Chapter 346 A Familial Organization
Lila stood outside the men’s room. One man probably didn’t notice the sign and was just about to go inside, but she stopped him all at once, saying, “Mister.”
Surprised, the man turned to look at her. Lila pointed to the sign at their feet. “The men’s room is temporarily unavailable for use. You should go to another floor instead.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Lila watched the man leave before staring at the door to the men’s room for a while. After that, she turned around and left as well.
The next day, Dillon woke up in the hospital ward and looked at his badly battered and bruised face in the mirror. He smashed the mirror right away with a loud crash, growling, “Who did it?!”
Lila stood beside him. “We don’t know. The nightclub’s CCTV went wrong last night, so we didn’t find anything.”
“You bunch of morons! What’s the use of having you guys?” Dillon yelled furiously. “Find that person no matter what. I’m gonna chop him to bits to feed the dog!”
Lila frowned and stepped out of the ward without saying a word.
A little while later, from inside the ward came the sound of things being smashed; Dillon had smashed almost every smashable object in the room. After all, he had never come to grief so badly before in his whole life.
Hearing the noise inside, the bodyguards trembled with fright. “Miss Lila, what should we do about this?”
Lila didn’t turn a hair. “Since it happened in Jason’s nightclub, he has to take full responsibility. Let him do the investigation.”
“Yes, Miss Lila.”
It was afternoon, and one could enjoy the view of the river from the booth next to the French window at the tenth-floor cafe in Green River Tower. The river water looked murky during the day, but it didn’t hide the grandeur of the river scenery.
The waiter served two cups of Americanos.
Ryan asked straightforwardly, “What do you want to ask me?”
“About the Jockey Club and Dillon’s background.”
“What for?”
Justin darted a look at him. “Are you so fond of asking questions to which you already know the answers?”
Ryan cocked an eyebrow. They were both intelligent people, so there was no need to beat around the bush. “You probably know what the Jockey Club does without me having to tell you. It’s a place for debauchery that’s far from the place it purports to be. To put it nicely, it’s a social hub. Everybody who goes there does so with their own purposes; they go there to make friends with all kinds of people that’ll be of help to them.” Being a self-made man, Ryan had made himself a member of the club and made a lot of friends there back when he needed a network of contacts in his early years, which was why he was able to take Justin on board the Golden Cruise to search for people last time.
Justin’s eyes were tense. “You know that these aren’t what I’m asking about. These are superficial.”
Ryan knitted his brows slightly. “Here’s my advice: don’t ask too much about it. Knowing too much won’t do you any good.”
“Here’s the background information about Leroy.” Justin pushed the manila envelope at hand across the table. “I believe you’ll no longer think of him as an ordinary little artist after you read this. He’s by no means ordinary.”
Ryan’s gaze fell on the manila envelope.
Justin’s hand kept pressing down on the manila envelope, and both him and Ryan knew the reason for that. They were both businessmen, so this wasn’t an afternoon tea between friends, but a business deal for information exchange.
Recalling the recent rumors about Jolly’s relationship with Leroy, Ryan felt somewhat irritable. “Fine, I’ll tell you everything. Still, I’d like to advise you to not get involved even if you know about it. I’m afraid you might get yourself in trouble before you’re able to get her out of this.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
“I really don’t know much about Dillon’s identity. He only came to Riverdale in recent years, but he became a guest of honor on board the Golden Cruise all of a sudden. I looked into him, but I couldn’t find anything about him.” Ryan was very thorough. “So, I can only tell you my conjecture based on my experiences in dealing with those people in the Jockey Club all these years.”
“Shoot.”
Ryan explained, “You probably know that the Jockey Club runs a casino in secret. The Riverdale Investigation Bureau has been keeping an eye on Randall Baxter, the club’s boss, over the past few years, but they couldn’t find anything. This is because the Jockey Club is merely a cover for S in Riverdale.”
“S?”
“It’s an organization, or rather a family, an evil smuggling ring, that specializes in smuggling goods—mostly medicines—to war-ridden countries to make huge profits.”
War-ridden countries had little to no productivity, and supplies—especially medicines—were scarce there. As a result, even a box of cold medicine could be sold at an exorbitant price at such places.
“The Jockey Club gathers all the upper-class people in Riverdale under the guise of recreation and socializing. People are greedy, and they always want to make more money. If my guess is correct, Randall chooses from those people and observes them for a long time on his own initiative. Then, he waits for a chance to strike, ultimately drawing them into his circle.” Ryan shot a glance at Justin. “Jefferey, that ex-father-in-law of yours, was probably among the earliest bunch of people he recruited.”
“What about Dillon, then? What role does he play in the organization?”
“I only met him a few times. He’s an idiot, but Randall is very respectful to him, so I guess he’s a member of the family at the top of the organization. He might even be the heir to the organization.”
“Would the organization’s heir be sent out to take risks?”
“Well, here is something you don’t understand. The people there don’t raise their children in the lap of luxury. Only the strongest among them will be respected, so the children have to see the world and toughen themselves. Otherwise, of so many smuggling and drug-trafficking rings in the world, why do you think S would become such a large organization that even Interpol has a headache dealing with them?”
Justin seemed lost in thought.
Ryan continued, “These are just my conjectures, but I’ve been dealing with them for quite a number of years. And besides, the Riverdale Investigation Bureau has been investigating them recently. Moreover, there were those diamonds last time. I think Randall and his men are probably gonna run away, and they’re now trying to transfer their assets.”
“Run away? What about those in Riverdale?”
“Would they care about the fate of their partners once they run away? Even if the Riverdale Investigation Bureau turns the Golden Cruise upside down by then, I’m afraid they’ll only be able to arrest useless small fry like Jefferey and your uncle.”
“When are they gonna run away?”
“How could I possibly know that?”
Justin pondered for a moment. “Are those diamonds still in your hands?”
Ryan was startled before he suddenly realized what Justin meant. Those people would definitely have to transfer their assets before leaving. In other words, the time they laid their hands on these exorbitantly-priced diamonds would be the time they were going to run away.
“Ryan, you’d better keep watch over those diamonds in your hands.”
“I know that, and I don’t need you to tell me about it. Hey, where are you going?”
Justin left the cafe right away. Rachel was in a dangerous situation right now. After all, no one could tell what those men would do to those related to them before leaving Riverdale. I’ve got to stop Rachel from continuing to deal with them by hook or by crook, he thought. “Hello? Frankie, find out where Rachel is right now.”
“You mean President Hudson?” Frankie was startled for a moment on the other end of the line. After coming to his senses, he said in a complicated tone of voice, “President Burton, you’d better put the matter about her aside first. I’m afraid you have to come back to the office now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The Burton Group is holding an impromptu board meeting. Someone proposed that you be removed from your position as company president.”
Justin frowned. “Did Robin propose it?”
“No, it was Old Mr. Burton who proposed it.”
