Six

Antonio sits at his desk, the sign that reads Antonio Franches neatly tucked away on the table. A capital lending company. That's what people knew about Antonio. He'd made a fortune in a short time, and rumors about how Antonio ran a dirty business began to spread around, that Antonio was an evil loan shark who killed people.

A fleeting memory of a failed one-night-stand caught Antonio's attention. It was the first time in his life that a woman refused to make love just because she was busy taking care of the 'pigs in the sty'. Does that sound plausible?

Of course not.

Antonio called Ben on his cell phone, and within a second, his assistant answered.

“Come to my office now.”

And the call was disconnected by Antonio.

Ben was Antonio's personal secretary. He was a loyal and dedicated worker. But Ben didn't expect that the appearance of 'Cassandra Baker' in Antonio's life would lead to him being called like this.

“It's about the woman who kept me company last night,” Antonio said, starting the conversation without beating around the bush.

Ben raised one eyebrow, quite curious. “The woman you ordered from the Sun Bright Club?”

"Yeah. She's one of the part-timers there."

“Part-timer?” Ben looked confused now. Does prostitution count as part-time in this world? “I thought she worked there as-” “There was something different about that woman. Her name is Baker. Cassandra Baker. Can you find out everything about her?"

Since Ben didn't have time to finish his sentence, he could only swallow and nod his head.

“Oh, and one more thing, you should find out if this Ms. Baker has pigs in her house.”

Ben's eyebrows were deeply knitted, he was really surprised. What did a prostitute have to do with pigs? But Ben nodded his head anyway, agreeing to his boss's request. “Yes, Mr. Franches.”

And left the room.

On the other side, Cassandra was sitting at her desk, wearing her police uniform as they had just finished their morning roll call. A case had just happened and it was taking the city by storm. A murder case.

“Hey, Cass?”

Alexander's voice made Cassandra turn her head. She was just finishing up a report on her computer when Alexander came over and handed her a cup of coffee from Uncle Chuck's shop across from the police station.

“Hey?”

“This coffee is for you,” Alexander said.

Cassandra smiled, as she graciously accepted the coffee Alexander handed her. "Thank you. Next time, I'll treat you."

“Okay.” Alexander pulled up a chair next to Cassandra, he sat down and sipped his hot americano while staring at Cassandra's computer screen. “Did you finish the report on last night's case?”

"Yep. There was some evidence from the forensic team, but I'm not so sure if the victim is really related to Cale Callaghan."

Alexander nodded in agreement, he was at the scene but the murder happened so fast. Lack of evidence and eyewitnesses. They were indeed in trouble now.

"But Callaghan's name was on the man's phone list. What was his name?"

"Michael. Michael Foster."

“I think we're going to turn embezzlement into a murder case soon,” Alexander said, but Cassandra didn't react immediately. "Besides Callaghan, there's Antonio Franches' name on there too. Should we call him here for interrogation?"

Cassandra's face turned frantic. She didn't want Antonio to know that Cassandra worked for the police. She hurriedly gave Alexander an excuse.

"That's a good idea, but can you give this case to someone else? I mean, I can handle Cale Callaghan, but I'm too busy and there's no time for Antonio Franches."

Alexander paused. He looked thoughtful and this made Cassandra anxious. Would Alexander agree to her suggestion?

After a moment, Alexander sighed. "All right, but only because we want you to focus on Callaghan. I'll get someone else to handle Franches."

Cassandra felt a wave of relief wash over her. "Thank you, Alex. I owe you one."

"Just be careful, okay? This case is getting messier by the day."

“I will,” he promised.

Later that evening, Ben sat in his car outside Cassandra's modest apartment building, with his laptop open in the passenger seat. He had spent the entire day digging into Cassandra Baker's background, and what he found was far from ordinary.

“She's a cop,” Ben muttered to himself, reading Cassandra's employment records. A wave of confusion and worry washed over him. Why would a cop work part-time at a high-end club like Sun Bright?

His cell phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen-Antonio was calling.

“Boss,” Ben answered.

“Did you find out anything about Cassandra Baker?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, his voice strained. "She's not just anybody. She's a detective with the city police department."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “A cop, you say?”

"Yes, Mr. Franches. A detective."

Antonio's mind was racing. Cassandra's presence in his life suddenly had more sinister implications. “And the pigs?”

“I couldn't find anything about pigs,” Ben admitted.

“Keep looking,” Antonio ordered. "And keep an eye on him. I want to know what he's doing."

“Yes, Mr. Franches.”

****

“So... can you tell me again what you did in the business, until the company had a profit gap of 2 trillion, Mr. Callaghan?”

Cale Callaghan, was a CEO under a fashion company called Atlas. However, he was recently reported for allegedly embezzling 2 trillion in funds. This case, however, dragged Antonio's name and another victim named Michael Foster.

Cale chuckled, he lifted his handcuffed hands and put them on the table. Leaning forward, Cale said, “You know I can pay a lawyer to fight you, right? By the way, Detective, you shouldn't have handcuffed me."

Cassandra tried to steel her heart, she wouldn't be fooled. "You don't have to say that, or you'll be considered fighting the police. Can we get back to the heart of the matter?"

Cale just smiled, he really underestimated the case because he had a lot of money and power. But Cassandra didn't run out of ideas, so she handed him a photo. Michael Foster's last call list.

"Someone just died last night. Michael. His name was Michael. Did you recognize him?"

Cale's face, which had previously looked relaxed, now turned tense. His eyes looked seriously at the photo, then he looked at Cassandra. “Who did you say?”

“Michael Foster.”

“I don't know him.”

"Oh yeah? Really? But from your reaction, I can see that you know Michael Foster. You must know him very well, right?"