Silence filled the room as the doors to the massive command and control centre of the headquarters opened. The staff members who had been debating over the image of the mysterious figure displayed on the screen of the enormous video wall, fell silent with a single look at the man who had emerged through the doorway.

Not sparing even the barest of a glance to his employees, Dylan, followed by Markus, went to stand in front of the extensive LED wall. The picture displayed on one of the smaller windows of the screen was of a hooded figure of a man, walking with his head down. The awful quality of the image suggested it was a zoomed-in still of a CCTV recording.

"What do we have here, Zeke?" Dylan directed the question to his bodyguard.

Ezekiel, in turn, signalled the operator to play the video. After a few taps on the keyboard, another window appeared on the screen. It was a CCTV recording. Dylan noticed it was of the same day as the explosion. The green tint over it indicated it was taped at night. The time at the bottom of the screen specified it was merely an hour before his car burned up in flames.

For the initial 20 seconds, the video showed nothing but a street bustling with night traffic. The sidewalks on either side of the road were relatively quiet. A few pedestrians could be seen walking along the street but there was nothing unusual that would spark interest.

Then the very next second, Dylan noticed it. A man appeared on the right side of the screen on the opposite sidewalk. His hands were in his hoodie's pockets as he walked with his head down. A major part of his face was masked by a cap under the hood. The broken street lamp and the incredibly abysmal camera quality further assisted him to hide whatever more was left of his face.

Just as casually as he had entered the frame, he walked out. A minute and twelve seconds later, he entered the frame once again. This time from the left. He strolled to the right and was out again.

"This went on for about ten minutes," Zeke informed.

The video was sped up for the said ten minutes, brought to a pause, and played at normal speed thereafter. When the hooded man came into view again, his hands were out of the pockets. His fingers moved over the keypad of the flip phone he now held. Seconds later, he put the phone to his ear.

After precisely 7 minutes and 38 seconds, he placed his cell phone back in his pockets. Adjusting the hood and the cap, he walked for another two laps before finally heading out of the frame for a final time.

"One of the four calls the drunkard received was from this exact spot" Zeke explained. "None of the CCTV footage from the area shows this guy's face. It's as if he knew exactly where every single camera was set up and avoided them with ease."

Dylan sorted the information he had extorted from the drunkard outside the nightclub in his head. The time and duration of the call from the burner phone in the video matched exactly with the third phone call in the drunkard's call records.

According to the guy, he had never spoken to the caller in person. The instructions had been passed over the calls and the money had been found, in a nameless envelope, inside his mailbox the next morning.

"What about the other three calls?" Markus inquired.

Zeke looked over to the operator. Right on cue, a detailed map appeared on the video wall. Four red markers were positioned at the centre of it. The screen zoomed in, scattering the markers in different directions over the map.

"They were from three different locations around the city. The calls were made using a burner phone by the same guy but we couldn't find anything remarkable that could be used to track him down. Not a single camera there could capture his face" Zeke answered.

"He knew we would investigate him," Dylan stated.

"Yeah, it's that or he's just camera shy," Markus said with a straight face.

"What else did you find?" Dylan questioned the bodyguard. On his orders, Zeke had been digging up information on the caller using the numbers obtained in the drunkard's call records for the past whole week.

"That's all we have, Mr VanAssche," he said. The disappointment in his voice was perspicuous.

"That's all? Neat!" Markus said, impressed by the lack of a lead, "this guy sure as hell knew what he was getting himself into. I don't think we've ever hit a dead end before. This is exhilarating."

"It's refreshing," Dylan agreed.

Still not convinced about his findings, Zeke gestured to the technician to play the video once again. Even then, after watching it for the tenth time, he found no more details about the man than he already had.

"Not everyone can plan out a perfect crime. Especially not against a company that hunts crooks like them for a living. It has to be someone influential" Zeke concluded, "Is there anyone you could think of, Mr VanAssche, who could do this as an act of revenge?"

Dylan didn't have to think hard about that. The names came to his mind with minimal effort. There were a lot of people who wished for his demise. But that didn't make him no saint. Quite the contrary. All of them had their reasons for desperately wishing for his end. Totally valid reasons on top of that, Dylan thought pleasantly.

"You might not wanna go there, mate," Markus told the guard with a humourless laugh, "the list is way too long."

Indeed. However, there was one name that had stuck in his mind ever since he saw his car burn up in flames. Not only were they influential enough to do the things they did but also they were one of the extremely rare people who would have the courage to pull a stunt like this on him.

They didn't want him dead. The explosion was only a threat, Dylan was sure. All he needed now was confirmation of his doubts before he proceeded to settle the score with them.

Dylan believed threats shall always be repaid superfluously. It was benevolent to give much more than one receives. And he was exceptionally generous when it came to that.

"Get Sierra on the task" he ordered Zeke, "tell her to pack for a short vacation in Houston."

The bodyguard nodded. While Zeke went to the operator, for a copy of the recordings that he would have to send to the woman, Dylan and Markus stepped out of the command centre.

The day shift had just ended and the evening shift was about to begin. The ground floor, of the building, was bustling with employees either heading to their homes or their workstations. As Dylan and Markus walked towards the private set of elevators reserved for personal use, several of the employees passing by would stop to greet them. While Markus returned their greeting with a brief smile or a little nod, Dylan didn't trouble himself with even a look of acknowledgement.

"Do you really think sending Sierra to Houston is a good idea?" Markus asked. Unlike most of the time, his tone was dead serious.

"Since when did you start doubting her skills?" Dylan questioned in return.

"I don't. It's not about her. It's-" Markus sighed, "what if it's 'them' who's behind all this?"

"There is a good chance they are."

