Chapter 50 - Sister-in-law

Jackson didn't have time to dwell on the question of how Halia defused his bomb - he had to go to the club to meet Remy's henchman.

"I'll take you back to the karaoke bar. Stay there while I go meet with someone."

"No, I'm going with you," Halia insisted. "If I didn't find you this time, what would have happened?"

Jackson looked at Halia. It had almost skipped his mind: how did this woman find him?

Halia was smart, while she was cutting the wire on Jackson's back, she had already retrieved her hair clip and it was back on her head. So, Jackson was clueless.

He simply sighed.

"Besides, how do you expect to walk around with that?" Halia added as she pointed to Jackson's vest.

Although the bomb was defused, Jackson still had the vest strapped to his body and needed Remy's henchman to unlock it.

So, he headed for his car and gestured Halia to follow.

...

Halia and Jackson soon arrived at the club that Halia worked at.

Jackson was wearing a coat on top of the bomb vest and was trying his best to remain discreet.

"There is a French man inside. His name is Pierre Caron. Find him and tell him I'm waiting outside. I'll be under that willow tree," Jackson said as he pointed to the tree by the river.

Halia looked at the tree. That was where they first officially became friends. She really wanted to treat Jackson as a friend and help him. But, this man was now getting involved with bombs. This was a lot more serious.

Halia nodded her head and headed inside the club.

She had initially thought Jackson was taking her to a serious meeting today, so she was dressed a little less casual than usual. Today, she was wearing a short black dress, covered by a coat and she had knee-high boots on.

As soon as she entered, a few men tried to talk to her and get her attention, but her target was quickly set. It wasn't hard to pick out a foreigner in the club. Plus, she had seen Pierre Caron before.

The man was in the middle of the dancefloor, surrounded by 6 women, who were practically throwing themselves at him. Foreigners were always a spectacle, plus, they usually symbolized money, so these women all had dollar signs in their eyes.

Halia stood from a distance and tried to wave at the man, but obviously, he was too occupied. She then tried to get closer, but the women had the man tightly surrounded and they kept pushing her away.

At that moment, Halia spotted a little crowd by the bar. One of the bartenders had lit some shots on fire.

Halia smiled and walked over.

"Tania, make me a tray of those," she said as she approached her colleague.

The woman behind the bar was surprised to see Halia at the club on her day off, but quickly took her order.

As she looked down at the tray of flaming shots, Halia removed her coat, revealing her s.e.xy figure and sauntered over to the French man. Normally, flaming shots weren't allowed to leave the bar, but she worked there, so it was an exception. "Excuse me, fire! Move out of the way," Halia yelled as she made her way across the dancefloor. As it was still quite early in the night, there weren't many people yet. Most of the crowd was gathered around the French man.

Like Moses parting the Red Sea, everyone quickly cleared a path for Halia. She eventually reached Pierre and smiled. "This is a gift from Mr. Wu," she said.

The French man looked at the shots and then scanned his eyes across Halia and smirked.

Before the man could respond, Halia started handing out the drinks to the 6 women and Pierre's acquaintances. He then passed one to Pierre.

The French man happily accepted.

He then looked down at the tray and smiled. There were still 5 shots left.

"Oh, I can't go out to meet Mr. Wu until we finish these shots. It's too much of a waste," he said suggestively.

Halia knew what the man was suggesting. He wanted her to have the remaining shots. In an unfazed manner she quickly downed 4 of the 5 shots like it was water. She then picked up the last one and raised it at the crowd.

The French man smiled and raised his glass, signaling for everyone else to follow. Then, with one gulp, they finished their drinks.

The man nodded his head in an impressed manner. "Sister-in-law (the Chinese call girlfriends/fiancees/wives of a friend, sister-in-law, even if they're not blood related) is not bad, I can see why Jackson chose you," he laughed.

Last time Pierre was at the club, he had seen the look on Jackson's face when he looked at Halia and saw the way he dragged her out of the club when she was being harassed, so he assumed there was something between them.

Halia looked at the man in confusion. Did he just call her sister-in-law?