Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

He orchestrated all of this with the ineffable strategy of a chess master.It's just that it's the most lucrative game of chess ever, with billions of dollars in prize money - and he wins!He felt a kind of invincible power all over him.Father, is this your business?But what I've done is bigger than anything you've done before.I orchestrated the biggest crime of the century and I succeeded! In a sense, it was all caused by Lee.Lee is so beautiful and charming!He is the most worthy of his love in the world!They met at the Berlin Bar on Belmont Street, a gay hangout.Tall, wiry and blond, Lee was the most beautiful man Taylor had ever seen in his life.

This has to start from the beginning. "Please do me a favor, let me buy you a drink!" Lee looked him over and nodded. "Okay." He hooked up with him like this. After the second drink, Tyler said, "Why don't you go to my place and get drunk?" Lee smiled. "My asking price is very high?" "How many?" "Five hundred dollars a night." Taylor didn't hesitate. "Let's go." ※※※ They spent the night at Taylor's house. Lee is warm, sensitive, and considerate.Tyler felt a rapport he had never had with anyone else.He had never experienced such a rush of emotion.When he woke up the next morning, Taylor was in love.

In the past, he'd hooked up with young men in Cairo, the Jewel and several gay bars in Chicago, but that was about to change.From now on, he only wants Li alone. After getting up, Taylor asked while making breakfast: "Do you have any plans for tonight?" Li looked at him in surprise. "Sorry. I have a date tonight." Tyler felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. "But Lee, I thought you'd..." "Tyler, my dear, I'm an expensive commodity. I'll have to sell to the highest bidder. I like you, but I'm afraid you can't afford me."

"I can give you everything you need," Taylor said. Li smiled lazily. "Really? Well, I want to go to St. Tropez in a white yacht now. Can you afford it?" "Li, all your friends are probably not as rich as I am." "Oh? I thought you said you were a judge." "Yes, I'm a judge, but I'm about to get rich. I mean . . . very, very rich." Lee put his arms around his neck and said, "Don't worry, Tyler. I'll be free all week from Thursday. These eggs taste good." That's how they started.Money was really important to Taylor before, but it is different now, he is obsessed with money.For Lee, he needs money.He couldn't get Lee out of his mind.He couldn't bear the thought of Li making love to other men.I want him to be mine forever.

※※※ From the age of twelve, Taylor has been aware that he is a gay.One day his father caught him stroking and kissing one of his male classmates and was furious. "I can't believe I have a gay son! Now that I know your dirty little secret, I'm going to keep an eye on you, my lady." Taylor's marriage is a big joke God made with his horrific humor. "I want you to meet someone," said Harry Stanford. One Christmas, Taylor went back to Rose Hill for vacation.Kendall and Woody have left.Taylor is also planning to leave.Then his father dropped a bomb. "You're going to be the bridegroom soon."

"Marriage? It's impossible! I didn't look for..." "Listen, my lady. People are already talking about you, and I can't afford to be ashamed. It's ruining my reputation. If you're married, you'll keep their mouths shut." Taylor did not comply. "I don't care what people say. It's my life." "But I'm going to make you rich, Tyler. I'm old. Before long I'll be..." He shrugged. Carrots and sticks again! ※※※ Naomi Skyler was born into a middle-class family.She looks mediocre, and her life's ardent pursuit is to "improve" herself.She had Harry Stanford's name etched in her heart.If his son had been a gas station worker instead of a judge, she would have married him too.

Harry Stanford once seduced Naomi into sleeping with him.When someone asked him why he slept with such a woman, Stanford replied, "Because she happened to be there." She bored him quickly, and he thought she was a good match for Taylor. What Harry Stanford wanted to do always got what he wanted. The wedding took place two months later.It was a small wedding—one hundred and fifty people.The newlyweds went to Jamaica for their honeymoon, and it ended badly. On the wedding night, Naomi asked, "For God's sake, how did I marry someone like you? What are you doing with that thing?"

Taylor told her calmly: "We don't need to have sex. We can sleep in separate beds. We can live together, but we each have our own ... friends." "You're fucking right!" Naomi goes out of her way to buy things to vent her resentment towards Tyler, to get revenge.She has traveled to almost all high-end shopping malls in the city to buy all kinds of expensive boutiques, and even made a special trip to New York for shopping. "How can my salary afford you to spend so much?" Taylor protested. "Then you can increase your salary. I am your wife, and I have the right to ask you to support me."

