Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 334: Where Is She?

Chapter 334: Where Is She?

"You need to leave," said Bai Long Qiang suddenly as he looked up from the letter from his father.

"What?" I asked, confused. I had stood here quietly watching him read it over and over again, but I had no idea what it said.

"Get the fuck out," growled Bai Long Qiang, a ferocious look crossing his face as his mouth twisted into a snarl. "Get the fuck out of this office now."

He took a step toward me, and I backed away, scared of the man in front of me for the first time in my life.

We had never really had an argument before, and while I knew his temper, he had never directed it at me. It was always just the two of us.

"Are you dumb? Is that why you look so confused? The six-year-old that spoke like eight languages can’t understand your mother tongue anymore? I said get the fuck out. I don’t want to see you right now."

Picking up the pieces of my broken heart, I cleared my throat and nodded. I opened my mouth to say something, anything... but...

"I don’t want to hear it. Get out before I make you."

Straightening up, I lifted my chin, hoping that the tears gathering in my eyes wouldn’t fall if I just looked up high enough. I strolled across the room and opened the door. Walking out of the office, I walked straight into a firm chest.

The man’s arms wrapped around me, and I tried my hardest not to break down as I pulled the door shut behind me.

"Shhh, little birdy, the pain won’t last long."

My ants bit down hard on my arms, warning me about what was about to happen, but it was too late.

A sharp blow to the head, and the last thing I remember was thinking that maybe this was all in my head, and when I opened my eyes, I would be back in my cage at Camp Hell.

-----

Rip looked up as he heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him.

He and the rest of the men had been waiting for Bai Long Qiang and his Little Bird for more than an hour, but he only heard one set of footsteps.

"Where is she?" demanded Rip, straightening up from where he was leaning against the railing. He was at the top of the stairs, wanting to be the first one to see Wang Tian Mu to make sure that she was safe.

"Where’s who?" asked Bai Long Qiang, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the giant in confusion. He really had no idea what he was talking about. His brain was just replaying his father’s suicide note over and over again, trying to make sense of it all.

Rip stared at him for a moment before cocking his head to the side. "Look, I know you are dumb. I’ve had to listen to my Little Bird sing your praises for years. I knew you were dumb then and even after meeting you, you haven’t changed my opinion. But not knowing what I am talking about is a whole new level for you."

Bai Long Qiang shook his head and turned to try and find one of the other guys to explain what was going on. However, before he could even open his mouth, he was grabbed by the neck and shoved up against a wall.

"Where is she?" asked Rip again, this time speaking slower.

"Where’s who?" repeated Bai Long Qiang as he fought against the other man’s hold. His face was turning red, and he was struggling to breathe.

"Where is Wang Tian Mu," bit out the other man, word for word.

"Isn’t she here?" gasped Bai Long Qiang, doing his best to look around the mountain. "She left my father’s office a while back. I thought she would be here by now."

"Put him down," sighed Cheng Bo Jing as he handed a sleeping Wang Chang Ming to Ye Yao Zu.

Rip let out a low growl as the other man approached.

"I think that you need to proceed with the utmost caution," smiled Bin An Sha, cutting off Cheng Bo Jing’s path. "That man is not Rip."

Rip’s head turned around to look at the doctor and grinned, showing all of his less-than-human teeth. "Now, you are smart."

"What should we call you?" asked the assassin as he twirled his knife in his hand.

"Rip works; she likes Rip. Or you can call me Ripper. Either or..." smiled Rip as he felt his hold on his sanity waver for a second. Turning back to the human he had pinned against the wall, he continued his questions.

"You mean to tell me that you left her alone in a place that she knows nothing about, with a potential threat around every corner?"

"I told you, even if there was a soldier in here after all this time, he or she wouldn’t be a threat to her," croaked out Bai Long Qiang.

"And she told you that she wanted us in pairs for safety. If you aren’t going to listen to my woman, then you don’t need to keep your ears. Maybe I should gift those to her. What do you think?" asked Rip as he lifted his other hand and traced the outline of Bai Long Qiang’s right ear.

"I think that we should keep him in one piece until we get her opinion," murmured Bin An Sha thoughtfully.

Rip nodded his head, "Right, she likes it when we ask her opinion."

"That she does," agreed Bin An Sha as he turned to the only one of her previous men that he could actually stand. "Where could she be?" he asked Fan Teng Fei. The man would have made a good assassin in another life.

Fan Teng Fei straightened from where he was leaning against the wall. "No idea," he admitted. "This base is almost 500 square miles, and there are more than a few places that she could go. Even more, if someone took her."

Bin An Sha nodded his head. "Okay, then we need to kill him and then go find her," he said, pointing to Bai Long Qiang.

"It’s not my fault!" yelled the man, no longer caring about having to breathe. "I just found my father, okay? I needed some time to myself."