Chapter 41 - Chapter 41. The Alliance

The Alliance"That's okay, Drake. How could you have known it was me?" Kevin calmly sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee."Mr. Williams, I had no idea that you were eating here today. Unfortunately, we're not prepared for you. Would you like me to set up one of the upstairs rooms for you?" Drake asked politely.Blair and his guests couldn't believe their ears. They had never been offered one of the upstairs private rooms. The highest they ever got was the third floor. Only the most influential people in Chicago were invited upstairs."Not today, thanks," Kevin casually replied."Alright, Mr. Williams, since you're okay with this room, I won't force you." After saying this, Drake immediately turned around and said to one of his brawny bodyguards, "Go and tell the manager in the lobby downstairs to make arrangements. All the expenses in this room are on the house!"The group had no idea what to think. They'd just spent a half an hour being rude to Kevin and now Drake was treating him like royalty. As the man was walking out of the room to carry out Drake's instructions, Kevin suddenly put down his coffee cup."Wait!" Kevin said amiably, "I only drank half a cup of coffee. Just ask him to comp my coffee!"Then Kevin slowly stood up and glanced at Blair, who was standing there in shock. He chuckled quietly and left the room."Go on back to work, Drake. I'm going to take a stroll," Kevin said nonchalantly."Okay, Mr. Williams. Enjoy your walk. If you need anything, just let me know!" Drake gestured for his men to follow him out of the room.A moment later, Officer Emmett sped out of the room and ran after Kevin."Kevin, where are you going?" she asked in embarrassment."I'm going home!" Kevin answered her indifferently."Why don't I take you home?" Officer Emmett offered. "I'm really sorry for all this. I didn't expect it to get so unpleasant!"It's no big deal. They're just a bunch of rich, spoiled brats," Kevin said very calmly.Officer Emmett seemed happy to hear that he was taking it so well."Thank you so much. I can't let you take a taxi home. Let me give you a rideI!" Officer Emmett said cheerfully.Kevin nodded his head and said, "Okay."Kevin and Officer Emmett had just gotten to the parking lot when Blair ran over to them."Kelly, what are you doing?" Blair asked in confusion.Then he glared at Kevin. He figured Drake had been so nice to him because he was related to Grandma Jones. Blair knew that Mitchell Cook had given Grandma a birthday present, so it made sense for them to be welcoming to Kevin."I'm taking Kevin home. You know, I brought him here to help you. After all this, I can't just leave him here without a ride," Officer Emmett explained. It was clear that she was pissed at him.When Blair heard this, he got a little angry. "Kelly, what do you mean? How can this loser be your friend? You'd better go back inside right now."Officer Emmett gave Blair a nasty look and said to Kevin, "Ignore him, let's go!"Just then, a long black car with tinted windows screeched to a stop in front of them. The door opened and someone fired what must have been tranquilizer darts at them."Not good!" Kevin thought to himself, but before he could react, he felt the world spinning as he fell heavily to the ground.The three of them woke up one after another in what looked like the basement of an industrial building. They weren't sure how long they'd been there. A few bare light bulbs were giving off a dim yellow light. Kevin got up and looked through the tiny window of the heavy steel door and saw five or six burly men standing guard not far away."Do you know who I am? Hurry up and let us go, or I'll make you suffer!" Blair shouted as he pounded on the door."What are you yelling about?" One of the men said impatiently."Hurry up and let me go!" Blair roared loudly.Suddenly, one of the other men barked, "Pull him out!"Moments later, two strong men opened the iron door and pulled Blair out of the room.Kevin wanted to take this opportunity to fight back, but realized that he was still under the effects of the tranquilizer. He felt too weak to do anything right now."Let me go!" Blair said as he struggled with all his might.A second later, a man dressed in black from head to toe punched him hard on the jaw, knocking out a couple of his teeth. Blood instantly began pouring out of his mouth.Then he punched Blair in the stomach. He collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain."That should calm him down!" The man said with disdain."Who do you people think you are?" Officer Emmett asked indignantly, "I'm a lieutenant at the 30th district station."One of the men walked into the room and said menacingly, "We know who you are, Officer Emmett. That's why you're here!"You know me?" Officer Emmett asked in confusion."Have you forgotten already? You've captured dozens of my men lately!" Then he added, "The day before yesterday, you were looking everywhere for me."Xavier Marshall." Officer Emmett finally reacted, "From the Alliance? What do you want from