Empire of Shadows

“The order wasn't delivered?” Sam's tone changed slightly. “That's impossible. I watched them leave with my own eyes. It's been so long; they should have arrived!”

The voice on the other end remained calm and unhurried. “Mr. Sam, do you think I'm lying, or is the boss lying?”

This statement already qualified as a very stern “accusation.” How could such important figures lie to a pimp?

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Sam knew he had misspoke and quickly apologized, “I'm sorry, sir, it was my mistake. I'll immediately arrange for another girl to be sent over to the boss…”

“Is this something that sending another girl can solve?”

“Mr. Sam?”

“The boss needs an explanation. Bring that girl and your explanation and get your ass over here personally.”

“Or, your boss is looking for you.”

“Before midnight.”

With a '啪' sound, the busy signal from the receiver made Sam feel somewhat lost, but he quickly realized there was a big problem.

He scrambled up, kicked Booker, who was next to him, to the ground, pulled up his pants, and headed outside, calling for people as he went.

Soon, forty or fifty people gathered around him. These were all people he had brought from Paradise City.

“Our delivery truck didn't reach its destination. Something must have happened on the road. You guys go find out immediately! I need to know what happened!” Sam's expression was somewhat twisted. He rarely showed such emotional outbursts.

He hadn't expected that his first business deal in Gold Harbor City, such a simple deal, would be messed up!

He had never left any contingency plans. In his view, with the mayor as his backer in this city, who would dare to use dirty tricks against him?

As a result, under these circumstances, a problem occurred!

Moreover, he had a premonition that he wouldn't be able to find Lisa before midnight!

After thinking it over, he immediately made a phone call to the mayor.

“This is Sam.”

A nasal “Hmm” sound came from the receiver, followed by the sound of air flowing from the throat as lips seemed to open, “I hope you're calling me because you truly have something important.”

Although this was an industry controlled by the mayor, the mayor didn't want it to become a fact known to everyone. Such things could be done, but not spoken of publicly.

“The… the order for Mr. Hoff is lost.”

“Lost?” The mayor's tone finally changed slightly, “How was it lost?”

“I don't know, boss. I watched them drive away. Four people shouldn't have run into any accidents, but an accident still happened.”

“I've already arranged for people to search along the route. Mr. Hoff wants me to give him an explanation before midnight, but I don't think we'll be able to find her even by noon tomorrow.”

After listening, the mayor felt a headache coming on. Mr. Hoff was a regional opinion leader in Gold Harbor City and had a certain say at the Social Democratic Party Congress.

He could be of great help to his later campaign for Speaker of the State Assembly.

“I'll make a call to Mr. Hoff, but you'd better figure out what happened as soon as possible.” There was already some dissatisfaction in his voice, towards Sam, and towards the person who had created these problems.

After listening, Sam breathed a slight sigh of relief and then waited quietly for good news to arrive.

But until ten o'clock, no good news came. The only news they got was that there had been a car accident in Starlight District in the afternoon, and the store clerks nearby said that they did see a van with a giant red high heel on top passing by.

But because the road was blocked, they went in the direction of the water station.

Subsequently, Sam personally came to the street in front of the water station. There were no shops or pedestrians here, and they couldn't find any witnesses.

“So, our car disappeared here?”

He kicked his own car hard, and just as he was thinking about what to do, a subordinate suddenly ran over, “Just now, a homeless man said he saw our car, and a truck, heading north.”

There were also homeless people in Starlight District. Begging here was easier than begging in other places.

Poorer neighborhoods were more tolerant of them, but wouldn't let them get more money. Many poor people couldn't even feed themselves; how could they give them money?

Even if they did, it would be one or two cents.

But in Starlight District, people gave at least five cents, and some even gave one-dollar bills directly.

The income was high here, but the neighborhoods here were not very tolerant of them. Security guards would drive them away, and they could only hide in parks or behind roadside bushes.

Just now, a subordinate went to the place where the homeless gathered to inquire, and after spending three dollars, got this news.

Sam waved his hand, and the convoy set off towards the north, but it was too late now, many shops had already closed, and the Sumuri district always had deep vigilance towards these people.

