Sex and the City Contract

Lawrence knew very well that one should not be impulsive in everything, one must deploy carefully, react cautiously, and foresee the possible consequences of every step.So, in order not to cause any necessary trouble and attention, Lawrence gritted his teeth and pretended nothing had happened, and did not leave until the end of the charity fundraising dinner.

Sitting in the Bentley, Mikael glanced sideways at Lawrence who was silently beside him, staring out the window in a daze.Although the expression on his face was calm, from his eyes, Mikael knew that Lawrence was extremely anxious.This was the second time he saw Lawrence showing similar eyes. The previous time was 15 years ago when the family tragedy happened.

"I'm sorry." Mikael said apologetically, "If it wasn't for me..."

"No. You made a professional and correct judgment, which is the best way to resolve this matter." Lawrence interrupted him, "This was an accident."

Long before the Metropolitan Bank fraud scandal broke, Lawrence noticed that there was a problem with the financial flow, but deliberately kept it quiet, trying to catch the whole nest of conspirators with long-term bait.

Until nearly a month ago, he found that the amount of deficit was close to unbearable, and he couldn't help being annoyed and alert, so he changed his plan. On the one hand, he crossed the sea to find trusted people from the family to help him, and on the other hand, he began to deliberately "inadvertently "" released information about the bank situation to Gary Greene, hoping to expose the scandal earlier and force the black hand behind the scenes to show up.

Sure enough, just as Lawrence expected, under the operation of black market gossip, Metropolitan Bank's fraudulent deficit became an invisible time bomb, ready to explode at any time.However, just before Lawrence expected the bank's stock price to plummet, he received an internal tip and was surprised to learn that Booker had a fake transaction document signed by Gabriel.

Unexpected variables made Lawrence hesitate for a moment. If this development follows, Gabriel will inevitably be dragged into custody, interrogated, and litigated... Even if he is found not guilty in the end, apart from the unavoidable physical and mental pressure, During the trial, the lowest level of privacy will be unearthed, and even people around you will be implicated...

This would be the worst possible scenario, Lawrence thought, and he had to do his best to avoid it from a selfish standpoint.

He then discussed it with Mikael.

"The situation is not difficult, but a bit tricky." Mikael smiled after thinking for a moment, "...By the way, Lawrence, do you know? The "High Seas Cruise" incident you planned back then is still a family legend. .”

Lawrence frowned, and looked at Mikael in astonishment, not knowing why he suddenly brought up the past, "...that revenge plan to kill someone with a knife took me two and a half years to succeed."

"The most commendable thing is that he escaped unscathed. Interpol couldn't find any evidence at all."

"That's because of all the people involved..." Lawrence finally understood and smiled, "You mean to make Gabriel's whereabouts 'in name' unknown?"

"So far, the unfavorable accusations have only made him an important related person, not a defendant. Letting him temporarily avoid meeting, to some extent, can buy us time, get more physical evidence, find out the key accomplices behind the scenes, Restore the truth." Mikael said: "We all agree that the fake transaction document is a fake, but we don't know 'who' changed it, so..."

"You want to use the rule of exclusion of evidence?"

Mikael nodded, "We also use the exact same method to "simulate" a piece of "real" evidence. In court, the latter can be used to disprove the former's falsification. It is theoretically possible, but there are risks... and, I'm afraid Another person's assistance is needed."

That evening, Lawrence and Mikael showed up at Mel's attorney's office without an appointment.

"Broades, you're crazy." Mel said slowly after hearing Lawrence's plan, "Do you really think that I will assist you in carrying out this plan?"

Lawrence nodded as a matter of course.

"Based on the professional ethics of a lawyer, I can't possibly endanger any rights and interests of my client." Attorney Meyer shook his head. "Listen, you have never been here today, and you will not tell me about this crazy plan. I have nothing to do with it." I don’t know anything. Please go back, both of you.”

"Lawyer Mel..." Mikael was about to say something, but Lawrence stopped him.

"I agree." Lawrence said to Lawyer Meyer, "Then, don't bother me." Even so, he still sat comfortably on the chair, showing no intention of leaving.

