Chapter 419 - Danger and trouble (13)

11 May, David Hwang's Villa, City K

David sat down on the sofa with his three key subordinates, having locked the door after they had swept the room for listening devices.

"Boss, you know that is overkill?"

"We cannot be too careful at this time. Who knows if the government have inserted spies years ago into our organisation."

"Everyone is loyal to the cause…"

David shook his head and said "We cannot take the chance. I trust you three, as you have been with me from the beginning, both in developing the legitimate business but in all our illegal activities."

With his mobile, he switched on the television to the news, and saw the image of dust and smoke billowing from JL International Mall in City F, hearing the reported say "This was the scene in the aftermath of the explosion inside the JL International Mall. We can report that police and military resources are on site starting a recovery mission, but the extent of the loss of life and damage inside the mall are presently unknow. A joint statement by the police and military have indicated that the incident is being investigated, but their focus is on rescue and treatment of those inside the Mall. JL International have released a short media statement saying 'The president, senior management and the Board of JL International are aware of the incident which occurred in our signature Mall in City F. We have representatives on site and are cooperating with civilian and military authorities to the extent as required and stand willing to assist where required. Once the situation is more stable, we will release a further statement.' Now back to the studio."

David switched the television to silent with subtitles, before turning "And we know from our clean-up man that the trigger man was killed in the aftermath of the incident. He has already gotten away and sent a message to confirm."

"You know boss, I disliked the idea of killing the trigger man."

"I know, but we needed to this time. The trigger men, for the first three attacks are disposable people we brought with us from ISX for this exact purpose. They were easily turned, but that means that we cannot trust them, but that background ensured that they are able to handle the bombers because those ideologically driven people work within their own belief system. Assessments?"

"Boss, it was never designed as an attack to destroy the building. It was always about death and casualties. It already tells us about how they will respond. The first step will always be to cordon off the scene, which they did. The surprise that I see is that the police have cordoned off the area, and it seems that the military are running what is happening inside. That we did not predict. There is only a maintenance facility and a supporting office. Not huge numbers, and from all the observations we had done before selecting City F as one of the initial targets not somewhere that we would expect a response like we are seeing. Did we miss something?"

David, hearing this kept watching the screen for another minute or so, with silence filling the air. "We must have. This is too quick for what we predicted, which means in the next couple of attacks we have to rethink using the chemicals we intended for mass casualties, because if this is how quick the response is, they will figure out what is used and react to minimise the inevitable deaths."

A series of nods came from around the room, but before anyone could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and Joan's voice came from outside "David, I need to talk to you, but the door appears locked."

"F*ck, boss. This is the last thing we need," responded one of the associates.

After shooting them a look, David called out "Joan, give us a couple of minutes, we are in the middle of something which we cannot stop doing. The door must have locked accidently."

"Fine, but hurry up," came Joan's response.

David paused and said "Gentleman, I need you to keep analysing what you see, because we have to determine what we can do going forward. Pay attention to what you see the military doing and if from our material you can match faces with those we have identified, or we suspect. I need to deal with Joan and play the good corporate CEO and offer technical IT support to them. Plus, can someone organise a meeting with Warren Gong. We need to get him tied in so when act dramatically we can minimise our risks and increase our chances of escaping without detection."

"Got it Boss."

David stood up and walked to the door, quickly exiting while his subordinates focused on what he needed. Seeing Joan was not waiting outside, he headed towards the casual lounge that opened onto the back patio, which had become her favourite place. As he entered the room, his suspicions were correct. Joan was sitting there, staring into the distance.

Moving into her vision, David, trying to sound concerned as he sat down said "What is it?"

Meanwhile, having watched David leave his meeting, Naomi moved towards David's office. As she reached the door, she dropped the papers she had in her hands. As she bent down, she deliberately slid some of them under the door, as she picked up the rest.

Knocking on the door, she called out "Apologise, I dropped some papers. Can I come in to pick them up."

The three subordinates in the room looked at each other. They knew some of the bosses concerns about Naomi, but he had given them clear instructions not to let her know that they had their suspicions.

After hearing called out "Come in" Naomi quickly entered the room and observed the papers were in the area she wanted but not exactly so she placed the papers in her hand down while picking up the others. Without being seen she placed a new surveillance device onto the floor while picking up the existing device. On walking out, she relaxed slightly, just hoping that they worked as well as Legend had told her they would, and that David did not find it.

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