Chapter Seventeen
Kerry and Taylor entered the room as I gave them time to unpack their bags. Hearing the commotion, Yuri came out of the bedroom and greeted them. Her cheeks and skin had regained their color and for that I was thankful.
“Okay so what’s going on?”
“Yeah, why did I need to erase some hospital footage?” Taylor said plopping down on the other side of Kerry. Yuri and I grabbed the other sofa as I began to tell them what happened. I explained to them about how I was attacked on the plane and how somehow Yuri had gotten food poisoning from the restaurant we all eaten at before leaving for Paris.
After I was finished, Taylor and Kerry had their own story to tell. Taylor had flown home to Texas after dinner Friday night to check in with her family. The next morning she’d gone to the airport to meet us in Paris, when all of a sudden she was being pulled to the side by security. They had informed her that they’d gotten a tip that she was carrying something dangerous in her bag. A quick search through her things seemed to prove the tip right. They’d found two large hunting knifes and a small black bag full of needles. Taking in the fact that she was Korean, the airlines felt they didn’t need any more proof that Taylor was on her way to do some type of terroristic plot. Luckily, a friend of Taylor’s father had seen the whole thing. He’d accused the airlines of racial profiling that would resort in a large lawsuit. He then argued that Taylor was taking the knives to Paris for an art show and the needles were simply filled with adrenaline because of her heart problems. Because the airline security was so dense, they took the rich man at his word and apologized to Taylor. Her father’s friend then escorted to his private plane which they quickly boarded and took off before the airport security became suspicious again. They landed in Paris and she promised him that she would put in a good word for him about letting him partner with one of her father’s companies.
Kerry misfortunes on the other hand, came from car trouble. On the way to the airport, her family’s luxury car tires had burst on the road. To make matters worse, her driver had suddenly gone into allergic shock. Kerry with her quick reflexes had to climb up to the front and stop the car before they both ended up getting killed. Once they were pulled off safely to the side of the road, she then reached into her driver’s jacket and found his Epi pen and injected him.
He’d recovered just in time as a passing car stopped to assist them. It turned out to be her neighbor Mrs. Hall. Mrs. Hall along with her son got out the car to help them. Kerry was planning to stay with him until the tow truck arrived, but he assured her that he was fine and that she shouldn’t miss her flight. After more urging, she finally caught a ride with Mrs. Hall as her son stayed behind with the driver. She just barely made it to the gate.
“It’s a good thing you were quick on your feet Kerry. You guys could have been seriously injured.” I said.
“I know. I had found it strange how the car tires suddenly blew out. Our driver always made sure our cars were in good shape. It was also weird that he just so happen to have an allergic reaction right then. He’s always been careful not to eat anything that deals with peanuts, but for insurance purposes he kept his Epi pen on him at all times. Now that I know what happened to you guys, I know that it couldn’t have all been a coincidence.”
Yuri shook her head. “I’m saying. Whoever was doing this, really didn’t want us to make it here in time. Taylor what kind of favor did your father friend want you to do?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it.”
“What? Aren’t you worried that he might get angry with you?”
“No.” Taylor said. “He can get angry all he wants, but he can’t turn me in. He helped me board a plane with illegal items. That makes him an accessory.”
“Were the knives yours?” I asked.
“No. I’ve never seen them a day in my life. Someone put them in there. I just don’t know when.”
The four of us sat there in silence. Each one of us had been threatened to the point our lives could have been over. My father’s killer was doing everything in his power to get us to back away from the painting. He didn’t seem to get it. He was only making us stronger. He was showing us that he had no problem harming us to the point of death and when it came time, we will have no problem returning the favor.
We had never killed anyone in our lives, but it was becoming quite clear that things may end up this way. But we killed someone—it would only be in self-defense. We would never willingly take another human’s life.
After talking, we all split up and went to go shower and change. While Yuri was in the shower, I’d gone downstairs to buy her a pack of juice. I needed to make sure she kept up her energy. I returned back to the room to see all of the girls dressed and standing over the coffee table as Taylor dug through a black bag. I handed Yuri the juice as Taylor distributed different forms of technology from cameras to recorders, all would help us with surveillance. Tucking everything in our purses, we put on the wigs that Yuri had brought along in her bag, as well as extra accessories. Once we were done, the four of us looked like four different girls. In fact, Yuri looked as if she could be Heather’s twin.
“Alright ladies, let’s go survey.”
We headed out of the room towards the elevators, unaware of the fact that our room door hadn’t fully closed.