"Grandma, I did it!" Alex said in excitement as he walked toward the blade sticking into the wooden chopping board.
"Swoosh." Another blade flew quickly at the chicken's neck, and it died in an instant.
He turned around and saw grandma walk out of the kitchen. She said leisurely, "I'm going to my room. Bring me back another live chicken."
He sighed, tidied up the mess in the kitchen, and left to buy her another live chicken.
**
Over the next two days, Alex studied the information that Robert Miller had sent him about Lawrence Heights. He then used his status as a university student to probe the management about the building and carry out private interviews to investigate its overall situation. He believed that the building's situation was not very good, but it was not bad either. He thought that Lawrence Heights could still be a very high-quality asset but only after some proper management changes.
Alex summarized the areas that needed to be fixed and outlined his personal experiences there, and then he communicated with the main manager, Bob Bruck. He told the manager that he had a time limit to make the changes he requested, otherwise he would remove him from his position.
Bob quickly agreed to Alex's instructions. Although he didn't know Alex's true identity, he was, after all, the new boss who had taken over the one hundred-and twenty-five-million-dollar Lawrence Heights building.
Alex also specifically asked Bob to investigate if Philip Geller, the office manager in charge of rentals, had seen his message. Alex would not let him off lightly for ignoring him.
Bob agreed and promised him that he would investigate Manager Gellor properly.
Alex wasn't afraid of being fooled by Bob. If he dared to shield Geller, he would have Sam Woodsworth, Ken Stokes, and Graham Stirling to help him. For Alex, uncovering the truth of the matter was as easy as making a phone call. Of course, if he were forced to investigate personally, Bob's position would be lost.
The day after Alex had handed him the task, Bob called him.
"Mr. Ambrose, I've already investigated it thoroughly. There is indeed a big problem with Philip Gellor. He's gotten involved with many female employees in the company through deceit, intimidation, and drunkenness. Many of these female employees have already left. In the past two years, he's also taken advantage of his position with the female tenants in the building. By pretending to help them, he committed sexual assaults in their rooms."
Since Bob was able to obtain so much information about Philip's crimes in just one day, he must have known about the manager's private affairs.
Although Alex saw through it, he didn't intend to pursue Bob. As long as he remained helpful in the future, Alex was willing to close his eyes.
"All right, I understand. I'll deal with it as I should. I'll try not to affect the reputation of the building. I'll give the evidence in my possession to the police right now and have him arrested. Don't worry, it will not have any negative impact on the building." With that, Alex hung up the phone.
**
Alex put down his cell phone. He sat beside Ramsey Lake and looked at the sparkling water on the surface. He was once again filled with worry.
He had been busy with matters related to Lawrence Heights for the past two days, but he had also closely observed the progress in trying to find Debbie. He had developed the habit of listening to reports from Ken every night.
For example, Ken had sent people to Debbie's hometown to check where she used to work, along with the places she used to visit. They had searched through a couple hundred cities by then, and it was hard to believe that they could not find her anywhere.
Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He told himself that he would be reunited with Debbie in a short time.
"Alex, let's go." Ben and Carl walked over to Alex's side and lightly patted him on the shoulder. A few days ago, the classes at Preston University had finished for the summer, so the two friends were going back to their hometown that day.
"All right, let's go. I'll be happy to take you two to the train station." Alex adjusted his mood, stood up, and patted his two friends on the shoulders.
"Are you really going to work alone in New York? You're going to suffer. Oh yeah, why isn't Debbie here? We're all about to leave, so why isn't she coming to send us off?" Ben teased.
Last time, when Alex and Slayer had killed Henry, Cory, and their underlings, Alex had tricked them into believing that he had found a mysterious person to help him get through it. Ben and Carl were suspicious, but the situation was still good.
Alex never told them about Debbie's disappearance.
