Day 209 - La Grandia Part 3

 La Grandia Part 3

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Seven decided it was time to confide in Ten. Perhaps well past time. Nine had died months ago and as far as Seven was aware, there had been no resolution. Perhaps the bosses knew. But the body count was on the rise as rivals sharpened their fangs. Nine’s murder was a precursor to it all, the first step in someone’s grand plan. His death, protecting the USB, giving his life in getting it to Seven, so far had amounted to achieving next to nothing. Seven wanted it to mean something. He needed the sacrifice to have value. Ten had no reason to share anything with Seven, the bosses wanted them on opposite sides, ignorant and in the dark of the other’s activities. But if Ten had learned anything, done anything, then they wouldn’t be in the position they were in right now with a possible war about to start.

Gideon was safe. Or safe enough. Nine was there, as were Gideon’s private bodyguards. The Grandia was full of armed guards, top to bottom. Every Agent was in the building. Every staff member had been vetted or replaced with loyal Dragon men. Gideon wanted the bosses to know about Queenie’s secret dealing with Naxis and then he wanted to take her place at the conference table. No one asked his opinion on business strategy, but Seven thought it was a terrible idea. Naxis had come to town in secret, spread money around, funded business rivals. Seven wouldn’t reward them for suddenly wanting a partnership, he would kill them all and make sure their bosses back home never looked towards Jakarta again. But no one asked him.

Seven should have been with his family, but he wasn’t sure which one he was thinking about. His father and his newly revealed uncle? Or his boss, Mr. Kai? Seven’s absence from either would be noticed. He couldn’t help it. The mystery was more important than proper respect and protocol.

They met in a back hall near the service elevator meant for employees. Ten had come through that parking garage and tried to keep his presence as hidden as possible. Seven did most of the talking, Ten wasn’t in the mood for answering yet. Seven asked if Nine’s killer had been identified or caught yet, and Ten was silent. Seven took that to mean no.

“Perhaps this will help.”

Seven handed over the USB.

“It was encrypted but I’ve had it unlocked. Nine died trying to get me that. I would apologize, but I wasn’t sure who I could trust and Gideon asked me to look into it personally. I imagine you can appreciate the importance of a direct order from one of the bosses.”

Ten nodded, but his face revealed nothing, no sign of respect disappointment or understanding.

“Someone made a file on all of us. The families, the businesses, the hierarchy. When the shotgun lone gunman was hitting the family, I figured he was the one that made the files. But that would still mean he’s one hell of a spy, or he had access beyond belief. A lot of a man or a single small operation. And then we have Naxis and all the trouble they’ve been stirring up. If they weren’t trying to meet with the bosses, I would have thought they’d be trying to kills us all. Maybe that will still happen. I’m hoping you have better luck tracking down whoever put together this dossier than I did.”

“So, you trust me now?”

“No. God no. I don’t know who to trust. As far as I can see we’ve got compromised families, bosses, maybe agents. I had at least three spies watching me, which would mean one suspicious enemy or we have many problems on our hands.”

Seven checked his watch.

“I have to go. I told Gideon before to keep this meeting short. I want everyone out of this building as quickly as possible. But you know how they carry on when they start talking. I’m going to do everything in my power to end this. I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell you.”

“You want me to come up to the meeting? Lend a hand?”

“No. If something does go wrong, if I die, I can’t be the only one who knows about this. Better you’re out there working on this in secret. No one will know. No one will come for you the way they did Nine. Be careful and don’t tip your hand. Hopefully you can find something out before the attacks get worse.”

Ten shook Seven’s hand.

“God speed. After this is over, I’ll tell you some of the secrets I learned looking into Nine. But I’ll tell you something now that might matter. Nine was Gideon’s illegitimate son, Jacob’s half-brother. Gideon has a couple others running around as well. Bosses always worry about who’s coming up behind them, trying to take over. People have been killed for less. You think there’s a rival coming for us? This might all be one gigantic blood feud.”