Chapter 22
Patrick Tam – Devin Hsu
Vivian Leung – Erin Yeung aka Scorpio
Ruby Lin – Mia Lam-Chiu aka Pisces
Nick Cheung – Darren Chiu aka Taurus
Louis Koo – Luke Yam
Aaron Kwok – Ted Kwong aka Libra
Maggie Cheung – Sara Liu
Annie Man – Jessica Lai
Leon Lai – Daniel Wong
Amy Kwok – Janine Wu
Sunny Chan – Ben Hui aka Ah Mo
Luke had finished eating and cleaned up the mess he made. He walked out into the living room to watch television but before his butt hit the couch, there was someone at the door. He checked the hole and noticed it was the Chiu family. Opening the door, he grinned “What east wind brought the Chiu clan here to my humble home?”
“It’s not your home.” Mia entered casually “Where’s Erin?”
“Hi Uncle Luke!” Bonnie greeted from Darren’s arms.
“Bonnie!” Luke exclaimed giddily as he took the girl into his arms “Wow, you’ve gotten heavier!”
She giggled from his tickling “It’s almost my birthday.” She nodded wide eyed “Bonnie is going to be five!”
“Really? Well, I didn’t realize that.” Luke teased the girl.
Mia turned to him sternly “You knew, I sent those birthday invitations out two months ago. Where’s Erin?” she asked again.
Luke raised his eyes at Darren, who in return rolled his eyes “She gets very serious when she is in confrontation mode.”
“Wooh, what for?” Luke asked as he placed Bonnie to the floor.
“She has this theory…” Darren waved a nonchalant hand.
“Devin has a love child!” Mia exclaimed.
**************
Erin continued to stare at Daniel “Who’s Janine?” she asked again “I thought he had a meeting with the police officials?”
“I’m not sure.” His eyes wandered away “Janine is a friend.” He chose his words carefully when he realized Devin wasn’t honest about Janine and his child “A casual high school friend. Mutual friend.”
She relaxed her tensed face “Okay. Can you take me to this ‘friend’s’ house?”
“Actually, I’m not even sure that he’s there.” Daniel covered.
She turned to Carmen “We’ll talk at the meeting tomorrow.”
“Okay.” The girl sensed the anger in her tone of voice.
Daniel looked at the rest but decided to run after Erin “Where are you going?”
“Finding him.” She replied shortly while dialing Devin’s number.
“You don’t know where he is.” He sped up to catch up with her steps.
“If it’s a casual friend, then he has no reason to lie about it.” She listened for the ringing, he answered “Devin? Hey, it’s Erin. I need to see you right now.”
“Oh…um, sure, I’ll be over at your house in fifteen minutes.” He replied.
Erin spotted the hesitation “No need, I’m downtown in Kowloon. Are you close?”
“No.” he lied and could have slapped himself for it. Turning to Janine, he shook his head as he stood up from the couch “I’m…I’m with Superintendent Chow.”
“Another lie.” Erin said flatly. She hung up and spun around to Daniel “Take me to him right now.”
“Erin—” he began only to be cut off.
She raised a hand “IF you don’t help me, I’ll find my own way.” She waved for a cab but he quickly pushed her hand down.
“I’ll take you there, but you can’t be angry.” Daniel said firmly.
“It’s too late for that.” She answered “But I will not lose my temper.” She promised.
They returned to his parked car as he drove her to Janine’s apartment building “Tenth floor, apartment C.”
“You’re not coming?” she unbuckled her belt. He shook his head with a diverged glance “I understand. You guys are not at good terms.” She got out as he watched her worriedly. She entered the elevator and felt her stomach turning when the machine stopped. She walked out and found the apartment with ease, her hand raised as she knocked.
A female opened the door, she looked to be in her late forties, Erin frowned in confusion. Daniel said they were high school friends, she was too old to be their friend “May I help you?” the woman asked.
“Are you Janine?” Erin asked unsurely.
She shook her head “No, I’m sorry, you have the wrong apartment...”
“Excuse me.” Erin smiled gently as she turned. Suddenly, she realized what Daniel had done.
