Chapter 23: Chapter 23

He paused for a moment, surprised to find out that Martha was not the one who leaked the information about his existence in this city to Verdict. Now he felt a little guilty because he had cursed his older sister earlier. ‘I thought you knew it from Martha. Yes, she is still alive. Really healthy, in fact.’

‘That's strange,’ Verdict suddenly became agitated. ‘Not many people should know about Arnold's death.’

‘She’s an informant. Of course, she knows.’

‘That's not the problem, Bro,’ muttered Verdict. ‘I really remember that Sis Martha was dead. Car crash fell into the abyss. But if what Brother said was true, it means Sis Martha faked her own death.'

His eyes flickered, shocked. He had never heard of Martha getting into an accident. As far as he could remember, Martha just disappeared without news, not dying from an accident. How could he did not even know about it? Suddenly, he felt uneasy.

‘Brother Raymond?’

He pushed his cigarette away from his lips, turned to face Verdict. ‘Yes?’

‘You better be careful with Sis Martha. Can you tell me her whereabouts?’

‘Yes. I have her contact, too. Do you also want that?’

Verdict nodded. Raymond took out his smartphone, sent Martha's contact via LINE. ‘She should be at the antique shop near Amanda Chloe's house.’

‘Near Amanda's house?’ repeated Verdict, and he nodded. Then Verdict took a deep breath. ‘Brother, I have to be honest with you. How long have you worked as a police detective?’

‘Five years. Why are you asking that?’

‘You should realize something wrong with that!’

‘You mean, Martha is after Amanda, too?’ Raymond waved his hand while laughing softly. ‘No, I'm really sure about this one. She just found out that Arnold has a younger sister after I told her.’

‘Are you sure? It could be that it's just a cover. An act.’

He did not move an inch, realizing that Verdict's suspicions might be true. Martha lived in an antique shop close to Amanda's home. The woman seemed calm when she knew he was being attacked by those people. And she did not hesitate to offer help to clean up the people he killed for stalking Amanda without any payments. Why did he not notice before? Suddenly he lost interest in smoking. He pulled out the ashtray on the table and put out the remaining cigarettes.

‘No. I really trust Martha. Don't accuse her anything, Verdict.’

Yes. For now, he was defending Martha. But honestly, he did not know what else to say. He did not know if he could trust Martha or not.

‘Excuse me.’

Amanda's voice who was now standing at the door of this room awkwardly distracted their argument. Both Amanda and Verdict looked awkward and did not dare to look at each other, making him almost laugh at seeing another side of Verdict that he had never seen. A player type who was known to switch lovers like changing clothes can display an expression like a teenager who just knows about love for the first time.

‘Come in, Amanda,’ Thyme pulled out a chair right beside Verdict who did not dare look at Amanda, asked the girl to sit beside Verdict as if it was nothing.

‘I'm not bothering you, am I?’

‘O-of course not!’ said Verdict, rubbing the nape of his neck, which provoked Raymond to go back to teasing Verdict.

‘Well, he said he didn't mind. So it's okay,’ Raymond cleared his throat, trying hard to stop himself from laughing, at least in front of Verdict. Seeing Verdict blush violently in front of Amanda was more than enough to entertain him.

Thyme looked at everyone quietly in the room, leaning over. Their hands rest on the table, forming a pyramid. ‘I have something to discuss with all of you. Well, I know, Amanda shouldn't be here, considering she’s just an ordinary person. But I made an exception because she really deserves to know what really happened.’

Thyme paused for a moment, pausing deliberately to make their speech more dramatic. Something he learned after spending nearly a month working with them. Their behaviour reminded him of Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's novel that always wanted to get more attention from his audience when he explained his deduction. ‘The incident of Amanda's attack the other day made me realize that my place was no longer safe. Because of that, I actually planned to invite Verdict Walter to ask for cooperation, considering that of all the mafia organizations I know, only Walter's family meets the requirements. But since you came voluntary before I could invite you, I can move forward to the next matters.’

