Chapter 241 - 44: Meeting With An Old Lover?

Tristan got back in the evening and saw Kate sitting on the couch. The TV wasn't on, and the fat cat wasn't with her. She sat up straight and looked at him coldly and strangely.

He knew what happened. He strolled to her and said in a neutral tone, "How was it? Meeting with an old lover?"

Kate stood up and didn't reply. She stared into his eyes and said, "Max's fight was your scheme?"

Tristan stared at her for a few seconds and replied, "Yes."

Kate's heart sank. She had a little expectation that he would deny this.

Tristan looked at her and ridiculed, "The police helped you analyze this?"

The reply to his question was a moment of silence. A slap on her face. It made a loud clap. Before she could feel the pain, Tristan grabbed her wrist and squeezed the words between his teeth, "Are you crazy?"

She had tears in her eyes all of a sudden.

"Why?" she asked softly and then raised her voice, "Why? Because of the dimples on my face?"

Tristan was choked, and before he could speak, he saw her tears drop down, and she questioned, "How old is my brother? He is just a student. You scared him to death."

"Do you know how hard I made the decision to take that way?"

"How could you do that? Because you have money and power, you do whatever you want to decide other people's lives? How could you?"

Kate's voice was scratchy now, and tears fell along her cheeks and dropped on Tristan's heart. Her wrist was still in his hand. He wanted to hug her, but she beat his hand and dodged.

She shouted with derision, "Don't touch me. You make me sick."

Tristan ignored her and pulled her hard into his arms.

Kate struggled with her hands and feet, like a bird fighting to get free at the cost of its feathers. Tristan held her in his arms from behind and controlled her arms and waist. He yelled to her, "Kate! Stop."

She didn't listen to him and was still twisting her body to get loose. He called her "Lucy…"

Kate shivered and retorted with a husky voice, "Don't call me Lucy. I am not your cat."

She took a few breaths and said with an even huskier voice, "That cat was raised by her?" Laura said the cat was not young. She had seen its record. It was ten years old.

Tristan didn't reply.

Kate didn't think about it when Laura had told her. She just thought that was a coincidence. Now she felt sad. What kind of life had she been involved in?

Just because of her dimples? And the same name as a cat?

This revelation was like a small needle stabbing her heart. Her emotions were like a deflated balloon, shrinking immediately. Her strained body also softened down and relaxed, but Tristan still held her in his arms.

So they just stood there in the living room in awkward positions. After a moment, Kate asked suddenly, "How many people have you killed?"

She felt the arms around her stiffen.

She closed her eyes and said, "Let me go."

"Don't even imagine it."

"If you don't let me go, I will tell you."

"Unless you don't want the lives of your families affected."

He sounded calm, and the threat held the same power. Kate laughed and said, "We are poor people. It is worthy of using our lives to exchange yours."

Tristan seemed to lose his patience. He turned her back by the shoulders, suddenly forcing her to face him.

His expression was so evil like she had not seen before, and his voice icy as ever, "I let you vent out because you are upset, but you don't push your luck. Don't you ever think of negotiating with me or threatening me? You think about what cards you have to play before doing that."

Kate was shocked by his shouts, and she saw the frenzy in his eyes, "You are right. I am not a nice guy. Don't forget the first time you saw me. Do you need me to help you recall that?"

And before Kate could make any response to ease off, he carried her into the bathroom and put her upper body into the tub, and started to open the tap.

His action was so experienced, and Kate recognized his attempt. She fought, but how could she outdo his strength. The water in the tub was rising.

She tried to tilt her face and raise her head. Her two hands grabbed his arms tightly and pressed against him to resist the force to press her down.

After Tristan opened the water, he pressed her down with his hands and stared into her face. Her hair was messy and wet; some was stuck on her face.

Kate's eyes were bright and widened. No more tears in her eyes now, only stubbornness and indomitable courage. Her fingers had pierced Tristan's skin even though his arms were covered in fabric.

They fought in silence. The only sound was running water. Time was passing second by second, and the surface of the water was rising inch by inch. Soon it would drown her. Kate's pale earlobes had been immersed by water.

"Scared?" Tristan asked calmly after she began hyperventilating.

Kate didn't answer, not knowing whether it was because of contempt or an attempt to conserve her strength.

