mia sat on the couch, her legs wrapped up to her chin as she covered her ears painfully while Darren yelped in pain each time Erin brushed his hair with the hair bleach.
After about 100 cries, Erin placed the bottle in the container that they bought from the convenient store “Done!” she sighed while she looked at Darren “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
“Try sitting in my place!” Darren made painful sounds.
Mia snickered “Try sitting in MY place! It looks so painful…”
“Is it suppose to sting like that?” every so often, he would try to scratch his scalp but Erin would hit his hand away.
“Stop it! You’re suppose to leave it on for 30 minutes.” She read the box.
“It hurts!!!” Darren groaned as if he was being tortured.
Mia patted the seat next to her as Darren got up and sat down “Let’s get your mind off of the pain for thirty minutes.” He nodded slyly and she rolled her eyes “Is that all guys think about?”
Erin was cleaning up when she looked up with a smile at Mia “No, just yours.” She laughed when Darren threw her a look. She put her hands up in defense “I can take a hint. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”
Her clapping got his attention abruptly when he turned to his fiancé “I know what we can do! Let’s practice your bad ass image.” She pulled him up to a standing position “Let’s see how you stand.”
It was hard concentrating when his head was throbbing from the itch “Like this?” he leaned his weight on one leg while one arm rested on his hip.
Mia’s face fell “Yeah, if you were trying out for Ms. Hong Kong!” she shook her head “Come on, do it like Mel Gor does it.”
“Who?” Darren raised his brows at the unfamiliar name.
“You know Mel Gor, the Dai Lou of the Red Dragon!” Mia widened her eyes when Darren continued to look at her blankly “Oh my God!! Don’t you watch the news? He’s always on TV…when the cops raids the bars and stuff…they always pull him out. But they never put the cuffs on him…you know why?”
“Because he’s not kinky like that?” Darren snorted. He didn’t know Mia was so into that gangster stuff. It was more on an infatuation that he never saw before.
Mia tilted her head “Darren, stop.” She shook her head and the smile appeared on her face again “It’s because the cops respect him. I would love to meet him one day…” she let out a sigh “Too bad…rumors says he’s dead, but I don’t believe it!”
Darren smiled at her adoringly “You’re lucky I’m in love with you. If not, you’d be escorted by my butler to the insane asylum. If any of my past girlfriends talked about another man like that…they would have been history.”
“Past girlfriends?” Mia narrowed her eyes suspiciously “You never told me you had past girlfriends.”
Erin was standing in the hallway leaning on the wall, with a smile so wide “You two are so made for each other.” She laughed while pushing herself off the wall with her feet as she walked over to them, an apple in hand “Ever heard of opposite attracts?”
Darren nodded with a grin “It couldn’t fit us more.” Suddenly, his face twitched painfully “It’s coming back…what do I do??!!” the girls stared at him oddly while he pointed to his head, eyes widening “Pain…sharp, unbearable pain!”
Mia and Erin exchanged smiles “You’ve got five minutes.” Erin instructed when she glanced at her watch.
Darren tapped his foot restlessly while glancing at his platinum Rolex watch. After about 30 seconds he shook his head “Oh Fuck it!” he raced to the bathroom to clean off the goo in his hair while Erin blew up with laughter.
Mia nodded as she pointed at Darren “That’s it!! He’s got the language down!”
**************
Ted figured out from his undercover department that Hung Gor’s next tradeoff with the mystery person was at 2pm at the Shipping Harbor. The team met up early that morning to go over their plans. Matt stood up as he leaned onto the table “This cannot go wrong. I trust that Mia has trained Darren enough?” he asked as his eyes rested on the smiling pair.
“He’s ready, sir!!” Mia saluted Matt.
He smiled “Good. By the way Darren, your hair looks great.” Matt complimented.
Darren sighed dramatically as he touched his spiked hair “What men go through for beauty.”
The girls giggled while the guys flinched disgustingly “Man…does the bleach make you more gay?” Brad asked sarcastically.
“No…but it comes naturally to you.” Darren quipped at Brad with attitude. Brad’s smile faded and he quickly added “Sorry man, I was getting into my role too much.” He patted Brad on the shoulder.
