Chapter Three: Fate's First Account

“Follow the cleaner,” Shen Yan told Xu Zhi through his earpiece. “I'm going to the garage.” “What about Wanqing?” “Zhou is with her.” He ran down the fire stairs. The watch fed him isolated frames: a club swinging in three seconds, a cart blocking the ramp in five, a black van reversing in ten. He dodged the first blow but another man drove him into the wall. Wanqing's brother, Lin Xiao, lay bound inside the van. Shen Yan smashed a window with a fire extinguisher and leaned on the horn. Security guards came running. The kidnappers fled, and one dropped a black ledger. It was the evidence Xu Zhi needed. Upstairs, Wanqing opened the safe in dressing room seven. It contained the Zhou family's confidential property bid and a glass of champagne.