Love Began with the First Meeting



"Hah...hah... Let's go get a present for the boy." Richard chortled. "Or he is going to throw a tantrum."

"Yes, sir." The secretary answered with a smile. He swerved the car around and headed for the nearest mall.

He pulled up in the underground parking lot and then respectfully followed Richard into the mall. Richard bought some expensive toys and requested that the sales assistant deliver them by courier.

It was not until they were back in the parking lot that Richard discovered that he had left his phone in the store. He frowned. "I forgot my phone in the store."

"Don't worry. I will go get it, sir. You can wait in the car," the secretary said quickly.

Richard nodded and accepted his considerate advice.

After Richard got into the car, the secretary left to retrieve the phone. Richard set up another video chat on his iPad with his grandson. He talked and joked with the boy to kill time, letting him guess what presents he would be getting.

Just as Richard was laughing aloud in the car, a dark figure emerged from behind a pillar in the parking lot. He moved very slowly. The man was dressed in a black suit, a black coat and black shoes, with a black hat shadowing his face.novelbin

He lifted his head slightly. Under the brim his thin, sexual lips came into light, and the day-old stubble on his face created an air of indifferent isolation about him. As he narrowed his eyes a feeling of callousness shrouded him. He stared straight at the car window and at Richard, his eyes icy cold with a thirst for blood.

A chilly smile played about his lips. Slowly he pulled his hand out of his pocket. Something silver flashed in his fingers. Then a gun with a silencer appeared and aimed at Richard.

His smile deepened. For a long while he just enjoyed the pleasure of aiming at Richard but didn't pull the trigger. Then he lowered his arm fractionally. The gun was now pointing at a bomb which had been secretly planted in the side panel of the car. No one but the mysterious man knew how and when the bomb had been planted there. With a slight quiver of his finger, the trigger could be pulled. The bullet would hit the bomb. The car and Richard would blow up into pieces.

His pulse quickened as he visualized this scenario with great enjoyment. Excitement seized him as he fractionally increased the weight on his finger. The trigger slowly moved under the pressure.

He found that the parking lot was so quiet that he could almost hear the scrape of the firing pin and springs moving. With only a little more pressure, the bullet would split the air and... His flinty eyes darkened with relish at the thought. Just as he was about to press it harder, something cold touched his temple.

He froze. His eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Put the gun down!" the new gunman said.

The dark garbed man sneered. "We can have a try to see if you're quicker than me." His eyes darkened. "I've risked my life to be here. I don't intend to leave here with him still alive. It will be nice to have Richard joining me in hell."

"Then try it!"

The man frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Just try it. Pull the trigger." The voice behind the dark garbed gunman held a hint of laughter. "Let's see what will happen first, the explosion or your death.""

The man's eyes gleamed with suppressed malice. He grounded his teeth, his voice cold as he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be even happier if I kill him?" There was a pause as the two gunmen faced off in a stalemate.

"I hate people who stick their noses in my business," the man answered as a small smile twisted his lips. "Richard will die, but not in this way." "Cain, you are going to regret this," the dark garbed man retorted spitefully. "Everything you wanted to lay your hand on has been destroyed. Do you really believe you will get yet another chance to kill Richard? No matter how talented you are, you won't get a chance like this again if you let him return to the base."

"Well, we will just have to wait and see." Cain's frigid voice was a melody of sinister ruthlessness and curt domination.

Either because of Cain's words or due to the stress of the situation, the man loosened his grip on the gun. "I hope this won't be something you will regret."

"I rarely regret anything," Cain replied indifferently and also dropped his hand which still held a gun.

Then the secretary returned with Richard's phone. At the sight of the car still in perfect condition and the passenger safe, he froze visibly. The secretary looked around. For a moment, he couldn't make up his mind whether to get into the car or not.

He swallowed hard as he saw the man in the car bobbing his head animatedly while speaking on the iPad again. He had lingered too long in the mall already. The message he was waiting for had never come. This had filled him with unease. Nothing had happened to the car, but he hadn't known that until now.

He looked around again and everything seemed very normal. He climbed into the car nervously. On the way back to the army base, every nerve in his body seemed tautened at the thought that if the accident arrived late, it would take his life as well.

But they arrived at S Army safely. Nothing happened on the road. The secretary heaved a sigh of relief. Whatever happened to the mission, he was now safe in the base.