“It’s okay, man…” Brad pretended to choke back the tears “I love you man!!” he reached out and the guys embraced.
“I love you too!!” Darren cried.
Eric frowned “Now if that’s not disturbing, I don’t know what is.” The girls giggled while their boyfriends broke apart pretending to sniff back the tears.
Matt smiled “That’s good, keep up the light spirit, it will make today seem easy. So, Ted what do we have?”
“About 10 guys to back up Darren if he needs it. How man guys do you think this C.W. guy will bring?” he asked the team.
Eric crossed his arms “I’d say 20.”
“I say, he’ll be there by himself.” Mia said thoughtfully.
Everyone turned to her with a smile but it was Darren that asked “Want a bet?”
She smiled slyly “Sure…If I’m not wrong, in a respectable gangster tradeoff there will only be two people. The person with the goods and the one person with the money. Once it’s done, they leave their separate ways…” she frowned at them “I thought everyone knew this logic.”
Erin turned to her friend curiously “Where do you learn all this gangster stuff?”
Mia shook her neck back and forth with attitude “I grew up in the ghetto, bi-atch!” the guys chuckled at her accent. Mia shrugged her shoulders “Actually, I just follow along with the triad world on the news.” Suddenly her faced brightened as she looked up at everyone “Have any of you guys heard of Mel Gor?”
One by one, they shook their heads. Mia looked disappointed until Ted spoke up “I heard he’s one of the greatest Dai Lou of the Red Dragon. Too bad the gang went down a year ago. I heard they cooperated with the FBI’s. But that could be a rumor.”
Mia looked at Ted dreamily “I’m so jealous of you right now.”
He laughed “I’ve never met the guy, but I heard quite a lot of stories about him.”
“Okay men!” Matt announced and the girls snapped their heads at him “And ladies…” he added with a smile “Let’s get started. Brad, you are the driver for Darren. Eric, you’re going to be the public janitor at the harbor. Mia, you are in charge of Michael today. Ted and Erin, you two stay patrol outside Michael’s office. I’ll be in a nearby van, to call for assistance if C.W. tries anything.” He nodded at the team firmly “I don’t know how dangerous this guy is, but if he is who we think he is…we’ve got to be on the highest alert.”
“Yes, Sir!!” The team saluted their lieutenant.
Matt crossed his arms while his brows knit together “Is this some kind of inside joke?”
Mia giggled as she nodded “We use to do this with Dennis.”
“I see.” Matt nodded “Okay team, move out! And be careful.” He warned.
And so, everyone went their separate ways. Mia, Erin and Ted traveled to Michael’s office. The two dropped Mia in the front of the building while Ted and Erin walked around the building “I wonder how Darren is gonna do.” Ted began the small talk.
Erin smiled “It’s okay if we walk in silence, you don’t have to come up with subjects.”
Ted laughed “Was that too lame?”
She shook her head “Not at all.” She halted when her mind thought of something “Wait…could you help me with something, Ted?”
“Anything.” He answered.
“I want to do some research on Julie Lee’s death. She’s Michael’s fiancé. He told me he didn’t know where she was buried. Her family wouldn’t allow him near her, even when she was dead.” Erin explained.
He glanced at his watch “We can go right now, the police department is almost empty, everyone should be at lunch.”
Erin was hesitant as she looked up at the building “How about Michael and Mia?”
“It should be quick. I’m sure they’ll be okay.” Ted nodded confidently.
She eventually nodded “Okay.” They drove to the station and he took her to the computer file room. Ted began typing away until he found the record of Julie Lee. Her articles popped up but it was not registered where she was buried. He skimmed through the articles until a picture caught her eye “Stop!” she pointed “Go back two pages.”
He did so and looked at the picture that was first taken when Julie was ran over by the car. There were people surrounding the place while blood was splattered everywhere “Who do you see?” he asked.
Erin pointed to a figure in the picture “Does that look like Chris Wong in the picture Michael showed us from his janitorial file?”
Ted squinted his eyes “A little…you think he was connected to Julie somehow?”
