Xia Lei shrugged his shoulder lightly. “My occupation? Well, I work at my father’s company. It’s a family business.” Pausing for a brief moment, he added, “I know some Americans have a warped impression of us Mexicans. But let me make it clear, we do legitimate businesses. We invest in the energy sector, chemical manufacturing, real estate and…”
“And what?” Jack pressed on.
Xia Lei flashed him a smile. “My friend, I can assure you that my family do not associate ourselves with drug dealing. We also dabble in venture capital. As long as the potential dividend is good, we will invest.”
“You guys do venture capital too?” Jack was genuinely surprised
Xia Lei nodded. “Yeah. As long as there’s a suitable project, money isn’t an issue.”
Jack stared at his sister, then averted his gaze on Xia Lei. Lastly, he let his gaze fall onto the stack of dollars Xia Lei passed to him. Truthfully, without the money, there was no way Jack would’ve bought Xia Lei’s story. The fact that Xia Lei could shove him ten thousand dollars onto his face changed everything. Who would have the ability to do so in such a sum? Who else other than billionaires?
Truth to be told, Xia Lei was a real billionaire. The momentum of his expenditure may not be the top in the world, but the manner would certainly land him in the top three.
“Costa, let’s go.” Caitlin hooked her arms around Xia Lei intimately. The corner of her eye studied the thick stack in Jack’s grip discreetly. As soon as her beloved Costa leaves in the morning, she would surely ask for the money.
Jack seemed to have noticed something, purposefully stuffing the cash into the pockets of his trousers. He smiled brilliantly at Xia Lei. “Mister Costa, you’re our valued guest. How about we have a drink together?”
Xia Lei responded, “Sure.”
Caitlin glared at Jack intently. Since Costa had mentioned that he’d like a drink, there was no point in her insisting that they move to her room for nightly activities. Would a man like Costa lack female attention? Definitely not. Hence, she had to calm herself down. Stubbornly prying off someone’s pants would not get you the man.
Jack headed over to the alcohol rack to retrieve a bottle of whisky and three glasses. The man swiftly poured a glass each for Xia Lei, Caitlin and himself.
“A toast to our meeting.” Jack raised his glass.
A crisp chime of glass rang and the three took a sip from their glass. They began to talk as they drank.
“Mister Costa, what is the name of your family business?” After another few glasses of alcohol, Jack tossed a question to Xia Lei.
Xia Lei pondered darkly, ‘Why does this dumbass have so much to ask? Under normal circumstances, he would be trying to appease me but this man is persistently trying to test me. He doesn’t feel like a normal engineer. Could he have some other kind of identity?’
“Mister Costa.”
Xia Lei furrowed his brows. “Mister Jack, is this a police interrogation?”
“Uh, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to know you better. After all, you seem to be involved with my sister now.” Jack’s answer was well-rounded.
Displeased, Caitlin scolded, “Jack, that’s very rude of you. You should apologize to Costa.”
Jack did as she said. “I’m terribly sorry, Mister Costa. I really am.”
“It’s alright, there’s nothing wrong with telling you these.” Xia Lei added on, “It’s the Sky Group. My family business back in Mexico goes by that name. You can search it up, there should be records of it on the internet.”
He wasn’t the least bit worried that Jack would find anything. Xia Lei had already prepared some answers for this line of questioning. Before he came, the man had already hacked into the Mexican Commerce Authority and planted a shell company under the guise of Sky Group. He had even made sure to make relevant entries on Google search engine.
“There’s no need for that. I believe your words, Mister Costa. Uh, do you mind sitting here for a bit while I talk to my sister?” asked Jack.
Xia Lei uttered, “Sure, no problem.”
“Can’t you say it here?” Caitlin was extremely reluctant.
“Come with me to the study, it’ll only take a few minutes. You wouldn’t want me to take up more of your time, right?” insisted Jack.
“Sure, just a few minutes.” Caitlin moved her face to land a peck on Xia Lei’s cheek. “Give me a moment, I’ll be right back.”
Xia Lei nodded, watching the siblings disappear into the walkway before they disappeared into a room at the end of the corridor. That was Jack’s study. As Jack closed the door, Xia Lei activated his X-ray vision, allowing it to penetrate through the obstacle.
Jack was talking to Caitlin.
The first one to speak was the sister. She blurted out angrily, “Jack, are you fucking stupid? Are you trying to ruin my chances here?”
“Calm down!” Jack continued, “People who can spend money like this are real billionaires. Which billionaire would be attracted to you? I’m not trying to discourage you but if he really did want to sleep around, the sum he gave me would be enough to hire more than a hundred prostitutes for the night!”
“That sum was meant for me. Take the amount I owe you and return the rest. If you called me here just to say things like that, there’s no need for us to continue this conversation.” Caitlin reached an arm out, asking for the stack of bills to be returned.
Surprisingly, Jack returned the entire untouched stack into her extended palm. He didn’t want anything to do with it.
