The barn showed signs of being abandoned, while the farmhouse that was about fifty feet away looked uninhabited as well. Technically both were, since the family who owned this farm had obviously gone abroad, died out, or was killed off by an angry mob. 

Considering how off-grid the place was, even the last option was possible. 

So, when two expensive cars arrived to park near the barn, thirty minutes apart from each other, and then two men in suits and long coats went out of the said vehicles to meet under the shade of a nearby tree, it’s obvious that this was a meeting that’s out of the ordinary. 

“It took a while to scrape off enough tissue and blood just to get a proper sample, Hero. Other than the initial evidence that I ran off with before, I really can’t promise you more of that any time soon, I’m sorry,” Myron the Insider said as he passed over two vials to the other man. 

Hiromoto raised the two glass tubes to look at them carefully before replying, “We appreciate what you’ve already given us initially, although we couldn’t get anything substantial from those samples that you gave a week ago.”

“I really would like to help you out, but that blast was so intense it practically vaporized some of the aluminium off his vehicle. It’s as if it was more an aeroplane crash than a car bomb. You can’t imagine what that kind of explosion can do to a human body.”

“Well, that sounds just like him. With his kind of expertise with explosives and bombs, I can understand why the governor is a little iffy at how he supposedly died.”

“So, are you guys really buying that theory that he set this all up himself? Faking his own death and then disappearing into the beyond forever? Kinda far-fetched if you ask me,” asked the cop with the strawberry blond hair and dark green eyes while he started to shuffle pebbles with his shiny black leather ankle-high boots.

“Well, if he didn’t do it himself, someone else other than us would probably have done it and they should have the connections and the money to get that kind of bomb. Considering that he never worked for anyone else other than the governor before, and he was practically invisible to his targets and his contacts, I really can’t think who else can do this. And we certainly didn’t do this.” 

“Could it have been an inside job?” 

“How could it have been an inside job if he wanted to get out of the group and he was practically doing it solo?” the half-Japanese former gangster lord asked with an irritated tone while one of his eyebrows raised sharply.

“Beats me. You’re the Left Hand, the logical analyst and tactician. That’s your job to figure out, hehe,” guffawed Myron as he placed his hands inside his Constantine-like trench coat.

“Thanks a lot for your confidence and faith in my skills, bro. Somehow, the way you say it doesn’t sound like a compliment, though,” chuckled The Left Hand, hitching his thumbs on his thick belt. 

“Hey, I’m paid to give information. If you want me to compliment you, I’ll give you a price list, Hero, haha!” 

“Touche, Myron. At least you are principled. Disloyal but very principled.”

“Yep, that’s definitely me. I’ll give you more info when I can get some more,” agreed the Detective while taking out a legal-sized envelope from inside his trench coat. “Meanwhile, the photos you have right there are exactly what we got in forensics and that’s the more legit versions, too. Compared to the other pics that the media picked up and are dumping into the internet, this is prime stuff I'm giving you, as always.” 

The private army leader took a quick look inside the envelope before speaking. “Thanks, bro. And expect your payment within the hour. Commensurate with your performance as usual and a large bonus from the Boss himself.” 

“Got it, and thanks too, bro. Gotta rake in the cash, you know. Planning to get married by the end of the year. Need to get the ring and the house ready, hehe.” 

“On my behalf, just tell the unlucky bride she’s getting a dud. She should be looking for a real man,” said Hero with a grin. 

“Oooohhh… just for that, you’re not invited to the wedding,” fake snapped Myron with a bigger grin.

The Left Hand actually laughed aloud - which was a rare occurrence - as he replied, “Yes, I was counting on that and you fell for it. I never liked shopping for wedding presents and I get bored during the ceremony.” 

The Detective clapped his hands on his thighs as he guffawed loudly. “Damn H, you can always give cash, you know.” 

“We’re not that close, Detective, and it’s a lot better if it stays that way.” 

