Chapter 110 - J&H

Halia froze when she saw what was behind the door of the mysterious locked room. At first, the guns on the wall weren't too shocking, since Jackson was an arms dealer, but the surveillance equipment was what confused her. There were three screens that were connected to cameras in different locations around the city. Why did he have these?

After she regained her composure, Halia walked over to the desk to look at the screens in detail. That was when she noticed a USB stick sitting on top of the desk. Out of curiosity, she immediately slotted the USB stick into the computer to check what was inside. To her surprise, it was a list of corrupt officers that had worked with Sam Huang, the man that had been arrested over the death of Marcus Sim.

"Wasn't this the USB stick that was handed over to the anti-corruption bureau? Why does Jackson have a copy of it?" Halia asked herself.

She then opened the drawers to check what was inside and found a whole heap of old phones as well as a stack of new SIM cards.

Things were becoming more and more mysterious. Why did Jackson have these?

As she flipped through the items in the drawer...Halia suddenly stopped.

The bracelet around her wrist had caught her attention. It wasn't the first time that she had noticed the heart pendant that hung from it, nor was it the first time she ran her fingers across the dotted texture on the back. But, after what she discovered today, she had a gut feeling there was something more to the it.

As she ran her finger across the dots, she realized there were also some dashes.

Halia held her breath and froze.

It was Morse code.

.--- .-... ....

"J&H," Halia whispered as a tear fell from her eye.

It seemed, there was more to this man than she thought...

...

That night, Max invited Cleo to dinner like he usually did. But, for the first time that week, Cleo actually turned him down. "Sean's back from Hong Kong, so I'm catching up with him tonight," she explained.

Max felt his blood boil at the mention of Sean.

"Can I come as well?" Max asked.

Cleo looked at the man awkwardly and replied, "We booked a table for two already. It will be difficult to change the booking now."

Max frowned and nodded his head. "Well, at least let me drive you there. It looks like it might rain outside," he offered.

Cleo smiled. Why was this man such a gentleman? "OK," she replied as she started walking out of the restaurant.

Soon, Max's car arrived outside a fancy Italian restaurant in the middle of town. "No wonder you couldn't change the booking. This place is always packed," Max sighed.

"Yeh, I've always wanted to try it, so Sean offered to take me," Cleo smiled excitedly.

Max felt his heart break a little when he saw that she was excited to see another man. "If it's good, I'll come back with you again next time," Max offered.

Cleo glanced at the man and nodded her head as she stepped out of the car.

It was a bit windy outside, so Cleo immediately ran into the restaurant.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw a hand waving at her. Sean was already seated and waiting for her.

"It's so nice to see you again. How was Hong Kong?" Cleo asked as she leaned in to hug the man.

"It was great," Sean replied as he pulled out a chair for the woman to sit down.

He then handed her a menu and they started chatting while picking what to eat.

"So, what have you been up to while I was gone?" Sean asked.

"I've been helping Max with the menu for his new restaurant," Cleo smiled.

"I actually saw him just before this. He wanted to join us, but we had already made a booking for two, so he couldn't come. It's a shame because he would have loved this place," Cleo sighed.

"We can always come back with him next time," Sean offered.

Cleo nodded. She then looked at the menu and smiled, "There's truffle pasta. Max loves truffle."

Sean smiled. "They are famous for their pecorino pasta," he said as he pointed to the menu.

"Oh, Max was planning to add pecorino to one of his dishes. I tried it for the first time on Monday. It was delicious," Cleo said.

Sean looked at the woman with suspicion. Her every sentence mentioned Max.

"It seems like you've put the whole gangster thing aside and decided to accept him as a friend?" Sean concluded.

"Yes, I thought about what you said and decided not to judge him just because his friend was a gangster. Besides, I heard his friend was extradited back to France. I don't think he will have any connections with the gangs from now on," Cleo said.

Sean nodded as he looked at the woman.

But, all of a sudden, something behind Cleo caught his eye. He was a senior agent of the SPU, so he was a very observant person. A familiar figure was standing outside the restaurant, trying to peek in through the window.

It was Max!

Sean tried to hold back his laughter when he realized who it was. As a man, he could sense the jealousy even through the glass.

"What are you laughing at?" Cleo asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sean replied with an amused smile.