She frowned “I’m not sure…but I have this strange feeling…that he’s Andrew’s brother?” she turned to Ted with wondering eyes “Can we?”
He nodded with a grin “Of course.” He did another search on Andrew and found his records. Ted and Erin read it silently and slowly a smile spread across their faces “Bingo!” Ted leaned back on his chair.
Erin nodded as she put out a hand “Good job, partner.” They shook hands firmly.
Chapter 26
Louis Koo – Brad Chung aka LeoAt the harbor, Darren took a deep breath before getting out of the car. He placed his sunglasses over his eyes and Brad pulled down the window “Just call for help if you need backup.” He said without looking at Darren.
He nodded “I will.” He nodded to his boys who were already present waiting for his orders. Darren walked towards the pier while his boys walked behind him causing a ripple of stirs in the crowd. Some of the men pointed at the people and scared them away.
Darren was getting closer to the man with his back turned. He was a short guy with a very strong aura. He stopped in his steps when they were a few feet away “I told you, I don’t like to deal with other people around.” The guy’s voice was low and dangerous.
One of Darren’s guys pointed to C.W. “Fuck you! Hung Gor doesn’t have to deal with you, he has plenty of customers!!”
Darren raised a hand coolly to silent the guy “Eh…is that any way to speak to Chris Gor?”
The guy turned with a smirk on his face “So…you found out my name, did you. I underestimated you, Hung Gor.” Suddenly, his lips curled up slyly “What did I say about bringing your men to a tradeoff?”
“I’ve got a memory of a fuckin 80 year old.” Darren said with a laugh as he waved his boys away.
“Hung Gor…” one of the guys said reluctantly.
Darren turned to them with a smile “Don’t worry. If Chris tries anything, his ass will be cut to pieces and thrown into the ocean to feed the fishes.” He turned to Chris threateningly “And I’m sure he doesn’t want that.” He said darkly.
Chris’s smile remained as he nodded “Of course.”
“Leave us.” Darren waved his hand again and his men walked off the pier unsurely. He put up his hands to the side “Happy?”
“Very.” Chris smiled with satisfaction “Come on.” He turned and jumped down a tiny boat that was tied to one of the docs. Darren turned towards Brad one last time before jumping down to join Chris. He began steering the boat out a few hundred yards where a tiny yacht sat waiting for them.
Darren could only hope that Brad saw him and hopefully they would follow him. Chris noticed his concerned look but Darren knew he could not show fear “What’s with the fucking tour?” he growled.
Chris laughed “Right to the point! I love that! That’s why I like working with you. You don’t bullshit around like the other idiots.” He turned away while his eyes hardened “I warned those bastards…don’t mess with C.W…they’ll regret it.”
Darren couldn’t be more confused but it seemed the guy was leaking more information than he could imagine “What did those janitors do to you?”
Chris turned to Darren with wide eyes “How the hell did you know about that?”
Darren snickered “I wasn’t fucking born yesterday! I have men everywhere.” He said coolly.
“Right…I forgot.” Chris sneered “You can blame it on those bastards that chickened out on the tradeoff. Each one promised ‘yes, we’ll do it’.” He mimicked the weak voices “Then the next day they say ‘we want out. We have families to protect and fathers to raise.'” Chris suddenly roared angrily “Fuck them!! Fine, they have fathers to raise… okay, well I’ll just kill their families and they won’t have to worry about them anymore.” He laughed viciously as he recalled the brutal stabbings.
Darren’s eyes moved towards the yacht as Chris controlled the stop and quickly climbed onto the deck. Darren eventually followed “So it was you.”
Chris turned to him with suspicious eyes “What? Are you going to turn me in?”
Darren laughed humorously with his head thrown back “You’ve got fucking balls, you know that?” he commented to Chris before walking into the boat. He blinked his eyes slowly while taking internal breaths. This guy was more dangerous than he could imagine.
They entered a little room with couches and a tiny bar. Chris fixed Darren a drink and himself one as he handed it to him “When are the goods going to be here?” Chris asked.
Darren took off his sunglasses and placed them in his jacket pocket as he slowly crossed his legs “What’s your rush? Planning to kill the entire city?” he was just testing.