“Well, I do hope I get invited to your wedding if that ever even happens, haha.” 

Sudden silence... 

The smile had already dropped from Hiromoto’s face when he replied a few moments later. “Let’s not… go there…” 

The Detective also paused and turned suddenly serious. “Of course, Hero. I’m sorry for being a little personal.” 

It took a while for the taller and more muscled man to answer. “Well, that's not the worst thing you can do, Detective. But yes, please don’t do that again. We’d hate to lose a perfectly good snitch, you know.”

Myron’s laugh was a bit forced and nervous. “Haha, nice joke, Left Hand. That’s a joke, right?” 

Silence, as the dark-haired man in the black trench coat walked over to his car. The detective was soon running after him seconds later. 

“Hey, Hero, tell me it’s just a joke… Come on!” 

“Good day, Detective. Thanks for your time. Be safe going back to the city. I just need to do something PERSONAL before going back,” was the Left Hand’s cold reply, as he raised the driver's window with a touch of a button.

“Ouch,” mumbled Myron as he backed away from the governor’s second-in-command. “Memo to me: Don’t be too comfortable with these boys, no matter how friendly they can be.” 

Meanwhile, inside the car, the Left Hand dialed a number. The answer came after the third ring… 

“Hello, bro.” 

“Hey, bro. So how is he?” 

“He’s fine. He called me yesterday. Told me he was settling in. And don’t worry, it’s the perfect place. No way will our boss find him if he stays there.” 

“Yeah, that’s really far off, man… even for us. I’m wondering how the heck you know of that place since it’s so isolated.” 

“Well… I kinda visited the place once. Never got to go back, but yeah, it’s the perfect place to go if you ever decide to disappear.” 

“Yes, very true. Thanks a lot for your help, bro. I owe you one.” 

“Yeah, that makes two of you brothers owing me now. And it’s an honour, no worries” 

“It’s an honour, too, Hero. Got to go, and thanks again.”

“My pleasure. Just message me if you need anything. He does the same thing, anyway.” 

The call ended. Just in time, too, since The Snitch had already driven away.

Turning the ignition on with his fingerprint, he started driving out of the barnyard’s gravel driveway and into the countryside road. Meanwhile, his mobile beeped to notify him of an incoming message. 

The Left Hand looked at the screen. His smile was warm and instantly made his face bright and almost unrecognizable. Though his brooding poker face and mysterious scowl were both feared and infamous within his circles, this unfamiliar, relaxed and blissful look was quite refreshing, even to him... 

And especially to the one who had just sent him the message. 

His small smile was still growing strong as he sent a voice message. “I’m just a few minutes away. Wait for me.” 

+++ 

Meanwhile, miles and miles away… 

“Hey, are you ok, boss?” 

Jack returned to the present and found Eron waving his hand in front of his face. 

“Yes… I am, yeah…” the lumberyard head said, blinking away a wild tear that escaped his eye. “I suddenly remembered an old story… Which reminds me, you shouldn’t be alone in the forest… there are… wolves there…” 

“Well, I don’t see how wolves are related to the talk about our family that we were just having, but I’m glad we’re not talking about that anymore. So yes, on that note, wolves are all the more reason for me to find myself a room. Hope you can help.”

“Heh, so you’re afraid of wolves, then?” 

“No, I just don’t want to end up killing them if they attack. Don’t want to harm the local ecosystem, you know, me being a foreigner and all. Rangers just might arrest me for that,” Eron replied with a slight smirk. 

Jack once again intently looked at the hefty newbie, not knowing if the guy was serious or joking. Either way, Eron had guts saying that, and that was quite impressive. It also helped that, based on the way he saw this newcomer was strongly and expertly swinging that axe, he probably was telling the truth.

“HELLO!” a cheerful woman loudly greeted as she waved at the loggers. 

