The phone rang disturbing the silent office. "What?" The man said in a deadpan voice.
"Boss, we have a lead."
The man jolted upright. "Explain."
"Around 20 minutes ago we received an anonymous tip. It was an email that only contained a photo. I'm sending you the photo now please take a look." The subbordinate could hear the change in his master's voice, like a sliver of hope had finally broken out.
The man rushed to his computer and opened his email. He saw the forwarded email from his subordinate so he clicked on it. In the photo he saw two women. One was an extraordinary beauty around his age, but his focus was on the other woman. She wore tatterd rags and her hair was messy and thin. The wrinkles on her face clearly showing she was already at an advanced age. "It's her," he spat in anger. "Tell me everything you know," he said to his subordinate.
"The photo was taken outside the main building of the Li Corp, we were able to cross reference it through the CCTV system. The younger woman is the founder and CEO of Li Corp, Li Na. We asked around and found out the two had a brief conversation before CEO Li left. The witnesses all say that once CEO Li entered the car the old woman was just gone. Like she vanished. I found out that no more than a few minutes after that CEO Li's car was in a terrible accident. We're currently investigating her wellbeing and location. Her company shutdown the news immediately, this doesn't seem to be an accident."
"Get everyone on this. Find her immediately, I'm running out of time. Also, dig up everything you can about her in one hour and fill me in on the details." After issuing his orders he hung up immediately. 'Li Na, why does your name seem vaguely familiar? Not current events, everyone knows of you from there, but like I've known it since the begining?' He started pondering the vague familiarity while waiting for his subordinate's report.
An hour later the phone rang again. "What did you find?"
"Surprisingly not much, she grew up in the slums with only a mother. However, she still managed to graduate top of her class at West Peak High..."
"Wait, you said West Peak High? What year?"
"Class of 2011 did I miss something?"
"I graduated from West Peak High in 2011, I should recognize her, but I don't. Did you find a picture of her from high school?"
"No, there is an entry for her in the year book, but no image. She doesn't even appear in the senior group photo."
"Alright, that's enough on her past, did you find her yet?"
"No, but we're still looking. It seems she had an emergency procedure set in place in case something happened to her. The woman was expecting something."
"Keep searching, check every hospital bed in the city if you have to but find her. She's my only link to the old hag."
Time passed and the deadline was fast approaching. The man was woken up by a phone call. "Boss we found her. She was checked in under another identity which is why we couldn't locate her. She's at Main Street Hospital room V703. I should tell..." The man ended the call immediately without waiting for his subbordinate to finish. He threw some clothes on and rushed out the door.
Upon reaching the hospital some of his men met him outside and lead him towards Li Na's ward. What greeted him on arrival was a woman standing over Li Na's bed gloating. "As I told you before, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. You shouldn't have stolen my father's company and ruined my family. Now I'll kill you with my own hands."
The man barged in and grabbed the gloating woman by the neck snapping it before tossing her out into the hall for his men to deal with. They'd followed him for a long time so they knew what needed to be done without him saying anything. They quickly dealt with the body before anyone noticed. Meanwhile the man pulled a chair up beside Li Na and sat down. "Li Na, you have to wake up and tell me what that old hag said to you. You're my only hope to escape this endless cycle." After some time he slumped back in the chair and fell asleep.
The man was suddenly awakened by a change in the room. He sensed the door opening quietly as someone entered. He observeed the man who just entered the room in a long overcoat with a face mask. His instincts told him the man was here for trouble. Just as he was about to confront the man, an alarm filled the room. "Shit."
***
He opened his eyes and stared at the blue sky. He clearly remembered that the intruder shot Li Na first before hastily shooting him as well. 'Just how many enemies did Li Na have?' The thought bounced around in his head as he took stock of his surrounding. "Well I'm back to square one," he sighed relizing he was lying on the grass outside his high school, the same place he always woke up after dying. However, something caught his attention this time, it sounded like a conflict was happening near by.
"Remember, the nail that sticks up gets hammered down." He heard a girl's voice say. It caught his attention because this was the second time 'today' that he had heard that.