325 Mysterious Madam

Castle — Parker's Office

A young blonde female agent stood nervously in front of Parker's desk. It was her first time facing the head of Shadow alone after a mission. As a level 2 agent, she didn't get to face Parker that often. The only time she got to face him was when she, along with the rest of the agents who also leveled up, was given a new security level identity in Shadow. She didn't understand why she was given this mission that came directly from Parker but she was in no position to question him.

The female agent patiently stood and waited for Parker's assessment of her written report. He was a scary person. A slim man with great posture and the air around him just screamed danger. His aura was intimidating like that of an important figure in the country.

Parker closed the folder and tossed it on top of his desk. Steepling his hands in front of him, he didn't look at the agent in the eye and fixed his gaze on the folder he just tossed, but the way he spoke sent chills down the agent's spine, "Tell me what happened, Agent."

The female agent cleared her throat and started to tell her story about what happened when she tried to put the bugs on Damien outside of Young Corporation and when she followed them towards Golden Phoenix Residences. She had explained everything in the written report so she only had to retell what she already wrote.

Parker drifted his gaze from his desk to the agent's eyes as though he was trying to study if she was telling the truth. He could see the beads of sweat forming on the agent's face but he disregarded it and leaned forward. After a minute of silence, he nodded, "You may go. Oh—and Agent? Keep this case confidential."

"Yes, Sir." The female agent exited Parker's office as soon as she was dismissed.

When Parker was now alone in his office, one corner of his mouth tilted upward, seemingly amused by what he had found out after hearing the report. Ordering the steward mission wasn't really aimed to spy on Damien Park or Katherine. His main goal was to see how they would react to the situation which was why he didn't specify a high-level agent for the mission. A low-level agent could be sloppy but that wasn't important. 

He still had doubts about Katherine's memories. So how the mission ended was questionable and interesting but he couldn't be a hundred percent positive on his doubts yet. So he may just have to be a little bit more creative the next time. 

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. A staff came in and said, "Sir, your plane is ready."

Parker kept the file in his drawer and locked it before he strolled out of his office. He had to fly overseas but it didn't mean that he was abandoning his plans for Katherine. 

…

Harbor City, Esmea — November 9 at 8 a.m.

He didn't believe that Parker was going to just let the matter about Katherine go just like that but he could only follow his orders and stay out of his radar as best as he could. Now that he knew Parker was starting to doubt him, he had to move quickly or he may lose his chance. He was playing a dangerous game but after being in Shadow for too long, he was willing to take the risk and die trying rather than not try at all.

Chris arrived at a really posh restaurant. An exclusive restaurant that was for members only. He looked up at the sign and read the bold signage that said "Central Harbor Restaurant". It had been a while since the last time that he came here almost six months ago and ran into Katherine who didn't recognize him then. 

He wasn't supposed to meet the person whom he was about to meet today as they were scheduled to meet in ten days. They had been meeting twice or thrice a year for a few years now but because of his current circumstances, Chris had to request an earlier meetup. It was a good thing that he was given this chance to see that person today. Because if he had to wait for ten more days, he thought that it would be too late and Parker might already order a hit on him.

"The madam is ready to see you now," said one of the security guards to Christopher.

Chris alighted the car and entered the restaurant, lowering his head as he followed the men in black towards the private rooms on the third floor. Upon reaching the empty hallway that was leading to the private rooms, he took a deep breath and stood outside the door of the usual private room where they would often meet.

He knocked once and then turned the knob, pushing it open to see a woman in her fifties waiting for him at the table.

"Hello, Christopher, it's lovely to see you. Come… Have a seat," said the mysterious madam dressed in a cream-colored dress with an American flag pin on the left side of it where her heart should be.

Chris's heart was hammering in his chest but reminding himself why he was doing this, he felt even more resolute as he stepped inside the private dining room and faced the woman with a strong resolve. He was doing this for the good of the country and its people.

…

Meanwhile at Golden Phoenix Residences

Styles was munching on his breakfast cereal when he received a notification on his handheld device. It was a notification from the search that he did on Chris from a few days ago after Katherine asked him to. A software program had been running since that night and it was the first time that he received a ping. 

He couldn't see any details on his small device so he hurriedly went to his bedroom and checked the monitors. A high technology program was running on it. It was a facial recognition that would go over the security feeds that he hacked from the restaurant and the nearby establishments. It took him a while because some feeds were no longer usable or lost due to an automatic override if the feed wasn't manually saved.

Styles clicked the play button on the video and watched as Chris entered the restaurant and then exited it a little over an hour later. There was no one else with him so Styles had no idea what he was doing there or who he was meeting with.

Even so, Styles was sure about one thing: Chris was there to give information to someone. He came to this conclusion when he noticed that when Chris entered the restaurant, he brought a folder with him. However, when he left the restaurant, there was nothing in his hands. But as to who he was meeting with, that's what they needed to find out.