After getting into the car, Norris Dennis was blindfolded and taken to a villa half an hour later.
When the blindfold was finally removed, Norris squinted against the bright light. Gradually, he could make out a large office chair in front of him, occupied by a man seated upside down, surrounded by tall men in suits.
"Tell me, what should I do with you, Mr. Norris Dennis?" Sean asked in a low voice.
"The money is all there, really! I'm not corrupt!" Norris exclaimed, collapsing to his knees in fear.
"You didn't embezzle anything?" Sean turned his chair around, a smile creeping onto his face as he leaned forward inquisitively.
"I didn't..." Norris stammered, momentarily taken aback before suddenly standing up. "Who are you?!"
"I'm someone who can help you with your troubles!" Sean replied, casually crossing his legs.
"I... What do you want from me?" Norris replied, panic rising in his voice.
"I just like your tough attitude. I hope you can maintain that when the drug criminals come for you," Sean sneered, his tone mocking.
"I... I don't understand what you're talking about," Norris managed to say, confusion clouding his mind.
"You're really helping drug criminals launder money. How bold of you!" Sean taunted.
"You're lying!" Norris shouted, jumping up in outrage and pointing at Sean.
"I really don't like being yelled at," Sean said coolly, raising a hand. Bill and two others moved in to restrain Norris.
"What the hell...!" Norris struggled and yelled, but Bill dragged him backward.
"Don't hit his head or hands; I still need him to work," Sean reminded them with an unsettling calm.
Norris thrashed in vain. "What do you mean, don't hit his head or hands?"
"You can't strike him elsewhere, you idiot," Sean replied, exasperated.
Despite his resistance, Norris was pulled away. Bill gagged him with a towel and pulled his hands behind his back, warning, "Don't break them!"
As he secured Norris, a loud slap echoed through the room. Norris flinched and froze, realizing he had wet himself out of fear. Disgusted, he stopped struggling.
"Take him to the bathroom and give him a good rinse," Sean commanded.
When Norris returned to Sean, he was stripped naked, welts crisscrossing his body, looking half-dead.
"This is too rough," Sean said, staring at Bill in disbelief. "Beating someone like this is excessive!"
"Then how should I do it?" Bill asked, genuinely confused.
"Forget it. I'll show you how interrogation works. There are methods far more terrifying than simple beatings—like electrocution, water torture, slow death... the options are endless," Sean said, counting on his fingers as Norris trembled.
"Mr. Norris, can you tell me the truth now?" Sean pressed.
"I'll tell you whatever you want!" Norris was desperate, feeling utterly defeated. He had never experienced such brutality in his life.
"Very well. What troubles are you facing? I want to compare your information with what I already have. You know I hate being lied to; otherwise, I might just send you to God for a confession," Sean said, nodding encouragingly.
"Okay, I'll talk. I'm dealing with some unreasonable people," Norris surrendered completely.
Sean soon realized the situation was far worse than the information he had received from Lamb. During a recent event hosted by Norris, a woman had died from a drug overdose. Now, the agency representing her was threatening him with legal action unless he paid a hefty sum.
"Did you force her to use?" Sean asked, his tone incredulous.
"No! How could I? There were so many people. It was a party for clients from the West, but who knows what kind of madness that woman was in?" Norris insisted, shaking his head.
"If you didn't force her, then what's the problem?" Sean questioned, perplexed. "Why go to such lengths to transfer the company?"
"If they call the police, I'm finished! I can't explain what happened that night. The drugs were brought by a client, and whether I admit it or not, I'd be done for," Norris lamented.
"See? Why not be a good person like me?" Sean replied, piecing it together.
Norris had laundered money for drug criminals and hosted a party where a female artist died after inhaling drugs brought by them. The agency was now blackmailing him with threats of exposure. Despite his innocence regarding the woman's death, he couldn't reveal the truth without implicating a drug dealer from New Mexico.
If the drug dealer got involved, retaliation was inevitable. Even if the dealer stayed out of it, Norris faced prison time for money laundering. Furthermore, exposing the entire situation could lead to chaos, putting him in even more danger.
This was why he was desperate to sell his company, even at a loss.
However, this didn't mean he was completely broke; he had other plans in mind...
"Now, let's talk about corruption," Sean said, his expression turning cold.
"Uh, that's a separate issue. It has nothing to do with this!" Norris stuttered, his face twitching with anxiety.
"Huh?" Sean scoffed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Bill stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a grin.
"I'll talk! I'll talk..." Norris's voice wavered. He felt cursed to have crossed paths with such ruthless individuals. The fear of being beaten to death was palpable, and even if he survived, he feared the consequences of their wrath.
"I thought Hollywood was no longer an option for me, so I considered relocating. But then, just before I could leave, that group sent over some money..." Norris admitted, his voice trailing off.
Sean's eyes widened in disbelief. "Wait, you actually planned to use the company's transfer to raise funds to placate the agency and prevent them from acting rashly? Then you thought you could secretly blackmail the drug dealer for money while escaping with the company's funds? That's quite the scheme!" Sean exclaimed, genuinely impressed. He gave Norris a thumbs up, his face a mix of admiration and disbelief.
"Good job! I can't believe you thought you could pull that off!"
Norris managed a dry smile, feeling a mix of pride and dread. He had almost succeeded in his plan before being caught up in this nightmare.
"But seriously, who the hell are you?" he asked, bewildered. "Why are you arresting me? I've never seen you before. You barged into my home at night, confronted me with money, slept with my woman right in front of me, and then started beating me! What's going on?!"
Sean leaned back in his chair, contemplating. "You're in deep trouble, Norris, and you're not the only one who will suffer for it. It's time for you to start talking if you want to make it out of here alive."
The tension in the room thickened as Sean's words hung in the air, a clear reminder of the precariousness of Norris's situation. He was caught in a web of crime, and now his only hope lay in how he navigated the perilous waters ahead.