Best Defense

Black Circle's

...Sean Danial Warner POV's....

I had just set foot back in Indonesia and was still in the airport area when my phone suddenly rang, and I saw a number I never thought would ever call me again.

"Sean?"

"Demians?"

"... we need to talk."

Adhyaksa Demian. One of my old friends in Indonesia who hangs out with drug kingpins. Subscription in and out of prison due to black business he lived. The last time I had contact with him was just before he was arrested at my house, and I almost got dragged into his case. Lucky at that time I was not consumed by his talk to participate in tasting one of the haram items he wore. And then he disappeared into the ground. Almost three years ago. If Demian calls me right now, there must be something he needs to tell me. I have to see him.

Some people glared at me as I set foot in the lobby of the apartment building, making me feel like a piece of meat on a plate. Luckily they didn't try to follow me in the elevator. What was Demian doing in an apartment in the middle of the city like this? I thought the judge sent him to jail for a long time.

I told the security services so I could use the private elevator in the VIP lounge. As prevention. Anyway, because of what's been going on lately, especially about the photos of Mia and Taka, I don't want to hear a single silly question about it. It's none of my business even though I'm indirectly dragged into this case. People's curiosity is not my responsibility.

I stopped in front of an apartment door unit, looked at it and then took a deep breath before reaching out my hand to press the bell. The door swung open and I saw Demian, or at least what was left of him, standing in the doorway while holding the door with one hand.

Her body looked more contained than the last time I met her, and her hair in the barbershop was very short, as well as her face reddish. Now he's much more like the friend I used to know. I think the prison worked well for him.

"Sean, buddy, good to see you again." He said while grinning widely at me.

I snorted cynically, "Somehow I don't have the same feelings."

He laughed, ignored my words, then gestured to follow her into the apartment. "I thought you were still in jail. What are you doing here, Demian?"

He paused for a moment, then faced me while opening both hands beside his body. "I'm completely healthy and fit now, you see?" Then he pointed towards his stomach, then the area under his chin. "Even a little more I'll be a bully."

I chuckled softly at him. "Yes, it seems to suit you."

He took me across the living room to another, larger room, where there is a set of arabian-style sofa arranged around a wide short table made of carved teak tree trunk.

On one of those sofas, I saw someone I least wanted to meet. Elnino Wirawan, my wife's ex-husband, was sitting there with that annoying grin on her face.

"What is this man doing here?" I turned my head to Demian who was standing next to me.

"This man has a name, you know," Nino said as she grabbed a bottle of vodka from the table, then placed an empty glass in front of him, then slowly started filling it. "And incidentally, this is my apartment."

I looked at Demian with both eyebrows raised, demanding an explanation from him before turning back to Nino. "Whatever game you're planning, I swear..."

"No," Demian cut my words and hurriedly stood in the middle of the distance between Nino and me, like a referee who wanted to separate the fight.

"I know you're still mad at me, and you don't like him either. But believe me, it's not the most important thing right now," He raised both his hands to calm me down. "What I'm about to tell you is very important, Sean."

I narrowed my eyes looking at the two of them, it was hard to guess the motive. His expression was too serious to pretend. But in any case, ignoring the fact that the two of them had dealt with me was not easy.

Demian sighed before returning to speak. "I heard rumors from my former comrades, the Malaysians..."

"You mean those gangsters?" cut me sarcastically.

He nodded reluctantly. "They said someone just made trouble with their city, he owed a huge debt, but couldn't afford to pay it back."

I gritted my jaw and looked at him furiously. "Is that you? After what happened last time, you really can't help yourself!"

"No, I'm just hanging out with them, not doing business like I used to" he argued. "There's someone else, and he's trying to make your name a guarantee. Frank Boseman, your cousin's brother, he's in serious debt because of gambling and drugs."

"Then, when they came to him to collect the money, Frank said that he could call you and that you, or his brother, would pay for him." Demian looked at me with a worried look.

I don't know what to say myself. Frank, Dave's younger brother, is a source of trouble. He started using heroin when he was thirteen, and became an amateur drug dealer and was caught by police several times. And Dave was the one who always cleaned up the mess he made. But this is the first time he has ever dared to use my name.

"Where is he now?"

Demian shook his head slowly, "Nobody knows, Frank's been missing for a few days. Didn't Dave say anything about his sister to you?"

This isn't the first time Frank's been in trouble, and I have a feeling this isn't the last. Dave once told me, about a year ago, he deliberately told his sister to stay at their relatives' house in Kupang, NTT. The small, quiet town, far from frenetic, is perfectly safe. He hopes Frank can adapt there and find a way to get better.

I told Dave back then that it wouldn't work. The problem is Frank never loses his way, he just likes being a delinquent. So putting him in there is like putting him in jail, just waiting until he decides to run away and go back to his old life.

