Chapter 6

Hunter was dazed for a moment, but it did not affect his driving. He was a member of the hotel, and the parking barrier gate, which was the latest model, lifted automatically to let him through. The crowd leaped out of the way in time for him to speed through them. By the time the crowd snapped back to their senses, they realized the grenade continued to release smoke but did not detonate. They glanced up at the car zipping into the distance, their jaws dropping. "Captain Xander, the suspects got away before we could stop them." "What? You let them get away?" Mason cried incredulously. "What the hell happened?" Liam, who had been walking alongside Mason, stopped in his tracks when he heard this and narrowed his eyes. "The woman threw a grenade at us," Mason's subordinate on the other line informed. "A grenade? Where did she even get a grenade? Did anyone get hurt?" Mason pressed gravely, his breath hitching and his face turning grim. He wondered who Liam was trying to track down and why they possessed something as dangerous as a grenade. Liam lifted a brow as a sudden thought crossed his mind. The little fox had apparently swiped a good number of props from the costume party, and he had to admit, she was resourceful. "It's not…" Mason's subordinate glanced at the still-smoking grenade and gulped, confessing, "It's a fake grenade." "What the fuck? You got duped by a fake grenade?" Mason swore. "Captain Xander, there was smoke coming from the grenade, and the woman looked like a professional when she launched it at the crowd—" the subordinate explained ruefully. "Which exit did she go through?" Mason impatiently cut off the man's grumbling. "The west exit." Furious, Mason hung up and relayed the message to Liam. "She got away through the west exit. Who is she, Liam?" Liam wanted to know the answer to that question more than anyone else. He never expected the mysterious woman to get away despite all the traps he had laid. He considered the swagger with which she had left his hotel room and decided it was justified. But if she thought she could get away from him just because she got out of the hotel, she was wrong. Liam clicked on the chat group he had set up with Jasper and Aidan and sent a voice note. "She left in a Bentley bearing license plate number ending in number 666 through the west exit." While he was rushing down from the third floor in pursuit of the mysterious woman, he had told Jasper and Aidan to be on standby outside the hotel to intercept her if she escaped. Mason's men might have blocked all the exits, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Being merciful to his opponents was not Liam's strong suit, and the incident today was a testament to that. "You had a backup plan, Liam?" Mason asked, going still with shock. "You had Jasper and Aidan intercept her?" Knowing Aidan and Jasper, intercepting the culprit was child's play. The woman would soon realize her efforts to make a great escape from the hotel were to no avail, for it wouldn't take long for Liam to drag her back. "Do you think that woman is working for someone, Liam? Did she steal something important?" Mason asked. He could think of no other reason why Liam went to such lengths to capture her. "No," Liam said flatly, his gaze flickering. He didn't know the woman, but he had sensed that she hadn't approached him with malice. "Well, then, why do you want to go after her? What did she do? Did she—" Mason's curiosity was piqued, but before he could press for details, Liam cut him off with a withering look. He gulped and kept the rest of his questions to himself. Liam obviously didn't want to talk about the woman, and Mason had not missed the mutiny in the former's eyes. Mason decided to change the topic. "Liam, one of my men ran a search on the license plate number. The car belongs to Hunter Quinn. There's a high chance the woman left with him. "I know what Hunter's like. He wouldn't help just anyone, so the woman must be someone special to him, or he has a good reason to help her." Liam pointed out, "The grenade she launched at the crowd was probably a prop from Mr. Langley's costume ball." Meanwhile, chaos had erupted on the third floor. "Mr. Langley, what do we do now?" The crowd was restless and uneasy as they took in the mess around them. They couldn't believe someone had crashed and ruined Ethan's costume party. Ethan's eyes narrowed as he swept his gaze over the scene, his face inscrutable. It was hard to tell if he was angry, and the crowd let out a collective breath of relief at the lack of outburst on his part. "Find out who that woman was." Ethan's grim tone belied his placid expression, "You know what will happen to you if you don't." He was always the one crashing others' parties and never the other way around. He certainly hadn't expected a woman, of all people, to ruin his party. Just thinking about it made him seethe. At once, the crowd fell silent as if awaiting judgment. They knew no one in Tiston could piss off a tyrant like Ethan and get away with it. Presently, Hunter was speeding down the road when he noticed a car tailing him in a tireless pursuit. The driver's speed surprisingly matched his, and the skills were second to none. He was admittedly impressed that the person could catch up to him in such a short time. Hunter had let his guard down for just a second, but the car behind him sped up to try and cut him off. He quickly slammed his foot down on the brake, and the car screeched to a halt. Disgruntled as he was, Hunter had promised Ella he would get as far away as possible. He thought he could cover at least 60 miles, and he was disappointed that he had been intercepted so soon. He parked his car and rolled down his side of the window to look at Aidan, who had already gotten out of his car. An indolent grin lit up his handsome face as he praised, "Hey, pal, nice skills you got there. Are you a racer? Shall we hit the tracks sometime?" Aidan's eyes widened by a fraction. He peered past the car window to scan the inside of Hunter's car. His gaze lingered on the trunk for just a couple of seconds before he pulled out his phone. "We got the car, but there's no woman in it, only a man. Actual speed was 100 miles per hour. We located the target at Westbrook Road 45 seconds after receiving orders. No one got out of the target's car during the pursuit," Aidan reported. Hunter's expression shifted when he heard this. From the sound of it, he had been targeted not long after leaving the hotel, yet he never realized it until the last second. Fortunately, Ella had gotten out of the car as soon as they emerged from the hotel parking lot. However, Hunter couldn't shake the feeling that Aidan was speaking in code to the person on the other line. He might not be able to decipher it, but he was sure the person Aidan reported to would. He began to worry for Ella. "Understood." Liam narrowed his eyes, his phone still pressed to his ear. Aidan had given him enough details for him to gauge where the mysterious woman might have gotten out of Hunter's car. "Look into Hunter and find out what the mysterious woman has to do with him." "What, not even Jasper and Aidan could catch her?" Mason demanded in disbelief. "Who is she? How did she escape Jasper and Aidan? I thought they, of all people, would not fail to retrieve her!" "She won't get far." Liam was unruffled. He even chuckled. Mason was even more confused after seeing Liam's calm reaction. "What the hell is going on?"