Like Father Like Daughter

Adelaide

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"What was the colour of the mask, Malcolm."

A beat passed between us before he spoke, clear as a summers day.

"Silver."

—-

"Mr Seong."

Not only an hour after storming away from an enlightening conversation with Malcolm and refusing to tell him anything I knew, I sat in the regular meeting room with Romano, Jamie and Jaekyung.

"A South Korean businessman in the entertainment industry. Two children, one girl, one boy. Deceased wife. Fertile."

I felt Jaekyung tense up next to me and I shot her a confused glance, only to be ignored as her steely gaze bore into Jamie.

"He has a clean slate and a good reputation. No affairs or scandals and has been in favour of the public eye for the better part of the last decade."

Jamie took a breath and his eyes landed on the three other people in the room for a short moment before he leaned back and continued his report.

"He has no business in Italy but he'll be in Portugal at the end of the week with his son in tow to do some business deals." His tone was professional and cold, a standard for him.

I turned my focus back onto Jamie and his rambling, cutting him off before he could get another word out.

"His son?"

Jamie looked at me and I could've sworn that there was a small smile on his lips before he smothered it.

"His son, Haneum, is 18 years old according to the South Korean ageing system but 17 in the western world. He is the only known relative to live with Mr Seong. He has been groomed since he was born to take over the business after his father retires."

I opened my mouth to speak again but Jamie put his hand up to silence me before continuing.

"He's due to start military service next year so his father is trying to get as much experience as possible into the poor kid. Not to mention the exams he's gonna have to do when he gets back home."

I let a gust of air out, clearly taken aback by how much pressure the man had put on the boy.

I had to say, I didn't envy the kid.

"What about the sister?" Romano's voice piped up from the other side of the room.

He was leaning forward, his forearms pressed on his legs, tense and demanding. The stress of multiple failed and overcomplicated hits were getting to him.

Jamie's eyes lit up at the question, a smile growing on his face.

"That's where this gets interesting."

My head snapped back to Jamie.

Interesting?

"There isn't a single trace of their daughter. Not one. The only thing I could find about her was through rumours and gossip columns of old lady magazines."

He peered over his computer expectantly at us, light glinting in his eyes from a mystery yet to be solved but was only met by Romano and I's confused faces.

"She might just be a private person," Romano stated, making it sound more like a question than a solution.

Jamie looked at me as if he was trying to say, can you believe this guy?

"Romano, use your brain," Jamie sneered, "there's no trace of her. Nothing. No medical records, school reports or anything else of the kind. Why do you think that is?" He looked at Mano, expecting him to answer the question only to be met with a glare that could freeze lava.

Jamie redirected his gaze to Jaekyung and was greeted by the same glare.

"Maybe Romano's right, she's a private person." Jaekyung deadpanned.

It didn't line up. If her brother, Haneum, was in the spotlight so much, why wasn't she? Plus, what did being a private person have to do with not having records of any kind?

It was almost as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth.

Oh.

My eyes widened in realization."Unless someone wanted to keep her quiet. Maybe she got to know something she didn't need to know and they didn't want her blabbing?" I questioned, trying to get the attention of Jamie.

His eyes met mine, a grin growing on his face. I had obviously said the right thing.

"That's exactly what I thought, so I followed a few leads but they didn't go anywhere." He elaborated, unable to keep the intrigue and excitement out of his voice.

Jamie always loved a good mystery.

Silence settled over the room as we all contemplated the turns of the story he was weaving.

"What about the mother?" Mano questioned, bringing us out of silence.

"Deceased. I couldn't find anything else on her. She had a small funeral where only close family and friends were invited but how she died has been kept under wraps." Romano nodded solemnly.

"Did the little girl go to the funeral?" I asked, making Jamie sigh deeply.

"No, no, she wasn't present."

What kind of father wouldn't bring a child to their mother's funeral? Unless of course, he wanted her out of the public's prying eyes. Or maybe he wanted to keep a child's blabbering mouth away from listening ears...

"How old would the girl be at this point?"

Jamie shot a questioning glance my way.

"Six."

Of course.

"I have a theory," I stated, gaining the attention of the entire room, curious eyes glancing my way.

"The girl saw something she wasn't supposed to see so she was taken out of the public eye to make sure that nobody would be willing to lend her a listening ear."

I left a short pause for dramatic effect before continuing on.

"Maybe, just maybe, that something she wasn't supposed to see had to do with her mother's mysterious death." I finished.

Romano hummed in agreement."That makes sense-" He started before being cut off by Jamie.

"It's a good theory, yes, but sadly there's no evidence to support it." He so kindly pointed out, sighing deeply and returning back to his computer.

"Alright, back to business." He cracked his knuckles, humming a little tune before finding what he wanted on his computer and looking back up to us.

"We'll need transportation to Lisbon and somewhere to stay." He said, handing a pointed look to Romano who grinned like a maniac.

"I've always loved a good holiday."

"This isn't a holiday." Jamie curtly shot back giving Romano a glare.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Jamie cleared his throat."So, Ads, I think that the best way would be a secret operation seeing that we have the police are sniffing around right now. Could we make it look like an accident?"

I was about to reply but was beaten to the chase by the woman sitting next to me.

"No."

All heads snapped to her direction.

"I'm going to kill him," Jaekyung ordered, keeping her gaze settled on Jamie, refusing to move or falter.

"You are now, are you?" Jamie asked confusion and a little humour laced in his voice.

"Yes."

His eyebrow quirked up at her answer.

"And why's that?" He questioned, leaning forward a little, wanting to catch everything she said.

Her eyes shifted around the room, meeting each of our eyes with a venomous glint.

"Because he's my father."

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