"You guys talk too much. Let's get going." Although Alex was smiling, his eyes still flashed with sadness. He chatted with Ben and Carl and walked toward the gate. "You two should think about the important things in life. You're still single after two years in university."
"Are you looking down on us?" said one of his friends.
There were many couples carrying suitcases while walking under the shade trees along the university's road.
The men were pulling suitcases for the women, and the women were saying sweet things to the men. Listening to their sweet words, Alex's heart was heavy.
If Debbie were still here, wouldn't I be pulling her luggage? he thought.
He pushed Ben and Carl into a taxi and rushed them to the high-speed train station.
After sending his friends off, Alex finally walked out of the station.
He called a taxi and headed toward Lawrence Heights. He wanted to go to the building to find answers to another question, and he also wanted to see that upright and strong woman, Sue. He didn't know if her mother still approved of him after they had left the villa.
It had only been a few days, but the condition of the building had improved quite a bit. At least, the people at the reception were not playing around during work hours. When they saw him walk in, they politely asked, "Hello sir, may I ask if there is anything I can help you with?"
Alex leisurely wandered around the building for a while, and then he walked toward the room he had rented.
When he was almost at the door, he became a little nervous. Thinking about Sue's face, he could not help but feel a little bit softer.
He opened the door. Sue was not inside, so he looked around and found the room neat and clean. There was not even a speck of dust on the windowsill. It was much cleaner than when he had given it to her.
She's a good girl, Alex thought.
He was lost in thought, but a sound coming through the windows of something breaking startled him. He looked up.
"Bang, bang. Crash."
"Knock, knock."
Sounds were coming from the ceiling.
What are they doing up there? he wondered.
"If I'm in 1403, this noise would be coming from room 1503," he muttered.
This was not good, as the noise was coming from the first room that he had chosen that day. He had given it to a young woman, Lindsey Marvel, who had walked into the building after him. Thinking of Manager Gellor, Alex ran out the door.
**
In-room 1503, a young woman had her hands tied with a rope, and her mouth was covered with tape. She leaned against the desk and wanted to run, but she could not getaway. The woman looked at Manager Geller in fear.
"Lindsey, don't be afraid. I'll love you gently. Come into my arms and let me hold you." Philip's eyes sparkled as he looked at her.
He had originally planned to wait until the time was right before he went after Lindsey. However, an hour ago, he had been hiding in his office watching adult movies. When he had seen an interesting part, he had lost control. So, he had run-up to the young woman's room.
He put a Viagra into his mouth and swallowed it.
"Now that I've taken my medicine, I'll be super strong. I'll take you to the big bed." He approached the young woman with a blurred gaze. "You're the prettiest and youngest of my targets, my darling."
He pounced on her.
She was so scared that her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her body. She kicked his legs and quickly dodged him. She continued staring at him in fear.
He stood up while holding onto his leg and looked at her in pain and fury. "Don't do this to me, okay? Why is everyone doing this to me?"
He looked excited.
"You're from the city, right? You're rich, right?" He spoke to her softly. "I can tell you that I came from the countryside… from the poorest and dirtiest part of the countryside."
He paused and slowly carried on, "My dad abandoned my mom and ran away when I was young. When I was six years old, my mom was gone too. I grew up eating scraps, otherwise, I would've starved to death."
Philip continued reflecting on his difficult past. "When I was fourteen years old, I used the little money that I had to take the train for a day and a night to New York. When I arrived, I could only find low-paying jobs. So that's what I did every day. I wanted to find a nice girlfriend too, but the women just laughed at me… they mocked me and ridiculed me. They were really mean to me."
He looked at her intently. "When I was twenty-two, I decided that all women would only ever look down on me. So, I decided to target rich, young, and pretty women. Don't blame me. You can blame those females who had hurt me before."
The more he spoke, the more the unhappy experiences of his past made him believe that these women were able to heal the wounds in his heart.
"Come, let me have a good time, and I'll let you go," he said as he walked toward her.