“No, just a building…and a group of nuisance people.” His eyes looked distant as he drank his wine.
Darren spread his arms out on the couch as he sat back relaxed “Why the hell would a small guy like you have so much enemies?”
His maddened eyes turned to Darren evilly “They deserve to die…calling themselves good but killing the innocent people. I hate rich people.” He growled, while his eyes dug into Darren as if trying to find his weak spot.
“You’re a sick son of a bitch aren’t you?” Darren asked with a smirk.
Chris laughed whole heartedly “Yes…yes I am!” he got up and pulled out a suitcase from a compartment on the deck floor. It was too heavy for his little body to pull up. Darren sat up curiously while Chris heaved the luggage over to him “I know this is just half the money, but until I get my goods, you won’t get the other half yet.” He opened it to show Darren. Inside was layers of thousand bills in Hong Kong money. “You’ve ever seen so much cash before?”
His mind began to wonder if that was the money he got from Elisa for Darwin’s ransom “Where the fuck did you find so much money?” Darren asked almost in shock “What’d you do? Rob a bank?”
Chris laughed amusingly “Something like that. Do you know about that rich man’s kidnapping?”
“Darwin Wong?” Darren made it seem questionable but in truth, he already knew the answer.
“Very good!” Chris complimented “The big powerful gangster leader has been doing his homework.” He smiled with interest “But your other half of the money will have to come in another week.”
“Why?” Darren’s face frowned.
Chris shrugged “Oh…because I’ve drained that son of a bitch, gotta find myself another bank.”
Darren smiled “Who did you have in mind?”
He bent down on his heels to look at Darren in the eye “You really want to know?”
Darren’s eyes hardened as they stared directly in Chris’s eye. The smirk on his face was unbearable, he wanted to tear it off with his own hands. Suddenly, he thought of the unthinkable “Michael Wu…” he muttered out suddenly.
Chris’s smile faded slowly “Damn! You’re good!” he shook his head “It is being done as we speak.”
*******************
Mia sat in the waiting area while Julie and Nora continued with their work. She looked bored as can be as she began playing with her eyes. Rolling them up and down and left and right until she got dizzy. Suddenly, she grabbed her head to keep it from spinning “I’m bored!!” She belted out causing Nora to jump back startled.
Julie smiled at the girl “Why don’t you take a walk?”
“I can’t…” Mia groaned painfully “Maybe Erin will switch with me?” she wondered out loud.
“Hmph!” Nora snickered.
Mia turned her head over to the girl as she slowly got up and placed her hands over Nora’s desk “If you got something to say, just say it.”
“I don’t talk to low life people.” Nora snarled as she looked up at Mia “Now if you can get your dirty hands off my desk…” she pushed at Mia’s hand.
Mia snapped her hand away and turned over to Julie with a disgusted look on her face “Oh great, she touched me…now I’m gonna have to cut my hand off. Do you have acetone so I can clean off her germs?” she asked Julie.
Nora turned to Julie with desperation “Do you have some kind of pest repellent so I can spray it around my desk?”
Julie was placed between a catfight and she refused to get caught between “I don’t know anything.” She emphasized with a smile.
Their bickering ended there when Michael came out with a suitcase in hand. He instantly saw a tension when Mia turned away from Nora with rolling eyes “Did I miss something?” he asked.
Julie laughed “It’s nothing…the girls were just getting more acquainted.” She glanced at her watch “You ready?”
Mia spun around and faced them “You’re going out, Michael?”
He nodded “I have a meeting. Julie’s coming with me.”
“Why does she get to go?” Nora whined.
“Because I only need one secretary.” Michael explained while he patted Nora on the head.
“I can’t let you go, Michael.” Mia said firmly “Unless you take me with you.”
“No!” Julie cried suddenly. The three of them turned to her strangely “What I meant was, the security is really good there, you don’t have to come along. Plus, I already call the board and said two people would be coming from Wu Enterprises.”
Nora frowned “I don’t want to be here by myself.”
“What? Afraid of roaming spirits?” Mia retorted.
Nora took a hold of Michael’s arm “Please…I don’t want to stay here. I’ve been having nightmares for days. My psychiatrist said that I should be around people more often.”
