Chapter - 73
Lucius stood in the middle of the warehouse, surrounded by butchered bodies and silence, except for the soft hum of distant traffic.
And Rauf was still tied to by the whip, blood dripping from his body. He looked weak, and whimpered like a kicked dog. But right now Lucius didn’t care about him right now.
He looked around with narrowed eyes, scanning the warehouse space for sothing useful. He was trying to find sothing that would help him transport this heavy Rauf to his brother.
He checked every corner, inside and outside only to find it tucked in the back corner of the warehouse.
It was under a dusty tarp. It was a large refrigerated van. The fan was faded white paint, it had rusted corners, and a cartoon pig with sunglasses and a chef hat was painted on the side.
And the words "ATLAND PORK DELIVERIES" were barely visible on the side.
Lucius raised an eyebrow, "A Pork van," he muttered, "How perfect."
[Oh. My. God. A at van? For this atball? This is fate. Divine cody level irony. You can’t write this kind of stuff, Master. He is the chosen one. Hehehehe]
anwhile Lucius pulled down the dusty tarp and yanked the heavy door open to peer inside. The interior of the van slled of humidity and tal. Hooks hung from the ceiling, ant to hang the slabs of pork. The floor had grooved lines to let blood drain.
The van slled disgusting, but when Lucius looked in the front, the key was still there. When he tried to run the van, it was still working and the power of the refrigerator was still working.
He smiled. It was perfect.
Leaving the van, he walked back to Rauf, who flinched when he saw him.
"Please... Lucius... You are my bro, aren’t you... Bro, I was wrong... I made a mistake," Rauf wheezed, his mouth half-dried blood, half panic, "We are brothers, na? You don’t have to do this. I swear, I will work for you. I will never go against you. I will..."
Lucius held up a finger and shook his head, "Nope. That ship has already sailed away long back."
[You should have removed his tongue. Or at least one finger. Drama, Master! We need drama!]
But Lucius totally ignored the System. He walked back to the van, and pulled out a bottle of water from the passenger side. God knows how long the water bottle had been there for. He grabbed it and returned to Rauf.
"Look at you," Lucius said with fake pity as he unscrewed the cap, "Can’t have you et your dear old brother like this. You look like soone who has been tortured."
"But you know na, my dear friend. How nice I have been to you," Lucius grinned, as he dumped the water over Rauf’s head.
Rauf gasped and flinched as the blood and dirt washed down his face in streaks. Rauf stuck out his tongue, trying to drink the water, but he could barely sip a gulp.
"Don’t be like a dog," Lucius slapped Rauf across his face when he felt his tongue against his palm.
"Be a good dog now," Lucius grabbed him by the collar and started wiping his face with a torn bit of cloth.
Then with surprising gentleness, he pulled a small black comb from his back pocket and started combing Rauf’s ssy hair.
"There," Lucius said, "A little grooming never hurts anybody."
[What is this, Master? Why would you makeover this cash cow?]
[You are too soft, Master. You gotta at least break the fingers for flair!]
Lucius chuckled and picked up Rauf’s cap from the floor and placed it on Rauf’s head.
"You look just like such a good boy now. Aren’t I very professional?"
Rauf trembled, tied up and helpless, "Lucius, please. My father... My brother... They will pay you anything you ask for."
"You asked for 25 Million, didn’t you? I will double it. Triple it if you want."
"Just untie . I will disappear sowhere."
Lucius leaned in close, his face only inches away, "Why would I want you to disappear, my dear Rauf?" He whispered, "From now on, you are going to be my eternal Cash cow."
Rauf opened his mouth to speak again, but Lucius shoved the thick torn cloth that he used to wipe Rauf’s face into his mouth, and shut him up.
Rauf tried to speak, but only muffled groans ca out of his mouth.
Looking at Rauf, Lucius appreciated how far he had grown, "I even surprise myself sotis."
Lucius reached into his jacket and pulled out Rauf’s phone, "Smile, Rauf," he said.
