Kidnapping Fortune

Chapter 9: Bribe

WARNING: CRAP CHAPTER AHEAD!!

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James' P.O.V

I entered the large mansion, and gaped at the grand ornaments and large paintings hanging on the stone walls in the hallway.

I was soon met by Alex and he led me through some double oak doors in to a large room, with a marble floor.

Once inside, Alex shut the door behind us and Mr Harding, Alex' father, greeted me and shook my hand.

"Very good to meet you, James. Alex has told me much about his great friend," he said in an obviously faked cheerful voice, forcing a smile.

I smiled back politely. "Very nice to meet you too, Mr Harding," I replied, secretly a little afraid of the short, bald man.

"So, James, I have something important to discuss with you. Please come and take a seat," Mr Harding told me in his deep, demanding voice.

Myself and Alex followed his father to the other side of the room, where there was a leather couch, two chairs and a modern comfortable looking recliner.

We took our seats, me next to Alex on the couch, and Mr Harding on his recliner.

"Well, I think I should just get straight to the point to save time," Mr Harding began.

I nodded, wondering what exactly he had called me there for.

"So, Alex has told you about our plan, and how we are tracking down the girl, Victoria, has he not?"

"Yes, Sir, he has," I said quietly.

"Well, I would like you to help us with this plan of ours, and you will, of course be rewarded if you succeed in the task presented to you."

"Of course Sir, it would be an honour," I lied, slightly taken aback by what he had asked me.

Really, I didn't want to help at all!

"Good, I think you will do a good job. You seem like a strong, trustworthy young man, so I hope you can prove yourself worthy of working for me. Now, we would like you to go to a man's house- him name is Sam- however that is unnecessary at the moment. There you will tell me everything that's going on, though of course being very cautious so as to not get caught. Ask for a man called Daniel, and tell him to report back to me immediately. I will give you a photograph of him to make sure you do not get the wrong person. Victoria should be at Sam's house, however I have a feeling that she has somehow managed to escape. If that is so, you must find her and somehow coax the girl to follow you here and bring her to me. Do you think you could do that, as I'm sure you can put on a persuasive charm to deceive her?"

"Yes, I- I'll try Sir, though I really don't think I'm good enough for this job," I stammered, trying to process all that he had just said.

"Nonsense, I think you are very fit for this job, better than young Alex here," he told me with a toothy grin.

I sneaked a quick glance at Alex who seemed to be glowering at me in jealousy and frustration. Well it wasn't my fault Mr Harding thought I would do better than his own son!

I turned back to Mr Harding curiously.

"Sir, how do I even find the girl, I mean if she's not at that guy Sam's house?" I asked, my confidence growing only a little.

"Ah, do not worry about those things. You see, a few years back, we managed to place a tracker in her right arm, which she of course has not the slightest idea about."

I gasped, but quickly turned it in to a coughing fit. They had put a tracker in her arm! Poor girl!

I really didn't know what to do. I mean, I wasn't going to take part in this scandalous plan, yet Mr Harding would be a big help so I could find Victoria and tell her she was in danger. Or should I just go to the police? Maybe not, because I didn't have enough evidence yet.

"And James, of course you must not speak a word to anyone about our plan, do you hear me?" he said threateningly as if he had scarily read my thoughts. "Because I'm afraid if you do, you will face the consequences."

As he said this, he withdrew a revolver from a hidden pocket in his jacket and pointed it at me. I knew he wasn't going to shoot me, nonetheless I was still feeling quite startled and panicky inside.

Once he had replaced the revolver, he turned to me and said, "Tomorrow, you will set off alone to find her after being given directions. Do you have any questions?"

"Urm, Sir, I have school tomorrow, and what do I say to my social workers at the children's home I live in?"

Not that they would notice me being away, but still, I needed an excuse to be on the safe side.

"Now, not to worry, you will say you are staying with a friend, you can say you're staying with Alex, and the reason for this will be because you have a time-consuming project you are working together on, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir, I think that excuse will probably work, and-" I hesitated before continuing. "What will my reward be?"

"Ah yes," Mr Harding chuckled. "Of course that's what you'd be interested in!"

"You know what, I have no idea what I'm doing here! I must be absolutely mental to agree to do this! I'm sorry but I've made a decision, I do not want anything to do with this whatsoever."

"Well, well, well, looks like we have a difficult one here," he grinned. "Now let us say, I will give you a proportion of the girls money once we have hold of it if you do this job for me."

I shook my head immediately. However I couldn't help but ask, sounding a little too eager: "How much?"

"Ahah I knew you would do anything for money!" Mr Harding considered for a moment. "Around one thousandth of the money- mind you there is a lot of money. However, I may change my mind later based on how well you do in your task."

"And why do you suppose I would work hard for you and only earn a mere thousandth of your money?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Of course your only interest is the reward, is it not?" Mr Harding said with a smug look on his stupid face. "Well, in that case, how about I push your reward up slightly."

"No," I said simply. "I don't care about the money, I just do not want to get involved with any of this, I've made up my mind."

"I don't really think I could go any higher than that, I'm afraid," he said frowning.

"I'm sorry, Sir. The money doesn't matter to me any more I'm afraid."

He really was trying to bribe me with money, but he couldn't fool me, it was the other way round. He thought by giving me a bigger reward, I would accept this but there was no way I was going to do this for him. Then again, I wanted to warn this girl that she was in danger- but then he would probably kill me! I was so confused. What he was doing wasn't right, should I just leave?

For a moment, Mr Harding looked at me with a fearsome glint in his eyes.

After a short period of time, I said, "Sir, I really don't want to do this. You can be sure I won't tell anyone about your plan."

"Very well, your loss, but think about all that money you could be getting. My final offer is one hundredth of the money only if you do exceptionally well. Take it or leave it."

He couldn't bribe me of course, or would my greed get the better of me?

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A/N

Yup, crap chapter, I know but I already warned you at the start!

I'm still open to suggestions of which actor should play Ian Harding so comment them below. You have till my next update.

I won't have time to write my next chapter any time soon and anyway I'm still thinking of how to make the next chapter interesting so my target's going to be higher this time.

Target: 750 Reads, 125 Votes, 150 Comments

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Go check each chapter, if you've voted for all of them then great, if you haven't make sure you've voted for each part! haha

KEEP CALM AND HAVE FUN WAITING FOR THE NEXT UPDATE WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE IN A YEAR! (not really lol)

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