Lisha ducked swiftly behind the electric pole, nearly hitting her head on it. Her target had unexpectedly glanced behind him. He most likely would not be able to recognize her, but she couldn't take any chances. She wanted to dictate the pace and have total control of the entire situation from the beginning to the end. If she made even the slightest of mistakes and allowed them get even a step ahead of her, not only would her mission be lost, her life would also be worthless. And there were a lot of things they could do to her before killing her - things that could be much worse than death.
Now that he was on the move again, she let him go on for about a metre or so before stepping out from behind the pole to continue the journey. This was how she had been following him and constantly keeping him in sight for the past half hour. The weather was quite cool since the sun was not yet up, so there was the absence of those important factors in the production of fatigue: sunlight and heat.
Sharply, he turned a corner and Lisha quickly doubled her steps to avoid losing sight of him. But just as she turned the corner too, her phone started ringing. Ugggh! Who on Earth was calling her at such critical period? With one eye on her target who luckily was still in sight, Lisha glanced at her phone to see the number calling her. It was clearly a number she was not familiar with.
After a short debate with herself on whether or not to take the call, she finally decided to answer it, making sure to keep her focus on the guy she was following.
"Good day, Madam. I trust you are doing well?"
Ugh! That crazy treasure seeker of a man!
"What is it? What do you want?", Lisha snapped angrily.
"I... We... Actually, we just wanted to inform you of our continued commitment to the task at hand. Though we have made a few interesting discoveries, there has not yet been any significant..."
Lisha cut the call with an angry hiss and put the phone back into her pocket. She didn't have the luxury to listen to empty speeches at such a time. Her man was crossing the busy road, so she had to cross too.
After nearly an hour of trudging through the streets, weaving through traffic and mixing about with the crowd, Lisha's target finally led her to his final destination albeit unknowingly. It was a shop with a CLOSED sign in front. Lisha let him go in and waited till he had closed the door behind him before she did a quick walk past the front of the shop.
At first glance, it looked like a regular shop, but with her mermaid eyes that were specially adapted to seeing in the dark and through opaque coverings, she was able to catch a glimpse of something different altogether, but it was risky to linger. Lisha turned around the building and made her way through the nearest opening. Eventually, she found herself behind the shop in a dark corridor. There seemed to be no one in sight so she settles down comfortably to follow the proceedings in the so-called shop.
From her view of the interior through the window, she could see that the place was practically a living room. There was a TV, a centre-table, a mini-bar and sofas on which the men were comfortably seated. Obviously, they were having an enjoyable discussion. Even though she couldn't hear any sounds, the sight of them drinking and laughing made Lisha's blood boil in rage, but she knew she had to control herself if she wanted her mission to be successful. Taking a few deep breaths and massaging her throbbing temples for a few seconds, she finally managed to calm herself down and then she reached for the knob on the back door.
Lisha was almost in their midst before the men noticed her presence.
"Heavens!", several of them screamed and jumped to their feet as if they'd just seen a ghost. The rest simply sat and stared at her in shock. Not only the fact that she was alive that made them so astonished, but the fact that she had the courage to walk straight into their midst all alone!
"Tell Thansa I'd like to see him immediately. Let him call me," Lisha said, throwing a piece of paper, with her number on it, at one of them. With that, she turned on her heels and stalked out of the room.
**
When Lisha arrived at Joey's house, she was surprised to find her sister on the balcony, cooing and playing with the baby. At the sight of her, Lina screamed for joy and rushed up to her and nearly hugged her, but checked herself just in time.
"Where have you been, Lisha? You just vanished! I've been worried about you," Lina nearly whined, leaving her sister lost for words. Never before had Lina been happy to see or ever confess to being worried about her. Obviously, something was not right here.
"Um... where's Joey?", Lisha asked, not knowing exactly what to say.
"He's inside."
"Then let's go in."
Lisha led the way and they walked into the living room only to find Joey sitting on a couch, looking defeated. Lisha was even more surprised. What on Earth was going on? She couldn't help but notice that her sister had taken her seat as far away from Joey as possible and was doing her best not to look in his direction.
"You're welcome," Joey said to Lisha, breaking the pregnant silence in the room.