Mia stifled a laugh “Psychiatrist? Someone’s going kookoo….” She sang teasingly.
Michael shook his head at her with a smile “Nora, if you want you can come along, you can come.”
“But-” Julie was going to decline when Michael put up his hand.
“I’ve decided.” Michael said firmly.
“How about me?” Mia asked.
Michael nodded “You can keep Nora company. I know there is a waiting room where visitors are welcomed.”
Mia rolled her tongue around as if having a bad after taste “I think I’d rather stay over night at the mortuary.”
Michael laughed as he nodded to the girls “Come on. We don’t want to be late.” Julie reluctantly followed behind. When they reached downstairs and waited for his limo to pull up. Michael noticed Mia looking around “What is it, Mia?”
She turned to him “Where’s Erin and Ted?”
“Our car’s here!” Julie announced as she pointed to the black limo.
Michael opened the door for the girls “After you beautiful ladies.” Mia was the last to go inside as she was still looking around for her friend “You can give them a call when we get there.” He assured.
She eventually nodded and entered the limo. The window connected to the driver was close and they heard a short click, locking the doors. Mia suddenly had an uneasy feeling as she stepped over to the seat next to the window and tapped it “Driver!” she called.
The driver in the black suit and hat turned to her with a slow smile. Mia backed up in her seat as her heart began to race. Michael saw her strange reaction as he asked “Mia, what’s the matter?”
Mia pointed to the driver and then looked at Michael fearfully “Reina…” she managed to stutter out. The two quickly reached for the door and tried to unlock it.
Nora looked scared as she looked from the driver to the two panicking “What are you guys doing?”
“Get out of the car!!” Mia cried. She shook at the door but it was locked from the driver seat. Suddenly a thick gray fog began to fill the car. She quickly covered her mouth with one hand and then covered Michael’s mouth with her free hand. But it was too late, the anesthetic odor had seeped through their noses and entered their lungs. Slowly one by one they fell onto the seat unconscious.
Chapter 27
Louis Koo – Brad Chung aka LeoDarren’s face paled over as he whispered “Mia…” his head snapped up angrily and his eyes were burning with fury as he lunged onto Chris. Darren’s fingers wrapping around his collar “What the hell did you say?? What’s going on?”
Chris wiggled free as he pushed Darren off of him “What the fuck is wrong with you?!!!”
“Where’s Mia?!!!” he was only concerned with her. Once again Darren charged towards the smaller guy “What did you do to them? Where are they?”
Now it was Chris’s turn to bring out the rage as he thrust Darren off of him “You’re not fucking Fei Hung!!” he pulled out a gun from behind his pants hiding under his jacket and pointed it at Darren “Who the fuck are you?”
Darren shook his head “It doesn’t matter. You’re not getting away, so you might as well tell me.” He took a step closer, his eyes bulging out.
Chris was not easily intimidated as he pulled out a cell phone with his free hand “Reina, do you have them?”
“Yup, easier than the first kidnap.” She said victoriously.
He hung up the call and waved his hand and head “Aww…too bad, got your pretty little girlfriend too.”
“Fiance…” Darren said through clenched teeth. He continued to step closer until the gun was directed at his forehead. But he didn’t care if Chris shot him, he wasn’t going to get away “Run all you want, you son of a bitch…we’ll get you.”
Chris pulled his head back with a laugh and Darren took his only chance when he was distracted as he pounced on him. The two wrestled for the gun and eventually Darren banged Chris’s hand against the wall of the boat and it was knocked out of his hands “You crazy fucking…” Chris began but was punched in the stomach by Darren.
“Let her go!” he roared angrily.
Chris crouched down while his hands pressed on the throbbing pain “In your dreams.” He whispered painfully but still managed to throw out a laugh. But it only made Darren more angry as he kicked the guy down. Chris slid to the side as his eyes caught onto the fallen gun. In a snap he rolled over and grabbed the gun before Darren can kick it away. He stood up and pointed it at Darren again “You’ll pay for that…” he warned.
