Chapter 09

The club was nothing special. It was rather secluded, a small black structure with a parking lot. Ezekiel had often heard stories of illegal operations from there but the cops were never able to prove anything. The owners had legal papers that proved its legitimacy and anything suspicious that supposedly happened couldn't be traced back to them.

Ezekiel was thus worried whether they'd be able to obtain CCTV footage, given that these people were very careful in erasing evidence.

"Put this on," Ezekiel handed Irene a pair of dark shades and a baseball cap. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged in response.

"I'd rather not get recognized. If I do, you might find yourself in trouble too."

She chuckled. "I can take care of myself, don't worry. But, good thinking."

She put them on and Ezekiel had to admit she looked good. She was wearing the same clothes from yesterday--a thin, full-sleeved grey T-shirt tucked into skinny jeans. The casual look was complimented with her hair left open and she would have almost looked innocent if not for her knife disguised as a pen in her pocket.

When they stepped inside the club, they were greeted by a pungent smell of alcohol. It seemed that the place was probably overcrowded the previous night for it did not look like it was cleaned at all. The bartender himself was dozed off on the counter, hands clutching a bottle tightly. Ezekiel wrinkled his nose, he hated such unkempt places. He'd rather spend his time in a library.

"Let's get this done quickly," Irene muttered from beside him and he couldn't agree more.

"Excuse me," They tried to shake the man awake who stirred just slightly. Irene closed her eyes for a second, hands balling into a fist before slamming one on the table. The man jolted awake, scared for his life.

"Sorry boss, I'll clean up," He muttered just as he woke up. When his vision seemed to have cleared, he narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"We're police," Irene said before Ezekiel could say something. "We received a report for an almost kidnapping last night. We need your footage."

"Do you have a warrant?" He yawned, looking bored.

Irene exhaled loudly before flashing him a sickly sweet smile. "Do you want your club to close down? Because if we get a warrant I'm sure you'll find yourself either on the streets or in prison. Don't think we don't know what kind of activities happen here."

The man gulped, clearly intimidated. Thank god he did not ask for a badge or they'd have been in trouble. "Look, I can't give you the footage without my boss--"

Ezekiel had had enough. He felt his blood boil, last night's events finally getting the best of him. Even though the bartender was nowhere responsible for what had happened, his brother was the one who had got hurt. His closest family.

He gripped the man's collar and he could see him shaking in fear. Good, that would get him to talk quickly. "We're not giving you an option here, mate. Get us the footage and you'll get to keep your job. Got it?"

Irene placed a hand on Ezekiel's shoulder, squeezing it gently and Ezekiel let the guy go. His breaths had quickened because of the rising anger in him and he tried to calm himself down. He knew the consequences of losing his temper and it won't do anyone any good.

"The-the security room is that way," The man pointed a shaking finger to a door in the back, his feet glued to his place.

"Stay here and no word about this to anyone, got it?" Ezekiel warned him before he and Irene made their way towards the back. Twisting the handle open, they stepped inside a dimly lit room with monitors secured in place, playing live footage. A half-eaten burger and a glass of alcohol were on one of the tables, the stale smell making Ezekiel scrunch his nose up in disgust.

Irene worked her way through the footage, her slender fingers moving across the keys before the footage they wanted started to play. From what they saw and Genevieve's descriptions of the events, a black van had pulled up in the parking lot about twenty minutes before the incident. The plates weren't visible even after zooming in, it was as if they knew exactly where the cameras were.

They watched the entire video, the events fitting exactly the way Genevieve had described. Ezekiel noted that she fought well and he was grateful that she was there with Archer when he wasn't. Slight guilt crept up to him as he realised that fact before pushing it down and making a mental note to assign bodyguards to his brother whether he liked it or not.

"It looks fine to me," Irene muttered, "was my hunch wrong?"

"What was it anyway?"

"I had a feeling that since they look like students, someone else must have been around to oversee the things. To me, it looked like either their employer did not care or the kidnapping was not their intention in the first place. I was leaning towards the second option."

"Not to mention the fight," She said, mostly to herself, narrowing her eyes. "Genevieve's posture was off the entire time. Had these men been trained, they'd have easily taken her down from the back."

She replayed the video, stopping at the part where Genevieve had knocked the first man out cold.

"Hold on," Ezekiel suddenly said, pointing at the guy right in front of Genevieve, the leader apparently, "He looks strange."

"What?" Irene zoomed in to the maximum. With a soft gasp, she realised what Ezekiel was talking about. Even though it was dark and the guy's face was covered, his eyes were clearly visible.

"He's looking straight at the camera," Ezekiel said, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, "did he intend to do that or is it just a coincidence?"

"I don't think it is a coincidence. The positioning of the van, the unintended kidnapping, and now this guy looking at the camera as if he knew we'd watch this footage. It fits strangely like a puzzle but there are still a few pieces missing."

"I think your hunch was right," Ezekiel turned to face her, "it's the employer's doing. The employer knew we'd be here, the entire event is probably staged to give us a warning that whoever this person is, he is two steps ahead of us."

"It makes sense," Irene said in response, "if we want to get to this person, we need to figure out your grandmother's past."

She went back to the monitors, making sure to delete the footage of not just the incident but also of hers and Ezekiel's snooping around.

"Let's go," She said and they snuck out from the back, knowing there weren't any cameras.

Back in Ezekiel's car, they made their way back to the mansion. During the entire ride, none of them spoke a word but they did feel the heavy tension in the air.

"Thank you," Irene said, finally.

"What for?" Ezekiel asked, looking at her for a second before moving his eyes back to the road.

"I would've missed out on something important today if you hadn't noticed the clue. I mean, it seemed pretty obvious in the beginning that there had to be someone behind it but we wouldn't have been able to piece it together if your grandmother hadn't told you anything."

"Was it impressive?" Ezekiel joked, "my way of doing things?"

"Pretty much, yeah," She quipped, "not many people have a clear mind when it comes to organising events. You have this ability where you can identify a sequence and draw conclusions on the basis of what should have happened. That's strong deduction skills."

"I'm a businessman, Ms Pierce," Ezekiel smirked, "I have to be precise."

"Of course," She gave him a smirk of her own, "If not the current situation, I'd have loved to compare our skills, a battle of wits perhaps."

"Arrogant, aren't you?"

"Proud would be a better word, I don't say or do things if I'm not confident in myself."

"Then I should take pride in the fact that Ms Irene Pierce is not only impressed but also considers me her equal."

The smirk never left his lips and Irene chuckled.

"You're good," She said, "turning the tables with just words."

"I know." He grinned.