At that moment he had no idea what was waiting for him at the base.

After days of frustration, William felt invigorated again. It only took one look at him to know there was some good news. It was so obvious that when Richard saw him, Richard took a long second to respond.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense. But Richard soon regained his composure. His eyes swept over William and noticed the people behind him, who all seemed extremely serious. "What has happened?"

William answered in a slow voice, "Sir, they are from the inspection department."

Richard's stern expression didn't flicker despite the fact he was shocked inwardly. "The inspection department... The Spring Holiday isn't over yet. What are they doing here?"

"We are here to take you back with us. We want your cooperation in an investigation," the man beside William said coldly. "Please, sir."

"What a joke! You have no right to do so." Richard's face changed, and rage showed in his cold eyes.

"We have the approval of the Military Commission." The Captain of the inspection team sneered as he unfolded a paper. "Will this be enough for you, Mr. Lu?" Richard reluctantly accepted the document.

The stamp on the paper was as red as the blood, which he had seen a thousand times before, and suddenly it made his eyes sting. In spite of his astonishment, Richard had been through too many crises before and was good at concealing his true emotions. He replied in a cold voice, "Well done, inspection department." With a long, cold look at William, he followed after the inspection team.

His secretary didn't know what was going on and was taken into custody as well. He and Richard both had no idea how things had ended up in this way.

"Mr. Du, thank you for your cooperation." The inspection team Captain smiled at him.

William nodded. "We all have an obligation to fight against those who would dare to harm our country," he said with a smile. Then he let out a sigh, his face growing grim. "It's a pity that we've lost two men in this. The ending isn't so perfect."

The Captain sighed as well. "Looking back on it, there were too many coincidences and our plan wasn't executed very meticulously. But in a way, the two men had sacrificed their lives to bring an infamous drug baron to justice. That's some comfort. It's just that you have to face the unpleasant task of consoling their families."

William nodded solemnly. They talked for a while and then the inspection team Captain also left. As the inspection team leader walk away and was out of sight, William turned around and tried to phone Edgar. Still, he couldn't get through.

Frowning, he muttered in a low voice, "Things are almost settled. His number is still disconnected, why?"

William muttered a curse under his breath. But at that moment, Edgar was really busy. A special assignment had ruined his Spring Holiday. They had devised this plot, and executed the performance themselves. There were some things which he couldn't control. But... What was now going on here? Had the play became a reality?

Edgar tightened the karabiner hooks and then fastened the rope to a pipe on the hotel roof. He looked down from the roof and prepared to repel down. Which room had Cain locked Maggie in? He didn't know. The hotel walls were made of glass! If he went down too quickly he'd missed some floors; too slowly and he might crack the glass. It demanded a perfect control of his strength. But, if he couldn't find Maggie in time, Cain might move her again.

"Are you sure that you can do this, Edgar?" Tompson casually leaned against the rail, smiling at Edgar with a can of cola in his hand.

Edgar gave him a sideways glance and sneered, "I will deal with you later." With that, he jumped with rope in his hand. For a moment he seemed almost to float in mid-air, and then he plummeted at a thrilling speed while the rope screamed through the safety hooks. He didn't go slowly at the start. Besides, she wouldn't be in the top five floors, considering Cain's mind-set and Maggie's capability.

Tompson looked down at Edgar searching for Maggie. He was pretty impressed by Edgar's neat and efficient movement. His muttered with a wider smile, "Definitely the soul of the Eagle. As nimble and quick as any of the best soldiers in his prime. I'm surprised your body isn't blunted by the lack of practice."

"It's a pity..." a sudden voice said, behind him. "No matter how talented they are, all men have the same problem."

Without turning back, Tompson finished the unvoiced sentence with sadness in his eyes. "Every hero becomes a prisoner of love." After that he turned his head around. Tompson's self-deprecating manner vanished as he saw Cain. He donned his playful smile. "Where did you hide Maggie?" Cain came forward and glanced down at Edgar over the rail. Then he raised his arm to check the time on his wrist watch. "Can he find Maggie in three minutes? What do you think?"

"He can." Tompson saw suspicion in Cain's eyes and he continued, stalling for time, "I know Maggie, so I can be sure. You shouldn't tell her Edgar is trying to find her. It's sad to fall behind at the starting line, Cain. But it's simply pathetic to fall behind at the turning point."