On the 220th floor of a skyscraper with a large text mounted on the walls stylishly spelled "INNOVEX GLOBAL", three men were discussing heatedly. "How are you not doing your job well? You had only one job to do, make the thing spill out the beans", a man in his early twenties said with anger.
"Oh, you think it's that easy, huh? You didn't even know of the whereabouts of Greg's ex-wife, so don't tell me I'm not doing a good job", the red-suited man retorted angrily. There was a commotion in the room before someone hit the table, causing the room to be silent.
"Nothing would be resolved if we all engage in this blame game. Let's talk like the mature men we are for goodness sake", the middle-aged man said tiredly. The four men sitting around the table nodded slowly. The middle-aged man walked slowly and approached the projector and turned it on. Then he connected the computer to it, displaying the screen on the whiteboard.
"Lester, is there any update?" The middle-aged man asked. A man above his forties shook his head with remorse. "I tried, but he's not talking. I even went as far as terminating his daughter in front of him, but he didn't budge, and now, he's probably damaged".
Hearing that he killed the man's daughter, intense anger welled up inside of him. "What! Why the hell would you do that? I said, torture only, not kill for goodness sake!" The middle-aged man hollered angrily, but he painfully tried to suppress his emotions. He was the leader, so he couldn't just show his emotions anyhow.
"I'm sorry sir, but the torture wasn't working, so I assume if I... ". The old man interrupted him impatiently. "I beg you, don't make any assumptions without my consent, do you understand?" The middle-aged man said with a hard voice. It's one thing to kill a man, but killing a child was not something he could tolerate, especially a girl. He couldn't imagine someone killing his own daughter in his front.
The man nodded slowly without any expression. "So, what's the next plan, Mr. Adams? You didn't call us here just to banter against each other, right?" Lester said as he impatiently glanced at his watch for the fourth time. "Look at the whiteboard", Adam said and opened a picture on his laptop, syncing with the projector and displaying it on the whiteboard.
"This is the clearest photo we have of the mystery hero. This was captured hours after the whole restaurant incident. According to my research, it appeared this man was skilled in firearms, thanks to them so you have to be cautious when you find and take him out.
"He's our second priority, so unless we take him out, we can't be certain to find Greg's illegitimate son", Adams said and used a small cane and pointed to Lester. "You are tasked to bring in the boogeyman", he said. Lester pointed at himself in confusion and asked, "Me? Why? I already have a job you gave me", he replied with a frown on his face.
"Put that one on pause for now, and finish this new one given to you, please. Remember, caution is the key. This person apparently knows what he's doing, so you have to be very careful", Adams said, squinting his eyes while he spoke. Lester slumped to his chair in exhaustion. "I guess we're all on the same page here. Their last updated location is in Nightlight Street, at the suburbs of this city", Adams said and used the small cane and pointed at a corner section of the small city projected on the whiteboard.
The men nodded in unison. Feeling satisfied, Adams finally dismissed the meeting and headed back to his office. He rubbed his forehead in stress. He took the family photo on his desk and stared intently at it, lost in thoughts. "I'll save you, I promise", he said rubbing the photo of a bald young smiling woman.
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Alec found the location of one of their nearest branch and planned to go there. He took a quick bath and prepared to go for a visit. Anthony noticed him preparing to go out and asked curiously, "Where are you going?"
Alec ignored him and headed for the gate. He was just about to open the gate when Anthony fired an arrow, hitting the gate's handle and bouncing off. Alec had to look back and stare at Anthony with cold eyes. "Where are you going?" Anthony asked again.
"How does that concern you?" Alec asked with hard voice. "It concerns me a lot. We don't fully trust you, so your movements here are restricted. Unless we are fully convinced you are with us, you are not going anywhere", Anthony replied coldly and took an arrow.
Alec put his hands into his pocket and fiddled with his gun. Just then, Laura came out noticing the commotion. "What's going on? Alex, where are you going this prepared?" Laura asked with a frown. "I'm going for a walk. Is that a crime?" Alec asked.
"A walk? Pfft... What prevents you from walking around here? This place is big already", Anthony said in disdain. "You people might be comfy staying here all day, but I'm not. I am only here to protect you people, but I won't sacrifice my own pleasures for that", Alec said. "We didn't even ask for any protection. Just because you carried my mom to the car and drove away from them doesn't mean anything", Anthony replied.
"Alright just stop", Laura said with a sigh. She turned to look at Alec and said, "Alex, we are in a vulnerable situation right now, and it's hard to trust anyone around here, so please if there is where you are going to, please tell us, at least let us trust that you are also by our side, as you claim", Laura said softly.