Suddenly, Chris’s face frowned. He felt the gun being pointed behind his back “Drop the gun.” Doug warned. He was dripping wet. Chris did as he was told and Doug nodded at Darren “Sorry, I’m not a very good swimmer.”
Darren pulled out his cell phone as he dialed for Erin’s number, she picked up after one ring “Erin, did you see the car Mia and Michael got in?”
Erin turned to Ted while they were driving back to Michael’s office “No…she left?”
Darren frowned “You don’t know?? Where the hell are you?! Why aren’t you patrolling?”
“Calm down, Darren, what is going on?” Erin asked, but her hands were already shaky.
He looked frustrated as he combed his face with his hand “Don’t…fucking tell me you somewhere else! She was kidnapped and Michael too! And God knows who else.”
“Mia…” Erin’s cell phone dropped from her hands as she turned to Ted with red eyes “They’ve been kidnapped.”
He drove faster until they reached the office building. She practically jumped out of the car while it was still moving and raced into the building. She took the elevator impatiently and to her horror, the place was empty. No one was left. Ted followed in another elevator since he couldn’t catch Erin in time. He saw her pounding her fist on the wall, they were red and her knuckles were bruised “Erin!” he pulled her hand away.
“NO!! No…” she sobbed “They’ve got them…” she shook her head “It’s my fault…why did I leave?”
Ted shook his head as he pulled out a hankerchief and wrapped her knuckles around it to keep the bleeding from getting worse “Erin…Erin!” he yanked at her face between her hands “You need to get a hold of yourself. We have to go the harbor…Come on.” He was calmer than her, Erin eventually calmed her shaky lips as she nodded and let him lead her out of the building.
************
Chris put up his hand over his head “This should be fun…we’ve got five people you want and you’ve only got me…” he laughed as he turned slowly to face Doug “Go ahead and shoot…the operations will still go on without me.”
Doug didn’t leave his eyes off the sneaky guy as he asked Darren “Where are the rest?” when Darren slumped down on the couch and covered his face in his hands, Doug turned over “Darren!!”
But it was a wrong move as Chris pulled a fast one on Doug and soon the two were in a brutal fist fight. Darren looked up and reality seemed to hit him once more as he joined in with Doug. The three guys circled and then the fighting began again, this time two against one. Each punch Darren threw was hard enough to kill a kid. Chris stumbled back in pain as he leaned on the bar counter “Very noble…two against one.”
Doug snickered “Who needs to be noble to a sneaky bastard like you!” Suddenly a smile spread across his face when he heard motors of tiny boats getting closer “Looks like you’re not going anywhere.”
Chris wiped the blood that was seeping from the corner of his lips with the back of his hand “We’ll see about that.” He made a turn around the exit that led out to the ledge and with one fast dive, he was in the ocean.
Darren and Doug chased after him, Darren was about to jump in after him but Doug quickly stopped him when he pointed to a jetski Chris was swimming towards “We’ll never catch him.”
They turned their heads to the boats consisting of Brad and Eric. They nodded at Doug “Matt called you?” Brad asked.
Doug smiled “At the last minute. He knew I was in Tsim Sa Tsui.”
Eric waved them on the boat “Come on, we gotta meet back with Matt and the others.”
Darren’s face was glum as he jumped on the boat, Doug patted him on the arm “She’ll be okay.”
Brad turned to them strangely “What are you guys talking about?”
“Mia’s been kidnapped…along with Michael and I guess two others.” Doug explained when Darren turned away, his eyes red with anger.
“What?!” Brad looked at Doug with wide eyes “How can that happen? Where was Erin and Ted?”
Darren snapped his head over to Brad “Probably sucking face somewhere else while Michael and Mia were taken away by Reina.”
Brad flinched from the harsh description “Hey…be a little respectful, man. She’s my girlfriend.”
“But she wasn’t doing her fucking job!!” Darren cried angrily.
Doug shook his head at the two before they could get into a heated argument “Calm down. Let’s hear their side of the story. Don’t jump to conclusions and blame it on an innocent person like me.” He reminded Darren.
Eric was confused “Someone’s gotta fill me in on the details.” They quickly docked the boat and Darren was the first to climb on the pier. He raced towards the van where Matt was.
