Chapter 2. Terror

Only Sayeno and the middle-aged manager had seen the bottle touch the floor. They were too relieved to have any other thoughts. Lyle, on the other hand, had totally missed the miracle.

"Amazing reflexes, Mister Blaine," Sayeno praised. The manager also came running and was ready to rebuke the careless waiter but Blaine dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"Can't waste a good drink," he said and directly took a sip from the bottle. "Now for the important matter," he waited until Sayeno signaled the manager to give them some privacy. "I heard you are a person with great value."

"Yes sir."

"This is what I need." Blaine made a peace gesture with his right hand then leaned back to take another sip.

"I will certainly arrange what you need," Sayeno confidently said. He looked at his phone before continuing. "My shift ends at 11 so." Quickly, he took out a pen and pulled out a tissue from the napkin holder case on the table. "Let's meet at that place with," he wrote the address with a certain amount of money, "at 11:30." He was worried that Blaine would back off after seeing the amount.

"How far is this place?" Blaine asked.

"Lyle here can get you there within 30 minutes." He excitedly said as he liked the unfazed look on Blaine's faces.

Just as Lyle heard this, his eyes snapped open, and he slowly turned to look at the damn waiter, who smiled encouragingly in response. His eyes turned towards Blaine, who also smiled and passed the tissue.

"I think I will retire for the night after this," Lyle said, but he still looked at the writing on the tissue.

"That's pretty unusual-"

"Yes, I am feeling pretty unusual today," Lyle interrupted Sayeno.

"Can I get you something to eat?" Sayeno asked Blaine.

"No, that will be it. Need to leave now to procure the money." He smiled gently and took out his wallet.

"I will pay," Lyle said. "As a matter of fact, I should pay."

"This wine is really special," Sayeno smiled wryly at Lyle.

"I will pay, you go and get my taxi," Lyle said.

But Sayeno did not move because he had already seen the benevolent man separate a good amount of bills from his purse. Was this a dream? This old forgery of a wine that no one ever drank was worth this much?

"Are you sure Mister Blaine?"

"Well, I don't have much since I paid the exact amount to this man," Blaine said while smiling at Lyle.

"What!" Lyle quickly counted the bills handed over to him. "7,000 dollars and he still wants to call it a night?" Sayeno looked at Lyle with shock seeping into his bones. "What the fuck, what the fuck man?" Sayeno forgot he was still working with his boss, watching his every move.

"Why don't you take my taxi and drive this man around," Lyle said. "You have the keys, you can have the money too. It's in the glove box. You will meet at least one patrol car while driving to this place," he tapped on the tissue. "And I am not in a mood to get stopped by the police today."

After hearing it, Sayeno began to have second thoughts. But he still made up his mind to see it through. He handed 3,000 dollars to the manager and asked for an early leave tonight. The manager was very delighted at accepting the fresh bills (he did check one for authenticity).

"I didn't know that you were into such things," the manager expressed scorn, despite being happy at heart. But the young waiter only smirked before leaving the restaurant. Lyle left soon after Blaine.

***

It wasn't until morning that Lyle slipped into sleep. He had walked straight back to his apartment last night. Sayeno would return his taxi by tonight. If not, then hopefully the vehicle ends up at the bottom of the sea, at least that's what he thought. Trouble was the last thing he wanted in his life.

Same day, at 1 p.m. a patrol car creepily pulled behind his apartment complex. Two patrolwomen, neatly dressed in uniform, were nervously pondering about their next move. And a girl dressed as a civilian was sitting in the back seat.

"He is alone right now, arrest him," the girl said in a serious tone.

"We are not sure about that," the first patrolwomen, named Yuumi, said.

"We are also not sure if the person inside is armed," the second patrolwomen, named Nami, said.

"What do you mean, armed? Didn't you read the report on him? He lives alone!"

"The report also said that he has a rare disease."

"So he is probably sleeping right now. And his doctor hinted to sue us if we disturb him during the daytime."

