Empire of Shadows

It sounded very sincere: they could take their family back regardless of whether the meeting resulted in an agreement.

Listening to Bob’s words, the Bearded Director couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter. He hadn’t meant to laugh, but he couldn’t help it.

”Did you know?”

”Everything you just said reminds me of when I was young. To get girls to take off their clothes, I always told them it was my first time, that I was curious and just wanted to see the difference between us.”

He didn’t state anything directly, but he had implicitly answered Bob’s offer.

It took Bob a moment to process the analogy. ”So, what are you trying to say?”

This retort made the Bearded Director laugh again. ”They all say you’re the smartest one in the Perez family. I think they might have overestimated you.”

He paused. ”Can I speak to them?”

Bob was reluctant to agree. He was furious. It was clear that a man he usually wouldn’t even look at was mocking him.

But to eliminate the Police Chief, he had to lure him out of that damned police station, otherwise, he couldn’t touch him.Assassinating the Police Chief inside the station was possible, but the cost was huge. It wasn’t something a few scapegoats could fix; higher powers would demand accountability, likely requiring the sacrifice of one or two politically valuable figures to appease them.

So, he wouldn’t choose that unless absolutely necessary.

Luring the Chief out and killing him was the optimal choice.

He agreed after a brief consideration. Soon, the voices of the Chief’s wife and child came through the receiver.

”Hull, we are... fine. They said you are coming to pick us up later, right?” His wife’s voice was the first to transmit, edged with fearful trembling.

Even without seeing them, the Bearded Director could imagine how helpless and anxious his wife was.

She was likely sitting in a corner of a sofa, clutching the receiver with both hands, or standing with her back to the wall.

The Bearded Director did not speak immediately. After a pause, he asked, ”How is the child?”

”He’s fine. Do you want to talk to him?”

”A little later. I want to know how you were discovered and taken.”

”I remember I instructed you not to leave the villa before you departed.”

At this, his wife couldn’t help but apologize for indulging their son. ”He was being too loud, rolling on the floor and demanding to go out. I couldn’t bear the noise, and I thought we’d only be out for a little while, so I took him out.”

Listening to his wife describe what followed, the Bearded Director sighed deeply. ”The first thing you should have done was slap him and make him calm down, not let him get his way! You put him in danger! I told you this before.”

Excessive pampering wasn’t the first time his wife had done this.

The Bearded Director’s family was very well off. Although the Perez family didn’t respect him much, his monthly income was paid in full.

Compared to others, like the Mayor or City Council members, his income wasn’t high, but compared to ordinary people, it was substantial.

The money meant they never worried about expenses. His wife, a full-time mother, had a closer bond with the child and wasn’t a strong-willed person.

Every time the child used intense emotional outbursts to demand something, his wife eventually gave in. He had spoken to her about this before, about not letting the child run things.

She always promised to change but never did.

The Bearded Director wiped his face. ”I’m sorry. This is my fault. I noticed the problem a long time ago, but I never managed to change you.”

His wife didn’t understand why he was suddenly apologizing and didn’t take the bait.

At that moment, his son’s voice came through the receiver. ”Is that Dad?”

”I want to talk to Dad! I want to talk to Dad! Give me the phone, give it to me!”

His wife’s hushed scolding and his son’s persistent whining could be heard. In the past, the Chief would have angrily scolded them, but now, he just listened quietly for a moment, then told his wife to give the phone to his son.

The child didn’t know what had happened. Perhaps because his mother or others had emphasized his father’s role as Police Chief while he was growing up, he didn’t fear the Perez family men.

He believed that once he reached his father, his father would make these people pay.

After all, his father was a police officer, a hero who specialized in fighting bad guys.

”Dad, when are you coming to pick us up?” The childish voice held a naïve clarity, suggesting he was unaware of the danger.

The Bearded Director hummed. ”Soon. Everything will be fine soon.”

”You need to listen to your mother, understood?”

The child was always obedient in front of his father, knowing who had the final say at home. ”I know, I’ll be good.”

Just as he had promised his father before leaving, he would listen to his mother, but he had ultimately failed.

”Give the phone back to your mother. I have a few more words to say.”

The receiver returned to his wife’s hands. Neither spoke. After seven or eight seconds, the Bearded Director spoke again. ”I’m sorry.”

”No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry,” his wife quickly corrected him. If she hadn’t indulged the child, this wouldn’t have happened.

She didn’t realize that the Chief’s apology was not for past mistakes, but for what was about to happen.

He didn’t know if his wife understood, but he continued to comfort her. ”Everything will be fine. Look after the child. I will figure things out as soon as possible.”

Perhaps Bob thought they had spoken long enough. He walked up to the wife and took the phone from her hand.

”Now, have you made a decision?”

Bob’s face was triumphant. He had anticipated that the Bearded Director would eventually take the risk for his family.