Attorney Meyer stood up, turned around and walked to the filing cabinet, "Of course, things are unpredictable. I'm not young. It's possible that I forgot to lock the door of the office while going out for an aperitif, and someone 'just happened' to get me. The signature information of the parties concerned, and then "just happened" to put a house property transfer contract on my desk..."

He took out a document and put it on the desk, looked at his watch, and said to himself, "I'm just talking, now it's time for an aperitif." Then he walked to the door.

"Lawrence." Mel was about to open the door, but suddenly stopped, and said slowly with his back to the two, "I hope you really know what you're doing...Gabriel can't withstand such a big blow."

"I'm doing my best to protect him," Lawrence said firmly. "It will be the same in the future. Trust me."

Recalling the promise he had sworn before, Lawrence secretly sighed.That night when he colluded with Nelson and Jesse to chase people away, the way Gabriel looked at him when he fell from the steps to the ground still made his heart bleed.It's ironic that he managed to hide Gabriel's whereabouts, and now his whereabouts are really unknown.

Damn.Lawrence buried his face in his palms, and he prayed it didn't mean anything bad.

"..." Lawrence suddenly felt palpitations, raised his head, and immediately pressed the partition window and said to the driver, "Change the destination, go to the apartment in Central Park, hurry up."

Ten minutes later, Lawrence burst through the apartment door.Seeing the newspapers scattered everywhere, my tense heart relaxed a little, and Gabriel really came.

"Gabriel?" He hurriedly ran into the bedroom, study, and kitchen to search everywhere. He only saw a pile of changed dirty clothes in the bathroom, but no one was there.Gabriel did come, but left again.Lawrence's heart tightened again.

"Lawrence——" Mikael walked quickly, looking nervous, "I found this mobile phone on the table, maybe..."

Lawrence recognized that it was Gabriel's BlackBerry, sighed, and subconsciously took it and put it in his pocket.This bastard brat made it clear that he didn't want anyone to find him, damn it!Where can he go?What do you plan to do?

Back in the living room, Lawrence habitually came to the easy chair, picked up the newspaper on the cushion and sat down.Mikael also sat down on the sofa next to him, and carefully checked the other several newspapers on the table to see if he could find any clues.

Lawrence glanced at the newspaper in his hand. It was the financial section of the New York Times. Just as he was about to throw it away, he suddenly stopped.The other newspapers were scattered in stacks, but this one was neatly placed on the chair.

What message is the kid trying to convey?

Lawrence Pine read patiently.Top headlines in newspapers detailed Booker's breaking news conference and the stories that flowed from it.In the center of the paper was a photo of Booker holding up a fake deal document, which the photographer focused on and expertly made Booker look dramatic and excited.The reporter recorded the entire press conference in detail, and also thoughtfully listed the development of the Metropolitan Bank fraud and deficit case up to the present in a timetable.

There is a picture of Gabriel in the lower right corner of the newspaper.Lawrence's eyes were drawn involuntarily, and he could hardly move away.God damn it, he couldn't deny how much he missed Gabriel.

Lawrence shook his head, concentrating again.Gabriel in the photo is wearing a formal man's dress and is not looking at the camera, and was photographed unknowingly.Lawrence felt that the background was a bit eye-catching, and after thinking for a while, he finally realized that it was the presentation reception of the sailing regatta.

Lawrence wanted to find out who took the photo, read the small print below the photo, it was only marked as a "data photo" without the name of the provider.He was stunned: No matter who took the photo, it showed the plan to frame Gabriel, and it was probably laid out as early as the reception.

After leaving the hotel, Ribery did not go home, but headed in the opposite direction to Washington, D.C., directly to the Bureau of Investigation office.At a charity fundraiser earlier, Mikael's dismissive attitude had made him sick to the core.

Fucking jerk lawyer, Ribery cursed in his heart, he will definitely make that fucking jerk look good when he has a chance!So, he came to the headquarters indignantly, wanting to check the information carefully, and catch the handle of the fraud and deficit case.

Look at the watch. At this time, people in the economic team have already left work to enjoy their private lives with their families, loved ones or pets. However, in the drug or organized violent crime team, there are always detectives who work overtime. Not long ago, Berry thought wryly, he was one of those lunatics.

"Raberry?"

Sure enough, when Ribery was about to enter the office, someone behind him stopped him in surprise.