me?"Officer Emmett knew they were in trouble. These were desperate criminals.Kevin, wondered, "What's the Alliance?"Marshall took a long look at Kevin and Blair. "Officer Emmett, you must be very happy today. You have very handsome companions."Don't talk nonsense," Blair growled angrily. "I have nothing to do with this useless bastard.""Shut up! I don't care what's going on between you. But as long as you're all here, I may not let you go so easily," Marshall said with an evil smile."Marshall, let them go. I was the one who gave the order for your men to be arrested. It's my responsibility, not theirs!" Officer Emmett pleaded with him. She knew very well what kind of dangerous organization the Alliance was.They were cruel and often cold-blooded in their methods. And her department had been trying to stop them for years. But she had no idea what to do to get out of this mess."She's right," Blair said. "This obviously is between the two of you, not me. Let me go and I'll pay you whatever you want!" Blair was panicked when he realized the men were from the Alliance."How much can you give me?" Marshall sneered. Then he said, "Now that I've captured Officer Emmett, I'm in a good mood. So I'll give you a chance. If you can name a price that I like, I'll let you go!"I'll pay five million for Officer Emmett's life and my own!" Blair quickly replied."Five million? Do you really think that's enough?" Then Marshall smiled cruelly. "Anyway, I didn't say that Officer Emmett's life was part of the deal!"Then, Marshall turned around and looked at Kevin. "Since you're friends with them, I figure you're not too poor yourself. Tell me, how much money would you pay in exchange for your life?"When Kevin heard this, he clenched his fist. He never thought that Marshall would ask him this kind of question."He's just a freeloader, and he doesn't have any money at all," Blair told him. "And I'm not friends with him either." He paused for a moment and then made another offer. "If you don't think five million is enough, I'll give you another million. Just let me go."When Officer Emmett heard Blair say this, her heart sank.Kevin looked at Marshall and he could tell that the man didn't care what happened to them. He said to himself, "I don't think he plans to let us go at all."Marshall looked at Kevin and said, "Well, I guess money isn't everything. You can't blame me for asking!"Then he said to one of his men, "Take him outside. Toss him in the lake when you're done with him!"Blair got excited when he heard that. He thought that Marshall was going to accept his offer and only kill Kevin.As soon as they let him go, he'd call the police to rescue Officer Emmett. She'd have to be grateful to him for that.Suddenly, Kevin said very calmly, "Wait, I don't have six million dollars, but you may be interested in my ring!"Kevin showed him the ring he had taken from Dominic Archer.Kevin had a feeling that there was something special about the ring, but he didn't know exactly what it was.The only thing he was sure of was that it was an antique, and it was worth a lot of money.But if he couldn't figure out its secret then it would be useless to him. He might as well just give the ring to Marshall in exchange for his life.As Marshall took a good look at the ring, his face grew more and more serious."Where did you get this ring from?" he asked. He had a feeling he knew, but he just had to be sure.Seeing Marshall's reaction, Kevin decided to string him along."Where did the ring come from? Do you really need me to explain it to you?" Kevin pretended to be cold. It took all his courage to push this as far as he could.Blair, who was standing next to Kevin, got upset by his behavior. "What are you doing? If you piss him off, he'll kill us all."When Marshall heard this, he turned to Blair and snarled, "If you say another word, I'll cut out your tongue."That made Blair shut up right away. But he continued to glare at Kevin.Marshall turned his attention back to Kevin, "Of course I need an explanation."Kevin seemed to be the only one who noticed how jittery Marshall seemed to be."It's always been mine," Kevin said in a tone that made Marshall's blood run cold.When Marshall heard this, he looked like he'd been slapped in the face. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.Then Kevin looked Marshall straight in the eye, but didn't say a word.Marshall immediately understood. He said, "Take him to the next room. I want to interrogate him properly."Blair saw that Marshall was about to leave. He struggled to stand up and said, "Let me go. I promise that as long as I leave, I'll send someone to deliver six million dollars to you."Work him over," Marshall said to his men. Then he turned around and left the cell.Two strong men escorted Kevin to the next room. When Kevin reached the door, he saw a few men beating Blair up. It wasn't a pretty sight.When they got to the other room, Marshall asked the two men to leave. As soon as the door was closed, the frightened man turned to Kevin and said, "I'm sorry, sir. I had no idea who you were!"