Daniel got out of the car and rushed towards the third floor and knocked on the apartment vigorously. Janine opened “Daniel?”
“Is Devin still here?” he asked hurriedly.
She unlocked the chain and opened “He looked worried after that phone call.” She whispered.
Devin stood up “What are you doing here?” he asked “Did you tell—”
“No time, you need to get out now. Erin made me take her here. I told her to go to the tenth floor. It’ll be a matter of time until she figures it out.” He rushed.
Devin got up as he turned to Janine “I’m sorry. Tell Ah Ming, I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I will.” She promised as she walked the guys out.
They rushed down the stairs, trying to avoid the elevator. But to Devin’s dismay, she was standing in front of the building, with crossed arms, expecting him to come out “Erin.”
“Who is she?” Erin asked calmly.
“She’s…she’s my ex girlfriend.” Devin confessed.
“Are you two back together?” She raised her brows.
“No.” he replied simply.
Erin snickered sarcastically “But you’d lie to me to see her.”
“Erin, please…” he stepped over and reached for her arms “I know I should have told you the minute I ran into her in Beijing—”
“Beijing?” Erin shook her head “That was over three months ago. Tell me Devin, when were you going to tell me? When you guys have a kid together?!” she demanded angrily. He avoided her glare and looked away without answering. Her face fell “You have a kid together.” She whispered.
He looked up “I’m sorry—” he saw her hand raise to slap him “If it makes you feel better.”
Erin slowly lowered her hand “You’d want that right? So it would take away the guilt that you’re feeling.” Chuckling, she backed away “You’re not getting away that easy. I don’t want to see you right now.” Spinning on her heels, she headed off.
“Erin!” Daniel chased her.
“Don’t talk to me.” She growled, “You’re a liar too.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to be this angry. This is my fault, I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. I should have minded my own business.” Daniel walked on.
She halted and turned to him “This isn’t your problem Daniel. You did nothing wrong. You even tried to protect him. You’re not the one that needs to apologize.” She insisted.
“At least let me take you home.” He said before she run off again. She nodded. When they returned to the place, Devin was not in sight “You should hear him out.” Daniel said as he leaned onto the car door when he saw her staring at the place where Devin last stood.
She was hiding her tears, hurt that he didn’t have the balls to at least explain his story. Wiping a tear away, she turned to Daniel “No, there’s nothing left to say.” Getting in the car, she turned towards the window.
He nodded and started the car. Driving out to the harbor, he parked the car and turned to her “I’m here if you want to talk.”
Pushing the car door open, she ran towards the rail and belted out a loud scream. When the anger flew from her mouth, she sank slowly to the ground and sobbed openly. He was by her side with a consoling hand on her shoulder. She allowed him to pull her into his chest as he held her while she cried.
When Erin was ready to go home, he parked his car in front of her house “Thank you.” She said through a forced smile.
“Anytime.” He nodded “I’ll walk you to the door.”
“No.” she said “I’ll be fine.” She got out of the car and walked to her door. She sighed at the sight of Darren’s limo. The driver nodded when he recognized her. She opened the door and saw them sitting on the couch “Midnight snack?” she asked Mia.
“Where have you been?” Mia stood up “I’ve got huge news!”
Darren sighed as he pulled his wife back on the couch “I told you to lay off the caffeine.” He got up and walked towards Erin “Don’t listen to her…” he faded when he noticed her red puffy eyes “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She felt the lump growing again “It’s late. We have a long day tomorrow.”
“Oh no, you’re not getting away that easy.” Mia got up to stop her at the nape of the stairs “Don’t you want to hear—Oh my gosh, have you been crying?” she pointed. Erin couldn’t hold the tears as she bit her lip but the throaty sobs refused to be unheard “Erin.” She quickly hugged her friend while turning to Luke and Darren “You can tell me, what happened?” she couldn’t speak, only sob into her friend’s shoulder.
Darren turned to Luke “Uh…let’s go out, I think Bonbon wants some ice cream.” He winked knowingly.
