C523 The Mayor's Hidden Agenda

When everyone arrived at the Mooney family residence, Mark personally welcomed them. "Lions, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're spending time with your families." Sarah smiled. "Is something wrong, Mr Mooney?" Mark nodded. "Yes. I've been waiting for your return. Come with me. We need to discuss something important in my study." We exchanged glances before following him. Alicia stopped Mark before we could move further. "Father, let's eat first. Dinner is already prepared." Mark stopped and nodded. "No problem, then." Soon, we were all seated around the dining table. Chris looked at Mary curiously before asking, "Aunt, who cooked this meal?" Mary smiled mischievously. "Heeey, Chris! You still remember that I'm your aunt? When was the last time you visited me?" Chris grinned. "Don't worry, Aunt. I'll visit more often from now on." Mary smiled and pointed towards Alicia. "Her. She cooked everything." Hearing that, Sarah immediately smiled. "Well, if Alicia really cooked this meal, don't blame me for being impolite." She laughed before continuing, "The last meal of hers that I ate was when I visited your family. It was absolutely delicious!" Everyone burst into laughter.

Mary nodded. "I remember that day. She cooked while we were still at work. Then, when we asked her to stay, she left straightaway." I smiled. "I'll never forget that meal." Quinton laughed. "You're saying that because you didn't taste the meal she prepared when she invited David and Valeria. And the tea she brewed that day was beyond delicious!" Alicia gave us an awkward smile. "So, you're all going to sit here talking about me while I'm right in front of you?" Chris laughed. "Well, I definitely wouldn't remember what you cooked that day. I was too busy enjoying far more delicious things!" Sarah suddenly choked on her food. She coughed roughly before turning towards him. "What?" Chris nodded innocently. "Yes! The refreshments at your graduation ceremony were delicious. English food was wonderful!" Sarah stared at him for a moment before forcing an awkward smile. "Ohhh." Chris leaned towards her and whispered, "Were you thinking about what happened at the hotel?" Sarah's face turned pale. She quickly looked around the table. "Does anyone want to swap seats with me?" Georgia looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong, my child? Is your seat uncomfortable?" Sarah forced a grin. "No, Grandma. Never mind." Faith laughed. "Grandma, you don't have to worry about them. They always tease each other." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Says the mysterious aunt!" Samantha immediately coughed. Faith turned towards her, looking confused. "Mysterious aunt? Wait a minute. There's only one person who calls me Aunt!" She turned to Samantha. "Sam, what is she talking about?"

Samantha laughed, clearly avoiding the situation. "Let's enjoy our meal first. Besides, Monica just wants to go shopping with her aunt." Faith was confused, while Samantha tried to look innocent. Meanwhile, Quinton turned towards Mary. "Wife, do you still remember that cooking competition Alicia made you participate in?" I frowned. "Mom, what?" Mary smiled. "It's not my fault you weren't there at the time. Where exactly were you?" I tried to remember, but halfway through, I stopped. I glanced at Laura. "Shopping, I guess. And swimming." Laura immediately looked away. She remembered it too. We had been together that day, shopping and enjoying ourselves before her father opposed our relationship. After that, everything had gone wrong. For a moment, neither of us said anything. But the conversation around the table continued, and soon, everyone returned to enjoying the meal. As expected compliments one after another came. Alicia smiled "Come on guys just eat the meal you don't have to compliment me. Before long, dinner was over. Mark stood up "Now we can go to my study. As we walked away, Peter looked dissatisfied. "Even you, my son? You're going to exclude us from the discussion?" Mark laughed. "Father, you already know the story. There's no need for you to sit through it all over again." Peter shook his head but didn't argue further.

Once we entered the study, Alicia turned towards her father. "What is it, Father?" Mark didn't waste any time. He took out his phone, connected it to the room's speaker, and played a recording of his conversation with the Mayor. Everyone listened carefully. As the Mayor's voice filled the room, our expressions gradually changed. By the time the recording ended, nobody looked particularly pleased. Mark put his phone away and turned towards Chris. "You were right. I think the Mayor is hiding something. I think he is a dirty cop." Chris folded his arms. "I knew something wasn't right." Mark nodded. "I'm still not sure why the Mayor has been so determined to protect Charlie Kinlore. He doesn't simply want us to keep Charlie's name out of the public eye. His actions suggest that he's actively trying to shield her from scrutiny." He paused. "But the most confusing part is the new mission he's given you." Mark reached for a thick document on his desk and placed it in front of us. "This contains the information the Mayor provided. He claims the Harris Cartel is rebuilding and wants you to investigate the person behind its resurgence." Faith frowned. "Isn't Charlie already rebuilding the cartel?" "That's what we believed," Mark replied. "But according to the Mayor, Charlie has a partner named Ann Smith. Apparently, this woman is the one we need to investigate."

