"So, she has been training really hard?" Jeru probed as he watched Lisa practice the hand-to-hand combat with a trainer. She was deeply committed. She was not only training herself to fight - she was training herself to win.
Lieutenant Jiang sighed as he murmured, "Yes, she's very determined. I heard from the janitor that there are a lot of photos of Leon and Draco hanging on the wall inside her room, and she would use them as practice targets for knife-throwing as well as for the firearms training at the shooting range…"
"Wait, are you back for good, General Liu?" asked Lieutenant Jiang as he turned his head to face Jeru.
Jeru chuckled and said, "Of course not… But I will stay until we find Jungkook. I will help Lisa find him." Lieutenant Jiang nodded and Jeru shifted his gaze back at Lisa.
He stood with his arms over his chest and creased his forehead at the sight of Lisa focusing on her training and not even noticing that he had been observing her…'Lucky bastard! You had better be alive...' he thought silently. He couldn't help but feel envious of Jungkook, who was very lucky to have Lisa in his life. She was a woman who would do anything for the man she loved. She would never give up on Jungkook and would give everything of herself just to find him…
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing of his phone and his eyebrows knitted together when he saw that it was Thea.
"Yes?" he answered the call.
"Hey… I'm sorry… It would be a bit awkward if I called Lisa to ask for news on Jungkook. Do you mind if I ask you instead? I also want to help… I mean I can be a big help. You can use me as a bait to lure Leon out..." Thea murmured on the other line of the phone.
"Where are you now? Let's meet and talk in person…" Jeru said in a serious tone that made Thea bite her lip. She was already at her office.
Ever since the incident, Thea and Jeru hadn't seen each other. Thea was kept hidden in a safe house on the outskirts of the City out of fear of potential retribution and dangers by Leon. She was just released yesterday and the first thing she did was to report for work.
Leon's face as well as Draco's were all over the media, whereas Chin's and Thea's identity as the key witnesses to all of Leon's crimes had been kept tightly under wraps. Leon was one of the most wanted criminals in the world, but Thea was sure that catching him would not be an easy feat due to his wide and vast connections overseas.
After work, Thea waited for Jeru who had just arrived to pick her up.
"Where are we going?" Thea asked when they were inside the car.
"You have to stay and live with me until Leon is captured," Jeru stated casually.
"What?!" Thea burst out.
"Chin had already prepared all of your things and had them moved to my house. Don't worry, you'll be well protected there…" Jeru explained. Thea couldn't believe what she had just heard. "But... why your house?!" she asked in horror.
How could she possibly stay in the same house with Jeru? The passionate night that they shared together was still vividly imprinted in her memory. She couldn't even bear to look straight at him due to embarrassment, let alone living under the same room with him.
She heard Jeru sigh as he stopped the car at the roadside.
Then he looked at Thea as he explained, "Field Marshal Chan had entrusted you to me, because you so badly wanted to go out of the safe house to continue working. Do you really think they would just allow you to leave like that? You are no longer safe Thea, so if you don't want to stay with me then resign from work and go back to the safe house."
"But staying there would kill me as there's nothing much to do there…" Thea said, softly trailing her words off, while keeping her head slightly bowed, looking at her hands. She knew Jeru was staring at her, but she just couldn't bring herself to raise her gaze and meet his eyes.
Jeru raised a brow, still staring at her, as he said, "Then stay at my house! Do you think I like to follow you around? Jungkook went missing because he chose to save us! So at least be safe until he returns… My house is heavily guarded so Leon's man would not be able to touch you there. From now on, wherever you go and whatever you do, you will report to me. A security team will follow you around. Don't worry, they'll be wearing civilian clothes so as not to attract attention to themselves. You will meet them tomorrow. Chin will stay at the Military Base with Lisa… and you will stay with me…"
Thea couldn't complain at all and just remained quiet. Jeru who presumed that she had agreed to what he said started the engine and drove away to head back to his place. He had recently moved out of his family's house to a newly built house which he had personally designed himself. It was true that the new house was well guarded, because he had made sure to install the best security system there is and Field Marshal Chan had also posted a few highly trained soldiers there to watch over them. .
He would sneak a glance at Thea every once in a while and he couldn't help but smile. She looked so meek and shy, unlike before, when she would often throw him a haughty look and talk to him in an arrogant manner.
"By the way, you still have a debt to pay to me… Until I think of a way on how you could repay me, you would still be indebted to me. So I expect that you would heed all my words and behave well…" Jeru said with a grin.
Thea answered him by letting a deep and long sigh. She felt like she would have a long and excruciating time ahead...
******
Jungkook could smell a whiff of metallic rust beneath the smell of damp and fishy odor inside where he was chained in shackles. He could also hear a loud clang of metals and the sound of splashing waves. He knew he was confined inside a container that seemed to have already been loaded into a ship which had already set sail towards the open sea.
Leon was definitely a cunning and sly man who always had a well devised plan B, ready to put into action anytime to help him escape.
After Jeru left to bring Thea to safety, Jungkook was left fighting Draco on his own. At that time, several more of Leon's men had emerged from the lower decks of the Ghost Ship and managed to grasp him from behind. A gun was pointed at him but Leon, who miraculously had gotten up to his feet again after Jungkook's last blow, decided not to kill him, saying that Jungkook would still be useful to him as a bargaining chip with the authorities if necessary.
