Scattered streetlights were embedded in the dark rainy night. The one that was slightly continuous was Route 27. The spine of the South District was drawn on the black ground, allowing people to roughly determine the direction.
The dim lights were cut and torn by dense rain lines, occasionally buried by sudden flashes of lightning, and the outlines of scattered houses flashed away in the dazzling blue and white light, proving that this is not an uninhabited wilderness.
The rain repeatedly alternated between intense and sluggish, and now it seemed to be intense again, and lightning lit up the sky and the earth. Somewhere between Rio Grande and West Pais.
Two figures met, one old and the other female. They appeared briefly and then disappeared immediately, disappearing without being buried in the dark rain. what happened? When vision is blocked by darkness, the fierce sound of rain buries all sounds at the same time.
This seemed to be the last struggle of the rain before it disappeared. After the fierceness, everything calmed down and the night sky began to clear up. When the view is no longer blocked by rain and darkness, and you can see the surrounding scenery, there is nothing here.
But no one may know the exact time when the rain stopped. When the outline of the moon began to appear on the night sky, it was already in the sky. Whether it's the routine of the 'country people' in the Southern District or the special circumstances of the current period, the citizens of the Southern District have probably taken a break long ago.
I hope everyone doesn't know when the rain will stop. The things buried in the fierce final struggle of the rain don't seem to be a good thing. I hope no innocent citizens will be disturbed.
The night sky that had been blocked for two nights did not miss this world too much. According to the rules of day after day, it pushed the visible and invisible stars in it to move westward, until the sunlight that had also been blocked for two days appeared in the east.
A new day has begun.
When the sun covered the ground and began to evaporate all traces of water, vampire Zach clasped his hands and leaned on his chin. Sitting behind the desk, he stared at the clock opposite him seriously. The pendulum below swings left and right, but the hands above don't move at all.
Click. The minute hand moved to the 12 position, and the hour hand finally aligned with 9.
Zach clicked his tongue. Gangelo was indeed untrustworthy and was actually late.
Zach stood up and opened the curtains behind him. The steaming water vapor slightly distorted the things in the field of vision, and Zach's eyes moved up to look at the clear sky. It seems to be a rule that the next time it rains, the season will become clearer.
"Five minutes." Zach said to himself, this was the deadline he gave Thomas Gangro. He sat back at his desk again and stared at the clock.
the phone is ringing.
Zach guessed who it was as usual and answered, "Grande."
"Zach, is Alice here?" Laura's voice.
It's the weekend. Grande was quite used to being interrupted by a girl on weekends. But it's rare for her to call honestly.
Zach smiled and said, "Wait a moment."
It didn't take long for Alice to answer the phone, "Lola."
There was no such thing as sound in the Grand House, and Alice certainly didn't care. So Zach sat there and listened to Laura complain about finals.
"I can't come today, I have to take extra math classes. I have to get a C, otherwise I will repeat the grade! I don't want to go to two first-grade classes!"
Alice smiled. "Then you have to work hard." Alice was a little worried again and glanced at Zach, "Do you want to go to tutoring? Please pay attention to safety."
Laura in the receiver gave a bitter smile, "Father has brought a tutor to the house, so I don't have to go out. I'm safe. You should also be careful."
Alice was slightly relieved. But if you can see Laura, it would be better to use the banshee's 'vision' to confirm. Alice pursed her lips, hummed, said goodbye to her friend, and hung up the phone.
Zack smiled and patted Alice on the shoulder. He signaled her not to worry. If the security guards at Barton's house couldn't defend against a few fugitives, then their last name would be in vain.
After Alice left, Zach continued to stare at the clock. The time was up. Zach was still sitting alone in the office, without any guests. The vampire frowned, "Five more points..."
The sound of the engine began to reach the vampire's ears, and Zack opened the curtains again and looked out.
Zach raised his eyebrows and simply renamed Grande's weekend 'West End Third Generation Interruption Day.' Well, Blake is here.
Seeing that Blake seemed to be parking the car at the front entrance, Zach opened the window. The sunlight made the vampire squint his eyes. He waved to Blake in the driver's seat and asked him to turn to the backyard.
In summer, it is common sense to park your car in a cool place as much as possible. Everyone is familiar with it, so there is no need to be so outspoken.
Blake seemed a little surprised that Zach had noticed his arrival in advance. He nodded behind the wheel, turned the car around, and went around to the backyard. Zach had appeared on the porch, pointing at the open door of Benjamin's warehouse.
Benjamin's warehouse was originally a converted barn on the farm. It was used as a warehouse during the old Grand era and later became what it is now.
