The Anonymous

Chapter 35: Imposter

Xeno’s POV

I continue walking inside the hotel building after taking another stolen glance at Rei’s face from afar. It never fails to amaze me how smart she is, discovering all of these on her own and coming up with a plan. I’m pretty sure that the Society didn’t regret asking her for help.

I cast out the irrelevant things swirling in my mind, and that includes her. I need to focus. I need to make sure that everything will go according to the plan.

I nod at Van at the hotel lobby before getting inside the lift with pieces of baggage on my hand. Van casually nodded and started to walk away, I followed him. We are dressed as bellboys to avoid suspicion from the hotel staff and guests. When I got on the floor where Hunt’s room is located, I walked past it and stopped at the third room. Seconds after, Van followed, holding a cart of cleaning materials. Acting like room service, he then swiped the room card and went inside the room without even glancing at me.

After a minute or so, I walked towards the end of the hallway. He’s in charge of changing the two paintings while I guard the hallway to make sure the plan will be executed smoothly.

Tapping my fingers on my phone while biting my inner cheek, anxiety rose inside me. I sigh as I throw my thoughts in thin air. I look sideways while waiting for Van to leave the room.  

By this time, I am sure Zac is waiting for us in the van at the emergency exit of the building. We still have ten minutes before a security personnel realizes that the security camera on the seventh floor is not working because of Neron’s doing.

My phone beeped so I peeked on the screen and read the message.

“It’s all prepared. Now do your part.”

I stared at it for a while before typing, but before I could even complete my text Van suddenly tapped my shoulder. I almost jumped out of surprise and a bit of nervousness.

“Everything clear? No intruders? I got it,” he whispered.

I nodded while closing my phone without sending my response.

“Who’s that?” Van asked while looking at my phone.

“Zac. He’s asking if we’re still not done.”

I am pushing the cart while discreetly scanning my eyes for any security cameras that we needed to avoid. Acting is easy for me, I’ve been doing it for years now, but I still need to be careful since my mission is not yet completely successful.

“Here," I said while pointing my right eyebrow towards the emergency exit. Van just nodded and followed me.

When we finally got inside the car, I heard Van's loud sigh of relief from the passenger seat. I checked on him from the shotgun seat and smirked when I saw his big smile while dialing Rei's number. 

“Are you going to call them now?”

“Yeah, they must be so tense so I think we should at least tell them that we did it almost successfully,” Van replied while typing something on his phone.

I comb my hair using my hand before chuckling. “Yeah. Almost.”

I lifted my eyes again to watch Van from the mirror. On his side is the original painting that we were tasked to get. I don’t know if Van already checked the painting for any clues, but if he did then good job for him.

“Hello, Rei! Yeah, don’t worry! Yes, we got it and we’re on our way to the hub now. Yeah? I will check it now… Okay.” I heard Van talking to Rei over the phone.

I didn’t even hear her voice but knowing that she’s on the other line, my eyes faltered quickly. I looked away to push back any regret or guilt that is slowly creeping on me. I have to remember the reason why I am doing this. Yes, I like her, but that doesn’t mean I have to change my perspective of people like her.