"It doesn't make any sense," Max said in a voice so quiet. So quiet that the rest of his team almost didn't hear him.
They were in the basement of Maxwell's villa. The basement was designed with high technology. The walls were not just soundproofed but bulletproofed as well. There was a warbrobe filled with different types of arms. Shawn was standing in front of it, running his fingers through one gun to the next.
"What doesn't make sense?" Amy asked. She was standing beside Maxwell, looking at the plan drawn by the director, on a big paper spread across the table. Maxwell was tracing something in the plan with his fingers.
"The terrorists know we are coming," he declared.
"What?" Shawn asked, leaving the guns and moving to the table to stand with the rest. He raised an eyebrow at Maxwell.
"The vandals know how big of a request they are making by asking for that USB drive and they sure know that the senator would call for help from us. In fact, I would say that they are counting on us to try and rescue the girl..."
Maxwell paused and turned to observe the faces of his teammates.
"But how do you know?" Shawn asked.
"Think about it Shawn," Max said.
"He is right," Amy said to Shawn, and then turned back to face Max.
"What do we do now?" she asked him.
"We come up with a new plan... To ensure we have the upper hand," was Max's reply.
*****
When the lady returned, Shirley was surprisingly pleased. She had been bored out of her mind. Although they had untied her hands and removed the gag from her mouth when they had brought food to her, they had tied her hands and gagged her mouth right back, as soon she finished eating. She had taken the lady's advice and eaten to her fill. A plan was already formulating in her head. An escape plan.
"Did I tell you my name?" the lady started, sitting back on the chair she had sat on before. In the same manner.
"My name is Linda..." she paused to peer into Shirley's face.
"As for my last name, I don't have one... I have never had a last name," Linda stood up as she spoke and took light steps towards Shirley. When she reached her, she took out the gag in Shirley's mouth in one swift move.
"You have no idea how lucky you are Shirley Blakes. You see my siblings and I don't have what you have," Linda said, trailing back to her seat.
A smirk curved her lips when she sat back down, facing Shirley but Shirley didn't fail to notice the sadness in her green eyes. It was barely there. But it was there.
Shirley knew about The Vandals. Although no one knew what any of them looked like as they always wore a mask, hearing the lady call the rest of her gang her siblings, Shirley instantly knew that she was in the custody of The Vandals. It wasn't like the Vandals were blood siblings or anything but they had one thing in common, they were orphans.
"The government took everything from me. My parents. A chance to a happy life," she paused as a short laughter escaped her throat. A bitter laughter.
"You wouldn't understand," she paused again, scoffing.
"Try me," Shirley said and Linda smiled, surprise shining in her eyes.
"Well, I never knew my parents but I got to learn about them. And most importantly, I got to learn about how they died." Linda stood up and started to take calculated steps towards Shirley's chair.
"They were murdered in cold blood by the government," she said, bending to squat over Shirley's chair.
Linda reached into her pocket as a smirk spread across her lips. She dialed a number, put it in loud speaker and placed it on the floor.
"Hello," Shirley's breath hitched as her father's voice sounded from the other line.
Linda's lips curved even more upwards. She curved her hand to a fist and before Shirley could even comprehend what Linda was doing, she felt a throbbing pain on her left cheek. Linda had punched her. An involuntary scream escaped Shirley's throat.
"Shirley! No Shirley! Look don't hurt my baby, I beg you!" her father's voice rang out and Linda let out an amused laughter before picking up the phone from the floor, but that wasn't the only thing she picked up. She switched the call to a video call and held the phone over Shirley's face. The knife she had fished out from her boot when she had picked up her phone, inched closer to Shirley's face until it was pressing against her cheek.
"Please!" Shirley pleaded.
"You f*king think I am joking! I would kill your daughter without as much as a blink of the eye, if you don't get me what I want in 24 hours..."
Linda pressed the knife closer, slicing through Shirley's cheek until it started to bleed. Another scream left Shirley's throat.
