17

Carter Real Estate Company was one of the largest in San Diego and it had its offices in Los Angeles.
William, being a man who loves night life, wanted a city that would offer him the life he wanted and that city was LA. Thus, when he took over the leadership of his family’s company after his father, he relocated his offices to Los Angeles although the headquarters remained in San Diego.
Richard had done enough digging and had enough dirt to bury William and the whole of his family a thousand feet below the ground.
What Richard and his people had discovered was that the Carters, didn’t buy houses or land randomly. No. Their victims were carefully selected.
They would look for a person whose house was on mortgage and the person was struggling. They would approve them with an offer of renovating the house, or even building a house at a very cheap price.
With the prices offered, the client would agree and thank God because the deals were always heavenly. Cheap and affordable and the company’s reputation was super.
The Carter people would start the work and then start stalling asking for money for this and that.
Caught up with a sick family member maybe, bills to pay, a mortgage and now a stalling renovation or building that was taking much than promised, the person would be overwhelmed and be unable to pay.
The bank would eventually send a foreclosure notice and when the person was unable to honour that, the ban would send an eviction notice and that was where the Carters would go to the bank and buy the house under foreclosure cheaply.
That was how they were able to own homes all over the fifty states but mostly, their cons revolved around California and Alaska.
Alaska because many people loved owning holiday homes there and not many could afford.
Other than conning helpless Americans out of their homes, the Carters were also involved in illegal gun trafficking and Richard, being Richard with all his expertise and connections, was able to follow the trail and he had all the evidence he needed.
He wasn’t a humanitarian person but he hated when a helpless person was treated unfairly. He was a believer of people playing at their level.
When he came to make William take that deal, he wanted to take over the company and find ways of compensating all those who had been cheated off their homes but he was also to get William on the gun trafficking charges.
But when William refused, it made things all the way merrier.
He thus contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations and sent them all the evidence they needed to bring down the Carter family.
This was done efficiently because the person who called the FBI was a renown CIA agent named the Dragon.
This man was faceless but every law and order keeper had heard of him.
The FBI thus new that the Dragon wouldn’t just send them evidence without having investigated everything and thoroughly.
This was like handing the FBI the Carters heads on a silver platter. All the work had been done for them.
The files that had been sent had dates of past and future shipments and plans. They had detailed trails of where the guns were bought from, where they were kept and how they were transported.
It was like the person who investigated was an insider. They knew everything the Carter family was doing.
Thus, when the FBI raided the Carter offices both in LA and San Diego, they weren’t there to try their luck. No, they were there for concrete evidence which they clearly knew where it was.
The guns were hiding along the walls of the San Diego offices. The report had detailed description of the walls that slid aside or up if one pressed the right place on the office tables and chairs.
While William was on the hospital having his jaw fixed, the FBI were holding a very fruitful raid in the Carter headquarters in SD.
Williams father, Mr Billy, couldn’t find him on the phone and that was when he decided to call Williams wife, Cassy.
When she told him where he was and everything that had happened, it was clear who was behind all this.
There was only one thing to do – get on the next plane to Washington DC and go see the Armstrong patriarch. Maybe, just maybe, the Armstrong family would spare them.
What Billy didn’t understand was how William ended up getting on the Dragon Empire’s bad side. The who was who in the business world in the states knew better than to cross the Dragon Empire.
He could have given his idiot son an earful if Cassy hadn’t told her that he was in the hospital undergoing an emergency jaw operation.
Even without letting anyone know, Billy took his body guards and flew to DC. He was hoping that his meeting with Drake, the Armstrong patriarch, would be fruitful.
When he arrived in DC, Richard had already arrived because he knew he wasn’t needed in California to make the Parkers and Carters bow.
He thus left cash to do the rest and from the reports he was getting, it was all going as planned.
When Billy landed in Dulles airport, he didn’t know where to start. But one thing was clear. He had to suck up to the old man if he wanted to be heard.