Erin quickly looked up “No, don’t go. I might as well tell you guys. It’s going to come out eventually.” She sniffed back the tears and took Mia’s hand as she explained her findings that night.
“What did I tell you?!” Mia widened her eyes at her husband “My brain is not full of mush!”
“That jerk! I’m going to go kick his ass!” Luke vowed “How dare he lie like that.”
Mia laughed while Erin smiled despite her mood “Stop, I’m not in the mood to laugh.”
“I’m not kidding. I will go over there right now and kick his ass!” Luke insisted, “Where does he live?” he looked at the three with crazy eyes.
Mia held her stomach “Stop, it hurts…”
“What are you going to do?” Darren asked.
She knew he was talking about the team “If you think I’m going to quit over a guy, then I’ll tell you Erin has changed. P.R.A. is part of my life, I’m not giving up that easy.”
“That’s my girl!” Mia chimed in.
“But…how about tomorrow?” he asked. They had a set meeting the next morning.
Erin was emotionless “I’ll deal with it then.”
Chapter 23
Patrick Tam – Devin Hsu
Vivian Leung – Erin Yeung aka Scorpio
Ruby Lin – Mia Lam-Chiu aka Pisces
Nick Cheung – Darren Chiu aka Taurus
Julian Cheung - Doug Chung aka Virgo
Gallen Lo – Matt Tong aka M.T.
Joyce Tang – Reina Ng aka Gemini
Edison Chan - Ryan Tong aka Sagittarius
Jessica Huen – Carmen Hui aka Cancer
Leon Lai – Daniel Wong
Sunny Chan – Ben Hui aka Ah Mo
A cold silence filled the room when Devin walked in, eyes dodging everyone’s. Reina locked eyes with Mia and raised them questioningly. Mia shielded her eyes and shook her head slightly. Daniel walked in seconds later and nodded smiles around “Glad I didn’t miss anything.” He dared to break the silence.
Mia laughed nervously “Not yet, the show hasn’t started—” she was quickly nudged by Darren with a shake of the head.
Daniel nodded “Erin, Ted and I made quite a discovery yesterday night. Carmen, why don’t you introduce Ben.”
She smiled and threw Devin a glance and he nodded in approval “Ben is my first cousin. He’s been in Singapore for the past few years doing volunteer work for Green Peace. When he came back a week ago. He was chased by creditors. Yesterday, he was attacked in broad daylight.”
“Luckily Carmen was there to save me, I only had a cut on the arm.” Ben chimed in.
“What does this have to do with us?” Darren asked with interest.
Matt leaned in “Open your notebooks.” He began scrolling to the correct file and controlled the master computer to show them a picture “This is Ah Mo, supposed love child of Sum Gor, who is the Dai Lou of the Tiger gang. Which is also Hung Hing’s number one rival, the only gang strong enough to possibly take them down. Years ago, there was a huge war and Ah Mo supposedly ran away from the fight.”
“Bad…” Mia shook her head “What a wimp, he should be stabbed to death by the Tigers.”
Matt frowned strangely, she was too familiar with the underground world of Triads “Right. Well, according to Ah Bat, Sum Gor has been looking for Ah Mo for years. He was finally proclaimed missing, in other words dead. You see any resemblance?” he nodded to Ben.
“The scar…and the hair.” Mia pointed out “Otherwise, they could be twins.”
“Exactly.” Matt continued “So we’re going to have Ben go undercover for us as Ah Mo.”
“Has he been trained?” Darren asked.
Shaking his head, he answered “No, we’re going to rely on Ryan for his safety.” Matt smiled down the table at his brother.
“A new identity has been made and we’ve made up information in the Police database just in case there is a mole working for any of the Triads.” Daniel slid the envelop towards Ryan, who stopped it quickly. Opening it, he looked inside where a fake I.D. was made and a key to his apartment “You will go by On Chai from now on.”
“Doug and Jenna will be notified of the changes.” Reina added.
Matt noticed Erin especially quiet as he turned to her “Do you want to add anything Erin?”
