Chapter 13: High-Stakes Business Battle

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Under the dim streetlight, Hawk and Brand rode their bikes toward the hotel.

On the roadside, Catherine stood next to a BMW, waving at them. "Get in!" she shouted.

Brand knew the doorman and gave a quick explanation before leaving their bikes by the hotel and getting into the car with Hawk.

Catherine said urgently, "He couldn't find anyone at the hotel, so he went to the Crystal Cinema."

The BMW drove off, stopping by the roadside after only five minutes.

Catherine pointed to the entrance of a movie theater. "There!"

Hawk jumped out first, running toward the Crystal Cinema.

The sponsor hadn't paid in full yet; nothing could go wrong!

Eric blocked the cinema entrance, shouting loudly, "George Hansen! Come out, face me, you backstabbing jerk! Get out here!"

A few people emerged from inside the theater, led by a man with gold-rimmed glasses — George.

Standing on the steps, looking down from above, he smiled pleasantly. "Look who's here. Our future big-shot director."

Hawk caught up just then.

George turned to look at Hawk, adding, "And his brainless sidekick."

"The Castle Rock crew changed their plans suddenly — was it your doing?" Eric shouted angrily. "You’re despicable and shameless…"

George showed a flicker of guilt, but then a strange sensation from his rear filled him with renewed energy. He interrupted, "I'm just a nobody. How could I influence Castle Rock's plans? You're going too far — I’m not going to be bullied like this!"

Eric looked like he wanted to storm the steps.

Hawk grabbed him, whispering, "This won't solve anything."

Eric struggled to move forward again.

Catherine and Brand quickly held him back.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud — the door to the cinema flew open from the inside. A middle-aged man wearing a cowboy hat stepped out, holding an electric baton.

The baton crackled with electric sparks as he pointed it at the four of them and said fiercely, "Out-of-towners, don’t cause trouble at my cinema. Get lost now! If you don’t, I’ll bash your heads in!"

A weapon is the best tranquilizer; Eric quieted down.

Hawk pulled him back, speaking to the theater owner, "Hey, easy there. We’re leaving now."

Seeing the four of them retreat and get into their car, the man put away the baton and yelled, "Don’t let me catch you punks here again!"

George smiled at the owner. "Thanks."

"Protecting private clients is my job," the owner said, walking back inside. "Get everything set up by 11."

George followed him back into the cinema.

In the ticket hall, a bald man was sitting in the rest area, drinking alone.

George pulled out a chair, sat down, and said uneasily, "Are you sure they have no chance?"

The bald man smiled, stroking his beard. "Rob Reiner's only in town for a day. Even if they want to change screening times, there's no available theater. Park City has nearly twenty cinemas, and all of them are fully booked — other crews also need to accommodate buyers and film groups."

He poured George a glass of wine. "They could rent out the outdoor pavilion for a screening, but that would just insult Rob and Castle Rock."

George raised his glass. "To our success."

...

In the hotel suite's living room.

Eric was dejected as Catherine quickly explained the current situation.

Half an hour ago, she got a call from Rob's assistant. Rob had made a last-minute change to his film festival schedule; he wanted to see another film tomorrow morning, meaning District Heights would have to reschedule for the afternoon.

But the Great Salt Lake Cinema's schedule was full, and the other crews refused to adjust. Catherine contacted other theaters — the same story.

For film studios, distribution companies are everything. Small crews worked hard to get distributors to attend their screenings, and no one dared cancel on them.

Catherine asked someone on Rob's team about the situation and learned that Rob planned to see George Hansen's Lemon Street in the morning.

The reason was simple — the assistant showed Rob the color page photos of District Heights and Lemon Street. The former's Mexican theme wasn’t well-received, while the latter was a movie about white people.

Though Catherine's father knew Rob well, he had been dead for several years, and that old connection didn’t matter when it came to business.

Brand scratched his head the entire time he listened, feeling that making a quick buck was just too hard — so many troubles.

Eric muttered, "We're screwed."

"Are you just going to give up?" Catherine, still upset from being threatened with an electric baton, couldn't swallow her anger. "Bowing down to a scumbag?"

Hawk remained silent; this wasn’t his fight.

Seeing Hawk was calm, Catherine asked, "Does your team have a solution?"

Hawk shrugged. "This is outside my scope."

Catherine got the hint, sneering as she pulled out her checkbook and scribbled a new check before handing it over. "This is an additional payment."

Hawk glanced at the $5,000 check but didn’t take it immediately. "What do you want?"

