Best Defense

Dark Bussiness's

"You all right? The side effects of his dope seem to have started to go away."

I stared skeptically at the middle-aged man sitting opposite me. Erick Sinambela's. He introduced himself as an Indonesian interpol agent, as well as a line of other nonsense. I mean, people like them are supposed to go take care of super-secret essentials, like being spies in dangerous places or their countrymen. At least that's what I see in movies. Instead of sitting around talking to me like this.

"Hey, I'm the one who got hurt here. He just broke my nose!"

I turned my eyes to the young man before, Rudi. He turned his head up while smothering his nose which was still pouring blood with a towel which now almost all the surface is dark red. "You drugged me, what should I think?" my sergeant.

"Do something for me Rud. Go get yourself or something, I need to talk to Mr. Warner now." sidelines Erick half growling at him.

"Children of the academy, like amateurs." he grumbled after Rudi left the room. "So, have you decided?" He turned to me.

I leaned against my body, resting on the table. "If you want my help here, it's funny how you show it by ambushing me and then treating me like a hauled dog."

"Look, the government wants us to arrest at least the drug distributor from Malaysia before the end of this month, so we can get access to a higher city. And you're the one who's been in contact with one of them, David Boseman. Rudi just wasn't thinking long because he felt pressured by the deadline of our case that was getting closer."

"Why don't you just go to the police? I've reported everything to them."

"There's something, we can't get the information. They don't want to share." So I'm not the only one who doesn't trust this mob.

"I'll think about it" I said as I got up from the chair. "Can I go now? Or do you have to lock me up for a few hours to get me to agree to work together?"

He ignored my sincerity. "Did I mention this about life and death?" Now he's following me on his feet. "The city also knew that Dave had contacted you, so we weren't the only ones who wanted to 'talk' to you. And I can't guarantee they'll be any friendlier than us."

There was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes as he said so. As if knowing if his words have hit the target. But I'm damned if I let these people, who came out of nowhere, and want to involve me in their mess.

"Say, I'll think." I said a little to show you who's in charge here, then galloped to leave him.

I gave a brief nod to the guards in front of my residence building as they stared in surprise as Rudi's driven van lowered me in front of the house.

"So, is anyone looking for me?" I said as I looked at the white Rubicon parked in front of the building. Dean's Car.

"Yes, sir. Since this afternoon, and he looks upset. We can't do much to convince him to come back another time."

I snorted laughingly hearing him, "It's okay, I'll meet him."

Dean was sitting on the living room couch, reading something on his phone screen with a serious face as I entered the house. He looked up when he heard me coming. "What happened to you? You look so messed up." he commented with one eyebrow raised in wonder.

I took off my jacket and put it on the back of the couch across from Dean. "What's up, Dean?"

"You need to explain about the report. Did you really report Dave?"

I groaned inwardly as I set foot up the stairs leading to my room. "You already know." I heard him following right behind me.

"But why go that far? Dave's a good guy, he's been helping you with the company all this time, and you obviously still need his help. I don't see any more plausible reason than that. Unless you really want to get rid of her."

Greatable. Dean is clearly not going to accept this easily, given how close he was to Dave long ago. Well, I don't blame him. After all, Dave is a good guy. My uncle liked him even more than Dean, who was his own son.

"I'm tired, Dean. Need a break if you don't mind." I said indifferently as I threw myself on the bed, lying on his back who was still standing in the doorway.

"You don't know what you've done." he murmured bitterly. "You owe him a lot, brother."

With a grunt I lifted my body from the bed and leaned back on the headboard. Staring at Dean who was still holding on to the doorway while holding his side. His forehead wrinkled and his mouth opened slightly with a stubborn expression.

To be honest, these last few days have been pretty sad for me without having to listen to him babble everything. Dealing with Dave, his contract, everything. And worst of all, I had to leave Franda. So, I really don't need this shit anymore.

"Look, Dean... I know you adore Dave so much, so do I. But he had gone too far, and the problems he caused were no small matter. I'll have to pay twenty trillion in damages if Dave doesn't make a statement right away. TWENTY TRILLION, Dean!"

He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You can't be serious, you don't even know what caused him to do that, brother. There must be some mistake here." he insisted.