Xia Lei was shocked and perplexed. He thought to himself, “His performance earlier made him seem like a greedy person. He was the one I passed the money to but he did not hesitate to give it to Caitlin. There’s something fishy about Jack…”
Xia Lei wasn’t the only one surprised, Caitlin was equally shocked too. “You’re returning everything to me?”
Jack lowered his voice. “You’re my sister. Of course, I’d want you to live a better life and find your happiness. I’m worried that you’re deceived by people with ulterior motives.”
“What do you mean? Have you gone crazy?” Caitlin mocked him. “Who would try to deceive me with this sum of money? What is there to get from me other than sex? I’m willing to offer him my body.”
“Shh! Pipe down!” Jack’s voice was reduced greatly. “Do you know what place this is? We’re in Free Mary and Lockheed Martin is right beside town! Do you know how many CIA agents are roaming around along with military men? This is the heart of America’s army. Spies are captured every year around here. Those sneaky spies will offer you money and perhaps give you whatever you want. But once you’re busted, you’d be charged for treason. There will be no court session and they’ll send you directly into the depths of Guantanamo prison.”
Caitlin shrugged nonchalantly. “There are no military secrets that I can leak to him. Even if he is a spy, what can he benefit from me? I only have a set of breasts and a hole to offer. If that’s the case, I got no problem with it.”
“Enough!” Jack was maddened but quickly kept his emotions at bay. He came close to whispering into her ear, “You may not have anything but I’ve got something. I’ve been through hell and shit for years just to join Mister Thompson’s team. Thompson has high hopes for me. He wants me to complete a Predator B as soon as possible. According to his instructions, there must not be any logos on the Predator B and a self-detonation system needs to be installed. Though I do not know why he’s requesting for such specifics, I’ve got a feeling that this whole thing is not as simple as it seems. Thompson promised me that I’ll get a raise and promotion after its completion. By then, I’d be able to bring you in. Isn’t working in Lockheed Martin your life-long dream? I can help you make this a reality.”
There was a brief pause where Caitlin cautiously turned her head to stare at the door. Hushedly, she uttered, “Jack, are you calling him a spy?”
“I’m not sure, but we need to be careful.”
“Our government only talks about being careful of spies with Asian faces, but not Mexican ones. I think you might be overthinking this,” retorted Caitlin.
“If he was Chinese, I would’ve already reported him. I didn’t do that only because he’s Mexican. Tell me, why is a man like him attracted to you?”
“He said I resembled his mother.”
“Have you seen what his mother looks like?”
“Now that you mentioned it, no.” Caitlin continued, “You’re too nervous. Say, Mister Costa is a man that could afford stacks of dollars. Please stay out of our hair. You do your work and I’ll seduce my man. Let us not interfere with each other’s businesses. Like seriously, think about it. If I manage to marry him, you wouldn’t need to go to work anymore. I can buy you a sports car and I could even give you some money to start a business. Isn’t that great?”
“Hmph, you can continue your wishful thinking. I can stay out of your hair but you’ll need to pay me half of that.” Jack extended a palm.
There was a brief moment of hesitation. In the end, Caitlin still divided half of the dollar stack to her brother but his portion was obviously less than what she had on hand.
The siblings ended their talk, to which Xia Lei decided to peel his eyes away.
Before entering this house, Xia Lei genuinely regretted spending a sum and a considerable amount of effort for an unguaranteed return. However, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that there was indeed gold among the sand. He had not expected Jack to be the engineer tasked with creating his murder weapon.
“He’s in charge of creating the drone meant to kill me, they’re even planning to install a self-detonation system to clear their tracks. How impressive.” A curl of Xia Lei’s lips birthed a smirk.
The man had a new understanding of Jack and Caitlin. They were biological siblings who relied on each other to live. The siblings may be harsh to one another due to personality differences but they truly care for each other. Jack was a cautious hardworking man who wishes to improve their lives. Caitlin, on the other hand, was evidently more relaxed than her brother. She was passionate and open-minded, but she also wished to live a better life.
To enjoy a better life would be everyone’s biggest dream, right? It was the driving force for everyone’s willingness to offer their blood, sweat and tears to their jobs.
Caitlin and Jack returned to the living room.
“Mister Costa, you both can go on. I’m getting rather tired, I’m going to bed now,” said Jack.
Caitlin uttered, “Let’s go to my room, you’ll get drunk soon if we keep drinking.”
To everyone’s surprise, Xia Lei stood from his seat. “I’m sorry but I just received a call from my sister. She said that there are some emergency matters for me to attend to. I must go back now. Thank you so much for having me here.”
“You…” Caitlin was stunned.
“Mister Costa, is this because of what I said? If it is, I’m really sorry…” Jack was starting to feel regretful.
“No, there’s real trouble back there,” said Xia Lei.
Boom!
A deafening explosion roared out from the north of town, the skies immediately shining red by the flames.