Kate’s expression was one of confusion. She did not know what Yang Yi was talking about. She had no idea that her father had mysophobia.
The average person would not feel the need to use a separate glass, but it made sense for a spy to do something like that. A spy would never let anyone know anything special about them, especially something as serious as a phobia. They would choose to hide it, covering it up with subtle actions that would not raise anybody’s attention.
Kate was still confused. Yang Yi tried to make his explanation more thorough so she could understand, “There is only one glass with a round bottom in your house. Just one. That glass is only for Mr. Jones. Every other glass in the house has a square bottom. That is the only difference between the glasses. If you want proof, we might have a chance to check some other time. Oh. There is one more thing. The glass was not in the right place based on where your father was sitting.”
“The glass was not in the right location?”
Yang Yi continued, “Most people do not change the way they behave so suddenly; actually most people never do. Your father liked to drink when he got back home, that is a fact. However, he grabbed the bottle with his right hand and his glass with his left. He sat down in the same spot he always did after pouring his drink and he would set down his glass on the table in front of him. Am I right?”
Kate hesitated, but responded slowly, “I think so…”
“Not only did your father have mysophobia, but he probably suffered from a bit of OCD too. He put everything in very specific places, including the whiskey bottle. He always put it in the alcohol cabinet. He used his right hand to hold his bottle and his left hand to hold his glass. When he had poured himself a glass and sat down, he would always put the glass well within reach of his left hand. (EN: Even though the translation notes OCD as another condition for the character, in reality, the condition involves far more than what little is described here. Please see this link if you would like to learn more.)
“But at the house,” Yang Yi paused. He pointed to his right hand and pretended to be holding a glass, “It was near his right hand. It can only mean that the entire place was set up to appear as if your father died of a heart attack or a stroke, maybe. But trust me, he was murdered.”
Kate nodded to show she was following what he was saying. However, she was still skeptical about his entire theory. “Did you make an assumption just from those… observations?” she asked.
“Yes. Your father would have never let a situation like what we witnessed happen, but the impossible has already occurred. There are only two possibilities at this point; he was either forced to commit suicide or he was killed, then his body and the room were arranged so it would look like he died of natural causes.”
Yang Yi made a bold conclusion and continued in an anxious tone, “This is why your mother is in danger too! If she is safe, then the rest of the team should be fine too. But if... if... I hope that what I am thinking will not be what happens. If it does happen, then the team will be in danger. Every single one of us will be in danger.”
Kate’s voice shook as she asked, “Who do you think killed my father?”
“I do not know, but I think it has something to do with the intel we stole from Anthony. There can be no other explanation. And if it is related to Anthony, then there must be a traitor in the team.
“A traitor?” Kate asked. She stopped the car and pulled over to the side of the road. Yang Yi was stunned by her reaction. He wanted to tell her to keep driving, but it seemed he would first need to justify his words before they could go anywhere.
“Only if this situation has something to do with Anthony.”
“Why do you think that? Every member of the team has known my father for years. These people are his close friends and partners in business. There is no way there would be a traitor on the team.”
Yang Yi shrugged his shoulders, but responded in a frustrated tone, “I told you this is just a guess. Think about it, though! We got the intel from Anthony yesterday. Even if they had found out about it being stolen, how could they have found your father so quickly? Look at the situation we are in. We cannot contact your mother. We cannot contact Ryan or Wales. If all the people associated with The Singer cannot be reached, what else could it mean? Hmmm? There is the potential that they all could be dead!”
Kate was silent. Yang Yi noticed and quickly realized he was getting agitated, “I am sorry, but we have to face the facts. If everyone has been killed, there is usually only one explanation. Someone had to sell them out.”
Kate was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other held tightly to her phone. She was panicking and found herself not knowing what to do once again. She started to lose control of her emotions. Her voice shook as she spoke, “I… I have to call her. No, I will message her! I have to tell her what has happened.”
Yang Yi sighed, “Pull over. I will drive.”
There was no one following them, so the two quickly switched seats and continued down the street. Even though Kate had experienced multiple failed attempts to contact her mother she was too devastated to even cry at this point.
The two rushed out of the car, making sure to be cautious of their surroundings, after arriving at Jenny’s house.
It should be said that even though Kate stayed at her father’s place sometimes, her real home was her mother’s apartment. The apartment was located in a commercial district of London.
Kate was so anxious she could not even manage to hold her keys and open the door. Yang Yi grabbed them, taking over and said, “We have to be careful. Check and make sure there is no one nearby, okay?”
Kate nodded her head, but it was obvious from the pain and frustration on her face that she was finding it hard to stay calm and focus on the task.
“I will go in first, you follow behind me,” Yang Yi said in a commanding tone.
Yang Yi withdrew the gun with his right hand after inserting the key. He nodded at Kate and pushed the door open. There was no one inside except Jenny, who was lying on the sofa.
