Chapter 27: Syndicate Meeting Day 2!

Chapter 27: Syndicate Meeting Day 2!

For the next hour, I started checking the guest logs to see exactly who was staying in which rooms for the overnight meeting. I cross-referenced all the names through the police database for known criminals and checked to see if any foreign guests were staying in the building as well.

A silent call came in from Hana, so I popped in my earpiece and took her call while I kept working.

[It is my lunch break. Is it a bad time, honey?]

"No, it's pretty peaceful work right now," I said. "I'm glad to hear your voice. Work keeping you busy?"

[A bit. So, are we still on for Sunday again?]

"You know it. Plus, it's summer, so I'm free a lot more until university starts. But I will always make time for you. Even if you just want me to come over to your work and sit in your office, I'll do that too."

[Hmm, maybe I will buy you a comfy couch for my office. What do you think?]

"I'll listen to whatever you want, my muse. Also, let me know when you plan on heading to your hometown to meet your family. I am serious about us, after all."

[You really want to meet my parents? I thought you would want to try and skip that?]

"I'm a guy, so my natural instinct is to avoid possible future in-laws," I laughed. "But they mean a lot to you. At least giving your parents a chance to meet me and disapprove of me is the right thing to do."

[Even if my parents hated you, I won't abandon you, Rick.]

"I know. But it would still be nice to have more family. So I will try to be a better man for you as well."

[Rick... No, you're right. Then become the best man you can. I will improve as well. Oh, speaking of improving, I have a hospital ball coming up in a couple of weeks, and I want you as my plus-one, naturally. So, can you dance?]

"Um... Can you teach me? I have good martial arts and acrobatics skills, but I only need to learn the actual steps, so..."

[Ufufu, yes, I will teach you on Sunday. It's only going to be slow-dancing for us, so it will be easy. Let's get matching outfits, alright?]

"Sure, if those are the good doctor's orders."

[Okay, gotta go. See you Sunday. Love you, bye, mwah! Click... do do do...]

And she hung up just like that. I seem to have this exact luck with women on the phone. Tina, who was sitting on another couch reading through her paperwork, looked up at me.

"So, you and that doctor are a serious thing?" she asked.

"Very," I replied. "And not just because she is hot. I like her because she is adorable in her desires. She really got shafted in love in her past, and I just want to make her happy."

Tina, not knowing my actual history, asked another question. "Did you learn martial arts from your father?"

No one can question a dead man, so I just rolled with it.

"My father was what you would call a hidden master," I said. "He secretly passed on his knowledge to me, but he never really over-trained my body. He was planning to do that later, but he left us. He also taught me how to shoot and a few other life skills. I think he wanted me to be a police officer like Mary, but I don't want that life. I want to run my own company and support my family."

Tina stood up, walked over to the window, and looked out over the city. She told me something completely surprising.

"My mother was once one of the world's top assassins before she married my father," she said. I could tell Tina was looking back at her childhood as she stared out at the view. "I am a killer, Rick. I took my first life when I was twelve years old. I chose that path myself, so don't blame my mother. She gave me the choice. It was just a standard part of my assassin training."

I stopped typing on my laptop and closed the lid to give Tina my undivided attention. I could feel that she was getting some heavy emotions off her chest.

"Don't worry," she continued. "I don't kill without a reason, and I don't kill the innocent. But I need you to know this before you see me in action tonight. You have only seen the attractive, playful side of me, and I don't want you to be caught unprepared for my dark side."

When she turned around to look at me, I saw it. She carried the exact same look of calm indifference that my father had in the bank when he killed those gunmen. That must be the look of a reaper. Will I look like that too one day? I think it's bound to happen eventually, so I asked her a question.

"So, after seven years of taking lives, do you still feel love, joy, and care for your family? Or do you think life is completely meaningless?"

Hearing my words, the look of indifference on her face melted away, replacing itself with her normal expression. She smiled.

"I still have all of that, and I still dream of a happy life," she said softly. "I just have a mental on-off switch that my mind activates whenever troublesome things arise. I still don't enjoy the act of killing. So, what do you think of me now, Rick?"

"Seeing your face, I know my father was a killer too," I answered honestly. "And I know he loved us deeply, so I won't judge you at all. I just hope you don't lose hope. Your mother seems to be happy now, so I am sure you will be too. And I think I will be fine, even after the day comes where I have to be like my dad and kill someone."

Tina walked over and sat down right on the couch next to me, sharing her thoughts.

"Tonight, I will have to kill Fredrick Di and his four top men," she said plainly. "I just wanted you to be ready for it. Also, do you want to take part in it? This is your free choice, just like the one I had when I was twelve."

I was sure that situation would come up eventually, and I had no intentions of living in a happy fairy tale, but I gave her an honest answer.

"As long as you and I are safe, then no, I won't actively kill," I said. "But if our lives are in danger, I will defend us. I think planning a murder ahead of time is something I shouldn't do, at least for now. I only want to take a life if I absolutely need to. Is that fine with you?"

Tina smiled. "You are creepily like my father in your views. He thinks the exact same way. His kill count is much lower than my mother's by far, fufu."

I got up and stretched my arms out. "What time is the gathering? I want to take a shower, eat, and get some sleep before it starts. But I need to make sure you're secure first."

Tina stood up as well. "It goes from midnight until sunrise. It's the quietest time of the night and a slow window for the hotel staff. We are holding the meeting in the rooftop garden, so we don't have to worry too much about making noise. Plus, it's way too high for snipers to target us up there. All four groups agreed on the site. We regularly use this place, and the property actually belongs to the Long family."

Alright. I decided to wait for Jenifer to return before taking my shower and catching some rest.

