BOOK 5. This is mainly a love story following the couple through their first meeting and going on to finding out about each other, they survive a few difficult situations and have to deal with other problems along the way. Crime, violence, becaus...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Yunlan was exhausted when he threw himself into bed and pulled the cover over his shoulders for heat, slowly relaxing, feeling the softness of the pillow. His eyes were almost closed when he remembered why the whip was familiar, it was in the first painting around the man's waist, but weariness won the battle and he fell into a deep sleep for the next five hours. He tossed and turned a few times but didn't get out of bed until his alarm clock went off, and he sat on the side of the bed rubbing his eyes to wake up, then he caught sight of the whip he'd left lying on a chair. He suddenly remembered where he'd found it last night and hurried to dress and eat quickly to give himself some time to return to the library and have another look at the first painting he'd seen.
The light in the library had changed slightly because the sun was in a different position, filling the darker areas with a brightness that Yunlan hadn't seen last night and the painting he wanted to look at, was well lit. The face was very clear and stunned him when he saw it. The person could easily have been a long lost relative judging by the likeness but he was more interested in the belt and examined it to see if it was the same as the newly found whip. He held it close to the painting, studying the small details and they were identical, it was the actual one in the painting and he spoke to himself, "We need to find you a safe place to stay," and he looked around for drawers, spotting one in the first table behind the main doors where the book was found. He carefully place the whip and the book in the top drawer and closed the library doors.
After he arrived at work, the office seemed quiet today not much paper work to catch up on, so Yunlan asked for two volunteers to return to the mugging area and watch for possible victims, maybe they would have better luck than yesterday, in the rain. He was going to stay in and search for the history of his house which maybe he should have done before he had bought it, but didn't. He'd been living there for at least three months but his work had been so hectic that he'd never had the time to explore his house, mainly because of exhaustion, and when he came home, his main thoughts were eat, sleep and go back to work. Like a vicious circle.
Yunlan tried several ways of looking, local history, historical buildings in the area, well known families, oldest documented buildings, even the original advertisement for the sale of his house but couldn't find any information. Then he tried one of the names he remembered from his reading last night, Black Robe. His computer screen froze and his temper exploded as he thumped his desk, stood up sharply and walked out of his office, otherwise he would have launched the computer at the nearest wall.
His remaining staff members stared knowing that it was the computer and not one of them which had set off the temper tantrum and their boss had walked out for fresh air to calm down. It was usually the youngest officer who was sent out with a cup of coffee for him because Yunlan never took his temper out on any of the staff and he looked around when he heard his approach.
"Thank you Da Qing , dam computer screen's frozen. I was trying to look into the history of my own house, but found nothing."
"Would you like me to try? I'm up to date with my reports." He asked Yunlan, hoping to keep on his good side, plus it would stop his boss from attacking the technology in his small office.
"Why not, see what you can find out but use your own computer and could you do something to mine to unfreeze the screen please."
Yunlan could operate his computer at a basic level, anything above that, he was lost. Technology was not his strong point but he had talented officers who often dealt with the more advanced programmes which were impossible for him. By the time he had finished his coffee, Yunlan's temper had disappeared and he returned to his office to find the computer back to normal. It was almost mid-day when the other officers brought in the two muggers and put them in the cells after they were charged, leaving them until they'd had a lunch break. Yunlan stayed in and carried on with his paper work, sending his staff out to enjoy their meal at a small local restaurant, it was a reward for their hard work, especially yesterday outside in the rain.
The office always had a low level of noise even if only one person was working there, but now it was silent and unnatural. Yunlan heard the footsteps before he saw the person, strong, regular, confident, good shoes, his feet were comfortable, these were not new shoes, and he waited to see the man behind the impression his steps had made. He wasn't disappointed, well dressed, grey suit, very smart, old shoes with a high polish and he looked up towards his face. Intellectual look, he must be highly regarded in his employment, very skilled position and Yunlan stood to greet his visitor extending his hand in friendship.
"I'm Chief Zhao Yunlan, what can I do for you?" and he beamed his warmest smile towards his visitor.
"I'm looking for lost family members, I know that this department doesn't deal with missing people but this is more personal. They used to live in the house that you recently bought, and I thought that we should meet."
Yunlan was shocked for a moment and didn't know how to answer, this man might know the history behind his house, especially since his family had lived there.
"Yes, I'm pleased to meet you, what was your name?" Yunlan asked.
"My name is Shen Wei, my family lived in that house for over 60 years and then disappeared without a trace, I was hoping that there would be something left pointing to where they had gone." The visitor asked without showing any emotion.
"I've only owned the house for three months and been so busy here at work that I haven't been in all the rooms, I don't mind showing you around if you would be interested, would later today be suitable?" Yunlan asked while he continually smiled.
"Yes, if it's not too much trouble, I'll leave my phone number with you and call you later, do you have a business card with your number?"
"Yes of course, I'm sorry, I was distracted for a moment. Phone and let me know when you are on your way, it was a pleasure meeting you, see you later."
Yunlan stared at him as he walked away, suddenly realising that he had given his phone number to a complete stranger, didn't know anything about him or what he did for a living, and invited him to his house tonight. Common sense had left the building, he could be an axe murderer for all he knew, but he had his phone number, did killers hand out their phone numbers so easily to the police in an office? No he didn't think so and he ruled that thought out.
His staff returned to find their boss smiling broadly and looking pleased with himself, obviously something had happened to put him in such a great mood but they were not going to ask, just get on with their work and maybe he would let them away early. Da Qing continued looking for any information that he could find, and not having any luck, he was forced to tell Yunlan who wasn't disappointed in the least and thanked him for his effort. All eyes were now trained on their boss, the last time his mood was as good as this was when he bought the house, and the time before that was when he found a new boyfriend. How could he meet someone when he never even left the office, and they all looked towards Lin Jing who understood immediately what the silent order was, and he checked the security cameras.
The video was fine when it recorded everyone leaving for lunch but became very blurry a minute later which lasted until they all walked back into the office. He then checked the outside cameras which did exactly the same, they never recorded the visitor. If they wanted to know, they would have to ask Yunlan and no one was willing, they would rather he stayed in this mood rather than risk putting him in the 'kill a computer mood.'
Yunlan knew that if he really wanted to know more about his visitor tonight, he could ask Da Qing to search, but he didn't, he would have the chance for conversation and maybe a light meal later. His mind then jumped to what was in the kitchen to prepare and did he need to shop, which meant that the staff got their wish and were dismissed early, giving Yunlan the chance to go home and cook, tidy up and change before the phone call to say that his visitor was on his way.
