Chapter 277: As Often As Necessary

Mina sat in Dom's car full of questions. She had been extremely careful, and she knew she was not being followed, yet somehow, he found her.

Dom was somewhere between six foot three and six foot four, and if Mina had seen a person close to his height anywhere, she would have hunkered down. She had even given her boss's phone to her neighbor who promised to place the item in front of her apartment door.

If anyone tracked the device, they would have simply believed that Mina had gone home, but Dom somehow managed to find her.

"How did you know where to find me?" Mina asked.

"Uh-uh, I am asking the questions. How did you evade us for so long?" he asked back. Mina stayed quiet. She was not going to give away anything. Dom sighed in defeat.

"I knew you wouldn't try to leave Scal, and I know you don't have any friends within the city. It didn't take long for me to work out where you had gone, and what you would do next." Mina scowled.

"How did you know I would-?" Mina started to ask, but Dom turned to glare at her making her stop with the accusatory questions.

"It's a good thing I did. Do you know how bad it could have been if I didn't?" Dom replied.

"What have you told President Lee?"

"Nothing. I have not touched my phone since you disappeared. I wasn't going back without you."

"What do we tell him?" Mina asked.

"I don't know what the others have reported. It would be best not to lie."

"What was your first strike?"

"He found out about Miss Lisa's rugby career," Dom said with a chuckle, but Mina did not find his statement funny. She could not help but to think about Jessica's warning.

"I have an idea," Mina said.

----

Dom half dragged Mina out of his car and into her apartment building. She had come up with some sort of plan to minimize the damage her stunt had caused, but Dom did not want to know a single word of it. He was already in enough trouble, and he did not want to add to his charges. Ignoring President Lee's relentless calls was akin to going AWOL, and Dom had done just that.

----

When Mina unlocked her apartment door, she was surprised to see two women and three men standing at attention. They were facing a person who was sitting on a couch. Mina tried to back out, but Dom pushed her forward.

"Don't even think about it," he growled. Mina did not even look at Dom, she kept her eyes trained on the man who was now making his way toward her.

"Where did you go?" he asked. His voice was so soft it made Mina tremble.

"I- We- Dom and I-" Mina could not formulate a single sentence. She seemed terrified.

"Dom, where have you two been?" President Lee asked. His tone was so calm it was eerie.

"It's my fault sir," Dom admitted. "I pointed my weapon at Mina, and she fled."

"Why?" President Lee asked.

"She tried to prank me by scaring me. I reacted poorly." Ian rubbed his brow. He knew it could happen; he had done the same thing to many.

"And how did she manage to get away from you? From all of you?" Ian shouted the last question. He wanted to kill the people standing in front of him. Working his way down the line in the order that they had failed, but Mina's presence was holding him back. "How does an untrained woman escape six thoroughly trained soldiers?" He asked, not addressing anyone. He was pointing at Mina who was standing white faced by the door.

"She knew the area, sir. She specifically went into an alley between two buildings that I was too big to fit into." Dom replied. He did not blame Mina for running, he only wished it did not involve him.

Mina shifted her body slightly behind Dom, and the sight forced Ian to calm himself a little more. He went back to sit on Mina's couch and folded his hands in front of his face while closing his eyes.

To the untrained eye, someone might think President Lee was praying, and in a way, he might have been praying for the patience to not lash out.

----

President Lee looked up at Dom who took two steps to the side, but Mina scooted along with the man. It would have been funny if President Lee were not so angry that his chest hurt. He called out Mina's name as the woman peaked around Dom's body to look at him. Ian made the come-hither motion with his finger and Mina reluctantly stepped forward, but she did not leave Dom's side.

"Come. Here." President Lee said through gritted teeth, but Mina took a step back instead.

"I got scared and I ran, but I couldn't stop myself from running. I kept thinking about that time when you... that maid... I could not get her face out of my head. I went to the place I knew Dom would find me because I didn't have a phone," Mina blurted out. Her story was so convincing that even Dom believed it.

"So, you couldn't have borrowed a phone?" President Lee asked.

"Do you know what could happen to a woman walking around asking people if she can borrow a phone?" Mina asked. At this point she was saying whatever came to mind.

President Lee was staring at Mina who had not made eye contact with him since he called her forward. He was already aware that the woman was excellent at leaving important details out of a story, as she had used the same strategy on him many times.

Mina was able to evade his men for hours, and to Ian, it meant she had help. Not to mention that Dom had not bothered to report until after he located Mina somewhere in Scal City.

"That doesn't explain why Dom didn't answer his phone," Ian said.

"We had to go back to the film studio to find his phone," Mina lied. "He dropped it while chasing me." President Lee narrowed his eyes. Mina was lying.

"How often do you lie to me?" he asked, spontaneously.

"As often as necessary," Mina replied. She saw no point in lying. She had obviously said something that had given her away.

"Where did you go?" Ian asked again, this time he was a little more forceful in his speech.

"I-I went to see a doctor," Mina said. She did not have to pretend to be embarrassed and she took a few steps backward in shame.

"Why?" he asked, pretending not to know. Mina looked up at the man and then at Dom. She mouthed something, and Dom shook his head.

"What are you whispering about?" President Lee asked and Mina took another step backward.

"You better not," Dom said just loud enough for his boss to hear, but Mina did not care. She dashed toward the door but was stopped when Dom grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back. She was trapped.