"A part of Theodore still lives inside of me; he was made of us- me and you." That's what she told me; my cherished faceless angel. I couldn't help but grieve over my little boy; the son that would never be. But she consoled me, affirming to me that in another universe, he existed. Teddy was there with us…. But in my reality, he would forever remain entirely within us- me and my future wife.
"What's your plan?" "I don't need to disclose that to you." "Guys, please," I'd finally had enough; this was getting ridiculous. Paul and Mr. Grey didn't even look at me; their attentions were that chained to each other. "Uh, Clayton- what is your plan exactly?" Officer Jones finally asked. "Yeah, I'm kinda lost on the whole thing," officer Doyle added. Oh sure, they'll listen to them- these lovely, bumbling policemen.
"That's obvious: keep Ana safe from… from that creep." "Um, ok? How we gonna do that?" Officer Doyle scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, and how are we gonna find this guy? He's probably not going to voluntarily come in for question," officer Jones added this time. "Exactly. What's your strategy for that, detective Clayton?" Mr. Grey didn't hold back in the smug tone. Like seriously…. Am I the only voice of reason around here, which they ironically can't hear?
"I will think of something; that's my job!" Paul shot back defensively. "If you were smart, you would let me help with resources of my own." "You have resources?!" The two other officers lit up in delight. Paul's frown couldn't have grown wider. "We don't need anything he has to offer! We have plenty of resources of our own." "Guys," I tried to get their meagre attention again- no such luck. "Well, yeah…. but our department isn't funded very well." "Guys…." "And we don't have much information on the Dollars as it is." "Guys?" "That's why I'm offering my services. Your team is clearly unequip." "Hey!" "Guys!"
"Who do you think you are?" Paul now got up in Mr. Grey's face. I wasn't alarmed by this because I knew he wouldn't actually do anything, though Paul was obviously running out patience. "You think that just cause your Ana's boss and you're rich, that gives you any right to….." "Ana!"
Everyone simultaneously jolted their heads around to the office door. Standing in the threshold was none other than my father. He had on normal clothes with a long, dark coat. Daddy let out a visible sigh of relief at the sight of me. "Honey!" His arms opened up as he came over to embrace me. "Mr. Steele," officer Jones was the first to greet his arrival. "Sweetheart, are you ok?" Daddy ignored him, pulling back to gently look at my face. "I'm fine, Daddy. Nothing happened."
Now, you might think it's batshit crazy for a mob lord to willingly enter a police station, and you'd be right. But Daddy and the Dollars had a code: to act and look as ordinary as possible. Daddy was never reluctant to talk to police or the government; he genuinely acted as if he had nothing to hide. And it worked- there's a reason the Steele clan has been mob bosses for generations back. My father, grandfather, and great grandfather were never questioned once; much less inspected. Hey- if it works!
"Officers, thank you for calling me," Daddy then straightened up, eying all four men in the room. "Of course, Mr. Steele; I'm sure this is something you'd want some input in," officer Jones nodded respectfully towards the unsuspected godfather. "I certainly do. How are you going to apprehend this man?" "U-uh, well sir… he didn't exactly…. threaten your daughter outright," officer Doyle stumbled with his words. "He's right. The most we can do is bring him in questioning." "And we will," Paul stated firmly. "With my help," Mr. Grey tacked on. Daddy turned to face Mr. Grey for the first time.
"Who are you?" "Um, this is Mr. Grey, Daddy. He's my new boss; for that PhD internship I was telling you about." "Oh! Pleasure to meet you, young man," Daddy then shook his hand; the two men grinned at one another. "The pleasure's mine, sir." "You said you're going to help the police locate this character, right?" "No, he's not," Paul interjected. "Uh, well… I guess he could…. maybe." "He's has resources," I had to stifle a smile while officer Doyle pointed to Mr. Grey. Paul's eyes rolled so hard.
"Yes, Mr. Steele. I promise I will help find this man and the police interrogate him." "I see…. oh boy, what a mess," Daddy's eyes rolled considering out to nowhere. Daddy… I blinked up to him. I trusted him; he knew how to play the game better than anyone- I had good reason to trust him. But this was all new to me; I wasn't used to being so close to the police so often. Though I knew what Daddy would say: I better get used to it, being the future head of the Dollars. Ugh, no.
"Do you know anything about any underground informants in the area, Mr. Steele?" Officer Jones ventured to ask. "Yes; yes, I do." Even this caught me off guard; I trusted him… I had to trust him. Daddy sighed and bent down so to meet my gaze; he placed on his hands on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, honey; this is all my fault." W-what? Daddy, what are you doing? But he gave me one of those looks, telling me to keep quiet and let him explain. I agreed without moving my head. With that, he turned back to the men.
"You're right, officer Jones- that man is an underground informant. Sorry, Ana; Daddy's recently audited some very bad men. They're part of the gang called the Yellow Scarves; I think the informant works for them." "I see, so you crossed their paths when you audited some higher members?" Paul thought out loud. "That's right. That's probably why they're targeting Ana; to use her against me," Daddy was selling the story really well. If they bought it, it would kill two birds with one stone. The Yellow Scarves and the Dollars have been enemies since forever. If they caught their informant, the Yellow Scarves couldn't find Jack Hyde- whoever he is- and the Yellow Scarves would have to bribe Mr. Black a lot of money to keep quiet. And no, they wouldn't snitch on us; the Dollars so much powerful and richer than the Yellow Scarves. Snitching was a dead sentence in the mob world; unless you're a sneaky informant who wants to turn on their bosses.
"So… they're after Ana to get revenge against you?" Officer Jones scratched under his chin. "No; they wouldn't send an informant if it was just that. Informants are expensive; I know, I just audited them," he flashed me a brilliant side-smirk. Clever, Daddy; I don't ever think I could be like him, no matter how much school I attended. "No, they want something else. Confidential information likely," Daddy tacked on. "What confidential information would Ana possibly have that would be useful to brutes like them?" Paul asked seriously.
"That's just the point; I don't know. He'll ask her questions and- god forbid- make her talk about things which don't seem important, but that's not how this works. Seemingly innocent questions can have malicious intent behind them. I should know; we do that in auditing all the time." "He's right, Clayton; we do that too here," officer Doyle looked at Paul concerned. "Hmmmmmm, I guess Ana wouldn't know which questions are innocent and which aren't." "Hey! I'm not that dumb!"
"No one's calling you dumb, honey," Daddy sent me down a reassuring glance. "You're father's right, Miss Steele. This is a very delicate situation; mobsters can be sneaky, and you have no experience with them. They can be very dangerous." Daddy and I just looked at each other; oh, the painful irony. "Well, gentlemen; what are you doing to do about my daughter's safety? They're obviously targeting those associated with me."
"Don't worry, Mr. Steele. I promise nothing will happen to your daughter," Paul tried to reassure him. "Yes, we'll figure this out. Just leave it to us, right officer Doyle?" "That's right, sir." While all these policemen were trying to give confidence to my father, Mr. Grey was silent for a time. I took the opportunity to peer over at him through the corner of my eye. He was watching me while nibbling ponderingly on one of his thumbs. It wasn't for another moment or two that he finally spoke again; this time in a much lower, softer tone.
"What if Anastasia had some protection?" "Well, that's obvious. Thanks for that insightful piece of wisdom, Grey," Paul rolled his eyes once more. "No, I don't mean a bodyguard. I mean more intimate, indirect protection. That way she could continue living her normal life without drawing any unwanted attention to herself." "What did you have in mind, young man?" Daddy blinked over to Mr. Grey, curious. Mr. Grey looked at me and began to grin. "What if Anastasia had a fake boyfriend?"