Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 551: Banquet (2)

Damien didn't want to think the worst, but he got more agitated the more he tried not to. Katherine working alone was like attracting trouble. If she didn't get hurt, she might get kidnapped. He wouldn't know what to do if she met a problem along the way and he wasn't around. And the worst part about tonight is the fact that Shadow agents were in the building.

"I don't like it," he uttered.

Seeing how unwilling he was, Katherine nodded. She understood why he was reluctant to let her go and she didn't want to push it. So the two began to search the rooms near the hall together.

"Come on, come on Where are you?" Styles hissed through the comms, anxious that no matter where he searched for Director Sandra Hughes, he couldn't find her. It was strange how he still lost her even though he was so careful and watched the monitors with keen eyes since the operation started.

Amelia, who was still trying to contact the director, started to get worried. "Still no answer," she said. Then she called Damien and Katherine's attention through the comms and spoke, "You have to split. Cover more grounds. Son, you have to trust in Queenshe'll be fine on her own."

Damien clenched his hand tight and stared at Katherine. He could see how badly she wanted to make their search work, but his unwillingness to part with her was hindering them from becoming productive. 

"Fine." He subtly nodded his head and then kissed Katherine's temple. "Be careful."

"Always am." She smiled at him before turning on her heel and heading towards the opposite side of the building.

Gus and Felix, who were in the same trailer van as Amelia and styles, also had their monitors and comms on and guided Damien's men inside the buildingwhile Amelia took charge of the operation and led Katherine and Damien. 

It felt as though they had been searching for hours when in reality, it had only been a few minutes since Director Hughes stepped out of the room.

Damien especially found it hard because while he was looking for the director, his focus was divided. He was so worried about Katherine that he was so mindful whenever his mother gave Katherine directions on where to go. He was reluctant to part way with her for this, but he had no choice.

"Hello, may I know who's calling, please?" An older woman's voice came through their comms and everyone who was in search halted in their tracks. The voice sounded far and seemed as if it came from a phone's speaker.

"Director!" Amelia called abruptly. She had been redialing the call but it was only then that it connected and someone answered.

She exchanged surprised looks with Styles who was quick on his feet and started tracing the call that Amelia had just gotten through. 

"Who is this?" asked the woman from the other line, sounding quite concerned.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia began, "Director Hughes, my name is Lia, I'm a friend of Christopher's. We had been trying to contact you because"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about. Please do not call this number again," she said in a stern voice. The way she spoke was almost tonelessas if she was in a hurry to end the phone call.

"No, wait! Director, your life is in danger! Shadow is in the same building as you are. They're looking for you"

Amelia suddenly stopped when the call got cut off. She didn't know what happened but the line was no longer connected.

"We lost her," she mumbled as she turned to look at Styles who was also unsuccessful in tracing the call as it ended very fast.

"Try calling her again," Katherine asked through the comms.

Amelia quickly dialed the phone number again but this time, there was no ring.

~

'The subscriber you are calling is currently unavailable, please try'

~

She ended the call as soon as she heard the automated voice prompt.

"Found her!" Styles exclaimed. "Oh, shit." He stared at the monitor before him as he noticed that one of the Shadow agents had already gotten to her. He stood before the director as they talked just outside a room two floors up from the banquet hall.

Amelia, Gus, and Felix swiftly informed the rest of the team to gather at the same location.

The director was outside a guest room by the elevator. The hallway was empty apart from her and the Shadow agent. It wasn't clear what was happening as they watched her through the monitor, so they could only wait for their team to arrive.

Noah, who was the nearest compared to the others, got there as fast as he could, skipping the elevator and sprinting up the stairs. As soon as he got out of the stairwell, he saw the Shadow Agent's back, and then not a second later, the Shadow agent fell to the floor and lost consciousness after Noah shot him with a tranquilizer in the neck.

Director Sandra Hughes gasped in shock and was about to escape when Damien's men appeared from all corners surrounding her. Normally, she had a bodyguard or two with her, but that night, her husband, Josiah Connor, told her to send them home so that they could stay in the hotel without disturbance. She didn't mind, of course, and she didn't think much about it.

"Who are you people?" she questioned, her tone unyielding. She didn't appear to be scared when she faced the strangers in front of her, watching them as they dragged the lifeless Shadow agent inside the empty hotel room and closed the door. 

Just then, Damien arrived and introduced himself. He didn't waste time and directly told her why they were there, explaining how they got to know about her briefly. "We don't have much time, but we need to get out of here. Now."

Unable to refuse Damien's directness, she agreed to go with the group. She knew Damien's identity, and she didn't think that he would just make something up. They were far too unrelated to have something in common.

While the team was getting her out of the building, Damien called for Katherine, who was on the other side of the building, through the comms. "Where are you? We're heading out."

"I'm almost there," she responded. "I'm near the lobby." She was slightly panting as she took hurried steps to cross to the other side.

"Okay, I'll meet you halfway," he said, taking long strides towards where Katherine was.