Chapter 232: Old Driver Max
In the end, Grant accepted Ron's proposal to return to the United States.
However, he didn't come to Ron's base to work as a janitor, nor did he have any intention of opening another restaurant in Little Italy. Instead, he opened an antique shop not far from Ron's base.
This move kept Ron awake for several nights.
This guy—would he attract supernatural trouble? Ron didn't think that the 12.7mm pistol bullets in his M500 revolver would be of any use against otherworldly entities.
You can't just have him hold up a cross and holy water yelling, "Back to hell, demons!" at them.
Hard to say whether others would go insane, but Ron definitely would. Those monsters were obviously not something the M500 could handle. In this situation, there was no choice. Ron figured it was probably more reliable to push Sheldon to develop his death ray faster.
Fortunately, the antique shop was currently run solely by Grant and his girlfriend Sarah. Ron swore that if he ever saw another mysterious artifact collector, or perhaps some young college student with an interest in archaeology, in the shop, he'd immediately move his entire operation to Alaska.
He wouldn't even look back. If he couldn't handle the trouble, he could always avoid it.
With that in mind, he pushed open the door to Sheldon's apartment, planning to grab some breakfast.
Sheldon's runaway saga had lasted only a day; he'd returned in a panic after losing his luggage at the train station.
Ever since Penny and Leonard officially confirmed their relationship, the lazy girl had stopped putting food in her own refrigerator and instead placed it in the one across the hall. So, Sheldon's apartment had become Ron's regular spot for freeloading.
Can a brother eating his younger brother's food really be considered freeloading? Definitely not!
However, upon entering, Ron witnessed a strange scene: Sheldon stood nervously in front of a whiteboard, his back to the wall, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. Leonard and Penny stood by the kitchen, seemingly watching the spectacle.
"Ron, you're finally here. Go take care of your brother." Leonard, upon seeing Ron return, was instantly overcome with relief.
"I told you long ago that I'm giving you custody of Sheldon. Perfect—if you're planning on getting married, you can use him as practice. Trust me, after you've dealt with Sheldon, any child will seem like an angel to you."
Ron poured himself a cup of coffee, while Sheldon curled his hands into a telescope shape and began observing the whiteboard behind him.
"What's he doing now?"
"Either he's breaking down the variables in his equation and testing them one by one, or he's looking for Captain Hook's missing hand," Leonard grumbled.
"Captain Hook's hand was eaten by a saltwater crocodile, not an alligator," Sheldon retorted while staring at the formula. "If you want to mock me, at least get your facts straight first."
"Ron, aren't you going to do something about this? Sheldon hasn't slept all night. He'll definitely get sick if this continues."
Penny said worriedly. Although Sheldon had all kinds of annoying quirks, for some reason, he could always trigger women's maternal instincts to the maximum extent. In the past, it was his mother and grandmother, and now it was Penny.
"Since third grade, my mom forbade me from hitting Sheldon on the head. In her words, 'We can't destroy the IQ God gave Sheldon.' After she discovered I put sleeping pills in his water in high school, I've had no way to make him go to bed."
Ron took a sip of coffee and patted Leonard's shoulder helplessly: "So, can you please keep an eye on him at work today?"
"Okay." Leonard drained his coffee in one gulp. He felt under a lot of pressure: "But you have to pick him up at seven o'clock tonight. Penny and I are going to the roller rink. Howard and Bernadette are coming too. It's a double date."
"Seven o'clock? I should be able to get back from the prison in time," Ron said after thinking for a moment. Sheldon's madness became even more intense during their chat. He had just thrown a board full of equations out the window.
"Leonard, he looks like his computer has crashed. Have you tried restarting him?"
"No, believe me, it's a hardware problem. Restarting won't help."
Ron looked at Sheldon, confirmed he was only having intermittent episodes, and finally felt comfortable leaving.
Ron had just returned to Los Angeles yesterday when he received a message from Mr. Channing, who had sent word from prison. He wanted to see Ron, but since the message was sent through a prison guard, no explanation was given. Ron needed to go handle the situation.
At San Quentin State Prison, ever since the old warden had committed suicide following Andy's letter of denunciation, the new warden had become a member of Francis's political faction, and he had a working relationship with Ron.
Consequently, Channing's treatment in prison had improved significantly. Not only had his golf time increased from once a week to three times a week, but he had also received an additional television in his private cell.
The treatment was now among the best in the entire prison, and Channing was deeply grateful for it.
"I'm curious why Dad suddenly wanted to see us right away."
Before Ron arrived, two beautiful visitors had already come to see Mr. Channing. And before Channing arrived, Caroline and Max had already begun discussing the details of today's visit, which Channing had specifically requested.
"Maybe he wants a 'conjugal' visit?"
"Max!" Caroline exclaimed in horror.
"Don't get so worked up. It would be me and him, not you," Max explained. However, her explanation did nothing to ease Caroline's anxiety; it only made her more worried. Fortunately, Mr. Channing had already arrived.
"There you are, the light of my life, and her bodyguard."
"Dad~" Caroline happily hugged her father, and Channing held out his arms to Max.
"Starting right away? A little foreplay first?" Max, the experienced player, was driving this conversation. Mr. Channing smiled and gently embraced her as he sat down.
"I'm sorry to make you come all this way, and you had to take the subway. I can barely bring myself to say this, but I actually need a favor."
Although Mr. Channing received preferential treatment in prison because of Ron, visiting hours were still very limited, so he tried to be brief and get straight to the point.
Mr. Channing suddenly whispered, "Help me escape."
