♛

TODAY WAS MARCH 13, the third day of the Annual Brotherhood Reranking. The new ranks had just been announced, and Max was already on his feet, texting his brother to tell him congratulations and to share the message with the others.

     "They really did it," Max said with a bright smile as he continued to stare at the list on his laptop. But while he was trying not to celebrate too early, someone suddenly knocked on his door. It was his most trusted butler, Étienne.

     "Master Leigh," Étienne greets him before giving a respectful bow. "Are you free to have a discussion today?"

      "Discussion? If this is related to work, then you can tell me some other time. I would rather not spoil my good mood," Max then explains, but Étienne shakes his head and takes a step closer to him.

     "No, it's not about the company. It's actually about the task you assigned to me a few days back. About the woman named Payton Wolfe," Étienne reveals, immediately making Max close his laptop in shock.

     "You found something?" Max asks.

     "It's not really something. In fact, it's more like...someone," Étienne answers, pulling an envelope out of his coat's pocket and handing it over to his master. "This was difficult information to acquire, and I had to pull a couple of strings in order to get a hold of it. But there's really nothing money can't buy, so consider yourself lucky, Master Leigh."

     Max stares at the envelope, a bit nervous to see what he might find. But after composing himself, he finally opens the envelope, revealing a series of pictures of what seems to be a man wearing a formal suit and dark shades. Max couldn't tell who it was at first, but after staring at the face for a few more seconds, Max immediately looked at his butler in complete shock.

     "Is this—"

     "Payton Wolfe."

     "Where did you get this?" Max asks, looking through the photos that show Payton walking inside a busy café in the middle of the city.

     "This was taken from a CCTV camera near Gilmore Street from February 5 to February 11," Étienne explains. "After tracking down Ms. Wolfe's whereabouts, I discovered that she visited this café for almost a week, wearing the same clothes and walking the same path, almost like she was trying to fool people into thinking that these all happened on the same day."

     Max couldn't believe that his butler was able to acquire such a valuable thing. Adults really are scarier.

     "What was she doing then?"

     "On the 11th of February, exactly 3:42 PM, he met with someone," Étienne explains, and Max looks through the photos further. There were a few more photos of Payton walking down the pavement and entering the café, her hand in one of her pockets as if she was holding onto something. But after going through a few more photos, there was another picture of a different person.

     He was trying to look discrete, but with one glance, Max already knew who this was. "M-Magnus! This is Magnus McKay! So Payton and Magnus are connected? If Payton hired Magnus to spy on J.S High, then what's the reason? Is it for revenge? That's the only reason...right? He wants J.S High to fall after what happened to her."

     Max looks at Étienne, but Étienne can only shrug his shoulder in response since he doesn't entirely know the connection between all this. He only does what his master asks him to do, and that's that.

     "You mentioned that this was taken last February 11, correct?" Max then asks, and Étienne nods his head in answer. "February 11...February 11..." Max tries to think of a significant occurrence that happened on that date, but nothing comes up. But after looking through the important events that happened to him last month, Max's eyes widen in shock.

     "That was a day before I received my invitation to the banquet!" Max shouted.

     "Banquet?" Étienne confusingly asks back, but Max doesn't have time to answer him anymore as he bolts out of his bed so he can quickly go through his drawers. After finding whatever he's looking for, Max pulls out the familiar envelope and opens it up to read the letter. And when he checked the date, he did find that it was issued on February 12, a day right after Payton and Magnus met up.

     "How is this possible? Did PHD know that Payton was up to something? Did they know that he was going to meet up with someone on that day? Is that why they gave me that invitation? But if that were the case, why would PHD do such a thing? Unless they had something to gain out of all this."

     Max stares at the letter that PHD gave him before looking back at his butler. "Start the car."

     "Where are we going?"

     "To the café where Payton and Magnus met up," Max answers.

     "But Master Leigh, I already talked to the owner of the café. He was not willing to share their CCTV camera footage with anyone. No amount of money could crack him either," Étienne explains while Max is already wearing his coat.

     "Well, that's because they haven't met me yet. Now come on, we don't have much time. The next battle is tomorrow, and we can't let Payton get away with her plans," Max says as he grabs the photos from his bed and runs out of the room first.

     Étienne was still confused, but all he could do was sigh and follow his master out.

      Despite not knowing what this really meant, Étienne prepared the car and started driving Max to the café. To be honest, Max thought that this might be a trap, considering how Payton is good at hiding herself. But then again, this might just prove that her skills are getting weaker now that she's not controlling Sky and River. Working alone was never her forte.

     "We're here," Étienne says as he parks the car on the sidewalk. "Do you want me to come with you?"

     "No, just wait here. I'll be out in a few minutes," Max answers as he steps out of the car. But before closing it, he looks back at Étienne again and tells him, "But if I don't come out after twenty minutes, please follow me inside."