"Oh, Cooper." Turning his head, it turned out to be his former partner.

"I thought the big gold team didn't need to work overtime." Gu Bo yawned while holding the coffee in his hand.

"It's really not necessary. It's just that I don't have the talent in the economic team." Rebery shrugged and said half-sarcastically, "What case are you investigating now?"

Gu Bai gave him an embarrassed look, "It's not the case you were in charge of... the Eastern European gangster case. The team leader wants us to close the case as soon as possible."

Ribery's face sank all of a sudden.It was precisely because of this case that he thought that he should investigate it to the end without hesitation, but the deputy director thought that the involvement was too wide and the cost was too high, so he needed to postpone it, so he couldn't help yelling and was transferred.

"Damn it... how much effort I put into that case, even my girlfriend ran away... He still decided to flatter the deputy director..."

"The team leader has his own difficulties. He has a wife and children, he has a mortgage, and he has to run PR." Cooper said, "Besides, we have been notified that we will go to Monaco to participate in the secret international anti-narcotics mission in a while, so we should not close the old case sooner." It’s too late, I won’t be busy at all.”

"What secret international anti-narcotics mission?" Ribery was aroused curiosity.

"Actually, I shouldn't have revealed it to you." Cooper looked around, then lowered his voice, "You know, Monte Carlo will hold the World Boat Show soon, right? According to the secret report, several big drug lords will use that We are going to discuss business with a few emerging gangsters on this occasion, and we are going to take the opportunity to collect evidence and investigate.”

Cooper paused, "This is not only related to the reshuffle of the gang forces, but also involves the new drug trade route change... You know how the "business" works..."

Ribery nodded and smiled helplessly.Investigating international drug trade is one of his "original business scopes". He is very clear about which areas use which powder as a source of income, and he understands that the power and war involved in this "business" are no less than terrorist actions.

Of course, the Bureau of Investigation will not sit idly by.

Cooper continued: "...I heard that Europe, Russia, the Middle East and even China will send secret agents to investigate. The bureau believes that it is necessary to obtain first-hand information, so..."

"Gu Bo, can you please show me the relevant information?"

Cooper smiled, "I knew you would be interested." He took out the flash drive from his pocket, "Return it to me immediately after copying..."

Ribery took out the PDA and transferred the data from the flash drive into it.

"Ruiberi, there is a shortage of manpower in the team. The team leader didn't say anything, but actually hoped to transfer you back." Cooper looked at him and asked tentatively, "Why don't you go and apologize?"

Ribery shook his head, "Don't even think about asking me to suck up to a pig's ass."

After the data transmission was completed, he returned the flash drive to Gu Bai and checked the transmission results at the same time.Suddenly, the information on the PDA made him stunned for three seconds, "Gu Bo, you did a great favor..."

There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he thought to himself that the fate of life is really unpredictable, and in a blink of an eye, he may have found a pass to return to the original unit.

Gabriel sat on the sofa in Andre's house, flicking his fingers in embarrassment.After taking Gabriel home, Andre said he needed to change his clothes, leaving him alone for a while.

He looked around casually. Andre's residence is a loft apartment. Using a whole bookcase and shelf as a compartment, the space is simply divided into two parts: the living room and the bedroom; there is kitchen equipment in the corner of the living room. There is a computer on the bed desk.

Books, clothes, and sundries are scattered here and there, but overall it is clean, a typical space for young people, Gabriel thought to himself.

He was a little bored and walked to the bookshelf. In addition to books, there were a lot of CDs on the shelf, including a good part of jazz.Gabriel looked at it and picked out a Charlie Parker anthology, "Andre, can I play some music?"

There was a muffled response from the bathroom, and Gabriel thought it meant consent, so he put the CD into the small stereo next to him.Continue to look around the bookshelf and find that there is a complete series of books on wine tasting, wine making and grapes on display, but you can't see any books related to coffee.

After a while, Andre came out of the bathroom, and his shoulder-length hair, usually tied back, was scattered all over, making him look quite childish.

"Would you like something to drink? Beer? Coke?" André asked while grabbing a can of Coke from the fridge. "I'm sorry I don't have anything good like Dom Pérignon or Chivas Regal."

Gabriel shook his head and smiled slightly, "Do you have any chamomile?"

