Lance felt tears welling as he recalled the past few weeks. That night in the jungle, terrified of murder, he and his two subordinates had fled. Darkness enveloped them until they stumbled into a ravine, where bandits bound them. They endured two days of starvation before mushroom-harvesting villagers discovered and saved them.

He had only returned to Khogend last night after nearly a month in the village hospital. It had been a long ordeal.

"Oh, Mr. Chavez, I almost died!" Lance patted his chest. "But don't worry, I haven't forgotten your orders. The first thing I did upon returning to Khogend was to deal with Felicia. She's right here in my grasp!"

On the other end of the line, Melvin swallowed hard. "W-What did you say?"

"I said I almost died!"

"Not that part. The last part!"

"Oh! I mean, the first thing I did when I returned to Khogend was to deal with Felicia. She's right here in my hands. Just give the word, Mr. Chavez, and I'll take her out!"

Lance felt a surge of pride, but then heard a sharp explosion from the phone.

"Ah! Lance, where the hell are you? I'm coming to kill you!"

"Mr. Chavez, don't be too excited! I'm at Sand Road."

Lance mistook Melvin's reaction for praise. Eleven minutes later, Melvin's sports car roared up. He leaped out and landed a heavy blow on Lance's head, followed by a flurry of punches. "What makes you think you could lay a finger on her? Do you have a death wish? You thought you were being clever, huh? Did you think I was complimenting you, you idiot? I'm going to beat you to death!"

Melvin delivered a thorough beating. Bruised and battered, Lance was bewildered. "Mr. Chavez, I was following your orders! Didn't you tell me to deal with Felicia? You said to make it clean!"

Melvin glanced at Felicia, hoping she hadn't heard. He met her teasing gaze, a silent query in her eyes. He fell silent.

Lance was beaten mercilessly, as were his few lackeys. Finally, Melvin, disheveled and panting, turned to Felicia, frantically explaining, "This was absolutely not my idea! Really!" He raised his hand, swearing, "I swear to God, this wasn't my idea!"

Felicia knew this, but pressed further. "It seems too light a punishment to beat him up. One of my flaws is that I hold grudges."

"What do you want me to do? I'll listen to you!" Melvin blurted out.

Lance and his gang stared in disbelief. Melvin's acquiescence to Felicia, even to the point of finishing them off, was chilling. The thought made Lance shudder. Remembering the murderous look in Felicia's eyes, he crawled to her, pleading, "I was wrong! Please spare my life, Ms. Fuller. I promise I won't do it again!"

Felicia kicked his hand away. "I don't want your life. I just need you to help me with something."