Dylan had his doubts. He had destroyed more businesses than one could count on both their hands and delivered even more people to a cell in prison. It was no surprise that most of them didn't like to see his head still attached to his neck. And they took a lot of pain to remind him of that fact time and time again in the form of warnings and threats.

Even though it was quite flattering to know there were hundreds of people desperately wanting to slice his neck, Dylan was aware the list of people who could actually do it was diminutive. So, he had a good idea of who it could be. Apparently, Markus did too.

"You should be cautious, man. Things could get messy. You know how they work," Markus said in a low voice that wouldn't be overheard by the employees passing by.

"Exactly. I know how they work. It's them who need to learn a few new tricks" Dylan stated only for Markus to shake his head in disbelief.

"You're not taking this seriously. These people-"

Dylan cut him off mid-sentence, "these people need to know where to stop, Mark. Doing nothing will only encourage them. They planted an explosive in my car that was parked inside my headquarters. I don't care who they are. No one gets away with that bullshit."

Markus went silent for a while. The look on his face indicated he knew Dylan was right. And yet, when he forced a joke in the next sentence, his voice still contained a hint of worry and reluctance.

"Fine. Whatever you do, just put me in your Will before you die. Someone will have to look after this company after you're gone."

Dylan gave no reply. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his assistant making her way towards him. She was holding a couple of files in her hands, walking in a hurry to get to him. He slowed his steps and turned to look in her direction. Elyse was alone. His eyes wandered around her for a few seconds. The girl he was searching for was nowhere to be seen.

Coming to stand in front of him, Elyse notified him of the board members that were waiting for him to start their quarterly meeting. She flipped open one of the files in her hands and pulled out a pen from between the papers. Dylan took the file and gave it a quick scan.

"Did she return from Brianna's office yet?" He asked as he signed the pages of the document.

Elyse nodded. "About half an hour ago. Just as you directed, I asked Ms Hayden to wait in your office. Though, she declined and is sitting outside your office in the waiting area."

Of course, she did. For one thing, he knew the girl didn't like to be told what to do. It was a wonder she didn't run out of the company the instant she heard he had ordered her to stay.

"Hayden? Nadia Hayden?" The name caught Markus' attention and his brows shot up in surprise, "she accepted your transfer offer?"

"It's not an offer" Dylan stated.

He signed the last few pages of the file and returned it to his assistant. Elyse took the file and handed him another one, topping it with a sheet of paper that needed his signature too.

"Ms Hayden insisted I get this signed on her behalf."

It was a permission letter that would grant her entry to his headquarters. Usually, the employees were supposed to swipe their ID cards, provided by the company, at the entrance. It generally took more than a week for the routine background check, of the new employee, to complete. The cards were only issued when no discrepancy was found.

Though in Nadia's case, her transfer was sudden. Even if they skipped the background check, it would still take a few days for her to get her ID. The only other way to get access was through a permission letter or an access card. Though, with the increased security around the headquarters, the access cards have been temporarily repudiated, excluding a few that were exclusively approved by himself.

Dylan read the letter and noticed how Markus leaned in to get a view as well. Instead of signing it, he folded the paper and placed it inside his suit pocket. Next, he flipped open the file in his hand. It was a meeting agenda that Elyse had prepared for the board meeting.

"You go, get bored in the meeting. Give me the letter, I'll sign it and take it to your Hayden. It's clear she doesn't want to see you and it's about time I introduce my charming self to her" Markus smiled brightly. He pretended to settle his already perfect hair when Dylan gave him a side glance.

"Markus will be sitting in for me in today's meeting" Dylan informed his assistant. Before the man in question could even register his words, Dylan tossed the file at him. Markus caught it in mid-air and the words finally sunk in.

"No. Not happening. These idiots stretch these meetings for unreasonably long and I'm not going to devote my precious time to hear them argue over another useless topic they invented" Markus attempted to give the file back to Elyse but she was not going to flout her boss' command.

"Assist him with it. If he doesn't behave, start looking for a new managing director." Dylan told Elyse. Markus mouthed two, not very decent, words to him in response and Dylan gave an encouraging pat on his shoulders, before heading towards the private set of elevators.

The waiting area outside his office was nearly empty. There were no more appointments remaining for the day and the board meeting had been the last thing on his schedule.

Nadia sat on the chair furthest to his office. Both her elbows rested on her knees and her chin was held between her palms. Her head was tilted a little to the left. She was staring at his office door with a repulsed look on her face. The way her eyes were focused on his office door, Dylan was sure her thoughts were about him but the furrowed eyebrows, wrinkled nose and the funny twist of her lips made him doubt if any of those thoughts were nice.

The barest hint of a smile appeared on his lips. It was comforting to know she disliked him just as much behind his back as she did when he was around.

He pulled the letter out of his suit pocket and walked towards her. She was so lost in her thoughts, that even his footsteps on the hardwood floor had no impact.

"Cursing me, Hayden?"

His voice startled her. Nadia turned her head to look at him. She took a few seconds to process his words and once she realized who she was looking at, her expressions, instantly, changed from a displeased adult to a child who had been caught in a lie.

Nadia shook her head and whispered a, not very convincing, 'no'. Her voice was so low that Dylan doubted if it was audible even to her. A terrific liar, he noted.

"I told you to wait inside. Get in," he motioned towards his office.

Nadia looked at the office door once again, then at the empty corridor behind him, possibly searching for his assistant who wasn't going to show up for the next two to three hours. "Did Elyse, by any chance, give you any letter to sign?" She asked casually, pretending it wasn't anything significant.

Dylan raised his hand to show her the letter. It was held between his middle and index finger. Just as Nadia got up from her seat to take the piece of paper from his hand, he curled his fingers inwards. All she caught was thin air.

Not waiting for the glare that he was sure he was about to receive for the teasing, Dylan started to walk towards his office. He didn't tell her to follow. He knew she would.