A few minutes later, Andrea handed Gabriel a cup of chamomile tea and sat down next to him.Neither of them spoke, falling into a slightly awkward silence against the lively notes of the saxophone.

"Metropolitan Bank..." Finally, Andre was the first to speak, "How did you return to the college? All the news these days is your news."

"I was framed." Gabriel shrugged dejectedly, and said deliberately self-mockery, "You may not believe it, but, as an 'important contact person', I have no idea what happened. "

"So your "whereabouts unknown"...is actually "escape"?" Andre's eyes widened exaggeratedly, "very cool."

"I was actually kicked out, and now I'm homeless." Gabriel sighed with a wry smile, "Besides, I didn't know until I read the newspaper that I've been fired from the company...that is to say, I'm the real deal. unemployed vagabonds.”

"You're in such a big trouble, and Brodys didn't say anything?"

When the other party mentioned Lawrence, Gabriel's expression stiffened immediately, "That person has nothing to do with me."

"I can only say... I'm sorry." Andre spread his hands, and he looped Gabriel's shoulders, and patted Gabriel's shoulders twice; then he gently wrapped his arms around Gabriel's shoulders shoulder.After a while, he turned his face away, kissed Gabriel's cheek first, and then kissed his lips more.

Gabriel didn't avoid it, but he didn't accept it either; he felt the tip of Andre's tongue tapping on his front teeth, but he didn't intend to let the other party go deeper.

After a while, Andre moved away from Gabriel's lips slightly, and when he was about to continue kissing, Gabriel lowered his head, "I'm sorry."

"When two people are kissing, that sentence is not a good omen." Andre raised his brows, "I know it may not be the best time, and it's not romantic enough here..."

"I mean... I'm sorry about your mother," Gabriel whispered.

Andre was stunned for a moment, and he bounced back, "What, what did you say?"

"Nelson...my father liked my mother...I always knew it," Gabriel admitted, before emphasizing, "I can absolutely guarantee that my mother has never betrayed or cheated since she got married. Even so, she still felt that Guilty……"

"Like? That old man loves your mother deeply." Andre's attitude instantly became extremely defensive, and his tone became much more severe. "Your mother doesn't need to do anything at all. Her existence is a kind of misfortune to my mother." .”

Gabriel lowered his eyes and sighed, "My mother has passed away for a long time... I hope your mother can gain some happiness these days."

"Happiness? I just pray that she finally has some peace and comfort when she closes her eyes! What do you know?"

"I'm really, really sorry..." Gabriel was very sincere, "I wanted to tell you a long time ago, if there's anything I can do..."

Andre stared at Gabriel for a while, his eyes gradually softened.

On the outside, Gabriel seems to be a pampered young master. In fact, he lost his mother at a young age, and his father a year ago, and his family went bankrupt. Not only that, but recently he has been involved in big troubles for no reason, and even became homeless. Returning... the fate can be called rough.He couldn't help wondering, after a series of bad encounters, how could Gabriel maintain such innocent eyes, and still try to take responsibility for other people's bad luck?

"Gabriel, your own troubles are big enough. You really don't need to worry about the misfortune of another person who has passed away." Andre said slowly: "In fact, what happened to my mother is similar to yours. Nothing to do... and nothing to do with your mother. You don't have to take any responsibility."

"Even so, I still feel guilty." Gabriel said, "I also know why you...hate me so much."

"Hate you?"

"That's why I was designed to step into this series of traps." Gabriel smiled calmly, "I can understand, really. I must apologize and ask for your forgiveness."

"Wait, you're totally wrong. I didn't design you, believe me." Andre argued, then shrugged, "Of course, I have to admit, I did hate you and your mother when I was a child, but I didn't even know you at the time. You. I always thought that you 'robbed' my dad, but that's not the case." He gritted his teeth and said, "Roland Nelson—the so-called 'my father'—made his choice, and I can't forgive that old man."

After a pause, he looked at Gabriel, "But I don't hate you, on the contrary..."

"I'm very relieved to hear you say that." Gabriel interrupted the other party, and frowned at the same time, "So... the bank matter really has nothing to do with you?"

"what do you want to say in the end?"

"I thought everything from gambling fraud to bank fraud was actually your idea..." Gabriel bowed his head apologetically, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood."

