"You ever get worried 'bout him, Dréy?" Jai asks, watching as the young man drove off.
"Here and there, but that man been like that. He can handle it." Dréy replies.
Jai nods, a big smile forming across his face.
"That reminds me! How's your medical classes coming?!"
The air turns silent and Dréy softly groans.
"Bruh, how'd you even find out about me taking medical classes?"
"You're gonna be a doctor?!" Khristina asks, jumping up and down.
"Yeah, a pediatrician. I started a year ago online since I ain't really have the time to visit the campus everyday. I was plannin' to keep this a secret until my final year, but I guess not." Dréy explains.
"But why didn't you tell mama and papa?" Khristina asks, hugging her brother.
"'Cause I ain't feel like them being on my ass like they was wit' Alexei. Everything ain't picture perfect wit' that boy as he tryna make it seem."
"Really?" Lennox asks.
"Yeah, mane. When he first started law school, my lil' bro wasn't even welcome. I don't know how long he been getting them, but mama said he used to receive death threats telling him to drop out; even got them from people the same shade as him." Dréy says. "She said the only way she found out was when she went to pay him a surprise visit and found one of the notes on his dorm door. Probably another reason why my Pops ain't want him going there."
"That's sad to hear." Kazimir says, frowning. "Why didn't he tell anyone sooner?"
Dréy shrugs.
"Alexei said whoever was sending them had to kill him before he moved off campus, but Pops managed to knock some sense into his stupid ass. Now he's livin' it up in his own lil' penthouse."
Picking up Khristina, Dréy checks his watch.
"A'ight, I gotta finish up some work. See y'all."
"Bye!" Jai screams, waving. "Oh, could you tell Alexei to give us a call back?!"
"We will!" Khristina yells back.
"I guess I should call the realtor of the house, see ya Kazimir." Lennox says with a smile.
"Yeah, we'll take a taxi back to the hotel! Thanks for driving us!" Jai adds, running behind Lennox.
Kazimir watches as the two young men walk over to the house, before remembering Haruki Feliano, the man he wanted to talk with, lived in the same area.
Driving around, he comes to a halt in front of a large house with Christmas decorations that were still up.
Closing his car door behind him, the young detective walks up to the front door and knocks.
The door quickly swings open and Haruki smiles up at Kazimir.
"Well, hello again! Need anything?"
"How the hell did you know about my parents' house catching fire? It wasn't reported in any of the tabloids nor on the local news channel."
"That's because I was visiting my aunt! She lives a few streets down from where you did! See, here's her address for proof."
Kazimir takes a look at Haruki's phone and shrugs.
"Looks legit."
Nodding, Haruki puts the phone back in his pocket.
"So tell me; how's Khristina doing?"
"Good from what I can tell." Kazimir replies, walking back to his car.
"That's a relief to hear. Her dad was a great man, you know. Did you know when I was 14 my parents were killed in a plane crash owned by his company?"
The young detective stops walking and turns around watching as Haruki nods.
"Yep. Only Milette and I survived. We were lucky since we were both fighting in the restroom when it happened, but not so lucky that we were immediately orphaned. Called for a lawyer and filed a lawsuit for $100 million. In the end, we were the only family that lost the lawsuit since the two of us couldn't afford to hire a "proper" lawyer."
Haruki smiles down at the ground, kicking a pebble with his shoe.
"The next day, Mr. La'rine and his wife invited us over for dinner. He told us that he was extremely sorry about what happened and that Milette and I should've received some type of consultation from the company. Next thing I know, he slides us a $200 million dollar check from his own pockets and gives us his phone number, telling us to call him if we ever needed anything. He even managed to get us our house too! Mr. La'rine said that if anything were to ever happen to him, he'd hope someone with some type of integrity would take his place since there was barely anyone like that at the company."
Kazimir watches as the young man looks up at the sky.
"He also spoke very highly of his two sons at the moment. It probably wouldn't be clear to most people, but I think he wanted one of them to be the replacement in his spot. Honestly, I miss that man. He was a nice guy, that's why I'd hate to find out if Khristina wasn't doing so well."
Haruki turns to Kazimir and gives him a smile.
"Anyway, you should get going, it looks like it'll rain soon. Thanks for listening, too!"
Walking back to his car, Kazimir gets in and starts it, placing a hand on the steering wheel.
Taking one last look at the house, he sighs and drives off.
--- the next morning ---
*SLAM!*
Locking his car door, Kazimir makes his way up the steps of the city hall of Frelant.
"Excuse me?"
An older male receptionist looks up at the young detective.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I'm a detective from the Claiza City Special Forces Department. I'm here to interview one of the town's board members who goes by the name Mihajl Hatmanu."