Before crashing for the evening, I called Mary to assure her that everything was good on my end and told her that I missed her. She was going to be off duty tomorrow, so we could spend the whole day together once my shift wrapped up.

Until eleven o'clock at night, we just relaxed in the room and watched the news. I spent most of the time using my phone to follow Fredrick Di and his men's activities throughout the hotel. I also spent a good chunk of time watching the rooftop surveillance cameras for any strange movements, but it seemed the hotel security took absolutely no bullshit in this regard, and I was just being overly paranoid.

When it was time to move, Jenifer walked out wearing a solid black business suit, sporting a red scrunchie on her left wrist to display her gang affiliation.

I was dressed entirely in black, looking a bit like Neo from the Matrix, just without the sunglasses.

Tina walked out wearing a tight black bodysuit that looked exactly like the one worn by that famous movie spy, Black Widow. Yeah, it was incredibly hot. She had a bright red scarf wrapped around her neck to display her faction color.

I didn't wear any red since I am an independent contractor. I wanted it to be clear that I operate like a mercenary who can be hired by the highest bidder.

After locking up the room, I led the two women down the hallway to the elevator lobby. I pulled up the camera feed to check the incoming elevator car, verifying it was completely empty. Then I checked our target exit floor to see if any secondary ambushes were waiting for us. Tina tried to lean over my shoulder to get nosy, trying to see what I was doing on my screen.

"Keep prying into my business and I will end our contract the second this assignment is over," I warned her calmly. "I have my secrets, and you have yours. It's not like I peep on you when you're changing your clothes, so don't do it to me."

Tina crossed her arms right under her boobs and pouted at me. "Dammit, Rick, you're completely full of mystery and I absolutely hate mysteries. Can't a girl just be curious?"

"That would be a solid no," I replied.

"Well, after our one-year contract is up, I want to see your full ability. So no more secrets then, okay?"

"That would also be a solid no."

Jenifer couldn't hold back her laughter after seeing Tina get rejected constantly by her own bodyguard.

"Ufufu, ha-ha!" she snickered.

Tina glared over at her right-hand assistant, and Jenifer instantly wiped the smile off her face, acting like she hadn't done a single thing.

As the elevator doors slid open, I stood right in front of the opening, ready for any immediate action. We didn't encounter any hostiles. Instead, the doors cleared to reveal a splendid sight!

Except for the elevator bank and the restrooms, the entire roof edge was lined with a large glass wall about eight feet tall. It kept anyone from accidentally falling or jumping over, but it didn't block the beautiful city view at all.

In the center of the rooftop, completely surrounded by manicured flower gardens, sat a massive gazebo built to hold around a hundred people. Inside it was a large square table with seating explicitly set up for the night's event.

It looked like we were the last ones to arrive. I was positive that was Tina’s choice to be fashionably late, especially as she started swaying her hips seductively to make all the guys lose focus. Based on my training, this was a specific seduction technique used by professional assassins.

At the table, there were only four chairs, meant strictly for the four vice-leaders. Their right-hand assistants had chairs set up directly behind them to show their rank.

Inside the gazebo, the personal bodyguards and major regional bosses of the four groups had folding chairs to sit on. In my section, the ten men from the black van had already taken their spots. Outside the immediate gazebo perimeter stood the lower-level lieutenants, waiting in case a literal war broke out. Even though these guys were important, they didn't get any seats.

I used my stealth training to systematically reduce my presence, blending directly into the environment. This wasn't hiding in plain sight; it was the physical ability to fade into the background so people with low perception would completely overlook me. It worked like a charm—your eyes would just subconsciously pass right over me, the same way nobody notices an average kid in a classroom full of good-looking people.

The representative from the Crouching Tigers was a surly guy with short orange hair and golden eyes. He was twenty-seven years old and went by the name of Jerry Bing. He was currently being groomed as the next overall head of his group and was scheduled to marry a side-branch daughter of the Tang clan the moment he took the position. In this world, most syndicate leaders came from outside the bloodline, but they had to marry a member of the main family to bind them to the clan for loyalty and tradition.

The representative of the Lang family's Black Snakes faction was Brenda Sho. She was twenty-five years old with long black hair and completely white eyes. She was the seductive type, carrying herself a lot like Tina. Just like that Jerry fellow, she was also scheduled to marry into the main Lang clan—the exact same family Linda Lang belonged to.

If you're wondering why they're called the Black Snakes when the Lang family is traditionally represented by the Black Tortoise, it's because ancient legends show the two creatures as a single being, or as two entities that constantly fight each other. The myth had changed over thousands of years, but the light and dark sides of the family registry were perfectly represented this way.

The final sub-leader was a young, eighteen-year-old woman with short blonde hair and pink eyes by the name of Ashley Hue. This girl was incredibly interesting because she basically came out of nowhere. She had zero historical data on any electronic files; she had literally just rolled down from a mountain somewhere and magically acquired a birth certificate.

She was wearing the azure robes of a traditional martial artist, along with a cloth veil that completely covered the lower half of her face. But the exact second my eyes landed on her, she shot a look straight back at me like she knew exactly who I was. Not only that, she instantly detected my stealth technique. I caught a flash of pure surprise in her eyes, as if she never expected to encounter me in a place like this, but she quickly looked away and ignored me.

I couldn't figure out how she knew me. I knew barely any women with pink eyes. But her aura felt completely familiar, matching a non-hostile presence I had sensed very recently.

Tina Feng made herself comfortable in her chair, flashing a bright smile at the other three vice-leaders.

"It is good to meet all of you," she said smoothly. "Now let's get to know one another, and let's talk about peace, shall we?"