03: SPY

[PREVIE OF PRESENT PART 3 (VOL4)]

[MISCHA POV]

A four-hour sleep for her was enough to get a little strength back. She stood in front of the bed and stared at the man sleeping like a log and snoring his lungs out. He sounded like a pig in the mud being choked to death by a butcher. She seized the man's wallet out of his chest pocket in his coat and opened it to learn the stranger's identity.

"Susu Ming Qu," Mischa said out loud and raised her brow.

She thought about the man's surname, Susu which meant a quiet person, and yet he wheezed like a wild animal ready to be slaughtered.

The wallet contained cash worth three thousand renminbi and credit cards from different banks under his name. A driver's license, his national ID, and a business ID from a company that sells milk. 

"No wonder he would go to a bar to make himself feel manly." Mischa thought and searched for more items in his wallet.

There was no picture of anyone, not even a woman or kid. She assumed he will be a family guy who conceals his habit from them. She searched for a condom inside his wallet. Every guy has it for an emergency but there was nothing there. She threw the manly leather purse away without taking any bills and scoffed at the mundane life of the drunk man in bed.

"This guy is boring," Mischa exclaimed staring at the man sleeping on his back. 

The guy's belly was sticking out of his shirt but it was not as big as the other men at the bar. He might have a healthy eating habit other than being drunk. His elongated face was not half as bad and the grey hair on his sideburns made him look aged. He wasn't ugly but his breath stinks which turned her off. If her life was still a mess she could have slept with him out of pity or cash but she was not the woman that existed ten years ago. She valued herself better now.

Ransacking the guy's pocket to find his phone, she opens it up but it's locked with face recognition. Trying to forcefully open the man's eyes would be troublesome, she tried to unlock it with another option.

Fingerprint

It was the only possible and easiest way. He took the man's finger on the phone and initiated the scanning. When it opened, she immediately turned off all the security of the features. She even changed the email used on the phone that the owner can use to trace it if it went missing or stolen.

She was very good at this kind of detail.

After securing the phone, She inserted it inside her bag with money and stepped into the bathroom to take a shower, bringing all her belongings with her.

Taking off the tight black dress and red lingerie felt liberating. She could feel her skin breathe the cold air of the bathroom, as she stared at the naked reflection of her body, she remembered Wang Xiu and her tempting offer.

'How did Wang Xiu find out it was her?'

The bathroom looked clean under a yellow light. A small bathtub under the shower was placed opposite the mirror and the washbasin. The towels were on the racks near the door and the free soap and brush were on top of it. 

She took the soap from the pouch and opened the shower, turning the knob for the hot water first. Then, she moves to the cold water and slowly veers the knob to change the temperature. She checked the heat with her hand until she was satisfied with how hot she could withstand the hotness of the water. 

Feet first into the tub, letting the warmness of the water in her soles soothed her senses. She let herself get wet from head to feet as she stood under the showerhead. The gentle flow of the water on her body was like a lover caressing every corner of her skin. The care, the warmth, the satisfaction it gives. A shower worth of everything.

She began to wash her body, lathering her smooth skin, and playing with the little bubbles it created. From her short blonde hair to her flawless face to her lengthy neck, her small shoulders, arms, and big proud chest. She washed her back with how much she could stretch her hands and reached. Then started to wash her thigh, long legs, and feet.

She wanted to stay longer in the bathroom but a knock on the door and the voice of the man disrupted her mood. Still wet from the shower, she stepped out of the door with a towel wrapped around her body. In her hands were the black bag full of money and the dress with her lingerie that she took off before showering.

The man stood in front of her looking stunned, gawking with his wide eyes on her chest.

"H-How much do I owe you?" The man asked which made her raise her brow. The man claimed to have slept with her without asking if they did last night.

She forces herself not to laugh at the man's assumption and a quick smile curved her fleshy pink lips to not embarrass him.

"I don't want your money, but I took your phone. Is that okay?" Mischa asked, smiling charmingly at the man who stood not half as bad as he was drunk last night.

"O-Okay, but I need my contacts." The man scratched his head. "I can buy you a new one if you want." He added.

Buying a new phone meant a new number that she needed to register to be activated. Once prompted, anyone could trace the owner from the number they use. She knew how it all works. She couldn't count how many times she traced her targets using their phones. 

"Why don't you buy yourself a new one?" Mischa insisted to keep the man's phone. She laid the bag and dress on the couch and started to put on her red thong.

"U-Uhm… I-I g-guess. Can I copy my contacts first?" The man stuttered asking for his phone. His face started to sweat asking her about the phone.

"You can get your contacts back through your email," Mischa replied, unwrapping her body with the towel and letting it fall on her feet. She didn't care if the man was still looking or not while she puts on the brassiere on her chest.

"Wow! T-That's smart. I-I d-didn't think of that. Thank you." The man exclaimed stammering while realizing the woman in front of her was smarter than he thought.

"You're welcome." Mischa plopped the black dress back on her body and picked up her bag. She didn't look at the guy and walked straight out of the door to leave the room.

"I guess I don't need to ask for your number." The guy said following her outside the hotel while she stood waiting for a taxi to pass by the busy street.

She giggled at how persistent the man was to know her. If only the man realized she only used him to disguise herself out of the club, he wouldn't make himself charming for her. An odd turn of events, she thought. To know the guy she randomly used as a scapegoat was a nice man. 

A taxi finally stopped in front of her. Before going inside, she turned and gazed at the man.

"Thank you, Mr. Susu Ming Qu," Mischa said with a grin on her lips. Then, she got inside the taxi leaving the man bewildered with flushed cheeks.

Inside the taxi, she searched on the phone if there was news about the intrusion at LCDC. She was certain that the police could never trace anything back to her but she needed to check if she missed anything after running away from the CEO's seduction.

She remembered her plan well, hacking into the security system to get into the building and open the locks. Wang Xiu's office could only be opened through a fingerprint scanner which could be easily obtained by using tape on a cup that the CEO used for her coffee. Wang Xiu only uses the deposit box to store money. A reason why she never bothered to open it. The files she needs were in the drawer on the table which she failed to get when the CEO caught her scouring for the papers. To escape, she used an electric motorcycle that didn't need a license plate and passed through residential streets with no CCTV.

But she was not out of the woods yet. She might have a way to stop the police on their tracks of her intrusion at Wang Xiu's office but escaping Elric Exelon was a different story. She thought Wang Xiu would blame Elric Exelon for attempting to steal the files from her and the man would blame her for failing to get what he wants.

And Elric Exelon was not someone who likes to fail. She has been working for years under the man, doing all his dirty jobs for him. One thing she learned about Elric Exelon was not to fight him. Facing his wrath would be deadly and running away was the only answer to failing.

She knew going back to the club last night was a bad idea. Elric Exelon knew she works there before but she trusted the employees and staff wouldn't talk. They have a pact of sisterhood to protect each other even in the face of danger.

Going out of the club was a problem, the nightlife street was filled with CCTV which made it difficult for her to go out looking like one of the patrons and decided to disguise herself as one of the employees at the club and grabbed a drunk man to take her out.

The taxi stopped in front of a small boutique. She needed a change of clothes if she wished to continue not being traced. She bought a black wig to change her hair and casual clothes and a jacket to easily blend. The gun in her bag would be a problem to carry so she hid it in the dressing room of the store before she left. 

She goes to a food chain to eat before walking towards the train station to buy tickets. Not knowing what would happen to her next. Getting out of the capital was step one to running away and step two would be the hardest one to make.

At the train station, she bought two tickets for herself. A one-way ticket to Macau and another to Harbin.