     Étienne smiles and nods his head as Max finally walks inside the café. 

     There were a lot of people in the area, which was perfect for Payton considering how she mastered the art of blending in. When Max got inside, a server immediately welcomed him. "Good afternoon, sir. Table for one?"

     "Actually, I'm here to speak to your boss."

     "My boss? I'm sorry, sir, but you can't just meet him. He's not someone who—"

     "I'm very much in a hurry right now—" Max pauses and reads his name tag before continuing, "Henry, so I'll make this short. We both know a lot of the customers here treat you like crap, and your superiors don't really have the heart nor the decency to defend you or even raise your salary to at least the minimum wage to make this hell of a job worth it. So please, stop defending your boss and just tell me where they are."

     The server, named Henry, was surprised, but then he suddenly had this hopeful look on his face when he finally spilled the tea. "My boss has an office at the upper unit of this café. He usually comes down to check on us every now and then. Please, if you do get to speak with him...tell him about our wages."

     Max smiles and pats the man's shoulder before saying, "Don't worry. I'll handle it."

     Max heads up the stairs and walks right to a door that leads to the office. He knocks first, but before anyone can even answer, he suddenly opens the door, revealing the café owner who is busy removing hair from his nose.

     "Jesus!" He shouts in shock, accidentally plucking a hair out, which automatically makes his eyes water. "W-Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?"

      "I'm not really important right now," Max answers before showing the man a picture of Payton and Magnus. "Have you seen these people before?"

     "Look, I don't know who you are, but if you expect me to remember everyone who enters my café then I don't—"

     "Then show me the CCTV footage from February 11."

     "No. Absolutely not!" The man shouts, now standing from his seat to show Max how much bigger he actually is. "I don't know who you are and why you thought barging here in my office and demanding things from me would get you off the hook. But since you're just a kid, I'm gonna give you ten seconds to leave before I call the cops. One..."

     As the man started counting down, hoping to intimidate Max so he could leave, Max stood his ground and just stared down at him. He has literally faced off a dozen of CEOs who have gone down on their knees for him. And the fact that he got to befriend someone like CJ already speaks volumes.

      "I was unsure at first, but now I get it. I know why you don't want to share your CCTV cameras," Max finally says, instantly making the man in front of him stop counting. "I don't know if you recognize me, but I've been in the business industry before I was even born. People like you don't open cute little coffee shops in a busy street just to sell coffee. And your appearance alone shows that you're not just selling teas and biscuits," Max explains as he reaches out to touch a white powder that was on the table.

     The man was surprised that Max even noticed it, but he tried his best not to break his composure. "Alright, the gigs off. Tell it to me straight, kid. Are you a cop? Or are you working for them? If you want money, then I can lend a few pounds so we can get this over with."

     "I can't believe I'm going to do this," Max whispers to himself before pulling out his wallet. "I'm not really a cop, but I'm hoping this is going to scare you more than a police badge."

     Max pulls out his I.D. and shows it to the big man in front of him. The man leans forward and reads the name, and as soon as he sees the surname, he immediately backs away from Max in shock.

     "W-What on earth is a Sinclaire doing here? I have never got acquainted with your family or sold anything to them, especially the Lemieux's. There's no reason for you to come here," the man says, fear now present in his face.

     "Good, you know who I am," Max replies before putting his I.D. back. "I'm not here to disrupt your business if that's what you mean. I'm only here to check on something. Do you know any of these two?"

     Max showed him the picture, but the man shook his head, his expression showing that he had no clue who they were. "If it's regarding my...other...customers, then I'll be able to recognize them. But if these two are regulars at the café, the servers and baristas downstairs probably know them better."

     "I don't have time to interview them. Just show me the CCTV footage on February 11, around 3:40 PM."

    "I don't know why you're doing this, but I—"

     "Hurry, I don't have all day. Unless you want this place to shut down faster than you plucking that nose hair of yours," Max threatened, which wasn't really true, but it worked nonetheless because the owner of the café immediately went back to his seat to turn his computer on. He went through the files of where the CCTV footage could be found and then looked for the specific video that Max was searching for.

     "Right there," Max says when he spots Payton walking inside the café. "Can you fast-forward it a little?" Max then asks. The man wasn't really happy about following orders from him, but he didn't have a choice and just did what he was told.

     After forwarding the video, another familiar face walks inside the coffee shop, but to Max's surprise, Magnus sits behind Payton, just on the other table. He took his order and got served a cup of coffee. From afar, you'd see that Magnus was just enjoying an afternoon caffeine, but if you zoom close enough, you could see that he was actually moving his mouth, almost like he was talking to someone.

     The video continued on for a couple more seconds at double the speed, but then Payton stood from his seat and walked past Magnus before finally leaving the establishment.

