Lady of Fire

VI : BLACK DAHLIAS DUSTED WITH PETALS OF SNAPDRAGON

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As soon as Kai read the note from Zombie, the sound of his heartbeat fainted. Frozen for a second, his hand flew to his gaped mouth.

He's known of what his grandfather can do and he's certain that whatever plan he's got for Shia, it's not good.

Wasting no more of staring at space, he immediately rushes outside and scans through the crowd. The event have started to introduce the people who participated with the charity.

But the event isn't what he's focused on, where did Shia go?

Recalling that the last time he saw her is that she walked away from him. Which way? Looking all around, there's no sign of her inside the venue.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and tried to call her. But when it started ringing, he felt a vibrations on his chest. With his forehead creased deeply, he tugs his coat open and saw that it was Shia's phone inside her purse.

Breathing out a curse, he ended the call and let the search begin by himself.

Insistence blocked all his sense of being taken away from searching for Shia. Until his feet led him at the garden of the venue.

He halted when he saw her back facing him. She's standing before the fountain, unmoving. Her left hand hangs on her side, not a muscle ever moves. Even the tips of her fingers are frozen.

There are no other people around outside the moment the event started, and so no one's around. Just her, and him.

Vigilantly eyeing around, see if there's any traces of his grandfather's gang members. Over the barricades, sweeping for any signs that says someone visited her to threat him. Yet he saw nothing.

"Ms. Rivers, I need you to come with me inside. They're acknowledging the foundation and the funders." He cleared his throat and steps a little closer. "You were an hour late, I needed my secretary earlier and you weren't there. Now I need you to--" He cuts himself off when he noticed that she's not listening.

Frowning, he tried to peep on what she's look at without any words nor moving at all.

"Ms. Rivers, I'm talking to you." He uttered, enunciating every word. "Shia!" Raising his voice, he decided to walk near her and turn her around.

"I didn't mean it." She whispered.

Fumbling for words, Kai has his eyes wide, gasping audibly when he saw her dress being drenched by blood. She holds a handgun with a silencer attached to it and still pointing forward.

"I swear, I didn't." She muttered, the hand that holds the gun trembles. Yet even how lost her voice is, even how much her lower lip quivers, her face is still blank and of no signs of emotions.

His eyes walked around the place before swatting the gun away from her and throws it on the fountain where the clearest water turned blood. There's a masked man floating on the waters, lifeless with a lot of holes on his body. Shia must have kept squeezing the trigger till the magazine emptied.

Kai took off his coat and wraps it around her. Pulling her at the near by chair, he took his phone and called for an emergency.

"Shia, look at me." Kneeling on the floor after phoning the authorities, he cups her face. Her eyes that are colder than zero degrees are lost in space. "What happened? Tell me what happened. Did he try to hurt you? Why do you have the gun in your hands?" He asked.

Instead of being answered, Shia's hollow gaze found him. "He--" She choked and glances where the body is.

Kai pulled her face to look back at him. "He, what? What did he do? Did he say anything to you? Did he threaten you? Shia, I need you to remember what happened, tell me." He calmly told her as he tried hard to keep her face looking straight at him.

"He attacked me." Her lower lip quivered before it opens again. "He told me..." Her eyes blinked a few times before swallowing the lump that stubbornly blocks her throat to breathe. "He told me that he'd kill me... he mentioned a name and-- and-- and--"

Nodding his head, he encouraged her to continue. Caressing his thumb on her cheek. "What did he do? What did he say to you? What's the name?" Continuesly asking, he's eager to know, his grandpa should have something to do with this. No one will ever try to hurt her but his grandfather. The fact that Zombie gave him a warning sign, it all make sense.

"He said that if the person didn't show up accord to what the deal is, he said that he'll be watching. He-- he pointed a gun on me and I just had to react, I didn't want to die so I did what I could and I succeeded. I don't know how but I just did and I-- I--" Her eyes once again found the fountain that still runs red.

Shushing her fir comfort that doesn't look like she needed it, Kai pulled her into a hug. A gesture that he had to make sure that she will feel safe around him.

Kai didn't have the chance to see who's behind the mask of the dead man but from the attire, he can figure immediately that it's one of his grandfather's puppets. The so called family.

Fondling her back, Kai whispered comforting words through her ear until the sound of sirens approaches the area. And started the investigation.

It wasn't that easy to go under it. Being asked repeatedly of how would the crime met them. In the police station where some possible suspects were brought, Kai sits on a blue chair while waiting for Shia to be relieved.

This isn't just happening, his grandfather have already agreed with the life he chooses. But why is Nabil trying so hard to pull him back to the gang, now that he's having a life that many people wishes to have, the way of living that is a little too hard to get to him?

Why would Nabil would break his only rule? To never change what was planned, always stick to what's been said. And now that Kai have had found someone to clear a path with, his old man starts getting in to pictures.

"Mr. Palma?" Detective Oligarch finally came out with a face of a professional, he has both of his hands clasped behind him, chin up and wearing a formal clothing that struggles to keep his huge paunch by the buttons and belt.

"Detective?" Kai stood up and lowered his eyes to look at the short policeman. "Is she okay? She's very nervous when we got here." He asked, running his fingers through his hair backwards, showing off the forehead that has been hiding behind his hairs and it revealed his dark eyebrows that still holds the scar he earned four years ago.

