Take My Breath Away

The figure who dashed out of the elevator, of course, was Wesley. Before the two men could react, Wesley leapt up in the air, stretched his leg and gave a hard kick to the back corner of one thug's jaw, where it connected to the skull. The man blacked out and collapsed. He landed gracefully. The other gangster stepped forward and threw a punch. But Wesley moved in past his punch and stomped on the other guy's instep—the top part of the foot. The crunch of bones told him he was successful. He gave him a push and he stumbled back, landing on his shattered navicular bone and metatarsals. With a shriek, he also hit the floor. Within a few seconds, the two bad men were dispatched, groaning in pain or completely passed out.

But that was not enough to vent his anger. Wesley hauled one of them to his feet, and pushed him against the wall. He grabbed the man's arm and hand, twisted it hard, and then brought the limb behind the thug's back. He pushed upwards at the same time. The maneuver dislocated the man's arm. Feeling the most intense pain he ever felt in his life, the man passed out. Then Wesley grabbed the other guy, brought his arm across the soldier's chest, and using his forearms as leverage, detached the man's bicep. He then pushed him into his buddy, and they landed in a heap.

Her heart racing, Blair clutched at her chest and gasped for air at one side. She was soon enveloped in Wesley's arms. Breathing in the familiar scent, she felt safe and relieved.

Wesley gave her a quick once-over with his eyes and asked with concern, "Am I too late? You okay?"

Blair shook her head. "No, not late..."

A shrill cry was heard from down the hall. It was Niles screaming. "Wesley, go save your brother!" she urged anxiously.

Two of the soldiers that came along followed Wesley to the fire exit, while the others guarded the two men on the floor.

Niles' date came back with a contingent of hotel security.

The girl caught up to Blair and asked worriedly, "Where's Niles?"

"He's over there. Let's go!"

"Mm Hmm."

The two women followed the soldiers to the fire exit as well. Apparently Niles was hoping to leave the building and set off the alarms, but the thugs got there first. Wesley tackled the thugs, banged their heads together, and threw them to the ground. Covering his bruised face, Niles kicked the guy who had hit him. His foot made contact with the thug's stomach and the man jumped and groaned on impact. "You bastard! That's for hitting me in the face, asshole! Go to hell! You're lucky I didn't bring my scalpel with me. I really want to cut your skin off...one piece at a time!"

Wesley left the four thugs to the security guards. But, he wasn't going to let this pass. He would personally look into this. Why would such things happen in an international hotel?

Niles had cooled down after dealing his own brand of justice. After venting his anger, he ran to the two women, gasping as he asked, "Blair, Irene, you guys okay?"

Blair nodded and noticed the bruises on his face. She felt sorry for him. "Thanks for your help, Niles."

Niles shook his head with a bright smile. "Don't mention it. If my brother hadn't come in time, they would have beaten the tar outta me."

Irene chuckled under her breath. "If you two are done flapping your gums, let's get you to a hospital, Niles."

Niles nodded and introduced Irene to Blair. "Blair, this is Irene Wen, the sister of Debbie's fiance."

Blair greeted, "Hi, Irene. Blair Jing."

"Nice to meet you, Blair." The two women shook hands.

Then Irene accompanied the doctor back to the hospital where he worked. Blair walked up to Wesley, who was now talking with police.

Seeing her approach, he put an arm around her and said, "This is my wife, Blair."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Li," an officer said politely.

"Hello, officers." After the small talk, the police took her statement about what really happened.

Blair answered each question honestly. "Megan Lan sent me a message earlier today. She said my husband was staying with her in this hotel, so I came straight here."

She threw a glance at the man next to her after she said that. Wesley frowned as he listened.

The police officer said, "Mrs. Li, can I have a look at those texts?"

She naturally reached for her pocket and then remembered her phone was still in the room. "Hold on."

She returned to Room 301. A few more cops were there checking the room for clues, electronic surveillance, etc.

One of them asked her if she wanted her phone. Blair nodded, "Yeah. I think it's still here."

"This your phone?" the cop asked as he held out a phone.

"Yes, thanks."

Blair turned on her device. Much to her astonishment, the messages that Megan sent to her were all gone. She couldn't find them anywhere in her phone.

She was confused. Wesley came into the room too. "Someone deleted the surveillance video already. Blair, show me the messages."

"The messages are gone..." Blair looked at the man in defeat.

Wesley scrolled through her messages, only to find some messages from her former coworkers or some advertisements.

He handed the phone back to Blair and called Megan right away. "Hi Megan! Yeah, it's me. Where are you now?"

"Hi Uncle Wesley, I'm in the library. What's up?" Megan spoke in a hushed voice, maybe because she was in a quiet place just then.

Wesley asked outright, "Did you text Blair today?"

"Text Blair? No. I've been at school the whole day, studying. Why do you ask? Something wrong?"

"No?" Wesley looked at Blair.

Thinking the hypocritical girl was lying to Wesley, Blair flew into a rage. She snatched his phone away and bellowed, "Megan Lan, you bitch! You sent me those messages and tricked me into coming to the Elton International Hotel. Why don't you have the stones to admit what you did?"

"Aunt Blair, what are you talking about? I've been at school all day long. What's going on?" Megan's voice sounded as weak as usual, full of grief.

"Damn you! You're insane! Where are you now? I'm coming to see you. We need to have this out face to face!" Blair's anger rose even more as she listened to the girl's fake weak voice.

"Um...I'll go to your place. Where are you now?"

"We're still in Elton, including the four thugs. That's good. We can clear everything up right now."

"See you then." They ended the call.

After a moment's hesitation, Wesley tried to calm her down. "Don't be mad. Maybe there's a perfectly logical explanation. Megan makes mistakes or stirs up trouble, but she's not a criminal..."

"Wesley," Blair called out in a calm voice.

He was silent.

"This needs to get handled. I don't want to fight about Megan again. You have to make a choice. If you don't blame her or make her take responsibility, I want a divorce."

He grabbed hold of her wrist and took her out of the room. When they were in the quiet passage leading to the fire exit, he stared at her, stone-faced. "Talk to me again after you calm down."

"I'm calm as the sea," she replied.

"I didn't say I wouldn't hold her responsible, but I need proof." If it were Megan behind all this, he wouldn't let her off the hook. He would spare her no mercy. But he couldn't do anything without solid evidence.

She sneered, "Fine." Then she didn't say another word.

They waited for Megan in Room 301. After twenty minutes, Wesley got a call from her. "On the seventh floor, Room 301... Wait there, I'll be... I'll have someone come to escort you here." Wesley corrected his words under Blair's angry gaze.

Soon enough, Megan was led into the room. When she saw that fake innocent face, Blair got upset. She strode towards her. She really wanted to slap Megan's face, over and over.

Megan screamed as she ran towards Wesley and hid behind him. "Uncle Wesley, help!"

He grabbed Blair in his arms to keep her from attacking Megan. "Stay cool, Blair."

"Let go of me, Wesley." She glared at the man coldly.

Wesley sighed and let go of her. In an instant, she dragged the screaming girl towards the four handcuffed men. "Spill it. Is this the woman who paid you?"