He thus, despite the jet lag, but it wasn’t so bad for him for he had flown severally throughout his life and had been used to it, he went to Ariel Mall to buy a gift for the old man.
He wondered what to buy fie the old man.
The problem with the rich was that they had everything. Thus, when buying a gift for them, one had to look not only at the prize but at the value and meaning behind the gift.
Billy thus just went around the mall looking around hit really sure that he would get any gift worthy the Armstrong patriarch.
As he was just walking around and taking a peak in this shop and that, he saw a Chinese jewelry shop that dealt with all types of jewelry.
He walked inside and an attendant was there to serve him.
“Welcome to Xiao Zan’s Jewelry sir. Do you have anything in mind or would you like a tour?” The girl, who was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono asked politely.
“Can you take me around as you introduce me to your most expensive jewelry please,” Billy said and the girl smiled as she showed the way.
“This way sir. That would be in level four,” she said.
‘Today’s commission won’t be bad,’ she thought as she led Billy and his men to the level of the shop where the most expensive and valuable jewels were kept.
“Here, sir, you will find the most expensive Chinese jewels. Every jewel here has a history. For example, this ring, was once Genghis Khan’s. It is beloved that it was blessed by a monk explaining why he won so many battles.
This necklace, as you can see, it had a pendant with the yang and ying symbols. This one belonged to King Wen Xi of the Qing Empire. It is only this one in the whole world,” the attendant introduced the jewels as Billy listened.
“And this?” Billy asked referring to a bracelet that was encased in a glass box that he knew was clearly bullet proof.
“Oh, good eye sir. This is a bracelet made from the pearls that are believed to come from mermaids. It is believed to have powers that give one vitality, good health and good karma. The good karma is because the bracelet, after it was designed and made, was blessed by Wei Tingxiao the monk.
I’m sure anyone with even a little knowledge of China knows Monk Wei. He is one of the oldest and holiest Buddha monks in Asia.
As you can see,” she said as she held the box up to reflect light, “it is usually pearly grey in room temperature and subtle light. But when exposed to light, it turns pearly white and when exposed to heat like the sun, it turns magenta.
This symbolises the states of nature. Pearly grey, ying, the male energy, pearly while, yang, the female energy to balance it. And magenta means that they are balanced and the wearer is blessed. He is one with nature,” she said with a smile and Billy smiled at her.
“I will take that one. It’s for an old person and I am sure he will be happy,” Billy said and the girl smiled.
“Good choice sir. It is good for the elderly because it will give them vitality. Advice him to wear it always for good results,” she said as she walked back to the cashier and handed her the box.
“Should it be gift wrapped sir?” The girl asked and Billy smiled as affirmation.
“That would be eight thousand and two hundred dollars sir,” the cashier said as she handed the sales lady the bracelet after getting it out of the glass box for wrapping.
Billy smiled as he took out his wallet. He produced a platinum card and gave it to the cashier. She swiped it and frowned as she tries again.
“What’s wrong?” Billy asked with a bad premonition in his gut.
“Sir, your card has been declined,” the cashier said as she tried yet again.
“What? Try this,” Billy said as he gave the cashier another card and that too, was declined.
He looked thoughtful for a while and that was when it dawned on him. The FBI must have frozen their assets.
Good thing was that he always carried cash as a contingency plan. He thus looked at the guard who was carrying the briefcase with at least a hundred thousand dollars indicating die him to pay.
The man paid and after being given the pamphlet with the bracelet’s history, the receipt and the wrapped bracelet, they left.
He wanted to wait until the following day to talk to old man Drake but with what had happened, he knew he had to do it urgently.
If he wasn’t careful, he knew that the FBI might think he was running and issue a warrant for his arrest. He thus had to talk to Drake and get back to California.
He thus asked the driver of their rental car to take him to the Armstrong residence in Great Falls because the earlier the better.
He, like William, couldn’t imagine losing their family’s legacy. He didn’t know what he would tell his ancestors if the company went down during his tenure.
He just hoped that drake would be willing to give him an ear even if for five minutes.