Syndedeménos (Connected)

CHAPTER 22

A black two-seater car pulled out of the Rex residence. As if forgetting the speed limit in a residential area, Rex stomped on the gas pedal to a speed of eighty miles per hour. Once on the road leading outside of Bolero City, its speed increased to a hundred miles per hour.

Driving his car at high speed was something Rex usually did when his mind needed to be diverted. Every time he recalled the conversation he had with Aquila at home, his emotions immediately rose. If their conversation continued, he didn't know how many more words he would utter that would make Aquila sad. Things like this had happened so many times that sometimes Rex already knew the end of their conversation.

Both Aquila and Rex were stubborn about their own plans. Aquila was a subordinate of Rex for his work and usually she would follow every plan that Rex had prepared. But this time Aquila was against it. Talks that always led to Rex's negotiations with Aquila never worked. No one wanted to give in to their respective principles.

Aquila's sad face flashed back into Rex's mind and made Rex have to swerve because the speed of the car was getting out of control. After the car had managed to stop until it turned almost 180 degrees, Rex screamed as loud as he could while hitting the steering wheel.

On the long bridge, a black sedan was parked and blocked the two roads on the left. Several cars that passed by Rex's car honked and some even showed their middle finger at Rex. Of course Rex ignored them. He was still so angry with what he was thinking at that time.

"...unfair. Why would she go that far..." Rex said in a weak voice as his emotions subsided.

After a few minutes of making the drivers look angry and confused when they saw Rex's condition, Rex finally restarted his car again. He continued on his way to where he was supposed to be. The place where Rex went was a house that was more suitable to be called a palace. It was located in the middle of the forest to the north of Bolero City. The entrance to the house was quite difficult because you had to pass through a winding road between the trees even though the entire road was made of concrete.

After arriving in front of the lobby of the house, Rex gave his car keys to the waiter who was waiting beside the pillar of the terrace of the house. With a black suit that shaped his curves, Rex looked like a young executive or an artist about to attend a party in the palace ballroom. But all the views seen on the front porch of the house were not as beautiful as reality. The palace that Rex entered was the headquarters of the hitman community. And now Rex will meet one of the people who influence the life of crime behind a modern city, namely his own boss, Maximillian Lucifuge.

No need to explore a building that was up to a dozen acres in size, Rex only needed to walk a few steps until he found dozens of people wearing formal clothes like him. In a room that had a very high ceiling like a palace ballroom, there were hitmen sitting on sofas spread out in the center of the room. Beside sofas there were two semi-circular stairs connecting the first floor and the mezzanine with crystal chandeliers hanging beautifully along half the ceiling height.

On the mezzanine there was already a person waiting for all the guests. A man who was fifty years old but has a stout body and tattoos all over his arms. Only his white hair, mustache and beard showed his true age. Dressed in a calf-length fleece jacket by one of the maidservants, the person named Maximilian Lucifuge walked down the mezzanine railing to descend to the first floor. His gaze never left the person who had just entered the room. And Rex knew that Maximilian was watching him from a distance.

Rex stepped towards the stairs Maximilian had chosen to descend but someone got in his way. A man in a white suit, blond hair in a french crop style and height at eye level from Rex. The man smiled broadly as he blocked Rex's path when Rex tried to pass him.

"Mr Foxglove, stop acting like a fool."

"No, no, no...." The face of the man called by Rex as Foxglove didn't stop smiling even though Rex had put on a fierce face as if he could stab anyone who got in his way. "Looks like we'll soon find out who's acting up here."

When Rex took another path to avoid the man in front of him, he was stopped for the third time. This time the two men collided and made them look at each other with eyes that wanted to kill. There was no one who wanted to stop the fighting going on there. Some of the guests just sneered as they looked at the fighting position and then talked to the person beside them. And some were just silent.

"Tobias Foxglove! Rex Sovereign! How dare you make such an unimportant fuss in my residence?!" Maximilian shouted as his feet were on the last step of stairs he had to take. Behind Maximilian's back was a woman with long hair and glasses who followed every move of the boss in front of him.

Rex lowered his left fist that was clenched in the air and his right hand that grabbed the collar of the person in front of him named Tobias. As if he knew that his boss would only approach Rex, Tobias walked towards the nearest sofa while still watching the boss's movements. Maximilian stopped walking about a meter from Rex's position. His chin lifted and his eyes squinted. Maximilian's gaze locked onto Rex's face like a predator watching its prey's movements. But nothing changed in Rex's expression. Rex remained like a statue looking straight ahead and gave off a cold impression.

"Who told you to improvise?"

"You usually don't mind about the process. What's important is that the person was dead and there are no traces left behind," Rex replied in a flat voice.

"As usual… always act alone without thinking of plans from the headquarter."

Rex turned in the direction the voice came from and found Tobias leaning on the back of the sofa giving him a triumphant smile. Tobias moved his mouth and formed a silent "acting up" to remind Rex of what he said earlier. Rex didn't respond to Tobias' bluff and chose to focus on the pair of amber colored eyes in front of him. Maximilian's brows bent and left an annoyed expression that seemed like it needed to be vented.

"Shut up, Foxglove! Your bickering makes me dizzy!" Maximilian's second shout made Tobias' face stiffen for a moment. Tobias bit the corner of his lip, afraid that he would be pushed to reply to Rex's words automatically and send his boss back on the rampage. "So what is the reason you have to hasten the death of Keenan Aldrich?"

"One of my team saw a good opportunity when Keenan Aldrich chose to drive alone to Silentfield Village."

"Who's your team leader? Haven't you ever had your female cousin involved in your work again?"

"I don't even remember the name. Isn't that unimportant, boss?"

Maximilian responded to Rex's rhetorical question by clearing his throat loudly then telling the maid beside him to fetch him a drink. Rex used the brief pause to turn to Tobias. Tobias was looking at him with an angry look on his face. It didn't take long for Rex to conclude that there was a special talk about Keenan Aldrich between Maximilian and Tobias that didn't involve him.

Getting Rex to tell the truth or just give a suspicious response wasn't going to be as easy as Tobias thought. Not only known as a very secretive person, Rex was also known as an expressionless person among the hitman group under Maximilian Lucifuge. Every word and attitude never shows that Rex was in a state of defeat compared to his person who has been in conversation with him. Even though he was talking to his boss, even Maximilian Lucifuge.

"Come on, we'll discuss the details of the plan in a meeting."