12 The clock is running

Unknown POV

"The men and I were wondering, uh—" the voice paused as my eyes slid to its owner.

Even though I appreciated bravery as a quality in my employees, it never hurt to have some semblance of fear in them for me.

Clearing his throat, he continued, "—that, uh, is it necessary to send three men for this job? I mean, sir, that the subject is-"

And if there was one thing I absolutely did not tolerate, it was someone advising me on my plans. So instead of wasting my time, listening to this ignorant coot complete his pathetic stumbling, I cut him off midway.

"You know my rules, Noles. I want this clean with no injuries anywhere. Things that could affect anybody's memory in anyway will not be used, or exercised in any way. Besides, don't you think, that I would have a better idea of who is up for which job, better than you or the men?"

"But ofcourse, sir," Noles stuttered. "I was just thinking that if we make the subject unconscious or tie and gag—"

"No. None of your men or you will use any kind of drug or gags. I've explained it to you before. It's imperative. You just have to be ready for the fight this subject will put up."

I cut him off again and gritted my teeth. His use of the word subject was grating on my nerve for some reason.

Perhaps Noles detected my irritation or heard the finality in my voice. Whatever it was made him give up arguing his point further. Instead he sighed, "very well then, sir."

***

Ruth's POV

He drugged me!

My eyes popped open at the thought and I jack-knifed on a plush, queen-sized bed. Dizziness hit me for a moment, no doubt because of my sudden movement and I held my head in my hands until it passed.

Fucking hell. How dare he!

His hazy smirk from last night still lurked on the edge of my conscious, and suddenly, a horrible thought entered my mind.

No, he wouldn't.

I raised my head and I looked down at my body. I swear if he had even tried to take advantage of me in any way, I will kill him.

But much to my relief, I was still in the clothes I wore last night. Even my shoes were on, peeking through the thick covers someone seemed to have tucked carefully around me.

A chair sat near the bed that seemed to have been pulled ahead from its original place a few paces away that held an extra bottle of water with a sticky note on it that said, "Hydrate."

Huh, that is somewhat thoughtful. Somewhat.

Looking around, I spotted my phone on the bedside table connected to the charger. The blinking light on the top indicated that I had a message and I unlocked it to see one from the Torpedo himself.

"Meet me at the entrance at 8am. Remember, Ms. Brooke, Time and Torpedo waits for none."

Some nerve the man has for drugging me last night and then ordering punctuality. As if I was ever late.

Stiffly climbing out of the bed, I let my eyes roam around the room. It was a standard one with dark floors and plush carpets. The wall opposite the door had huge windows that were currently hidden behind thick drapes. The room smelled of lemon cleanser and faint traces of some kind of familiar scent I couldn't place.

As I picked up the bottle and gulped down few sips, I was reminded of my boss' conflicting personality.

I couldn't wrap my head around his fluctuating behaviours. As I grumbled about it under my breath, I looked around and spotted the time.

7:45am.

DAMNIT! I dropped the bottle back onto the chair, and looked more carefully around the room, searching for my luggage. Finally spotting them next to the ensuite door, I fumbled to remove my work clothes, toiletries and a towel.

10 minutes later, I was showered, dressed and was struggling with my tangled curls. I cursed when the brush hit another tangle spot and instead of wasting anymore of my precious time on it, I simply collected them on top of my head and tied a severe looking bun, hoping it looked professional enough.

Possibly breaking a world record, I was out of my door and marching through the lobby towards the elevators by 7:59am.

It was then that I remembered that I had forgotten my phone back at the room. I briefly hesitated, contemplating running back to get it, but decided against it as an elevator pinged open that very moment.

My room was located on the thirteenth floor, and by the time I reached ground floor lobby, my adrenaline had spiked through the roof. The whole ride down, I had impatiently tapped my foot, itching to get out and as the doors slid open, I dashed out looking left and right, finally locating the front desk area.

Thanks to the early hours, the place seemed almost deserted, but I could hear a low, muted murmurs coming from the restaurant serving breakfast buffet right next the front desk.

As breakfast was out of question at the moment, I ignored the restaurant and marched right out towards the hotel doors.

God knew, I hated being late. And I'll be damned if I let Torpedo have the last laugh at my expense this time.

My heels clicked loudly as I walked towards the automatically sliding glass doors. The noise usually grated my nerves but at the moment I didn't care.

Skidding to a halt at the entrance, I looked around, spotting a huge roman numeral clock mounted high on a navy blue wall, and nearly growled.

8:01am.

Where the hell were the minutes going?

My heart thudded as I turned to a security guard near the row of metal detectors and asked, "was there any pickup vehicle for InfoWeb Softwares delegate?"

The balding man frustratingly took his time, scratching his neck and opened his mouth to answer, like he had an eternity to answer.

But I was too frigging impatient for that. I bouncing on my feet, itching to be present at the exactly right place as I stepped out of the doors and suddenly spotted a lone, black, tinted 6-seater SUV waiting few feet away from the wrought iron gates.

Ha! That must be it.

Without waiting for his answer, I walked over to the car, noting the driver's side of the window open.

Even though the adrenaline was still coursing through me, I let myself feel a small bit of triumph when I saw Caleb was nowhere near the car.

Take that, you drug lord torpedo!

The sound of my stilettos clicking on the floor drew driver's attention as I approached.

"Hi, pickup for InfoWeb software delegate?"

The driver looked surprisingly young, making me wonder if the kid was even old enough to carry a driving licence. He eyed me weirdly before giving a curt nod and I nearly flounced ahead, climbing into the backseat of the car.

The insides of the car was dark. Darker than normal owning to heavily tinted glass windows, early morning and the shade it stood under. I couldn't bring myself to care about the lighting though as I sank into cushioned and comfortable seat that oddly smelled of leather and cologne.

That doesn't smell like Caleb, the thought popped into my mind and suddenly the faint scent in my room from this morning flashed into my thoughts nearly making me blush.

Even though I had no way of proving it, I was somehow sure it was Caleb's scent this morning. As soon as I thought about it though, I forced myself to shake it off.

I had no business remembering how my boss smelled, even if I couldn't get it out of my mind for weeks now.

But then, what smell was this?

After failing to figure out the source of the scent, I shrugged it off telling myself that I will know it when the car moves and the interior is no longer so damn dark.

I caught the driver peeking at in the rearview mirror and asked, "yes?"

He cleared his throat deliberately and asked, "Will that be all?"

I opened my mouth to let him know that we were expecting one more person, but an unfamiliar, gruff voice beat me to it.

"Seems to be, Rhodes. Let's get the hell out of here."

My eyes bulged as a faint glow emitting from a mobile screen lit up, casting a glow on the hulk of a man. As the car pulled out of the shades of the hotel building, the sunlight filtered in through the tinted glass.

The huge, mountain-like man in dark clothes sat next to me, engrossed in his phone screen as his thick thumbs tapped something furiously on it. His size seemed even more imposing because of his bald head and lightly bearded face.

I unconsciously made a sound, making him look up and I gulped as I took in his face that seemed to be missing a chuck from his nose. He regarding me with a stoic face, tucking the phone into his pocket.

"What the hell is happening? Who are you and where are you taking me?"