"Please stop apologizing, okay? It sounds very harsh." Andre shook his head, "Honestly! I was indeed entrusted with Nick's fraudulent bet...but at the time, I thought it was just a joke , I didn’t expect that someone would die later. Anyway, I’ve drawn a clean line from the whole thing.”

"Killed?"

"Remember? On the day you suffered a brain contusion, there was a fatal car accident outside the cafe. The purpose was to kill people. I didn't know that they really wanted to kill you." Andre said seriously: "Gabriel, you should apologize The person is me."

After returning home with nothing, Lawrence stayed in the study.He was playing with an invitation letter with the sailboat logo in his hand. He clearly remembered that he had put away all his afternoon schedule for that appointment, and even drove a newly bought sports car, deliberately flattering him.

However, at the reception, because the captain made him jealous——Lawrence raised his eyebrows, and he admitted that he was jealous, so he deliberately mixed with Selina and Di Luca, leaving Gabriel alone in the cold.

In retrospect, Lawrence somewhat regretted doing so, because when he noticed, Gabriel had already scrambled into the toilet; he didn't know until he heard some waiters sniggering at Gabriel's gaffe. It was found that Gabriel was dazed and dazed in front of the sink, washing his hands with hot water until their hands were swollen and red.

He didn't know why Gabriel was so frightened, he only knew that it was related to those Neptune crew members.

After a while, he picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Di Luca, it's me."

After the polite greetings, Lawrence asked, "One thing... You should have a list of all the participating teams in this year's boat season? The most detailed... Yes, please pass it on to me, immediately."

Rui Baili stared at the computer screen in front of him, looking at a series of financial data, and some gold stars began to appear in front of his eyes.Mathematics and finance are not his specialties, but criminal logic and case-handling intuition are his food companions—the other is guns.

When he first heard about the case, he couldn't figure it out: What good would it do for shareholders to try to bring down their own bank?Is it necessary for a farmer to kill the chicken that lays the golden eggs?

Unless, the farmer thinks that killing the chickens can gain more benefits.With an idea, he immediately tracked the insurance status of bank products and bonds and found that everything was normal.

Not giving up, he turned to investigate the upstream of the bank: the financial situation of the Drakkar Group.Perhaps this is a trick of self-stealing. Because of the financial black hole of the parent group, the president wants to escape with the money.

After calling up the information, I found that the group has strong financial resources, which is even higher than the gross national product of many small African countries.

impossible!Ribery began to wonder, could this be a trick called ghost hunting but no ghost?

Then, as if he was so blessed, he checked one by one according to the information provided by Booker, and made an intriguing discovery.

Unexpectedly, the method of this deficit case is very simple.

According to the information, the suspect Gabriel Gusman seems to have set up a shell company, using fake transactions to deceive the internal risk control system and operate stock investments in violation of regulations.During the entire pseudo-transaction period, the amount of a single operation even exceeded 5000 million US dollars.

The problem is, regardless of why a person would be so idiotic as to leave key evidence when he absconded, the data shows that 14.00% of the bank shares owned by Gusman are currently under the supervision of the manager. How could it be possible to hide the supervision and commit crimes alone?There must be another conspiracy cover.

Secondly, it is difficult for most businessmen in the world to make up a single investment amount of 5000 million US dollars at one time. Ribery has only seen one type of "businessman" who can have such a hand-powder businessman, drug lord.

This case is getting more and more problematic.Ribery speculates that this fraudulent shortfall is a fraudster-style scam: the shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars is just a number on the books, and the money has been scattered in different accounts. The amount is transferred to a Swiss bank account at one time.

So, who is behind the scenes?

He took out the PDA again.There was a name in the information given by Cooper before that made him quite concerned: Jeremy Wyden, a New York businessman of Monaco origin.

The S Petroleum Company, a joint venture he established with others, exploits oil fields in several countries including Sudan, Chad, and Libya. The Bureau of Investigation highly suspects that he used the company as an escort to carry out drug transportation in private.

Comparing the information on the computer, he noticed that there were several pseudo-transactions with a considerable amount of investment in the stocks of the company and its subsidiaries.Rui Baili's eyes lit up, and he thought that the case could be solved soon.