Until The End

CHAPTER 1 - LEAMINGTON'S DEMISE

Exactly thirty-three minutes before the cops burst inside the soon-to-be-very-famous Leamington Hotel, ordering everyone to freeze at their spots and stop working at whatever they were doing, nothing felt out of the ordinary.

It was like any other day at the luxurious California hotel. Everything was running smoothly except, a few minor technical glitches but, that had been taken care of. The required company was informed and the guy was already working to fix the software.

The biggest meeting room on the ground floor was filled with men and women in professional suits, most of whom were listening to the presentation quite attentively. Others just wanted the guy to shut his mouth.

Dylan VanAssche (pronounced Van-Ash) looked at his wristwatch and gritted his teeth. Ten minutes. Ten minutes ago, he had already decided that he wasn't going to sign the deal with the hotel owner. The only reason why he was still sitting there and pretending to listen was that he wanted evidence.

Even before entering the perimeters of the Leamington Hotel, Dylan was a bit sceptical about the details his investigator found out during the regular background check. But, now that he had finally met and observed them, his doubts have solidified. All he was waiting for at the moment was an e-mail from his investigator containing every possible detail anyone could ever find out about this firm.

Patience, he told himself as he looked up the at the poorly made presentation. The guy was explaining how beneficial it was going to be for the security company if they sign the deal and all Dylan could think was how non-beneficial it was going to be for them if what he thought was actually true. He did not dare say that though. He still needed the email. So, he was going to sit there and just wish his ears don't bleed.

It wasn't that he couldn't just cancel the deal and walk out of this place, saving himself and his team this mental torture. But, if he was right about these guys being involved in illegal activities then rejecting the offer, which will consequently affect their stocks, would only be a quarter of what they deserved and he wasn't someone to leave a job unfinished.

Why break only one bone when you could crush every single one of them?

The screen of the iPad, placed on the conference table, lit up with the email notification. Dylan picked it up, opened the email and downloaded the attachments. His eyes flowed over the text solidifying his doubts not only about the hotel but also about things far beyond than that.

Once Dylan was done reading, he placed the iPad on the table and sat back in the chair, leisurely. The people at Leamington had underestimated him and they were about to deal with the consequences.

"What about the seventh floor?" Dylan's deep voice boomed around the room making everyone turn their heads to look at him.

His position at the head chair allowed him a clear view of every person sitting inside the room, including the hotel owner, Mason, to whom he had directed his question. For a brief moment, the room fell silent. Mason passed a look to his manager before turning towards Dylan, who was patiently waiting for an answer.

"The seventh floor, Mr VanAssche?"

Signing a deal with the best security company in the country was going to be a sticky wicket, Mason and his staff knew that. They had practised a lot of answers for a wide range of questions before this meeting but, none of them came remotely close to the one he was asked right now.

He gave a stern look to his manager whose face had gone pale. There was no need to be afraid. VanAssche may be the best in business but he'll never find out about them.

"Yes. What's going on there?" Dylan asked casually.

"N…nothing is… oh! The entire floor is under maintenance. Our guests were having trouble due to some technical error in the system. We checked it and the tech company worker is fixing it right…."