Sidar Vice Chapter 1.
Author's note:
This is my first attempt at a crime story. I hope you will enjoy it.
Constructive comments are welcome. Please vote!
All characters are fictitious and above the age of 18.
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A wild night and a stalker
Sidar is a small town in the Mediterranean. Slightly less than 10 thousand inhabitants mostly live from tourism and the rest from shipyards and fishing. In Sidar, everything is subjugated to the tourist season, which only peaks in the summer months. Then, when the 4 months of summer arrive, the mad-house breaks out: the population booms to over one hundred thousand overnight. For the remaining 8 months, the city lives quietly and a bit boringly. The local population mainly socializes among themselves—after all, everyone in the town knows each other. There are no major problems in the city. The crime rate is very low, so it is a well-known joke that the most boring job in the world is to be a police officer in Sidar.
In the spring of this year, just before the start of the tourist season, Sidar got a new police chief. David Steiner is a renowned name. He was a well-known police inspector and detective in the capital, and he gained fame by leading an action in which drug cartels and a chain of prostitution were exposed. The police action revealed the connection of several people from the government with crime, and David Steiner took all the credit. Yet David Steiner was not a favorite with his bosses because of his unconventional working methods. Namely, David puts the protection of people and service to the people in the foreground and respects the laws in the background. Because of that, he often came into conflict with his superiors. His saying is widely known: "A policeman must serve the people and not the authorities."
And it was because of this statement that David Steiner lost the race in running for the minister of internal affairs. As punishment for disobedience, David was transferred from the capital south to Sidar, to the position of chief inspector and chief of police. The headline appeared in the newspaper: "The untried minister will now be writing fines for drunk tourists."
The most famous and influential family in Sidar is the Manola family. Elio Manola is a former Navy captain. After retiring, he became involved in politics, now working in the Ministry of Defense, and is known as a prominent member of the ruling political party. Although he spends most of his time in the capital, the people of Sidar respect him. When he returns to Sidar, Elio Manola spends a lot of time in public places hanging out with fellow citizens and friends. He can always be found in some inn where he drinks with people no matter what class they come from. It was not uncommon for a Navy captain to sit at the same table with a local street cleaner during his visit to the city. That is why Elio Manola has always been extremely respected by his fellow citizens. However, some citizens think that Elio is not a good man, and he does all this to collect political points from the citizens.
Unlike Elio, his wife Sofia is not favored by the citizens of Sidar. Her nickname, "plastic bitch," says it all. Sofia Manola is a successful businesswoman—she owns a company that employs a large number of citizens. Sofia began her firm as a real estate agency and later expanded it into a travel agency that managed practically all the hotels and apartments in the city, as well as the travel agency itself, which operates throughout the country. The 50-year-old, unlike her husband, has a narrow circle of people to hang out with, and, of course, they all belong to the higher class of rich people. Ordinary citizens, the people she grew up with, hardly greet her when she meets them on the street, and she also treats her employees snobbishly. Sofia, despite her age, looks very attractive. Her skin is tight and youthful, thanks to Botox, having artificial duck lips, while liposuction, silicone breasts, and various other treatments have made her look like a plastic doll. And, of course, Sofia is blonde.
Elio and Sofia have two children: the thirty-year-old Valentin and the eighteen-year-old Tina. Valentin is exceptionally talented and capable. Already at the age of twenty-five, he became a hotel manager and, more recently, a hotel owner. People say he achieved all this at the expense of an influential father—but the truth is different: Valentin and Elio have never been on good terms. Elio wanted Valentin to follow in his footsteps and make a career in the military, but Valentin still graduated from tourism college and shortly afterward earned a master's degree in management.
Tina is a completely different story. A typical snobbish, haughty, and empty-headed blonde from a wealthy family, as typically portrayed in Hollywood movies.
