C18 Cordolium

"Don't underestimate them, Liam." Jasper reaffirmed his words; the tone of his voice was slightly blurred, and his eyebrows furrowed sharply. "I do this because I love you, but is this your response?”

"No, that's not what I meant. I don't underestimate them. Just recently, the situation has become more intense and interesting to me. You know, this is exactly what I want."

Disguising the pile of photos in his hands, Liam investigates Caleb and Bailey intensively through obsessive and intrigued eye highlights. It's been a long time since Liam spied on the two confidential agency partners. They're moving fast, always arriving in every place Liam left. Liam took a long breath, one by one, and his plan started to work.

A bending smile pops up on his lips, and his memory jumps back to last year—right in Switzerland, when Liam sent a mysterious letter to Caleb.

Jasper whistled out of thought; he burned a menthol cigarette. Liam stared at him with a sharp eye.

"Come on, this is the smoking area. Don't be like my private doctor. My ears hurt to hear that; you know?" Jasper grumbled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, whatever. You're like my own father. I'm worried about you, Jasper." Liam warned in a worried tone. "Don't look for trouble; what can I do without you?"

"Bloody hell, you touched my heart so much, son. I won't die that fast."

Liam shrugged to focus on the pictures that were straight on the table.

Jasper's trembling. "This man, he's Caleb Halvard. Halvard was awarded many medals throughout his career; he was naive but tough to get rid of. He's too intrusive; his instincts are sharp and strong. MI6’s highly protected, and a lot of people want to get rid of him. I've been in the military for almost five years. Early retirement was linked to his father's deteriorating health. Of course, his father died last year. I've been looking for all the information related to him. He's clean. A trusted secret agent."

"Yeah, I know that. Clearly on their faces. Not all law enforcement officers are corrupt; I know there are still those who uphold honesty and justice." Liam commented calmly, pouring wine into his crystal glass.

Jasper ordered the best and most costly wine for Liam. "It's not for free. You have to pay for it."

Liam chuckled, then pulled the debit card out of his leather wallet. "Here. I'm paying all the bills. Easy, old man, our business isn't done yet, is it?”

Arrange the photos according to the date of the murder. Liam examines the face of Caleb Halvard, who is always moving fast, along with his partner Bailey, who has a sharp intuition. They're complementary as partners.

Jasper added and pointed at Bailey’s picture. "The woman, Bailey Ashborne,. I've also been looking for all the information about her. Good and respectable family background. She was the youngest graduate at the university. Highest academic grade. Her career at MI6 was brilliant, as long as she was a Halvard partner. I thought she was adorable and hot." Jasper added, whispering, not tired of staring at Ashborne's photo of her plump body.

"Crazy bastard! Don't dream too far, Jasper. You two don't seem to match. Like heaven and earth. You want to die in her hands like an idiot?" Liam asks with a strange tone of judgment.

Jasper shook and joked again with a mischievous voice, "Fucking her till I die in bed; of course I will."

"Shut the hell up, old man! Samantha will kill you in the worst way."

They burst out in crazy laughter. Liam and Jasper raised their wine glasses in the air, toasting. Creating the crisp sound of crystal glasses clinking. However, a tense silence fell over the table when Jasper handed over a photo of Darius Deck.

Liam's giggles disappeared for a moment. His eyes blazed with vengeance, as if a golden flame. He swallowed his wine with an unstoppable breath of rage. His chest was holding emotional turmoil, and the terrible flashback of the deadly night's memories flooded again in his mind without mercy.

"You're ready to hunt him?”

"Yes." Liam replied firmly, without thinking twice. "When?”

"Well, some Marquess, Count, and Baron came to me today. One of them, Marquess Diggory, wants Darius Deck dead. It's a high contract, Liam. The price is 47 million pounds. This job is perfectly suited to you."

All this time, Jasper Miles has been protecting Liam Coltrane's identity among those that operate centrally at the Walcher Hotel Tower. Jasper keeps his name clean.

Businessmen only know Liam Coltrane as a successful and brilliant billionaire CEO, while in the criminal network, he is the most feared asset or legendary hitman.

Liam's eye darked as a devil hunter; he'd like to finish out Darius Deck right now. "That's great. I told you a long time ago, The One is mine. Don't you dare give the contract to anyone else. The One, all must die in my hands."

The One is the highest-ranking dark criminal organization that regulates all the criminal networks around the world. Covering the international area. Not many know; they're moving secretly like shadows, among them even controlling the banking part of the world. As a centralized money-laundering facility. Corrupt law enforcement officials protected their operation. That's why their business always goes well and succeeds.

Control black market trade, oil or gas smuggling, illegal weapons, drugs, assets, human or organ trafficking, and illegal mining. They're a group of clan heads or top leaders of criminal networks that lead in their countries. To continue to create a world order of evil that has been going on for almost decades.

Silvius, their mysterious top leader, occupies the highest seat. They just obeyed his orders. Nobody knows who Silvius really is, where he comes from, or whether he is powerful. No one has ever seen or met him in person, not even his own subjects.

"Did you get any information about Silvius?" asked Liam, who sighs heavily.

Jasper shook, his face bowed down. Open the sheet of his big book. "He's hard to trace. Even my satellite couldn't find anything about him. He's still the same, mysterious, and only interacting through the speaker. A minimum of information, background, or voice recognition can't do much. Calm down; you're not the only one who finds out about him. A lot of people are willing to pay a lot for information about him. If I find anything, you're the first one I tell you, son."

Liam didn't comment on anything, sipped out his wine, and took a sharp breath.