The lady was quite a sight for sore eyes, with her blue, flowery knee-length dress, and a matching handkerchief over her midnight black hair. She started walking closer and talking to the lumber mill’s workers, who were working a bit far from Eron and Jack.

Eron took one glance and gulped. 

“Who is she?” the new hire asked, visibly captivated by the slightly chunky but very curvy lady who just arrived. 

“She’s Diwana,” Jack said. “She comes here to the sawmill every day to sell her dishes here. Cooks all of it herself, since she recently lost her husband and she needs the extra income.” 

“Really now, I just might want to have a taste…”

The foreman glanced at Eron with “that look” again. 

The new arrival was quick to answer. “Whaaat? A taste of her cooking! What the heck were you thinking, man?”

“Cooking, huh? There are a few of our guys who kinda like her because of that. You know how it is, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?” Jack replied with a smirk. “If you’re interested in her, you might have some competition coming your way, city boy.” 

“Competition, huh?” Eron said, smirking back at Jack. “We’ll see about that. Let’s see what she has to offer first.”

And again, Jack paused and had to stare at the man standing beside him. 

Eron was also swift to reply once more. “Her pastries, Jack! What the heck did you think I meant? I just love desserts. Come on, I’m hungry…” 

Somehow, that last statement didn’t sound so safe and wholesome but Jack had no choice but to follow the starving guy with the hopes that there won’t be any trouble any time soon. After all, he didn’t want to lose such a hardworking, focused and charming worker who’s a natural logger just when he’s just newly hired and all. 

Even if this mysterious man was quite a hard one to make out… 

"Wait, bro... How did you know she makes pastries?" (Jack had already explained that she sells dishes and pastries earlier in this chapter)

"I've got a good nose on me for good food. Come on, let's go!"

"Hold your horses. She's already walking towards us..." Jack said, his eyes still narrowed at Eron's eager look.

The boss' thoughts: “Well, he did say he was hungry…”

+++ 

Hours later back in the city, inside a classy but modern conference room, a number of distinguished men were seated at a luxurious long glass table with matching chairs… 

“So, gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that I have found more samples taken from the site. However, our contact can no longer give us any additional ones in the future since there are no more.” 

“Well, unfortunately, the ones that we received before are already quite tainted by the chemicals and heat of the explosions, Left Hand. It was quite impossible to be sure if the source of the samples is indeed Aaron Keiser.”

“I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to complete here, Doctor. It’s very simple: I want absolute proof that the body - or body parts - of the burnt corpse found in the destroyed vehicle of Aaron Keiser is indeed him.” 

“Don’t you mean was, Governor?” 

“I don’t like repeating myself, Doctor Hauptman, but I believe that Aaron Keiser IS still out there, alive and kicking. I also believe he set up this ‘incident’ so he can fake his own death and escape his responsibilities to me and my private army. That being said, I intend to find absolute and undeniable proof of his death first before I start referring to him in the past tense. He remains alive to me unless any of you can show me indisputable evidence that he is indeed dead.” 

The silence that followed was quite thick in the air. No one seemed to want to break it due to some dangerous, unmentionable warning. 

But after a minute or so, someone dared to… 

“What I don’t understand is why do you still need to find this guy IF he’s really still alive. Why can’t he just be replaced with someone better?” 

And the cold, heavy silence returned. This time, though, it was mixed with dread. 

The awkward moment was broken by a slim, pale senior with brown greying hair and thick-rimmed glasses. He was sitting at the head of the table, quite a contrast to all the broad-shouldered suited men, and the intelligent-looking lab-coated doctors that sat with him at the long conference table. 

However, everyone was paying close attention to him and his reactions, even with extreme apprehension… 

Even when he was slowly chuckling to himself, his mouth twisted into a sardonic smile, one couldn’t help but feel their hairs stand up on end hearing him and seeing him do so. His bodyguards and private army members were probably the only ones who knew what was about to happen next. 