"It is a little progress to be scared." Tristan released his hand, and her body sprang out of the water and splashed water out of the tub. She lost her balance and fell on the floor. Tristan sat on the floor, too, ignoring his pricey suits that were doused by the water on the floor.

They were both breathing heavily, but Kate was breathing more vehemently, with the complicated emotions from returning from hell.

Later, Tristan's hand sought her face. She didn't dodge this time and allowed him to rub his palm against her cheeks.

He pulled her softly up to his arm, lifted her face, and started to kiss her.

First, he touched her lips carefully with his, and later his tongue probed into her mouth and s.u.c.k.e.d, and then swept violently.

The tub was ignored, and the water was still filling it. The sound of the running water covered the sound they made with their tongues and mouth water and also covered the m.o.a.ning and panting afterward.

****

The authorities soon cracked down on Henry Texton. After he was fired, he further indulged in gambling and had to borrow money from illegal private banks. He could not return the loan at the deadline and borrowed more from other banks to pay off the previous ones. Finally, one of the irritated loan sharks shot him.

And it was such a coincidence that among the guys arrested for battery in the alley near the college, one of them worked for that very bank. He confessed to ordering the hit on Henry.

The illegal banks were the targets of the police investigation this time, and his boss fled before the fighting happened.

The case was closed, but Jimmy still did not feel right. He talked to his Captain in private to confide his doubts. He wanted to trace from the lead of Chasin Group because Henry's girlfriend went missing at the same time Henry got shot. And she had asked her friend to help keep a CD containing Chasin Group data.

The Captain asked, "Where is the evidence? Witness?"

Jimmy thought of Kate's concerns and could not reply.

The Captain said earnestly, "Now is the critical moment to crack the gangs. We need to focus on this task. Stop chasing these vaporous rumors. Besides, with anything related to the Chasin Group, we have to be very cautious. Now even the Mayor has to treat them with deference. Last time after the investigation of the anonymous accusation letter, our chief had to call him personally to pacify the matter."

"Anonymous accusation letter?"

Captain waved his hand and said, "It has nothing to do with us. It has been proved that it was framing and layout of thin air."

"Or maybe not," Jimmy muttered.

Captain gave him a glance, "You know Chasin is the star enterprise of our city. It is now undertaking the World Trade Center project, the landmark building of the city. And they had built the Malady of Sea Square and other charity projects before that. They have a good reputation among LA citizens. And even Mr. Fox is rumored to marry the Mayor's daughter."

He laughed and concluded, "Anyway, that enterprise is a brand of our city."

Seeing Jimmy still frowning and disapproving, Captain patted him on the shoulder, "Jimmy, your performance is excellent after you were transferred to the criminal section. I named you to lead the team in this task. Don't make trouble for both you and me."

And he said in an obscure way, "Something we can only do after being instructed."

Jimmy got back to his desk, feeling depressed. He thought of Kate's sad smile and the words she said to him, "I trust you only." His heart was overwhelmed by impotence that he had not felt for quite some time.

He thought of Uncle Jack. Jimmy had worked as a policeman for five years, participated in many cases, and won many prizes. But for this case and the person he cared for most, he could do nothing. He was disheartened.

He opened the drawer again and took out the notebook that he pinned his hopes on.

Tristan got back at about 10 pm and saw Kate was having dinner. She didn't give him a look when he entered. He frowned, "Why do you eat so late?"

Laura, who was serving the dishes, looked awkward. He understood immediately. Kate was having a tantrum.

After the outbreak of the day before, she started a cold war of non-violence protest. It was not acute, but she kept him aware of her bad mood or even fury all the time.

The food was rich.

Tristan sat down and asked Laura to bring him a set of plates and cutlery. He had a meeting on the project progress, and the food he had ordered was cold. He felt uncomfortable in his stomach lately, so he didn't eat much of it.

Kate bent down her head and focused on the plate in front of her. Tristan didn't care.

He moved the roasted chicken closer to him and cut a big piece from it. Soon he found that she would not touch any food he moved close to him. She would take from the plate that was close to her only.

He moved almost all food closer to himself one by one on impulse. When she reached out her hand for the croissants in the basket that was closest to her a few seconds ago, she found it was gone. She put down the fork and stood up to leave.

Tristan said coldly, "Finish what is on your plate. My food is not to be wasted."

She stood for a few seconds and stared at him silently. Then she sat down and finished the remained vegetables on her plate and then left.