Chapter 185: I Don’t Think So
TAK!
THUD!
The elderly janitor turned her head toward where Ashley had thrown the syringe.
"Bitch," she hissed. "Even before she loses consciousness, she’s still going to make a problem for me."
At the same time, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Taking it out, she answered.
"The job’s done," she said as soon as the call connected. "I’ll take her out of here. Prepare to leave now."
She paused, glancing at the entrance. "Distract the members of Dominion for now."
"Got it."
Having said that, the woman in disguise hung up and looked down at the floor. She was about to turn on her heel to find the syringe — to leave no evidence and leave the impression she escaped — when a voice came from outside.
"Hey! You okay?!"
The janitor clicked her tongue. Time was crucial, and they couldn’t afford to get busted now. So she turned and went to where Ashley had fallen. She quickly pulled her cart, then dragged Ashley’s body with great difficulty.
Once she managed to lift her, she tossed her into the cart and covered her with trash and other cleaning tools. Then she slipped a finger inside her collar and flipped it, revealing a small device.
"Going out now."
*****
[Outside the restroom area]
"What’s taking her so long?"
"Hey! You okay?!"
The guards outside the restroom — a combination of Ashley’s bodyguards, Gin and Rum, and two others who weren’t part of their crew — idled, waiting for Ashley to come out.
"Do ladies really take this long in restrooms?" one of them wondered, and the others shrugged. "Don’t tell me it’s a call of nature."
"Maybe she’s retouching her makeup," Rum said, touching his cheek, making the rest nod in agreement.
As they speculated, they instinctively stepped aside to make way for two mascots heading toward the restroom.
"Wait — damn!" Rum harrumphed as the big mascot nearly shoved him aside with its large tail.
The guards spread out wider, hissing and jumping back as the two mascots squeezed through where they had been standing.
"There’s plenty of space over there — hey!" Rum yelled and glared at the mascots, but they had already passed. "Don’t mascots have their own restroom? Did they think their costumes were small?"
"Let them be," Gin said. "Don’t get too worked up over the littlest things."
At the same time, an elderly janitor emerged from the ladies’ restroom, pushing a large cart with her head down. With the mascots drawing everyone’s attention, the utility worker went easily unnoticed.
"Did they think those costumes weren’t big enough?" Rum grumbled to Gin, still glaring after the mascots, when his gaze caught the elderly janitor walking away to the side.
He narrowed his eyes at her, then called out. "Hey!"
The elderly janitor flinched, peeking over her shoulder. As soon as she did, Rum was already approaching. When he stopped a few steps away, her grip on the cart’s handle tightened slightly while her other hand drifted to her side, just in case.
Rum tilted his head, brows knitting.
For a few tense seconds, silence hung between them until Rum spoke.
"Auntie, you dropped this."
In his hand was a white towel that the janitor had dropped because of the mascots. She turned toward him slightly, keeping her head low.
"Thank you, young man," she said quietly. "Thank you."
Rum smiled faintly and nodded. "You’re welcome."
Once she took it, Rum glanced at her sleeve, then back at her — her head still consistently kept low. He didn’t dwell on it, watching her walk away before rejoining the others.
"What the hell was that?" one of them asked.
Rum shrugged. "She reminds me of my grandma. Old people still breaking their backs at this age — and a single towel like that can get deducted from their salary if they lose it. You know that?"
Everyone nodded, aware that Rum had been raised by his grandparents. The group fell back into idle conversation until Gin paused.
"Hey, is something off?" His question made everyone stop. "She’s been in there a very long time. And now that I think about it — was she even wearing makeup today?"
The words landed, and everyone looked at each other, brows furrowed.
Rum slowly raised his brows, his gaze drifting toward the path to the restrooms. He narrowed his eyes and found himself thinking of the elderly janitor again.
He hadn’t dwelled on it at the time, but... when she’d reached out to take the towel, her hand had not been as wrinkled as it should have been.
"Wait a fucking minute," he breathed. His heart thudded as he suddenly bolted toward the restroom, snapping the rest out of their calm.
"Hey, Rum!"
Confused, everyone exchanged glances before snapping their attention to where he’d gone. And because it was Rum, no one questioned it — they simply followed.
Rum barged into the women’s restroom, eyes wide. His heart stopped for a second when he found no one inside.
"Hey!" he shouted, moving fast and kicking open the first closed cubicle. "Hey, it’s me!!"
He checked the others one by one, kicking each door in quick succession. When he reached the last, he whipped around to face the others crowded at the entrance.
"That janitor," he breathed, his complexion pale. "Find that janitor and those mascots."
No one questioned it. They moved quickly — some heading to the men’s restroom where the mascots had gone, the rest going after the janitor Rum had stopped earlier.
Rum ran his hands through his hair, his other hand on his hip.
"Shit," he breathed. "Did she escape?"
"Rum."
His racing thoughts halted at the sound of his name. He snapped his eyes up at Gin, who had stepped into one of the cubicles.
"What is it?" Rum asked, moving toward him.
Gin was crouching to retrieve something from behind the toilet. He rose slowly, staring down at what was in his hand. When he looked back, he held up a syringe.
"I don’t think so," he said quietly, meeting Rum’s eyes. "I don’t know what’s in here, but we need to alert the master."