‘Yes. No big deal,’ Verdict turned the chair he was sitting on to face Amanda, who did not seem accustomed to getting the full attention of a man, because she immediately looked away with her face looking blushing. Verdict tugged gently on Amanda's hand, used his free left hand, then kissed the back of the girl’s hand. ‘Moreover, meeting a girl as beautiful as you, Amanda Chloe, is an honour for me.’

Before Amanda could answer, Raymond immediately shook off Verdict's hand, moving him away from Amanda. ‘That's enough. Your bad habits haven't changed a little.’

‘How cruel!’

‘What were you saying?’

‘Brother Ray is cruel! You always be like that. In fact, if Brother Arnold still …’ Verdict suddenly became gloomy when he mentioned the name of his adoptive brother. ‘Forget it. Brother Ray?’

‘What?’ Raymond didn't dare look at Verdict. Feelings of guilt came back over him. He bitted his lower lip. His right hand clenched into a fist, trying desperately to hold back his emotions that began to become unstable. He needed to remain calm, at least in front of the three people who were dependent on him.

‘There's something I want to talk to Brother Ray,’ Verdict said in a half-whisper. Then turned back to Thyme after sipping the cold coffee. ‘Regarding the addition of personnel, I’ll accept it. And for Amanda's matter, I'll take care of it starting tomorrow. I don't mind.’

‘Thanks. It means a lot to me. You can go now. I still have business with Amanda,’ Thyme motioned for them to leave the room. Raymond did not answer, got up from his chair without saying a word to Thyme and Amanda, who looked worried to see him, left the room. Verdict walked behind, following him who was already walking through a corridor that was guarded every two meters by members of the Umberbridge that could intimidate anyone who saw them for their fierce look. He ignored Verdict that kept shouting at him. His mind was now filled with memories of Arnold. Until Verdict gave up and changing his strategy. The man ran over to him, grabbed his wrist and led him into one of the unguarded corridors.

‘What's wrong, Brother? You didn’t answer me!’

He still avoided Verdict's eyes. ‘Sorry.’

‘For what? For Brother Arnold’s death?’ Verdict grabbed Raymond's shoulder, forcing Raymond to meet the man's eyes. ‘It’s not your fault, Brother Ray.’

‘It was clear Arnold was in danger, and yet I can’t...'

Verdict took a deep breath, loosening his grip from Raymond's shoulder. ‘Technically, half of it was Brother Ray's fault. I'm not denying that fact.’

Raymond now ventured to look at Verdict, who looked satisfied with his reaction. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Because you didn't return my brother's feelings. You didn't even notice it until my brother died.’ Verdict's expression was calm as he said this, making that man look much more mature than usual. Then, as if noticing the change in his expression, Verdict laughed dryly. ‘Really, you didn’t even know that my brother has feelings for you. But this is not really what I want to talk about.’

‘Then?’

‘I'm worried about Brother Ray, so I'm here. Make sure Brother Ray is safe.’

He frowned, not understanding what Verdict was saying, made the man repeated what he said once again, thinking he was not listening.

'I'm listening, Verdict. The question is, why did you come here to make sure I'm okay? Remember, I'm a former police detective. My fighting ability is still as great as before. Nothing to worry about.’

‘You must have come to this city armed with the clues left by the person who killed Arnold. Am I right?’

He did not answer Verdict's questions.

‘As per usual. Stubborn,’ Verdict ruffled his hair, which was neatly styled with hair gel until it fell apart again. ‘Leaving me at Morozov. Resigning from work, continuing to order plane tickets to Cirillo city without notifying me. Is that what Brother Ray calls family? No, Brother. Family exist to help each other, understand each other. Not sitting around and feeling that all can be handled alone. Suit yourself.’

Raymond bit his lower lip, clenched his fist so that he almost cut his palm at the sight of Verdict that was disappointed in him. He felt that Verdict's words were very similar to what Hazel had said before breaking up with them the day before yesterday. ‘You also think just like her…’

‘Huh?’

‘Nothing,’ Raymond forced his smile, turning to leave Verdict that did not understand his words, as he stuck his hands into his pockets, leaving the Umberbridge mansion.

***