Hollywood Zenith



" What kind of information?" Samuel asked.

" There was significant proof that the gang connected with a foundation, your Verdant foundation," Enrique said with a severe expression.

" Can I see it?" Samuel was calm.

" Daniel.." Enrique motioned him to present the supposed proof. It was a tattered brown book, kind of like a ledger with an unmarked cover.

Samuel took it and went through with it, just checking why they were so sure about his company's involvement with a standard street gang.

" We discovered it during our expansion. There are no concrete names, but several individuals are marked with unique numbers, and some pickup locations are clearly marked as your foundation address. I believe it is an orphanage?" Daniel informed him.

" Yes, it is." There were clear dates, pickup locations and a few more numbers marked with weights, probably money, as it was easier that way.

Samuel knew he would never have such people under him in an ideal world. His organization was getting more enormous daily, making it harder for him to oversee everything. He constantly promoted a fair environment and warned others not to cross him or the company, but a few people didn't heed his call.

Embezzlement and corruption could never be truly eradicated, even when he gave them generous pay. It was human nature; he couldn't do anything about it, but now that he knew, he would make them pay for it. It was money for the children, for god's sake!

" But why was it at the fringe of their territory? Shouldn't it be at their headquarters?" Samuel asked.

" It is strange, but as far as I can tell, they must have hidden it here, believing your people wouldn't find it, or they could have been relocating, and we caught them with their pants down?" Mateo made assumptions.

" I guess we would never know as the people responsible were all high-level personnel of the gang. It is impossible given the situation."

" Hmm?" Samuel didn't know what he was referring to.

" You don't know? I heard six or so high-level lieutenants have gone missing, a few of them died taking their own life, and others were beaten to death by the public. It is tragic, but those who remained didn't seem like the people to know about these things." Enrique informed him.

" Gone? Missing? How is that possible? I am sure I left few of them alive just for questioning." It was news to Samuel. Nobody informed him about this strange turn of events, was there someone behind it, or was he overthinking things?

" I don't know all the details. The police might be involved, but there is not much to go on. But I know you will get to the bottom of this." Enrique was sure Samuel could handle it.

"Yes, I will look into it."

" You don't look so shocked seeing the ledger?" Isabella, who was listening up until this point, asked. Usually, people tend to be more aggressive when they know others are stealing from them.I think you should take a look at

" These things are unavoidable in business." He said with a smile.

" Boss, I don't think he noticed?" Daniel sighed.

" Yeah, me too." Enrique turned toward Mateo, " Please."

" Hah, I hate talking about it, but before that, I think you should know what they were doing."

" Embezzling from the company? Money laundering? I have seen such numbers before; they usually rely upon the weight system because it's less hassle than counting large sums." Samuel was clear-cut on it.

" Look closely at the numbers. Do you see a pattern?" He asked.

" Alright." Mateo gave him a few seconds, and Samuel noticed what he was trying to refer to.

" It's just a theory, but the numbers are always between ten to upward of thirty. There are also few mentions of the vehicle they used, which is a big truck; even if you add the numbers, it is implausible they would need such a truck for transporting it." Mateo paused, seeing Samuel's expression change.

" I think they are related to human trafficking, and these are the weights of the children they are siphoning out of the orphanage. It could be they are intercepting them before they even make it to the orphanage, but we cannot know how deep it runs in the organization." 

By the time Mateo finished his deduction, there was a strange change in the atmosphere; it became deadly silent, even the crickets stopped singing, and a cold wind enveloped the whole backyard.

Samuel kept staring at the numbers with furrowed brows; his deadly aura increased exponentially with each passing second, rapidly dropping!

" Are you sure?" he looked right into Mateo's eyes which made him flinch.

Isabella was shaking violently, trying not to fall from her chair while Daniel's hand reached for his arms. Enrique experienced something similar, but being an experienced person, he held a lot better than others. It was pure fear that they were feeling, and there was nothing they could do to repel it other than to hold on, a primal flight or fight response!

" I-it's only a t-theory b-but I am n-ninety-" Right then, the glass Samuel was holding shattered into a million pieces hurting his hand in the process. He started bleeding profusely, trying to control his murderous aura, but the only thing he could think of was the children exploited through his foundation!

*KILL* *KILL* *KILL* *KILL* *KILL* Just as he was about to lose to his desire to tear these people apart, two soft hands held his head, and he was pressed against fluffy paradise.

  It was Liliana holding his head, burying it deep in her chest, " It's alright. I am here. Please calm down." She kept whispering, but she too was shivering a little; regardless of it, her hands were solid, which signified her resolve.

  It worked as the temperature began to return to normal; the suffocation also subsided when he suppressed his anger to an average level. Others also took the time to catch their breaths, but they kept strangely looking at Samuel, trying to process what the hell just happened!?