Chapter 253: Tony, the Master Manipulator
"Hey partner, your phone's buzzing," Tony said, pointing at the lit screen next to Ron, his voice tinged with envy.
Although he'd paid for the women in the Navigator, they were all gravitating toward Ron, who clearly suited their tastes better. Ron glanced down at the caller ID.
"Just some pain in the ass. Not worth bothering with." Ron downed champagne from the glass of the curvy blonde beside him, then wrapped his arms around the two women flanking him, nodding approvingly. "Come on, keep the party going!"
Far away in Los Angeles, Hobbs angrily slammed another desk phone. Looking at the unimpressed elderly operatives before him, he had no choice but to release them.
"That's not fair! I paid them, so why are they all over you?" Tony shouted in frustration. Unfortunately, the women in the vehicle couldn't understand what he was complaining about.
"Can't be helped. Men and women are visual creatures," Ron calmly brushed away the women's wandering hands.
If he didn't stop them, knowing how bold American women could be, Ron had no doubt one of them would start an impromptu show right there in the back seat. "But your looks..."
"What's wrong with my looks? Am I not handsome?" Tony leaned forward with his distinctive face and asked.
"Well, you're unique, I'll give you that."
"Where's Sarah?" Tommy finally escaped from the two large men flanking him and joined the conversation.
"She's waiting at the reception," Tony lied without missing a beat, not even blushing. "I'll show you around the next couple days—Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, the whole tourist deal..."
"I want to see the Poe manuscripts."
"Poe? Edgar Allan Poe?" Tony looked at Tommy as if he didn't recognize him. "Tommy, you've gotten weird since you've been back home."
"The rare book collection!" Tommy had just finished speaking when his phone chimed.
Having lived in America for years, Ron felt nostalgic hearing that familiar notification sound. He poked his head out from between the two women with a mischievous expression. "Dating app? Making connections already?"
"It's CrimeSolver," Tommy explained, slightly intimidated talking to Ron compared to his casual manner with Tony. "It's a global online detective community. People upload real cases for discussion. I heard lots of Americans use it. Want me to download it for you?"
"Nah," Ron waved dismissively. "I'm past the age of being interested in puzzle games. For me, as long as I can close the case, the method doesn't matter."
"In fact, in all the cases I've handled, deductive reasoning is the least efficient approach."
"Then what methods do you use, Mr. Ron? Could you teach me?" Tommy seemed genuinely interested in Ron's investigative techniques.
"Simple enough. Usually, when I shove a gun barrel in a suspect's mouth, they confess everything. If they still won't talk, I use other methods—stress positions, chemical persuasion, that sort of thing. Want to try it sometime? It's incredibly effective."
Ron flashed a predatory smile, and Tommy shrank back nervously. "What if you get the wrong person?"
"Wrong person? I never get the wrong person," Ron said proudly. "You don't understand my methods well enough. Should let you observe sometime. Don't worry—even if it's a grizzly bear, I have plenty of ways to make it admit it's a rabbit."
The inexperienced Tommy cowered, not even daring to mention his community ranking that he was so proud of. The curvy blonde who'd been eyeing him seized the opportunity and pulled him into her arms.
She loved this kind of dangerous, direct man.
Soon, the vehicle pulled up to a hotel, and a uniformed valet helped them out. Tony casually threw his arms around Ron and Tommy's shoulders. "Come on, everyone's waiting for you."
Walking through the entrance, they found themselves in a hotel with an eclectic international theme. The lobby was filled with people of various backgrounds, all with strange, intense expressions. When they saw the "groom" and his friends enter, nobody stood to greet them. Instead, they stared with distinctly unfriendly looks.
At this point, even the most oblivious person would notice something was wrong, let alone the perpetually alert Ron and Tommy. However, unlike Ron, who knew what was really happening and stayed calm, Tommy immediately sensed he'd been deceived.
"Are all these people here for the wedding?"
"Yeah, they're all Sarah's relatives and friends. We'll all have fun together tomorrow!" Tony removed his sunglasses and tried chatting with people in the lobby with forced familiarity.
Unfortunately, nobody acknowledged him.
"Who's that person?" Tommy pointed with his chin toward a young Asian woman, about college age, sitting with her laptop.
Tony's eyes darted around as he continued the charade. "That's Sarah's cousin!"
"Then... what about that big guy?" Tommy pointed at a large white man doing bicep curls with a chair, his expression full of disbelief.
"That's Sarah's ex-boyfriend," Tony continued smoothly. "You know, Sarah had interesting taste before she started dating me."
Tommy finally couldn't contain himself and pointed at a well-dressed Asian man sipping wine. Seeing Tommy's gesture, the man raised his glass politely.
"That's Sarah's cousin!"
"What about her?" Tommy, completely overwhelmed by Tony's shamelessness, pointed at an overweight woman reading a book.
"That's Sarah's grandmother!"
Tony had barely finished when the heavy-set woman looked up, revealing her stern expression. Before Tommy could speak, Tony quickly added, "She's lived in Florida for years, so she's got that deep tan."
"You—"
"What do you mean, 'you'!" Tony guiltily pushed away Tommy's pointing finger. "You should deal with your jet lag first. Come on, let's go."
Tommy finally reached his breaking point and exploded. "Is it me or you who has the problem? Ron, aren't you going to say something?"
"No, I think it's entertaining watching him improvise. Please, continue." Ron folded his arms. From the start, he'd been enjoying the performance.
Tony saw his opening and quickly acted innocent. "What's wrong with me?"
"You're getting married tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Where is Sarah?" Tommy's question hit Tony's weak spot, and Tony suddenly froze.
"She's..."
"Look!" Tommy pointed at Tony's face. "You glanced down and to the left the moment I mentioned her. That's a classic deception tell. This doesn't feel like a wedding atmosphere at all. It's impossible for anyone to ignore a groom."
Tommy scanned the room before fixing his gaze on Tony's face. Tony took a guilty step backward.
"Most importantly," Tommy pulled out his phone, "how can someone who checks his horoscope before taking a shower get married tomorrow?"
The calendar app clearly showed tomorrow was marked as an inauspicious day.
Ron couldn't help but applaud Tommy's reasoning. "Solid deduction, but I'm sure Tony will provide us with a reasonable explanation, right?"
(End of this chapter)
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