Chapter 26: Syndicate Meeting Day 1!

Chapter 26: Syndicate Meeting Day 1!

Big as fucking day... SUV Hummer 2008 Luxury Edition! With armor treatment for protection. I can tell this has all the bells and whistles on it. And it can't have too many miles on it as well, so it's almost mint condition! Crap, the cost in gas on this bad boy is going to kill me!

I decided to pop the latches, look under the hood, and check out exactly what changes had been made to this ride. The normal factory version of this specific year is absolute garbage, but my training told me this engine bay had been completely taken apart and rebuilt from scratch.

"Only 11,000 miles on the dashboard," I muttered, checking the seals. "Bulletproof glass, a custom dashboard setup, and this whole inside was definitely customized to match your comfort, Tina. They pulled out the cheap plastic stuff and put in solid materials, completely fixing the usual transmission junk. Unfortunately, judging by the power and total weight, this monster is only going to get about eleven miles to the gallon, sigh."

Tina’s face flushed, her pride flaring a bit as she stepped forward to defend her childhood car.

"Look, Rick, my family bought this when I was still young," she said defensively. "I chose the look myself when I was a kid. It was supposed to be customized for my safety and comfort, but I'm just not a great driver, okay? My father put a lot of work into retooling this as my very first car just to make me happy, so don't knock it. Besides, I am giving it to you for free. Just pay for the gas and don't sell it. I still want to be driven around in it; this car has been with me for a long time."

I stepped back and swung open the heavy, reinforced rear doors for the two women.

"All aboard," I said, gesturing inside. "Look, I have to be completely honest about what this truck can do in case we hit a real emergency, so just ignore my rants. I'm not ungrateful at all, and I really appreciate the gift. Thanks to my weekend racing money, gas is something I can easily afford now. Let's move out, Tina, Jenifer."

Before I could climb into the driver's seat, an older guy dressed like a perfect butler approached me and offered a polite bow.

"Mr. Lee, if you would be kind enough to leave your BMW keys with me, I will personally drive your car back to your home and take a cab back," he offered smoothly. "This way, you won't have to bother anyone to get it later. I will give you the keys back when you drop the young miss off at the estate."

I unhooked the single car key from my ring, handed it over to him, and put the rest of my keys away. I climbed up into the high seat of the massive armored Hummer. Locking all the doors, I tossed my heavy bag onto the empty front passenger seat, leaving the two women to chill in the back.

Before leaving, I sent a quick text to Mary to let her know about the new work truck and confirm the BMW details. She replied right away, letting me know she got the message and sending her love.

"I bought a new album over the weekend that I've been looping," I called out over my shoulder, tapping the screen. "I'm going to play it for the ride to the hotel."

As the opening songs started playing through the speakers, I started up the loud, roaring engine and began our trip out of the hills. The two women in the back stayed quiet, apparently totally unfamiliar with the voice of the woman currently singing.

"If you don't know her, she is called Kate Kong," I explained, steering the heavy truck down the winding mountain roads. "She was a big movie star who is starting her music career. She was the main lead in last year's Vampire Princess movie."

Tina leaned forward a bit, looking genuinely surprised.

"I actually know her," she noted. "We went to the exact same middle school before I went to Star High. We used to be friends, but I lost contact with her because of her busy schedule. So, this is her singing? Not bad."

"Yeah, I'm a closet fan of hers," I admitted, checking my mirrors. "Mostly because I'm a total nerd for the whole vampire princess thing. Hot vampires are pretty much most nerds' crushes. But to be honest, her singing is way better than her acting."

The armored SUV didn't handle too badly since the suspension had been tweaked. But it felt strange for me now that I was used to a manual to go back to an automatic. Plus, its acceleration felt a bit like a turtle, but if I ever needed to go off-road, I would be happy. Mary would absolutely love tearing up the streets in a rig like this.

Four miles into the drive, my instincts flagged something.

"A black van has been tailing us for about four blocks," I reported, my voice going flat and serious. "What do you want me to do?"

"Let me call someone to see if they are ours or not," Tina replied, pulling out her phone.

After a quick call, she smiled and said, "Those are my men, Rick. The squad leader sounded completely embarrassed that you spotted them from a full block away."

"Tell them to paint their van white if they don't want to stand out in the daytime. Black is only good for night tailing. And red is a total no-no."