"Say ’tick-tock.’"
The flash popped, and the photo was clicked. Then Lucius quickly edited the photo, "Your pig’s alive. For now."
[You, my dear psychopath, are a gift to revenge culture. This is art.]
Soon he typed the ssage:
"Exchange in 2 hours. Location below. Co alone."
And then he sent it directly to Imran’s private number. He also shared a GPS coordinate. It was the sa place Iris found him beside the lake.
Lucius looked back at Rauf, "Ti for your ride, Oink Master."
And then sohow Lucius grabbed Rauf and shoved him at the back of the van. Rauf was now alone with the hooks and cold.
Lucius patted the side of the van, "Delivering fresh pork. One scared little pig at a ti."
[You are truly horrible. I have started to adore you so much, Master]
Lucius climbed into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and pulled out of the warehouse.
The pig van rolled into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still inside the Private room. It was too quiet compared to the loud music playing outside in the bar.
Imran sat on the couch and stared at nothingness. His face was calm. To anyone who might see him right now would think he looked like a man preparing for a peaceful evening.
But inside his head? There was a raging firestorm.
Each second that passed made his jaw clench tighter. Each tick of the expensive wall clock sounded louder than the last.
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
Every tick of the clock felt like it was laughing at him. He wasn’t just losing ti. He was being humiliated. And all because of that fucking idiot brother of his.
How can that idiot be so careless? He got kidnapped by an absolute nobody. He could sense that from his voice. He was smart, sowhat dangerous, but this was sothing personal for him.
The boy on the other side was bold enough to beat Rauf, send a photo, and demand money, despite knowing who they were. He wasn’t an easy opponent.
anwhile, in front of him, Matty and Freddie were busy stuffing money in the bags. They looked confused but didn’t ask questions.
Their hands moved quickly, bundling the cash, and slipping them inside the bags. Each bundle looked exactly the sa.
Soon twelve bags were stuffed with money. All full of fresh bills.
Imran looked at the bags in front of him, but he wasn’t planning to hand them over.
"No. No. No. I don’t reward people for stepping on my na," he thought, "You don’t humiliate my family and expect to walk away with money."
At the sa ti, his phone buzzed on the polished oak desk. Imran looked at the notification from the corner of his eyes and it was a ssage from Rauf’s number.
His frown on his face deepened slightly. He leaned over and picked it up.
Imran opened the ssage.
There was a photo of Rauf. He was tied with the whip, face washed but the bruises were clearly visible. And his trademark white cap was on his head. He looked ridiculous.
And along with that photo, there was a note saying, "Tick Tock"
The ti was ticking. Imran stared at it for a long ti. He only had 2 hours and there was also a location attached to the ssage.
For a mont, sothing in his face cracked. His nostrils flared. His fingers twitched. Rage climbed up his neck like a rising tide.
He wanted to throw the phone against the wall. Break it. Smash it. Tear the walls down.
But he didn’t. He took a deep breath and cald himself down. Instead, he placed the phone down gently.
He pressed the intercom button on the desk, "Call Farouq. Now. Tell him to co in through the back."
A few minutes later, a tall man in a plain shirt and jeans entered. No jewelry. No fancy watch. No smile. Nothing like the previous 3 n from before. His face was rough like sandpaper, and his eyes had no glint.
"We have got a problem," he said, "Soone has my brother. He called earlier with the ransom demand. Now he’s sending photos using my brother’s phone."
Farouq nodded once, "I will trace and find out where they are."
"I don’t think they will be there now. We have already agreed to et up."
"I want you to have soone go through CCTVs or anything else that you could find. But before I et up with him, I want to know about that person who kidnapped Rauf."
Farouq didn’t blink, "I will take care of it."
"You, on the other hand..." Imran said, walking slowly toward the window again, "You are coming with to the exchange."
"I want you close enough to watch. Far enough not to spook him. But when the deal’s done and my idiot brother is back..." Imran paused. His voice dropped to a colder level.
"I want this man made into a statent."
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