"Li?" Amber asked uncertainly; everyone in the security room had heard the faint shot, unaware of where it had come from. Li had made no noise. They waited for a few moments that seemed to stretch on for eternity, staring at the small figure of Li that was crouched on the ground on the screen. Paulo snatched the microphone from the desk.

"Li?" He tried not to shout, but it was difficult when there was no response. Slowly, they could hear her irregular breathing. "Li…please…" Paulo whispered.

"Shot." Was all Li said quietly.

"Are you hurt Li?" Paulo asked; the men can't have seen her, she wouldn't be shot.

"No…" but her breathing still sounded forced.

"She's hyperventilating; she's in shock." Paulo threw the microphone to Amber, "I'm going to her." Amber and Hex nodded.

"Bring her back. We're leaving." Hex said and stood up, Amber glanced over at him somewhat impressed; this decisive Hex was different to the one she was used to. Paulo nodded, zipped up his jacket, grabbed another microphone and headphones and walked to the door; he glanced back at them.

"What about Alex and Lily?" He placed the headphones in his ears and hooked the speaker on his jacket.

"We'll think of something," Amber said and Paulo nodded. He left through the small door in the wall.

"Alex and Lily will have to wait," Hex said and Amber glanced back at the screen; two men walked into the 2nd dining room.

"There were three before." Amber commented and Hex sighed.

"Who do you think got shot?" Hex asked her and he saw her eyes widen at this.

"What was that?" Alex gasped and stood up.

"It sounded like a gunshot." Lily whispered back and stood next to him. They stared at the doors a few moments more before they realised someone from outside was trying to get in. They jumped as something thumped the door outside. "They're trying to get in." Lily pointed out the obvious but there was no sense of urgency in her voice. "Maybe we should hide?" She suggested and Alex nodded, both still shocked.

"Wait-what?" Alex looked over but Lily had already turned the fire off and was moving in the dim lit room towards the cupboard.

"You don't want anyone to find us in here alone. Especially my father." Alex still looked confused but moved into action as he heard another thud at the door. Alex stood behind Lily as she was shorter; Lily held the door to the cupboard open slightly to enable them to see the end of the table. For a moment they struggled fitting in as Lily moved but then she grabbed Alex's arms and wrapped them around herself; Alex was surprised to find this worked.

"Something else you've done before?" Alex whispered and she smirked, before she could reply the door to the dining room opened. They heard light footsteps on the marble floor.

"I'm so sorry about all this." Alex recognised the voice as Lily's father.

"That's quite alright." Another voice answered as the lgihts came on fully; one Alex didn't recognise. It was a male voice with a strong, Texan accent. Lily's father came into view as he took a seat at the head of the table, the other man sat next to him and only half his body was in view. He wore a white suit and pink shirt; he had a strong, big build and white hair. His face looked like it was permanently flushed. Lily's father wore a dark suit, and his usual cold, hard look. His eyes were blank unlike Lily's whose were welcoming and warm. In fact the only similarity Alex could sense was the tanned skin.

"I can't understand why the doors were locked or the lights; I'll have a word with security later." Her father stood up and walked over to the cupboard. Alex and lily tensed. They relaxed; he walked to the door next to the cupboard and shouted something in Spanish.

"You can just take care of them like you did with Lopez," the Texan man laughed, "that'll get rid of your problem all together." That booming laugh echoed around the room, Lily's father sat back down and smiled politely. "Anyway, business." Lily rolled her eyes; one word her father did understand.

"Again, forgive me. The late shipment is beneficial to no one but the shooting-"

"Forget about it Hector. No one could've helped it." He waved a beefy hand dismissively. "What I do want to know is what kind of samples you've got."

"Many-"

"Name them." Lily looked to her father; she wasn't used to seeing him being bossed around by anybody, but she hardly knew him anyway.

"The only one you'd be interested in is methamphetamine." Lily gasped and Alex moved his hand to her mouth to prevent her saying anything. They saw the Texan man come forwards, his eyes wide; staring at Lily's father in amazement.

"Well I'll be damned…" He whispered. "White gold."

"Left here, at the wall." Paulo heard Amber's voice in his ear. He nodded and moved along; taking the same path Li had taken. He turned onto the place that Amber and Hex could see on the screen and he saw Li's small frame crouched on the floor. He ran over to her and placed his arms around her. Her breathing, though still irregular, was better now.

"Li, breathe with me, can you feel the way my chest moves…?" He talked comforting things to her; cursing himself for not having a bag with him for her to use. She nodded and gripped his shirt, slowly her breathing returned to normal.

"Paulo." She whispered and began to cry quietly into his shirt. He rubbed her back reassuringly and glanced around; the rain was much lighter now, he could see better.

"Li, I need you to tell me what happened." He looked her in the eye and they were both thinking the same thing; a few hours ago they had been dancing and laughing with their friends, what the hell had happened to make things so different? A small arm pointed towards the place Paulo thought the body would be. It wasn't there.