"Please don't do this! She is all I have! I will get you want you want I swear!" Mr Blakes voice pleaded from the other line.
"Of course you will, I know you will and that's not the only thing I know... I know that you have already double crossed me... But it's okay," Linda stepped back, taking the knife away from Shirley's cheek. A sigh of relief escaped Shirley's throat as Linda stepped away from her.
She switched the call back to voice call and took it off loud speaker, and then she placed it on her ear.
"What do you mean by it's okay? What do you mean by I double-crossed you?" Mr Blakes voice shook as he asked.
"Well, what can I say, I am not stupid. It works for me, either way, I still get the USB drive, but sadly, your daughter dies. That is the price you would pay for your foolishness," Linda muttered and ended the call. She immediately opened up the phone, took the simcard and destroyed it, and then she smashed the floor on the floor. To pieces.
"You!" Linda said in a quiet voice and started to approach Shirley. Shirley started to pant knowing that she wouldn't like whatever was coming.
When she reached the chair, she turned swiftly, kicking both Shirley and the chair to the floor.
"Ahhhh!" Shirley let out, ending with a gasp.
"Your dad has no idea what the USB drive in his possession even contain or why I want it yet he is willing to risk your life to protect it, how stupid!"
Linda kicked Shirley again, this time the kick landed directly on Shirley's stomach and she screamed as she tasted blood.
Shirley didn't know for how long Linda used her as a punching bag, only that her entire body was now numb yet Linda didn't stop. Closing her eyes, she heaved in a deep breath. "Is this how I am going to die? Being beaten to death?" Shirley's thoughts spurned. As she felt herself slowly losing consciousness, there was a sudden thud, like someone had knocked the door of the room off and stormed in. "Had help come?" Shirley wondered. But she knew better than to be relieved just yet. Next she heard gunshots. It was almost like a shotgun carnival. It made her ears start to ring and hurt at the same time. She was lying sprawled on the floor, on her side. Shirley heard Linda's scream, and then the gunshots stopped. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open as a result of the sinking sensation she felt, like she was sinking into her subconsciousness. And there was also the throbbing pain, which was literally emanating all over her body. She didn't know where she gathered the str
"Dad please! I just want him to be my personal bodyguard_ the man that saved me," Shirley's chirpy voice resonated in the house. Mr Lucas Blakes sighed, and then slowly started to put away his laptop. His daughter was at it again. Ever since she was discharged from the hospital three days ago, it was all she talked about. "Look, it isn't that easy," Mr Blakes stated. "But you are the senator, dad. You can make it happen. You can make anything happen," Shirley countered, her eyes boring into her father's. She was standing right in front of where he was seated, in his office space in the house. "That feels nice to my ears _ the part about me being able to make anything happen but it isn't exactly simple this time. The people that saved you are special agents, feds. They work for the government not private individuals," Mr Blakes tried to explain. He stood up slowly from his chair, creasing the lines on his forehead. "But you can at least find him... I just... I just want to see him
As soon as the last lecture for the day ended, Shirley dashed out of Pandora University. Her car was waiting for her right at the gate. Pandora University was one of the best private universities in western LA, Santa Monica. Shirley had lived in Santa Monica practically all her life. Although she did travel to other towns, states and countries every now and then since she was a prima ballerina and top super model, she never stayed away too long, it was always about work. As she approached the SUV, she craned her neck and caught a familiar figure standing just across the university gate. She blinked in disbelief and looked again but there was no one there. With a soft sigh, she got into the car, wondering why she was seeing him everywhere. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she just couldn't get him out of her head. *** "This is Monique, she is your new assistant," Loretha said, pointing to a rather tall red-haired girl whom Shirley was sure had dyed her hair. Shirley
