“You seriously thought that I would harm your company?” Kierson asked while chuckling.
George Vanovick nervously sipped his coffee. “No,” he answered.
Kierson chuckled as he crossed his legs. “I am pretty sure that you know it would also be my loss if your company goes bankrupt. That is why I am aiding you as much as my power could just to lift you to my level.” Kierson sipped his coffee. “Anyway, you don’t have to be so nervous when I am around. I don’t eat people.”
George took a deep breath. “What brings you here?”
Kierson shrugged his shoulders. “I just wanted to see how the company was doing. You’ve been so quiet after my grandfather died. I thought there was something wrong with you,” he answered. “What are you up to these days?” he asked.
George gulped. “I just want a peaceful year to enjoy.”
“I bet you want that since the greatest obstacle died, am I wrong?” Kierson brushed his hair. “Anyway, enjoy that while it lasts,” Kierson stated.
“I know that you didn’t come all the way here just to say that. What do you want?” George asked with apparent anguish.
Kierson chuckled. “I am hunting a rat amongst my people, George and I just happened to pass by and decided to stop here after seeing this place had holes all over.” Kierson got up. He smiled at George Vanovick. “I am not as soft as my grandfather, George. You better stay low and do nothing. If I ever see one fault, you’ll get to join my grandfather on his deathbed.”
After that, Kierson left the lobby.
It was just a simple warning that would make George get alarmed. If George was one of them, he should get what he was implying.
Of course, Kierson doesn’t know if George was keeping the slaves or if he was the one who killed Harold Ferrer. He was just simply trying his luck. If something goes wrong, he could just kill George Vanovick.
But the voice in his head doesn’t match George's voice.
Kierson felt the urge to find the person who abducted him and Derrick five years ago. That gray-haired man was the key to solving all of his parents’ and friends' enigmas. He had to find the man.
Kierson continued walking on the pavement. Even before he managed to get out of the building, he saw Noah with Van hastily getting outside the building using a remote passage of the company.
Rats. Kierson chuckled.
So, the meeting that the woman was talking about was a meeting between Noah, George, and George’s right hand, Van?
Kierson chuckled again. He wondered what the three had talked about. They must have been alarmed about Jane Draco’s death or if not, they must have schemed it together, and now talked about how they could dispose of the body without leaving any evidence.
Whatever plans they were scheming, he had to guard Jane Draco’s corpse.
Kierson immediately called Kier.
“What?! I’m busy,” Kier said with a hoarse voice.
Kierson could hear a loud moan from the other line. It was a man’s voice.
Kierson sighed. “Be at the county morgue and guard Jane Draco’s body in the meantime. I need you to do it now.”
Kier groaned. “Why don’t you do it yourself? Why are you always bothering me?” he complained.
Harvey snatched the phone in Kierson’s hand and said, “I’ve been tolerant of you cheating on me, you motherfucker but don’t get your libido to be an obstacle to our work. If I don’t see you there, let’s break it off.”
Harvey ended the call.
Kierson knows that something was going on with Kier and Harvey. He just couldn’t guess what was keeping them together when it seemed that they loathed each other. But even though he was curious, he didn’t want to be nosy so he chose not to ask.
Aside from that, he had bigger problems to solve.
Much bigger than he thought.
The Golden Line is the chess play that the anonymous perpetrators were playing. Kierson doesn’t exactly know who his real enemy is. He didn’t know whom he should trust.
The only thing he was sure of was there was someone on the top behind all of these troubles, playing the game as they saw fit.
He needed to be the dark horse to flip the table and master the game.
Kierson drove his way to the county morgue where Jane Draco’s body was delivered to be examined.
As they arrived, Kierson saw Kier waiting outside the morgue with neat clothes and well-combed hair.
Kierson chuckled. So Kier was afraid of the little Harvey?
“Vishnu’s team is here, including Derrick,” Kier reported.
Kierson nodded and proceeded to enter the morgue. The unpleasant smell of toxins was making Kierson nauseous.
“What are you doing here?”
Kierson lazily looked at Vishnu who was standing on the side. “I need to investigate Jane Draco’s case.”
“Without the authority’s consent?” Vishnu asked.
Kierson handed Vishnu the file that Kier gave him. “Jonas Draco is Jane Draco’s husband. After the party in my bar, Jonas Draco just vanished, leaving his son in our custody as one of the promised benefits of being our employee.” Kierson looked at Jane’s body. “I think Ashton’s disappearance was related to Jane Draco’s death.”
Vishnu nodded. He surprisingly buys Kierson’s excuse.
It was obviously a lie. Kierson was the one who abducted Jonas. He didn’t know that the term agreement and abducting Jonas would be of help this time. He was planning to let go of that pitiful man because he was no longer useful, but after the encounter with Vishnu, he needed to imprison Jonas for a short time and let him go unscratched after he solved Jane's case.
Kierson wore a mask and started watching the forensic doctor do his job.
Seeing that Kierson didn't bat an eye, Vishnu curiously looked at Kierson and said, “You seemed to be used to seeing things like this.”
Kierson bobbed his head. “I graduated with a doctoral degree in medicine. I once became a military doctor for three years and I’ve seen much worse than this. After hearing about my grandfather's death, I flew back here and took a course in business,” Kierson explained. “If you don’t believe me, you could check all my credentials.”
Vishnu shook his head. “So you’re not really him, huh?”
“Are you talking about that Jerson who fell from the cliff?”
Vishnu nodded. “Yeah. I missed him.”
Kierson looked at Jane Draco’s body. “But he’s dead.”
“And seeing you up close made me realize how much you symbolize him,” Vishnu declared. “Though I know that it was probably only my guilt that made me want to believe, you and Jerson are one person.”
Kierson remained silent. The last time he saw Vishnu, he was okay. He was just fine. Now, looking at him up close, he could see those dark circles and his lifeless eyes. He must have suffered since he saw him fall from the cliff.
Kierson pressed his lips. “I’m sure he already forgave you. I even doubt if he ever got mad at you,” he said out of nowhere.
After saying those words, Kierson left Vishnu’s side and walked toward the Doctor. It was Valenn who was examining the body.
“Can I?” Kierson asked.
Valenn rolled his eyes before nodding.
Kierson folded his dress shirt’s sleeves up to his elbow showing his tattoos. He started examining first the body if there were any signs of contusion or abuse that brought her to death.
Seeing this, Vishnu looked at the tattoo intently. The designs were serpents and roses. But what caught his attention most was the big scar obscured behind those tattoos.