Her glazed expression was snapped out as she sat upright “No.” but she quickly changed her mind “Except, Ryan look out for this Sum Gor. He’s sounds very vicious and I don’t think he’ll fall for the trick that easy.”
“I know, Ga Jei. I’ll be very careful.” He nodded firmly.
“Watch out for my cousin.” Carmen added with a smile.
“I’ll die before he does.” Ryan promised.
“Awww, Jenna would be all over you right about now.” Mia cracked. No one laughed except herself as she looked around “Tough crowd.” She muttered.
Devin thought of a few things before he called off the meeting “Mia, I want you to help Ben get his hair ready and does anyone know of any makeup artist that can put on a fake scar?”
Darren nodded “My secretary has a roommate that works for the TVB station as a makeup artist.”
“Perfect, get on that you two.” Devin nodded “Meeting adjourned.” He stood up and turned to Erin before exiting “Can I see you in my office, Erin?”
She didn’t look at him “Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of the team.”
Devin turned his head at everyone as they took the hint and began filing out. Daniel was the last to leave as he gave Erin one last supporting smile. She nodded briefly as the door closed “You think he’s on his knees begging for forgiveness?” Mia asked nosily peeking through the window. Carmen and Reina laughed as the pulled her away.
“I know you’re very angry with me…” he began.
“No. Disappointed.” Erin crossed her arms defensively “I really thought this would work.” She snickered in irony “How stupid of me to believe there was such a thing called truthful relationship.”
“I’m sorry.” Devin said earnestly. He took a step towards her but to his dismay, she backed away “Will you ever find it in you to forgive me?”
She shook her head, she refused to look at him in the face, afraid she would weaken and let her emotions take over “Maybe on my death bed.” She backed towards the door “If there’s nothing else...”
“I love you.” He blurted out.
Her eyes snapped up “You have no right to say those words.” Tears brimming as she turned the knob and left the room in a rush. Erin froze at the front of headquarters where most of the team was still lingering. Mia and Darren had their limo ready as they waved for Ryan, Ben and Carmen to enter. Spinning her heels, she walked the opposite way where she saw Daniel leaning on his car parked on the street.
“Erin.” He smiled “How about breakfast? I wanted to run through some ideas with you.” She lowered her head and he frowned “What’s wrong?”
Shaking her head, she looked up. Her eyes obviously red “Nothing. Come on.” She waited for him to unlock the door and got in hurriedly.
At the deli, he continued talking “…I could slip Doug the information tonight. I hear there’s going to be a huge meeting for Hung Hing. Designating Hung Gor’s sister as the head of the gang. There should be a lot of…” he faded when he noticed she was playing with her drink. Reaching out, he stopped her from twirling the straw “Am I boring you?”
Sighing, she apologized “Sorry. I’m not being very cooperative.”
“Do you want a couple of days off?” he asked sympathetically.
Shaking her head, she answered “No. I don’t want to sit home and think. I’ll just end up crying myself to sleep.” She suddenly realized what she just confessed “I’m sorry that’s too much information.”
He laughed “Stop apologizing.” Smiling, he confessed “To be honest, my first impression of you was a strong willed girl, who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. It was quite admirable. Plus the files they had on you was incredible. I’m sorry about your fiancé.”
Erin sighed, “It’s been years. Let’s not talk about it anymore. Plus, my love life is a drag. One failure after another.” Taking in a deep breath, she decided to start over the day “Okay, let’s get down to business. You were saying about the Hung Hing meeting tonight?”
“There’s the strive! So, I was thinking we can sneak in some tiny speakers or cameras to catch the footage. Get in touch with Doug or Jenna and fill them in on Ryan and Ben…” he continued with the plan as she listened intently.
******************
“Is it supposed to sting?” Ben asked as he winced in pain with each stroke that Mia combed through his hair.
Darren laughed “No, it’s Mia’s special touch. I call it worse than hell.”
“Really, I thought you liked pain?” Mia sighed seductively at her husband.
“Dude, I’m eating!” Ryan pointed to his banana.
“Help yourself.” Mia said sarcastically “What are you doing here anyways? Devin didn’t mention that you needed a dye job.”
