Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
“ A re you sure you’ll be able to contact her before the end of the week? It’s of the utmost importance that I speak to her before this Saturday. Make sure you give her my information and tell her I’ll make it worth her while.”
“Ethan, relax. I’m good at what I do. I’ll be handling this case myself. It should be simple enough.”
“I appreciate you handling this for me on such short notice.”
“It’s no problem. It’s too bad this is the first time I’m hearing from you in over a year and you’re only calling me because you need something.”
Ethan squeezed his eyes shut. Ashamed that he’d neglected his friendship for so long. In the last timeline, he and his former college roommate had been very close. They both wanted to be doctors and eventually got accepted into different Medical School. Despite their hectic schedules, they still managed to keep in touch and hang out when they both had free time. A lot of times they’d meet up in the park to shoot hoops.
Ethan completed medical school, while Glen decided to take a different journey, dropping out in his second year and going into law enforcement.
According to Glen, the politics of being a cop was too much for him so he ended up opening up his own private investigation agency and was quite successful with it.
Throughout the years, they’d both done their best to keep in touch, but life happened and they drifted apart. Ethan wished he hadn’t let so much time pass between the two of them. He hoped in this timeline they would be able to keep their friendship intact.
“I’m truly sorry for not keeping in touch like I should have. I guess once I bought into to the practice, I got super busy. I’m sorry, man.”
“No worries. I was just fucking with you. Besides, the phone works both ways. I should have been more diligent at keeping in touch with you as well. Anyway, I’m glad that you reached out and I’m happy to help you solve this issue.”
“I appreciate it dude. When things settle down for me, I’d definitely like to get together for drinks. We have a lot to catch up on. Are you still dating the flight attendant?”
“Phhss. That ended a while ago. I’m kind of seeing someone now but we’re just in the hanging out phase. How about you? Are you still married to your job?”
“Well, work is work but I have someone in my life now. Sort of.”
“What do you mean?”
Ethan sighed. He wasn’t sure how he could explain his situation without sounding like he’d lost his mind. “It’s complicated.”
“What’s so complicated about it?”
“We have some things to work through before we can make our relationship official.”
“Does it have anything to do with this Jasmine Washington you plan on contacting?”
“Sort of.”
“Hmm, when this is all over, I want the full story.”
“I promise, when the time is right, I’ll tell you. In the meantime, if you find her before the week is up, I’ll give you a bonus.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll charge you the going rate. I usually leave these types of jobs with one of my other investigators, but I’m intrigued.”
“Once you get this case handled, I have some more work for you.”
“Oh? What’s it about?”
“I’m wondering if you do international work?”
“Depends on the country but I have an extensive international network of partners that my company has worked with before.”
“Do you have anyone in Korea?”
“Actually, I do. I’ve partnered with a PI agency in Seoul. What exactly do you need? Does this have anything to do with your father? I remember back in school you were looking to connect with your relatives over there.”
Ethan’s hand tightened around his phone. He silently cursed himself for being so na?ve back then in wanting to connect with people who wanted nothing to do with him. But now he had a new mission.
“I’ve reached out but there was no interest on the other end.”
“So this other job you want me to take on doesn’t have anything to do with them?”
“On the contrary. It has everything to do with them. I’m going to email you some names. I want every single one of them discreetly tailed. I know it may be a challenge in Korea since most of them travel with bodyguards.”
“Huh.” The hesitation in Glen’s voice was apparent. “You don’t plan on doing anything shady do you? Nothing illegal right?”
“If you’re wondering if I plan on committing any acts of violence, no I won’t. Let’s just call this an information gathering job. I want to know everything. Their schedules. What they eat for breakfast, down to the drop of coffee. I want to know their comings and goings, who they meet up with. And if you think who they meet up with is important enough, I want them followed too. I also want news articles on them and anything you believe would of interest.”
“I see…well, this endeavor is going to cost you a pretty penny considering the resources I have to utilize.”
“I’m aware.”
“Wow, look at you big spender. Okay, I’m on it. Was there anything else you needed?”
“Nothing at the moment. Just make the Washington case your priority for now.”
“And how exactly will I convince her to meet you?”
“You’re a persuasive guy. I know you can figure it out. But if you meet any trouble, offer some monetary compensation.”
“Okay Mr. Moneybags. I’ll handle it.”
“I appreciate it, man.”
“When this is all over, don’t forget about those drinks. On you, of course.”
“Of course.”
Later after he’d disconnected the phone, Ethan stared off into space and contemplated what he’d just set into motion. Not just for himself but for Amina as well.
This would be a costly endeavor financially and mentally. But it was one he planned on seeing through until the end. Ethan wasn’t really worried about the money. He’d been investing his money since he was a teenager and had made himself a comfortable nest egg. He owned his condo and didn’t have much debt. He could cash in a couple of his stocks and he’d be just fine.
It was the psychological part that would take the biggest toll on him, he was certain. He was already dealing with the ramifications of coming back to life, when someone had clearly wanted him dead. That really fucked up his brain.
Ethan was sure Amina’s experience was as terrifying if not more but at least she knew why she had died. His death was still a mystery that needed sorting out.
Since he was shot in the parking garage, he’d lived that incident over and over, especially when he went to sleep. He kept seeing that man in the black hoodie coming at him. He’d been so unaware of what was about to happen to him.
As the hot lead entered his body, Ethan would wake abruptly in a cold sweat, his heart pounding out of control and his breathing shallow. He could still feel the wounds of the violent attack and his body growing cold as if he was dying all over again.
When it happened, Ethan was certain he’d seen his murderers face, but in this timeline, it was just a shadowy figure he couldn’t remember. Until last night. Not only did he make out the person’s face, he remembered that person’s last words.
You should have taken the settlement when you had the chance.
Having remembered that, there was now no doubt in his mind that his murder wasn’t random. It had been a targeted attacked by a member of the Jung family.
But who made the order? Was it Soo-ah? Was she so desperate to wipe him off the face of the Earth that she’d resort to murder? Or was it his father who didn’t want the shame of his past to haunt him. Ethan may not have been born in Korea, but he understood how important reputation was for families in that country.
To a wealthy and powerful family like the Jung’s, he was a stain on their reputation in the eyes of society. In the US, the stigma of being born out of wedlock wasn’t as strong as it was overseas.
What Ethan couldn’t figure out was why someone needed to murder him. They could have just left him alone. When he’d attempted to reach out to his father and was rebuffed, he’d made no further contact with him since. So why years later did his wife feel the need to reach out and offer him a large sum of money to leave them alone.
They could have kept pretending he didn’t exist. There had to be more to it. Something else really bothered him about this entire situation. His attacker.
Who was that man who attacked him?
And then it occurred to him where he’d seen the face of his attacker. In a picture he’d seen of his father with his wife Soo-ah, there had been two bodyguards in the background.
His killer was one of the guards.