Chapter 4: 3 – Tonight I’ll kill you!

The auction went on for another hour until it was finally time for the last item; a painting by Vincent van Gogh.

The painting depicted a watermill next to the town of Nuenen on the Netherlands, where Van Gogh lived for 2 years. It was titled 'Water Mill at Kollen Near Nuenen'.

Starting at 800 thousand dollars, it was the most heated auction of the night, with the final bid at 3.135 million dollars.

------
After the auction ended, the seats were removed and a violin player entered the room.

As before the auction's beginning, the guests were now free to wander the museum and observe the pieces on display.

"The last auction was interesting, to say the least." Jane joked.

"Yeah, but those two were definitely not interested in the painting."

"Well, rumors are that Mrs. Brown spent a weekend with Mr. Archer at his lake house. By themselves."

Mr. Brown and Mr. Archer were the stars of the bidding fight for the Van Gogh. The painting, which was expected to be auctioned for just 2 million, became the stage for a pissing contest between the two whereby the end, they were trading insults along with each bid.

"He can only blame himself for focusing more on his career than his family." Spoke Jane, though not quite clear if it was Mr. Brown she was talking about. "Excuse me, dear, as I go to the ladies' room."

"Of course, I'll be waiting for you near the entrance."

After Jane left, John went to an isolated spot behind a statue, where he took the ricin capsule from inside his sock.

With the capsule in hands, John headed towards the bar where he got himself two expensive drinks.

------

"Sir, the gladius and the painting have been delivered." Verich's bodyguard told him.

"Good. A pity that I couldn't get the watch for Rose's father, but that black man was too determined to get it." Verich who was by the entrance commented. "That's all for tonight, let's go."

But just as Verich was about to leave...

"Excuse me, Sir." At this time someone called out to Verich. It was the black man he had just mentioned, the one who won the watch, and he was carrying two drinks while smiling towards him.

"Oh, may I help you Mr...?"

"Smith. Lucas Smith. I'm sorry for the auction, but I collect antique watches like that one, so I hope you won't hold it against me."

"No, not at all Mr. Smith. I'm not really a fan of those and was just going to gift it to my father-in-law. I'm Verich by the way. Emmanuel Verich."

"Nice to meet Mr. Verich. Though nothing much, I hope to offer you this drink as an apology." The black man had a sincere expression on his face as he offered one of the drinks.

"Haha, who am I to refuse a free drink?" Verich took it, but before he could drink it...

"Sir, Mrs. Verich said you're not supposed to drink alcohol." His bodyguard.

"Ah, she and the kids are visiting her parents, how would she find out?"

"She would because she asked me and James to keep an eye on you."

"Dammit, you are two traitors, that's what." Verich complained. "Sorry friend, it looks like I'll have to refuse." He said before handing the drink back.

"That's ok, I just hope we may be able to meet again in the future."

"Haha, certainly." Verich laughed as he left.

------

'Dammit!' John cursed inwardly. 'I'll have to go to his home then, though it will be more dangerous.'

As he was thinking, Jane came back.

"Wasn't that the man you fought for the watch?" She asked.

"Yeah." John answered shortly.

"Well, if he doesn't want the drink, I do." She said as she reached for the drink John had offered.

"Here, take mine." John said as he handed her the other one.

"What's the difference?"

"That old man didn't recognize me, but he was one of the instructors while I was at Ranger School. The one thing I wanted the most during that time was to cave his teeth in. After meeting him tonight, I tried to gift him something special, but he didn't take it"

John told a lie, though it wasn't completely false. He did have an instructor during training that he wished he could beat down, so he just used him as an example.

"Something special, what is it?" She asked

"Nothing too harmful, let's just say it would make his wife very happy."

"Very happy?" She asked before finally realizing. "Oh, you naughty thing haha."

"Well, I tried." John said as he dumped the glass's content on a vase of plants. "Now I guess it's time for me to leave."

But just as he was leaving, Jane called him out.