He shrugged “Gor said that I cannot leave Ben’s side.”
“You should get use to calling him Mo Gor.” Carmen corrected. She couldn’t help but grin at the facial expressions her cousin was making.
When the house phone rang, Mia turned to Darren “Telephone!” she shrieked.
“I wish she could speak up, I can never hear her.” He rolled his eyes while Carmen and Ryan laughed.
Mia finished the last stroke “Okay, done. Now it says you have to leave the dye on for no more than thirty minutes.” She read from the box “Then we’ll add the streaks after.”
“Is it thirty minutes after you finish dying the last piece of hair?” Carmen asked.
“Or is it from the moment you start to dye his hair?” Ryan chimed in.
“Well, that wouldn’t make any sense. The whole head wouldn’t be evenly distributed.” Carmen added.
Ryan shook his head “It wouldn’t be no matter how you—”
“Oh get a room!” Mia groaned while pulling off the gloves “It’s just hair dye.”
Carmen nodded at Ryan with widened eyes “Wow, she does annoy easy.”
“What did I tell you?” Ryan pushed his chin in the air with a laugh.
“And Doug calls me ‘mou liu’.” Mia laughed to herself.
They turned to Darren who returned minutes later “That was Linda, she said her friend can work on the fake scar tonight at noon.”
“So what do we do in the meantime?” Ryan asked.
“Mommy?” the adults turned to the angelic voice at the stairwell.
“Look what you did, you woke up Bonnie!” Mia glared as she ran up the steps to fetch her daughter.
“Yeah!” Darren barked at Ryan.
He frowned “She was looking at you when she said that.”
“She’s a little cross eyed.” Darren whispered with a chuckle.
“Hi Uncle Ryan, hi Aunt Carmen, hi man I don’t know.” Bonnie waved to the group happily.
“Bonnie, call Uncle Ben.” Darren said.
“Uncle Ben.” She grinned.
“Hi.” Ben said shyly.
Mia placed Bonnie on the ground as the girl rushed over to Carmen and climbed onto her lap adoringly “Aunt Carmen, are you coming to my birthday party?”
“I think so.” Carmen answered with a smile.
“Mommy says you have to come or she’ll make Uncle Luke break you in half.” Bonnie said wide-eyed.
“That’s break UP, sweetie.” Mia corrected “And you tell Luke that he better not miss it or I’ll kick his ass.”
Carmen quickly covered Bonnie’s ears “Mia! Don’t say that A-S-S word in front of her.”
Darren laughed while waving a nonchalant hand “Oh, she’s heard worse. But don’t worry Bonnie knows better to copy mommy’s potty mouth.”
“Yes, it’s not lady like.” Bonnie agreed.
Ryan laughed, “So you don’t want to be like mommy?” he gathered her into his arms while Mia threw him an evil glare and stepped towards him. He quickly used Bonnie as a shield, swinging her here and there while the girl was giddy with laughter.
Chapter 24
Vivian Leung – Erin Yeung aka Scorpio
Louis Koo – Luke Yam
Julian Cheung - Doug Chung aka Virgo
Annie Man – Jessica Lai
Bobby Au Yeung - Charles Lam aka Chuck
Esther Kwan – Evelyn Fong
Gigi Lai – Chan Yan Kiu
Jessie was in her office busy filing folders into her drawers of clients’ most personal information. She didn’t hear the door opening quietly. Slowly, she stood up to collect more files on her desk when a pair of arms slipped around her waist from the back “Hi honey, I’m home.” Doug cooed while giving her a kiss on the neck.
She smiled recognizing his voice “Hi Jason, what took you so long?”
“What?!” Doug stepped around to face her and a slow mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Serves you right! Did you think I would wait around for you?” she crossed her arms.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” he whined while hugging her “I missed you.”
Jessie smiled “I do too.”
He pulled away suddenly “I want to hear you say it.”
“I miss you too.” She laughed with a shaking head “So, does this mean your work is done?”
