Chapter 293: Infiltrating Room 616

Chapter 293: Infiltrating Room 616

Wu Chen stepped out of the elevator, walked a few paces, then turned with decision. No hesitation, no glancing around. He simply headed off down the corridor.

It was an extremely long corridor. From the elevator it ran a considerable distance in both directions, lined naturally with rooms on either side. Not all of them were executive suites; there were deluxe business suites as well.

In any luxury hotel the number of top-tier suites was limited. An entire floor would never be given over to them.

Donghai Heyi Grand Hotel was no exception.

Wu Chen knew that after leaving the elevator, he had to go left. Only that side had executive suites.

The sixth floor was very well appointed. The carpet’s pattern looked somewhat dated, but everything remained clean and luxurious.

Ahead of him, two bodyguards in black suits were pacing outside Executive Suite 616.

The two men noticed someone step out of the elevator and come their way, and gave him a look. Wu Chen was dressed casually, in a baseball cap and a mask. That kind of outfit was hardly conspicuous.

Who knew when wearing masks had become a kind of “fashion.”

These days, young people of both sexes had a habit of wearing masks when they went out. Some wore them pushed down under the chin, supposedly because it made the face look smaller.

Although Wu Chen looked like nothing more than a fashionable young man, the two bodyguards still gave him a few extra glances. Professional habit.

Wu Chen gave the “normal” response too, glancing at them before looking away.

For all the world like a man returning to his own room, he walked past Suite 616 and continued deeper into the corridor. He did not stop until he reached Room 630, where he turned without hesitation.

Swipe the card.

In.

He pulled the door shut behind him.

Wu Chen did not go farther inside. He simply stood by the entrance, because this room had an occupant. The occupant merely happened to be out.

Coming up to the sixth floor, wandering about without entering a room, then going straight back down would have looked far too suspicious. Wu Chen was putting on a show for the two bodyguards.

He was pretending to return to his own room.

He had chosen this particular room, and knew no one was inside, because a “Please Clean” sign hung from the door handle.

And it was noon.

From that he could infer that whoever had booked the room had checked in no later than the previous night and had not checked out. They were probably out at lunch.

Standing in the entryway, Wu Chen could see past it into the living room. A suitcase stood against the wall, a used bath towel hung over the back of a chair, and he could faintly smell perfume.

The guest was probably a woman who had sprayed perfume in front of the entryway mirror before going out to eat.

He looked inside from the doorway and still did not go farther in.

He simply waited there a while.

Wu Chen had no habit of rummaging through strangers’ rooms, and no such curiosity.

About two minutes later.

“Coming, coming.” As he stepped out, Wu Chen even lifted his phone and said a couple of words into it.

Back in the corridor.

He put the phone away.

He passed Room 616 and the two bodyguards again, returned to the elevator, opened it, and stepped in.

Swipe the card.

Down.

Wu Chen left Donghai Heyi Grand Hotel.

He had gone up this time only to determine which room Ding Ruilong was in.

Now it was obvious.

Ding Ruilong was staying in Executive Suite 616.

And judging by the way Ding Ruilong’s bodyguards habitually arranged things, if Ding himself occupied 616, then 614 and 618 on either side, along with 617 across the corridor, had almost certainly been booked as well.

For bodyguards, assistants, and the rest of the entourage.

Other possibilities existed, of course. Some of those rooms might already have been reserved by other guests.

But this was the likeliest arrangement.

It hardly mattered.

What mattered was that Ding Ruilong was in Room 616.

After leaving Heyi Grand Hotel, Wu Chen crossed the street and went into a burger place.

He ordered something to eat and drink at random, then carried his burger and cola to a seat by the window. He pulled down his mask, took a sip of cola, and looked outside.

From this seat he naturally had a clear view of the hotel’s main entrance.

Many cars stood in the lot outside, including the six used by Ding Ruilong and his people.

Wu Chen looked a moment, then withdrew his gaze, took out his phone, and checked the time.

12:54 p.m.

Ding Ruilong’s meeting with Lei Cheng was set for two. That left barely an hour, and travel time had to come out of it.

Ding Ruilong did not have much room to spare.

Wu Chen thought for a moment, then dialed a number.

Lei Cheng.

The call connected almost at once.

“Hello! Brother Wu, are you coming over now? I’ve already made the arrangements—”

“Something came up.” Wu Chen smiled, paused, then said, “Do this, Brother Lei. Call Ding Ruilong now and tell him the meeting’s pushed back an hour and a half. Just say something came up at your end.”

“Mm… all right!” Lei Cheng agreed readily, without giving it much thought.

They hung up.

Wu Chen drank his cola and turned back to the window.

He waited.

Ten minutes later.

From inside the fast-food restaurant Wu Chen watched Ding Ruilong and more than a dozen others come out through the hotel’s main entrance.

Going out to eat, he judged.

He had engineered it himself.

Ding Ruilong had not originally had time for a restaurant. With his schedule that tight, hungry or not, he would probably have had the hotel send food up, eaten something quick, and gone to meet Lei Cheng.

Through Lei Cheng, Wu Chen had given him plenty of time.

As he watched the group get into their cars, Wu Chen paid particular attention to the bodyguards with Ding Ruilong.

The two who had been posted outside the sixth-floor room were among them.

Which meant Ding Ruilong had very likely taken all his bodyguards with him.

He had come to Donghai in secret. He was cautious, but not that cautious.

That saved Wu Chen a great deal of trouble and made what he intended far simpler.

Once he saw the six cars pull away, Wu Chen drew his mask back up, rose, and left the restaurant.

Before long he was back across the street at Donghai Heyi Grand Hotel.

This time he went in through the main entrance.

Swipe the card, upstairs.

The sixth floor again.

The corridor was empty.

He walked to Executive Suite 616 but did not swipe the card at once.

There were two possibilities. Either the room was empty because Ding Ruilong had taken everyone with him, or Ding Ruilong had left a bodyguard behind.

The first was likelier.

Ding Ruilong had no habit of leaving people in his room when he was out. And all six cars had gone. Leaving a man without a car would have been inconvenient.

Knock, knock.

Out of caution Wu Chen raised a hand and knocked.

No answer.

He swiped the card and went in.

It was a very large executive suite, one bedroom, one living room, one bath. No luggage was visible from the entrance. Clearly his subordinates had already unpacked and put everything away.

Standing in the entryway, Wu Chen took a pair of shoe covers from his pocket and slipped them on. Then he drew out a pair of white gloves and pulled them over his hands.

Time to search.

He went straight to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe.

Suits and shirts hung inside, obviously taken from the luggage and hung up.

Ding Ruilong lived very fastidiously, and none of this required him to lift a finger. His people took care of it for him.

Wu Chen opened another section of the wardrobe.

Several suitcases and a silver metal case sat inside.

He took out the metal case first and hefted it.

Heavy.

He carried it to a cabinet nearby, set it down, thought a moment, then turned the dials and entered the combination.

Wu Chen knew all of Ding Ruilong’s passwords. Unless Ding had changed this one in the last ten-odd days, it would hold.

With the combination set, he pressed down with both hands.

Unlock.

Click.

Correct.

The case opened.

Wu Chen lifted the lid and smiled.

Several items were neatly arranged inside, including Ding Ruilong’s handgun, some special identification documents, and valuables. But those occupied only a small portion of the space.

The largest item inside was a laptop.

Ding Ruilong’s personal computer.

A laptop was exactly what Wu Chen had mainly been looking for.

It contained more than Ding Ruilong’s business materials.

There was also private, horrifying information inside—evidence serious enough to send him to prison.