About an hour later, I made it across town to the northwest part of the city. I pulled into the parking lot of a massive hotel convention center right next to the arena stadium belonging to Tony's dad.

The name of the place was ironic since it shared a title with a famous hotel chain from my first life on Earth—this place was also called the Hilton International. It hosted popular events from Comic-Con to movie premieres and much more.

I cut the engine inside the underground parking garage, stepping out onto the concrete first to run a full sweep of the area before letting the two women out.

The black van from earlier pulled smoothly into the space right next to the SUV. The doors popped open, and ten men dressed in crisp black suits, crimson ties, and sunglasses got out. These weren't low-level street thugs; these guys were elite operators and smaller regional bosses within the Fire Birds group. The men immediately greeted Tina one by one, but I ignored the politics completely; my only job was protecting my target.

While the gang leaders went through their greetings, I unlocked my phone, using the Bluetooth connection to bridge into the hotel's central security system that I had previously hacked.

"Now that the greetings are done, let's head inside and check in, gentlemen," I said.

Tina gestured to her Fire Birds squad, and our group of thirteen headed toward the elevator. As we approached the sliding doors, I raised my wrist, checking the real-time security feed I had routed straight to my smartphone screen. The camera inside the elevator was heading straight down to our floor.

My eyes narrowed as the video cleared. Inside the moving elevator, two men dressed in business suits had just set down their briefcases. They reached behind their backs, drawing a pair of combat knives used by special forces, holding them flat against their arms to hide them from whoever was about to get on!

I didn't hesitate. I slid my hand inside my long coat, drawing my two extendable titanium batons with a sharp flick of my wrist, the metal locking into place with a loud click. I stepped directly in front of the elevator doors, blocking the view for the rest of our party.

"There will most likely be an ambush here in the parking garage, so everyone stand back," I announced calmly to the confused group behind me. "Miss Feng, stay right here by my side while I disarm them."

The ten men immediately stepped back into a wide circle as a couple of them reached inside their jackets to draw their handguns. I kept my eyes locked on Tina's men just as much as the elevator doors; that was the exact reason I kept her pinned right next to my body. In a tight space like an underground garage, everyone wants to avoid active gunfire to prevent drawing an immediate police response. That was exactly why the two drop-in killers were relying on silent combat knives instead of guns.

As the elevator car hit the very bottom floor, I tapped a command on my smartwatch screen, messing with the elevator's electronic controls.

Instantly, the lights inside the elevator cut out, plunging the targets into pitch-black darkness. At the exact same time, I made the lift drop rapidly through its remaining twenty feet of travel, forcing a sudden, jarring stop right as the doors slid open.

Thud, thud!

The heavy metal doors opened, and the regular lights flickered back on. The sudden drop in total darkness had completely wrecked the targets' balance; both assassins were sprawled out on their sides across the floor, their special forces knives slipping from their fingers from the impact. I didn't bother asking for their names or intentions. I simply started my work.

Whoosh, smack! Whoosh, smack! Whoosh, smack!

Whoosh, smack! Whoosh, smack! Whoosh, smack!

I swung the dual titanium batons in a flawless, silver blur of high-speed strikes, using my physical training to target their wrists, knees, and heads with perfect accuracy. Any attempt they made to pick up their dropped knives was thoroughly crushed under a barrage of heavy metal hits.

"Ah! Fuck, stop! Ahhh!" one of them shrieked, his wrist snapping under the force of the baton.

"Ah! Help! Murderer, help me!" the second assassin screamed, his hands flying up to cover his bleeding head as I systematically shattered his joints.

Whoosh, smack! Whoosh, smack!

Within ten seconds of fluid, unyielding violence, both targets went entirely limp, knocking out cold on the floor of the elevator. I collapsed the batons, sliding them back into my coat pockets, before reaching down to drag both bleeding bodies out onto the concrete. I kicked their combat knives over toward Tina's security detail.

"Miss Feng and I are going up first," I directed, looking at the stunned regional bosses. "Interrogate these two, find out what they know, and clean up this spot. Those are the weapons they were holding before the elevator opened. Let's go, Miss Feng."

