Allison waited behind the hotel suite bedroom door silently. Surrounded by darkness, she knew that she was practically invisible to any unsuspecting person. The stolen six inch serrated knife had been in her hand since she entered the room. It had belonged to one of Li Ming's guards, and he didn't even know it was missing from his locker. He was new to Ming's garrison of guards, which is why Allison had chosen to frame him for the murder.
Li Ming was a prominent Chinese businessman. He controlled most of the automobile industry in China. He ruthlessly destroyed the competition; legally or illegally. Allison knew he was connected to at least a half dozen murders that the public believed to be unrelated to the man. There were extremely rich people in the world that, in one way or another, Li Ming had pissed off. One of them had offered Scorpia ten million dollars to kill him.
By then, Allison was more than ready for her debut into the world. She had been trained for months for this moment and she was ready to prove herself.
The electric lock clicked open and Allison heard footsteps on the handmade Persian rug. She gripped the knife tighter, waiting for her target to walk into the room. Li Ming walked into the room, his silhouette . Allison walked up behind the man and wrapped her free arm around his throat. She drove the knife through his back and watched his body fall to the ground. She kicked the body over and looked at Li Ming's face.
And froze. The man that was dead and bleeding on the floor was not Li Ming, but one of his bodyguards. A million thoughts whirled through her head at once. Ming wouldn't be stupid enough to walk unsuspectingly into a foreign room, no matter how many times he had stayed in that room. She had heard two pairs of footsteps when the man she thought to be Li Ming entered the hotel suite; the sacrificial lamb and then the wolf.
Allison heard the buzz of a stun gun and turned around, fear clogging her throat. The real Li Ming was standing behind her with a nasty grin on his face. Without thinking, Allison launched into an attack, smacking the stun gun out of his hand with a swift jab. Then she performed a round house kick that landed in the center of Li Ming's chest. But he was smart. He grabbed her foot and twisted it to the side.
She spun in the air and hit the floor, sliding into a pedestal. A vase shattered on the ground, inches from her head. Allison's side ached and blood was trickling down her arm. She gasped and flung herself back at Li Ming. She landed a jab to his chest. He swung his right fist at her, but she out-stepped it. As his arm flew by, she grabbed it with her right hand and jabbed his solar plexus with her left. Li Ming gasped in pain; then screamed as she yanked his arm backward.
She forced him to his knees over the broken pottery shards. Then she found the knife, wanting to finish what she came to do. He opened his mouth to shout for help, but she slashed the blade across his cheek. His words were cut off instantly. Allison put the tip of the knife against Li Ming's back and started to push. But the knife never sunk deep enough to cause a fatality.
The arms wrapped around her neck were iron strong. Allison was yanked backward, struggling for air. Another set of arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground. She struggled against them, but without air she was helpless.
Three bodyguards had taken her by surprise. Two were restraining her, while the other was checking on her target. Li Ming shook off his helper's hands and stood up. He glanced at Allison and gave his guards a hand signal. The pressure around her throat increased, crushing off her almost nonexistent air supply.
The only thing she could think before the darkness closed in was I failed.