The Formidable Stranger (Trilogy)

Business Partners

As they watched from the car, eyes glued to the site of what used to be a famous chill spot, they couldn't see much of what was going on due to the fencing.

"This is pointless, we have to get a closer look" Casper said

The feeling was mutual; everyone felt like sitting ducks not sure what they were waiting for. Then a man came walking out of the zinc gate next to the boardwalk where the truck was off loading, he was walking straight to the car.

"UH OH" Drew said, as their car wasn't exactly hidden. In fact, they were parked right across the road from the entrance, with not many shadows to lurk in at this time of the morning. The man came over to the car and said

"Hey, this is private property, get lost!"

Casper looked up and said "Private? Isn't this a public area, The Raft?"

"Not anymore kid, after the incident with the owner the other day, the raft was sold to a private investor by the owner's family. Now please go before I lose my job"

Tammy started the car and they drove off once again. They knew they were on the verge of cracking something big.

"A private investor huh? Is that what Mr. Lee is calling himself these days" said Cipher

"I think we should pay the Johnson's a visit, see why they sold the raft to these guys" Casper added

"Yeah, but that's not today, we have jobs to get back to" Drew mentioned.

Everyone laughed as they remembered they weren't actually detectives and they had a life to live. So everyone went to their respective homes. Drew and Casper being super late for work would arrive at around midday, Drew could stay at work a few extra hours as he normally did whenever he had to make up for lost time; the Manhattan Newsletter wasn't as strict on their employees as long as the work still got done. Unlike Sakamoto Distributors, Casper knew he was walking into the lion's den especially since he was the boss' son and people would gossip making it look like he had privileges over everyone else. Tammy went back to doing hair for her clients, she had a hairdressing joint in one of her and Drew's rooms at home and of course Cipher went back to his computers doing whatever he had to do. When Casper got home he realized Katherine was at her shop so he got something to eat and showered, then got dressed to go back to work after days away. Leaving the car at home he got back to his motorcycle and made his way to Manhattan, arriving at around 12:17pm he entered the building and all eyes were on him as he clocked in, he looked around and felt the growing discomfort so he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a letter.

"There, I've got my sick leave letter just like anyone else, you can stop staring now" He said to everyone, they quickly took their eyes off the CEO's son and got back to doing their daily duties. Casper made his way to his office where he was greeted with a warm welcome from Steven, his other clerks hard at work in their section of the office gave a wave through the glass window that separated them.

It was approaching lunch but Casper decided to work through his lunch time and catch up on work he didn't do over the past few days, however, he got a pleasant surprise from Penelope Shanae as she came to his office to have her lunch with him.

"Penny!" He shouted being happy to see his good friend

She gave him that perfect smile and said "Penny? You haven't called me that in a while Cas"

He blushed and said "Yeah I guess I haven't, we really haven't spent much time together since we both grew up and got jobs huh?"

"I know, and that's why I'm here" She said as she held up her lunch in her hands "got about 45 minutes left in lunch, lets hang"