Chapter 23: Cut The Crap
Buck Wagner was a typical playboy with a nouveau riche dad. He was good for nothing, an expert in seeking fun. Eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring were his professional skills and expertise.
This evening, he was lying in a round massage tub and smoking a cigar with his eyes narrowed. He lifted his hand to touch just above the forehead. There was a scar hidden below his hair, about two inches long. He had five stitches from that injury. When he thought of that time, his face blushed with fury, and his lower body was caught by desire at the same time. What a bitch!
Buck reached his hand for his cordless phone. “How is it going? Uh, be quick. Don’t waste time. Don’t get me in trouble.” He said on the phone.
There was a new revolving restaurant on the top floor of the highest tower in Los Angeles. Jessie asked Tristan to come to try it. He happened to have something to talk to her about. They sat quietly in a relatively remote corner of the hall. Looking at Jessie, who was gracefully browsing the menu, he wondered how she would react when he told her.
When they were waiting for their dishes, somebody passed by them and called her name.
Jessie stood up and introduced him, “This is my old classmate Owen, Owen Jackson. He worked in the city government. He is the secretary to the mayor. And this is Tristan Fox, you know, President of Chasin Group.”
Tristan looked at the man who was many years his junior. He was sleek, lean, looked like a college student just stepped out of school at first sight, but if one looked closer to the eyes behind his glasses, one could see a pair of sophisticated, shrewd, and even hostile eyes that the old campaigners of political circles always had.
“Hi, Tristan. So nice to meet you. I heard about you from Jessica. It is great to meet you in person. It is my honor.” Owen’s hostility retreated, and he spoke cordially. He shook hands with Tristan naturally, and they got acquainted quickly.
“Owen is really young and promising,” Tristan said.
When the main course was served, Tristan’s cell phone started to vibrate. He took a look at the caller and pressed off. It was from Ed. But soon, it called again. He frowned, made an excuse, and went out to make the call.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
After walking away, he asked, “What is it?”
The one on the other side sounded worried. “Boss, something happened to that girl.”
“Which girl?”
“The one who had a problem with her head, Kate.”
“Be more specific. What happened to her?”
He seemed to hesitate a little. “She might have been kidnapped.”
Tristan was startled. Who else would kidnap her? “Can you locate her?”
“Yes. She was on Townhall Street… heading west. What a troublesome girl…”
Tristan’s eyes darkened, and he interrupted his complaint. “Don’t lose track of her. I will be right there.”
“Oh. You are coming, Boss? You don’t have to.”
“Cut the crap.”
He hung up and got back to the table. He told Jessie, “I am really sorry. I have something urgent to attend to. I have to go now. I will have Sam come to send you back home.”
Jessie said considerately, “Don’t worry. I drove here today.”
“Really sorry.” Tristan apologized again.
“Hey. Don’t worry. Just remember you owe me one and pay me back for the other day.” Jessie smiled.
After Tristan left, Jessie looked at the exquisite food on the table, and the untouched cutlery and her smile faded away. A voice sounded in front of her. “What a man Tristan is! Leave the prettiest lady in the city alone here?”
Jessie raised her head to see Owen compressing his lips into a line and looking at her sarcastically.
“Didn’t you have a date with someone?” She asked icily.
Owen shrugged his shoulders, “Still stuck on the road.” And he sat down on Tristan’s seat without being invited. “Jessica. What do you see in this guy? You are not even lovers, and he treats you like this. What would he…”
“Shut up.”
“You know I…”
“I said, shut up.”
Sam drove the car while Ed reported the route to him on his Bluetooth earphone.
Tristan got the phone from him and asked Ed, “Whom has she contacted lately? What did she say?”
“No one is special.” Ed prevaricates.
Tristan got furious. “Didn’t I tell you to keep an eye on her? You turned a deaf ear to what I said?”
Ed knew he was wrong and argued weakly. “I did keep an eye on her earlier, but nothing happened. I thought it had been months, so…”
“You didn’t take it seriously. She knew what we did. And if somebody took advantage of it, the consequences could be unimaginable.”
Tristan threw back the phone to Sam and loosened his tie. He heard Sam muttered, “We should have done it more thoroughly last time.”
Tristan gave him an angry stare and shouted, “How thoroughly? Do you think it is like removing an ant? One stamp of the foot, and she disappears? Have you ever thought of consequences before you act? Drive faster.”
Sam hushed and pressed harder on the accelerator. They passed a few cars in a second.