Chapter 49 Lucas Concedes
Barry contacted the mayor of Starstream City and directly dispatched police forces from the Government District.
Police cars from across the city mobilized together, their flashing lights painting the exterior walls of Platinum Haven Hotel in brilliant reds and blues—a truly impressive scene.
James told me this bad news while Roger and I were studying Elias's lung CT scan.
"You beat up Jerald, and now someone's here to get revenge for him." Roger looked at me with glee. "Barry's no ordinary guy—you're in big trouble this time!"
"The bigger the crisis, the bigger the opportunity," I replied calmly, then looked at James. "Does Gale know?"
James nodded. "Mr. Sorelli said he's leaving this entirely up to you."
Gale's unconditional trust made me smile. "Is Barry still at the entrance? What are his demands?"
"Yes, outside the main gate." James showed me the live surveillance footage. "That military bulletproof vehicle is Barry's. He wants us to release Jerald."
"Then let's release him," I said casually. "After feeding him for free all these days, it's time he contributed something."
I took out a bottle of strange-flavored jelly beans and had Cole feed Jerald one, tricking him into thinking it was poison. Then I took out a prescription and had Cole threaten Jerald to deliver it to Barry.
Maybe Cole happened to pick a really nasty-tasting jelly bean, or maybe Jerald just wasn't very smart—either way, he believed Cole's threat and handed the prescription to Barry.
Then Barry asked to see me. I didn't rush down nervously to greet him with great respect. Instead, I treated him like any ordinary visitor and invited him to the reception room.
As soon as Jerald saw me, he got worked up and yelled about killing Cole and me.
"Jerald, calm down." Barry's authoritative words shut Jerald up.
In politics, Barry had the nickname "Smiling Shadow." His slightly chubby, wrinkled face wore a faint smile as he held up the prescription and asked me curiously, "How did you get this?"
It was a prescription for a special medicine to help his body recover from a poison he'd been exposed to.
"I happened to hear that you have a very special pill made from the venom of five poisonous animals. Not only won't it kill you, but it can also delay the effects of any of these five venoms in someone who's been poisoned." I smiled and said, "By coincidence, I saw a prescription in Doyle's journal that used the exact same five venoms."
"Can I see the journal?" Barry asked.
"Of course." I handed Barry a quarter of the journal. Four or five people who came with him put on gloves and carefully examined it.
They spent half an hour studying it and reached the same conclusion Roger had reached in three minutes.
Barry lit a cigar and asked me, "Are you willing to sell the journal?"
"Eighty million dollars, and I can sell you a photocopy."
Roger always said I was exploiting him, but the price I gave him was actually discounted.
Barry exhaled smoke, hesitating.
The journal only had medicine names without specific ratios. He wasn't a doctor, so the journal didn't mean much to him—only that one prescription was useful.
In the end, he bought just that prescription. I casually quoted two million dollars and threw in a small bottle of prepared medicine as a gift.
Barry froze for two seconds. My attitude was too casual. Holding the freebie, he asked suspiciously, "What did you say this is?"
"Pentadose Venomex," I answered easily. "I mixed it according to the prescription."
"How do you know how to mix it without the proportions?" Barry's expression changed. He pointed at me with the hand holding the cigar. "This isn't the complete prescription? You hid the specific ratios!"
"The prescription in the journal doesn't have the ratios," I said, meeting his gaze fearlessly. "I'm a medical student who likes studying pharmaceuticals. The key to making Pentadose Venomex is getting the five venoms to balance each other out."
"It's not that hard." I shrugged.
"Not hard?" Barry looked me over suspiciously. "I heard you invented a hemostatic drug called Phoenix Blood Balm?"
"I didn't invent it. The journal had half a prescription, and I completed the missing parts," I answered calmly.
"Seems you're a pharmaceutical genius!" Barry accepted the Pentadose Venomex and got up to leave.
When he came in, I'd noticed his lips were rosy with a tinge of dark blue.
Barry's physical condition must be quite poor. I guessed he was in a hurry to leave so he could go back and test whether the Pentadose Venomex was real and effective.
"Grandpa!" Jerald couldn't believe Barry had forgotten about him. He still hadn't realized that if it were just about his kidnapping, Barry wouldn't have come in person—it was Doyle's journal that attracted him.
Barry tapped his forehead. "Almost forgot. Isabella, what poison did you feed my grandson?"
I nodded at Cole. Cole pulled out the jelly bean bottle and tossed it to Jerald, saying flatly, "Dog poop flavor."
After Jerald figured out what happened, he cursed furiously, but Barry took him away after just one curse.
I relaxed back into the sofa and realized my palms had a thin layer of sweat.
Dealing with Barry hadn't been as easy as I'd appeared.
James came in. "Lucas arrived half an hour ago and brought over two hundred people."
I hurried to the window and saw cars everywhere around the hotel.
The police cars were surrounded by Lucas's people. Now, if the police wanted to leave, they'd have to ask Lucas's soldiers to let them through.
"Where's Lucas?"
"Outside the office."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucas knocked on the door, then came right in.
James was somewhat displeased. "Mr. Sorelli, the point of a door is to prevent people from entering other people's spaces at will."
"That's what locks are for." Lucas didn't look at him, his gaze scanning over me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I waved James away, telling him to leave first.
"I came as soon as I got the news." Lucas's voice was low. I looked at the red veins in his eyes—whenever Lucas didn't rest well, his voice got hoarse.
I said "thank you," but clearly that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
He walked toward me, his hands gripping my waist, pushing me toward the wall.
"I was worried something would happen to you."
We were still standing by the window. I could see the sea of cars outside just by turning my head. My hand hesitated as I tried to push him away.
Lucas lowered his head, burying it in the crook of my neck, murmuring, "But you handled the trouble without needing me, and part of me wishes something had happened to you."
I frowned. Lucas's forehead against my neck felt abnormally warm.
"Are you running a fever?" I found it hard to believe.
Lucas was so physically strong. Over the past three years, even if he got cut with a knife one day, he could still get up early to exercise the next.
Now, in less than a month, he'd been sick twice!
"If I'm sick, can I come back home?" Lucas asked in a muffled voice.
"If you're sick, you should go to the hospital." I grabbed his arms, trying to make him stand up straight. "You're heavy. Don't lean on me."
Lucas reluctantly straightened up, staring at me. "You're a doctor."
"Have you thought things through about Amelia?" I pressed one hand against his chest.
Lucas wanted to dodge the question, but I needed an answer.
"Not yet." He rubbed his temple. "Give me a little more time."
"You should go." I looked at his complexion and couldn't bring myself to say anything colder. I just walked around him toward the desk. "I'm very busy."
Lucas tried to grab my hand, but I took big, quick steps and he couldn't catch me. His body swayed, and he fell straight down!