Chapter 436 The red hair
Chapter 436 The red hair
"Good evening sir," Holly greeted returning her boss's smile.
"I trust you enjoyed the trip?"
"It was short, but splendid, yes."
By now, Viktor and the pilot had been alerted of Edward's arrival and we're now walking to join them.
"I arranged for a car to meet us at the entrance," Viktor informed them for what had to be the hundredth time.
Edward nodded then turned to the man beside his guard. "Han, thank you so much. It was a great flight."
Han gave a two finger salute before turning to shake Viktor. He gave Holly a small wave before walking back onto the jet to return it to it's hangar somewhere in the forests of Beijing.
The trio walked into the airport terminal and after necessary processes went out to meet the driver at the entrance doors.
"Did you make the hotel reservations?" Edward asked Holly as soon as they got into the car.
"Yes, one executive suite and two single rooms."
Holly gave the name of the hotel to the driver and soon they were off.
According to the letter, the Pins had already made reservations for him and his "plus one" in the hotel where the party was to happen, but since he had arrived two days earlier than expected, he'd made reservations elsewhere.
His mission for now was to establish a relationship between his arch nemesis and his father's best friend. His vacation hadn't started yet.
"Do we have the name of the hotel Jinn is staying in yet?"
Although Edward suspected it was the same one every guest was staying in, he had still asked Viktor to run a check. One could never be too sure.
"Yes, It's The Haven." Viktor would have given more information, but Holly the secretary was there and the information was confidential.
Edward understood this and nodded. He asked no further questions until they reached their hotel and were checked into their rooms.
They reconvened after each of them had showered and changed into fresh clothes for dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Holly sat on a separate table allowing Viktor and Edward the privacy to talk without worrying about her listening in.
"We have already set up surveillance in and around the hotel. Since we started watching him, he has been out only once to play golf with who we have found out as Mr. Tai Pin."
Edward nodded. "So you've seen him with Tai." He let this information sink in before asking, "Did you get details of their conversation?"
"Sketchy, but from what we heard, they talked about nothing other than golf."
Their table was somewhere between a window table and the table at the centre where Holly was seated.
Edward had chosen the smaller restaurant for their meal because it was emptier and offered a view of the streets of Beijing.
If he looked outside, he could see the headlights from cars moving along with the local pedestrians on the sidewalks.
As Edward allowed himself to think of the next step he wanted to take, he caught a glimpse of someone that seemed very familiar and he froze.
"It can't be," he whispered, in shock, as the person disappeared from the view of the window.
As if shocked by something, he stood from the chair and ran outside to chase after who he thought he'd seen.
But as Edward moved amongst the pedestrians, he couldn't find the person again.
Still, he pushed forward until he caught another glimpse of red hair turning down an alley. Edward yelled and ran after the figure.
The people on the sidewalks turned to give him odd looks as he chased down a person they were yet to see.
The alley was encased between two long buildings one of which looked like a chain of supermarkets.
The other was either a hotel or a lodge of apartments. Edward entered the darkened alley with the speed of someone who was being chased except he was the one chasing.
He couldn't see the end of the road, but at one point in both buildings, light shone from rooms inside the buildings and Edward figured there were doors into each building there.
By now, he had lost sight of the figure and realised that she had entered one of the two doors.
Edward stopped running. He leaned against the wall of the building to his right to catch his breath and think of what next to do.
At that point, Edward had two options and he weighed them both. He could either enter the buildings and look for the person he was chasing or he could turn back...
"Sir!"
The call came from a closing distance and Edward didn't pick out the voice of his bodyguard until the sound, frantic and full of worry, came the second time.
"Sir!"
As if being jerked to reality, Edward turned round to face Viktor who had now come to stand beside him.
The expression of concern that burrowed the skin on Viktor's forehead did not match his stoic look, but he couldn't help the reaction.
His heart had jumped with shock when he'd seen his boss run out of the restaurant without a word to any of his companions.
Viktor had exchanged looks of surprise with Holly before running after Edward. He'd tried to look ahead to see what or who the man might have been chasing, but couldn't figure it out.
Then he'd turned down the alley and Viktor had become convinced that the boss had gone mad.
"Are you alright?" He voiced the question he'd been asking himself throughout the chase.
Edward nodded. "I...thought I...no, I saw her."
Viktor's responding nod was slow and indicated his confusion. "Who?"
Instead of giving an answer, Edward shook his head as if trying to bring back the image of who he had seen.
"I saw red hair, her red hair. I'm sure I did."
Viktor wanted to tell the man that no one was doubting the authenticity of his vision, but Edward didn't appear to be talking to him.
His head was tilted to one side and his eyes searched the wet coal tar beneath them as if the truth swam there.
Then he looked up from the ground to the sky and his mood seemed to transform.