Introduction 2

RED INK

Episode 10: Introduction 2

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"So, does her husband and his wife know..." Lorin trailed off not wanting to complete the question.

Dillion half smirked. He picked up the wine glass in front of him and got comfortable—his hand on the edge of Lorin's seat. "If you are asking if Madame Clara's husband knew, I would say yes. He was very well aware of the fact that she was stood up. Mr Ford and Mr McGiven never agreed till the day he died."

Lorin was stunned. "Mr McGiven is dead?"

Dillion sipped his wine and observed Hugo from the corner of his eye. He thought he felt him looking at him. "You know..." he started to say. "For someone like you who loves gossip, you surprise me that you know very little of the real gossip mangas."

"You must have read me wrong then." Lorin told him. "I love entertainment. You are able to know this much info because you live in their world. I don't."

"Of course. It was a lighthearted joke."

Lorin looked at him, not amused for the first time in tonight.

"Mr McGiven died a year ago in a car accident and Mrs Ford has been gone for four years now."

Lorin was taken aback for the second time. "Mrs Ford...?"

Dillion nodded, even surprised at himself as to why he was giving away so much information. Maybe he just wanted her to be comfortable and be part of the evening, not feeling inferior or shy in the midst of egoistic people.

He looked over at Mr Ford and Madam McGiven, they were still engrossed in their own world, chatting away.

Lorin looked at both of them—Ford and madame McGiven; Ford's wife dead...Madame Clara's husband, gone. She couldn't help but to raise doubt in her mind whether they both had something to do with it. But she didn't dare say her thought process out loud. After all, she was just a guest...and a nobody to them. She'd rather hold her tongue.

Few minutes later, the appetizers were brought in and laid exquisitely before them. They ate, Hugo and Dillion yet to talk to themselves.

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.....

Fred walked on the wet grass, his feet taking precautionary measure not to make any foreign sound. Splish! Splash! Splush! was the silent loud noise that followed his steps.

The neighborhood was surrounded with tall trees and shrubs, the types he could hide behind and no one could tell he was there. He just need to do what his boss sent him to do.

Everyone took master Dillion on surface level and none too seriously as he was an easy-going person but also very private. Because he was a private person, he was perceived as being aloof and unreadable. He didn't like to engage in conversations that were longer than normal. And apart from easily getting angry, he adopted grudges like a hobby. Like this mission he was here for tonight.

He was looking for that warehouse. That was where he could find them. In a few seconds, he would get there.

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Aurora's phone rang loudly in her room—her ringtone that of the new famous popular singer who was topping charts. She fumbled with her pen in her hand, exhaustion written all over her body.

"Oooooo!"She wailed. "Who the hell is calling me this time of the night?"

She picked up the phone and looked at it. CRAZY SENIOR.

She dropped it face down and lamented. "Seriously? What now? I am not on duty today and you clearly told me I could take the day off since I have exams tomorrow. What is this disturbance? It's 8:25 in the night and I haven't even done major study! Really??"

She looked at the screen of her phone and swore. When it started ringing again, she contemplated whether to pick it up or not. If she didn't pick it up, she could get a scolding and an earful of admonishments; but if she picked, it could be that she would have to run shift to cover up for someone or that she would get another scolding. Should she or should she not?

She looked at the screen, biting her lower lip as anxiety got to her. She hissed and dropped the phone down. "Highest, I would just say my phone was on silent since I was studying."

She tucked the phone under the pillow on her bed to reduce the sound effect, put on her bluetooth headset to further lower the noise around her.

She tried to get back to studying but she couldn't. She furiously stood up and jerked the phone from under the pillow. She picked up the call. "Hello?"

"I told you to pick your phone after one ring!!" The man's voice screamed into her phone.

She removed the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. She put it on speaker and placed it on her study table. "Doctor Gerald, I know you don't like me but shouldn't you be giving me a little courtesy for this one night? You interrupted my study! I told you I have important exam tomorrow! The exam that would give me my medical license!"

She expected to hear him scream at her but he was rather quiet on the other end.

"Hello?" She called. "Hello?"

The receiver cackled as the man spoke. "You are running the night shift next tomorrow. I don't want you to hear it late that's why I called."

"Really? You could have just sent a text message!"

"Aish! This girl!" He shouted. "Do you read text messages on time? You go about all day giving excuses why you weren't with your phone or why you didn't read your messages. I didn't want lame excuses and that's why I called you myself! Wait...why am I even explaining that to you? I am your boss! Aurora!"

Aurora rolled her eyes and sighed. I've heard you. Can I go back to studying?"

"One more thing..."

"What? What now?"

He tsked on the background. "Chief Hither wants to see you first thing after your exam."

Aurora felt a mix of uneasiness. "Me? Why?"

"I don't know. You will be meeting him tomorrow in his office towards evening. Do well with your exams or you know me, I will make fun of you. I would say sleep well but it looks like you will be up the whole night. Bad night to you. Good night."

She heard a little bit of laughter before he ended the call.

She sat down in her seat and looked at her phone. Why did doctor Hither want to see her? Did she do anything wrong?

......

Fred looked through the net that covered the gate, he was hearing voices of about two to three people in there. They were gathered around the drum fire by the warehouse, their eyes looking alert. They were looking around the field with precipitation on their faces.

Fred looked at them one by one. The all were wearing beanies with coats. One had a thin face with cigarette in his mouth and he was exceptionally tall. The other two were of average heights and looked shruken from continuous intake of drugs and they were the perfect definition of street thugs. Fred was certain they had guns with them too.

These three people were part of the plan. They were present that day. Yes. He got the right ones. He went back slowly to where he was coming from, it would be better to get them from a distance.

He opened the booth of the car and brought out a long bag. He tucked his revolver in his back pocket and closed the booth.

Two minutes later, he set up his sniper hideout at an angle that captured the whole gang. He laid on the grass and looked through the lens, adjusting his optics as he surveyed the area. Aside from the three men who stood by the fire, there were about four men around the corners of the warehouse.

When he was done accessing the environment, he put on the suppressor and placed his hand on the vertical foregrip to balance himself and the other on the trigger. He would be starting with the man on the balcony that was far from the others.