章節 10: Unexpected Help
Knock, knock
A door knock sounded on Ryan's door as he was looking at a number on his phone. For the last 10 minutes, he had been considering if he should call that number or not.
"Come in," he answered as he kept the phone.
Allen's head came in through the door.
"I'm leaving for today, captain"
"Go on," Ryan responded absent-mindedly.
Noticing that his friend's mind was completely elsewhere, Allen walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
"If you are gonna be that worried, why did you leave her just like that?"
"We are cops." Ryan gave an answer that seemed quite unrelated to the question but Allen understood right away.
As cops, they should not have turned a blind eye to such a sniping case in the middle of the city. But that did not mean that they should plunge head-first into a mess without even knowing who they were dealing with. Leaving the scene quickly was the most optimal solution at that time.
"Yes. You covering her from the bullet was already enough involvement. So, stop worrying endlessly. What could happen to her with all those bodyguards? If you've finished your work, go home and get a shower. You stink of sweat and gunpowder"
"Like you don't stink at all," Ryan smirked. He knew his friend was trying to distract him from his unhappy thoughts.
"You should leave first. I'll also head out later"
Hearing Ryan's reply, Allen nodded and left.
After the busy days were over, Ryan resumed his usual 'visit' to Anios club. He never thought that his visit that day would lead to an unexpected development.
He was wearing the black wig and black contact lens. There was even a fake tattoo on his forearm. As he sat in an inconspicuous corner like always, the manager made eye-contact with him. When the man walked towards him with resolute steps, alarm bells started to rang inside Ryan's head. 'Did I make any mistake? Is my cover exposed?'
He started finding a way out from this predicament as the manager got closer and closer. However, to his surprise, the manager smiled at him courteously and greeted him.
"Hello, Mr. Morcos"
That was Ryan's alias he created in case the club wanted to dig out the information on him. He was supposed to be a member of…
'Shit!' Ryan now knew where he made the mistake. Syrian Crew had already been obliterated by the Ravens during the last gang war. Ryan wanted to smack his own forehead. He had been too busy these days that he forgot his alias could not exist anymore.
"Or should I say Captain Carlos?" The smart manager did not disappoint him at all.
"Hello, Mr. Carter. How can I help you?" Ryan responded with a smile. He took a sip of his drink and tried to remain composed.
Mr. Cartel's smile grew wider as he was pleased with Ryan's calm demeanor.
"Will you please follow me, captain?" The manager led him towards the kitchen.
Ryan became calmer as the possibility of him being killed and dumped into the street had become lower. The manager stopped in front of a wall and pushed the fire-alarm button on it. Which seemed to be a wall at first sight, opened up to reveal the interior of an elevator. Ryan noticed that the elevator only went upwards and was large enough to carry food carts.
The elevator stopped on 3rd floor. As Ryan followed behind the manager, his eyes were busy observing the details of the floor. On this floor, all he could see were rooms arranged on each side of the corridors as if he was inside a hotel. Even though there were some waitresses and call girls walking on the floor, their high-heels did not made any sound as their footsteps were absorbed by the carpet. The vibe of this floor was in stark contrast to the noisy downstairs. Regrettably, that was all Ryan could detect as all the doors were shut tight and the rooms were sound proofed.
The manager led him into a vacant room. He then walked towards the mini-bar and said to Ryan. "Please take a seat, Captain. What would you like to drink?"
"A Scotch on the rocks, please"
Ryan responded and sat on the sofa in a refined manner. He was quite impressed by the room which was grand and well-furnished.
The manager brought their drinks and sat down while facing him.
"I really commend you for being able to outwit us, captain," the manager chuckled. "If not because of the gang war, we would have never noticed."
Ryan was not deceived by his polite smile and remarks at all since he could see something hidden deep within the eyes of this seemingly 'gentleman'.
"It was by luck, Mr. Carter. I was also impressed by the how well-trained your employees were. I couldn't find out anything at all even after coming here for one month"
Ryan confessed and deliberately exposed the fact that he had not found anything to make 'his sentence' lighter.
"Call me Harry, Captain. And I guess you're here for the deaths of our two staffs?"
"Yes," Ryan answered truthfully.
"You should have openly asked for the information, Captain. You didn't have to trouble yourself."
The manager took out a memory stick from his pocket and continued, "This contains the information about our VIP guests and the guest list on the day before Jean's death"
Ryan was surprised by this unexpected cooperativeness and how much they knew about the case.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"Did you really think that we would let go of the people who killed our staffs? We were already investigating by ourselves even before you came, Captain. We can help you with anything you need to solve this case. However …" The manager paused to emphasize the seriousness.
"…you can't disclose anything about this and you have to promise us that you would keep this case off the records"
Ryan could sense the murderous aura the man was giving.
"I've already officially closed this case and had no plan to drag anyone into this mess. That is except for my partner," he said in a solemn tone. Although he did not have any problem solving this case alone, he had promised his friend that he would not keep him in the dark.
Harry Carter nodded his head in satisfaction and handed the memory stick to him.
"We can trust both you and lieutenant Rogers"
With this, the deal was on and it was time for Ryan to leave. However, he was hesitating as there was a question on his mind.
Noticing Ryan's puzzled expression, the manager asked, "Is there any problem, Captain?"
"I have a question but it's not directly related to the case."
"I will try my best to answer," the manager said.
"It was only a bartender and a kitchen help for you. Why go to such lengths?"
Ryan clearly understood the value of the memory stick he held in his hand. Because of the competitiveness of various factions, some people would even kill for this stick. If anything went wrong and the contents got leaked, the club would have to deal with the wrath of all the VIP guests all of whom were powerful people.
The manager chuckled.
"That's because you don't understand how our boss works. No matter a bartender or a kitchen help, he would protect anyone under his shelter as long as that person stay true to him. But if someone would repay the kindness with ingratitude, they would have to suffer the consequences"
His words made Ryan more curious about the owner as it was very rare in this age to find such an upright person. To find this kind of person in this city, it was quite an incredible thing.
"I understand now. I'll contact you as soon as I find something"
"I believe that you will, Captain. And please still use a disguise when you visit us in the future."
Ryan understood that it was not a good thing for them to have a cop frequenting their club.
The manager led him out the same way he brought him in.
As soon as Ryan got out of the club, he contacted Allen to deliver the good news.
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