And they all knew better than to stop The Governor… 

This average-looking thin man of 5’10” stood up, took out his Koth Combat revolver… 

Then shot the last speaker, Doctor Hauptman, in the face. 

Half the room erupted in yells of shock and even screams of terror. The other half were sighing with resignation, some of them smirking knowingly or even calmly wiping splattered blood from their clothes. 

“Calm down, gentlemen, please sit down and relax,” stated The Governor, as if what he did was the most normal and logical thing in the world to do. “Realize that I had to shoot him because he wasn’t using his brain. And that’s not right for a doctor of his calibre. Definitely, not right…” 

He sat back down on his luxurious leather executive chair, leaned back a bit, and put up his feet on the glass table. He looked at some of his medical advisers, still pale and shaking as they took their seats, waiting until they had calmed down enough to give him their full attention. 

“The reason why he shouldn’t have asked me why Aaron Keiser can’t be replaced with someone better is quite simple.” Governor Edward Kahlagu paused dramatically before continuing. “It’s simply because there is NO ONE better than Aaron Keiser at what he does. All the more reason why I want him back with us if he is indeed alive.” 

As the meeting - more like a monologue - continued, one of the men in the black suits was looking down in an effort to remove the disgust and disappointment that was starting to reflect on his face due to the newest cold-blooded murder the governor committed. He knew that, as usual, the crime would never be brought to the courts, no thanks to the governor’s private militia army and his network of corrupt government, military, and judicial officials. 

And after these few years of watching this repeatedly happen, he was getting less and less assured that this was the right place for him. 

When he was younger, during his wild, do or die days, he definitely felt at home with the violence, bloodshed, criminality, and cruelty that the governor’s personal death squad was well known for. But now, he knew he was getting too wise and mature for this kind of lifestyle and career. However, there was someone who was behind the changes in him. 

And he was starting to like the way she was affecting him, after years of him holding back and even resenting how she was making him more caring… compassionate… 

Soft… 

Something he never wanted to admit to himself before. Unfortunately, the more he spent time under the governor’s service, the more aware he was of how wrong, how perverse, and how perverted his superior was. 

Ironically, she was also his most important reason why he did not dare to leave.

“And I know she will not leave me just to save herself. I’m definitely sure of that,” he murmured to himself. 

On that cue, Governor Edward, turned to his Left Hand. “So, Hero, are you absolutely sure that there can be no way to find more tissue and blood samples that can be used by our very willing and INTELLIGENT medical team?”

His boss’ question cut through the Left Hand’s mind. He immediately reeled in his deep thoughts to swiftly answer his superior’s question.

“Our contact has assured me that those vials contain the last of whatever biological evidence they have of the car’s driver.” 

“That is unfortunate. This would probably mean more dead scientists in the next week or so, hahaha!” 

As the governor’s sadistic laugh rang out, forcing the other people in the room to laugh along with him whether he was saying a joke or not, the Left Hand just smiled lamely. Underneath the table, both his hands were curled into tight fists, knowing that his boss was not joking. 

His thoughts: "I may have to rethink the plan I had before if I want to save these doctors from my crazed superior. But that can easily put me in the wringer, along with my friends… and her…"

“Oh, please, our dearest governor, don’t be too concerned about our findings,” one of the medical experts said in a grovelling tone. “By the end of the week, we can definitely give you an answer. Hopefully, it will be the very thing you do want to hear.”

“I would like to see that happen, Doctor Mariveles. Especially since you are the head of our medical department. I know you would not put any of your underlings in danger by not giving me what I want.”

At this point, The Governor stood up and started to walk out the door. 

The Left Hand was quick to speak. “I’ll be overseeing clean-up and debriefing, Sir. I’ll just follow you back to the mansion after I’m done here.” 

To his relief, the governor gave him an approving smirk and a nod. Hero then watched him walk out of the door with this set of bodyguards for the day. 

Hero's thoughts: "Now, to oversee everything… but first, I need to call him…"