Page 54 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 5-8
“Gotcha. We’re on it.” Alice pointed Ash to where he could set up his own gear on the extra tables. “I think we can get pretty far before we have to call Pearsen.”
Ash held up his phone. “He says I can bug him today as long as I text first.”
Damian looked up from jotting down a note. “How is that apprenticeship going?”
Alice sniggered, and Ash shrugged.
“I’m not sure it’s an apprenticeship so much as Pearsen getting a hacker,” Alice said. “Pearsen woke him up in the middle of the night last week.”
Ash blushed. “I’m learning a lot! Pearsen’s cool. And he’s legal. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“No, you just know the dark web like the back of your hand.” Alice bumped shoulders with Ash, who ducked his head farther down. What Damian could see of his face was pink.
Sometime later, Damian’s watch went off, reminding him to consume food. “Do you two want anything to eat?”
“Yes, please, and no, I don’t know what. I will always take your suggestions,” Alice said. Ash nodded. They were both so into what they were doing that neither looked up.
My reputation precedes me. Alice appeared to have adopted Ash’s stance on always ordering what Damian indicated as good.
“Then I’ll order something for the three of us.”
Damian stretched his legs in the hallway while choosing lunch options. On New Year’s Day, there weren’t that many, but there was a very decent Chinese place that closed for the Lunar New Year but not the Gregorian New Year. He put in an order of ???? (Beijing Roast Duck), ????(The Palace Guardian’s Chicken), and a vegetable dish, (Braised Eggplant), requesting three orders of rice to go with all of it. If it had been a formal meal, he would have made sure to have one more dish than people present, but this was a working one. No one was judging his manners, and the portions would be generous. He jogged up and down afterward a few times to get the blood flowing and went back to his office.
Not long after, the building lobby buzzed him to say his food was ready. Damian checked his app. There was no notification. He pinged his security guy, letting him know to take the food.
A few moments later, his security texted back. The delivery person would only hand it to the person who ordered it. He sighed, stood up, and went out to the elevator lobby on their floor to meet them. They must have a new delivery person.
A man in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat and carrying takeout tipped his head toward Damian as he approached. Damian pulled out a ten to tip the man.
“Thanks so much for bringing it up.” Damian reached for the food.
The man put his hand over Damian’s, both of their hands on the food, and leaned in toward Damian. “The police chief is dead.”
Damian paused, scanning the situation. There was no obvious weapon and no aggression. His security guy was standing right there. “Why tell me this?”
The man took off his hat, leaving the food in Damian’s hands. Long blond, almost white, locks fell down around his shoulders.
“Consider it a personal favor.”
Fuck. This was probably the man who had helped Jun.
He was stunning and—in a vague way—reminded Damian of Collin—if Collin was taller, harder, and older with lighter hair. Perhaps they were both Russian.
Damian forced himself to focus on the immediately important things. “How did he die?”
At the edge of Damian’s vision, his security guy’s hand slid toward his gun. Damian put up his hand.
The blond man tracked both Damian and his security, but he ignored the reach for the gun, turning his gaze back to Damian. “Blunt force trauma to the head and burns. He passed two days ago.”
“Are they coming for Jun?”
“They may. They have a witness.”
So the man wearing black, the one Jun remembered as ? (Blade), was alive.
The man walked away toward the stairs, settling his hat back over his head as he went.
“Boss,” the security guard asked.