Tyler ran to his father and told him about their situation. Harry Stanford laughed. "Women are born spenders, aren't they? You've got to take care of that yourself." "But father, I need..." "One day you will be the richest man in the world." Tyler tries to explain it to Naomi, but she's not going to wait until "that day."She felt that "that day" might never come.When Naomi couldn't squeeze much out of Tyler, she filed divorce proceedings in court, only to be satisfied with the last of his bank deposits. "Gays are always gays," said Harry Stanford when he learned of their divorce.

This is how their marriage ended. Once, his father, uncharacteristically, asked Taylor to do something for him. Taylor was sitting on the bench trying a case that day when the bailiff walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "Excuse me, Judge..." Taylor turned around. "what's up?" "I have your call." "What? What did you do? Didn't you see I was...?" "It's your father, Judge. He says there's something urgent and he must speak to you at once." Tyler was furious.His father had no right to interrupt his trial.He was ready to ignore it.But on second thought, if it's an important matter, maybe it's...

Taylor got up and said, "Fifteen minutes adjournment." Tyler rushed to the office and picked up the phone. "Father?" "Hope I didn't bother you, Tyler." There was malice in his words. "Actually, you're interrupting me. I'm on a case, . . . " "Okay, give him a ticket and forget about it." "Father……" "I have encountered a difficult matter and need your help." "What's up?" "My cook is stealing from me." Taylor couldn't believe his ears.He was so angry that he could barely speak. "You called me out of court to..." "You live on the law, don't you? Now he's breaking the law. I want you to come to Boston and investigate everyone around me. They're robbing me behind my back!" Tyler couldn't help it. "Father……" "You just can't trust the damn employment agencies." "My case is only halfway through, and there's no way I'm going back now." After a terrible silence, the other party said: "What did you say?" "I mean……" "You're not going to disappoint me again? Maybe I should talk to Fitzgerald and I'm going to make some changes to the will." It is his "radish and stick" strategy of both soft and hard.money!When his father dies, he gets to share the billions of dollars in the family fortune. Tyler cleared his throat. "If you send your special plane to pick me up..." "Hey, no way! If you play the right card, that plane will be yours sooner or later. Think about it. You should take a commercial plane like ordinary people, but you have to get to me as soon as possible!" After finishing speaking, the phone Hang up. Tyler sat there helplessly.My father has been doing this to me since I was born.To hell with him!I will not go.Just don't go. However, Taylor flew to Boston that night. ※※※ Harry Stanford employed twenty-two servants.Among the gang were secretary, valet, housekeeper, maid, chauffeur, gardener and a bodyguard. "They're thieves, everybody's a fucking thief," Harry Stanford complained to Taylor. "If you're so worried, why don't you hire a private investigator, or call the police?" "Because I have you," said Harry Stanford. "You're the judge, aren't you? You come to my case." This is purely malicious. Tyler looked around at the exquisite furniture and oil paintings, and remembered the boring small rooms he once lived in.These should be mine, he thought.Someday, I will have all of this. Taylor talked to the butler Clark and other main old servants, asked the other servants one by one, and checked their resumes.Most of them were new hires, because Harry Stanford was a difficult man to work for.Staff turnover is commonplace.Some people quit after not staying for a day or two.Some of the newcomers were indeed dishonest, and one was an alcoholic, but other than that, Tyler saw nothing wrong. Except for Dmitry Kaminsky. ※※※ Dmitry Kaminsky was a bodyguard and masseuse his father had just hired.The judge's action made Taylor good at reading words and deeds.Taylor quickly sensed that there was something distrustful about this Dmitri.He was just hired.Harry Stanford's former bodyguard had quit—Tyler could imagine why—and Kaminsky had been recommended by a local security agency. The man was tall, with a broad chest and strong arms, and spoke English with a thick Russian accent. "You want to see me?" "Yes." Tyler pointed to a chair. "Sit down." He looked at the person's professional background file, there was not much content on it, only that he had just arrived from Russia. "You were born in Russia?" "Yes." He looked at Taylor warily. "What state do you live in?" "Georgia." "Why did you leave Russia and come to America?" Kaminsky shrugged. "There are more opportunities here." what chance?Taylor wondered.This person seems to be running away from something.They talked for twenty minutes.In such a short amount of time, Taylor was pretty sure that Dmitry Kaminsky was hiding something. ※※※ Taylor hung up on Fred Masterson, an FBI acquaintance of Taylor's. "Fred, I want to ask you a favor." "No problem. If I ever go to Chicago, you can help me book a ticket, okay?" "I was serious." "Come on." "I want you to help me investigate