Before Caroline and Max, who sat across from him, could react, the door to the visiting room opened again, and a large hand rested on Mr. Channing's shoulder.
"Then maybe I need to tattoo a map of the prison on Caroline first, then give her a gun to rob a bank, and then lock you up together. That way, you can follow the map to find the prison's weaknesses and escape successfully.
But that would put the warden in trouble. He and I are good friends, so I definitely won't do that. You won't blame me, will you?" Ron smiled and greeted everyone. "Long time no see, Mr. Channing, and Caroline."
"Okay, I was just kidding," Channing said with a smile. Even if he had the chance to escape, he wouldn't. God knows how many wealthy people he'd ripped off would want to kill him.
But he was sure that at least they wouldn't have the power to kill him through this heavily controlled prison system.
"Officer, you can step out now. I'm watching things here, don't worry." Ron patted the prison guard's shoulder, stuffed a $50 tip into his jacket pocket and sent him away. Then he took a chair and sat next to Caroline, with his hand mischievously on her waist.
"Dad, it's great that you're still in the mood to joke, but don't do it in front of Max, okay? She'll take it seriously. She's already said she's going to skin the prison guard alive so you can sneak out wearing his skin."
"Hey, you know that plan is obviously feasible, right?" Max retorted.
Ron looked at Mr. Channing with a scrutinizing gaze. "Mr. Channing, are you really planning on leaving? If you want to go out for a walk, I can help arrange it.
My mentor recently took a job helping the prison system check for security vulnerabilities. He gets thrown into any prison in the United States as a fake prisoner and then escapes on his own. All you have to do is find someone among the new inmates who looks like Sylvester Stallone from Rocky, team up with him, and you can get out."
"No, no, no, you misunderstood. I was just joking. It's great here. I'm going to participate in the Prison Cup Golf Tournament soon, and our team can't do without me," Mr. Channing said in a joking tone.
Ron met Channing's eyes, and they smiled at each other, everything understood without words.
"Listen, there's a woman I used to employ who was paid one million dollars to write a tell-all book revealing all my private business."
"One million dollars!" Max exclaimed in surprise, "Then how much could I get for writing a book revealing all my secrets? I've even thought of the content for the first chapter: 'Sleep Talking and Other Embarrassing Habits'."
"Haha, Max, if you finish that book, be sure to let me know. I absolutely must buy a copy and read it carefully."
In front of Ron, Caroline's face flushed red: "Max, can you please stop bringing this up every time?"
Mr. Channing brought the subject back to the point: "The woman's name is Sandra Rosenthal. Caroline, do you remember her?"
"Of course I remember, the woman who lied on her resume. She couldn't even balance a checkbook properly, and what's even worse is that her fashion sense was terrible." Caroline was deeply unimpressed:
"Wait, she claims she has dirt on you?"
"She says she knows the inside story of the whole Ponzi scheme and that she had an affair with me," Mr. Channing said, his face slightly distorted, but he managed to conceal it. "But she didn't."
"Of course you wouldn't sleep with a woman with such terrible taste." Caroline still had confidence in her father's standards.
"Anyway," Mr. Channing concluded, "I wanted to let you know because she's going to be on Piers Morgan's talk show, and she's going to spout off some nonsense."
"Don't worry, she won't get away with it, because I'll refute her lies for you..."
Then, it was Caroline's turn to interact with Mr. Channing. Caroline took the initiative to defend Mr. Channing, while Ron remained detached, observing with a cold stare, convinced that the situation was more complex than that; otherwise, Channing wouldn't have called him over beforehand.
"Okay, thank you, my little angel. I don't know what I'd do without you. Okay, you go ahead. I have something to discuss with Ron privately. Oh, and Max can stay, too."
There it was.
As soon as Caroline left the visiting room, Channing couldn't wait to say, "Ron, Max, I need you to tell Caroline something I'm too embarrassed to tell her myself."
"I knew there was another reason you kept me here. Spill it," Ron said with a relaxed shrug.
"That woman also claimed I have a 'tiny problem,' Ron, you understand what I mean, right?" Channing's tone was both helpless and embarrassed.
"Wait, you kept me here so I can help clear your name by confirming your... equipment... is functioning properly?" Max, the experienced player, asked directly.
"Hahaha," Ron laughed until tears streamed down his face. "If you want, I can even take a photo and post it on Twitter using a burner account.
Don't worry, with our long-standing friendship, even if your size is an issue, I can find some Photoshop experts to make you look more impressive."
"No, I just want you to tell Caroline to be prepared. I'm pretty sure that shameless woman is using this to make her new book a bestseller," Channing said angrily.
Any man would feel both ashamed and helpless if someone publicly claimed he was inadequate in that department. He couldn't just take a photo and post it on Twitter, could he?
He'd lose what remained of his dignity. Perhaps the mastermind behind that woman was planning exactly that: if they couldn't kill him, they'd destroy his reputation.
The Channing family wasn't just running their business alone; they were well-known among America's elite. If their scheme succeeded, the Channing family's reputation would be ruined.
Max, however, had only one thing on her mind. She glanced down with curiosity: "How much truth is there to her claims?"
"Believe me, she's completely lying." Channing adjusted his pants and said awkwardly: "Max, why don't you wait by the door for a while so Ron and I can have a private chat?"
"Okay, okay, you guys talk~" Max said, backing toward the door. Before leaving, she mouthed to Ron: "Don't forget to tell me the exact details after you see the evidence!"
"Alright, now that the ladies are gone, what do you want me to do?" Ron asked, crossing his legs.
(End of this chapter)
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