People who live on the edge of a knife year-round are just different—they think differently, they act differently, and even their way of bargaining is different.
It feels like these people don't need to say much, you just start a conversation, and the rest of the message is implicitly understood. One can only say they are all clever people.
Matt hit the nail on the head, but Frank just casually nodded and said, "The key is how much cash you can bring to the table. In this day and age, cash is king."
After some thought, Matt finally said, "Not much in cash, less than a hundred thousand US dollars, but I have one million four hundred thousand US dollars in my bank account, and seven hundred thousand Mexican pesos that I can move at any time. If you want more, I would have to liquidate some assets. Give me twenty-four hours, and I can turn one million US dollars of liquid assets into cash, give me a week, and I can scrape together four million US dollars for you."
Although Matt's payment method also required installments, it would take at most a week, and there would be quite a lot of cash on hand, but Peter was different. Peter needed to take possession of Matt's assets, which would not be a quick process.
Frank nodded and said, "Hm, four million. Do you know anything about the mother and son following us?"
Matt sighed softly and said, "Of course, if not for them, I wouldn't be in this situation. The woman is a wealthy widow. Her husband was a famous real estate developer in Tijuana. He was kidnapped and killed by drug traffickers a few years ago. She took over her husband's business, and although it shrunk in size, it's still not bad. She managed to keep the company her husband left from going under."
After catching his breath and shifting slightly, wincing in pain, Matt continued, "If she decides to move to the United States, she should be able to apply for a visa. But clearly, she doesn't have the time, so you have the chance to make a score."
Frank nodded but did not say much, just softly said, "You can rest for a while now; we will be there soon."
Matt struggled and said, "No, I can't rest. I fear if I fall asleep, I might never wake up. Buddy, if four million isn't enough, just say so."
Frank waved his hand and said, "We'll talk about it when we see Peter."
Matt wanted to say more, but after hesitating for a moment, he finally just sighed softly and in the end said nothing.
The car was almost back at the rendezvous point, and George and his group had already returned. When Rubber parked the car, George and Peter had already come out from behind it.
The headlights were bright, and Peter shielded his eyes with his hand as Frank said softly to Gao Guang, "Help Matt out."
When the car stopped, Frank got out and Peter came up to him, his face flushed with excitement, saying, "How did it go, you succeeded, right?"
Frank nodded, and as Peter was about to say more, he saw Gao Guang helping someone who looked like a blood gourd out of the car.
Peter was stunned, then his face drastically changed as he recognized the blood-soaked person, tremulously saying, "Matt? Matt! You're actually alive! That's great, I thought I'd lost you forever..."
Peter opened his arms and started toward Matt, but Gao Guang extended his hand and said coldly, "Stay back! Don't come any closer!"
The scene became tense for a moment as Peter's outstretched arms slowly dropped, then he suddenly said to Frank, "All of it to you! All the money to you."
To be generous with someone else's possessions comes without pressure. Peter was willing to give away all of Matt's assets to Frank and his people, just hoping he could live.
Matt's body trembled slightly as he shouted, "Peter! I'm the one who took you in, I'm the one who gave you this job, I even saved your life!"
"Don't be foolish!"
With a helpless shrug, Peter looked quite aggrieved and said, "Do you think I wanted this? But I thought you were dead. You were captured by the Zeta Group, why aren't you dead? If I knew you weren't, I wouldn't have stayed behind. Can you blame me? I didn't want to kill you; I just thought you were dead. And now, I've already promised them, I can't go back on my word. What can I do?"
Gao Guang listened, somewhat dumbfounded, because he felt something was off about Peter's words, yet he didn't know how to argue back, and then, it seemed as though Peter really had a point.
After finishing, Peter looked at Frank and said, "Kill him, everything is yours. He could never make such an offer anyway."
Peter could be generous with other people's fortunes, giving away everything Matt owned, but Matt himself could never have made that offer, and even if he had, no one would believe him.
