Chapter 1049 - Jasper meets his father-in-law (2) (1/2)
After dinner they went to the garden. It was a cold evening, but with jackets on, it was not unpleasant. The garden was well lit.
No plants were in bloom. But the evergreen ones were well trimmed and just by glancing at it you can see that it's well maintained.
”I've put your favorite flowers in…”, Matthew told Ellie, expecting to score some points. ”If you come from April to October you can enjoy them.”
He was happy to see that Ellie smiled and he hoped that she is smiling because of what he said and not because that fiancé person pulled her closer to him. It was just an inch, but Matthew noticed it.
”Boss is personally taking care of the garden.”, Matthew's subordinate who followed them closely said.
”That's enough, Ian…”, Matthew awkwardly said, but he was happy to see that Ellie's gave him an approving nod.
After the walk through the garden, they went back into the reception room to warm up with some hot beverages.
Jasper headed to his room first, and Ellie stayed behind.
”What do you think about the garden?”, Matthew asked Ellie.
Ellie saw that his eyes are full of expectations, so she nodded in approval. ”Very nice.”
Ellie glanced around the room and then her sight rested on her father. ”I don't see women around you. How come?”
”This is a weekend for a father and his daughter.”, Matthew responded without explaining further.
”And his daughter's fiancée.”, Ellie reminded him.
Matthew could not hide his displeasure.
”You can be nicer to Jasper.”, Ellie said. She saw that he is not responding, so added: ”And you should come to Chicago to meet his parents before the wedding.”
Matthew responded with a snort. He thought that Ellie will want to bond with him, but she is only talking about her fiancé.
”I have something for you.”, Ellie handed Matthew a USB drive.
”What is it?”, Matthew asked while turning the USB drive in his hand. It's completely black with a white symbol on it: a circle with eight arrows coming out of it.
Ellie shrugged indicating that she does not know. ”A courier dropped it off yesterday. It came with a note to give it to you in person and that Ethan has the instructions how to unlock it. I thought it's from your men because the note mentions Ethan and not many people knew that we are coming here.”
Ellie went to her room and Matthew headed to his study.
The USB contents were locked, and he contacted Ethan.
Ethan confirmed that he received instructions how to unlock data from an unknown source, but he didn't understand what data… now he knows.
Later that evening…
Matthew is sitting in front of the laptop and thinking about the information he received from the USB drive… The Chaos organization wants to cooperate with him. There were not many details on the deal, but they are interested in his assistance in Europe and if he agrees, they will meet next weekend in Chicago to discuss the details.
He heard about the army of Chaos, and he is on top of the information how they are spreading through Los Angeles and California like wildfire. Matthew knows that they refused cooperation with many organizations who approached them so far. It makes him wonder, why him? Having them as allies can't hurt but he needs to know what is the price for that alliance.
In the United States he only has limited people with a goal of collecting information on current happenings and of course, to keep Ellie safe. Having an ally there will be a big bonus for him, but so far he didn't find anyone trustworthy. Ah, is there anyone you can trust in the underworld?!
Matthew balled his hands into fists when he realized that this army of Chaos knows that Ellie is his daughter and that she planned to visit him this weekend! Are they sending him a message that they can reach Ellie at any moment? And they also know that Ethan is working for him? On top of that, in order to accept to meet with them he only needs to show up in Chicago and they will find him?! This… complicates things.