Chapter 32 - Sorry, I'm Late...

After they finished eating, Jackson drove Halia home. When they reached the front of her apartment block, Jackson stretched out his hand and said, "Give me your phone."

Halia hesitated, but handed it to him anyway. Luckily, she didn't have anything top secret stored on it.

"Now that we're friends, we should have each other's phone numbers. I've already called the manager at the club and explained why you suddenly left today. I also told him to take extra good care of you. If you have any other issues, let me know. Make sure not to stay there for too long, the club is a dangerous place."

Halia nodded as Jackson gave her back her phone.

She then waved goodbye, got out of the car and headed up to her apartment.

It was only after she walked in through the front door that she realized she still had Jackson's coat on - she now had two of his coats!

"I guess this is a good excuse to see him again," Halia smirked.

So, after she had a shower, she pulled out her phone and gave Jackson a call.

"I'm building quite a collection of your coats here, when can I give them back to you?"

On the other end of the phone, Jackson laughed, "Are you working tomorrow?"

"Uh huh."

"I'll pick you up after work tomorrow and you can give them back to me when I drop you off."

Halia smiled as her heart skipped a beat, "OK."

For some reason, she was excited to see him again.

But, she quickly composed herself. She had to remember that he was her target and not really her friend.

...

The next morning, before work, Halia arrived at the Little Leaf Guesthouse. Once again, she met her handler in the secondary courtyard.

"How did things go yesterday?" the handler asked.

"I've successfully befriended Jackson Wu," Halia replied. "I'll be seeing him again tonight."

The handler nodded his head and poured Halia a cup of tea. "Good, keep an eye on him and take note of the people around him. I want to know who he's involved with and who he's working with. Most importantly, let me know if you see this man, Remy Durand."

The handler showed Halia a photo. The captain had previously shown her the same photo, so she understood he was a fugitive.

...

That night, Halia arrived at work and started working behind the bar again. Just like the previous night, Jackson arrived just after midnight. But this time, he was accompanied by a tall, skinny Chinese man.

"Hey, go take a bottle of Moutai over to the VIP booth over there. Mr. Wu opens one every time he's here," the manager said.

Halia nodded and grabbed a bottle from the storage. She then walked over and placed it on Jackson's table. "Here's your Moutai, Mr. Wu," she smiled.

However, Jackson completely ignored her and continued talking to the man next to him. In fact, he didn't even take a single glance at her.

Halia felt a little disappointed as she returned to the bar. Didn't they say they were friends last night? What had gotten into him?

Halia watched as the two men conversed. They seemed to be discussing something serious. "That's right, I'm supposed to take note of the people around him," Halia whispered to herself.

So, she pulled out her phone and sneakily took a few snaps of the two men.

Just as she looked down to check her photos, she received a message, "What are you doing on your phone, you should be working."

It was from Jackson!

Halia quickly looked up and glanced over at Jackson. He was holding his phone in his hand, but he continued to ignore her as he chatted to the man beside him.

"Are you ignoring me?" she messaged back.

Jackson looked down at his phone and his lips curved upwards slightly. He then typed something and put his phone down on the table.

"Be good, I'm in the middle of serious business. I'll give you all the attention you want after."

Halia blushed a little. He made her sound like some kind of clingy girlfriend or something. She quickly shoved her phone back in her pocket and returned to work.

But, an hour later, when she glanced back towards the VIP booth, she noticed Jackson was gone. Had something urgent come up?

...

Halia soon finished work.

As she stepped out of the club, she put on a light jacket she had brought along and quickly scanned her surroundings. It had already been two hours since she last saw Jackson in the club, was he still planning to meet with her?

She stood outside for 20 minutes, glancing down at her phone every few minutes. Eventually, she assumed he wasn't coming and decided to leave. As she started walking away, she suddenly heard a voice behind her, "Sorry, I'm late..."

Halia recognized the voice. With an angry expression, she immediately turned around, but her anger quickly turned into concern. The man she saw had blood dripping down his left arm from 2 cuts on his arm and 1 on his shoulder.

"What happened?" Halia gasped as she ran over to his side.