Frank looked at Matt and drew his pistol. Matt shouted, "I can offer you more, I can handle my properties and get much more than he could have obtained..."
Frank said in a low voice, "Stop it, it's meaningless."
After speaking, Frank raised his gun.
A gunshot echoed, and a small hole appeared in Peter's forehead. His facial expression froze, and he slumped down limply.
Startled by the gunshot, Matt jerked, and then after realizing it was Peter who had died and not him, his face first registered shock, but it quickly turned into extreme joy.
Gao Guang was not at all surprised by this outcome, because it was an inevitable consequence.
No matter how much money Peter could offer or how favorable the conditions, regardless of whether Matt lived or died, Peter had to die.
"Weeds do not die unless you remove their roots; they will grow back with the spring wind." This time Peter could bring King's Defense down, and he could do it again in the future. As a professional middleman, Peter had broken the rules.
So, the original plan was to kill Juan first, but killing Juan was not a must— if there was no opportunity, they would let it go. However, Peter had to die, no matter what backup plans he had or how much money he could offer.
As for saving the living Matt, that was purely a happy accident. Initially, they intended to take whatever they could from Peter after killing Juan, without counting on him to slowly liquidate his partners' assets. But now that Matt was alive, wasn't it better to have Matt pay himself rather than have Peter act as an intermediary?
Now that Juan and Peter were dead, even if Peter had truly arranged some contingencies, the Zeta Group wouldn't go after King's Defense for revenge. Drug cartels don't have the time for that—a boss died, and there were plenty of newcomers eager to take his place. Making money was most important; who had time to avenge a former boss?
Frank put away his gun and said to Matt, "Why did I kill Peter? Because he broke the rules. Now, how do you plan to fulfill your promise?"
Matt hesitated and said, "I need time to liquidate assets, four million; I need about a week, you can..."
Frank raised a hand, interrupting Matt, and said seriously, "I don't want four million, nor do I want you to liquidate your assets. I just want your cash, one million and a half dollars, that price isn't too much, is it?"
Gao Guang was greatly astonished because Frank only wanted one million and a half dollars. To think that Matt himself had offered four million. He didn't understand why Frank would lower the price voluntarily.
An extremely astonished Matt said, "One million and a half? Of course, but why?"
Frank said softly, "We are people who stick to the rules. We don't drive our clients to bankruptcy. It's better to have one more friend and maintain a good relationship with a client than to add a bankrupt enemy. We take the money that's due and do what needs doing. Matt, I don't know what exactly your relationship with Peter was, but I hope that you won't, like him, drag your clients down with you when you're in danger."
An excited Matt said, "Of course not! Buddy, you can completely trust my professional ethics. So, give me an account number; I can have one million and a half dollars in there by tonight. Need help laundering the money? You run a defense company, don't you? I also have a defense company; we could partner up. I can make a business-to-business transfer to you, you can choose how you want to receive the money. Buddy, I like the way you do business!"
After pondering for a moment, Frank said, "You need to get to a hospital, but I'd like to ask for a favor. Can you get us safely to the United States?"
"Sure! Hundred thousand dollars! No passports needed; you'll cross the border safely, but you'll have to leave your gear behind. Buddy, I've given you all the money; I really can't cover the cost of the passage for you, otherwise, I would have paid it for you."
If they could leave their equipment behind or temporarily in Tijuana, Frank and his people wouldn't need to pay to cross the border, even if they carried all their gear and took Arturo and his mother along, it wouldn't cost a hundred thousand dollars.
Clearly, Matt's smuggling route was not as good as Frank's.
Frank showed no disappointment and glanced at his watch, saying, "We'll cross the border on our own. George, Rubber, you two take Matt to the hospital. We'll meet in San Diego. Matt, please get the money to us as soon as possible."
After speaking, Frank grabbed Matt's blood-covered hand and shook it symbolically, saying in a deep tone, "Pleasure doing business."