Creating an Industrial Empire in 19th Century Parallel World - 181 Exchange
Meanwhile, in one of the luxurious rooms of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Jonathan found himself abruptly waking up from the incessant ringing of the telephone. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the grogginess from his slumber. As he attempted to sit up, he realized that Caroline’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, making it difficult for him to move without waking her.
Jonathan gently tried to extricate himself from Caroline’s embrace, but she stirred in her sleep and held on tighter, mumbling something unintelligible. He paused for a moment, admiring her peaceful expression and the way her tousled hair fell across her face.
But he couldn’t ignore the persistent ringing of the telephone. So he gently pried Caroline’s arms away from him, trying not to disturb her sleep. He stood and walked over to the telephone and answered it.
“Uhm…may I know why you are calling late at night?” Jonathan asked, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice.
“I’m sorry for disturbing your pleasant sleep, Mr. Axelsen but there is someone in the lobby who wishes to talk to you. He said that it is urgent,” the receptionist said apologetically.
“Important you say?” Jonathan repeated. “Who might that person be?”
“His name is Jack Davis,” the receptionist answered.
“Jack Davis?” Jonathan repeated the name and seconds later, he recognized the name. It was the private investigator his partner hired to find if Rockefeller had connections with the blocking of permits and licenses to start their mining oil company. If Jack is here late at night, then that means it must be something important.
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“Who is that?” Caroline purred, Jonathan turned around to see Caroline sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
“Just someone who needs to speak with me urgently,” he replied, grabbing his robe from the chair and slipping it on.
“Is everything alright?” Caroline asked, looking concerned.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out soon enough,” Jonathan said with a reassuring smile. “Go back to sleep, I’ll be back soon.”
“You pwamise?”
Jonathan chuckled at Caroline’s adorable pronunciation of “promise” and walked back over to the bed, leaning down to give her a soft kiss on the forehead.
“I promise,” he whispered, tucking the covers around her.
“Okaaay…” Caroline nodded and settled back down onto the pillows, her eyes already starting to drift shut. Jonathan watched her for a moment, feeling a warmth in his chest at how cute she looked when she was half asleep. He couldn’t resist planting another kiss on her forehead before finally tearing himself away and heading out of the room.
As he made his way down to the lobby, Jonathan couldn’t help but wonder what Jack Davis could possibly want at this hour. His thoughts were interrupted as he saw the private investigator waiting for him in the lobby, sitting on the sofa.
“Mr. Axelsen?” Jack tilted his head to the side. “What are you doing here? And I asked for Ms. Dupont.”
“Well you can say that Ms. Dupont and I are in a relationship,” Jonathan explained as he approached Jack. “Now, what’s so urgent that you had to come over here at this hour?”
Jack’s face grew serious as he stood up to face Jonathan. “I’ve got some information that you need to hear, and it couldn’t wait until morning.”
Jonathan’s curiosity was piqued. “What kind of information?”
“Something that you and Mr. Nielsen are going to be delighted with,” Jack paused, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “I managed to dig up some dirt on Rockefeller’s connections to the blocking of your company’s permits and licenses.”
He continued. “But it’s not something we should discuss here. Can we go somewhere more private?”
Jonathan nodded and led Jack to the hotel’s conference room. Once they were inside, Jack pulled out a ledger from his breast pocket and slid it across the table to Jonathan.
“That is Mr. Rockefeller’s ledger. It contains a log of illegal dealings, bribes, and payoffs to various politicians and officials. This ledger is all you need to take down Mr. Rockefeller and force him and his associates to hand you the permits and licenses.”
Jonathan gulped at the weight of the information in front of him. This could be the breakthrough they needed to finally start their mining oil company. He opened the ledger and quickly scanned through the pages, his eyes widening at the names and amounts listed.
“This is incredible,” Jonathan said, still unable to believe what he was seeing. “How did you manage to get your hands on this?”
“Let’s just say I have my ways,” Jack said with a smirk. “But you need to be careful with this information. It’s powerful enough to ruin Rockefeller’s career and he won’t take kindly to it being exposed.”
“I understand,” Jonathan said, nodding. “Thank you, Jack. This is exactly what we needed.”
As Jonathan was about to stow it in his breast pocket, Jack suddenly snatched the ledger back, his expression turning grave.
“What do you mean?” Jonathan’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you and my partner had a deal and he already paid you?”
“Well, things change, Mr. Axelsen. You see, getting this ledger wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be,” Jack said, his tone growing more serious. “There were some…complications.”
“What kind of complications?” Jonathan asked, feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Let’s just say that some people are willing to do whatever it takes to keep this ledger from seeing the light of day,” Jack said cryptically.
“I see where this is going…So you are being chased huh?”
Jack hesitated, his eyes shifting around the room as if he was afraid of being overheard. “Well, I am being chased by Rockefeller’s goons. So I’m running for my life here and I think that our initial deal of five hundred dollars isn’t going to cut it anymore.”
Jonathan leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin as he considered the situation. He had a feeling that Jack was telling the truth about the danger he was in, and he couldn’t blame him for wanting more money for his efforts.
“How much do you need?” Jonathan asked, hoping he could still salvage the situation.
“Considering that I have to run for the rest of my life, I’m asking for ten thousand dollars.”
“Ten thousand dollars huh?” Jonathan repeated the price, it was quite a high amount of money he was asking.
“That’s the only amount of money you have to pay me for that information. What’s more, they don’t know who I am giving it to.”
Jonathan pondered for a moment. Moments later, he spoke.
“Alright. You have a deal.”
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