The Royal Contract

He abruptly ended the call, dropped the unit on the table before turning away from his work to stare outside the window. He just could not understand why they always came up with nothing.

He was absolutely sure about the lead they were chasing, but it seemed they were heading again toward another dead end. Like the rest of the evidence they gathered, it did not get them too far.

“Another bad news?” Ben walked inside the room, sensing his boss was again in a bad mood.

He had been working with him closely on the case, hoping to find some more evidence to seal the fate of Nick behind bars. Well, that was the other plan.

On the other hand, they were also secretly investigating another lead that was supposed to reveal the identity of another criminal mastermind. However, the big boss apparently was better at covering his tracks.

Well, they already suspected it since they had heard from the grapevine that he was a man that was not seen by just anyone. No one knew his identity except his most trusted people.

.....

“Yeah!” He turned around and faced his second in command, shaking his head to clear the irritation out of his system. “I think our latest lead is once again taking us nowhere.”

It had been the story of their investigation since he started going after the phantom who had made everybody dance to his tune.

Nobody could point them to the source of the song. But the music kept playing, just strong enough for them to hear. Everybody was amazed by the performance. But nobody had seen the real star of the show.

“Don’t worry, Tim. We will get this guy and his associates.” Ben empathized with his boss, sharing his sentiment.

He also wanted to catch this man just as much as his boss. He also had a few scores to settle with him. He would like him to pay for putting the lives of the people he cared about in danger.

The sooner they found him, the better. They could not risk the lives of their boss and his wife in danger with a big syndicate going after them.

“We better,” Tim answered with a big sigh, thinking that this unknown enemy was not someone they could mess around with easily.

This time, they were not dealing with a common criminal like Nick. From what they gathered so far, they might be chasing after the leader of the biggest underground syndicate in the city.

His association with Nick was still vague, and his interest in the royal couple was still unknown.

But all evidence was pointing to the man, who was running the show under a very elaborate disguise. He might be anyone from the upper class to the highest member of the government.

“For now, I have something for you.” Ben changed the topic and proceeded with his reason for visiting him.

He dropped some files in his hand onto the table. Then, he sat down on the available chair in front of the desk, making himself comfortable as he leaned on the backrest and crossed his legs.

“What is this?” Tim asked, raising his brows at Ben in question.

But before opening the folder, he stood up from his chair and walked towards a smaller table with a brewing coffee pot. He poured himself one and turned to Ben. “You want one?” Offering one to his partner.

He would have preferred something a bit stronger like alcohol, but he never allowed drinking while on the job. It was not ideal, especially when lives were on the line.

“Yeah, I can use one,” Ben responded, needing something to boost his energy. “I had been up all night, probably slept only a wink.” He continued, shrugging his shoulders, feeling the fatigue setting in.

He had been working on a lead assigned to him when he stumbled on the pictures sent to him by one of their sources. It would seem like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

If he simply looked at the pictures, he would assume that nothing was wrong with them. But somehow, he felt something odd about it that he could not understand.

“Why? Did you find something useful?” Tim asked, suddenly curious about the file on his table.

He could use any kind of good news today. He had been running on bad luck and was getting tired of telling his boss nothing. He could tell that Alex was also getting frustrated by the situation.

“Well, I ran another check on the visitors who came by to see Samson.” Ben began to explain as he took the coffee out of Tim’s hands.

First, he took a sip on it, taking his sweet time savoring the hot liquid as it passed through his lips down to his throat. He could certainly use the extra kick of the caffeine in his system.

“And?” Tim drank half of the coffee in one gulp before setting it down on the other side of his table. Then, he began to sort through the file that Ben had placed before him as he waited for Ben to continue with his report.

He saw a document inserted at the top of the file, but he did not see anything unusual with them. Then, he scanned the rest, finding pictures but nothing that looked suspicious.

He could not tell what could have caused Ben to stay up all night with this. But maybe he was looking at it in the wrong way. He might be missing something that Ben might have spotted.

“Are you going to tell me, or will you keep me guessing?” Tim looked at him impatiently, but they both knew that he was all bark with no bite.

He still could not figure out what Ben was trying to say as he skimmed through the file one more time. Then, he scattered the files across his table, going through each one at a time, he saw it.

“I want to see if you can also spot the same thing I did,” Ben told him as he remained in his position, not planning to help him at all.

He was still unsure of the information he wanted to share with him. He might be putting two and two, coming up with ten. Well, lack of sleep could do that to a person.

At the moment, he was one perfect example of a person who was floating in space. Luckily, the coffee was finally helping him keep his feet on the ground.

“Fine.” He could see that his buddy was already at the edge of his limits.

He could not blame Ben. His team, including him, were exhausted and frustrated since they were all worked twenty-four-seven to solve this case.

He kept studying the different files before him until he saw some connections. Still, it was all speculation until they could find more substantial evidence to back it up.

It must be what Ben was talking about as he kept his silence, just observing him. “I think I know what you are talking about.” He believed he figured it out.

It could be a piece of the puzzle that could be significant in their investigation. This information could either make or break the case, but at the same time, it could also be nothing at all but just a piece of crap.