Aileen gently purred in her sleep, dressed in a white tank top and shorts, curled up in bed like a kitten.
A shadow slipped in through the door, wearing a pair of black gloves. It pulled out a bundle of zip ties from its bosom and silently stood by the door, preparing.
Another shadow quietly arrived, producing a roll of duct tape. In the darkness, they exchanged a glance with their partner, nodded to one another, and crept into Aileen’s bedroom.
The two shadows tiptoed closer to the bed and suddenly twisted her arms behind her back, securing them with the zip ties.
Aileen woke with a start, her eyes wide as she looked at the two figures. Before she could scream, the other shadow quickly sealed her mouth with the duct tape.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" Aileen kicked about wildly.
"Ah! Son of a bitch!" One of the shadows fell to the ground, shaking their head like a rockstar.
"Be still, little lady! We don’t want to hurt you," the shadow binding Aileen said.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!" Aileen struggled, trying desperately to break free.
"Fuck off!" The shadow that had been kicked cursed as they recovered, punching Aileen in the stomach.
"Oooh..." Aileen’s face turned deathly pale; she suddenly doubled over, and the tape over her mouth became wet.
"Damn it, don’t hit her! Did you forget what we were told over the phone?" scolded the shadow still holding Aileen.
"I don’t understand! She’s on the list too. Why kidnap her instead of killing her?" asked the shadow.
"Never mind that, where is the nylon bag? Put her in it!"
The shadows clumsily stuffed Aileen into a nylon bag. One of them carried her downstairs and loaded her into a prepared white van, while the other stayed behind to stage signs of a burglary.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, they drove away from the apartment complex.
Three hours afterward, a green taxi drove into the apartment area.
"This the place?" asked the driver.
"Right here. Just wait for me, I’ll go fetch someone and be right back down," said Diana.
"Miss, you better hurry, I’m off at 5:30 to get some sleep," said the driver.
"I’ll be quick," Diana replied.
The taxi parked at the base of the apartment building. She took the elevator straight up to the 24th floor and approached Aileen’s apartment door, knocking.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
"It’s 4 a.m.," Diana glanced at the time.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
"Aileen, it’s me," urged Diana.
She took out her cell phone and dialed Aileen’s number, hearing the ringtone from inside.
"Aileen?" Diana felt a bad premonition.
She made a split-second decision, took out her Rhino revolver, and fired a shot at the lock.
Diana then kicked the door open and stormed in to see the place in disarray. But those experienced with crime scenes could tell at a glance that the mess of overturned belongings was artificially created.
Diana rushed into Aileen’s bedroom—no one was there, and the mobile phone was still on the nightstand.
"Where are you...?" Diana picked up Aileen’s phone, muttering to herself as if she had lost something forever.
"Dr. Wang, please come to your senses."
"Miss Wang Ailin, please wake up."
The sound of stomping feet...
"Dammit, is there no way to wake her up?"
The kidnapper finally lost patience, looking at his accomplices surrounding him.
At this moment, three kidnappers and Wang Ailin were in the same room, she was tied to a chair with a chain around her neck, fixated to the backrest.
This was not a house but the rear container of a large semi-trailer truck, where Wang Ailin was leaning against the chair, soundly asleep, snoring.
The three kidnappers were all Caucasian: one responsible for driving, and the other two for carrying out the kidnapping operation. They were now waiting for the contact person to arrive.
"We have many ways of waking her, but we can’t use them," said the somewhat chubby man at the door of the compartment.
"Just a punch knocked her out ?" the kidnapper questioned.
"I think she’s not unconscious, she’s asleep. Look... she’s still snoring," the chubby man explained.
Everyone fell silent as the sound of Wang Ailin’s light snoring filled the room.
The container was tapped twice from the outside—it was their brother signaling the arrival of their employer.
The door opened, and an Asian woman with long hair dressed in purple trousers and business attire walked in, followed by a bald Asian assassin.
"She’s right here," said the kidnapper.
"Good. You’ve finally accomplished something," the woman said.
"What do you mean? Did Todd and the others fail?" the kidnapper asked.
"They’re dead, and they alerted the Administration Bureau," the woman said.
"Dead..." the kidnapper said, somewhat surprised.
"I’ll send a more professional assassin to remedy your failure. According to the contract, I can only pay you half of the agreed fee," the woman stated.
"I have no objections," the chubby man said.
"Good," the woman nodded and smiled.
"Wait a minute, no objections? Our brothers are dead! Todd and his team are dead! Did you not hear that?" the kidnapper yelled at the chubby man.
"They messed up! We all knew the risks of this task... we all knew that we were going after an Administration Bureau agent," the chubby man replied.
"Alright, I’m not interested in your little group’s internal conflicts. When you kidnapped Wang Ailin, you didn’t touch her, did you?" the woman circled past the kidnappers, coming to Wang Ailin’s side to examine her closely.
"No," the kidnapper said. He turned to the chubby man, whispering, "This isn’t over... see how you’re going to explain this to Pihom!"
"Very well, wake her up," the woman ordered.
"We’ve tried clapping, stamping, yelling, blasting heavy metal music, but nothing can wake her," the kidnapper shook his head.
"You have to be patient. Try again," the woman said.
"I could smack her awake with one slap, why does she get special treatment?" the kidnapper asked.
"She is our most important asset for the future. We need her brain, so we do not want her to sustain any physical or mental damage," the woman explained, impatiently.
"Alright, alright," the kidnapper took out his phone, beginning to play death metal.
"Wake up, you bitch! Fuck, wake up! I’ve had enough of you! Hurry up, you jerk!" As the music played, the kidnapper yelled in her ear.
The woman frowned, unable to stand the blaring music, and stepped back a bit, whispering to the bald man beside her.
"Can you get in touch with Chen Ke?" the woman asked.
"Can’t find him for now, he seems to have vanished. But he did complete the contract; Harlowin is dead, not only that, but the founder and chairman of Lescott Spirit Production are also dead. Now, Li Moyang will take over them with ease," the bald man said.
"I’m considering handing Diana over to him as well, but we also need to be wary of him. He appears to have abilities beyond our expectations. A contingency plan is necessary," the woman said.
"Yes, Ms. Lin Yaying," the bald man replied with a slight bow.