"I can assure you that Ms. Rivers is fine." The detective answered that gave him a slight relief. "We're going to run an investigation around the area, right now that venue is closed to public and only the authorities are permitted to enter. The crime scene is very discreet, we found no signs of the crime happened except of course from the body we have recovered." He continued.

"Do you have any identification with the body?" Licking his lips, his enthusiasm towards the identification of the man lingers around him and showing off his face.

"We're going to run some tests first since we've got no records from the man. And concerning on Ms. Rivers, we asked her if she's got a fight with someone or had any misunderstanding with someone, she said none."

Of course they'll find nothing on her, she's innocent. The reason why it all happened because of Kai's grandfather. She's got nothing to do with this.

"The team swept the CCTV camera footages from 5 kilometers in all directions till the venue. The only footage we have taken with the man is at the venue. He's invisible."

Releasing a sigh, he knew it. The gang members can be showy most of the time when doing things like this, attacking someone, attacking people. Yet it depends on who they are after. For sometimes, they work very silent. Like this one.

"Would you mind me asking some questions, Mr. Palma?" He asked as he kept his feet still from where he stand. "What is your relationship with Ms. Rivers?" With a lift of an eyebrow, Detective Oligarch asked, placing both of his hands under his fat belly and holds on to his belt.

"She works for me, she's my secretary." Honestly answering the question, Kai straightly stare at the detective so that he can prove he's telling the truth.

"Were you with her when she got there at the event?"

"No, I was waiting for her to show up at the event, she arrived half an hour late." He replied without faltering. "We danced and she left." Recalling, how she walked away from him and left him in the middle of the dance floor.

"Left?" Detective Oligarch repeated, sparaking an interest in him. "Do you know where did she go?"

"No." Heaving a deep sigh, he answered.

"Where were you around ten minutes before you found her, Mr. Palma?"

Licking his drying lips, Kai still stood still with what he has to stand for. Since he has to keep his honesty. "I was inside the building, talking business with a lot of people inside."

"And how did you find her? You're the one who called for emergency, right?"

Nodding his head, he placed both of his hands in his hips. "I was looking for her because I needed her to be with me. I've got open investors wanting to join the company's marketing. Then I found her at the back of the venue, shocked and she was unable to talk to me." Lowering his eyes, he can't seem to bare seeing her like that again. "She told me that she didn't mean doing it. It shocked her bad."

"Indeed she did." Detective Oligarch nodded his head. "She wasn't that responsive from our questions at first." He shared and clears his throat. "Do you know any relatives that we can contact? She's in need of supervision of her family."

Harkening back what was on her resume, he nodded his head. "She has her file in my office, I think she's staying with her foster parents." He said. "But I don't have their number."

Detective Oligarch clicked his tongue and scratches the side of his nose. "We'll take her under our custody for a night, and maybe you could get back here tomorrow morning so we can contact her guardians." Showing a tight-lipped smile, he offered and wipes his mouth with his left hand but quickly withdraw it so he could hold on his belt.

Narrowing his eyes on the Detective, Kai peeps behind the him. "Maybe I can take her to my home, she'll be safer with me. Can I take her now?" His tone changed, from worried to an authoritative one.

For a second there, the so-called detective had his mouth parted before he noticed it himself and closed to clear his throat. "I'm afraid that uh-- we still have to take a little bit of her time. My team is still working on squeezing for information as--"

"Aren't authorities won't 'squeeze' for information towards a victim under the situation of shock?" He asked before walking pass by the paunchy detective.

"Mr. Palma." He called for him but Kai didn't listen to him and instead, he walked straightly to the interrogator room and opens the door. "You can't go in there, Sir!" Detective Oligarch stopped just right behind him.

Finding the interrogation room empty, Kai faced the Detective and pulls him by his collar. "Where is she?!" He yelled at the Detective in full of anger, catching some attention from the group of policemen I'm station.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" Someone shouted and tried to pull them apart.

Kai doesn't need hands to pull him away. "Where did you take her?!" He once again yelled, eyeing intently on the Detective who innocently looked at him.

"Sir, please calm down. Talk to me and tell me who are you looking for." A man in uniform tried to tall to him but once they all calmed, Kai once again pulled the hand of the Detective and looks at him in the eyes.

Once again, their group started a commotion, loud enough to be heard by the neighboring crowd.

"Mr. Palma?"

A voice calmed the cram down when Kai chose to stop when she took his focus from causing a jam.

"What's going on?" She asked with that blank eyes and furrowed brows.

Pulling himself off of the clutching him by his limbs. "Ms. Rivers, are you okay?" He asked and walks close to her. "What did they do to you?"

"I just want to go home." In lieu of answering his question, she displayed her tired eyes. Moving away from the policewoman that escorts her, she walks close to him.

Nodding his head, he took her hand and excuses through those who went rescuing from the fight he started. Even so Kai walked away, he pockets the ring that he pulled from the finger of Detective Oligarch.

It's an evidence that his grandfather is still powerful, he might still be old and weak but the power he has in his hands is still stronger than an armada attacking a small village. Also means that Nabil's men are scattered all over the place and Detective Oligarch is a mole in the authority.

But what bothers him is that, why didn't they take Shia away when they have the chance?