Shall Under Your Charm

Chapter 67

On the shoreline, Farah could see a boat docked and from there came down a young man carrying a box of documents. Gold buttons and silk clothing marked the young man as the son of a wealthy man. Wide-shouldered and his uniform perfectly ironed, the young man saw Maurer who was beside Ryan and started walking towards them past Keith's drunken men. The expression on the young man's face was a mixture of horror and awe. When the young man had gotten close to them, Farah saw the young man staring at Ryan with adoring glare before saluting and handing Maurer a box of documents.

"I told you earlier that I have something I want to show you" Maurer said as he opened the straps of his document box.

"If it's not wrong, you're saying it's a gift announcement for the man who caught me?" ask Keith.

In front of Farah's eyes the world seemed to freeze, and it lasted for a while, then the world turned upside down. Keith's dark eyes turned to Farah's face, then with a smile, the gaze returned to Maurer speaking.

"We decided it would be better if you saw it for yourself, Ryan. What makes this announcement different from others is that it not only comes with illustrations and photos. But the illustration was also drawn with admirable ability. What's more, there were pictures of some of the Dark Devil and Keith Smith's men. And our three most effective agents in this country." Maurer looked at the surprised Ryan.

"Yes! You should have looked surprised. Even we were flabbergasted. But to be honest, what's most troubling to us is to get a picture of you among them, Ryan. I can't pin down the magnitude of our concerns, when we realize that you're operating on the territory of this country at great risk! If you're seen by anyone who knows about the announcement, they'll hang you first and ask you a question, well, that's exactly what's going to happen," obviously Maurer while handing over the poster sheet to Keith.

"It's a good thing we got rid of all those posters. The loyal assistant at the printing press told our people, and the poster was instantly obliterated.... Well, Keith, what do you think?"

"But this picture is very stunning" Keith commented, noting one by one the poster. "I think the person who took this photo is in a hurry to make the result is not perfect, but lucky that person has good drawing skills. There's one picture that interests me." Keith read the poster, "The young man known as Gege. Wanted for the crimes of piracy, robbery, kidnapping, theft, and persecution. Fifty million rupiah prize."

Inside Farah, it was as if there were lines of cards that were getting longer and more dropped, as Gege got up and walked towards Keith.

It was impossible to guess what Gege was thinking, as the young man scanned the poster, handed it back to Keith, and said, "It's very nice to be wanted."

"Do you notice the painter's style? It doesn't feel foreign, does it? One could definitely recognize him right away if one had seen his other paintings before." Maurer handed the poster to Ryan and said, "What do you think?"

There might be clues Ryan could read on Keith's grin or on Gege's emotionless facial expression. Maybe when Ryan pulled his hand from Farah's side and woke up slowly, the man already knew it. Ryan's long hand received the poster. Ryan's tanned eyes scanned the images inside one by one, not one bit looking more interested in his self-portrait than the other. The picture was so awesome, it was clearly the result of Farah's hand scratches.

Farah's heart started beating twice as fast, and it shook to her lungs. Although her skin was numb, but Farah knew her face must be deathly pale. Farah could feel Gege's sharp gaze, as she heard Maurer's colleague, Liker, say, "Obviously the painter was an old man. My guess is, he's a professional painter, probably studying in Italy. Very talented people. Dear. We're getting orders to end his career."

"You mean kill him?" ask Keith in an emotionless tone of voice.

"It's a pity" Maurer commented unhappily, "If the painter had not been so talented, if the object he had chosen was not very important, then we could have been more merciful." Turning to Ryan, Maurer continued, "As you have made very clear in your report, our spy network is very sad. I'm sure you have much better abilities. Given that there are quite a number of Dark Devil men who are included in the image, we hope that you might find out who the painter is. Can you find out who he is?".

"I'll take care of it" Ryan said. "Listen to my words, son," urged Maurer. "The order that you return to New York comes directly from Whitehall. No one expected you to intervene alone in this matter. If you can give us the painter's name" Ryan put the poster into Maurer's hands, "Did I give a hint that I want to debate the matter further with you? Leave it to me."

After standing up and cleaning up the remaining sand on his clothes, Maurer said cheerfully, "Alright, if that's what you want. As for the matter of debate, you're the last person in the world I want to argue with. Most likely, I will end up with a more complicated brain than a Chinese puzzle. You're too smart for me to be, and you know that, too."

The buzzing sound in Farah's ears grew louder so he could barely hear their last conversation and a series of pleasantries were thrown between them. Maurer started walking towards the boat, with a young man in uniform by his side. Liker was just about to follow but Ryan stopped him by gesturing. When Maurer had approached the beach and was too far away to hear him, Ryan said, "Have you managed to find out if Andreas sponsored a girl to travel with him?"

"Yes". Liker brushed his hair with his hands and put on his hat. "Unfortunately I only have one valuable piece of information about the girl. It's hard to figure things out without drawing attention, and you specifically asked me to work in secret."

"I really appreciate it, Liker" Ryan said. "thank you. What do you know?"

"You're right. Andreas did sponsor a girl named Farah to go to Manhattan. I couldn't find his surname, but one of the airport officials remembered that his address was in Bogor. I can see that this is not the information you expected. I'm sorry."

"No problem. Please, continue." "It looks like the young woman is Andreas' lover," continued Liker..

"Where do you know?".

Liker's reddened face was clearly visible, though in the middle of the dim light. "There was a comment among airport officials on the day the young woman went to the airport, The young woman was very beautiful and her attitude showed that she came from a good family. Andreas was quite friendly with the airport attendants in the waiting room area of the first class flight, so they chatted a little and acknowledged his relationship with the young lady."

"Likers. Be bright." Ryan said seriously.

"Well, I'll be blunt." The hue of Liker's face has spread to the hairline.

"Andreas tells them that the girl's innocent appearance is a tactic deliberately developed to save. "Ryan, there are harsh words that I don't want to convey in front of any young woman, no matter what her status is."

While circling his arms around Liker's shoulders, Ryan began to invite the man to walk towards the beach. "All right, we're out of here". Ryan said as he glanced at Farah whose face was as white as cotton.

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