Chapter 319 - The Golden Door

Jackson and Sean looked at each other as the elevator began to move.

"What's your wife gotten us into?" Sean whispered.

Jackson sighed helplessly. He loved his wife, but when she was working, she got carried away sometimes.

"Don't worry, I have everything under control," Halia said.

"Under control? You don't even have weapons or backup. If we didn't insist on coming with you, what would have happened?" Sean asked.

"But...I do have backup..." Halia replied. 

Jackson glanced at his wife curiously but he did not question her.

"I've spoken to Trisha already. If I don't call her in 2 hours, she will send someone to look for me."

Jackson smiled at Halia. He was impressed. She actually contacted Trisha without him knowing.

"Plus, I've been watching the elevator for a while. A lot of suspicious people have been using it. Some even had kids with them. They either pulled out a golden key card like this one, or the elevator arrived on the ground level but they didn't get out."

"From my observation, I don't think weapons are necessary as long as we remain cautious. I simply need to get a few photos for Trisha and we can get out of there. Also, if we can get a photo of a man called Joel Gabriel Santos, then that would be a bonus."

"Joel Gabriel Santos?" Jackson asked.

"Yes, he's the one that built this place with Trojan," Halia replied.

Sean furrowed his brows. He had always been a well-prepared person that didn't take action until he had all bases covered. That was probably why he became a handler rather than staying as an undercover agent who had to constantly deal with the unknown. But, ever since he met Halia, she had gotten him involved in a lot of unexpected situations.

As the elevator came to a stop, Sean gestured for the couple to stand against the wall. They had no idea what was in the bas.e.m.e.nt level, so they had to be careful. If things did not seem right, Sean was ready to press the close button and return to the ground level.

But, as the door slid open, they were surprised to hear the laughter of children.

Sean poked his head out first to check that the coast was clear but was met by two guards blocking his view.

"Keycard," one of the men said with no emotion on his face.

Halia tried to peek behind the two men, but they blocked the opening of the elevator perfectly. 

Every now and then, uninvited guests accidentally ended up on this level, so these guards had to make sure that they weren't in the wrong place.

Halia quickly pulled out the golden keycard that she had stolen and flashed it in front of the two men. 

The guard looked at it carefully. "Are the three of you together?" he asked. Halia nodded her head confidently.

But, the guard suddenly frowned as he glanced at his colleague. It appeared as though she had said something wrong.

At that moment, Jackson stepped forward and shook the man's hand, "Brother, that card is for my wife and I, but I was planning to introduce my friend to Mr. Santos today. I hope you can make this exception."

The guard glanced down at his hand and noticed that Jackson had slipped him a small stack of 1000 peso notes.

The guard looked at his colleague again and his colleague nodded his head. Jackson had given them enough for a week's pay, how could they say no to money. Plus, they knew who Mr. Santos was. Not many of their guests actually had direct contact with Mr. Santos. They were usually invited by someone else. So, they eventually stepped aside and let the trio through.

Halia glanced at her husband in surprise. How did he know that that would work?

Jackson saw the surprise on his wife's face and gave her a wink. If this floor was as exclusive and secretive as they thought it was, then there was definitely a limit to the number of people allowed to enter with each card. Jackson was observant and logical, otherwise, he wouldn't have survived undercover for so long. Besides, he had been to exclusive places like this before and knew roughly how they functioned. How could mere guards like this say no to money and the mention of their boss?

As the floor opened up in front of them, Halia tried to contain her amazement.

When she saw the map in her memory, all she saw was a big empty floor. But, the scene in front of her was far from empty.

Right in front of her was a circular room with mirrors all along the side, and at the other end was a big golden door. Inside this room, were children running around playing with toys and diving into a ball pit, while a few women in uniform supervised over them. Even if someone accidentally wandered onto this floor and saw past the guards, this place would have just looked like a childcare center.

But, the trio knew better. There was definitely a darker secret hidden behind the golden door.

Remaining calm, they walked straight over to the golden door and a woman opened it politely for them. 

What they saw on the other side of the door was beyond their imagination...

...

At that moment, in Hong Kong, someone else was shocked by what they saw.

Avaleigh was standing inside a supermarket. After buying some fresh meat and vegetables from the local market, she was inside the supermarket buying some processed ingredients. But, just as she lined up at the cashier, a television on the wall began to broadcast a live press conference.

It was the press conference that Sue had told her about earlier and she was in the process of announcing Mimi's death. But, what surprised Avaleigh was not the press conference nor what Sue said. She was surprised by the man that was standing next to Sue.

So, this was the meeting that he said he was casually popping out for...

That was right, she wasn't the only one affected by Mimi's death. As the representative from their PR agency, Emerson had been swamped with calls all day.

Poor Emerson.

Avaleigh glanced down at the ingredients in her hands. "No, this isn't enough, I need to make something more..." she said to herself.