Mark opened the document. "The Mayor wants you to discover who Ann Smith really is, where she comes from, and what role she's playing in the Harris Cartel." I stared at him, struggling to understand the logic behind the assignment. "Wait a minute. The Mayor wanted you to protect Charlie's reputation and prevent the public from learning about everything she's been doing. Now she's asking us to investigate Charlie's partner instead of Charlie herself?" Mark nodded. "That's precisely why I'm concerned." I shook my head. "What exactly is Charlie's relationship with the Mayor? Why is she receiving so much protection?" Mark leaned back in his chair. "That's the question I've been trying to answer. Unfortunately, I don't have a clear explanation yet." He paused before revealing another piece of information. "My sources have also informed me that the Mayor was spotted near a known Harris Cartel location three days ago." Everyone immediately looked at him. "Three days ago?" Bighead repeated. "Yes," Mark confirmed. "I haven't established why he was there or who he met, but the timing is suspicious." Samantha remained quiet for a moment, apparently thinking through the information. Then she spoke. "What if the Mayor and Charlie are working together?"

We all turned towards her. Samantha continued. "Think about it. The Mayor knows the Harris Cartel is still active, yet he appears to be turning a blind eye to its activities. He's also been seen near one of its locations. Now, instead of asking us to investigate Charlie, he wants us to find out who Charlie's new partner is." She paused, allowing us to consider her theory. "What if the Mayor has been working with Charlie all along, and now he's jealous because Charlie has another partner? Perhaps he's worried about losing his influence over the cartel, or perhaps there's something about Ann Smith that threatens whatever arrangement they have." Sarah nodded slowly. "That's possible." "Exactly," Samantha replied. "We can't ignore the possibility that the Mayor has a personal interest in keeping Charlie safe." Alicia, however, still looked troubled. "But why would the Mayor want us to find Willy Harris if he was already working with the cartel?" Nobody answered immediately. Bighead shook his head. "This is getting confusing." I raised my hand. "Wait." Everyone turned towards me. "Let's consider Samantha's theory and Alicia's question together." I leaned forward, resting my hands on my knees. "Suppose the Mayor really is working with Charlie. That would explain why he's been so determined to protect her. But there's something else we need to remember." I looked around the room. "The Mayor never ordered us to kill Willy Harris. We started training because we wanted to protect ourselves and our families. We eventually became involved in the operation that ended with Willy's death, but that was our decision." Alicia nodded. "That's true."

I continued. "After Willy was killed, the Mayor began pushing us towards becoming a secret government force. He offered us money and he clearly told us that If something went wrong, the government would deny any involvement." Mark listened without interrupting. "At the time, we thought he was giving us a way to continue our work without constantly worrying about the law, and the fact that we killed Willy." I said. "But what if there's another explanation?" Chris looked at me. "What are you thinking, Brother?" I took a breath. "What if Willy Harris was never supposed to end up in prisonor even be brought down by us in the first place?" The room fell silent. "Think about it," I continued. "The Mayor knew about the cartel, yet he never gave us a direct order to eliminate Willy. We acted against him ourselves. Then, after we killed him, he suddenly threatened us that the police investigations will cause us to be arrested." I shook my head. "Why? Was he genuinely trying to protect us from prosecution, or was he angry because we destroyed something that was his?" Chris's expression hardened. "Brother, that's exactly what I've been saying." He turned towards the others. "I think the Mayor is pretending to protect us from being arrested. Perhaps he wants us to believe that we're working under the government's protection when, in reality, he's simply trying to keep us under her control." He paused. "And if he was working with Willy Harris, his death would have ruined whatever arrangement they had. That could explain why he suddenly became so interested in controlling our activities."

Amanda looked between us. "But if that's true, why hasn't he tried to arrest us already?" "Because he may still need us," I replied. "Or perhaps he believes keeping us close is safer than turning us into enemies. Either way, we shouldn't assume that his offer was entirely innocent." Alicia looked down at the document Mark had provided. "And now he's asking us to investigate Ann Smith while Charlie continues rebuilding the cartel." She slowly raised her head. "What if this mission isn't really about discovering who Ann Smith is? What if the Mayor wants to know how much we already know about Charlie?" Laura nodded thoughtfully. "That's another possibility. By giving us this assignment, he can observe how we investigate the cartel, what information we uncover, and whether we begin asking questions about him." Faith frowned. "So, what do we do? Accept the mission and risk walking into a trap, or refuse and let the Mayor know we're suspicious of him?" Mark considered the question before answering. "For now, you should treat the mission seriously. Find out who Ann Smith is and establish her connection to Charlie. But don't assume the Mayor is telling us the whole truth." He looked directly at Alicia. "Whatever you discover, I want to know about it before it reaches the Mayor." Alicia nodded. "Understood, Father." I glanced at Chris, who returned my look with a knowing expression. We had accepted the Mayor's offer because we believed it would help us protect our families and serve our country. Now, we were beginning to wonder whether we had simply walked into someone else's game. And if our suspicions were correct, the most dangerous person in this entire investigation might not be Ann Smith or Charlie Kinlore. It might be the very person who had given us the mission.