Shangri-Lah Furniture Manufacturing - Part (3/3)

Leo and the cargo driver stood outside in the parking lot, around the corner of the office building and leaning against the wall under some shade. Leo pulled out his vape bottle and passed it to the driver, letting him take a deep puff. Faint purple mist spills out from the driver’s mouth, his eyes rolled back with ease and relaxation, then he blew the purple mist from his nostrils like a sleepy dragon. A strong scent of grapes filling the air between them.

“Better?” The detective asked, patting the driver on the shoulder. “Let me guess, kicking the habit?”

“Wife’s about to have our first kid so I had to quit, but it’s just bad timing with all work and no pay. Just...man!” The driver lifted up his hands with a quivering lip, but drops them back down in defeat, “four times. Four freaking times. The cheque bounced again. I get paid by commissions and this was suppose to cover our expenses, you know rent, milk money, diapers, maybe some tuition down the road– but this Tucker is a, a—GAAAH!.”

Leo stepped back to let the driver stomp at the curb a few times, to vent out his frustration. The detective offered another drag from his vape, and the driver eventually fixed his red cap to calm down. Leo took in a deep breath, “he really screwed you over, didn’t he?”

“Tip of the ice berg.” The driver groaned and rubbed a gloved hand over his face. “Guy is buried in debt. And you wanna know the funny thing? Instead of doing his company a favor and pick up more business,” he glanced left and right before he whispered, “he’s picking up women.”

Leo raised an eyebrow and listened closely, “You don’t say? How can you tell?”

“Oh, you can tell alright.” The drive grinned, pulling off one glove to show his hand and tapped the wedding band on it. “Walked in on him fooling around with another woman a few times. Said she was his insurance broker here on business and she ‘slipped’...Hah. Sure.”

“Huh.” Leo tapped on his chin for a second to pick the right words. “Frank told me he was making a killing. Even convinced me to invest in some shares. I got some money at first but then it started shrinking. He then said something about a new buyer and money should come back in. What do you make of that?”

“Heh. If you think he’s gonna make a killing, then you’re either naive or a dupe.” The driver took another puff from the vape, releasing the tension in his neck and muscles. “If he does make any money it’s all gonna to his mistress. Limited edition purses, anti-aging cosmetics only available overseas, a new sports car, a 4 star flat, all of it down the drain in her name. Honestly it just...” With no strength to curse, the driver stomped his foot into the ground to get the last of his anger out.

The detective folded his arms while leaning his head against the wall, thinking over the information. The driver handed back his vape bottle, and Leo wiped the top part with his sweater. “You said it was the fourth time the cheque bounced. Why keep working for him?”

“My company has a business package with his furniture place, so I can’t really just say no...Further more, the man’s a weasel. He would legit break down crying in front of everyone to make me look bad if I kept pushing him. Like I was a loan shark or something. He’s got no pride, no shame. Worse, doesn’t bother to hide the fact he has another women when he’s working.” The driver then twitched an eyebrow at a thought. “Now that I think about it. That cheapskate might be pretty happy right now.”

“How so?”

“I mean. Mistress is an insurance broker. Wife’s dead. Do the math and you get yourself both money and a brand new woman to dote on. Two birds with one death, you know what I mean?”