"What type of disease is that?" the girl expressed anger. "He is clearly feigning weakness."

"Our hands are tied," Yuumi shook her head. "The chief only ordered us to share the report and escort you to this apartment."

"I am sorry. It's only my first day." The girl apologized. "Let's see what the chief has to say." She swiped at her phone's screen. The image that showed up was that of a restaurant front; a person in a gray overcoat was entering the restaurant, beside him was a man with moderately long hair handing over something to a waiter.

"Hello Chief, I am with the patrolwomen right now…. No… Yes…" she handed the phone to Yuumi.

***

Lyle opened his eyes just as the sun dipped into the horizon. The room was almost dark, but he didn't have any problem navigating his way to the bathroom. He took a shower and changed into similar clothes - a half sleeved shirt and chinos. After locking up the front door, he climbed down the stairs to the open parking space.

Two cars were parked and beyond them he could see his taxi's roof toplight. He sighed in relief and headed towards his taxi. Everything seemed normal, but a thought popped up in his mind that made him rush towards his vehicle.

He peered through the window and saw the keys inserted into the slot below the steering wheel. Luckily, no one stole his taxi, but he was definitely going to give Sayeno a piece of his mind. Just as he entered the vehicle, two bulky men taking long steps approached him.

They were dressed in white shirts with black vests and pants. One of them knocked on the window, while the other tried to open the door. Reluctantly, the taxi driver lowered the window.

"Did you pick a man in a gray suit yesterday?"

"I had multiple people with gray suits yesterday," Lyle looked away from the men and said while rubbing his chin. His eyes saw the dash cam, and he quickly added. "You can have the video of my dash cam."

"Hand it over," was the cold response.

Lyle nodded and reached out his hand to the dash cam. He felt the plastic through his fingers and removed the rubber cap that hid the SD card with his short nails. He tried to push the card but was unable.

"Just a second," he said. As he opened the glove box and searched for a little metal. Little did he know one man was stealthily pointing a gun at him. He stood up from his seat, just a little, and inserted the metal into the small hole to push the SD card. But to his horror, there was nothing in it!

In the next instant, one of the men inserted his hand through the window and pressed a button.

Click!

Just as Lyle turned back, the taxi's door was flung open, and a hand grabbed his collar. His butt flew from the seat and crashed onto the ground. It had been really long since he last experienced physical pain.

"No card," One of the men inspected the dash cam with his phone's flashlight.

"You trying to fuck with us!" The other bulky man closed in and punched Lyle's face.

A little further from this spot of violence, two people were sitting inside a black car. Yuumi saw the incident through a pair of binoculars and immediately turned to inform the girl in the back seat. Both of them were in casual dress right now.

"You stay here," the girl gently tapped Yuumi's shoulder and got out of the car.

"Someone stole the card ," Lyle said. "And I never declined to help you." His face was bruised and blood seeped out from his tight lips.

The bulky man picked up the taxi driver by collars. While the other man put forward his phone to show a picture. It was Lyle, Sayeno and Blaine in front of the restaurant, Dreamlight.

"You, you and you, STOP! This is the police." A girl barged into the scene. She was holding out her police badge, making it impossible for the bulky men to take her lightly.

"This is a misunderstanding," one of the men walked towards the girl. But suddenly the girl leaped and threw a spinning kick at him. He snorted and put up his hand to block the impact, but to his horror, the force was too strong.

Seeing his partner fall, the other man unloaded his gun at the defenseless girl. Deafening noises echoed in the silent parking lot.

Lyle cursed his bad luck because his eyes saw such a terrorizing sight. The girl was hit by all the bullets, but the sound of a body falling on the ground came from behind. He turned back, only to see blood flowing out of the man with white sleeves - now soaked in red.

"Think of it as a bad dream. You don't have to remember it anymore." The girl extended her hand while smiling to comfort the taxi driver in terror.