Chapter 468 - Las Vegas (12)

Shing thought how he is going to faint. He looked at Sarah and then at the box, having hard time believing that she just gave it to him like that. Shing opened the box and stared at the vase for a while before closing the box and facing Sarah. "What do you want in return?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't need anything. Consider it as a payment for helping us now to get rid of Akmal." She reached for the last remaining box and took Aiden's hand. "Good night, we still need to do few things."

"Let us escort you!" Shing handed the box carefully to one of his subordinates, and rushed after Sarah and Aiden.

"It's not needed." Sarah responded without looking back.

"It's the least I can do!" Shing exclaimed while walking next to Sarah leaning in to get her attention.

"Fine." Sarah gave in seeing how persistent he is.

They walked from the back street escorted by men in dark blue suits whose steps sounded like one.

Few steps away from the corner, Sarah had an eerie feeling. She abruptly turned around and stopped, looking at the roof of a nearby building. She could not see anyone, but the uncomfortable feeling was there, and she shivered lightly.

"Something there?", Aiden asked while looking in the same direction as Sarah.

"I'm not sure… maybe the whole evening made me jumpy." Sarah took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Let's hurry up. I look forward to that bubble bath."

…

Few minutes earlier, up on the roof of a nearby building a man was standing and observing the scene below. It's dark, but even in that dark you can see that he is wearing a well-tailored dark suit and has a lit-up cigarette between fingers of his right hand.

"Boss, what do we do? Our men are still on standby." His subordinate asked while speaking in a low voice. His words were laced with a strong Russian accent.

"Dismiss them. Little Sarah is more capable than what I thought." He smiled. "She was able to handle things without fighting it out herself. Fascinating…" It seemed that he is talking to himself. "It makes me want to see more… I was hoping to see her moves." He took a drag from the cigarette, and light was just enough to show his facial features. It's the mystery man who exited the back VVIP room previous night while small army of bodyguards was following him. The same man who locked eyes with Sarah on his way out and she thought that he is familiar but could not remember who he is.

Boss-man didn't pay attention to his subordinate who left. His gaze was focused on Sarah and Aiden on the street below as they walked away. Well, mostly on Sarah but they were sticking close to each other, so he was not able to completely ignore Aiden. He felt a sudden urge to go down and challenge her, to see her moves. Surprisingly, Sarah stopped in her tracks and turned around. She was looking toward the roof of a nearby building, right where he was standing.

Man was flat on the ground. He shook his head in frustration… his cigarette snapped in half when he plunged down so that Sarah does not see him. "Milena taught you well…", he mumbled and flicked the bottom half of the cigarette from his hand.

"Boss! What happened?", his subordinate returned and panicked when he saw his boss lying down.

"Nothing. Everything is fine…" He stood up casually when he confirmed that Sarah and Aiden turned around the corner. "Ivan?"

"Yes, Boss?"

"Are you certain that she had lunch with Patels today?"

Subordinate nodded confidently. "Yes, Boss. We followed her and her companion."

"Hmm…" He waved his hand impatiently, indicating to his subordinate to leave. "White, Patel, Smith and even Wang…", he mumbled and lit up another cigarette. "Who else is in your address book, little Sarah?" He was deep in his thoughts while his gaze was fixed toward the corner behind which Sarah left a minute ago.

…

Down on the street, Shing was trying to get on Sarah's good side. He didn't like that she is ignoring him. As a man of honor, he needs to do something to make up for the vase she gave him. "Do you need a ride?"

"No. We are going just a bit more down the street." She already planned to go to the bank which is open 24 hours, so that she can deposit the check immediately.

Men in dark blue suits were lined up, forming three neat rows in front of the bank while Sarah deposited check to her account. They verified that check was valid, and money was confirmed as added to her account.

"It seems that they were confident in their ability to get the check back, so they didn't bother to void it." Sarah giggled as they exited the bank, happy that this task was completed successfully as well. But then she frowned at the spectacle of men lined up and standing in attention.

Sarah and Aiden followed by Shing and his men in dark blue suits were quite a sight all the way to their hotel. Sarah told Shing few times that it's enough and he should go away, but he insisted, so she gave up in order not to cause a scene. Like there can be a bigger scene than being followed by a heap of men in matching dark blue suits while walking on the streets of Las Vegas in the middle of the night.

Most of the people who saw them thought it's some kind of a street performance. Few even offered them money. Sarah was not sure if she should laugh or cry.

Sarah was relieved when they finally reached their hotel. "OK. Shing, we are staying in this hotel. And unless you have a room right here already, you need to stop following us."

"Mrs. Black… this won't do. I need to make up to you somehow." Shing was persistent.

"But I don't need anything now." Sarah was desperate for him to leave.

He got an idea. "How about later?"

"Fine… if I need anything later, I will let you know." Sarah was happy that it seems he will go away, she turned to enter the hotel.

"Mrs. Black…" Shing called, not willing to let her go just like that.

Sarah took a deep breath; she was irritated by Shing's persistence. She really didn't want anything. Sarah glanced at Aiden as saw him doing a lousy job in suppressing his smile. He was obviously amused by the whole situation.

Sarah turned toward Shing, ready to be rude if needed, but then paused when she observed that he was giving her something. It was a small jade pendant.

"Please accept this, Mrs. Black." Shing took Sarah's hand in his and placed the pendant in her palm. "This is a token which will let anyone in the Wang family, including our branch families, know that we owe you a grand favor. Feel free to use it as you see fit."

Sarah was stunned. She was not sure what that favor is, but she can tell it's nothing small.

"Oh, and this…" He shuffled through his pockets before handing her his card. "My personal number is first. On the back is for my ancestral home, if you tell them I gave you the number, they will answer your request."

He took a step back and deeply bowed to her before leaving. Men in dark blue suits bowed as well and followed their Master.

Sarah was not sure how to respond. She was standing, frozen, staring after Shing and his small army of bodyguards in dark blue suits who walked in matching footsteps away.

"As I said… you have a talent to make interesting friends." Aiden spoke into her ear before putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her inside hotel.