“Yes. I’ll lead her to you. Take care of the other rooms first in the meantime.” He entered the first room in the hallway, and an array of delicate dishware and shining utensils laid neatly in rows against the walls. He caught Brendan’s whispered words.
You got this.
Aiden crouched to the ground, holding a speaker between his cold hands. He closed his eyes, listening to the chatter traveling through the walls. The children babbled a mixture of Chinese and English, the teenagers gossiped while throwing snide underhanded remarks at each other’s families, and the adults whose hearty laughter and strings of conversations would truly fool any stranger into thinking it was a potluck.
But Aiden knew better than that. He picked up the topics of business, about expansion, and about eliminating competition. Another group targeted assets that rightfully belonged to Infinite.
“The worst thing about the government is that every time they change, we have to change with them,” Mr. Zhou grumbled.
“No, no, the government isn’t the problem. It’s the other damn businesses that are the problem. I’m talking about legitimate businesses. They get in our hair far more, and most frustratingly, they’re oblivious to it, so we have to tiptoe around them.” Mr. Yang argued.
The knotted feeling in his stomach twisted harder.
As the sound of spoons scraping against bowls slowed, the pattering of feet grew. Children dashed out of the dining room with caretakers chasing. The combination of lax and jaunt footsteps of the young adults followed. Group by group, on autopilot, they did as they were expected without any of the family heads saying a single word. Until all that was left in the dining room was the silence of the four adults.
Aiden pressed the speaker, and the sound of a dish crashing against the floor rang so loud that the four heads heard it in the dining room.
“What was that?” his stepmother demanded.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure that’s just a housekeeper who dropped a dish,” Mr. Chen said.
“You really do hire incompetent people, don’t you?” Mr. Zhou tsked.
“My people are far from incompetent. They are human. A housekeeper dropping a dish is not an issue in this family.”
“Well, I think this requires a little more investigation,” Mr. Yang added. Aiden imagined the man was smirking.
Pick a woman in your entourage of guards.Aiden’s breath quickened. He leaned harder against the wall to pick up the next words.That’s who you are after all. You’ll pick a woman for what you think is trivial.
“Xiao Hua, go investigate which housekeeper dropped the dish.”
Aiden straightened his shoulders. He left the room and turned into another.
“We should not let this little distraction slow us,” Mr. Zhou interrupted with a growl. The chair squeaked against the wooden floor. “Your guard can rejoin us in the meeting room.”
Aiden’s heart roared in his ears. The guard’s shoes clopped against the wooden floor, and he heard her turn into the room he was just in.
Her feet froze upon realizing there were no broken dishes.
And that’s the bait.Aiden purposefully stepped out a little from the new room and swung his elbow to hit lightly against the wall. He made his escape down the winding hallway.
Not too fast. Not too slow.
His entire body pulsed to his heartbeat. His breaths puffed through his nose. He needed her to follow, but he needed to set the pacing. The sound of the woman at his back faded.Too fast,he realized and forced himself to slow down.
Her shoes caught up with loud determined steps.
Too slow!His throat clenched. Sweat beaded his forehead, and the paintings decorating the wall leered at him with sideways glances, condescending smiles, and glowing eyes.Is she catching up to me?His ears roared with thunder as he continued to walk closer to where Diane waited.Or did she fall behind?
He sensed no physical presence behind him. He desired to snap around, but he forced his neck to stay straight with increasing agony. The lights dimmed and flickered before his eyes. Internal screams clawed at his lungs.Where is she? Is she still following me? Am I going too fast? Too slow? I can’t tell. I can’t tell at all.
“Stop!” she yelled in Chinese. The unmistakable click of a gun followed her words.
Aiden’s heart sunk.Too slow.He yearned for the few extra steps he needed to take for Diane to rush out.
“Who are you? Turn around this instant.”
Then, I’ll buy time for her to join the fight.Aiden swiveled around, revealing his face to the guard.I can take the gun from her.