The first rays of the morning sunlight seeped in through the half open curtains and kissed Shirley's sleepy face. She let out a sound that sounded like a groan and turned her face away from the window. Shirley's bedroom mixed soft pastel blue and pink with white accents to keep it feeling light and bright, and patterned accent pillows and a graphic pouf that added interest and sophistication to the room. It was typical Shirley. The room was the one thing her father had let her decorate to her taste. A curvy sofa beneath the window provided a dedicated place to relax and hang out, leaving the bed across the window for sleeping. Beside her bed was a bedside table and on it was a bedside lamp, an alarm clock and her smartphone. In a corner of the room was a reserved space for studying or working. There was a table and a chair, and on the table was her laptop and tablet. A book shelf was hung above the table with books arranged neatly in it. Inside the room were three doors, two on o
"Milady," Max muttered and even bowed slightly as he held the door open for Shirley to step out. "Really?" Shirley asked with a raised eyebrow. Maxwell chuckled and a smile formed on her face. It had been barely an hour since Maxwell started being her bodyguard and it was already feeling so natural. As they walked into the lobby of C-Perfect fashion brand, which was the Blakes' family business, Shirley couldn't help but crane her neck to look at Maxwell who was just right beside her. The company's building was made of glass, just like the house in which the Blakes lived in. In his plain clothes of a t-shirt on jean pants and boots, no one could have imagined that Maxwell was a badass military personnel. And his innocent handsome charming face didn't help matters much. Shirley was dressed in a formal knee length black gown on nude stilettos. She had a stylish coat draped over her shoulders and was holding a black purse. Her chocolate brown hair was held up in a messy bun. There
Of course she knew that she was pretty. After all, every cosmetics, beauty and fashion brand in the country and even abroad wanted her to model their products because of her beauty but hearing him call her pretty, now that was something pleasing to her ears... that sure warmed her heart. It made her feel strange _ warm and fuzzy at the same time. "What are your plans for lunch?" he suddenly asked, jerking her out of her train of thoughts. She looked up at him, he was standing so close to her, now looking at her. She could smell his cologne and aftershave. There was a hint of coffee embedded in his overall fragrance. It was weirdly refreshing to Shirley's senses. "I have no plans... Why?" Shirley lied through gritted teeth. Bashing her long eyelashes together as she eyed him. Maxwell smiled. On her way out, the secretary Sara, had made mention to him that she wanted to go buy lunch for Shirley. It was amusing, watching the lady he had only been able to admire from a tv screen, flus
She laughed. Again. Shirley's stomach was beginning to hurt from how much she was laughing. She had never laughed as much as she was laughing at that moment, in her entire life. No one had ever made her laugh so much. At that moment, she was at peace. She wasn't thinking about anything. She was happy. Genuinely happy. They were in the VIP section of a five star English restaurant. In fact, it was just the two of them in the whole VIP section because Shirley had booked the whole room. She didn't want to have to deal with any drama... Maxwell watched her as he swirled his glass of juice. He knew that Shirley Blakes was a beauty but at that moment, when she laughed, he couldn't help but think that he had underestimated her beauty. She was simply breathtaking that he was having a hard time focusing. His heart was a fluttering mess. His mind filled with only wild thoughts of her. How he just wanted to stand up and scoop her into his arms, and then crash his lips onto hers and kiss her bre
"What do you mean starting today I will be homeschooled? Dad, you promised!" Shirley was shouting at the top of her voice, glaring at her father who just stared at her with a pained expression on his face. Maxwell was standing at a corner of the sitting room with his eyes lowered to the floor. Mr Lucas Blakes let out a deep sigh, and then reached out to touch his daughter's shoulder but she stepped back, avoiding his reach. "You just do whatever you want! You never care about what I want anyway!" Shirley screamed, and then dashed upstairs to her room. It was a bright sunny morning. Mr Blakes Lucas had just arrived back home as Shirley ate breakfast, preparing to leave for school. And that was when he had dropped the bomb. That starting from that day, she was going to be homeschooled until further notice. And he had already arranged everything. He wasn't asking for her consent. He was just merely informing her about what was going to happen…And that was how they had gotten there. S