I grabbed Tina’s wrist, pulling her straight into the empty elevator before the doors could close. The ten gang members simply stood there on the concrete, their jaws slack in absolute confusion at how fast the fight had ended. Before the heavy metal doors sealed completely, Jenifer managed to snap out of her shock, diving into the elevator right alongside us. She stared at my calm face, entirely speechless.

I raised my wrist, checking the security feed on my watch to ensure the floor we were heading to was clear of any secondary hostiles. The area was green.

So the two were either active assassins or a deliberate piece of bait set up by one of her own men.

"Jenifer, the second we get to the room, give me a list of the ten men who came with us and their phone numbers," I commanded, my voice dropping to a low whisper as the elevator climbed. "And don't let any of them know I want the information. I think one of them set this up."

"What?!" Jenifer whispered back, her eyes widening behind her glasses. "Those are our long-time loyal members. They would never do something like that."

"Are those going to be your exact dying words right as one of those knives is sinking into your gut?" I countered flatly.

Tina stepped in, her expression hardening as she looked at her assistant. "Jenifer, if Rick asks you to do something, it is the same as me telling you, so get him what he wants. Those guys timed it way too well to be a coincidence, right, Rick?"

I gave her a firm nod, breaking down the details. "They already had their weapons hidden behind their backs before they even knew who was on the other side of the closed doors. That means someone told them exactly when we were here. It's an inside job. My guess is the fight between the two street gangs was caused by this exact same backdoor framing setup. I believe those two guys will turn out to be from the Hidden Dragons, but they are traitors to their own bosses. Someone wants the four groups to fight each other."

"Okay, then I will get you the information from my computer in the room, Mr. Lee," Jenifer murmured, her professional attitude returning.

Tina turned her head toward me, her sharp eyes filled with genuine curiosity. "So, how exactly did you expect that ambush?"

I decided to feed her a calculated lie. "I noticed one of the men looked at the elevator doors like he was waiting for something, or maybe he just had to use the bathroom really bad. So I played it safe. I won't accuse anyone until I can look up their backgrounds online first."

It was important to remember that Tina Feng had scored third overall on the regional exams entirely on her own merit before I changed the database.

Despite her playful, trickster ways, she was incredibly smart. Because of her sharp mind, I had to systematically downplay my computer skills to look like a basic hacker in her eyes. I certainly didn't want her figuring out that I could tap her personal webcam feeds and watch her naked whenever I wanted. In our line of work, background searches are common for bodyguards and bounty hunters.

The heavy elevator doors opened to reveal the main luxury lobby. I immediately led the way out, keeping my eyes on the crowd to clear the path while Tina walked up to the counter to handle the reservation logistics. I kept watching everyone in the lobby to see if there was a backup plan in place.

The moment the receptionist confirmed our room number, I pulled out my phone under the guise of checking a text. In reality, I tapped into the hotel's security system, checking the digital locks for our assigned room to verify the last time the electronic deadbolts were triggered. The area was clear; no one had messed with the room since the morning cleaning crew left.

We exited the elevator on our floor and approached the double doors of the room. I stepped in front of the two women, my hand resting casually near my jacket liner.

"When I open the door, wait right here in the hallway until I make sure the room is safe," I instructed.

I swiped the keycard, stepped inside, and made a highly visible show of checking the closets, looking under the bedframes, and verifying the balcony layout. Since the Feng family was paying good money for a total sense of security, I had to look the part flawlessly. I reached into my bag, pulling out a regular radio-frequency bug detector to sweep the walls, light fixtures, and outlets for active hidden microphones. Surprisingly, the room was entirely clean.

Jenifer and Tina dropped their travel bags onto the floor. Tina pointed toward the secondary bedroom right next to the main bedroom.

"There are two beds and three of us, how will we do this then?" she asked, tilting her head.

I pointed toward the smaller servants' bedroom off the kitchen hallway. "Tina, sleep there. Have Jenifer take the master bedroom quarters. I am anchoring my position right here on the central living room couch."

Tina’s eyebrows raised as she processed the layout. "I guess it is in case our room was invaded? You want the living area to be a distraction?"

"That's right," I replied, setting my laptop case onto the coffee table. "Now I need to get to work. Don't leave the room for the next hour until I figure out who set you up."

For the next hour, I ran a comprehensive sweep across the digital footprints of all ten escort personnel. I cross-referenced their financial transactions, phone locations, and messages covering both the past week and the specific weekend timeline when the gang war broke out in the streets.