"Leaving so soon, but the night has just started. Why don't we continue this talk at my apartment? My husband is on a business trip and such a big place can be so lonely..." She said while caressing John's arm.

"Though quite tempting I will have to take a rain check, as I still have something that I must do." John smiled apologetically before continuing. "How about I make it up to you this weekend? I can follow Mr. Archer's example and take you to visit my lake house."

"It's a promise then." Jane said before and then handed John a card. "Here is my number. Please don't take too long, I might not be able to handle the waiting."

"You don't have to worry about that."

With that Jane left. John would have taken her offer if only this night wasn't so important.

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John figured that Verich might not take the drink, so he would need to go to his home. Therefore, he arranged for Verich's father-in-law to get sick, so that his wife and kids would be out of the house.

Tonight, there were just Verich and his two bodyguards.

------

Verich was in the back seat of his car, heading back home.

"What's wrong, Sir?"

"You mean besides the two of you working with my wife?" Verich said a little angry before asking. "Michael, have you seen that Lucas before?"

"I don't think so Sir, why?"

"Somehow, I feel like I've seen him before."

After talking to the man, Verich couldn't shake the feeling that he had met that Lucas before. He kept thinking about it the whole way home, but couldn't seem to remember.

Arriving at home, he headed to his bedroom upstairs. One of the bodyguards would stay inside the car on the street while the other would keep watch over the back entrance.

Inside the bedroom, Verich was putting on his pajama when he noticed the medal on top of the bookcase, and it finally hit him.

"That's it, the Squad leader!"

The Lucas he met today looked quite similar to a squad leader he once had under his command.

Five years ago, the Colonel received news of a terrorist they had been looking for quite some time. According to the intel, the terrorist was in an isolated village.

There were signs he was about to disappear once again, and there wasn't enough time to send in a drone, so Verich decided to send a squad in.

The leader of the squad argued that it was too good to be true and that it might be a trap, but Verich ordered them to go.

He also knew it might be a trap, but he figured that the merit for taking down the terrorist would outweigh any possible soldier loss.

The 12 men squad left for the village, where they really discovered the terrorist, along with 30 enemy combatants.

Though the whole squad died, they were able to take out the terrorist along with 25 other combatants, so the mission was considered a success and Verich was awarded a medal for it.

After remembering it, the Colonel rushed to his laptop, and pulled the file from everyone at that squad, finally finding the one he was looking for.

-Staff Sergeant Lucas Freeman, 26, KIA.-

The file had Lucas's info along with his photo. He looked quite similar to the Lucas he had met at the auction.

'They look too much alike, they must be related.'

Then, he began to check for any known relatives.

-Parents died in a car accident when he was 2. Grew up in an orphanage along with his brother John Freeman. Joined the army at 17 following his brother's footsteps...-

'John? Let's see if there's some info about him.'

Verich found John's file, but when he tried to open it...

-Access Denied-

He tried again but it was the same result.

'This doesn't make sense, I should be able to see the file of any soldier that has been in the army. Unless... Fuck!'

He knew of a way for a soldier's file to remain restricted to the army officers. If he left for the CIA.

Thinking about the CIA operatives methods, Verich couldn't help remembering the drink John had offered him and started to sweat cold.

'If Michael hadn't stopped me, I could've died. Not only that, that John will certainly not give up.'

Without thinking twice, he called on the radio for his bodyguards.

"Michael, James, answer."

"Michael here Sir." "..."

"James, answer."

------

On the street in front of the house, the bodyguard James was sitting on the driver's seat, two bullet wounds to the chest.

John was still wearing the black suit he used for the auction, although now he was also carrying a silenced pistol.

He took the bodyguard's pistol and radio, before heading to the entrance. He was thinking about how to disarm the security alarm when he heard the radio going out.

"Michael, James, answer."

"Michael here Sir."

"James, answer."

'He must have found out about me already.' John thought.

Picking up the bodyguard's radio, John answered.

"Verich, tonight I'll kill you!"

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