But ultimately, this decision would cost him his life.

”F*** you.”

”What?” Bob looked incredulous, his tone full of feigned surprise. ”What the hell did you just say?”

”I said, F you, you son of a bitch. I swear you are dead, Bob!*”

”I will ask Lance, I’ll make him leave you and your family for me. I will kill them, little by little, in front of you, to avenge my wife and child!”

”I swear!”

He slammed the phone down, giving Bob no chance to reply or maneuver.

He couldn’t sacrifice his own life for his wife and child because he knew that even if he went, his family wouldn’t survive, and he would die pointlessly.

Since they were going to die anyway, he could only offer them his apology.

The Bearded Director was pragmatic. His willingness to serve the Perez family but then collaborate with Lance showed his pragmatism. He was a man who weighed pros and cons; he wouldn’t invest in a losing project.

Bob looked at the receiver, dumbfounded. He looked at the wife and child in the room, still unable to comprehend the Chief’s decision.

The Bearded Director’s wife still didn’t know what had happened, only looking down fearfully. She didn’t know Bob’s rage was about to consume them!

Bob’s mind raced. He had a sudden realization: the Bearded Director was forcing him to kill his wife and child.

The loss of control infuriated him. His eyes became dangerous.

The child, perhaps sensing the man’s hostility, suddenly kicked Bob’s leg forcefully.

Though just a child, the boy’s heavy leather shoe, combined with his full force, nearly made Bob fall onto the table.

”Shit!”

He roared, glaring viciously at the small boy who had caused the trouble and was now hiding behind his mother, making a face at him. The rage twisting his expression was now utterly out of control.

He shoved the woman aside and lunged, kicking the child. A child could not withstand the full force of an enraged adult man.

The Bearded Director’s wife froze, then screamed, rushing to stop Bob, but Bob slapped her hard. She immediately bit down on Bob’s arm.

The pain in his leg and arm, combined with the Chief’s ”loss of control,” caused his emotions, strained by the prolonged pressure, to completely break down!

The boy, kicked onto the floor, scrambled up and attacked Bob with punches and kicks, screaming at him to let his mother go. This ignited the final spark of Bob’s fury!

He pulled out the gun from his waistband and fired at the annoying child.

The gunshot startled the wife. She looked down at her child, who was still on the floor and looked confused. As she tried to reach him, the next second, a bullet entered the side of her skull and exited the other side, taking a chunk of bone the size of an egg with it.

Bob, still furious, fired several more shots into the two bodies on the ground until his gun was empty.

Watching the blood soak the carpet, he looked down at the bleeding bite mark on his arm and the swollen bruise on his leg. He cursed again, ”F***!” before walking to the side and sitting down.

”Get me a doctor, dammit! That disgusting bitch bit my arm open!” He glared viciously at the two corpses. ”Get them out of here! And make sure that damned old dog knows the consequences of offending us!”

Everything happened so fast that his subordinates hadn’t even reacted before it was over.

They looked at the two corpses, then at Bob. Under Bob’s furious, ”Are you going to move or not?!” they all started working.

The bodies were quickly removed. A doctor arrived and examined Bob’s arm. Frowning, he said, ”The bite is deep. Bear with it. I need to clean and stitch the wound.”

He had a nurse hold Bob’s arm while he poured hydrogen peroxide into the wound, swabbing the internal tissues.

Bob cried out in pain and swore violently, but the cleaning process was swift. The doctor then began stitching the wound.

It was clear the Chief’s wife bit him with real intent. If she hadn’t been a woman, or if Bob hadn’t been so robust, she might have actually torn a piece of flesh off!

The stitching process was equally painful. The doctor avoided using anesthetic to ensure faster healing.

In front of his subordinates, Bob had no choice but to endure it, trying to maintain the image of a major gang figure who could withstand pain, not a small-time player who couldn’t handle discomfort.

This reinforced his decision to eliminate the Bearded Director entirely—he needed to ensure the whole family was eliminated!

Meanwhile, the Bearded Director called Lance and told him not to search anymore; his family was in Bob’s hands.

Lance was not surprised. Even with the State Police’s involvement, it would have been difficult to intercept the kidnappers in time.

”What do you plan to do? Do you want me to try and get them back?” Lance, as a friend, offered a ”standard answer.”

The Bearded Director refused. ”No need. Neither you nor I know where they are, and even if we did, we might not be able to get them back.”

”I spoke with Bob. He can do whatever he wants, including killing them.”

”Lance, I don’t need you to risk anything for me. I only have one request.”

Lance paused for a few seconds. ”Go ahead.”

”If—and I mean if—you win this war, I want you to hand Bob and his family over to me for disposal!”

Lance did not refuse. This was beneficial to him. ”No problem. I guarantee they’re yours if I catch them.”