The old man nods.
"Of course, right this way."
The two walk down a large hallway before stopping in front of a door which the old man knocks on.
"There's a detective from Claiza City here to see you, Mr. Hatmanu."
Looking up from his phone, a male with slightly tanned-skin, around the age of 30 with red hair and blue eyes, smiles.
"Thank you, sir." he replies in a thick Romanian accent.
Kazimir watches as the old man nods and walks off as Mihajl walks over to him.
"I'm Mihajl Hatmanu, head of Frelant's board members."
Shaking the man's hand, the young detective nods.
"I'm Kazimir Cizetto."
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cizetto. Have you had breakfast yet?" Mihajl asks, walking back over to his desk.
"No, I'd like to discuss something with you first."
"Then we can discuss it over breakfast, detective. I'm sorry, I can't function unless I have breakfast first."
Kazimir silently sighs and follows the man out of the building.
"Anything in particular you prefer?" Mihajl asks, smiling over at Kazimir.
"No."
"Then you don't mind if I take you to one of my favorite places, do you?"
The young detective shakes his head.
"Not at all."
Nodding, Mihajl leads the way into a small café. The two take a seat and Mihajl hands Kazimir the only menu placed on the table.
"I frequent this place from time to time, so I already know the menu like the back of my hand. I'll cover everything, so just order whatever stands out to you."
"Uh, thanks." Kazimir replies.
After a couple of minutes, a waitress walks over, notepad and pencil in hand.
"Good morning. Ready to order?"
Mihajl nods.
"I'll have the strawberry muffin, two waffles, the scrambled eggs, and a slice of ham with a warm cup of tea, please."
The woman nods, jotting Mihajl's order down.
"And for you, sir?" she asks, turning to Kazimir.
"I guess the stack of pancakes with three pieces of bacon. And a cup of dark coffee."
The waitress nods, scribbling the order down.
"Okay, that comes out as a total of $20.92."
Reaching into his pocket, Mihajl takes out his wallet and pulls out $30.
"You can keep the change."
"Thank you, sir. Your order will be ready in shortly."
Mihajl watches as she walks off, before turning back to Kazimir.
"Might I ask what I'm being interrogated for, detective?"
"Your ties to the group called Merderaé." Kazimir bluntly replies.
Mihajl raises a brow.
"How'd you find that out? Nevermind that, I only work as a runner; you know, transferring the messages from Merderaé's upper groups to their lower groups."
"Then you'll know some of the names of the upper groups?" Kazimir asks, taking out a journal.
"They don't go by names, detective. They go by numbers. Merderaé consists of ten groups; the lower groups go by numbers 1-5 and the upper groups go by numbers 6-10. It's pretty hard to find any of their meeting spots unless you just stumble upon one by chance." Mihajl explains. "What I do know is that both groups hold their meetings digitally on encrypted streaming servers from 1 A.M. to 4 A.M., but rarely will they meet together in physical locations."
Kazimir nods.
"So then you'll know what group a man who goes by the name of Brent Domonkos is in?"
"He's in the highest group, number ten." Mihajl replies.
The young detective writes the information down, moving his journal as the waitress sets the plate of food in front of him.
"Can you tell me anything else about the rest of the groups?"
"Not really. Merderaé's upper groups are extremely secretive as the numbers increase, even more than the lower ones. However, I do know that most people wealthy people are part of the groups, just depends on where you stand financially." Mihajl replies, cutting a piece of his ham. "Group 1's salary is typically around $150,000 and then it rises from there."
Kazimir flips to an empty page in his journal
"I also would like to ask you about your knowledge on a higher group called H."
Mihajl chuckles, talking a sip of his tea.
"Ah, that's a group no one likes to talk about. I know it has an actual name, but I don't know what it is. Anyway, H is basically just a small group that's over the rest of Merderaé. The members are only people of status; politicians, influencers, movie stars, etc. Majority of the members in Merderaé don't like H at all, but will tolerate them."
Sighing, the young detective puts his journal on the table.
"That's all I needed to ask, thanks for cooperating."
"No problem. Oh, is there something you forgot to ask me?" Mihajl asks, watching as Kazimir stared at him with a confused look across his face.
"No, I was just taken aback on how easily you cooperated. I mean, you're in a secret cult or whatever."
"Well, I actually have no interest in joining, Mr. Cizetto."
Kazimir raises a brow.
"Then why're you their messenger?"
"I'm just pretending to go along with their little games." Mihajl replies, taking another sip of his tea. "Once we're finished eating, we can take a walk outside and I'll tell you more."