Charles rose to his feet abruptly, almost choking on his saliva. He looked at the message again, and even had to rub his eyes to be certain that he was seeing right. “What's wrong?” Vera asked, looking concerned. Charles had to show Vera his phone to be certain it wasn't his eyes playing some tricks on him. Vera gasped in shock. “Is…is this real? Let's call James immediately.” She said hurriedly. Charles quickly went to his call logs and then dialed James’ number. He began to wonder for how long had he been in their custody and how James must have felt he didn't care enough to reach out to him, during his vacation. Suddenly, the call was answered, and Charles put it on speaker. “James, are you okay?” He asked, out of concern. “No, he's not. And if you do not comply with the boss' rules, you will no longer hear from your so-called ally.” The male voice threatened. “Then tell me what damn rules are you speaking about!” Charles yelled out loud in anger and frustration. “If you are ready to know about it, then once it's 6pm, I'll send you an address. That's where the arranged meeting will take place.” Then the phone call was disconnected immediately after that. Charles could almost throw out his phone in anger, but then, he calmed himself. “What's this about? Who are those after you again? Could it be related to the man who wanted to break your safe the other day?” Vera voiced out her rhetorical questions. “The only thing we can do is for me to attend the meeting, and I'll find out.” “Should we involve the cops?” Vera inquired. “No, we don't need to. I have a feeling it's not something so dangerous, especially if I adhere to what they ask of me.” “What if it's something that you really can't or shouldn't do?” “Let’s get one settled first. But before then, I need you to get me a few tech bugs I could use, just so you can monitor me and eavesdrop on all conversations I have with them.” Charles uttered, looking at the blank air with a serious expression.“Okay, I can make that available. I'll get back to you soon.” As Vera left his house, he walked towards the living room, and paced around. He was getting used to being targeted all the time, but having someone putting his loved ones or allies lives on the line because of him was what he couldn't stand. In about an hour, Vera got back with a few tech bugs and then a laptop she could use to monitor all that would transpire between Charles and the anonymous man. He was glad that Vera still knew how to do something like this, if not, he would have to give the job to someone else to do and that would mean making others know what was currently going on. It was almost time for Charles to leave home and the address had been given to him, so Vera installed the bugs and pinned one on his shirt, and the other, behind his ear lobe. “Alright, I'm ready to leave. Your sight shouldn't be taken from the laptop.” “Noted.” Vera responded assuringly. Charles walked out of his home, then got into his car, but this time, he decided to drive himself as he didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him, in case things didn't go as planned. He stared at the address again and ensured to drive fast, just so they wouldn't give him any excuse for wasting James’ life if they were truly going to do that and still have what they wanted. While driving through a lonely road, he caught a glimpse of someone who looked so much like Mark. “Could this be him?” He muttered under his breath, squinting his eyes to have a good look. But then, the person kept moving and had a cap on. He was torn between continuing his journey and finding out if it was Mark or not. After giving it so much thought, he decided to leave the man alone, and continued on his journey. Soon, he got to that particular address and discovered that it was a big warehouse that looked empty. But he was certain that deep inside would be the people he was to meet and James who had been held hostage. So, he tapped the bug to connect to Vera whom he felt should have communicated wirh him, long before now. “Hey Vera. I'm about to go out of the car.” As he said that, the microphone made a loud scrambling noise and then stopped. “What's going on?” He muttered under his breath. He tried to check out the tech bugs again, but there was no response, neither was any sound. “Shit!” Then he turned off his airplane mode and called Vera. She immediately answered the call. “What's going on? Are the bugs not working fine?” “That can't be the case, Charles. It was well tested before I brought it to you. Since you left, I have been trying to reach out to you, but the device got destroyed the moment I tested it out with you. It's like another tech device, powerful than it, destroyed it.” Vera spoke. Charles’ brows furrowed as he didn't understand why that happened. “That’s the same thing that happened while I tried to reach out to you.” “So, what do we do? This has never happened before.” “I'll just carry on without the bugs. Just stay alert in case I reach out to you.” Charles instructed. “Alright then. Be safe.” Now, Charles got down from the car and glanced at the warehouse, ready to go in, and hoping that it would turn out positive for him as something negative had already happened, which didn't seem like a good sign. “You have about five minutes to get here or he'll be gone. It's getting too boring.” That was the text he got, but he didn't need to fret. He was already there. Then the system notification came up instantly. SYSTEM UPGRADE PROCESSING 5%