Chapter 911 - Deal with Mr. Patel (2/2)
Mr. Patel laughed. He has to admit that Aiden's attempt was a decent one, but when facing a Gujarati*... Eh, he has a lot to learn.
Mr. Patel has no problem pointing out to Aiden that he failed: ”Omega, Omega… if I set the price based on how much effort it takes ME to find her, it will be at a loss. Therefore, I believe that the fair approach is to come up with a price while thinking how much it will take YOU to find her. How does that sound?”
Aiden sighed while thinking that his soft skills really need to improve. ”Are you confident that you can find her?”
”Are you doubting my capabilities?”, Mr. Patel sounded half surprised half amused. ”How about this… Let's make a bet. I guarantee that I will find the information you seek within a week.”
”Seven days?”, Aiden was not sure if this is a lot or not for a 'manual search' . For hacking, seven days is a lot, but for a search that needs to be done in person… he is clueless.
”Starting the moment we confirm the deal.”, Mr. Patel confirmed.
Aiden needs to clarify what Mr. Patel has on his mind. ”What are the stakes in the bet?”
”Stakes? I use my services and you use yours.”, Mr. Patel vaguely responded.
Aiden already knows what his service are, but what services are coming from Mr. Patel? ”Your services?”
”Since I said that I will find her in seven days, if I find her within 24 hours, you owe me 7 jobs. No questions asked and no right to refuse. Deal?”
Aiden swallowed non-existent saliva while thinking that this man is extorting him. But he has to keep on talking. ”What if you don't find her in one day?”
”For every day that passes, number of jobs you need to give in return will reduce. So if I find her on the seventh day, you owe me one job. And if I take longer than that, I will give you information for free. What do you say?”
Aiden thought for some time before responding: ”I'm not sure I see how the stakes are balanced. No matter what, you give us information on the woman while on other side amount of what we need to give varies.”
Mr. Patel snorted. ”Hey, you called me. Do we have a deal?”
Aiden closed his eyes and sighed. Seven jobs… it's a lot, much more than he thought, but that is not such a big problem. It will probably not be seven, considering that the man will take longer than one day to find that woman. However, the part of no questions asked, and no refusing will be a problem for Sarah. And considering that this is Mr. Patel, the requests will not be simple. After all, if it's simple, there are many others who can do it and there is no need for these shady conditions set in advance… just how he attempted to get them back in Las Vegas with the token given in advance.
Alarms rang in Aiden's mind that this is NOT a good deal. But, does he have a choice? This will provide an opportunity for Sarah to find out more about Lebedevs, to get an edge and maybe find a way out.
Sarah will need to do the trial for the master by herself while he can only watch from the distance, if he can even watch. But this… this is something he can do. This is his part in their quest for acquiring their freedom from the shadows of Eastern European families.
Aiden told himself not to overthink things. It's not like he is signing his soul away to the devil. It's only seven jobs, and with every passing day it's one less. He can do it. ”I will need that in writing.”
”You will have an electronic document in your inbox within fifteen minutes. The moment you sign it, the clock will start ticking. As a proof of my sincerity, I will inform you on the status as soon as any progress is made.” Mr. Patel could not hide glee from his voice.
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