Since I Found You
The General's

Ludwig Stegen's name seemed to be a magic spell that helped Vlad. The uniformed guard opened the gate wide, then escorted Vlad until he arrived in front of the working room of the general who was mentioned by name.

The guard knocked slowly, then opened the two doors wide. Inside, there was an old man sitting quietly, sucking a cigar behind the desk. The man who wore a white polo shirt, still looked handsome at an age that was no longer young

“Ludwig Stegen, Sir,” reports the bodyguard, inviting Vlad in.

Inre Harald is a two-star general who is about to retire. He looked at Vlad while frowning. “What do you mean ... he is the envoy of Ludwig Stegen?” tanyakanya.

“Please say so, sir," Vlad said. He answered a question directed at the guard. Vlad smiled sinisterly, when he saw the look on Inre's face turned tense.

“Come out, Breuer,” Inre's word to his men. The handcuffs that the general had were clearly visible, making the bodyguard immediately nod. He left the office without much talking.

“Who are you?” inre asked, when there were only the two of them in the room.

“I am someone who knows for sure your lunge in the black world, Mr. General," Vlad replied calmly as he walked closer to the desk where Inre was.

"This will be a terrible record in your entire career. You'll close the end of the term with something embarrassing.” Vlad laughed softly. Highlight the eyes of the handsome blond man, impressed demeaning the general in front of him.

“I don't understand what your words mean at all,” said Inre, back sucking his cigar.

“Perhaps, my explanation will be able to remind you,” Vlad said back to sing a cynical smile to Inre. Vlad rested his hands on the edge of the table, staring intently at the old man.

“I have strong evidence, stating that you are in a partnership with Ludwig Stegen. You cooperate in the case of drug sales and distribution, from inside to outside Germany. Through your subordinates, they smuggle the illegal goods freely without being snorted by the authorities,” explained Vlad.

“What kind of proof do you have, young man? I can't believe it at all,” argued Inre. He squinted his eyes while looking at Vlad with a condescending look. “I don't understand at all the bullshit you said just now,” sneer.

“Oh, maybe this little bit of nonsense can silence your vanity.” Vlad reached into a flash disk from his pants pocket, then threw the small object in front of Inre. “Check,” tell.

Inre doesn't talk much. He grabbed the flash disk earlier, then plugged it into a USB port on a laptop that was already in the stanby position. The general-ranked old man's calm rapture suddenly turned tense, as his hand moved to direct the cursor to the end of the file. Even more and more sweat soaks the forehead.

The man watched Vlad who was still in his position. Quietly, Inre's right hand opened the drawer that was on the right side of the worktable. He took out an antique-shaped revolver pistol and directly aimed it at Vlad's head. “Dead you now!” his jolt.

“Pull the trigger if you dare,” challenge Vlad. “I have installed sensors on the body. If my heart stops beating, then the sensor will sound. That way, my men will soon detect it. They knew what to do when I died. You wanna know? My men will immediately upload evidence of crimes that I have copied up to thousands of numbers. They will send it all to every German government and military organization,” Vlad said at length.

“Tak only that, I will also send it to the authorities. Immigration authorities are also interpol around the world, to block your name from escaping" Vlad said.

"What a great crime have you committed. You're abusing the authority you have, which is working with the mafia to do illegal business, Mr. General. Your career and good name will be over soon, tarnished. Leaving a bad impression that lingers every time people call Inre Harald's name."

"You know what's worse? Military punishment in the form of a death sentence will soon welcome you,” Vlad said again. He smiled in satisfaction, as Inre kept his index finger away from the firearm trigger in his grasp. Inre dropped the gun. He even kept the thing back where it was.

“What do you want?” ask Inre. He seemed to have found out, that the young man before him would not have come if without a certain reason.

“Only that?” hiss Inre lightly.

“No!” sahut Vlad soon. “I want to give you very good advice. You can escape the law by scapegoating Ludwig,” said Vlad satisfied.

“I can help to engineer the evidence, so that all the burdensome things can be directed to Ludwig Stegen. After that, I'll get your name out of there. You'll stay safe forever. Not with Ludwig. He would lose all his wealth and power in the black world, for Louis had no protector anymore,” Vlad smirked.

“We don't know each other. So, sorry that I don't know if your words can be trusted or not?” Inre sounded doubtful of Vlad's remarks.

“You have no choice but to trust me, Mr. General.” Vlad laughed softly. He then straightened his body and put both hands in his pocket. “Now take me to Ludwig's hideout,”.

“Ludwig is not in hiding. He's in Berlin,” said Inre confidently. “A few days ago, she sent me an invitation card to attend her wedding tomorrow,”.

“Wedding? Whose wedding?” reload Vlad can't believe it.

“Of course Ludwig's wedding with his girlfriend. Who else?” answer Inre who made the blood in Vlad's body rustle.

“The bastard ...,” hissing Vlad. “She must have planned this a long time ago,” thought. Vlad's blue eyes flashed with anger. The man then turned his gaze to Inre, who was watching him intently.

“Who are you really? How do you know about all the secrets between me and Ludwig?” search Inre.

“Later too you will know.” Vlad grinned as he brought his face closer to Inre, “which is clear, I already know who you are and the people behind the network you have.”

"Do you not know that there is a big risk if you dare to mess with me?" threaten Inre while standing full of authority.

“Oh, yes? I have many acquaintances in the Russian government. One of my old friends was also friendly with the German defense minister. Imagine if the minister knew of your deviant actions." Vlad was not affected by Inre's bluff. He instead showed a satisfied grin, in front of the two-star general.

“You!” Furious Inre.

“As I said earlier, General Harald. Work with me. Make Ludwig Stegen the scapegoat of the illegal business you have today. He's the one who's gonna lose it all. Meanwhile, your good name will remain safe and awake,” Vlad suggested with a tone so calm.

“You didn't know that he was like my adopted son. I've been working with Ludwig for a long time. It's years. This is a very heavy choice, if I have to betray him.” Inre shook his head slowly. The man's expression implied a huge burden.

“The choice is in your hands, General. You or Ludwig are to be sacrificed,” Vlad asserted.

“I ...”

“If indeed you are too heavy to make a choice, then just take me to Ludwig's wedding,” between Vlad, before Inre can continue his words. “I want you to tell me the location, where Ludwig will host his wedding," Vlad concluded.