498 Group Call

Young Corporation

At two in the afternoon, Katherine was in her office softly flipping pages on a certain document that she was studying. All over her desk was a stack of folders from over fifteen years ago—documents about the company's projects. She was trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. The documents were old and dusty that made her sneeze and cough from time to time. She had to frequently sanitize her hands every now and then.

Her eyes got itchy so she took a break and applied eye drops to relieve the irritation, keeping her eyes closed for a bit as she leaned against the backrest of her armchair. But even with her eyes closed, she was still thinking about a lot of possibilities. She didn't think that her father knew Frederick Park—or had anything to do with him, and Damien was convinced that it was somewhat sort of a contract killing and not a personal grudge. Which was why she was trying to find a connection between her father and Frederick.

While she had all of this in mind, her phone rang—it was Styles. Thinking that it was something important, she answered it right away. "Everything okay?"

"We have a situation…" Styles proceeded to tell Katherine about the phone call that he just received from Gus, telling him about Parker's order to assassinate Senator Jones.

"What?! Why? What's the ROC?" She straightened in her seat—ROC stands for Reason of Cancelation. This was so alarming for her. She had killed many in the past but it would still be a big deal for her—especially now that she valued life much more than she did in the past.

"That's the thing... Parker didn't say anything. He ordered this as a solo mission. Gus doesn't have any backup whatsoever. This is so shady, isn't it? I mean even the missions we had before all had ROCs but this one didn't and it came directly from that old man. Not to mention—in the midst of searching for Chris."

"W-When?"

"Tonight at nine."

Checking the clock on the wall, she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. They didn't have that much time. There were only seven hours left until then. "Did you call Damien about this?"

"No, not yet. I called you first."

"Where is Senator Jones at the moment?"

"It's in the same state where they are—Florida. Parker told Gus to make it look like a suicide. Queen… We can't let this happen." Styles's voice was laced with concern.

Katherine thought the same. Now that they knew that someone was a target, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she didn't do something to stop this. But how? It takes at least a couple of hours to get to the next state and she wouldn't even know how she could save the senator without compromising her identity.

"Queen?" Styles called when she didn't say anything for a while.

"I pulled up the senator's records and I don't see anything extreme, or maybe I just hadn't searched enough."

"I have to save her, Styles…"

"Are you… going to tell Damien?"

Katherine thought about it. She should tell Damien but at the same time, she was hesitant because she knew that he was in an important meeting at the moment that had been scheduled for weeks already. Apart from that, they had planned to visit the Young Mansion and check out her Aunt Deborah's office that night—an opportunity that rarely happens. Clenching her hand into a fist, she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She just didn't want to be a burden to him anymore.

…

Half an hour later…

A Range Rover parked at the basement level parking of Young Corporation. Damien sat at the driver's seat, watching Katherine as she walked towards his car and settled in the passenger's seat. She called him earlier and told him everything that was going on with Gus and what she thought they should do. This was a grave situation and just like her, he couldn't just ignore after knowing the situation. If they had a chance to save someone's life, they would do it.

He kissed her temple and gave her a brief hug while trying to check if she was alright. "Are you okay? Your eyes are slightly red."

She nodded. "I was studying some files that I got from the archives and they were dusty. I'm okay…"

The tablet in her hand made a soft melody, an indication that a call was coming in. They held the tablet together and pressed the answer button, in the next second, Styles's video appeared on the left and Chris's on the right. Due to their distance, a group call was the most convenient method for them to discuss the matter at hand.

Styles had already told Chris about Gus's situation prior to the group call, so they were waiting for his thoughts.

"Do you know why she's being targeted? Were you also in contact with her?" Katherine asked.

"No." Chris shook his head. "I had never talked to this senator."

"Can't you ask Hughes? Don't you think you should let her know about this? We have to do something. I can't let an innocent person die and not do anything."

"I can't. Hughes told me not to contact her at all. At least for a week. It's too risky at the moment. She doesn't think that Parker knows about her yet. Although…" Chris paused as he tried to make sense of something in his mind. "I have a feeling that this senator could be one of the executives behind Shadow…"

"How do you know that?" Damien probed.

"Hughes doesn't tell me a lot of things. She believed that it was safer that way—what with me being in Shadow as it might compromise my decisions. So the least I knew about those people, the safer it was for me when I faced Parker. However, I remember that Hughes told me once that one of the executives was in the Congress. It would make sense if it was Senator Jones… I saw Parker talking to her once a long time ago, but I didn't think much of it at that time."

"This changes things…" Styles muttered. "If Jones is indeed one of the people behind Shadow, why would Parker order an elimination?"

"Maybe… there's a conflict?" She raised a brow in question.

"What if…" Damien looked to the side and then stared at Chris through the screen. "What if… Parker is being pressured by the executives because he still couldn't find you? In a company, a CEO who runs it would be put in a difficult position if things go south. The board would pressure the CEO and if the situation was serious—like you on the loose with all the company's secrets—the board would want to replace the CEO or have him step down if he couldn't solve this problem as it would be putting everyone in a bind. This organization isn't as simple as that of a normal company. I could only guess that those people pressuring Parker are more brutal—what with Shadow being a dark organization and all..."

Katherine sensed where Damien was headed with his explanation and she chimed in, "And with how manipulative and clever Parker is, he should be keeping tabs of everyone in their circle."

Chris nodded in agreement. "Parker would definitely do something like this if he finds out that someone was out to get him. Take out the root cause of his problems."

"Guys…" Styles called. "This is all just speculation, but I think we are on the right track. However, we still don't have any solution on how to handle the situation about Jones. What do we do?"

There was silence for a few seconds until Katherine finally spoke up, "Call Gus. We need to save the senator."

"So, this is a rescue mission? How are you going to do that? You can't just waltz in there. Parker has eyes everywhere. You'll blow your cover," said Styles.

"Styles is right. I also can't allow you to go there. It's too dangerous," Damien told her.

"No, I'm not talking about me… I still need to figure out how… But we can turn this around. Let's use this to our advantage." With all eyes on her, she added, "Let's stage Gus's death tonight while he carries his mission."