My tracking system rapidly narrowed the target pool down to two specific regional bosses. I turned the laptop screen toward the two women, inviting them to examine the profiles to see if anything looked amiss, since I didn't know the business rivals or the guys in the other gangs.

As they began looking over the profiles, a sudden, heavy knock vibrated through the front door of the room.

I didn't hesitate. My hand automatically slid inside my black jacket, drawing one of my HK P30 handguns as I quietly moved toward the door. I was far too smart to do something as stupid as pressing my bare eye up to a physical peephole. Instead, I checked my smartphone screen, activating the local security feed overlooking the exterior hallway.

The camera showed an older, high-ranking gentleman belonging to the ten-man escort detail. He wasn't one of the two targets my script had flagged for corruption. I slid the gun back into its holster, turned the lock, and cracked the heavy wooden door open just wide enough to see him.

"The young miss is busy at the moment, how can I help?" I stated, my voice smooth and professional.

"This document is all we could get out of the two garage targets before Fredrick Di killed them," the older gentleman whispered grimly, sliding a sealed envelope through the narrow gap.

"Thank you for the update," I replied, taking the papers.

I closed the door, engaged the manual locks, and walked back over to the dining table where the women were waiting. I dropped the paperwork right in front of Tina.

"Fredrick Di is a confirmed traitor, and he is highly likely operating as an assassin for a third party," I delivered the assessment flatly. "He chose to kill both garage targets before your main security detail could get a full interrogation log out of them. He was clearly in a massive hurry to shut their mouths before they leaked his connection."

Fifteen minutes of intense data checking later, Jenifer’s fingers froze over her keyboard. She isolated an encrypted digital log detailing a secret meeting Fredrick Di had personally conducted with a foreign group that smuggles illegals and brings drugs into the country.

The hostile organization was called the Southern Cross. They bankrolled their operations by controlling massive drug fields situated across the Antarctic continent. Because the Pangaea landmass configurations shifted the regional geography, the Antarctic territory sat far away from the south pole, possessing a cold climate roughly equivalent to northern Canada. Despite the immense geographic distance separating their main strongholds from our borders, the group operated like a worldwide cancer to all countries.

A sharp, dangerous smirk touched Tina Feng’s lips as she processed the connection.

"So, the Southern Cross actually thinks they can play the Fire Birds for fools," she purred, her eyes flashing with a cold syndicate ruthlessness. "Oh, poor Fredrick Di. You made a fatal mistake when you assumed I wouldn't kill you. My father put me on this vice-leader seat for a highly specific reason, ufufu."

Jenifer looked up from her screen, her voice low. "What about his men?"

"Let's see who his important men are and invite them out for a quiet cup of tea," Tina instructed coldly.

I tapped a command on my laptop keyboard, causing four distinct dossiers to populate her screen layout.

"There's absolutely no need to waste your time with an invitation," I intervened, breaking down the details. "These four specific mid-level officers have been systematically taking extra gifts of money, women, and large presents from Di's personal account. Furthermore, my tracking scripts confirmed all four made highly irregular physical movements around the two conflicting street gangs throughout last week's escalation window. They are just as guilty as him. The remaining personnel on your escort roster are untainted Fire Birds loyalists. Use them to clear the deck."

Tina nodded sharply, drafting a series of coded notes onto a pad before handing the sheet to her secretary. The explicit instructions ordered the corrupt sub-commanders to completely vacate the area and vanish from the city grid for the next forty-eight hours or face immediate summary execution. They were strictly barred from communicating the movement details to any external network under penalty of death, with explicit orders to report back for disciplinary processing once the summit window cleared—or die. Yeah, her family’s disciplinary matrix basically possessed exactly one default punishment setting, sigh.

Once the double doors sealed shut behind Jenifer, leaving Tina Feng and me completely alone inside the spacious living room, she turned her body toward me, a highly playful, teasing smile spreading across her lips.

"You have officially earned that custom Hummer from me, fufu," she noted, checking me out.

Her specific sense of humor definitely required a massive amount of work.

With our initial preparations fully locked down and the internal vulnerabilities neutralized, the two of us settled into the room to save our physical energy, simply waiting for the primary summit meeting to convene later tonight and push into the early morning hours.