35 The Dahlias (13)

They were driving through the dark road. It was nighttime and the road they took was very deserted but it was a shortcut to the precinct. The main highway had an accident and there was heavy traffic there so Gayoon had to take the shortcut through the forest.

"What a guy," Taejoon commented. "Why did he go to the lengths of investigating Kim Joon and Shawn?"

"He wanted money," Gayoon sighed. She may have met the guy only a handful of times but it was very apparent to her that Hwang Minho only lived for money. The guy was a walking talking ATM machine which only operated as per its interest. The only way to be on his good side, was to offer him a profitable deal.

She had an inkling that if she probed a little further, she would find out that the property Hwang Minho bought was very valuable and he could probably re-sell it for double the price if he wanted. Moreover, by finding the stolen money, Hwang Minho was able to prove that the man in custody was a criminal. This in turn helped him nullify the deal as per the contract she had taken from him.

"The guy is like a clever minx," she muttered.

"He sure is," Taejoon laughed. They were passing by the lonely road. A cross section lay ahead but the road was blocked by a sign. Gayoon stopped the car.

"The road ahead is blocked," she frowned. "I didn't know this place was under construction."

"Let's get out and inspect," Taejoon suggested. Gayoon nodded and exited the car. She walked ahead to peer ahead.

"It's too dark," she commented. "I'll call the Chief for help."

She took out the phone and began to dial. Unbeknownst to her, Taejoon's face contorted into an ugly sneer. He took out the pistol which hung by his side and pointed at Gayoon.

"The network is bad," she muttered. Taejoon smirked as he pulled the trigger. The gold is mine, the spirit in him thought gleefully.

For years, Shawn and Joon had conned businessmen into investing in their businesses. Once the investments were done, they escaped, leaving a series of bankrupt companies behind them. But it all came crashing down when Joon decided to double cross Shawn by converting their money into gold bars and planned to flee the country.

When Shawn found out, he plotted to have Joon killed. He stole the gold bars and invited Joon to his villa. A wall was built to hide the body.

But Joon was several steps ahead of him. That fucker had bribed one of the servants to poison his morning tea and when Joon arrived, Shawn was already on the verge of death. But Shawn had one thing up his sleeve. Before dying, he buried the gold bars in his garden and covered it with the Dahlia bed. No one knew about this and no matter how much Joon tried, he could never find the gold bars which were hidden right beneath his feet.

Joon got a plastic surgery to look like Shawn and took over his life. The spirit had watched in envy as Joon posed as him, strutting around like a hotshot businessman. He only partly paid back some of the wronged men but was still out to look for the gold bars. It gave Shawn's spirit great pleasure to see that Joon was never able to find it.

But this detective made his work easier. She had not only arrested Joon but also found the gold bars. Playing with her was interesting indeed but it was time to take his gold bars and escape.

Pointing at her back, Shawn muttered, "Goodbye Detective."

He placed his finger on the trigger and shot at her back.

CLICK! CLICK!

No bullet left the gun. Shawn opened the bullet compartment and to his horror, it was empty.

"Looking for these?"

He looked up to see Gayoon, smiling triumphantly as she held out her hand. The six bullets were on her palm.

"You're a little too green to be messing with me," she said softly. "DId you really think I wouldn't know that you took over Taejoon's body?"

"How did you figure it out, little pet?" he sneered.

"I knew it ever since Taejoon's hand brushed against mine while we were heading out to meet Hwang Minho," she revealed.

"Nice guess," he complimented in a mocking tone. "Too bad, I don't need a gun to kill you."

"Before you kill me," she said with a smile. "Why don't you check the gold bars properly? I'm sure you wanna check if they're real or not."

Shawn's smirk disappeared from his face. He rushed to the back of the car and took out one of the bags. Unzipping it, he picked up a gold bar only to be horrified.

"This is…" he said in shock.

"Gold plated chocolates!" Gayoon chirped. "You see, after I found out that you were possessing Taejoon, I sent a message to Hwang Minho. To tell him that if he found anything in his expedition of the garden, he must replace it with a fake likeness. He was confused but obliged anyway. So when we picked up the bag, he handed us the fake bars while he took the real bars and went straight to the precinct. Chief already got them by now."

A dark shadow fell on Taejoon's handsome features as Shawn fumed with fury. The little pet had outsmarted him! He should have known better than to trust a sneaky woman like her! He had underestimated her abilities but no more.

"Little pet," he said. "You may have won the battle but the game is still on. Only, you won't be alive to play it."

Gayoon wanted to yawn in boredom. She was used to such threats from spirits and this one, no matter how menacing he tired to be, was simply a newbie. His six months of grudge was nothing against her twenty six years of expertise.

"Bring it on," she challenged.

The spirit raised his hands and leapt forward to attack her.