Upon seeing her mother, Kate ignored what they had planned. She pushed Yang Yi away and ran towards her mother. She did not even consider the possibility of an ambush. Yang Yi turned to close the door before going over to join her, but a shadowy figure jumped out from behind the door and tackled him before his hand could reach the handle.
Yang Yi pulled the trigger on reflex. The gun was knocked out of his hand and to the ground before he could fire again while the echo of the shot was still ricocheting in the room. He felt a stinging pain radiating down his abdomen. Before he could even react to the punch, the stranger had already gotten a solid grip and slid something around his neck.
Yang Yi’s mind went blank since he could no longer breathe. It was an instinctual urge to survive that made him wave his hands behind him to try to get Kate’s attention. His arms quickly lost their strength.
A muffled, enraged roar erupted inside the apartment. Kate had tripped in front of her mother because she was running too fast. She was lying on the floor in the few seconds when the attacker had struck. It only took a split second before she was up and sprinting towards Yang Yi like a leopard; an agile, ferocious leopard that was eager to hunt.
Yang Yi could not see what was happening. He was still disoriented since his neck was almost being torn in half and he could not figure out exactly what the noise around him was. All he knew was that the person who was strangling him started walking backward all of a sudden.
The pressure on Yang Yi’s neck loosened. His knees dropped to the floor and he desperately tried to catch his breath. Tears and snot covered his face. He inhaled several times, but it still took him a few seconds to regain his awareness. Yang Yi wiped his face and crawled towards where the gun had fallen. He raised it, pointing it towards all the noise he had been hearing.
From what he could see, Kate was fighting with a middle-aged man.
Kate was sending an unending series of punches and kicks towards her opponent. She was like a bloodthirsty beast. The assassin did not seem to have the ability to counter at all, but he was blocking the attacks at a much more efficient rate than Yang Yi ever could.
Yang Yi wanted to finish the fight by shooting the man, but he did not have a clear shot. He could only wait for an opening.
Yang Yi analyzed the situation. It was obvious the two were on even ground in terms of skill. Kate would not be able to finish this quickly.
Kate managed to hit the man’s side once with her rally of punches. However, it seemed to not affect the man at all who took the opportunity to pull a dagger from his waist. Kate abandoned the idea of close-range combat and jumped back as the assassin thrust the knife towards her.
“Duck!”
Kate lowered her body after Yang Yi screamed. This provided him with a clear shot, but the assassin moved backward leaving out the front door instead of charging at Kate. He had obviously seen through Yang Yi and Kate’s plan.
Yang Yi dropped the gun since his arm was too weak to handle its weight anymore. He yelled at Kate, who was about to leave the house and start chasing the man, “Do not go after him! Save your mother!”
Kate turned her head as she approached the door and walked back. She was obviously displeased with the order. Jenny was not dead, at least not yet. Since she was still breathing, it was best to stop Kate from pursuing the attacker.
Kate was obviously a capable fighter, but so was the assailant. Not only was he able to block most of Kate’s attacks, all of his own strikes were aimed at fatal areas like the organs and windpipe. He had also managed to injure Kate pretty severely.
Kate’s stomach was bleeding and Yang Yi was trying to recover from the pain in his abdomen. He also realized a thin metal wire was still wrapped around his neck.
“Mom! Are you okay?”
Yang Yi slowly crawled back after shutting the door and saw that Jenny was injured. There were not that many physical wounds on her, but whatever had been done seemed fatal. He observed her stiffened expression of agony and could tell that she was dying by the look in her eyes.
Jenny’s eyes twitched a bit when she heard Kate call her. She moved her hands slightly to grab Yang Yi. She pleaded in a weak, waning, and stumbling voice, “The Intel from Anthony… Somebody betrayed us… Run... child… run.”
Yang Yi said, “Who is the traitor? Kate, call an ambulance!”
Kate’s emotions were in turmoil. She was still unsettled by the sight of her father’s dead body in her recent memories. She was so focused on the fact that her mother was still alive that she forgot to call for help. She could only muster the energy to sit by her mother and listen to her words as she cried.
Jenny had called her a child and it was not wrong to say she was. She was still too inexperienced, too unready for the dangers of the world. Jenny continued, struggling to get the words out, “I think there is a traitor… I do not know who it is. The man asked me for the location of our intel. I told him everything I knew… but he continued to torture me… He wants to kill us… all of us. Run, Kate… Run.”
Kate was too emotional to make a call. Yang Yi grabbed her arm and dragged her in front of Jenny. It was almost the end. Jenny could not even raise her head and look at Kate now.
Jenny’s eyes were filled with despair and disbelief as she looked at her daughter and spoke. She spoke in a soft, collected voice, though Yang Yi could hear her desperation, “Kate, we made a huge mistake somewhere. He tortured me for a very, very long time. He kept asking me who we sold the intel to. Anthony… It was someone from Anthony… Someone must have stolen some information and sold it somewhere… But the team, we are not the ones who sold it. The man that came is definitely a professional hitman. You have to run… My money... all of my money is in the wardrobe. The password to the safe is your birthday… Run, Kate… run…”