The next morning.
Pinkerton Detective Agency.
A black rcedes stopped at the door, and Luke got out of the car, taking a look around.
The Detective Agency had two floors, a bar on the left, and an audio store on the right, conveniently located close to the subway entrance, with plenty of pedestrian traffic.
In Luke's impression, detective agencies were usually situated in secluded places, rarely on busy streets.
Luke entered the Detective Agency, and a xican receptionist around thirty stood up from the front desk and asked, "Sir, do you have an appointnt?"
"Yes, I'm here to see Miss Dean."
"Are you Mr. Li?"
"That's ."
"Miss Dean's office is on the second floor, on the eastern side. I'll take you up."
The receptionist led Luke upstairs and knocked on Orty's office door. "Miss Dean, Mr. Li is here."
"Co in."
Orty went to the door to et him. She wore a light blue dress and white high heels, revealing slender legs. "Vice Captain Luke, I'm pleased to see you again. Would you like sothing to drink?"
Luke observed the office environnt and Orty herself. "Do you have green tea?"
"No, we only have coffee and black tea."
"Then black tea."
"I thought you would say 'whatever'."
"I'm not soone who settles for 'whatever'."
"OK, I'll make tea. Please, have a seat," Orty said, gesturing to the sofa with her right hand.
Luke placed his briefcase on the table. After last night's research, he had decided to collaborate with Pinkerton Detective Agency, at least for now—it seed there was no downside for him.
Orty made the black tea and ca over with a swaying waist, handing a cup to Luke, holding another, and taking a sip. "This is from a friend's garden. How do you like the taste?"
Luke took a sip. The tea was cool, a bit sweet, a bit sour, sowhat like iced tea. "Did you add honey and lemon?"
"And ice cubes, so you don't have to wait for the tea to cool."
Luke said, "Since you like a fast pace, I'll get straight to the point. I've read the consultancy contract you provided. I'm satisfied with most of the terms, but I think the term of employnt is a bit long."
"What duration do you consider appropriate?"
"A six-month employnt term with the consultancy fee still at two hundred thousand US dollars." To be honest, even Luke wasn't sure about proposing such terms.
But in business, everything was negotiable. Even if the other party disagreed, they could still talk it over.
Orty's expression didn't change much. "Do you have any other requests?"
"Your agency can recomnd to clients in private, and use my na on the company website or internally, but you can't promote it widely in the public dia."
"That's not a problem. You are specifically for high-end clients, and the detective industry doesn't need to advertise widely anyway."
"Then it's settled."
"Please wait a mont, I need to make a call and ask the higher-ups at the agency."
With that, Orty left the office.
Luke wasn't in a hurry and sat on the sofa playing with his phone. He saw a ssage from Hope, "Luke, are you free today? I'm going to buy a car. Do you want to co with ?"
Luke replied, "You should have bought a car sooner, but I'm not free today and can't accompany you. You should discuss it with Julian."
"What are you up to?"
"Just buy the car. We'll talk so other ti," Luke replied evasively.
Before long, Orty returned to the office. "Vice Captain Luke, sorry to keep you waiting."
"How did the discussion go?"
"I checked with the person in charge of the higher levels, and he proposed a compromise: a one-year employnt term for three hundred thousand US dollars."
Luke said, "A six-month term for one hundred and fifty thousand US dollars."
"A one-year term for three hundred and twenty thousand US dollars," Orty countered and, worried Luke might disagree, persuaded him, "We at the agency are very sincere and want to work with you long-term.
What difference does it make between one year and half a year? As long as we work well together, we'll renew the contract."
In fact, Luke wasn't really hung up on the employnt term. The original offer from the agency was two hundred thousand US dollars for one year.
By proposing to halve the term to six months, he was indirectly raising the consultancy fee.
A two hundred thousand US dollar fee for six months would be four hundred thousand for a year.
After so haggling, they managed to increase the original annual rate of two hundred thousand US dollars to three hundred and twenty thousand US dollars.
This price was beyond Luke's expectations.
It also showed that those so-called 'high-end clients' probably really don't care about money.
For the sake of Orty, a stunningly beautiful woman, Luke 'reluctantly' agreed.
Orty went to prepare the new contract.
In the afternoon, with lawyers for both parties present, they signed the official consultancy employnt contract.
After signing the contract, the lawyers left, leaving only Luke and Orty present.
Orty laughed, "That lawyer Daisy is very attractive, and you two seem to have a good relationship."
Luke glanced at her. "Are you jealous?"
"Hehe." Orty chuckled softly, her eyes playfully rolling. "Vice Captain Luke, now that we are colleagues, please take good care of here in Los Angeles."
"I will."
"I hope there won't be any more encounters with the police stopping our car."
"I can't guarantee that, you have issues yourself."
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