5. Where Are You

Xavier was listening to one of his employees report when his secretary walked to his side and bowed down to whisper something urgent to him, the whole room went radio silent right away. Waiting for his cue to continue.

"Let's pick this topic up tomorrow, you can all go" And with that he stood up and walked out the conference room.

His friend was already waiting for him in his office's lounge area with a glass of bourbon in his hand when he entered his office. "Second brother, why does it looked like you need this drink more than I do?"

"What's up?" he ignored Liu Xiang's statement and asked, the guy just gave him a knowing look.

"Well, if you're asking about that woman you met in the hotel, we still can't locate her. Someone has wiped out the footage from the hotel to the place where you dropped her off, we're still working on retrieving them. Someone capable was surely trying to protect her identity but of course nothing is impossible to you second brother, you own an IT company afterall. That is if you're willing to do the hacking instead, most importantly we're talking about your woman here." Liu Xiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry with how his brother's expression dimmed as he continued yapping about his runaway woman, he doesn't really know what exactly had happened but with the way he's acting, he somehow has an idea. Xavier has been indirectly pestering him about finding her because apparantly he can't do it himself because of his bruised ego. they've known each other for a long time and oh boy he can't help but relish as he watched his brother succumb in misery.

He had watched as this mighty guy broke women's heart as if they're nothing before, one of them must have hated and cursed him at some point that now karma's finally catching up with him.

"No one was asking about her, you wanted to know the possible person who assaulted Mr. Willis so I gave you a potential suspect." Xavier retorted "Now, shut up and tell me why you're here."

Deep inside Xavier is really pissed, how can she be so elusive? And how dare she swear that he would definitely forget her once the day passed? his memory of her has been tormeting him for 2 weeks, he'll definitely make her pay for lying.

"You're grandpa called, he said he can't reach you, it seems like the current General is asking for help. Well they wanted to ask for assistance from our security agency too." Liu Xiang, the major shareholder of the best Security Agency in the country has been the face and CEO of the company as well, they built it with two other brothers alongside his IT company and Xavier owns a good portion of the shares too so it is understandable for the former to seek for his approval first.

"what happened?"

"Apparantly one of the country's elite forces' teams has unearthed a spy from country X, on the initial interrogation he mentioned that there were other *sleeper agents* placed near him, neighbors to be exact and he tried to negotiate before providing the names but before they could get back to him he was murdered in his cell."

Their country, Country W has been on ongoing cold war with Country X for decades due to some animosity that started in world war II, In recent years another conflict is at play due to a disputed island that both countries had been claiming and looking at the situation now it seems like country X has always been one step ahead on severing the remaining friendship ties by initiating an espionage.

Nevertheless it's still early to make an accusation without solid proofs, a lot of powerful countries wanted to secure Country W's allegiance due to it's strategic location that plays a vital role in trade and commerce in Asia and if war breaks out in the future, country W's location will also secure a win for any of these powerful countries so it is also possible that one of them is the mastermind of this spy game with an intention to sow discord between other countries, giving them a chance to fake concern and help.

Xavier sat on the edge of his mahogany desk and crossed his arms waiting for Liu Xiang to continue.

"The government wanted to spy in the neighborhood but they're afraid that it might tip-off the sleeper agents, they wanted to plant someone who would not give off a suspicious vibe"

"Someone who doesn't seem to have an intention or interests on this case?" he cut him off and his brother nodded.

"A name fully established in the public and they think you're the best candidate. They guarantee that you won't have to involve yourself too much, they understand that we're on ongoing missions ourselves. We would be working with their people who would be doing all the work, you will just lend your name for a bit. They set a meeting date and your grandpa wanted to know if you're interested."

"Do I even have a choice?" He had grown up with a patriotic grandfather and his love for the country rubbed off on him while living in his care that he can't fully get back to a civilian life after leaving the military. "Just make sure they won't impede our plans."

Liu Xiang laughed "No worries, we're working with the current best elite officers. They are under Big Brother Klaus after all." he observed as his second brother's face instantly turned cold.

Liu Xiang inwardly sighed, He wished that this mission would help mend his brothers' friendship, the misunderstanding that they have worsen with the lack of communication all these years so he's adamant on having his second brother participate on this.

"I'll think about it."

"No second brother, let's go there and think about it after hearing what they have to say, okay?" giving him a puppy look.

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***Sleeper Agent****

A spy planted in a certain country or organization to be a potential asset in time of the sponsoring country's needs, they have deeper cover than the usual spies and usually lives like regular people with regular jobs until activated.