After sending the poisoned men away in the ambulance, Alex took a few moments to think about how different medicine was from martial arts.
Martial arts involved working to knock someone down with one punch, but medical practitioners couldn't always do that. The enemy—in this case, diseases or injuries—often needed several hits to knock them out. Additionally, medicine required a lot more thinking.
Alex decided to give Will a call and ask him to investigate the men who had just tried to blackmail the clinic.
Half an hour later, Will drove up in a fancy sports car and stopped at the door of the Woodside Clinic.
Alex trusted Will completely, and it went both ways.
Will thought Alex understood him better than his own father, and he regarded Alex as a leader.
"I've got the information you requested," Will said. "The old man's name is Teddy Hanson. He has advanced cancer, bilateral kidney necrosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, and all kinds of other diseases. He could die any day now."
Alex nodded. Other than the name, he had known all that already.
Will continued, "But I couldn't find any information why he would have a grudge against you. I think he was just doing it for the money. In fact, I discovered his son's account now has a lot more money in it than it did a few days ago. After some digging, it looks like the money was transferred in from someone named Bobby Harding. That's the man who brought Teddy in."
Will threw a report to Alex and said, "There is definitely someone behind all this. Want to take a guess at who it is?"
Alex shook his head. "I have too many enemies. It could be any of them."
"According to my preliminary investigation, it looks like Ferdinand Thornton is involved, and likely others. Enemies do have a tendency to unite against a common foe."
Alex frowned as he thought, Just what I need, all my enemies banding together to come after me.
Will guessed what Alex was thinking and said, "You do have a knack for offending people. You ran the Baltimore Martial Arts Association, and the others felt threatened. Now, you're running a medical clinic, and they've decided to take revenge against you."
Will shook his head and continued, "Teddy and Bobby are well-known local ruffians. They gamble, fight, drink, and womanize. They're always in debt, and it's no surprise the Thorntons could bribe them to blackmail you."
Alex sighed.
"But we're strong," Will said, staring keenly at Alex. "We are already a force to be reckoned with in Baltimore. The Thorntons still can't see the situation clearly. Just give me the word, and we can take them out. Then we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore."
Alex narrowed his eyes as he thought about what Will had just said. "Ferdinand Thornton does think too highly of himself," he said. "Besides, he was already reprimanded by the Baltimore Martial Arts Association. He blames me for that, so of course he's mad." Alex paused, and then shook his head, saying, "But it doesn't matter. Before this, I could have simply trampled them. Now, I will crush them."
In reality, Alex had wanted to leave the matter alone, but now that he was being bullied, he had to take action.
"Don't take it too lightly," Will warned. "Although the Thornton family's power has been greatly reduced, they're still dangerous. You can't fight them face to face, so you might need to crush them another way."
Alex smiled, lost in thought.
"In fact, you really don't have to do it yourself," Will said. "I can take care of him."
"You?" Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Do you really think you're a match for Ferdinand? You're a great fighter, but he'll beat you in any fight."
Alex paused, still deep in thought. Finally, he said, "No, it's not about fighting and killing. It's about the bigger picture. We need to find a way to take him down a few notches, and then we can fight him."
Will was confused. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Go back and start practicing your martial arts," Alex said. "Forget about killing anyone. Practice your jabs and kicks. When you think you're ready, come back to me." With a nod, he walked back into the clinic and closed the door.
Will was confused and followed Alex inside. Before he knew what was happening, Alex attacked him, his hands coming at Will so quickly they were like lightning.
"Hey!" Will yelled, extremely frightened. He didn't know what was happening. He tried to dodge, but Alex had him in a neck lock, and he couldn't get away.
"Will," Alex said faintly. "Do you see what I mean? Do you remember what this move is?"
He let go of Will and repeated the maneuver, demonstrating the moves more slowly. Then, Alex let Will have a go at him. They sparred for a while before Alex finally broke off.
"See? You need practice," Alex said. "You'll get there. I can see your potential, but you still have a lot to learn."
"Thank you!" Will was overjoyed. He knew Alex didn't think he had a good command of martial arts, so he would practice harder. He would prove to Alex that he was capable of mastering martial arts.
"Should I call you master now?" Will asked as he got ready to leave.
"I'll think about it." For the first time, Alex didn't refuse, but he didn't agree either.
Will simply smiled and left.
**
Alex had to leave the clinic for a while. When he left, he called Will and asked him to send Jeffrey, Edward, and some others to the clinic to help protect it while he was away.
Without Kendall's ability to act as security, the clinic would have been in danger earlier, so it clearly needed protection.
As he traveled, Alex thought about whether there would be a lot of trouble at the clinic in the future. There were certainly local ruffians and hooligans at large. The Murdoch family, who had had some pull in the pharmaceuticals industry, had been forced to back off and had paid Alex compensation, so they should be quiet for a while.
Tired of thinking about it, Alex went directly to the sales office of Birchwood House. Now that he was the head of the place, he wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything important while he had been gone.
As soon as he walked inside, he heard an arrogant man talking with one of the sales associates. "I want to buy a villa here. How much is it?"
Alex turned back to look at who was talking, and he almost laughed aloud. The arrogant voice had come from Ferdinand Thornton, the very man Alex had wanted to find. Unexpectedly, Ferdinand had come to Birchwood House to buy a property. How fortuitous!
But it wasn't all that surprising when he thought about it. After all, it wasn't just Alex's friends and family who wanted to buy houses here, but others were showing interest too, such as investors and celebrities. So, he shouldn't have been shocked to see Ferdinand here.
"How do you do, sir?" the sales associate replied. "We do indeed have villas for sale. In fact, we are running a special."
The associate pulled out several flyers and showed them to Ferdinand. When he saw the prices, even those with special offers, he frowned.
"These prices are ridiculous!" he growled. "These villas are more expensive than houses in the city. Your boss is a greedy bastard."
"Sir, please, our boss is an honest man," the sales associate said, sticking up for her boss. "This is a respected business, and we won't rob you of a cent. If you think the price is unreasonable, then you are welcome to leave."