The Royal Contract

He was ready to leave the headquarters after finishing up the rest of their discussion when a thought occurred to him. He wondered why he had not considered that before.

“Tim, I need you in my office now,” Alex called to him as he returned to his desk and fired up his computer again. After a few minutes of tinkering with a few files, Tim entered his room with a frown.

“What is it? Did you forget something?” Tim asked when he found his boss back in his chair, working again. Instead of on his way out of the building.

He knew when he left him a little while ago. He was ready to go home and was on his way out. So, he wondered what was wrong now with this picture.

“Not forget.” He answered, which only made his man more confused than enlightened by his vague and short response. “I mean. I think I remember something that might have some connection to our case.”

He checked again on his computer and knew it was not enough. There was a connection, he could feel it, but it was in these files. He suddenly remembered something else.

.....

“Will you get the files that Cassie gave us? The one that you hid in the vault.” It might be there. But he knew he read something about it.

“Sure,” Tim acknowledged his order and turned around, still puzzled by how his boss was acting.

He quickly went to the vault, careful not to be seen since it was a top-secret location that nobody else had access to except for the two of them.

Once he had retrieved the files, he secured the place again and returned immediately to Alex. He handed the file and remained standing, still waiting for his boss to explain the purpose of all this.

“This might be it,” Alex exclaimed excitedly after scanning several documents on his table.

He had checked every word, finding that piece of a sentence that would give him a clue of what he was looking for since he started searching for it.

Tim immediately moved to his side, curious about what he was blabbering about since his boss was not giving him any hint. He moved closer to him and checked out what his index finger was pointing at on the white paper.

“A possibility of a son.” Tim read aloud the last words, but still, he could not figure out what they meant. “So?” He asked his boss, unable to comprehend the riddle.

“Don’t you see?” Alex said, pointing again to those words as if Tim should have easily gotten the connection.

“I am sorry. But as the report said, this was inconclusive. This report was just a rumor that had no basis.” Tim said, discarding the issue as useless.

“Yes, it is in the report that it is nothing but garbage stories. But why would Nick hold into this for this long,” Alex questioned, realizing that Nick might know something they still had to figure out.

“You might have a point there.” Tim finally conceded, beginning to understand where his boss was heading with this. “Do you think we might still find something important on those files?”

He remembered they barely checked those rumors. Since the earlier detectives and investigators thought it was nothing. Those were just gossip, exploited by the enemies of the previous late mafia leader, Joaquin Augustus.

“I think it is worth exploring. What do we have to lose?” He asked, thinking that they were not going anywhere with the case with the current evidence they possessed.

“I guess I will be working overtime tonight,” Tim said, not wanting to waste more time sitting on this case. “Why did I even believe what those detectives stated on their report?”

He questioned himself, knowing how shitty the situation was back then. The detective might have accepted a bribe to close the case. Or they were just not up to the challenge of enforcing the law. But whatever was the truth, he would try to find it.

“I wish I could stay for more, but Dani might be wondering where I am. I promise that I will be home for dinner.” Alex made excuses, leaving his most trusted man to handle the situation.

As much as he wanted to explore more about his latest discovery, his wife was still his priority. Besides, Tim would surely call him once he found something else.

For now, he was satisfied that he had found something to think about other than his problems. Although he could not declare it was a solution. At least, it had shed some light on one of his problems.

“I will call you once I have something else,” Tim promised before dismissing him from his presence.

When the two of them were alone without the company of his men, they were just equal. They have a mutual understanding of their importance to each other.

“Thanks.” Alex grabbed his things and immediately went on his way. As he said earlier, he had no intention to be late for dinner.

Once he was in the backseat of the car, his thoughts went back to that piece of statement. A child was probably born during that time. The mafia don probably had a son and was the heir to his underground organization.

He knew all of this was connected somehow. However, he could not figure out what could be the link that would tie it all together. But eventually, he would have his answer.

He quickly rode the elevator to their apartment. Ben already informed him that Dani had been home for an hour. So, he was expecting that she was done cooking and preparing dinner by now.

“Dani, I am home.” He announced, entering the room in search of his wife. As he expected, he found her in the kitchen, putting the final garnishing.

He could smell the delicious food she had prepared. His cooking lessons seemed to be paying off as he feasted his eyes on the well-plated dishes on the kitchen top.

“What do you think?” She asked, hoping that they tasted as good as their aroma and appearance.

She knew she could cook a decent meal. But if she compared her dish to Alex’s dishes, she was not yet that confident. Hers might fail in comparison.

“I will say, good job,” Alex said, sniffing the different aromas coming from the food.

He assisted her on her seat before sitting on the other side of the dining table she had already set. Then, he poured the wine she already had chilled.

“I wonder what this is all about,” Alex asked, not used to her preparing something this extravagant.

When he took his first bite of the beef, he felt like he was in heaven. The seasoning was perfect, and the meat was the way he wanted it.

He stared at his wife, appreciating what she had done tonight for him. But as he looked at her, a new thought popped into his mind. It was a new idea that could help them with their case.

“Do we need a reason to have a good meal?” Dani asked, interrupting him with his thoughts. She was happy that he seemed to be genuinely enjoying his food.

She had carefully studied how he liked it, so she hoped she had done a precise execution of one of his signature dishes. She was a lawyer, and following the rules was her expertise.