"No," I murmured grimly.

"Sean, you should know, the people of that town.they're not like the young people I hang out with. They tend to be more brutal, and don't care much about the law. That's why I feel the need to warn you, who knows they're really looking for you because of Frank. You need to talk to Dave about this."

"Yes, sure." I said bitterly.

Demian grabbed into his pocket as his phone rang, he looked at his screen with a frown before looking up at me. "I have to pick it up, from my sister. Always wanted to check on me." he said.

"Sarah here? In jakarta?"

"Yes, just for a few days, her boyfriend had already returned to Korea as soon as I got out of jail. But Sarah decided to stay here for a while to make sure I didn't come back." He grimaced then hurriedly stepped into another room to pick up his phone.

I turned my eyes to Nino who was still sitting quietly in her place. She leaned back while sipping her vodka while looking at me indifferently. I was not in the mood to deal with him, so I decided to leave first.

But he suddenly spoke, "How much longer?"

He was already standing when I turned his body to face him, he put his empty glass on the table and walked up to me.

"What?" sahutku flat.

"How long are you planning on holding Franda?"

I grunt. "Look, I don't have any business with you, and if you've devised a plan to disrupt our marriage, you better stop now because I won't let anyone touch my wife."

His eyes glinted furiously at me. "This is not what he wanted! I know him better than you. Your complicated environment, this will never make her comfortable. That's why I've always tried to pull him away from you, keep him away from everything that makes him worse mentally, but you, just as casually drag him further and further inside."

Actually, how far does Nino know Franda? Franda never told me anything other than their divorce, nor did I ever want to know. But if Nino knew him well enough, he would know something about Franda's thing. Living happily with your partner, simple as that.

I laughed sarcastically which made Nino's face darken. "You don't know anything, do you? Franda just wants to live a normal life like people in general. Spending time with his loved ones without worrying about that person betraying him. And I'm not gonna do anything stupid like you, man!"

I stepped forward and spoke near his face while pressing every word I said. "So, if you've decided to be a spectator in the first place, then stay that way, and let me make her happy with her life." I enjoyed his astonished expression with satisfaction before turning away leaving him.

Of course he won't know. All he saw was a kind and sincere Franda, and always tried to do his best for his loved ones. But Franda is more than that. Nino only sees Franda as she expects, while I want to do whatever it takes to make Franda happy.

"You heard what Demian said earlier, you could put him in danger if those people were looking for you, Sean!" I heard him cry out behind me.

I clutched the side of the door when I heard his words, then just before I stepped out, I glanced at him and said to him, "That's not going to happen, I'm not going to let anyone hurt him."

On the way home, I went to Dave's apartment. Only to find that the place was still empty. No one answered the doorbell, and one of the neighbors who lived opposite Dave said he hadn't seen it in a week.

It's no use. I would've found him if he wanted to be found. And he clearly has a good reason to disappear now, after the two trillion rupiah contract was disbursed. I swore quietly under my breath and hurried off to run my car out of the apartment building.

A few minutes walk, my phone rings. I looked at the number and it felt foreign. But I recognized the area code, the Malaysian phone number. I pulled the car over and turned off the engine.

My phone of fate kept ringing, and instead of answering it, I just looked at it, as if I was holding a foreign object in my hand. Taste was haunting me. I don't know why. But the hunch running along my spine says something that can't be explained.

"Maybe I should answer." I heard my own voice speak, whose tone was more like a question.

"Who is this?" my question, full of anticipation.

There was a heavy sigh rustling from the other end of the phone, hinting that he was a man. A momentary silence other than a faint roar like a clashing metal. Not a prank phone, obviously. But the voice I heard as he started talking made my whole body stiff and tense in an instant. My fingers clutching the phone tightened to the point of almost wanting to crush it.

"It's me" He said, which sounded like a slow growl.

"Fuck up!" I was swearing under my breath.

"I know there's a reason you're mad at me right now, Sean. Especially because of that contract, but..."

"Are you kidding me?" my spray. "I'm not mad at you, Dave. It's still too good for you. I regret every day when I still believe in you. You're a despicable traitor!"

I heard a long sigh from across the street before he said back. "I didn't mean to make trouble, but the weird situation I was in was beyond my ability to solve, Sean. Besides that money, I don't wear it a dime."

"And you expect me to believe it?" garang sahutku.

"I know it's hard to believe, but listen first." His voice has become more and more like a whisper. It sounded alarmed, as if he was afraid that someone would hear it.

Of course he had good reason to feel that way after what he did. I'm sure he's in hiding right now, sitting somewhere, just like a criminal. Wait for. Wouldn't this be a good chance for me to find him?

Immediately I changed the call mode, then turned on the recording device on my phone before talking to him.

"So where are you now?"