In Cold Blood [Ash Lynx] - Banana Fish

Eighteen - Red Desert

Scrolling through her phone, Tora blows the strand of hair from her face and back into the bun, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. Sat in the back of the long limo, wearing a black, long-sleeved, shin-length, tunic-style dress —a gold peacock with jewelled feathers embroidered on the front— and black heels, she shifts in the seat to pull at the skirt. "I could really use a cigarette right now."

"You know what you're doing, right?"

Dropping her phone down to look to the side as Ash pushes his hair back, Tora raises an eyebrow. "You're not questioning my reliability now, are you? I'm not actually going to smoke now."

He shrugs, adjusting the bow tie of his tuxedo. "It's not that I don't trust you—"

"Well, what is it?" She questions, fiddling with her fingers.

"I just know what's at stake here and how much you want to know this information." Ash raises his hands. "That's all I'm saying."

Nodding, Tora rests her arm on the window and looks outside, the rain pouring down. "I know."

Ash places a hand on the seat between them, leaning closer. "I'm right there with you. Just act like it's any other job, but with a reward that will hopefully give us some more answers."

She turns back to him. "I'm a professional, I know what I'm doing."

"Just listen for a sec, damnit." He shakes his head, pressing on the remote as the partition slides down. "You doing this tonight could be the next step for us. You can't tell me you haven't considered that this job is potentially life-threatening."

She furrows her eyebrows, crossing her arms. "What do you mean, 'life-threatening'?"

Ash raises an eyebrow. "I don't think Yut-Lung would double-cross us, but just keep an eye out. You've got everything you need to know, so do your thing but with extra caution."

"I know, I know." Tora slumps in the seat. "It's not like I haven't thought about the things that could go wrong. But I have faith that he wants this person dead more than he wants to mess with me."

He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Let's hope."

-

Sipping her champagne flute, Tora smiles to him. "I'm so glad I ran into you, Mr Chang."

The trim, middle-aged, Chinese businessman grins, placing his glass down. "Please, call me Liu. But yes, I'm glad too."

"I'm not usually a fan of these events, too many business people," Tora says. "I think business should stay for the office and we should have fun."

"I couldn't agree more, these events are to unwind." He smirks, turning to his two bodyguards a few feet away. "I'll take it from here, enjoy the party."

They nod their heads respectfully to the two before walking away from them and into the crowd.

Tora giggles. "What would you like to do now, Liu?"

He raises a hand to her cheek, placing a finger under her chin. "One of my associates allows me to use his office for when I want to escape these things. Does that sound suitable?"

She nods, grabbing her purse from the table. "How about I use the bathroom and then I meet you at the elevator in five?"

He agrees, kissing her hand before grabbing their drinks and walking away. She makes her way over to the bathroom, searching the room for Ash. They lock eyes and he excuses himself from his conversation.

Reaching the entrance to the bathroom, Tora glances to check on Liu Chang, before ushering Ash inside the disabled cubicle.

"What's going on? Are you going somewhere with this guy?" He questions.