a Russian who just came to America six months ago." "Wait, you're supposed to call the CIA about this?" "Maybe. But I don't know anyone in the CIA." "I have no acquaintances either." "Fred, I'd appreciate it if you could do me this favor." Tyler heard him sigh. "Okay. What's his name?" "Dmitry Kaminsky." "Let me tell you, I know a guy in the Russian embassy. I'll see if he has information on Kaminsky. If not, I'm afraid I can't help you." "thank you very much." ※※※ That night, Taylor had dinner with his father.Deep down, Taylor wanted his father to grow old and vulnerable over time.However, he is still so strong and healthy, really old and strong.He looks like he'll never die, Tyler thought desperately.He must die after us. The conversation at the dinner table was completely swayed by Harry Stanford. "I just made a big deal, the power company in Hawaii bought it for me..." "Next week I'm flying to Amsterdam to settle some GATT disputes..." "The Secretary of State invited me to accompany him on a visit to China..." Tyler could barely get a word in.When dinner was over, his father rose and asked, "How is your slave burglary going?" "I'm still investigating one by one, father." "You can't check for a lifetime!" his father howled and left the restaurant. ※※※ The next morning, Taylor received a call from FBI Fred Masterson. "Taylor?" "it's me." "Let you guess." "Oh?" "Dmitry Kaminsky was a hitman working for Borgoprodrenskaya." "What the hell organization is this?" "Listen, there are eight criminal organizations running amok in Moscow. There are frequent conflicts between them, but the two most influential are the Chechens and the Borgoprodrenskaya. Your friend Cumming Kaminsky worked for the second group. Three months ago, they handed him a plan to assassinate a leader of the Chechen group. Instead of carrying out the assassination plan, Kaminsky used it with the The leader made a good deal. Later this was discovered by the Borgo Prodrenskaya group, who changed their assassination plan to go after Kaminsky. The gang there had a weird Guidance: First cut off your fingers, then let you bleed for a while, and finally use a gun to crush you." "My God!" "Kaminsky managed to escape Russia, but they are still looking for him, and they are looking for him urgently." "Unbelievable," Taylor said. "That's not all. The police are looking for him for several murders too. If you know his whereabouts, they'll be overjoyed to have that information." Taylor thought for a moment.He can't get involved in this.This means testifying in court, which is a waste of time. "I don't know, I just inquired about his whereabouts for a Russian friend. Thank you, Fred." ※※※ Taylor found Dmitry Kaminsky reading a pornographic magazine in his room.After Taylor came, Dmitry stood up. "I want you to pack your bags and get the hell out of here." Dmitry looked at him with wide eyes. "What's wrong?" "I'll give you a chance. Either you get out of here by afternoon, or I'll tell the Russian police where you are." Dmitry's face turned pale. "You see what I mean?" "Yes, I understand." ※※※ Taylor goes to see his father.Father will be very happy, he thought.I really did him a favor.He found his father in the study. "I checked all the servants," Taylor said. "Then……" "I'm touched. Did you take this opportunity to get a lad to sleep with you?" Taylor's face flushed with anger. "Father……" "You're a gay, Tyler. You'll always be a gay. I don't know how the hell I made you a monster. Go back to Chicago and hang out with your shitty friends." Tyler stood there, trying to control himself. "Okay," he said stiffly.He turned to leave. "Is there any result of what I asked you to investigate?" Tyler turned and looked at his father for a moment. "No," he said slowly, "nothing." ※※※ Tyler came to Kaminski's room again, where he was packing his things. "I'll go right away," he said, suppressing his anger. "Don't go. I've changed my mind." Dmitry looked up suspiciously. "what?" "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here and continue to be your bodyguard." "So... that thing...?" "Let's forget about it." Dmitry watched him cautiously. "Why? What do you want me to do for you?" "Smart. I want you to be my eyes and ears here. I need someone to watch over my father and keep me informed of what's going on here." "Why should I do it for you?" "Because if you do what I say, I won't turn you over to the Russians. And I can make you rich." Dmitry Kaminsky stared at him for a moment, a smile slowly forming on his face. "I agree to stay." This is just the first move.The first pawn had gone out. ※※※ This was already two years ago.From time to time, Dmitri sent information to Taylor.But mostly it was just Harry Stanford's latest love affair or some business affairs that Dmitri overheard.Taylor begins to think that he has made a mistake and that he should turn Dmitry over to the police.That's when he receives a fateful call from Dmitri from Sardinia, and the gamble finally pays off. ※※※ I'm on the yacht with your father.Your father just called his lawyer.He was meeting with him in Boston on Monday to discuss amending the will. "Dmitry, I want you to call again on Sunday." "Row." Tyler put the phone down and sat there thinking.It's time to start.