The day after at the gallery
With the trip to Key West, the investigation took an important turn. Yue discovered that in a locked room The Russian kept two other copies of Picassos whose originals are located in other Florida homes that have not been robbed, yet. Bingo. This is a huge step forward.
Agent Michaels is pleased by how the investigation is going. Dylan and Yue have been indeed identifying all the implicated people in the art dealing ring, and the evidence they have gathered so far is incredibly useful. He had originally predicted they would need more than 3 years to dismantle it, but now he thinks it may require less than that. What will he do with Dylan if the FBI doesn't need him anymore? That is yet to be decided.
Once Agent Michaels is gone from the office, Darren and Caesar corner Dylan in the little conference-slash-interrogation room.
"You kissed her, you Romeo! You're such a lady-killer!" Caesar teasingly exclaims.
"Hey! We were just doing our job..."
"Yeah, mister 'I would die without you'! Did you forget I was listening to every word?" Darren quips with an incredulous face.
Oops. Yes, they forgot.
"And those sounds you two made were pretty pornographic! You were at the beach! I heard your pal Chris approach you... Shame on you!" Darren adds to the pile.
Gosh, it must have sounded like we were doing it on the sand... Yue is gonna kill me! "Guys, no word to Yue about this. We decided to stay friends, alright? Nothing is going to happen between us," Dylan lies as Yue asked him to, although he is not convincing them.
"Said the wolf to the sheep..." Darren jokes and Dylan hits him in the stomach. "Ouch, man! I'm not the poor deluded creature here!"
"Stop it you two!" Dylan scolds his friends. "Nothing has changed. Just act normal when she comes back."
That morning in Washington D.C.
Yue woke up early and wore her best attitude to face her parents. She went down to the kitchen and made breakfast for the whole family, hoping that would put everyone in a good mood, but it didn't do much.
"Papa, mama, please, just give me a few minutes..." Yue respectfully begs her parents who are having breakfast, though her dad refused to touch the food she made for them in protest.
"We don't have time now. The accountant is going to the store today. You should have told us you were coming... Let's go!" Mr. Shen urges his wife to stop eating and they leave.
Yue is angered and disappointed. Sometimes she feels her parents found her in a dumpster... And yet, she would love an abandoned baby as though she were her own, she is certain because she adores the pets she rescues. Maybe she identifies herself with those animals more than she ever imagined.
"Argh! Why is it so hard to talk to them?!" Yue complaints, throwing plates in the sink.
"Baby girl, stop it. You will get hurt. Come, let's go. Josh will do the dishes, right honey?"
Lina's husband, who adores her, nods and gives her a peck on the lips. "Mei, come on, help daddy clean up!" He picks the child up, sits her on the counter and they begin washing dishes together while Lina takes Yue to the backyard.
Yue sits on a swing, grabbing the ropes to the sides and staring blankly ahead as her feet instinctively thrust her.
Lina, who is almost 4 months pregnant, sits on the swing next to Yue. Both sigh and inhale the wet grass scent that surrounds them because last night it rained a lot.
YOU ARE READING
Criminal Love
RomanceA new undercover unit is created by the FBI to infiltrate the inner circles of illegal art dealing. Dylan Wang is a convicted and talented forger that will be forced to pretend to have a relationship with the agent assigned as his keeper, the sweet...
