55

Richard was done with people thinking that they could do whatever they wanted with his businesses and his personal life.
He wondered where they got even an inkling that he was a weakling after disappearing for five years.
So, even if he had asked May to set up a fake auction for truffles to catch the thief, he still wanted to work on it by himself.
He wanted to keep reminding these people that he was back and he wasn’t gonna standby and watch as they disrespected him.
It was time they realized that Zeus still ran the streets of DC.
You stay out of his way and he does the same for you and you trample on his dignity and he makes sure that you won’t live to do it tomorrow or to even think of doing it.
He also discovered that he had become softer since he had become a father.
If it was before, he would have, for instance, killed Cassy a long time ago.
The reason why he had taken pity on her was because she gave him the opportunity to be called a father.
He had gotten rid of her and if he could do so to the mother of his child, what of those who did not have any type of a connection with and to him?
He dropped Macy at her apartment building as she had requested but he knew that she would hide from him.
He knew how to read people and he could tell that that kiss had really rattled her.
He had also done his own investigations on her and he knew that since Angela took the man she loved, she hadn’t ever been in another relationship.
He hadn’t really done an in depth investigation on her because he didn’t think it necessary.
He just wanted to learn about her on the things she couldn’t tell him.
He wanted to know how and who she was so that he could know how to treat her better.
Why? He also didn’t have an answer to that question.
All he knew was that he wanted to treat her better than anyone else.
After dropping her, he got into investigating who really had the guts to intercept his truffles at the airport.
Withing two days, May had already organized the auction and Richard went there as himself.
He knew that since May’s auction wasn’t legal and she had organized it in the underground world of the mafia lords who ran such illegal businesses, the thief would definetly show up.
They loved such underground dealings where they knew clean people did not attend.
The auction worked two ways; there were truffles to be auctioned by the house and anyone could come with theirs and they would also be auctioned and the person would pay the organizers a certain amount for the work done.
At eight in the evening, people started streaming into the auction hall.
It was held in a building that housed several banks and law firms in the eighteenth mezzanine floor.
Here, no one would be able to tell that anything illegal was going down.
This floor had so many rooms that for someone new, it looked like a maze.
No one knew the person who had rented the floor and it was only used a few times a year.
But for the building owner and the agency that dealt with renting the rooms in the building, theirs was to make sure that all tenants paid on time and that there was no illegal business going on there… Or so they thought.
This evening, men and women who were expensively dressed would take the stairs to the third floor, take a special elevator to the seventeenth floor and walk the two flights up to the eighteenth floor and then another short elevator journey that left them down at the mezzanine floor.
It was like going in a spiral but they did not have to know that. These guys did not even know where the elevator that was not displaying any floor numbers took them after the third floor.
There were well dressed girls in black business skirt suits who were there to escort them.
At the third floor before taking the elevator, there was a special clear card that one had to produce.
The ladies had a torch that produced blue light.
They would look at the card using that torch and it was supposed to show the card holder’s auction clearance special identity.
After that, one was to go up to the eighteen th floor where before being led to the elevator that led to the mezzanine floor, they produced another card that showed a number.
This number was the seat someone had booked and the room.
The seat number also depended on how much one had paid.
VIPs sat at the front with the goodies and the others sat at the back.
All weapons and such were left with the ladies at the third floor and another frisking was done before being led to the room where the auction was to be held.
VIPs sat in the room with the goodies while the others watched the auction through screens in their rooms according to the numbers.
After all twenty guests had arrived, the first bag was brought and a taster was called.
He opened the bag and took out a well browned truffle at random that looked like the colour of the earth.
He smelled at it and showed a satisfied reaction with a small smile.
He then took a small knife from the table and cut the truffle and showed it to the cameras.
It was well rippen and he cut a thin slice and smelled it first as he held it with tongs and then tasted.
He shook his head and in satisfaction and then showed a thumbs up to the cameras.
After that, the MC started the auction by weighing the bag before the cameras.
“Twenty pounds.
More than you can find in one sitting.
Twenty pounds and the opening bid is two thousand per pound.
As you have noticed, these are special Italian white truffles harvested in a well kept garden in France.
Yes there is the first bidder number three.
Number three… Who wants to… Oh, there, number fifteen in room five bids two thousand three hundred per pound.
Two thousand three hundred… Two thousand three… Oh, number one. Number one bids three thousand… Three thousand by number one. These are fresh goods that will be liked bu customers who know what good food tastes like,” the MC continued and finally, the first bag that contained the most expensive species of truffles was finally bought at four thousand five hundred dollars per pound.
The auction continued until all the truffles were bought and Richard was called and informed of the man who came with the bag that had the truffles that had been stolen.
What the thief didn’t know was that, if they wanted, they would have tracked the truffles but it wad too much work.
Richard wanted to catch the man at his own grounds so that his disappearance wouldn’t be questioned when people knew that he disappeared in Zeus’ grounds.
The truffles had a tracker in them but I it hadn’t been activated because no one thought that someone would steal from Zeus.
The tracker was activated when the bag was brought near the grounds.
The man with the activation remote was ready and once the people who wanted their black market truffles to be sold brought them, they were able to tell which bag belonged to them.
After the auction was over, the buyers were taken to a special room where they would pay and then pick their goodies and leave.
Those who had brought theirs for the selling were also ushered to another room where they would eat and drink and party as they waited for their earnings.
There was a choice. If someone didn’t want to be recognized by the others, masks were provided for one to wear.
And all of them wore them because no one wanted to be found out in a world where they were dealing with an endangered species of a plant that earned them illegal millions.
They came to work with this person because part of the deal was that she would help them launder the money and she would give them clean money within a week.
Another thing about such auctions was that it was all paid in cash.
There were no cards or cheques because one wouldn’t be able to explain such large transactions if at a they were followed by financial services.
All was done until the last person was left.
He was happily waiting for his name to be called when Richard walked into the room where the man who was happily enjoying a glass of the most expensive gin he had ever tasted was.
Richard unbuttoned the two buttons of his suit jacket and sat down besides the man.
“Hello?” He greeted as he put the bag of truffles on the table.