Return of the war god

Chapter 7

The Burton’s villa was a mess.

Gathered in the formerly empty hallway, the police inspected the crime scene and a detective questioned the family.

A moment later, a yell from the deceased Nathaniel Burton’s wife broke the silence.

“What are you doing wasting your time here?! Find that man immediately!”

The detective who wore a brown trenchcoat adjusted his hat, replying calmly, “We are doing the best we can, ma’am. There are too many mysteries about this that we need to uncover before we can make any arrests.”

The doors swung open and a middle aged man in a decorated military uniform walked inside the house, his cold gaze sweeping across the room before coming to rest on the detective and Mrs Burton.

“Where have you been, Ethan Burton?!” Mrs Burton roared in anger.

“I am sorry, mother. I was supposed to be present for the banquet but I had to settle things at the base first,” Ethan lowered his head slightly.

The detectives and family members explained the situation to Ethan, filling him in on all that transpired.

“You! Get me the surveillance footage of the house immediately!” Ethan barked his orders to the guards, a nod was their only response before sprinting off to do as instructed.

Muttering to himself in anger, Ethan clenched his fists. “I promise you father, I will not spare the one responsible for this.”

The bodyguards presented a tablet and he watched the entire video, his expression darkening afterwards.

“Mother, what painting was it that he asked you to retrieve?” Ethan asked.

“It was the one we seized from those trashy Rhyfel’s. But could he be?” Mrs Burton asked, biting her nails in worry.

“I do not know, but I’ll return to the base and look into it,” turning to the detectives, he continued, “I want to be kept in the loop of anything new you come across, understood?”

“Sir, I didn’t know you’ll call this early.” Liam McHenry stated nervously.

“Is there any problem, Mr McHenry?” Arthur asked, taking a sip of his morning coffee.

“No, not at all, I was just about to contact the Gallagher’s as you had instructed.”

“There’s no need for that now. I’ll be there with a representative from the Gallagher’s. I just need you to prepare all the neccessary documents, understood?”

Nodding repeatedly, Liam replied, “Of course, Captain.”

After hanging up, Arthur placed his mug on the table and walked to his car, turning to his surbordinate who was on standby.

“Where to, sir?”

“To the Gallagher’s and also,” he turned to a maid who had escorted him to the vehicle, instructing, “my sister will be returning here today, so make sure everything is prepared to welcome her and make her feel comfortable.”

“Understood sir.” She replied with a bow.

It wasn’t soon after that he had arrived at the Gallagher’s villa and without wasting any time, he strutted into the house.

Alexander and his grandson, Anthony had come to meet Arthur at the door.

Ignoring the both of them, Arthur asked, “Where is Luna?”

“She’s resting in her room, I don’t think she knew you were coming.” Anthony replied warily.

“Call her for me, hurry.”

He hesitated for a moment but after looking between his grandfather and Arthur, he turned around and walked away quickly to do as he was told.

“Seeing as you’re here, I believe you have a contract ready?” Alexander asked, holding on to his cane.

“Nothing of the sort, but I intend to handle that now. That’s why I came for Luna.” Arthur replied, not meeting Alexander’s gaze.

“What?! How do I know you won’t just take her away?” The old man asked, his voice cutting through the silence in the foyer.

A simple glance from Arthur shut Alexander up.

Calling it simple would have been an understatement, but compared to the glares that when his enemies had seen, they were left paralyzed in fear, this was but a simple glance.

When he spoke, Arthur’s voice had an icy tone that sent shivers down Alexander’s spine.

“I surely hope you are not insinuating that I am not a man of my word, Alexander Gallagher?”

Alexander looked away, his hands shaking slightly as he replied, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

The tension ended as suddenly as it began as Luna hurried down the stairs, a bright smile on her face as she saw Arthur.

She wore a beautiful flowing dress with a sunflower pattern and a pair of brown sandals, her bright and sunny personality reflecting in her outfit as well.

“Arthur!”

Paying no attention to the Gallagher patriarch, she ran and hugged Arthur tightly, stepping back to get a good look at him a moment after.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

Matching her smile, Arthur replied, “I’m sorry about that. We’re going to attend a meeting,” turning to Anthony, he instructed, “You too, come with me, you’ll be the Gallagher representative.”

Usually, Alexander would’ve argued or called out Arthur’s actions as rude, but after having a small understanding on the kind of man he was, he knew better than to do that.

The three headed to his parked car and after an instruction from Arthur, the driver started off to their destination.

“Oh speaking of, did you hear the news, Arthur?” Luna asked, catching the attention of both Arthur and Anthony.

Arthur smiled at her fondly, remembering how when they were children, she was the type that loved sharing what she thought was the juiciest gossip.

“What news Luna?”

“The head of the Burton family, Nathaniel Burton was apparently murdered last night.”

He sighed inwardly, it was expected.

The Burton family were a part of the great seven families in the country. They had grown so powerful and influential that they were argued to be in the top three among the seven.

And while many people had already departed by the time he had arrived. News as grand as the death of the patriarch of the Burtons, one of the seven great families, was sure to spread like wildfire. One could say it was the trendiest news in the entire nation at the moment.

He pretended to be shocked, leaning forward to play the interested role, “How did such a thing happen? Has the culprit been found?”

“No, nothing yet, the police are still investigating.” Luna explained with a thoughtful expression.

A soft tap on the partition window ended the conversation, as the driver announced the arrival at their destination.

The three alighted the vehicle and met the imposing structure that was the headquarters of the McHenry Pharmaceuticals.

“Why are we here?” Luna asked, surprised.

“We’re here to make a deal.”