"He was shot." She said quickly, "Some other guy he was with. Paulo!" she shook him to get his attention, he looked back down to her. "It was Lily's dad; he killed him."

"Where are they?" Amber hit Hex in annoyance and he scowled. They had turned the monitor back on to the 2nd dining room; Lily and Alex were not there but her dad and another man were. They seemed to be talking. "Doesn't this thing have sound?" Amber snapped.

"Yeah sure, lemme see…" Hex busied himself with the wiring. Amber had tried for the past few minutes not to glance at the screen where she thought the body would be. But the urge to check was too tempting. She glanced back at the screen; there was no body there.

"Hex.." But before she could say anymore, the main door to the security room opened; two men walked in, looking equally as shocked as Hex and Amber.

"It sure is." Hector said as a woman came in from another door and placed some foil in front of the Texan man.

"You…" The man stared in disbelief as he opened the foil to reveal a small pile of white powder; he took some between his fingers and rubbed it between them. "Good texture…" He commented, but Lily didn't hear much of it. She just stared in horror at his father; unbelieving that even he was capable of something like this. For a moment she though of coming out of the cupboard and screaming, screaming 8 years of built up hate at him. But she couldn't; Alex would be led into this and…there was a voice in her head that kept reminding her; he's still your dad. Alex and lily jumped as the man thumped his hand down on the table. "Good stuff!" He declared. "How much you got Hector?"

"How much are you giving?" He replied and allowed a small smile to appear on his face. "That sample alone is 5, 000 dollars." The man in the stained white suit laughed softly.

"Let's be reasonable-"

"I am." Hector replied. "1 kg is 100,00. That's a good price, believe me." He added quickly. "You said yourself; this is white gold." The other man scoffed.

"This is more expensive than any white gold I've come across!" He yelled, "What the heck, if you can sell it to me for that much I can sell it on for more!" Both men stood and shook hands. "I'll phone you in the morning to make proper arrangements. For shipping etc."

"That's fine." Hector replied and wiped his brow; the same maid came to show the Texan man out. Lily's father stood and contemplated for a moment. "Come out." He said Lily had heard his voice like this before; he was incredibly angry. "I said," he held out Alex's bandage that they had discarded on the floor, "COME OUT."

"Li, don't be stupid!" Paulo warned but she had already moved off.

"I'm not," she turned around to him and whispered back. "Look," she stopped and they crouched to talk without being seen. "Lily's our friend; she needs to know what her father's up to-"

"It's not our place!" Paulo sighed. That wasn't true; Lily was alone here, her family paid her no notice and her only friend had disappeared. They were all she had. "I just don't want to ruin her life." He said finally.

"Then don't follow me." Li said simply then walked away, Pedro grudgingly followed. They walked in silence for about five minutes till Li came to the back of a truck, it was open and there were boxes inside. "Come on," she whispered and heaved herself into the vehicle. Pedro did the same, once there they glanced around at all the boxes; they were given some light from a lamp nearby.

"What's in them?" Paulo asked and walked to a far off box to inspect. Li crouched next to him as he opened up a box. They both peered inside. "Is that-" But Paulo could not finished his sentence; the doors of the van closed. They heard the engine start up.

Lily pushed Alex's hands away from her, he held tightly for a moment but Lily applied more force on his hands and turned to him. he saw the quiet determination in her eyes and grudgingly let her go. Lily opened the door to the cupboard slightly and slipped out, Alex tried to follow but she closed the cupboard door quickly with her foot. Her father did not look at her; he threw the bandage to the floor. Lily jumped at his rash action but stood her ground.

"Mija…" Her father whispered.

"Dad." She said simply.

"What must you think of me?" He whispered, although Lily wasn't sure if he actually wanted her to answer.

"Still the same," she said with quiet anger. He glanced at her for the first time; his eyes giving her permission to say more. "Still the same power hungry, money hoarding, selfish and unloving man I call father."

"SELFISH?!" Her father roared and turned to her, "you think I am selfish?" His voice went down to a whisper, "I sent you away to get the best education for your future-"

"Which you funded by the proceeds you made in the drug trade?!" She shouted back. For a moment she thought her father would shout again but he didn't. He lashed out, striking her head; she cried out and fell, as she did her head in the table. Alex looked on in disgust as he saw her limp frame hit the floor, blood escaped a small wound on her head; she was unconscious. He thought for a moment of

"Mija," he crouched down next to her and picked up the bandage again; he wiped blood from her forehead. "I had hoped you wouldn't meet again like this," he sighed and Alex heard footsteps approaching the pair. He saw the figure of a boy, perhaps it was a man, and he couldn't see his face. He had a slim frame, slightly long dark hair and olive skin. His black suit fitted him perfectly; Alex guessed he must've been in this game for a long time. "Take her away." Her father waved a dismissive hand at Lily's body. The unknown boy crouched down to pick her up. "I trust you remember the way to her bedroom Pedro?"