He broke away from the embrace and sighed “No. I’m not sure how long it will be.” Jessie didn’t bother hiding her disappointment “I would love to tell you but for your safety, I can’t reveal anything.” He took a seat on her couch.
“I know better than to ask.” Jessie said understandingly “I just want you to stay safe and come back with all your body parts.”
Doug smiled with a tilted head “I think you’ve gotten cuter since the last time I saw you.”
“You and your sweet words.” She joined him on the couch “Promise me you’ll be safe.”
“I will.” He vowed, “I’ll come back in one piece. No ifs, ands or buts about it.” She grinned with approval as he sat up and hugged her with both arms around her waist “Whatever you see, whatever you hear…don’t believe it.” He warned.
Jessie turned her head up “You mean…”
“You’re a smart girl, I know you’ll figure it out.” He kissed her on the forehead “I have to go. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back and see you again.”
She nodded with a small smile “I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere.” She said, a double meaning.
“Bye.” He hated to leave her but Ah Kiu was expecting him back. He was supposed to pick up the medicine and leave but he couldn’t help but drop by to see Jessie. He lingered at the door staring at her with puppy eyes as she waved him away. Pouting, he closed the door. Unexpectedly, he opened the door and walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips “One for the road.” He winked and left her with a smile.
When he returned to the house, he found Ah Kiu in her room, Ah Chung and the boys downstairs planning for the meeting that night “Ah Kiu!” he cried when she was climbing on a stepper to get a box from the closet.
She slipped and cried out but fell into his arms “Doug!” she gasped.
“What are you doing? The doctor said to rest not climb into closets.” He scolded “What did you want?” he placed her on the ground and took the stepper.
“That box.” She pointed.
He got it for her with ease “What is it?”
“Just some stuff that Ah Gor left behind. I found it when I first moved back in but I didn’t have time to look through it.” She held onto the box and brought it over to the bed “Did you get the medicine?”
He nodded and pulled it from his leather jacket “The nurse said you have to take it at any sign of a cough. But it can’t exceed three times a day.”
She smiled “Thanks. I know one of the guys could have gotten it but I feel much better if you got it for me.” Her hands covering the lid of the box, she made no attempt to open it.
“Do you want me to leave?” he noticed that she was hesitant.
Ah Kiu shook her head as he hands slid away “No, I just don’t want to look at it right now. So, did you run into any trouble?” he shook his head “Ah Chung said that we’ll be expecting a few unwanted visitors tonight.” Her eyes widened “You think the Tigers will try something?”
“No, they wouldn’t have the balls to.” Doug assured her “If they do, we’ll deal with them.” He noticed she was looking at him strangely “What? Is there a booger on my face?” he wiped his nose quickly.
Shaking her head, she smiled “No. Its just Biu Chai said that you went to see a shrink after you got my medicine.”
“You had someone follow me?” he asked, sounding outraged.
Ah Kiu shook her head innocently “No, of course not. I told him to see what took you so long. I was worried and thought maybe the Tigers tried to…” she couldn’t finish the sentence “I’m sorry.”
Doug laughed it off lightly, masking his suspicion “I scared you?”
She smiled weakly “You were kidding?”
“Of course. I would never yell at you…again.” He added with a laugh. She smiled “You need rest until tonight. Take your medicine and nap. I’ll come get you when we’re ready to leave.”
Ah Kiu had a request “Can you stay until I fall asleep? I have been having nightmares for the past few days.”
“Sure.” He agreed and tucked her in before moving the box.
“Just put that under the bed.” She advised and he did as she asked.
*************
Erin came home that afternoon to a pleasant surprise. She found Luke in the kitchen talking to some familiar guests. She peeked her head through and smiled “Shouldn’t you be working?” she tapped her watch.
“Erin.” Chuck called sympathetically as he got up and walked her to a chair as if she was too fragile to walk on her own “You don’t have to hide your hurt feelings. Luke told us everything. Men like that don’t deserve to have you cry over.”
She turned her sharp eyes at Luke “Oh! Did you hear that? I’ll get the phone!!” he volunteered, trying to get away.
