Maxwell hurried out of his car and rushed into the headquarters of the secret service he worked for. The director and a few of his colleagues were already inside, speaking solemnly about something.
"What is going on?" he asked the director.
Mr. Thomas Finn, a well built man in his early forties, was the director of The Defense Intelligence Agency. He was a tall man.
"There is a situation. The senator's daughter has been kidnapped," he informed.
"The senator's daughter... Was that not Shirley Blakes, the nation's fairy?" he thought.
"Okay... But this isn't exactly in our jurisdiction, is it?" Max asked. It was taking all of his willpower to hide his anxiety and worry. Why was he so worried about this girl? He had no idea!
Even though it was the senator's daughter that was kidnapped, they didn't usually take care of situations like this, hence his confusion.
"She was kidnapped by terrorists. The very same terrorists that have been terrorizing our country. What do they call themselves again?" The director paused, creasing his eyebrows as he thought.
"The vandals," Amy, one of Maxwell's colleague, said.
"Yeah... The Vandals," The director agreed with a nod.
"Okay, so these people, have they asked for a ransom yet?" Maxwell asked, ending with a sharp breath.
"That's the problem, they are not demanding for any ransom," the director replied.
"So what do they want?" Shawn, another colleague, asked.
"They want a USB drive that the senator has," the director said, deliberately being vague.
"Let me guess, the contents of this USB drive is confidential?" Maxwell asked, his lips curved upwards to form a smirk as he folded his arms against his chest.
"Exactly..." the director responded slowly and Maxwell nodded.
"We can't give the USB drive to those terrorists, we would be putting the entire nation in danger if we do that, and we have to save Shirley Blakes," the director said.
"Oh really? Or you just want to use Shirley Blakes as bait to catch these terrorist?"
Maxwell spoke, anger seeping through his voice. Even he didn't entirely understand why he was suddenly so angry.
"Maxwell," the director called, his tone soft. He approached Maxwell and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"You know that we have to try..." he said.
"And Shirley Blakes? What if she gets hurt? You know they can easily kill her if they suspect a thing!" Maxwell said, his eyes now angry.
"She won't get hurt," the director said.
"Can you guarantee that?" Maxwell asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't but you can... That is why I would be putting you in charge of this operation," the director said, and then stepped back to return to his table, but not before tapping Maxwell twice on his shoulder.
There were at least eleven people in the director's office. The director and Maxwell included.
"The ten of you are the rescue team to rescue the senator's daughter," the director said as he sat on his chair, facing the rest of the people in the office.
"Okay sir, what is the plan?" Maxwell asked.
*******
Shirley was having a hard time breathing. Her chest felt so stuffy that breathing was hurting like hell.
She was sitting in a dark room, tied to a chair. Her mouth was gagged even though there was no blindfold over her eyes.
She was no longer crying. After giving herself a prep talk that crying was not going to help her present situation, she had managed to stop her eyes from producing the liquid, tears. Now she just sat there in the darkness hoping that her father would come save her. And soon too...
The image of Emily getting shot wouldn't leave her head. She couldn't help wondering if Emily was okay. She suddenly felt angry, this was all her father's fault!
The door of the dark room suddenly creaked open and light flooded in from outside. Light from some florescent bulb.
There was a sudden flipping of a switch and the dark room became, well, no longer dark. Shirley didn't know why but she heaved in a sigh of relief. But then she saw the lady approaching. She was no longer wearing a mask or a hood so Shirley could see her face.
The lady was in a black leather jumpsuit. Her blonde hair was parked to a ponytail. And she was damn beautiful. Her emerald green eyes was almost enchanting. It made Shirley wonder why such a beautiful lady would be doing something so dirty as kidnapping.
Shirley observed the room, it was almost empty, save for a few furnitures, mostly wooden chairs in one corner of the room.
The lady brought a chair and placed it in front of the chair Shirley was tied up in. She was wearing a smirk, curved ever so slightly, as she sat down on the chair. She had turned the chair so that its backrest was facing Shirley, and then she sat down, resting her arms on it as her legs spread on either side of the backrest.
"Your father is going to try to play smart with us, I know... He would get the police involved and send some people to rescue you... But he would have no idea that he is just doing exactly what we want him to do..." the lady said, ending with a short laughter.
"I have plans for you sweetheart, don't worry, I won't kill you, at least not yet..." the lady said and stood up. Shirley could only eye her as she started to make her way towards the door of the room.
"I will let one of my brothers bring you some food, I am sure you must be starving. Make sure you eat to your fill. You are going to need all the energy you can get to get through these next few days," the lady said before walking out of the room.
Shirley drew a sharp breath. Did the lady just say that she wanted her father to come rescue her? Did that mean that it was a trap? And if she listened to the lady's words clearly, she had sure implied that she was going to kill her, eventually.
"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 the
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