Chapter 233 - A Walking Target in Red

November 3 - Magnum Hotel

At half past five, the sun was setting and Katherine's heart started to race. It had been so long since the last time she had a mission and she was having the jitters. This was totally different than when she was chasing the skips during her hunts the previous month. She had never doubted herself that she could complete the jobs that she had to do. 

However, this time was different. She had to be someone whom she hasn't been for sixteen long years. She used to enjoy playing different personas every time but this one was the hardest of them all.

For the many missions that she had before, she always had a target. She would usually spend time learning and studying her targets so that she could play her cards very well. In a matter of no time, her targets would be eating her hand. 

This time… she wasn't the predator. Katherine Young was the target. And she had to play as the enticing prey to lure her enemies to her.

Since there were only three of them in the team, they didn't have an army to back them up on this. But they had each others' backs. And that was enough for Katherine to feel better.

"What's the safe word?" Styles asked as he handed Katherine an inconspicuous earpiece, interrupting her thoughts.

"Why do I need a safe word?" She attached the earpiece into her left ear and fixed her hair into place.

"Who knows when you need one? Your exes will probably be swarming the place, maybe you'd need rescuing."

"You make it sound like I dated around…" Katherine frowned. She only ever had one serious relationship. What exes?

"What's your least favorite cocktail?"

Katherine thought about it for a second and said the first thing that came to her mind, "Pink Lady. It's too sweet."

"I thought you liked sweet? Also, no one orders that."

"Yeah… Not this one." Of course, she didn't like the cocktail she had the last time. It was all just water, colored syrup, and cream. Maybe if it had gin like the original recipe, it would have tasted better.

"Alright then. Pink Lady is your safe word. Just say it and we'll come get you."

Katherine briefly smiled at Styles who was already back to his work station with several monitors, checking all the security cameras in the whole building.

They were set up inside a trailer van just outside the venue. She had already dressed up and was ready to face the cameras soon.

"Here," Amelia reached out and in her hand was a weapon holder.

Receiving it, Katherine checked her dagger and gun to make sure they were securely placed before strapping them onto her left thigh – the dagger on the outer while the Glock 43 on the inner thigh. 

Falcon disguised herself as one of the bodyguards, wearing a black suit and a white shirt underneath. She wore contact lenses, a dark black wig that was above shoulder length and had drawn a mole near her mouth. Unlike Katherine, she didn't like dressing up differently every time but this was something she had to do in order to conceal herself but still be in the same room with Katherine if she needed her. 

A beeping sound was heard, indicating that it was fifteen minutes before six in the evening and it was time for Katherine to move.

"Alright, ladies. It's showtime." Styles swiveled his chair and gave Katherine a once-over, the corners of his mouth curled up as he commented, "Wowza. Queen, you don't know how much I missed you."

Katherine was doing some final touches with her makeup and putting on a pair of sparkling diamond earrings that her grandfather gave her earlier. "Just like old times?"

"Nah. Even better. You look like a real woman now." Styles winked before turning his back to face the monitors.

She took it as a compliment. Of course, the last time that they had worked together was on a mission five years ago. She was still a young lady acting like a woman. Softly chuckling, she put on a black coat covering her up from the chilly night.

"Check."

"Check."

Katherine and Amelia checked their earpieces and Styles gave them an 'OK' sign with his hand above his head without turning away from the monitors that he was closely monitoring.

"All right. Let's roll." Falcon opened the back door of the trailer van and walked out, checking her surroundings before letting Katherine out.

The two of them headed to the side entrance of Magnum Hotel. As soon as the two entered, they separated and walked towards different sides. While they should be in the same room, they couldn't be seen together just in case Shadow was lurking somewhere.

"Katherine! Where have you been? We're about to start!" Chairman Young hurriedly walked over to his granddaughter as soon as she entered the dressing room.

"Sorry, Grandpa. I had to get some air." Katherine shrugged off her coat, in which Frank readily received.

"What happened to your dress?! Did you get stuck somewhere? It's ripped! Oh my goodness!" Chairman Young's eyes almost bugged out when he saw the very… very high slit on the right side of her dress. He tentatively reached the coat to cover her up but Katherine stopped him, laughing at his reaction.

"No, Grandpa… It's not ripped." Her eyes became slightly misty from laughing. "This is the design of the dress."

"It is? Well, whoever designed it almost gave me a heart attack. Are you sure you're wearing that?"

"I thought it was nice?" Katherine checked herself out in the mirror and wondered if the high slit was too much. She didn't think she would scare her old grandpa. Glancing at the wall clock, she no longer had time to change. 

"Ah. It doesn't matter. You're beautiful no matter what you wear. We need to go." Chairman Young led Katherine back to the side entrance and they got into a limousine. 

They had to look like they came somewhere else instead of already being in the hotel so they circled around the block before heading towards the entrance. The old man didn't understand why they had to do this, it was one of those "just do, don't ask" that his granddaughter came up with. Youngsters these days. What were they thinking? He could never figure them out.

As the limousine came to a stop in front of the short flight of stairs leading to the hotel, Katherine took a deep breath seeing the flock of reporters anticipating her arrival.

She didn't realize that her grandfather had already gone out of the vehicle until he tapped her shoulder. "Shall we?" He smiled.

Placing her hand on his arm, Katherine alighted the vehicle and gracefully walked up the stairs while flashes of the cameras came from different directions and questions from the reporters started.

At the top of the stairs, the wind blew past Katherine as she stood with her chin up and her eyes scanned the media who were so excited in front of her. She tuned out all of the questions, ignoring whatever they were interested in and took control of the floor.

She looked regal and bold in the deep red evening dress in satin. It was long-sleeved yet off the shoulder, had a sweetheart neckline cupping her round breasts perfectly and a very high slit that sat atop her hip bone. Without looking gaudy, it showed a good amount of skin in the right places. Katherine oozed with sex appeal — she defined 'oomph'.

With earthy nude lipstick-stained lips, she smiled to the cameras showing off her pearly whites and said, "My name is Katherine Young. Thank you for your warm welcome."

Her very short statement left the crowd wanting more. But before they could even recover the unexpected lack of information, Katherine had already turned towards the entrance of the hotel and walked with poise, her smooth and flowy dress swaying as she moved through the windy night. 

'I'm officially a walking target. Now, come out come out wherever you are~", she sang in her head.