Even if some houses were still lit, no one answered them.

On the other side, Lisa had already left the box. She put on a trench coat. Even though the clothes in the carriage were more than the ribbons she was wearing now, she still felt ashamed.

She originally thought she was done for, but she didn't expect…

At this time, holding a coffee cup, she had gradually retreated from the joy of being rescued, and fear and worry once again took over!

She still remembered the words Sam had said to her. Sam had big shots behind him. She, they, might not be able to defeat him!

“Or… or let's just run away, go back to the Federation, or go somewhere else!” Lisa looked at Morris and said softly. She was really scared now!

Morris shook his head, “Lance will take care of everything, and they may not even know we did it.”

May not…

Know?

Morris felt that they were unlikely to know. The entire operation plan was very thorough. No shots were fired, no one was disturbed, and then they took the car and the people out.

But in reality, this was not truly foolproof. They still left some flaws, such as the hospital…

After chasing north for a long time, they couldn't see anyone or any cars. Moreover, in the middle of the night, even if they really encountered them, if the car was parked on the side of the road without light, they would miss it.

Sam directly ordered the convoy to return to the city. On the way back to the city, the atmosphere in the carriage was very dull.

Booker didn't even dare to breathe loudly, but what he was afraid of always came. Sam kicked him, “What do you think is going on with this matter?”

Booker's mind couldn't turn at all. He had actually thought of many possibilities on the road, such as Sam's opponents chasing after him, or other people also doing these things, or Sam's people running away directly.

But these obviously couldn't have happened, and he didn't know what the situation was, but at this time, he definitely had to say something, otherwise who knew how this pervert would torture him.

At this critical moment, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he blurted out almost instinctively, “It can't be for Lisa, right…”

Sam's eyes lit up and he said to the driver, “Which hospital are our people at?”

“An'nbi Hospital.”

“Go to the hospital now.”

The convoy quickly turned around, passed through the city center, and came to An'nbi Hospital on the edge of the Empire District. Soon, they got the news from the security guard.

Last night, a group of people came and took two people away, one of whom had just had surgery, a gunshot wound.

According to some people's descriptions, an image of a person wearing a hat, a black trench coat, and a red armband appeared in their minds!

Sam grabbed the cup on the table and slammed it hard on the ground!

The sound of the teacup breaking startled everyone, and everyone in the entire hospital lobby stared at him blankly!

“Lance!” This word was squeezed out of his teeth!

Although Sam was already furious, everyone was a dog, why did you have to bite me?

But he still maintained some rationality. He called the mayor again, “What is it now?”

The mayor's voice was also somewhat displeased. He had to appease Mr. Hoff, which couldn't be done with just words. He also had to pay some price, such as maintaining consistency on certain political opinions.

Otherwise, Mr. Hoff wouldn't simply treat this matter as if it hadn't happened. Although he couldn't make any excessive demands, as the person who was actually being coerced, the mayor was very unhappy.

Originally, he wanted to use these means to coerce these people, but now he had become the “loser” instead, how could he be happy?

Sam could hear the dissatisfaction in his voice, and he was no longer as angry as he had been just now. He said cautiously, “We've investigated a bit, and it's very likely that the Lance family did it.”

He didn't say it was confirmed, but said “very likely.” As for what the mayor thought, that was his business.

The mayor pondered for a moment, “What's the reason?”

Sam told the story. He was actually at fault for this matter.

He had kidnapped the person without notifying Lance, and also shot and injured a member of the Lance family. They had a reason to retaliate.

After listening, the mayor felt even more of a headache, “Why didn't you negotiate with him?”

Sam also felt wronged. "Lance has gone abroad, and I can't contact him. Besides, Mr. Hoff's order is very urgent. I only have a few hours to prepare. My original idea was to talk to Lance about this after he came back, but who knew they would directly retaliate."

The mayor snorted softly after listening. "Sam, Goldenport City is not Paradise City. The gangs in Paradise City are numerous and chaotic, but in Goldenport City, there are rules here."

"Contact their little leader and ask when Lance will be back. By the way, ask them to hand the person over to you."

"This time, don't cause me any more trouble, understand?"