Best Defense

Suddenly

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

Everything between me and Franda has improved since that night. Maybe much, much better. After all the drama that happened, I just couldn't leave it alone. I drove her to the office every morning and picked her up again when her job was done. And on weekends we spent the whole day at home playing with Ben. Things that used to be rare in our house, well, we did, but lately the intensity has become higher, and also quality.

There is one more new habit that I like the most, which is when we are at home, we often chat with people, including household assistants. Before I didn't really like trivial things like this, mostly just pleasantries and conversations that were not useful at all. But Franda staunchly forced me to join forces and get to know them further. To be honest, it surprised me a bit, because it turns out that they are fun people.

We usually had dinner together with a menu that we cooked ourselves. I mean, I cooked it. Franda could barely cut a potato without injuring his own finger. So, I asked her to sit in a chair and watch my activities in the kitchen, and then we would eat quietly afterwards. Everything is absolutely perfect.

I almost forgot all my problems until one day, when I just drove her and went back to my office. I found Syaiful sitting on one of the sofas there.

"You have a nice room."

I poured bourbon into the glass while observing Syaiful who was walking around observing my work space.

"Thanks, sir." I don't know what to say, or think about the reason for his arrival in my office.

I thrust one of the glasses in my hand at her and signaled that she would follow me sitting on the sofa in the corner of the room.

He placed the glass on a low table before him without drinking it. "I was hoping you'd see me first, but it looks like you're more interested in seeing my daughter. So, I decided to come here."

I smiled at him, trying to look friendly. "I thought you were busy, so I haven't seen you."

"really? I heard you asked Paula all the schedules I had in this town, you should have asked me yourself. I could've explained more details if you wanted. Or maybe your Interpol friends can meet me in person, so we can have a chat."

My eyes widened to hear his words. Rudi said something about this. Goddamn it, what did he really say back then? I tried to dig into my memory but found nothing.

"When did you come here?" My voice finally escaped from my throat.

He grins. "I know David Boseman gave you something, something very important. Just give it to me, and we can both pretend like this meeting never happened."

Alisku. "Sir, I don't understand what you're talking about."

His mouth was clucking in response to my words. "Darlingly, I wish we could've solved this in a better way." He leaned his body towards me. "Dave talked to me after a week in our interrogation camp, and he said he had sent all the stolen data from the city to you."

He leaned himself back onto the sofa while his eyes scanned my expression closely. Maybe he wanted to see signs that I had lied to him. It was unnecessary, in fact I did not understand at all what he was asking. But he won't believe me.

"Late week there will be a fundraiser at the ministry of tax and customs, I will wait for the answer. You could've told Interpol this conversation, but things might end badly. Especially for the brunette who is now your wife, what's her name?"

I gritted my jaw with my hands clenched on both sides of my body. "Are you threatening me?"

"Of course not. Subroto is an old friend of mine, and you're his nephew, how could I threaten you?"

After saying that, he said goodbye and immediately left my room. Not wanting to waste any longer, I called Erick and told him about my meeting with Syaiful, and they came shortly after.

***

"I can't believe it."

I walked back and forth around my study, rubbing my nape in a huff while glancing at Erick and Rudi who were sitting on the sofa where Syaiful was before. I can't stop thinking about the words Syaiful said, it's really poisoning my brain. I hate to admit it, but it makes me feel miserable, and helpless. When was the last time I was like this?

Right, when Franda was in a coma back then. When I desperately waited for her to wake up next to her bed, there was nothing more I could do. Everything will always be about him, that's my only weakness.

"Your wife is fine, my unit that oversees her office just confirmed." Erick said after hanging up the phone while holding the phone near his face. "Now, calm down."

I stopped pacing back and forth, then growled and stared at him with a fiery look, as if I wanted to burn him right now. "The thought you were looking for came to me here less than an hour ago, and he threatened to hurt my wife if I didn't give her what she wanted. How can I possibly calm down?"

Erick flinched at my timeless tone, the look on his flat, expressionless face made me wonder how many times he had faced a situation like this?

He was silent for a while before gesturing me to join them on the sofa. "I understand how you feel, but right now we need to think about it well. Tell me what he said just now?"

I took a deep breath while leaning back onto the sofa. "He asked to hand over a data or something. And he's giving me until this weekend, or he's gonna do something to my wife."

Erick was silent listening to my explanation, his look seemed to be thinking about what I just said. "I don't think it's that simple, he'd want to see your reaction and try to take the situation into account."

"What do you mean?"

"You should know, Syaiful once served as a tactical expert of the Malaysian army and his track record is truly impressive. So if from the beginning he wanted to harm you, there's no way he could just let you go when he met you earlier."

I looked at him while narrowing my eyes. "You mean, if he wanted to then he could have done something to me and no one could have stopped him? Where's the witness protection program you're offering in this?"

Erick and Rudi ignored my grunts. "He knew we were watching him. We really didn't think he would dare to come and threaten you so blatantly. Everything is off track. We have to devise a new plan." murmured Rudi.

"Why don't you just catch him? In this town, right now."

"He's not a street thug, sir." Erick interrupted. "He's a prime minister, do you realize how sacred his position is? If we make the slightest mistake, this will turn into a political sentiment involving both countries. If that happens, we're not just losing Syaiful, the whole band of drug dealers who are under his influence. All our efforts during this time will be in vain."

I swore softly while exhaling a heavy breath. "So what are you going to do? Look, I don't want to risk the safety of my wife or any of my other family because of this matter."

For a moment, silence enveloped my room until Erick's voice was heard. "Did Dave never give you a clue about the data mentioned by Syaiful?"

"No. I don't know." I said riled. Just bullshit every time." My voice was cut off when something suddenly flashed through my head.

I rushed down my phone, and saw an email I received two days ago. The e-mail is still there, my forehead is wrinkled when reading the contents listed in it. "I don't know if this means anything to you guys," I hesitated as I thrust my phone at Erick.

He grabbed it from my hand and then they watched it closely. From the change in expression that appeared on the faces of the two, I can guess the contents of the e-mail managed to attract their attention.

"His email address is foreign to me. I thought there might be someone misdelivering, or maybe spam containing a virus, so I just let it go."

Erick raised his face, there was a glint emanating from his eyes as he looked at me. "This may be something useful, but we have to investigate it again. I need that file." she said, then handed me back my phone.

I'm nodding. "I'll send it to you."

Erick leaned towards me with his body resting on both elbows on his knees. "Rudi's right, we need to make a new plan. First we need to get you out of this case immediately."

"What about Syaiful?"

Erick seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head then looking at me. "I have a plan, but we may have to ask you to leave Jakarta for a while, sir."

I frowned, not understanding what he meant. "You want me to leave town?"

Erick and Rudi threw a glance at each other for a moment before turning towards me. Erick's face looked even more serious for a moment before he continued his speech. "Actually it's more than that" he said carefully.