Catherine hugged Eric. "Find a way to get things back on track. Make George Hansen suffer — the worse, the better!"

"I’ve always wanted to branch out into new business areas. Now's the time." Hawk, always principled, thought for a moment, then took the check and put it away before asking, "I need to confirm — if Lemon Street can't screen, can you get Rob to change his mind?"

Catherine replied, "Rob values efficiency. He'll only be in Park City for a day — there's no way he'll leave two hours free."

Hawk thought it over for a while, then said, "Tomorrow morning, go to the airport, pick him up, and stick by his side until I call."

"That's it?" Catherine asked.

Hawk held out his hand. "Let me borrow your BMW." After Catherine brought him the keys, he asked Brand, "What time do theaters usually close?"

Brand said, "They’re definitely closed by 11:30."

Hawk checked the time. "Let’s take a drive."

He walked over to Eric, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Come on, man. Pull yourself together. If you keep acting like this, the movie's done for."

Eric, having overheard the plan, asked, "We still have hope?"

Hawk replied, "Yeah."

Eric tried to perk up. "What do you need me to do?"

Hawk said, "Make sure the copy and screening go smoothly. Don’t let that copy out of your sight!"

Eric said, "I'll take two people with me to guard it."

Hawk took Brand downstairs, got a late-night snack, then checked the BMW to ensure it didn’t have a dashcam or anything like that before heading to the Crystal Cinema.

"What are we doing?" Brand couldn't stop talking. "This is a tough job. Can you convince Rob to change his mind…"

Hawk interrupted, "Look for any cameras along the street."

"Park City doesn’t have much public surveillance, and private cameras are rare — we don’t like things that invade privacy." Despite saying this, Brand still looked around seriously. He knew Park City like the back of his hand. When the BMW entered an alley, he said, "No cameras here — I’m sure."

Hawk pointed to a low wall in the darkness. "That's the back wall of Crystal Cinema."

Brand nodded. "Yep."

Hawk kept driving. "Should I stop so you can check out the cinema’s electrical wiring?"

Brand's mouth worked faster than his brain. "No need. Park City's cold in the winter, so all cables are underground. The cinema’s circuit box is in the designated utility room."

Hawk kept driving for a while, then asked, "Man, didn't you study electrical engineering?"

Brand, not realizing the implication, answered proudly, "Yeah, so the map of Park City's wiring is basically in my head."

Hawk thought, when boarding that bus, he’d chosen the right person — Brand was like his cheat code.

When they returned to Main Street, Brand saw the Crystal Cinema’s neon sign again. His pride faded, and his hands and feet started going cold. "Hawk, what exactly are you planning?"

Hawk spoke slowly, "We're in a really tough situation. If things get worse, not only will we lose out on the rest of the payment, but we might also have to return everything we’ve already gotten. The troupe’s meet-up and our business will be completely ruined."

Brand rarely stayed silent.

Hawk spoke softly, "Whether we like it or not, a business battle — a high-level one, within the movie industry — has already begun."

"But, but..." Brand stammered. "How can you use these kinds of tactics for a business battle?"

Hawk parked the car and waited until Brand's emotions had calmed a bit before saying, "The more sophisticated the battle, the simpler the methods."

Brand hated the idea of losing money that was already in his hands. He thought of the girl he was pursuing and nodded. "I’m in!"

Without wasting time, Hawk asked, "Do you have black clothes, ski masks, sturdy rope, stuff like that at home?"

"Yes," Brand said. "My parents work at a ski resort, so there's plenty of that kind of stuff."

Hawk asked, "With the knowledge you have, could you make the electrical panel or other equipment look like it wasn't tampered with, but still take a while to fix?"

"Not hard," Brand paused for a moment, then added, "Given Park City's usual work efficiency, if the electrical panel has a complex issue, it'll take two or three days to fix. Even if the theater rushes it, the quickest would be a day."

Hawk said, "I remember you mentioned once that Park City has local regulations that don’t allow commercial cables to be above ground."

Brand automatically continued, "We’ll have people keep an eye out. If the Crystal Theater dares to get electricity from a neighbor, we’ll report them."

It had to be said, following Hawk these past few days, Brand had learned a lot.

Hawk nodded slightly. "Your friends Lewis and Damian don’t have much going on. We can hire them."

He thought for a moment, "Make a move just before dawn, give them no time to react, and check if they have backup generators…"

In this high-stakes business battle, Hawk pulled out one of his three signature moves: cutting the power, stealing the company stamp, and taking over access control.