Bryan composed himself and waited for the chief to make his decision on the matter, not that it would matter anyway. He had already made up his mind to accept this case for reasons known only to him.
"Mr Lee, you have to understand that even if we wanted to offer you some protection, we can't at the moment." Bruce paused a bit when he noticed that the man's face had turned ashen.
"Why?"
"This is a bad time and we have a lot on our hands already; we can't do what you're asking for."
Although he was chief of police, he still didn't want to agree to such a request so he used that fake excuse to try to discourage the man.
"That's a very poor excuse." The man said leisurely not taking a 'no' for an answer.
"I won't agree to this." Bruce said firmly.
"What do you have to say about this detective?" Mr Lee turned to Bryan who was leaning against the wall.
Here we go! Bryan, who had expected this all along, rolled his eyes.
It was obvious that this man had planned this all along; he came here for the sole purpose of hiring him!
"I think we should consider this, sir." Bryan gave his opinion. It didn't matter if this man had ulterior motives or not what he cared about was getting to the root of the case.
Of course he would take some precautions after all; this man could be leading him into a trap. This wasn't new to him since so many people wanted him dead but Bryan treated this as an opportunity to know who was behind the bigger picture.
"Why do you say so?" Bruce gave Bryan a sceptical look.
"Can I talk to you in private?" Bryan asked and glanced at the man apologetically.
"No problem." Mr Lee stood up and left the office.
"What is it?" Bruce asked after the man left.
"I think this might have something to do with 'the exorcist'"
"Is it because he claims that he feels like someone is monitoring him?" Bruce guessed.
Bryan nodded in affirmation.
Bruce sighed, "The man is a famous CEO and it is normal for him to have enemies but that doesn't mean it is the serial killer."
You of all people should know this…Bruce added inwardly.
"I know but I feel that the man is planning something." Bryan said in one breath hoping that the chief will be shocked.
"I know he is planning on hiring you for something. I believe he didn't come here to get the police to help but to get you."
Bryan nodded thoughtfully, it was so obvious.
"Aren't you curious why?"
"Do I need to be?" Bruce asked casually and picked up a file and flipped through it.
"This is abnormal and I want to know what this man wants with me." Bryan insisted.
Bruce closed the document and threw it on the table, "You know that your primary duty is to help in this serial murder case?"
"I know and that's why I'm doing this under the ambits of Haston city's police department. Besides, I still believe that this could lead us to the serial killer."
Under the ambits of the police department? Bruce mocked. Obviously Wakeville's police department had given this man too many privileges so much so that he felt he could do whatever he wanted.
It was understandable since he was someone who spent most of his life doing things his way without much thought to the consequences.
Bruce exhaled. He was right; this could be something worth investigating. However, Bruce thought that this detective was rather impatient; acting on impulse.
"Okay, what do you plan on doing?"
Bryan finally relaxed when the chief agreed to his plan. He had expected him to be firm and try to discourage him from getting involved in the matter.
He summarised his plan to the chief without leaving out any detail.
Bruce nodded and said, "I will assign Jason, Bernadette and two other officers to work alongside you."
"That would be perfect." Bryan smiled inwardly. Whatever it was, he will get to the bottom of it.
….
After getting the chief to agree, Bryan went out and talked with Mr Lee.
"You've accepted the job?" he seemed really overjoyed that Bryan had personally volunteered to work for him for a few days.
"Me and four other officers, I believe this will be enough right?" Bryan asked just to be sure.
"Yes, yes, that will be enough." Mr Lee replied quickly.
"Okay then, should we start today?" Bryan asked, "And also how do you want us to work?"
"It will be during the day, at night we'll make do with the guards at home." Mr Lee gave a thought before replying, "You can start today, and your main focus will be on my daughter."
You went through this trouble just to hire me for your daughter? Why do I feel like you're setting up a blind date for your daughter and me?
"Don't worry, Alexa is very nice and won't cause any problems, I will bring you to meet her today."
Mr Lee explained when he noticed the change in Bryan's expression when he mentioned his daughter.
Bryan nodded slowly.
Let's just hope that she's nice enough. Bryan couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.
Sometimes being nice meant the person could spit at your face rather than slapping you!
"I will pay you $8000 aside from the donation I'll make to the police department."
Bryan wanted to protest about this but kept quiet in the end. That amount wasn't small at all!
On the other hand, Mr Lee was pleased. He kept playing out the future events in his head.
Better get some popcorn because the show is about to begin. He smiled a perfect smile of victory.
Regardless of whether he was afraid of what the anonymous person who sent him the letter would do to him or his family, he had absolute confidence that his overall plan was more than enough to put a stop to it.
It was like killing three birds with one stone; and this stone was none other than the naïve and curious famous detective of Wakeville.
"As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat!"