Leon had managed to escape with a few of his men through a secret passage that would bring them to a detachable turbo submarine that was well hidden beneath the hull of the Ghost ship.
Jungkook had been fighting so much that his body had started to feel the effects. His vision had started to blur and he sighed upon the realization that the contact lenses which also served as a tracking device had torn. Probably from one of the blows he had received during the fights. He removed them as they had malfunctioned and they were only hurting his eyes even more.
He cursed as the absolute absence of light had weakened his senses. He couldn't see anything except for the darkest shade of greys. It had been days since Leon had caged him inside that dark container. He didn't know the exact duration anymore as he had begun to lose his sense of time. He wondered where that bastard was headed.
But he was at least thankful that Leon had decided to keep him alive.
"Lisa, I'm sorry..." Jungkook murmured as he slumped onto the ground helplessly. He was not able to keep his promise to her. He was feeling extremely distressed as he knew that he had most likely been declared missing in action and presumed dead. And he just couldn't bear the thought of Lisa crying at that news.
This was not the first time he had been held captive by enemies but he had always been able to remain calm and disengage himself from any sorts of emotions. This didn't mean that he had never cared about his own life. No, he had always valued his life and he would always fight to stay alive. But even though he would always do his utter best to survive, because of his love for his family, he was a soldier and he had always known the risk of being a soldier. The odds of being killed in a mission were high and he was always prepared for that.
But this time was different. This time he had left behind a treasure so precious which he really couldn't bear leaving; it's his dearest darling wife, his own heart and soul. This time he was not prepared to die. So he needed to stay strong and think of a way to escape. Because he must return to her soon…
He heard some inaudible voices from outside the container, and not long after, the container door was opened. Jungkook had to shut his eyes tightly as the sudden light from outside was blinding him.
"You! Mister General Slave! Come here and welcome the sunlight!" Draco grinned hideously as he unlocked the chain that was tied up at the side wall of the container and connected to Jungkook's shackles. He hauled the chain and dragged Jungkook along with it, like a slave. Jungkook stumbled forward as his hands and feet were chained up in shackles.
As soon as they were outside, Jungkook scanned the whole area and his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar ship approaching from afar. The ship looked a lot like the Ghost Ship, but much bigger.
"See that? That's the upgraded version of my Ghost Ship and it had just been completed recently. Tsk tsk tsk… You asholes really think you could capture me? They don't call me the King for nothing, fools!" Leon growled at Jungkook as he proudly flaunted his new ship.
"You are one lucky guy, Jungkook… I'm keeping you alive because I know Thea would come to me on her own once she knows that I have you here with me. But don't get me wrong, I will kill you as soon as I get her back!" Leon snarled.
He is currently a hunted fugitive, the highest in the most wanted list, and they wanted him dead or alive. So he needed to lay low for an indefinite amount of time in order to avoid the authorities to get hot on his trail.
He glared at Jungkook and gritted his teeth as fury engulfed him. He took a few steps forward towards Jungkook and punched him in the face.
"You fu*cker! It's all your fault! I will definitely make you suffer before I kill you! Motherfu*cking asshole!" Leon shouted and cursed uncontrollably. He would definitely make Jungkook's life so miserable that he would be wishing for those bullets soon, as death was going to be his only escape.
...................
At Lim's Villa…
Sheila and grandma Terri were crying as they continuously held their hands together in prayer to ask God for Jungkook's safety and protection. Just like Lisa, they could also sense that Jungkook was still alive somewhere.
Josh who was just on the telephone with the Field Marshal for news on Jungkook walked gloomily towards them. "What did they say?" Sheila stood up and asked helplessly.
Josh exhaled loudly and shook his head as he said, "Uncle said there's still nothing, Mother..."
Sheila burst out crying and almost fell down on her knees if not for Josh who was quick to hold her. "Josh… Your brother… What should we do? What should we do… Oh God, please bring back my son…" Josh held his mother in his embrace while she was sobbing helplessly.
"Mother, please be strong… big Bro will definitely come back to us… Please stop crying," he murmured as he was choking back his own tears. He gently patted his mother's back to comfort her.
Grandma Terri watched the whole scene with reddened eyes and soon watery streaks fell down her wrinkled face...
"Grandma, do you think big Bro will still come back? Do you think he's still alive?" murmured Rizie who was also on the verge of tears.
"Yes, he is alive, my child. Jungkook is definitely alive… Lisa will do anything to find him. Trust your sister-in-law, she will definitely bring him back. She will bring Jungkook back to us…" Grandma Terri looked at Rizie reassuringly.
They all knew that Lisa had been training hard at the Military Base to personally join the special team whose primary assignment was to locate and rescue Jungkook. Although they strongly disliked the idea of Lisa going on the high-risk assignment, but Lyra had told them that Lisa was hell-bent on going and there was no way they would be able to stop her.
Lyra had also given them an account of Thea's tragic story and involvement with the underworld. They all agreed that both Jungkook and Thea had suffered enough and each one of them deserved their own happy ending…
This incident was just another trial for her grandson…
And her grandson was born a fighter, so fight he should. And he was born a warrior, so win he could. For he was also born a survivor, so survive he would...
"Return to us soon, Jungkook," she whispered as she felt Rizie was hugging her tightly.