“I am so sorry, George. I came down as soon as I can” said the commissioner in a different tone from before. The whole environment has changed, and it somehow relaxed Malee enough to release her grip to George’s hand.

“Has the flight landed?” asked George, standing up, looking at his watch.

“Yes. But we still have the chance.” replied the commissioner.

“Lets go.” said the George as he grabbed Malee who was still sitting at the chair without knowing what was going on.

The commissioner led the way outside of the room towards the main corridor and walked towards the front door. Along the way, Malee saw some people looking at the security cameras and whispering about them suddenly not working. The man led them to the stairs instead of the lifts, which they used to come up.

“The tapes are being deleted. There will be no traces.” whispered the commissioner to George as they came down the stairs into the car park. There was a black car with tainted windows waiting for them in the carpark, along with a police motorcycle in front of the car.

“You have planned well.” said George, impressed with the Commissioner.

“Yes. I have learnt well from your father.” smiled George.

The car left the car park as the siren from the police motorcycle echoed around the carpark. As they left the building, the traffic parted as they sped along the main road towards the house, as if a war would break out if they didn’t reach there before George’s father. Miraculously, the traffic lights were green as they passed by and changed to red immediately after they had crossed to the other side. It was as if the traffic lights were aware of the car they were on.

Unfortunately, all those efforts were in vain. As they were within a shouting distance from the gate, they a big black SUV was in front of the gate. The commissioner’s face became twisted, but George was a model of calm as he had been throughout the way.

“It’s ok. Go in.” said George.

They followed the car into the garden towards the main house and stopped behind the car. There were a row of surprised servants, including Mary and Michael, at the sight of the unexpected car follow their master’s car. George quickly got out of the car, followed by Malee and the commissioner, whose face was whiter than he was when Malee first saw him in the station. The driver of the car came around the SUV and opened the back door for a short big man to come out.

“Hi, pa. How was the trip?” said George as if everything was happening as planned.

The man looked at George and his wrinkled dress and towards the commissioner who was bowing so low nobody could have seen his face.

“Hi, George. What is going on?” asked the man.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I left house in the morning to school to handover to give housework to Mrs Lee and lost my way in the dark. Bumped into the commissioner here and he kindly helped to bring me back here.” explained George.

“I see. Thank you, Jimmy” said the man to the commissioner who lifted his head slightly.

“Yes, sir” said the commissioner softly as he bowed lower once more.

George’s father looked at George once again and climbed the steps into the house. The servants followed him into the house with Mary staring at George and Malee, leaving the commissioner and the children. Then someone else came out of the car. She was around the same age as the rest of the children, yet dressed as an adult. She got out of the car and stretched her hands in the air as if she had a taste of the freedom after a long period. She looked at George and the commissioner.

“How was the coffee at the station, George?” asked the girl in the lady’s dress. Commissioner gasped. George clenched his fists. Malee’s heart skipped a beat.

“Commissioner, thank you.” said George. It was more like an order to go away rather than a thank you and commissioner duly complied. He went into the car as fast as he could and left the four children standing in front of the house.

“You stink. Bathe well before lunch.” continued George’s sister.

“How was your trip?” asked George.

“Fine. But I have a surprise for you.” replied the girl. Then she turned to Michael.

“Bring me your fresh flowers, will you?”

“Yes, young mistress.” said Michael with a bow.

“You can lose the accent, Michael. No adults here.” said the girl. Michael lifted his head and sighed.

“Ok, Georgia. The usual?” said Michael in a more relaxed tone.

“Yes, please. And who is she?” asked Georgia, turning her head slight to the right to look at Malee, who was hiding behind George.