Mark Of The Destiny - Chapter 260

“One, two three….BANG”

“O….”

“AH…”

James, “Hey, watch your hand!”

Zeng consciously raised his hand from James’s hairy chest, “It’s you who is lying above me, rascal. Get off.”

James looked down and scrambled on his toes. “Fish, you broke my buttons,”

Zeng, “Oh yeah, I was desperate to see your n.a.k.e.d chest. I just can’t control my hormones…Show me, shop me, show me….” he hooked a finger at the V of the neck, and pulled the shirt. James slapped Zeng’s hand away.

“SCRAM.”

“YOU TOO.” Zeng parted the curtains and opened the window. “You check here. I’ll check other rooms.”

James looked around; the room only had a table and chair in the name of the furniture and a desktop. If the entire house speaks of their love, how can Evan leave this place untouched? The wall opposite the desktop was occupied with the mountaineering equipment. They both share a passion for water sports, mountaineering, hiking, tracking, and everything that gives them a rush. Genting Highlands was their next destination.

With a heavy sigh, James pulled the chair, starting with the only thing that needs to be checked. Desktop.

He had barely scanned around the files for ten minutes when Zeng’s scream broke his concentration.

[STOP… HEY YOU… DON’T….]

It seems they were not alone in the apartment.

James bolted up to help Zeng, but before that Zeng came running and lock the door after him.

James, “What happened?”

“BOMB,”

James stood there, transfixed, trying to understand the meaning of the word ‘bomb’. What bomb was Zeng referring to? The one that had explosives in it, and can blast away everything in its way?

James, “The one that can shred humans into pieces?”

“What else do you think? Think something….. We have to get out from here.” Zeng shivered, he glanced down from the balcony and hang his one leg down.

“IDIOT. We are on the twenty-third floor. Jump, and you will become a cherry pie, only good enough for vultures.” James pulled down the ropes from the wall hook. “HOLD ME TIGHT”

Zeng didn’t get another second to ask when his body hit James’ so fast everything was only a blur. And the next moment they were falling from the balcony.

In a terrible flash, the sound of the explosion shook the entire building. The glasses broke, breathing fire and debris.

…..

The mountaineering rope was a life savior for them. They made it to the ground safely. The bomb was of low intensity meant to destroy Evan’s house and not the entire building. Whoever did it, made a smart decision not to attract much attention. Had the entire building collapsed, it would have become a bigger issue.

“Oh my God,” Zeng’s heart was drumming against his chest. He had never been so scared in all his life. Never. Close call it was. He was always scared of heights. Maybe this was the reason he didn’t let go of James’s shirt and kept holding him. “Oh my God, Oh my God. James, you okay?”

“Of course I’m fine,” James sounded surprised watching Zeng shaking like a kid. Difficult to believe the famous racer feared heights. One should definitely not judge a person by his profession and tough looks. “Will you keep holding me?” Zeng glanced at his curled fist and then at James, “Please, I have other things to do instead of coaxing you. Go find someone else.”

Zeng shuffled away in embarrassment.

The residents had come out of the building already and security personals were directing everyone away from the tall structure, suspecting another mishap. The sirens wailed, announcing the arrival of the emergency services.

“Who was that person?” James asked.

“Didn’t see his face, it was covered. Earlier we had left the door open. I saw him throwing a ball like thing with a ticking timer. Before I could catch him, he shut the door on my face.”

“He must be here to destroy evidence.”

“He’s injured as well. I threw a vase at him, that hit badly on the head.” Surprised, he was not knocked out. “Anyway, you said evidence. Did you find any?”

“Evan had been stalking Suyin even before I met her. I saw her old photographs on his desktop.”

“What?”

“This only means Suyin had been part of all this from the beginning.” James faced Zeng, “But why?” and that’s when he noticed Zeng’s attention wasn’t focused on his eyes but down. No, not on the crotch but on the hands.

“You are bleeding, James,” Zeng said.

James covered his badly scr.a.p.ed palms. “Because I was the one holding the rope, bearing the weight of two. Can’t believe you are such a faint heart, muscles inflamed by air. Go drown yourself somewhere.”

“….”

For the first time Zeng was out of words. He had expected James to be only good with handling knives in the kitchen, but the latter turns out to be more than that. No doubt Suyin had such drastic changes in her personality….. She found some good people in life.

…..

In the hospital…

“Thanks for the story guys, you helped me a lot,” Suyin stood up and pecked James’s cheek. “Take care of your hands. Don’t let water touch it. Got to go,”

Zeng, “Hey, where’s my kiss?”

“Get it from Jamie,” Suyin’s voice echoed, making the two men comically turn their heads to each other.

Both gagged.

“WHAT? What are you staring at?” James asked, bothered by an irritating smirk on Zeng’s face.

“Nothing. Just wondering how will you do your business with these bandaged hands?”

“I have taken off for a few days. No need to worry about me.”

“I’m not talking about cooking….. but…..the personal business.” Zeng grinned, “The one that’s supposed to be done every morning….Hey!” Zeng dodged the flying pillow, “Oops, you missed it.”

“GET LOST.”

********

Suyin was in a hurry to check the contents of the pen-drive ASAP. Daiyu managed to unlock it with minimum effort.

She hailed a cab as her car was in the club which gave her another reason to be irritated. She’s late already. And here she was thinking to take the day early off and give a visit to Zena, whose address she found from Daiyu’s office from Zena’s file which coincidently was kept on his table.

So many coincidences!

And good luck!

When she exited the elevator, the receptionist greeted her with a smile.

“Good morning. Where is Assistant Long?” It’s unusual for Assistant Long not to come to receive Suyin and inform her day’s schedule.

“Um, there’s a VIP visitor waiting for you in the office. Assistant Long and Minister Yuan are with him.”

The word VIP didn’t go well with Suyin. “Who?”

“Minister Wu Sean.” The pretty receptionists’ eyes sparkled with excitement. No need to guess why that happened. “Mam, do you need flowers?” Suyin’s raised brows silenced her. “Sorry,” It’s true Suyin was lower in position, but that doesn’t mean she’d receive a minister with flowers.

Suyin stomped her heels to her office, not forgetting to take deep breaths to control her temper. Whenever people had barged into her office without an appointment, things had turned bad. For them, obviously.

******

*TO BE CONTINUED*