     "W-wait...slow that part down a bit," Max stated, and the café owner did what he was told. Max nor the owner could really see what was happening. They had to replay the video over and over again, but after a while, Max finally spotted something. When Payton walked off, Max noticed that he had given Magnus an item.

     It was a small aluminum case.

     "That's it!" Max practically shouts in excitement. "Can you zoom that a little?"

     "I can, but that won't change anything. I'm not a tech wizard," the man answers before zooming the video so they can get a closer look. As expected, everything was blurry, but they could still see a little bit of the aluminum case that was handed to Magnus.

     "Wait, there's like a logo on that container," Max says, making the owner move closer to the screen as well.

     "Oh, you're right," the man then says. "Now that you mention it, I kinda recognize that logo."

     "What?!" Max asks, looking back at the coffee shop owner in shock. "I'm not a hundred percent sure considering how the picture is blurry, but if you kinda look at it from a different angle, it looks like a tiger logo. And that's not just any tiger logo, either. If I remember correctly, that's Red Tigers. It's a company that sells weapons, mostly illegal stuff."

     "Are you sure?" Max asks, and the man immediately scratches the back of his head and tries to laugh it off. "I mean, it's not like I know anything illegal. It's just that—"

     "Alright alright, I get it. Do you happen to know the address of where I can find this company?" Max then asks.

     "Let me write it down. But if it's not a hundred percent correct, then I'm sure a Sinclaire like yourself can easily find the right resources for this manhunt that you're going for right now," the café owner explained before grabbing a pen and paper and writing the address down. He then hands it over to Max and adds, "I hope this is enough to keep you silent about my...business. As a fellow businessman, I hope you know what I mean."

     "Thank you," Max answered with a smile before grabbing the paper from the man's hand. "And regarding my silence...pay your servers better, and I'll make you a deal."

     "My servers? Why are they suddenly included in this conversation?" The man asks back, but Max is already running out of the office and heading out of the store before anyone can chase him.

     Thankfully Étienne was still waiting outside, so Max headed inside the car and immediately checked his watch. "Looks like that didn't take 20 minutes at all. Doing all those tasks for PHD has literally helped me with my investigation skills."

     "Were you able to find whatever it was you're looking for?" Étienne asks while looking at Max through the rearview mirror.

     "Not quite," Max answers before handing Étienne the address that the owner of the café gave him. "Can you drive me here?"

      Étienne looks at the address, and then he turns his head to Max in complete shock. "Red Tigers? This is an underground company that sells weapons."

     "You're familiar with them?"

     "If I'm being honest, not so much. But from what I remember, they're good at selling knockoffs. Like fake shoes that you can barely even recognize are fake, but the difference is, these are bombs, bullets, or just guns manufactured by much more famous companies," Étienne explains.

     "Is that so?" Max says, surprised to hear such a piece of information. But after letting that sink in, a chill suddenly ran down Max's spine as he said further, "Fakes...just like the bombs made by the Alexeev Corporation found at the Stepanov Mansion!"

     "What are you talking about?"

     "Étienne...this company...might know more than just Payton's plot for revenge," Max says, his heart racing. "We have to go there. We have to go there now."

     "Max, the address written here will take us around four to five hours."

     "You better start driving then," Max replies, and Étienne can only sigh and nod his head before driving off to the location, no longer asking questions.

      Like what Étienne estimated, the drive was long. To make use of the time, Max tried searching for the company Red Tigers, but nothing on the internet showed anything apart from an actual picture of a red tiger. Max also thought of calling CJ since his family is from an underground company as well, but knew better than to distract them now when they're occupied with their next battle.

     Max is also certain that if he mentioned this to anyone, they'd only ask him to stop whatever he's about to do because of how dangerous it might get.

     "Do you know anything else about this company?" Max asks Étienne as he continues looking through his phone, hoping to find anything about this company.

     "They've always been hidden, considering how they sell illegal weapons. But at the same time, they've been around for a while now, but people can't really do anything about it, especially when the demand is very high. And like what we have always taught you, when the demand is high, it's impossible to cut the supply off, no matter how the supply is made," Étienne explains as Max looks out of the window.

     "When the demand is high, it's impossible to cut the supply off," Max repeats before pulling out the picture of Payton from his pocket.

     "Anyway, you should rest now while you still can. It's still a few hours before I arrive at the location," Étienne then suggests.

     Max nods his head and looks back at the picture that he's holding. He stares at the face that had tormented dozens of students in J.S High. Despite not always having to cover her face with a mask, Max knew nothing about her or her past.

     From an unknown student in the House of Pawns to creating a brotherhood that skyrocketed to the House of Kings on their first annual reranking. How terrifying can Payton really be?

     And how many secrets of the past does she really hold?

- END -