The second floor is used as a bedroom, and the open first floor is usually a workshop and a place for stacking hay. There is no problem in fitting five or six cars. Now Grande's truck and Zach's vintage sedan are parked inside.
Blake walked out of the warehouse door carrying a briefcase and smiled at Zach as a thank you and hello.
Zach looked at Blake, who was dressed formally, raised his eyebrows, and asked him as he walked over, "You don't seem to be here to chat with old Hank?"
Blake smiled bitterly, "No, I'm here to work."
Zach looked at the briefcase in his hand, understood, waved and guided the guest to the office, smiled and joked, "Are you already serving in the mayor's office?"
"Public relations job." Blake smiled and followed Zach into the office, "It's just a title."
Zach asked Blake to sit down, smiled and shook his head, "I don't think it's a sinecure to work after the weekend."
There was a smile on Blake's face, but there was clearly something else going on. Now it’s just PR, and when winter starts, it will definitely be campaign manager. Now can be seen as a running-in period for Stone and Anthony to develop their relationship and prepare for future cooperation.
"Are you alone?" Zach was a little confused. After all, Barton is not very safe now. It is still a bit dangerous to let this rich and powerful young man wander around alone.
"Yeah." Blake smiled, "It doesn't matter. I have a bad reputation."
Zach raised an eyebrow. Remember what those people said about the Stone family at Amanda's birthday party? Always moving, exercising. This is a good tradition. Politicians need to be able to protect themselves.
There was silence in the office for a while, Blake looked like he was hesitant to speak, and Zach looked a little anxious.
"You..." In order to maintain the friendly atmosphere between the two, Zach decided to speak first. "I'm here to investigate Grande's cooperation with the prison."
Blake pursed his lips. If the other party was not Grande, it would be much easier for him to speak. It is a necessary skill for politicians to get around his purpose in a few words, but the other party was Grande. Blake already almost knew Grande's arrangements in the hearts of his elders in the West End, but the obvious conflict of interest made him not know how to speak.
Blake nodded, and he didn't need to be surprised that Zach was well-informed. Anyway, they are already familiar with it. This is not an ordinary funeral home.
Blake looked a little apologetic. "Maybe the mayor saw that we were friends at the dinner, so he asked me to, um, ask."
Of course not! Zach twitched his lips. Anthony was sending a clear message to Grande to stop meddling in his own business. He asked Blake, a guy who clearly knew that he was related to Grande, to investigate. In fact, what he had done with James before almost. Bind the hands and feet of aliens.
But Anthony is much smarter, and it's possible to get angry in front of the police. Zach would never do it if he got mad in front of the West Enders.
Zach nodded and said with a serious expression, "Blake, we are friends, right."
Blake frowned. Not sure what Zach meant by this, but the fact was the fact, and he nodded, "Yes."
"Then we don't have to resort to boring testing." Zach narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. Looking at Blake, "Tell me, is the mayor's office going to give up on Warden Vincent?"
Blake opened his mouth, Zach asked so directly!
How could a small remote funeral home speculate on the intentions of the urban rights center? ! But Grande is more than just a funeral home! Blake knows this very well!
Blake looked into Zach's eyes and nodded, "I..." He retracted his gaze and picked up his briefcase, "Actually, when I came here, I had already discussed it with my family."
Zach had gotten his answer and his expression returned to normal. When you think about it, it becomes clear. The police department is obviously investigating the prison. It is not sure who is behind it (Zach guessed it was Aisela). The final goal must be to point to Anthony.
Then Anthony's only way to deal with it is to cut off ties with the prison as soon as possible when everything comes back to him. It's best to hold a knife yourself, cut off this trouble, and shut everyone's mouths! Avoid being taken advantage of by others!
Blake took out some documents and handed them to Zach, "We don't know the depth of your cooperation with the prison." He looked at Zach apologetically, "Our Stone family's decision will be made after the dinner. Understood, we will support the current mayor. But I didn’t expect that the first task assigned by the mayor would have something to do with Grande.”
Zach took the documents and was a little surprised. As expected of the Stone family, these documents listed every cooperation between Grande and the prison in the past ten years!
Time, official cause of death of the prisoner, method of disposition, official cost...
"According to our Stone family's wishes, we don't want to damage Grande's interests..."
Zach smiled and waved to interrupt Blake's words, "Benefits?" Zach handed the document to Blake with a sincere smile, "I'm very grateful that you will think about Grande." Zach pointed to the document, each Regarding the official cost of a prison funeral, Grande said, "You might have thought that the prison would pay us more as a reward for keeping silent, right?"
Blake nodded helplessly.
Zach shrugged and smiled happily, "If that's the case, Benjamin and I don't need to start new business."
Zach sold Barton City's 'best warden' without hesitation. (..)