He crawled inside and sat in the corner, while Matt cleaned up the stuff “Aren’t you in a rush.” He joked. He turned and saw the other guys “How did it go?”
Doug shook his head “He got away. But the money is still on the boat. I told the cops that came with us to take the loot back to the station.”
“Good job.” Matt nodded while Brad started the car and drove it off roughly. Matt bounced back from the quick impact as he turned to Doug “What’s with them?”
Eric leaned over and whispered to Matt “Michael’s been kidnapped.”
“What?!!!” Matt looked at them in shock “How in the world did this happen? We had three agents with Michael!”
“Mia was taken with them.” Doug answered solemnly.
“Call Erin and Ted and have them meet us at headquarters.” Matt advised Eric. He nodded and did as he was told while Matt gave Darren a glance. He looked so angry, there was nothing he could say to calm him down.
When the van halted abruptly, Darren crawled out in front of Doug and Matt as he jumped out of the car and entered the headquarters, never bothering to wait for anyone. He saw Erin and Ted already inside, she had her hands clasped together while Ted had his hand on her shoulder, comforting her. He marched up to them and Ted stood up to greet them but was suddenly punched clear across the face from Darren.
Doug and Eric quickly pulled Darren back while Erin got up and faced Darren “That was not necessary.” She said, her eyes red from the crying.
Darren broke free from the other two as he pointed at Erin angrily “I am SO pissed off at you right now! So don’t tempt me cause I don’t want to hit you.” He threatened.
Her chest heaved up and down “Go ahead, if it’ll make you feel better.”
Brad quickly intervened when Darren clenched his fist to the side “Stop it!” he pointed at Darren “We’re a team, you’re not suppose to hit anyone.” He turned to Ted “You okay?”
Ted nodded while he adjusted his jaw “Yeah.”
Matt walked to the front “Sit down, now!” he called the meeting. They eventually sat down but Darren remained standing “Darren, you either walk out nor or sit down, I will not tolerate such behavior in this agency.” He warned and Darren reluctantly took the furthest seat from the front. “Now…what the hell is going on? How could this have happened?” he asked Erin and Ted.
Erin looked up with tears in her eyes “It’s my fault…no one else. If I didn’t suggest to do research on Julie’s death, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Ted shook his head “No, it’s not her fault. We could have researched it some other time, but I was the one that suggested to go to the police station that minute.”
Brad turned to the two with a frown “This is not a time to be taking the blame. And Erin, you knew better than to leave your position during this tense time. Ted, you could have gone yourself, that research didn’t need two people did it?”
Ted nodded slowly “I’m sorry…we underestimated the enemy.”
She felt like burning a hole in the wall and crawling into it. She looked up while the tears dripped slowly onto her cheeks “I’m sorry, Darren. If I knew this would happen…I wouldn’t have left the building if it killed me.” She said with much sincere.
Darren refused to look at her as he snickered “Hmph! It’s not a matter of ‘if’ something would happen, it’s that you didn’t use your logic. Is that research worth losing four lives?”
Brad looked up at them “Four?”
“I’m guessing Nora and Julie were taken too.” Matt said wisely. He shook his head “God knows what they’re going to do next.” He sighed before asking Ted “What did you find out?”
“Chris Wong is Andrew Wong’s brother.” Ted said shortly.
“No wonder!” Doug pounded his fist on the table “He’s avenging his brother’s death. And teaming up with Reina would be the perfect partner.” He turned to the team, despite the tension flaring in the room “They’ll be in contact with us.”
Matt nodded in agreement “You’re right…bit now, we have to figure out who the third person that they have teamed up with. There were three masked people that night Darwin was kidnapped.” He observed carefully “If we find the third person, it will clear up everything. And maybe we’ll figure out where they are hiding the kidnapped people.”
“I agree!” Eric nodded firmly.
“Are we done?” Darren asked darkly. But he didn’t wait for the answer as he got up and walked out of the room.
Matt let out a sigh “Why don’t you two stay far from Darren for now.” He advised Erin and Ted. The two nodded without much feeling.
SIUBINGLIBRARY
