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How, has my bride-to-be been found?" The male voice on the other end of the phone sounded cold and intimidating.
"Sorry, Alvaro. My daughter hasn't been found yet." The middle-aged man who was none other than Gladys' father replied nervously.
He seemed to be pacing while occasionally squeezing his gray hair. It was obvious that he was very nervous and frustrated.
"You didn't forget our agreement, did you?" asked Alvaro with great emphasis.
"O-of course not," replied the middle-aged man pitifully. "Please give me a few more days. After that I'll leave everything to you."
"How dare you tell me to wait," Alvaro hissed which made his interlocutor pale as he swallowed hard.
"I will order all my men to look for my daughter right now." He continued, then ended their conversation without waiting for an answer from the middle-aged man.
"That kid's such a nuisance," Gladys' father hissed, squeezing the phone in his hand.
The sound of music thumping loudly seemed to hit the chest when the Eagle entered the classy nightclub. Most visitors to this place are from the upper middle class such as expatriates, socialites, and elite officials.
It's no secret that many mafias make this place a place for narcotics transactions, free sex, and other taboo things. But they seem untouched by the law.
The eagle seemed used to this place. His steps confidently stepped inside through the crowd of people who were contorting their bodies on the dance floor. He climbed the stairs to the second floor which contained a private room.
"I have a job for you," said the man with a scar on his left cheek. Cigarette smoke could be seen billowing in front of his face.
***
"Who are you really?" The eagle glared at Gladys.
The girl's brow furrowed. Instead of wanting to answer, he looked down while playing with his fingers. His gestures showed he was very nervous, but was trying his best to cover it up.
"W-what do you mean?" Gladys asked, forcing a smile.
The eagle chuckled, shaking his head slowly. Can't understand if he can be fooled by the girl in front of him.
The man reached into his jacket pocket and took something out of it. Then a sheet of photographs crashed violently on the table right in front of Gladys making the girl gasp. Especially after seeing who was in the photo.
"Can you explain this?" asked the Eagle, pointing at the photo.
"That's you, right?" The man asked again and this time with more emphasis. While his eyes were still staring intently and fixedly at Gladys.
"Answer!" snapped the Eagle who was getting impatient because the girl was silent.
"Wh-where did you get this photo?" Finally Gladys got up the courage to ask and raised her head to look at the Eagle.
Two tall, well-built men with bulging muscles under tight black t-shirts stood guard at the entrance of the classy nightclub.
They just let the Eagle in without having to do a first check as must be done to every guest who comes using a metal detector. The man only responded by nodding his head when one of them greeted him.
After passing the vanguard, the Eagle went deeper into the next door. Where there is a second layer of inspection not far from the door. It was also there that the guests made transactions to purchase tickets to enter the world full of wild imaginations.
Again, the Eagle does not need to do that. Including sticking an orange sticker in the shape of a circle on his cellphone camera like other visitors.
The music boomed so loudly that the vibrations seemed to hit the chest when the big and thick door opened. The atmosphere inside was much more dim than the previous room.
"Where's your boss?" Elang asked a bartender who was making drinks.
"Sure," replied the bartender, cocking his chin toward the balcony.
The eagle nodded, then turned halfway and leaned with one elbow supporting the long bar table.
His gaze swept across the room. There was a sea of people on the dance floor who mingled cheerfully as if they didn't have the burden of life. In the midst of flashes of laser light sticking out of the large chandelier on the ceiling. Their bodies moved to the music that was being played by a DJ at a table that was made higher than the dance floor.
The bikini-clad girls were seen doing pole dancing on the stage in the middle of the room. Followed by cheers and whistles and various eccentric chatter from the male visitors who looked at them with hungry eyes.
In some corners, several well-built men in black uniforms were seen standing guard with small flashlights in their hands. In the midst of the frenzy, they are always alert and quick to respond if something suspicious or causes a riot.
The owner of this place not only provides the best entertainment and decorations, but is also very strict about security matters.
The eagle grabbed a shot of tequila on the table the bartender was serving. Then drink it in one gulp. He frowned slightly as the liquid passed down his throat.
"I'll go upstairs first." Say goodbye to Elang while putting down the shots, "Oh yes, thank you for the drink," he said and was answered with a thumbs up by the bartender.
The eagle climbed the stairs to the private room upstairs after a bit of trouble breaking through the people who were drowning in alcohol and pounding music.
"So long. Where have you been?" Just as Elang entered the private room, a man sitting on the sofa with two super sexy dressed women on either side asked without further ado.
"It's okay," the Eagle replied nonchalantly as he threw his ass on the sofa. The position of the two is now opposite with a round glass table in the middle of them.
The man coded the two scantily clad young women beside him to leave the room and now there were only the two of them inside.
"Surely about girls?" The man smirked, raising an eyebrow.
The eagle just chuckled. Without waiting to be offered, his hand reached out to take a cigarette on the table, then lit it.
"Girls do make things complicated," said Eagle after exhaling cigarette smoke into the air.
"But it also makes it delicious," said the man who is usually called Bang Jarot.
Then they burst out laughing together.
"What's wrong, bro?" asked the Eagle after throwing nonsense at each other accompanied by jokes.
"There's an assignment for you," said Bang Jarot with a serious face that wasn't as relaxed as before.
Their meeting began in prison when Elang was still young. As is the custom behind bars, new kids are bound to be bullied by other, more powerful residents. The eagle was not separated from it and he could not fight.
Until an incident when Bang Jarot helped him from being bullied by another senior prisoner. The man who was fifteen years older than the Eagle was indeed one of the most respected people there. Since then no one dared to disturb the Eagle.
Their relationship grew closer like brothers until they got out of prison. The eagle already considers the man with the very face as his own brother, and vice versa. And now Bang Jarot entrusts the Eagle as his right hand in the black world.
Bang Jarot is the owner of a place of immorality in an area of a thousand meters full of sparkling rah-rah. Most visitors to this place are from the upper middle class such as expatriates, socialites, and elite officials.
It's no secret that this place is often rumored to be a hotbed of drugs, prostitution and other taboos. However, until now it has not been touched by the law because the authorities have not been able to find strong evidence that points to it. Or maybe the owner can manipulate it with the wealth he has.
To be continued