An old, ordinary bar in the South Bronx.
Joshua Lockhart occupied a stool inside the massive bar counter.
Walls with exposed red brick, gloomily dark wood-toned interior decorations, stools covered in red faux leather. It was a place he would normally have no occasion to visit.
Men hitting balls in front of the pool table were chattering noisily in Spanish. Since it was an area with a high proportion of immigrants from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, or Central America, Spanish was heard as naturally as English.
Despite wearing inconspicuous clothing, Joshua was clearly an anomalous presence in that bar. His hairstyle, mannerisms, even his languid and arrogant expression.
Joshua’s movements as he drank whiskey were more restless than usual.
The meaning of ordering it on the rocks was lost, as he emptied nearly all of the amber liquid before the ice had even melted.
With each breath, his broad, thick shoulders heaved. It looked as though he’d experienced something frustrating.
“One more of the same.”
When he ordered a new whiskey from the bartender across the counter, a man entered through the door that was rarely used.
The man in a piqué T-shirt and thin windbreaker shook off the water droplets that had fallen on his shoulders and grumbled.
“Damn it, why is it raining when it wasn’t even in the forecast…”
As if dealing with someone he always met here at a set time, he sat down with a thud on the stool right next to Joshua without even looking at him.
The smell of rain wafted strongly from the man.
Joshua immediately frowned.
“Why don’t you buy some cologne and spray it on? Where are you pouring all the fees you receive?”
“Everyone has their circumstances.”
The man grinned, showing his teeth.
A face that was neither beautiful nor ugly—an ordinary face you could see anywhere.
Clothing that was neither refined nor shabby.
The man with graying hair neatly combed back and wearing silver-rimmed glasses was dressed neatly enough not to arouse suspicion wherever he went. That made his impression appear even more ordinary. If he were shabby, he would stand out in his own way.
He was a disappointingly ordinary man with nothing particularly memorable about him if you tried to recall his appearance and clothing after parting.
His round nose tip and thick, short eyebrows gave him an impression that seemed generous and docile at first glance. However, if you observed him even a little closely, you would notice it. Those two eyes that glinted like a rat peering into darkness, and the sinister expression hidden behind the skin of his face.
As he received a new glass from the bartender, Joshua got straight to the point.
“Did you find out?”
“Well… it’s not easy.”
“You still haven’t found out?”
Joshua’s voice immediately rose.
It was enough that the few customers in the bar all turned to look at once. Forcibly lowering his voice, Joshua spat out each word through gritted teeth, filled with explosive dissatisfaction.
“He’s just a kid working at a bar. What’s taking so long to find out about one measly server?”
The man grinned.
“Your fiery temper is still the same.”
“If you know that, you should bring me information.”
“First, let me order a drink. I’m thirsty.”
Although he wanted to grab the man’s throat right then and there, Joshua endured by biting his lips harder.
The man who ordered expensive liquor only opened his mouth after wetting his throat.
“I tried to canvass the coworkers who worked with him at the bar.”
“And?”
“They said he didn’t get close to anyone.”
“Even if he didn’t get close, they must know something.”
“They don’t know where he lives, or even his real name.”
“They don’t even know his name?”
“If I could find out even one of the two, I could comb through everything even if it takes time, but…”
Muttering that addition, the man sipped his drink.
Joshua felt his meager patience nearly bottoming out.
However, this man was the most skilled fixer, or private detective, he could find within Joshua’s own information network.
The man also knew this, which was why he could act so brazenly leisurely in front of Joshua. That didn’t mean he could continue to go against Joshua Lockhart’s temper.
Joshua blocked the man’s hand as he was about to bring the straight glass containing a whiskey shot to his lips. The sloshing liquor overflowed onto the man’s hand. Joshua paid no attention and bared his teeth at the man.
“So, you came here without any results?”
Until now, Joshua had met all kinds of beautiful men and women. Delicate, elegant, sensual, cute… all types of handsome men and beautiful women naturally gathered around Joshua Lockhart. So his standards for beauty couldn’t help but be high.
When he saw someone with outstanding looks, he reflexively thought they were beautiful, but it was rare to meet someone who drew more interest than that.
But ‘Lian’ whom he met at the Tribeca bar was different.
It was close to a kind of shock.
If not, he wouldn’t have done something like just giving his business card and sending him away. That was Joshua’s own form of respect.
The minimum respect for a piece that would become the rarest collection.
And that respect was spectacularly betrayed. ‘Lian’ didn’t contact him and had disappeared from that bar as well.
It had been a week since he contacted this fixer. At the news that he still hadn’t found out ‘Lian’s’ whereabouts, Joshua was driven to the brink of explosion.
“Who’s the actual owner of the bar? If the coworker employees don’t know anything, you should dig into those above them.”
“Mr. Joshua, you know well that I prioritize safety and confidentiality above all.”
“Why are you suddenly bringing that up?”
“That’s also why you seek me out, Mr. Joshua.”
Joshua removed the hand that had been blocking the man.
The fixer who downed the remaining liquor in one gulp wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“It’s a members-only bar targeting the upper class. Whether it’s about customers or employees, security is their lifeline too. And the owners of such bars are usually kept secret.”
“Isn’t that why you hire people like you, to investigate what’s kept so secret? Hm?”
There was a threat in Joshua’s voice.
The man showed a grin, revealing even teeth.
“Well, it’s not impossible, but…”
Joshua’s face twisted with disgust as he realized what the man was demanding.
“I’ll pay however much more it costs, so find out where that man is.”
“I’ll do that.”
Hehe, the man who let out a vile laugh ordered one more drink.
The man’s taste in food and drink was high-class, unsuitably so.
Having emptied half the straight glass, he tilted his head.
“But, isn’t it suspicious.”
“What is.”
“That he hid himself so thoroughly and didn’t interact with anyone.”
“……”
“He must have been working at that bar with some purpose.”
“Some purpose.”
“Well, I don’t know what.”
“You’ve gotten more talkative with nonsense?”
“Listen to me.”
The man turned his stool toward Joshua.
“The purpose of guys working at that bar is obvious, isn’t it. They’re trying to use their looks to hook a wealthy sponsor. And you, Mr. Joshua, would be the target that best fits that purpose.”
As if telling him to babble as he pleased, Joshua casually listened to the man’s talk while folding a napkin placed on the counter this way and that.
“But even though you showed interest and left your phone number, he didn’t contact you. Not only didn’t contact you, but disappeared. As if he were a fragrance, not a flower.”
“Are you writing poetry these days? What are you trying to say?”
“With those looks and working at such a bar, finding a sponsor wasn’t his purpose. Moreover, he never talked to anyone about his personal situation. Something’s not ordinary.”
While folding the triangularly folded napkin in half again, Joshua muttered.
“He talked about hourly wages. That the bar paid more money.”
A members-only bar catering to the upper class.
Whether male or female, alpha or omega, it was a place with generous compensation in exchange for hiring people with decent looks as employees.
“Then all the more reason you, Mr. Joshua…”
“He probably didn’t want to get money that way.”
Joshua, who paused his hands for a moment, swallowed three or four gulps of strong liquor down his esophagus at once.
Recalling ‘Lian’s’ blue eyes as he pushed away his chest, he added.
“There are people like that in the world.”