Yet the main character in this story is Sandra Taranis. Sandra is a typical example of a good, family-oriented woman and a diligent worker. She is 48 years old and is successfully coping with all the challenges that women of her age face. She is in a harmonious marriage with Nino Taranis, who works hard in the yacht service and earns well. The only stressful period in their lives was when their daughter Gina had a "minor" hiccup in her life—an unplanned pregnancy. They decided to keep the child and give all the help to their daughter. Despite all this, Gina managed to graduate and receive a law degree and has recently been employed as an intern by a law firm. Gina still lives with her parents, which is the reason for her success. Sandra and Nino also have an eighteen-year-old son, Nico. Sandra is always cheerful and smiling. She is also readily recognizable: a redhead with curly, long hair, wider hips, and lush breasts who never cared about those few extra pounds, which, according to many people, gave her even more sex appeal. Sandra has a beautiful, youthfully glowing face despite her being 48 years old. Yes, Sandra has really big breasts. Even in her youth, she was known as having "Sidar's biggest tits." And her husband, Nino, was also one of the most handsome guys in Sidar in his time. It seems that their son Nico is now on his way to follow in his father's footsteps. He can often be seen in the company of pretty girls.
Sandra, like many other citizens, worked in the company Neptune, whose owner is Sofia Manola. Sandra was one of the first employees of the Neptune Agency when they only had a small office at the community center. Today, Neptune owns 3 floors in the largest office building in the city center. Neptune's employees are divided into 3 groups and are assigned to different floors: On the first floor are those who have just started their careers as booking agents and selling real estate. Part-time associates and seasonal workers are also assigned to this floor, as well as students and students in the last year of the tourist school who have a scholarship contract with Neptune and do their practical classes with different companies—including Neptune. After graduation, they will become employees of Neptune.
Permanent employees are situated on the second floor, mostly hotel- and travel-booking agents and realtors, while the third is reserved for department heads and top-tier realtors. The office of the boss and owner, Sofia Manola, is also on the top floor. Sandra Taranis, as a senior worker, has a job on the second floor. Sandra is a typical, good worker. Never at the top and never at the bottom. She does her job with a well-practiced efficiency. She always meets the goals set and often earns a bonus, and all with half steam. She is not busy with work and is not a workaholic, but thanks to her experience, she knows when to concentrate on her work and when she can relax. The end of May and the beginning of June were the most important months for the company, and the employees were expected to do their utmost to fill vacancies in all the accommodations in the city and its surroundings.
There was nervousness in the company because it was already the beginning of June, and the accommodation capacities were poorly filled. Especially hotels. More and more tourists have started booking accommodation online and less through agencies. Sandra had a scheme that she worked by: she would always contact last year's guests first and offer them some kind of discount.
Sitting at her desk, Sandra focused on the Millennium Hotel and contacted groups of Scandinavian retirees who stayed at the hotel last summer. In agreement with the hotel manager, Sandra was able to give a discount, which the leaders of the group of pensioners from Sweden were delighted with. Sandra, through clients from Stockholm, has skillfully made contact with retirement homes in Malmö and Gothenburg. Everyone was satisfied with the offer made by phone and was waiting for its official confirmation. This was a big deal—more than half of the hotel rooms will be filled with Swedish retirees over the next 3 months. Shortly after Sandra had finished her phone calls to the clients, Sofia stormed into Sandra's office on the second floor, slammed the door, and started yelling.
"20 percent! 20 percent! It's already June, and the occupancy of hotels is only 20 percent!!! I wonder if anyone is doing anything here? If you don't think about our company then at least think about your bonuses! What do you do all day? You're talking to each other! Didn't it occur to anyone to contact last year's guests?" Sofia rattled on, not giving anyone a chance to put a word in edgewise.
Sophia's screaming was interrupted by Sandra in a low, calm voice. "Associations of pensioners from Scandinavia were contacted. Hotels will be booked almost 20% more than last year, plus we have new contacts from Malmo and Gothenburg. There are 4 more groups of several hundred people in the process of making their bookings, which should be realized during the day, and the concessions were made in agreement with the hotel manager. With this, Hotel Millennium will be filled to almost 80%." Sofia looked at Sandra.