Erin moved fast as she snapped up and blocked his way “Sit.” He instantly took the closest seat, which was on top of Chuck’s legs. The former trainer pushed Luke off roughly while Eve shook her head with a laugh “What did I tell you about being nosy?”
“Your honor! I don’t remember!” he cried in answer.
“Maybe you aren’t scared enough?” she threatened with a hand sawing at the neck.
He gulped “But I didn’t mean to. Chuck! It was him, he dragged it out of me.” He pleaded.
Chuck laughed “Yeah, right. I walked through the door and you blurted it all out before I even asked where Erin was.” He turned to his niece “He was just concerned about you.”
“Or out to ruin me.” Erin sat down but continued to glare at him “Anyways, I’m okay. Erin Yeung will never cry over a man again.”
“Then why did I hear sniffles—” Luke stopped when she threw him an evil eye. Lowering his head, he kept his mouth shut.
Eve reached out and took Erin’s hand “Sweetie, it’s okay to hurt. Men do stupid stuff sometimes. It’s never good to lie to the one you love. He should have known better.”
“Depends on what mistake.” Chuck added in favor of the men.
“I’m okay.” Erin insisted “I’ll be okay. I’m fine with being an old maid. Men are just not cut out for me.” She said casually “Anyways, I’m going to bury myself in the missions.”
Luke raised his hand “Permission to talk.”
“Granted.” Erin nodded while Chuck looked at them strangely.
“That reminds me. Jenna called earlier. She was really weird about the call. I didn’t know it was her until she called me doofus.” Luke advised “She said something about Hung Hing’s big meeting tonight.”
“Yeah, I was going through a file in the office this morning, I think I saw something about a new head? And we’ve got under covers in the triads?” Chuck asked.
Eve smiled “If you guys want to talk business, I’ll leave you alone.” Nodding to Luke, she was prepared to leave.
Erin shook her head “It’s okay Aunt Eve, we’re family. I can trust you two won’t spill any beans. You can listen.” She turned to Chuck “Right now, we got Jenna and Doug in Hung Hing. Ah Kiu is going to be announced tonight as the new heir to Hung Hing.”
“Ah Kiu?” Eve asked.
“Yeah, she’s the sister of Hung Gor, that huge mastermind behind all the assassinations. I told you about that months ago.” Chuck nodded. Returning his attention to Erin, he continued “What’s the real plan?”
“Protect Ah Kiu and lead her in the right direction to disperse the gang. Hopefully, that will calm the other rival gangs. They’re going to be after her pretty soon.” Erin anticipated “We’re bringing Ryan into the Tigers to keep track of their movement.”
Luke’s sigh caught their attention “I miss my roomies.”
“I know but we have more important work to do.” Erin smiled “Anyways, you can rummage through Doug’s clothes. I know you were eying his blue sweater.”
“Yes and it should be worn!” Luke hopped from his seat and ran towards the stairs.
Chuck was still curious “So, is she pretty?”
Erin frowned “I don’t know. I’ve never met Ah Kiu.”
“No, I was talking about the OTHER woman.” He hinted obviously.
Sighing, Erin rolled her eyes “I’m not talking anymore.” Chuck pouted, making her laugh “Aunt Eve, you should be worried. Uncle Chuck has many eyes.” Eve nodded without answer “Look what you did!” she scolded her Uncle.
“I’m not angry.” Eve smiled “Men are all the same. Mine is not any different.”
“You’re not off those depressants yet?” he asked with concern.
Erin looked at her Aunt “You’re taking medication? What’s wrong?”
She shook her head “I’m not sure. Lately, I’ve been feeling very emotional. Chuck insisted that I see Jessie and after a session she prescribed me with anti-depressants. Apparently my blood pressure is very high.”
“Could you be pregnant?” Erin offered “I heard from Mia when she was pregnant with Bonnie, she was snapping at Darren every second of the day. Like she was never satisfied.”
“Poor guy.” Chuck shook his head while Erin laughed.
“I am a week late.” Eve noticed “I’ll check up tomorrow.”
SIUBINGLIBRARY 2004
