A Debt (3)

Alex jeered at Lucas who was frozen to his spot. Lucas was still pointing the gun at Alex but did not dare to shoot. Lillian was shaking in fear, tears wetting her cheeks but she was standing very still. He could tell that the girl was terrified at the turn of events.

"I've already taken care of the guy who was following me," Alex went on. "He's lying dead behind that wall. And now, luckily for me, your girlfriend is also in my grasp…"

He pressed the gun harder against Lillian's head, making her whimper. Lucas was analyzing the situation but no matter how he looked at it, he was stuck. If he pulled the trigger, Lillian would die.

Why the hell is she here? He thought but there was no time to dwell on it.

"So what will it be, Lucas Hao?" Alex demanded. "Will you tell your men to leave? Or should I shoot your girlfriend?"

"P-please let me go!" Lillian begged. "I-"

"I'm calling them," Lucas said in a cool tone. Not moving his gun away, he took out his phone with his free hand and called one of his men.

"Tell the others that Alex has escaped," he spoke into the phone. "Back down for now."

"But sir-"

"Just do as I say!" Lucas growled.

Lillian was now sobbing. She was just there to talk to Lucas about her dad's debt. How did she end up in a hostage situation?

The man's breath reeked of stale garlic and vodka, making her gag. She was feeling nauseous and her heart was gripped by pure fear. 

I must help dad! Her mind was screaming. Dad…

"Lower your gun!" Alex demanded. Lucas' eyes were alert and he scanned his target. Suddenly, he noticed something.

"Okay," he said. Slowly, he began to stoop down to put the gun away.

"Hurry it up!" Alex barked but Lucas took his time. He almost put the gun on the floor…

BANG!

Alex and Lillian both froze for a moment. Lillian felt something trigger in her mind and an image flashed in front of her. She dimly saw two hazy figures, one of them pointing something at the other person who lay on the ground. The image was a blur but her heart was scared. She was not scared of the foul breathed captor who was about to kill her but rather for the person in front of her.

The other figure was saying something but she could not hear anything. A static noise buzzed in her ears and her vision got blurrier. All she knew was that something bad was about to happen.

No…

She wanted to run. But where? Where was she supposed to run? And why? 

There were no answers. Only a cold, desolate feeling which was engulfing her. She no longer was in control of her senses, unable to comprehend what was happening…

Alex screamed in agony when the bullet pierced through his foot. Thanks to the short skirt Lillian was wearing, Lucas noticed that Alex's left foot was unguarded. He was able to aim at Alex's foot and shoot at it, injuring the rat bastard.

Alex pushed the girl away and shot at Lucas who dodged the bullets. Lucas shot back at him, moving forward to shield the unconscious girl from the shootout.

Smoke and the smell of gunpowder filled the room but Lucas managed to reach Lillian. Alex staggered away and limped towards the nearest window, escaping from there. Lucas took out his phone and called his guard.

"Come upstairs, now!" he yelled. Within a few minutes, Lucas' men had arrived to find their boss in the midst of a deadly shootout.

"Boss!" one of the guards yelled but Lucas shook his head.

"Go after Alex!" he ordered. "Now!"

Lucas pointed at the window through which Alex had escaped. Some of the men ran after Alex while the others stayed behind to protect their boss.

"Get the car ready!" he barked at his men. "And tell Doctor Kwin to come to my mansion!"

"Yes boss!"

Lucas picked up the unconscious girl into his arms and carried her out of the club. The music downstairs was so loud that no one seemed to have heard the gunshots upstairs. People were still dancing wildly without a care, not noticing the man who was hurrying out of the club with an unconscious woman. 

Lillian's skin had gone pale out of shock and her breathing was shallow. She was so still that if it was not for her breathing, Lucas would have thought that she had died. He put her in the backseat and he took the driver's helm. His men were following him but their boss was surprisingly fast.

They had never seen him so tense about someone before and were mildly surprised. Lucas got into the car and sped away, leaving his men shell shocked.

"O-oi," one of the men spoke up. "Is that girl important to the boss?"

"I've never seen our boss care for a woman before," another guard said thoughtfully.

They were murmuring amongst themselves, wondering what the hell was going on with their boss.

…..

Lucas stopped in front of his mansion. Hurrying out of the car, he carried Lillain towards the house where an elderly doctor was already waiting for him.

"What happened to her?" the doctor asked. His name was Kwin and he was well acquainted with Lucas.

"She fainted," Lucas gritted as he carried Lillian to his room. Laying her on the bed, he stepped back and let Kwin do his job. The doctor checked her pulse and examined her eyes.

"She's physically fine but it seems that she fainted out of shock," Kwin muttered. "What did you do to her? Threaten her? Kidnap her?"

"She was held hostage by Alex and fainted after I shot at his foot," Lucas stated. Kwin sighed.

"This is why you shouldn't take a girl to your business meetings," he commented. 

"I don't know why she turned up there…"

Suddenly, a phone was ringing from somewhere. The ringtone was not familiar.

"It's from her purse," Kwin said, pointing at Lillian's purse which was still hanging from her shoulder. Lucas took out the phone from it. The caller was some man named Jonathan. He answered the call.

"Lillian!" Jonathan exclaimed before Lucas could say anything. "Did you manage to talk to Lucas Hao?"

Lucas was quiet, listening to the frantic man on the other end.

"Tobias just called your dad's cell phone," Jonathan went on. "He's saying that his boss, Lucas Hao, is very angry that your dad didn't return the money and will kill him if the debt isn't settled! Where are you now?"

"At my house," Lucas said in a cold voice. Jonathan paused on the other end.

"W-who are you?" he stammered.

"I'm Lucas Hao," Lucas stated. "And I don't know any Tobias. If you want to see this girl safe and sound, then you better tell me what's going on."