"My only fault was not realizing that he was the most disgusting traitor." I replied fiercely, ignited by emotion. "He must take responsibility for his actions, so I will defend your life as well. Our lives depend on this company."

***

The sudden jolt to the door in the passenger seat next to me made me almost jump in shock. I spontaneously prepared to raise my fist as a man suddenly entered and sat in the passenger seat.

"What are you doing here?" many wonder. I don't think I've had any more business with his accomplices since I last met them a week ago. "You following me?" I turned my head looking out, around the car, trying to find the whereabouts of their van, or the other members, but couldn't find it.

"You haven't contacted us since a week ago, so my boss is worried."

"Just stop the bases, you have five minutes to say what you want before I report to the police that you've terrorized me." I replied indignantly.

"Police? Dude, we're interpol."

"But you work alone."

He shrugged, "Well, not all authority is given to us. Look, there's a certain reason why we're feeling anxious, "Suddenly his tone became more serious. "We've observed that the townspeople keep coming here for the past month, as if they want to invade this town or something."

"That's your problem." I'm afraid.

He's clucking impatiently. "You were the only person Dave contacted. You think if they want to find him, who will be questioned first?"

"His sister, Frank, of course. They'll look for him instead of me."

She shook her head. "That's impossible, because he's been on us for months."

"Damn it, what are you planning to do?" I gritted my jaw at him.

"We thought they were looking for something" he turned his eyes out the window. "Just, we don't know what it is yet." Now he sees me again.

"But it must be something very important, if it's up to one of his most influential chief conspirators, to come here to oversee everything on his own."

Silence enveloped us for a while until I decided to speak first, breaking the silence. "That sounds pretty stressful. Good luck working hard then."

Rudi took a long breath. "Listen, sir, I'm not going to lie to you, this matter has become more and more complicated. This guy, the guy they sent, we think he knows you and your family very well. And if you refuse to cooperate with us, it's impossible to put you on the witness protection list."

There is a meaning behind his words. Not a good thing, I can feel it. From what I've heard, the witness protection program is a preventive measure from the police for criminal cases that are considered quite serious. Maybe this is one of them.

"We don't want to risk their arrival."

I frowned looking at him. "They?"

He's nodding. "Yes. There are two people we suspect. World Tower Co. owner Park Jae Beom and former Malaysian prime minister Syaiful Eddie. They're the ones with the closest profile to the suspect we're looking for."

"By the unnatural movement of the city members lately, we think the time of their arrival here is too coincidental. According to the schedule, they should both be here the day before Warner Enterprise's anniversary, which your uncle had planned for a long time before he got sick, which means this weekend. This is where we need a little help from you."

I tried to imagine in my mind the two people he mentioned as members of the dangerous mafia. It doesn't make sense.

Jae Beom is the most successful property entrepreneur from Asia, everyone knows that. And also, he was one of my most potential business partners. Why do people seem willing to take risks and get involved in black business?

Then, the other guy, Syaiful Eddie, he's an old friend of my uncle since their first year at the NTU Singapore campus, even my uncle knows him well. I met him once or twice... Well, anyway he's not at all in line with the image of the mafia members or the like.

"We can't confirm which of them was sent by the big city" Rudi's voice pulled my mind back. "Our movements are a little limited this time because they have some kind of protection, a security issue that is guaranteed by the government. It could be a sensitive issue between the two countries, so we need to be careful."

I grunt softly. "Therefore you're going to use me as bait?"

"Sir, I've given you an idea of how crucial these moments are to you, this might sound risky, but if we can stop it first, then, we may still have a chance to prevent the situation from getting worse."

I shook my head. "It's nuts! I can't believe that fucking contract thing dragged me this far." I grumbled in frustration, putting my hands to my face. "All I want is for Dave to clean up the mess he left me here, that's all."

"Sure, sure. Finding them is our priority as well. Currently our colleagues are searching for him in the last location he was detected using a disposable cellular connection. We are quite optimistic that we can catch him first before the members of the city. And it's certain that his statement later, will absolve you of all charges of breach of that false contract."

I took a deep breath. "If only if, if only, we would actually cooperate, I want to make sure of one thing,"

He watched me closely, waiting for me to continue my words.

"I want you to add one more person to the witness protection list."