"Thank you," Lisha nodded in gratitude and then she cleared her throat. Joey instantly knew that something had happened. "Your car..."
"What happened to it?", he asked, sighing in resignation. "Is it underwater?"
"Oh not as bad as that. It was just towed off by the police people or whoever they are. I think I parked it in the wrong place or something like that."
Joey simply nodded in understanding and took the keys from her outstretched hand. He looked so deflated and indifferent, like nothing mattered to him anymore, and Lisha couldn't help but stare at him in surprise. What had caused such a great change in him in just hours since she last saw him? Suddenly, light dawned on her.
Lisha glanced at her sister and then at Joey and her sister and then at Joey again. That was enough for her to get a clue of the situation. She breathed deeply and turned on her heels. "I'll just leave you guys alone then. See you later or tomorrow."
"Are you leaving already? I thought you were going to stay?!", Lina practically squealed, getting up and running after her sister.
"I'm not," Lisha flung over her shoulder as she made for the exit. "Maybe you should stop hiding and dodging and face what your heart wants you to face."
"What are you saying? What is that supposed to mean?", Lina promptly fired back, the color already rising to her cheeks.
Lisha stopped and turned to face her. "What I'm saying is, I don't understand why you feel the need to run away from it. Obviously, both of you have feelings for each..."
"Shit up!", Lina screamed, covering her face in shame and embarrassment.
"Sorry," her sister shrugged and left the room.
All Lina could do was to remain standing in that same spot, her face buried in her hands, and hoping so badly that the ground would just open and swallow her right away. Her sister had just exposed her biggest secret and not just that, she had actually done it in the presence of the last person in the world that was supposed to have heard it! Just how on Earth was she going to turn around and face him now that he knew what she felt for him?? Oh she wished she could just die.
Lisha, on her part, was chuckling to herself as she made her way down the stairs. She might have ruined Lisha's plans, but she had done it to push her closer to her heart desire. As far as she knew, she had done a wonderful thing and in fact, she believed she deserved at least some gratitude because she was sure that without her help, neither Lina nor Joey would ever admit their feelings for each other. Suddenly, her phone started ringing, distracting her from her thoughts. She stopped and answered it immediately and she was not disappointed.
The conversation was brief and one-sided: "Lord Thansa has approved your request for a meeting. Thirty minutes time."
And then the line was disconnected. There was no venue stated, but Lisha knew exactly where to go. The mutual hunt had begun!
*****
Lisha shocked them for the second time that day when she walked into their room-shop through the back door, alone, unannounced and ten minutes early!
"You've got balls, girl," one of the men murmured when he had finally overcome his astonishment at her bravery.
Lisha's response was nothing but a shrug. She felt there was nothing special about what she had done. She knew them well, and if all things remained equal, it was no big deal for her to predict their every move.
"So where is Thansa?", she demanded, looking around at the group of rough men.
"That's Lord Thansa to you," the obvious next-in-command scolded.
"Lord or coward, whichever he is, where is he?"
The guys all but gasped in disbelief as they exchanged shocked glances. Insulting their leader and friend in their presence! Just what had given this girl so much courage and audacity? And were they going to just let her get away with it? But none of them could bring himself to touch her. For all they knew, there were policemen lying around somewhere close, just waiting for her signal. Whatever they had done to her family had been done underwater, beyond the jurisdiction of land authorities. If they kept their hands clean here on the land, nothing would happen to them. If they didn't, they could walk into a well-laid trap.
"He isn't here," the second-in-command finally answered.
"So why did you ask me to come? I'm guessing you had planned a surprise for me that could only be sprung at the time you had asked me to come?"
There was total silence from the men and their silence confirmed their guilt. Clearly, she had not only taken them unawares, she had also ruined their plans by coming earlier than expected.
"But you can talk to me," the second-in-command suddenly spoke up.
Lisha smiled. She saw through his plan instantly. "You want to keep me here as long as possible, while one of your men will discreetly notify your boss of my presence and seek new instructions from him. No, thanks. I'll be on my way now. Tell your Lord or whatever you call him to quit playing games and show himself. Good day."
She turned around and began to make her way out of the room, but before she stepped past the threshold, he called out after her, "I do know Lord Thansa wants you alive though."
Lisha stopped and turned. "And I want him alive too."