411 No Escape

Amelia sped off with Katherine's bike and headed straight to Park Group's office building. Damien told her to stay put but she just couldn't help herself because sitting and doing nothing only made her feel restless. And meeting the detective earlier that day only made her even more unsettled. She had this itch to scratch, so she needed to do this, or she might go crazy.

Soon, she arrived at the building's block and parked the motorcycle at an alley nearby. She had spent months in this office when Lawrence Park was still alive, so she knew the place pretty well. Despite some changes on the exterior of the building, the interior was still pretty much the same. And with Styles in her earpiece, it made her work more manageable.

She didn't really know what she needed to find, but if Frederick didn't have anything valuable for her at the study in Park Mansion, he must have something in his office. "Styles, tell me when you're ready," she said as she waited for his signal. She was wearing an all-black outfit—a fitted leather jacket, pants, a hip pack, lightweight tactical gloves, and she had her hair up in a ponytail. 

"Alright, I'm in," Styles said through the comms. "You should be clear in the south. But you only have a minute to pass through there before the guard comes back."

"Got it." Amelia opened the door of the south entryway which was located in the back alley where she parked the bike. With a small tactical flashlight, she breathed in and entered through the door quietly.

"Cross the hall and enter the elevator. I already altered the camera feed and the security system. You'll breeze your way through to the top floor in 14 seconds." 

She followed his instructions and in no time, she arrived at the top floor. "I'm here. This seems to be very easy. Watch my back, Styles. I'm heading to the office."

"The coast is clear. You have less than ten minutes."

Amelia reached the door to the CEO's office and she clicked her tongue when she saw the digital door lock. It had been many years since she last came here but she pictured that the door would have been the same. How times have changed! "The door has a smart lock," she said as she stared at the rectangular device with a digital touch keypad above the handle.

"Don't fret. I got you. How does it look like?"

"Sending you a picture." She took a quick photo of the door lock and sent it to Styles who received it a few seconds later.

"Alright. One sec." The sound of his mechanical keyboard tapping in the background only lasted for a few seconds before he came back. "See that small panel on the bottom of the handle? Pry that open from the bottom and there should be a Type C pin slot. Connect that to your phone."

She must have done the right thing when she heard Styles say, "Good, give me a few seconds." There were a bunch of numbers and letters appearing on the screen of her phone that she didn't understand. A loading bar appeared and the next thing she knew, there was a click on the door and then it opened.

"Bravo, Styles. We should rob a bank next time," Amelia joked as she got inside the office, leaving the door behind her ajar. 

"I don't mind that," Styles casually answered as he kept his eyes on his monitors, making sure that the guards were away. "You have about six minutes left, Falcon."

Entering the room was nostalgic for her as it was once Lawrence's office when he was still alive. When he became the CEO, she was already a few weeks pregnant and she was still working for him at that time. Brushing the memories that were clawing its way to resurface in her mind, she started on the desk and picked open the locked drawers, rummaging them carefully. Most of the contents inside were company documents. On the bottom drawer was a bottle of expensive whiskey and a handgun with bullets and magazines next to it. "No surprise there," she muttered to herself. 

She was just about to close the drawer when she noticed the base of it. The interior height of the drawer box didn't seem to match the height of the drawer's face. She reached in and tried knocking the floor of the bottom drawer—it was hollow. She carefully removed the bottle of whiskey and handgun, set them on the desk, and then tried to lift the board up.

Inside the secret compartment, there was a long envelope. Amelia took it out and checked the documents inside. "What are you hiding in here, Freddie..." she muttered as she laid the papers on the desk. They were all titles of different properties locally and internationally.

"Falcon, you need to get out of there now, two men in black are heading up," Styles's voice rang in her ear and she quickly took out her phone as she said, "Hang on, I need to take pictures."

"You have less than a minute to get out of there."

She took pictures of the titles and returned everything back to their places. When she was done, she backed away from the desk and caught sight of a huge painting behind the office chair. She only remembered that there was a safe behind it. "There's a—"

"What are you doing? Get out of there now!" Styles was getting anxious.

"But—"

"Falcon, now! The elevator's arriving."

Amelia hissed and hurriedly slipped out of the room, the door closed and locked behind her. She headed straight to the stairwell as per Styles's directions and just as she disappeared through the door, the security men waltzed in the hallway. She sighed in relief as she barely made it out of there.

"You'd have to go down until the twelfth floor through the stairs and go to the opposite hall. Be careful, there are a few men at the eleventh-floor."

Amelia alighted the flight of stairs and when she was about to land on the twelfth, she heard voices from the floor down and the smell of cigarette was evident. She stealthily opened the door, careful not to make a sound that would catch the men's attention. When she was back inside the main building, there was static in her earpiece and she couldn't hear Styles clearly. "Styles? Styles!" she whispered loudly but she couldn't hear his voice anymore. She checked her phone and found that there was no signal. "Shît."

Without guidance, she decided to move on her own and cautiously proceeded towards the opposite side of the building like Styles said earlier. She took her time avoiding the cameras as she didn't know whether the security feeds were still altered or not. When she was just about to reach her destination, there were faint voices that were coming to her direction. She looked from left to right, in search of a place to hide. Just when she was about to move, a hand reached to grab her arm and hauled her inside a utility room. 

Her heart raced at the surprise. Amelia retracted her arm and was ready to attack until she heard the other whisper, "It's me."

The room was dark and she could barely see the other person but she recognized the whispered voice immediately. "Katherine?" she whispered back, confused as to why she was there.

...

...

...

November 16 — Friday

Damien just landed on the tarmac at 11:50 in the evening with an anxious heart. As soon as he did, he immediately called Katherine but she didn't answer. He tried Amelia and Styles but there was no answer either.

"Why the hell is no one answering my calls?" he bit out as he approached Markus who stood next to the Range Rover.

Markus cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head as he shifted on his weight. Then, he informed the already irritated Devil in front of him. "B-Boss… Ms. Young and your mother…" He swallowed. "They're at the police station."

The look on Damien's face was unreadable as he wordlessly got in the driver's seat. Markus had to climb the backseat of the car quickly before his boss sped off into the traffic.