20. The Whispers - And The Beat Goes On
"Would you like to talk business now?"
"Let's hear it then." Franky bit out through pursed lips.
"Fantastic, we will talk in the back, there's a little office space with chairs." I pointed casually over my shoulder to the area where I did my calls.
"Now, while we talk could you please instruct your men to guard the door." I asked of Franky before I spoke directly to his men. "In case any Ghost Dragon stragglers wander by just…, I don't know, shoot them in the face and put them to the rest." I casually pointed to the pile of corpses next to the loading area.
I waited patiently while the Dockyard Dogs eyed the bodies of the guys I dispatched before Lynx had made her entrance.
"You heard…" Franky began before he paused and gave a quick glance in my direction. "the man."
No point in being more hostile than necessary I gave the smallest of nods in return.
"Well then, let's go." I turned and made my way to the back of the warehouse, giving Paulie a quick sideways glance in passing, which he answered with an almost imperceptible nod.
"Please, take a seat, both of you." I motioned to the simple chairs in front of the old desk in the middle of the area while I leaned on a counter on the other side, intent to keep things somewhat informal so people could speak freely.
"First of all, I speak for myself, this has nothing to do with the East End." I said directly to Paulie, intent not to beat around the bush.
Then I turned to Franky and continued just as straightforward.
"Whatever businesses you managed to arrange with my cousin through my efforts are your own, I have zero intentions to interfere or stop our partnership."
Leaning back, I unbuttoned my suit and calmly put my hands in my pockets, gaze lingering on the ceiling while I gathered my thoughts.
"Blue-collar crime the way it is, is heading for a dead end." I calmly stated the obvious. "However, I like to believe that there might be a way, not to reach for the top, but to solidify and prosper." I carried on, my gaze on my audience and my tone suggesting that I truly meant what I said.
"Since I obviously don't want to brute-force my way to a position of power and watch it all fall apart I need a different way for my words to get some weight." I paused for a second to let that linger before I calmly pointed at Franky. "That's where you and the Dockyard Dogs come in."
"While I decimated the Street Demonz and deprived various gangs of their goods you managed to grow to some 30 guys and half a dozen places and businesses." I cocked my head when I noticed Franky suddenly sit straighter. I could easily guess what went through his head.
"Relax," I waved my hand in a somewhat placating manner. "I've been doing my homework for some time now, I just decided to switch gears since Batman recently came for a house call and ruined a perfectly good evening."
"I already mentioned that I wanted to offer you an opportunity, so here it is." I pushed off the counter and moved to stand before the desk opposite my audience.
"I intend to join the Dockyard Dogs." As I said it my eyes were already on Paulie since his reaction here was now paramount. "My obligations and allegiance concerning my family, however, will always have priority." I continued matter-of-factly, eyes now back on Franky.
"You can see me as an…investor, a member of the board." My hands were back in my pocket, my posture relaxed given that my thoughts were in perfect order. Absolute confidence in every word and sentence.
"Instead of hard cash, I will bring the following to the table. I continue to provide my 'services', act as muscle if push comes to shove and get us new business partners. In exchange, I want 25 percent of the profits generated by my efforts and a say, a veto if you will, in all business dealings."
"You would obviously remain the 'CEO' in our little 'company'." I added after a second to round things up and defuse any questions. It couldn't prevent the heavy silence that followed, however.
"Impressive talk." Franky finally spoke, he glanced once in Paulie's direction, before his eyes were back on me, he tried to look relaxed and even made a passable effort, but I could see his thoughts racing, obviously trying to get all angles of this whole show he found himself in.
"But let's cut the bullshit. I refuse and I end up in the same ditch as the blind bastard and his chick." He said in an almost casual manner, which made me almost miss the defeat in his voice. I watched, however, as a tiny bit of petulance entered his demeanor when he leaned back, put one foot on the desk and one arm over the back of his chair. His gaze now slowly switching back and forth between Paulie and me, which we returned with varying degrees of indifference, which made him lose some of his bluster.
Despite that, he carried on.
"That's what the show over there was all about, and what did you call it? Brute-force your way to the top?"
Paulie and I remained silent, our eyes on Franky, whose pulse I could see was becoming increasingly faster. Taking a small but casual step forward until I stood right in front of the desk, my gaze drifted for a handful of seconds to the foot that was now easily within reach for me, something Franky seemed to have noticed as well given the way his eyes widened the tiniest bit.
"It is truly a pity you think that way…" I began, fake regret plain to hear. "But yes…, you are convenient, and I have no intention to waste my time by starting from scratch. The alternative, which is still a win mind you, is that I rip your head of where you sit and your little gang goes to someone from my family, that is more inclined to deal with the bureaucracy."
"Long story short, you work with me and get to keep one hand at the wheel…or you end up in the trunk on our way to Gotham River." I finished flatly, impatience starting to form in my gut since I still had to do one more call today.
"Fine…" Suddenly Franky's face split into a grin, that screamed gallows humor. "When you put it like that, it's the deal of the century."
"You can say that again!" I answered with a smile, that would make every home shopping host proud.
"So, what do you have in mind, boss?" Franky obviously picked up on my drift and kept the fake enthusiasm alive, which made Paulie raise his eyebrow at me, which I decided to ignore.
"Well, you have a bunch of car workshops and a lot of men, so I thought about getting into the taxi business and use it to handle the distribution of drugs and weapons for our future customers." I told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world…which was greeted by silence…which made me the teeniest tiniest bit self-conscious.
"I mean, I get the cars and pay my family to set the proper paperwork up and you provide the drivers and modify the cars accordingly." I couldn't help but settle into a relaxed slouch, my hands in my pockets by now as well. "False floors in the trunk, compartments under the bench in the back for weapons and some smaller ones for the drugs." I carried on with a shrug and tried to let the enduring silence bother me not too much.
"Dude jumps in for a ride, pays his 'fare'," I couldn't help but do the air quotes. "driver hits a switch, small hidden compartment unlocks and the dude in the back grabs his stuff."
"Fucking hell, sonny, you really did some thinking." Paulie suddenly quipped, apparently tired of keeping quiet, which I was fine with.
"And who exactly is our 'customer'?" Franky apparently felt the need for air quotes as well to accentuate his doubts, which might have irritated me if it wasn't for the fact, that he gave me the cue to reveal my last trick of the night.
"Aha!" I raised my finger in triumph and revealed with my other hand a small, crumpled piece of paper.
"You wouldn't believe how many Chinese dudes I had to dump into the river until someone spilled something useful." I casually remarked as I made my way to the telephone.
Eyes on the paper I carefully dialed the numbers until I heard the ringing tone. Somewhat glad that it wasn't the busy signal, which would have been slightly embarrassing, I turned back towards my audience, hoping to see their reaction.
"Yes, good evening, Miss, this is William Panessa, I'm calling on behalf of the Dockyard Dogs," I made sure to enunciate the names as clearly as possible. "I was told to call this number if I wished to get in touch with Mr. Tzu." Again my enunciation was as clear as the day despite the big smile, that grew upon seeing my audiences' reactions
"You little idiot!"
"Oh fuck."