Escaping The Mafia King

Chapter 34: 34- Secrets

"Got it." Max grumbled, rolling a transparent glass heavyweight ball in his fist, "No sign of Varys at his old house?" he waited a moment till the person on the other side of the call finished speaking.

"Roy, sweep out the downtown area where Varys' territory is, ask around to the informers. Be smart, don't get in deep until it is absolutely not working out. Take Lucas with you, and send William on a stakeout for any man that is closest to Ethan. Send me the information on this Shawn and arrange a meeting with him in the next hour." saying, he hung up the call.

His mind was a mess. Putting the heavyweight ball far away on the table, so that he does not break something with it like he had been doing for the past few days, he rested his palms on the glass table and took a heavy breath in.

The whole matter of Hope's kidnapping had turned out more messed up than he had ever imagined. His men were after her info, everything from underneath the ground was pulled out to see what the hell was going on.

If there was anything that his men were good at, it was to pull out shit on people that even those people did not know existed. It was easy, it was work, and they were ruthless. Carefulness was Police's job, his was to make sure he got what the client needed by either white hands or by dirty tricks. And right now what they had most needed was the past of Hope that was buried so deep, it took them through literal hell to bring out.

A simple girl from North Carolina, that is what Vincent said. Vincent, whose own past had been kept hidden from his family was now worried to death about his niece.

Vincent had been in a team of secret agents before he had gotten caught in the Afganistan, thirteen years ago. His years were no less than hell from what he had to endure there. His memories were still vivid. Vincent was the kind of man who was ready to take a bullet for anyone who was close to him, give up his life for them. That was the reason that he had not contacted his family for ten years

because of being trapped in Afghanistan. And when he came out free, back to the country, he found out that his sister was dead, and Hope had moved somewhere else.

Thinking that staying away was the only option to make sure his niece will stay safe from his past, he had not tried to contact Hope. But when Hope called him, there had never been any moment far happier than that.

Max and Vincent had no idea of what Hope had been doing for the past thirteen years. In records, she existed till she passed high school. And then as the first year of college records started, everything started fading.

Through digging, Hope's past started coming up. She was not buried in mud. She was literally made of mud. From being connected to Varys' family's death to being married to Varys' rival; Ethan, everything was one shock after another coming out.

But somewhere the things were not sitting right. She had left North Carolina with all her things, from her passport to her cards. Her stuff that was still laying around at Vincent's house was helpful in the search. And her husband was the rival but he was not taking any action to find her, this was clear. Underground was a small place, and people like Ethan and Varys were the ruler of those underground areas. If Varys had kidnapped the rival's wife, there would have been a war break out, but there was not any. Which meant there was something that was not quite right, and hidden from the eyes.

A ping interrupted his thoughts. Snatching his phone from his pocket he glanced over at the details. Shawn's details blinked on the screen along with the meeting spot.

Snatching the keys of his Harley from the table he walked out of the office. He wanted Hope back in front of his eyes. And if he has to ride the entire mafia clan up the fucking wall through their throats to do that, he did not give a fuck about the consequences.

Driving through the busy roads of Texas city, his Harley came to a stop in front of a glass commercial building. Max's eyes scanned the phone screen again, going over the picture of the guy, and then lifted up to roam around the road. There, in a corner, near a Tesla the man stood, making Max's eyes light up in recognition.

He crossed the road with quick strides, making sure to avoid bumping into every day working people and reaching the man.

"Shawn?" he inquired.

The man looked at him from bottom to top, before saying, "you are not Mr. Chavez?" it came out more like a question than a statement.

Max did not blink or explained. Tit or tat was their motto, and Shawn was a businessman running a business worth billions. Surely he would not have been the type to come for an immediate meeting if asked nicely. Shawn was dressed in the suits that are tailor- made for rich people in Armani stores. No stubble, clean appearance, grey suit with a blue color tie suited him very well.

"He will be coming an hour later," Max stated and pulled out his ID to show him of his legitimacy and PI status, "for now, I need to have a chat with you, Mr. Shawn Peralta."

*****

Ethan's shoes clattered against the floor as he listened to the live recording of everything Max was saying. Planting a bug in his phone had not been an easy task, but there is nothing impossible if you have money in your bank and a gun in your hands.

"Were Varys and Hope in the same class?" Max inquired.

"No, his brother, Hector was. But Varys and Hope were close friends." the other man, Shawn responded, "I remember he used to be with Hope literally all the time. I was suspicious that they were closer than being just friends. That fucker even punched me once for kissing Hope at a party." Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Max was silent for a couple of seconds before he grumbled in a low tone, "good move."

"What?!" Shawn spat in anger.

"Nothing." Max ignored and continued, "What happened after? Were you in contact with Hope after that?"

Shawn huffed out in anger, "I was not. Stella and Hope were best friends so she might know. And now I am getting out of here because unlike you, I have a lot more fucking things to do instead of obsessing over chicks."

Ethan clenched the bottle of whiskey around the neck and pulled it up to take a deep swig. His hand shook as he put the bottle down, his body barely containing the fury that he felt deep in his chest.

"Fucking bitch," he spat, "she has got all the fucking men in the country wrapped around her little finger. "

"Ryan!" he shouted, and a man standing outside the door immediately entered inside.

"Boss?"

"Find Varys' hiding spot. I am bringing Hope back." the man nodded his head and immediately headed out to follow the orders.

Ethan grabbed the bottle and drank half of it down before slamming it down on the side table,

"Hope, you will come back to me. Ruining my reputation is not this easy." his voice shook as he pushed the hair falling over his forehead and wiped the sweat, "I will kill you myself if you don't. You are not getting touched by any fucking man as long as I am alive."