A Force Love Contract With GANG LEADER

It was a man’s body, between 25 and 30 years old. The time of death was determined to be about one year ago. After soaking in seawater and rotting on the ground for so long, there were no facial characteristics to be identified.

The forensic team attempted to reconstruct the image of his head face on the computer. They also checked the missing people’s personal records and had used a DNA test to identify the dead body.

The body was confirmed to be that of Henry Texton, a man from Utah who worked in the Chasin Group Networking Center. Texton was fired for indulging in gambling and online games on the company network.

Jimmy learned from his colleague that after Henry left Chasin, he had trouble finding a permanent job. He had worked as a technical manager for an Internet café for some time. He lived with his girlfriend in a rented house.

The address sounded familiar to Jimmy. He suddenly thought of another person who lived there too. A few names came together in his mind.

Jimmy took out a picture of Caroline and showed it to Henry’s colleague, and asked him if that was Henry’s girlfriend. He nodded and said yes. He added with a little embarrassment that he only saw her once, but he could recognize her because she was so pretty.

Jimmy took a picture of Henry to the address where Caroline and Henry had lived. The house there had already been demolished. Luckily, he found the woman he met last time who had been collecting the garbage. She looked at the picture of Henry and nodded vigorously, confirming his identity as Caroline’s “husband.”

The stairway to the last floor of the bookstore was a place few people would pass by. Jimmy took Kate there and asked her, “Do you know Caroline had a boyfriend?”

Kate shook her head, “I don’t know. We had not contacted each other for over a year.”

“They disappeared at the same time.”

“Oh.”

“We just found her boyfriend’s body.” Jimmy looked at Kate and said slowly and distinctly, “Gunshot in the head, body tossed into the sea.”

“He was a staff member at Chasin Group.”

Before Kate could react, Jimmy asked immediately, “The one who kidnapped you, is he from Chasin Group?”

Kate stopped breathing. Jimmy continued, “It is not because of money that you are with Fox; it is because you are forced to, isn’t it?”

Panic flashed on Kate’s face.

Jimmy saw her reaction and knew his conjecture was right. He grabbed her hand in excitement and regret, saying, “Kate, I misunderstood you, didn’t I?”

“No,” Kate thought of his threatening immediately and denied it instinctually. Kate averted her gaze, “I am with him because he helped me…”

“Oh?”

“Max fought with somebody outside the school and injured a guy. He was blackmailed…”

Jimmy frowned at her words, “Last October?”

Kate nodded in a trance.

“You approached him?”

Kate paused. She could not tell Jimmy that she went to be an escort for money.

Jimmy said, “They approached you?”

Kate could not say anything. Jimmy inferred himself, “It was so strange. You know, they intercepted your phone. They knew everything about you. But,” he suddenly changed his mind, “since they had done so many things, does it ever occur to you that the whole thing might be a scheme?”

Jimmy’s inference again made Kate feel dumbfounded. Obviously, she had never thought of this.

Her phone in the bag vibrated and scared the hell out of her. She took it out and saw the name “Ed.” He must be impatiently waiting outside. She looked to Jimmy.

He nodded, “Answer it.”

Kate gave it a thought and walked a few steps away from Jimmy, and pressed on. The voice sounded merry, “You know where I am now?”

She was startled and heard him said, “I am in LACC. Your brother is with me.”

She recalled that Ed didn’t come with her today. It was Sam who had driven her here.

The voice turned gloomy, “I heard that you are with the policeman now. Did you forget what I told you?” And then he said, “Your brother wanted to talk with you.”

And then it changed to Max. “Kate? What are you going to tell me?”

“Kate, are you there?”

Kate took a long time to find her own voice. She said drily, “I am in the bookstore. I want to ask you if you need any books.”

“Oh. I thought it was something important. No. Thank you.”

And the phone was returned to Ed. She said with a low voice, “Don’t touch my brother.”

The voice turned merry again, “It is your decision, Kate.”

After Kate hung up, she took her time to compose herself, put her phone back in her satchel, and turned to Jimmy, “I have to go now. I need to go back.”

“Back to that guy?” Jimmy’s voice was full of some unknown emotion.

“What else can I do?” Kate looked at him and asked seriously, “Can you arrest him immediately?”

Jimmy paused and said, “We have to report first and then wait for the approval to open a case…”

Kate was disappointed inside, “So I have to go back. And it would be best if you could get justice for Caroline, but,” she paused again, “I cannot be a witness.”

Jimmy frowned, “You don’t trust me?”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

She smiled sadly and said softly, “I trust you. But I only trust you.”