Jasper handed the sealed symbol envelope into Liam's hand. "All the information you need about Darius Deck. Their security is tightening after Pierto's death last time. Including the check. 47 million pounds. I'm still flabbergasted; as long as I explain the MI6, you look relaxed and not too surprised."

Liam smiled faintly.

Jasper's eyes were suspicious, "Hell! No! You must have been tracking them, didn't you?”

And Liam was just guffawing tauntingly.

“Fucking bastard! Stupid stalkers are sickening! Since when you know about them?!” Jasper grunted irritably. “Why should I explain it if you already know, jerk? Are you trying to mess with me?”

"Hey, I'm the perfect stalker, you know? Last year, I actually sent Caleb Halvard a mysterious letter to his office. It’s a bait. At first, he didn't trust me, so I called him through a jammer phone so he couldn't track me. But, after convincing him a few times, he's starting to focus on the clues. I've left, as I suppose. In Switzerland, he's after me. Now, he's suspicious of his own partners. Not everyone can be trusted. Exactly, as he's hard to get rid of, that's why I chose him to complete all my plans. I deliberately left him some clues. You know my real purpose. Uncovering everything so they're completely destroyed with dust and death. I told you, I have a big plan, Jasper. You'll see later; there's going to be some fun later."

"You're full of surprises, Liam. Be careful; you know Darius Deck is cunning. Don't let yourself slip into your own plan."

"Don't worry. I can handle it."

"Uncovering everything, including the White-Collar case that dragged you to the hanging poles?”

"Yeah, the world should know that these bad guys want to rule the world. They're ridiculous, aren't they? Why don't they just become circus players?”

"You'd better send them all to hell. Let them freely wander and breathe relief while they are not tried for their crimes. That's not fair at all, son. Life is not fair. Shouldn't we be forced to get used to that injustice?"

"It's good if you fathom." Liam proclaimed in a proud tone that he had affirmed himself in an extreme way. "That doesn't apply to me. Nothing in my life, Jasper. It's not us who have to get used to it, but they're the ones who need to get rid of it. Sentencing them to death is the best option. Can you imagine this world without the masterminds of the crazy evil that wants to control everything? People with fake faces, but they're real predators. It's magnificent and peaceful, isn't it? You don't have to call me a hero just because I hunt down the bad guys. I don't give a damn what others call me. There was a time when I needed help, but none came. Except for you. Thanks, Jasper. You're my angel. I'm a villain or anti-hero who brings this world to a better situation; I justify my actions—killing people who deserve it.”

Jasper was smiling and laughing, smoking all the cigarettes that were stuck in his mouth. "Then, what about that corrupt officer? Are you going to hunt them all too?" He asks, still not perceiving the way Liam thinks of all the formulations of his plan. It's like there's a big puzzle in Jasper’s head. It's just that Liam's execution is always interesting and surprising in the end.

Liam smiled devilishly and convinced, "Calm down; don't turn around and worry about me, because I have the worst hell for all of them."

***

"Say it again? Who am I hunting for?" asked VanHelton to look at Ezra's face, whose expression changed so quickly.

VanHelton's sleeping in his prison room. He's just finished counting days—425 days—and he's stuck in this nasty Hunk prison.

"Now you're just here? Where are you when I need help? Y’all forgot about me and left me dying here! You didn't do anything to get me out of here!" VanHelton's blowing up. His hands are chained in steel; he can't shake or crush the arrogance of Ezra Harvey, sitting before him while shaking his legs.

A devil's bending smile came out of his lips. An unusual grip on VanHelton's neck. His eyes were glaring, shining terribly in the midst of darkness.

"I know, we're late. We're not the ones who put you in jail here, either. It's just Liam Coltrane's fault. He's the one who threw you here, causing all this mess and disaster. Even you have to pay for all this? You're still lucky they didn't execute you to death." Ezra smirked without wiping out his smug smile. "This is a second chance, VanHelton. After this, may not be your chance to get out and choose to stay spending time rotten in this rusty prison.”

VanHelton's hands were filled with wrath to hear Ezra Harvey's proposal for him. His lips were trembling, his body was shaking, and his face was pale, as if he had just seen a damned ghost. He gazed at the two pictures on Ezra Harvey's laptop screen.

Liam Coltrane.

Alessia Dawn.

The two names are remembered in VanHelton's head memory.

"Liam Coltrane. This is a crucial and urgent task. I paid you to chase and kill them both. There's precious cargo you have to take from their hands. Silvius promises a seat on The One's leaders if you succeed. It's not just money; you’re equal to us. There's a high price if you make it. Once the VXG secured, they must die. Do you read me?” Ezra pressed his words. Without speech and straight to the point of the problem. "I remember the history of both of you at the agency before. Aren't you so eager to finish him, VanHelton? It's an honorable duty. Official order from Silvius. I came here to offer you this golden chance. You know me, a swamped man. Fantastic numbers are waiting for you. I think this is the right time to revenge for your defeat. He almost killed you and left you, didn't he? We can get you out of here if you do your job. How? It's an offer that won't happen twice."

VanHelton's bowed deeply, and his evil face darkened. Silence has been created for a long time. A wretched revenge of many years suddenly crawled out again. He was furious, stirring up Ezra Harvey's victorious laughter. Being one of the best hunters at the moment in this agency is a sign that VanHelt0on is in favour of this proposal.

But VanHelton cursed with maniac giggles. "Yes! This is an extraordinary golden opportunity. I accept it! It's been so long that I've been waiting for a miracle to happen. Liam Coltrane! I'll see you soon. This time, you will die in my hand!"

***