Chapter 157 — Taking Sides
Years of Heartflutter · Page 2 of 5
"Nobody move! You inside, you're surrounded!" Suddenly several harsh beams of light swept through the underground parking garage, and a squad of heavily armed police came charging in. The man at their head held a megaphone; the rest stood with guns raised, ready for anything.
"Hands up! Drop your weapons, or we won't be polite!" shouted the leader.
"Ah!" Sawenjisi cried out as though he had seen his savior. "Chief Nortons, it's you—come save me, I'm Sawenjisi!"
Chief Nortons had received a call saying that the mayor's son, Maligeben, had been set upon by thugs. Not daring to dawdle, he had immediately led his men over at a dead run—never imagining that the lieutenant governor's son, Sawenjisi, had been attacked as well. That gave Nortons a splitting headache; mishandled, this affair could force him to resign in disgrace.
The thought that the thugs had attacked the mayor's son Maligeben and the lieutenant governor's son Sawenjisi made his blood boil. Were these people blind? These two were not the sort you could cross!
"You thugs inside, listen up!" Nortons shouted. "If you don't surrender and submit, we open fire!" He thought to himself: whatever happens, your fathers will be there to shoulder the blame. All I can do is earn credit for the rescue—there's no way I can be at fault.
Loklari had already made up his mind; seeing Nortons shouting now, he felt a surge of annoyance. He strode quickly to Nortons's side and shot him a glare. "Chief Nortons, what do you think you're doing?"
"Ah—Mr. Loklari, what are you doing here too?" Nortons had been so frantic that he had not noticed Councilman Loklari was present as well; seeing him now, he was momentarily taken aback.
"This is my private club; naturally I am here." Loklari was only a councilman, but his influence in this city was considerable. Whether Markved could win reelection was an open question—and when the time came, the one taking office might well be Loklari.
So Nortons did not dare treat Loklari lightly either. "I see. I came because the mayor's son, Maligeben, reported that they had been attacked by thugs."
Nortons found it rather strange. By rights, there was no way Loklari could be unaware of this—so why was he standing there so calmly instead of stopping it? Loklari might not much fear Mayor Markved, but in a matter this grave he could not afford to be careless either.
"Thugs—oh, you mean the thugs." Loklari nodded and said mildly, "Indeed. Maligeben and Sawenjisi, acting as thugs, kidnapped the star Shu Ya, and are now being stopped by a heroic good Samaritan."
"What?" Nortons's mind briefly failed to catch up. How were Maligeben and Sawenjisi the thugs? That did not seem right. And the ones beating the two of them had become heroic good Samaritans?
"Chief Nortons, I advise you not to get mixed up in this. It's beyond what you can handle. Best stand aside and watch quietly," Loklari said coldly.
"Mr. Loklari, councilman though you are, you cannot turn black into white and obstruct us in the performance of our duties." Nortons felt that, whatever else happened, Maligeben and Sawenjisi had to be rescued first.
"Patriarch Old Buffon is standing right over there. The men beating Maligeben and Sawenjisi are his honored guests. Even Patriarch Old Buffon has said that he is merely these two distinguished guests' errand man." Seeing that Chief Nortons was determined to interfere, Loklari had no choice but to tell him that Patriarch Old Buffon was present.
"What? Patriarch Buffon is here too?" Chief Nortons was startled. Following the direction Loklari indicated, he indeed saw Patriarch Old Buffon standing quietly to one side, watching the Mercedes camper van with cold eyes.
"I've said all I need to say. Decide for yourself," Loklari said with a sniff.