Page 18 of Logan

She should have known Ming was getting a hefty payday, but a billion dollars for a pearl that may or may not be fake? That was unheard of.

Emily kicked herself for the comment. She didn’t care if the pearl was worth two bucks. It was priceless to her. Its acquisition bought her freedom.

“Of course. That is an excellent deal. For both of us. Is there any other information on the penthouse floor? Guards or encrypted key cards.”

Ming nodded. “The only security we know of is the guard at the elevator. Monster of a man who doesn’t smile. He gives me the creeps, and that is hard to do.”

Emily was surprised Ming was speaking so candidly about the heist. They usually communicated in code, but she noticed a few men in black suits walking around with bug detectors. Her uncle was done playing by the FBI’s rules, it seemed. At least while he was in the midst of his largest score ever.

“Do you know who owns Dark Industries?” she asked.

“Lothos Dark. I met him once. You breech when he is away from the business.”

“Where does he live?”

“I don’t know. We found his name in the land titles registry, but there are no other properties listed under his name. He is like a ghost. If he didn’t own this building, I wouldn’t know he existed on paper.”

“Many criminals avoid public records of any kind. The question is why he allowed his name on this building. It is fairly new.”

“Yes. They finished construction on it last year,” Ming said.

Emily took another sip of her soup. It was the last time she would have it. At least from this restaurant. “Do you have my documents ready?”

Ming had told her when she started working for him, he had a legal document holding her to her father’s debt. He said he would give her a letter of release, and she wouldn’t do squat without it.

Ming pulled an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. He unfolded the letter and signed it in front of Emily.

Her name was laid out with the conditions of their agreement. Hand over the pearl to Ming’s son, and her debt was paid. Emily would never be asked to return to the family again.

Ming was an asshole and a criminal, but he had a reputation for keeping his end of a contract. If he said he would do something, then he would. Sure, he would stab you in the back the next time you met and likely try to steal back the item he soldyou, but while he was under contract with you, he stuck to the deal.

She picked up the pen Ming had used to sign the document and added her signature below his. It was done. She either died tonight or bought her freedom.

“I will do some more recon on the building tonight. If I can see a hole in their security, I will breach.” She stood up without further comment. There was nothing to say. If things went right, this was the last time she would see her uncle.

Emily emerged from the restaurant with the taste of uncertainty lingering on her tongue as she stepped out into the cool mid-afternoon air. She navigated the crowded streets with practiced ease, her senses attuned to the subtle rhythms of the surrounding city.

It wasn’t until she had walked two blocks that her intuition alerted her to the presence of a man trailing behind her. Though she had never seen him before, his resemblance to her uncle’s henchmen was unmistakable. They were all muscular, Chinese men in their thirties, each possessing a formidable aura of martial arts expertise.

She paused momentarily, feigning interest in a purse displayed in a nearby window, all the while using her peripheral vision to watch the man’s movements. His calculated demeanor betrayed his intentions as he stopped, pretending to wait for the traffic to clear before crossing the street.

Emily felt a surge of apprehension as she realized that her uncle was following her. It had been years since he had taken such a direct interest in her activities, and the implications of his sudden surveillance left her with a sense of unease.

Did Ming honestly believe that she would stoop to stealing from him? Despite her prowess as a thief, Emily knew that no amount of money was worth the consequences of crossing her uncle. With his almost unlimited resources and unwaveringdetermination, Ming posed a threat that she dared not underestimate.

All she wanted was out of this life. Hell, she would rather work as a waitress at a greasy diner than pull another job for Ming.

Every job was harder than the last. She often wondered if he was trying to test her. To see how good she really was. Or he simply wanted her to die. It was likely a bit of both.

There was no stopping the man from following her. She didn’t want to alert Ming she was onto him, so she picked up the pace and jogged home. He could sit outside her building and wait. And she would be sure he saw her leave.

The doorman in the lobby smiled when she entered. “Good day, Miss Liu.”

Emily smiled back. “Hey, Martin.” She made her way to the elevator and went up. After entering her apartment, she took out the camera and flipped through a few pictures before downloading them to her laptop.

She made her way to the bathroom and peeled off her clothes after turning on the water. She needed a shower and a nap. Recon would not go quickly when she had so little information to start with.

She stepped into the shower and allowed the water to soothe her body. Her mind reached out before she realized what she was doing.

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