It was late when Kirby pulled into the driveway the Giuseppe's large house and stopped at the front door. In the backseat, Donald Giuseppe checked his watch.
"Very good, Kirby," he said. "With a few minutes to spare. We will need you again tomorrow morning.
"Big day, Mr. Giuseppe?" the limo driver asked.
His employer nodded. "Indeed. I have several considerable business deals coming soon. It's going to be a very busy time for me."
"Well, good luck."
"Thank you. And here." Don Giuseppe leaned forward holding some money. "A little something for driving Ronald around since his accident."
Kirby took the money in gratitude. He'd more than earned this putting up with Ron. Mr. Giuseppe was classy, but his son was just an unpleasant punk. Donald told his driver good night and got out while Kirby started his drive home. At the first red light, a shadowy, hooded figure appeared in the back seat almost out of nowhere.
"How did you—" Kirby started to ask.
"I'll ask the questions," the figure said in a strange voice. Probably altered somehow. "Just keep driving until you find a nice, quiet place for us to talk."
Kirby did as he was told. Who knew if this creep would do, or if he had a knife or a gun?
"L-Listen," he told the intruder, "if this is about the Giuseppes, I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Good. That'll make this easier. And please, tell me everything. No detail is too small, no event is irrelevant. I want to know everything. Even the tiniest scrap of information will help."
"The figure held his head up and Kirby say under his hood. He almost lost control of the limo. Looking out from under the hood was a mask. The kind stage theatres had of a smiling face and a frowning face…oh yeah, the mask of comedy. But this one had been painted white with red circles on its cheeks like a clown. It was very unsettling.
Kirby told the intruder everything he knew. He liked Donald Giuseppe, but not that much, Besides, he knew enough to realize that he was working for a bad, dangerous man and was just trying to stay on his good graces. He answered every question the masked man had, even if he didn't know much or didn't get it. It was over an hour before the intruder stopped asking questions.
""Thank you," he told Kirby. "That should be a good start."
""A-And I won't tell the Giuseppes about this," the limo driver told him.
"The intruder laughed. Kirby wasn't sure if it was his real laugh, or thrown or altered like his voice, but it sent shivers down his spine.
""Oh, you can tell them. Especially if it helps you from getting trouble. You can even tell I threatened you. I don't mind. Heck, I want them to know. Good night." With that he got out.
"Kirby sat there, his mind reeling. It was no secret that the Giuseppe family and their employees had enemies. But this…this was a new level. He wondered if he should call Donald to warn him, tell him as soon as he saw him again, or wait and see how this played out. In the end he decided he'd stay quiet until he had to tell them. Part him felt like the Giuseppes had it coming, and another part told him he didn't want to get caught up in this...
***
Once upon a time, a gentlemen's club meant a place where men of the upper class could just hang out. In many countries it still means that, but in America it's a code word for a strip club because it has a nicer ring to it. So in Royal Woods, the Velvet Hat Gentlemen's Club was considered respectable even though many knew what really happened in there. It wasn't as nice as its name suggested.
As always, it opened after as the sun went down. Customers came in while the women prepared backstage. It looked like just another night of debauchery until…
"Hey!" a stripper shouted. "My hand's stuck to the pole!"
Sure enough, she'd been doing a pole dance when her hand suddenly stuck to it. She tried to use her other hand only for it to be stuck too. Another woman got stuck to a pole as well. Even patrons and employees tried to free them, a shout came from one of the private booths.
"HELP!" a man's voice called out. "I'M STUCK TO THE CHAIR!"
"Similar calls for help came from the other booths and private rooms.
Meanwhile at the bar, a man out what he was drinking.
"What hell is this?!" he snapped at the bartender. "I asked for some of your best. This taste like sewage!"
"It IS sewage!" the bartender said in revulsion at smelling and looking at the drink.
More people spat out their drinks and the bartender checked to fine that all the wine and beer had somehow been replaced by raw sewage.
Confusion and panic broke out in the Velvet Hat as people tried to help those who were stuck and the bar patrons got mad. The Velvet Hat Gentleman's club was forced to close not even half an hour after opening.
"How did this happen?" Donald Giuseppe asked, frowning at the Velvet Hat's manager.
The oily man in a cheap suit was trembling. "S-Someone managed to break a lock, sir. J-Just before opening time. We got 'em on camera, but it ain't much."
"Show me."
Donald Giuseppe made sure the Velvet Hat had good security cameras. Not only for security purposes, but to keep track of more high-profile patrons for…lucrative reasons. Not enough of them to scare people from coming, but enough to know what happened. The intruder on the footage wore a black hooded shirt and was smart enough not to face the camera. He took the bottles cans from the bar and replaced them with ones of his own, then put applied an adhesive to the poles and private areas. Don was fairly impressed. Whoever did this had used just enough clear glue to keep from people noticing it was there, and at the right time before it hardened and stopped being sticky. Plus, it had to take real determination to go the sewers or cesspool to get that liquid.
When the intruder was done, he actually looked up at one of the cameras. The hood obscured his features, but he gave the camera a big smile. Though he tipped himself by revealing he had braces.
"Bold," Donald remarked. "Ronald should see this."
Donald went to get his son. He went to the back room, following the sound of a loud smacking sound.
"YOU HAD ONE JOB!" Ron's voice rang out in anger. "ONE JOB! HOW THE HELL DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"
p"Please, I'm sorry!" came the tearful response. "I swear, I called as soon as I saw the broken lock!"
"It shouldn't have been broken at all!" Ron yelled, followed by another whack.
Donald entered the backroom. The battered bouncer was being held by two men while Ronald stood before him, wearing brass knuckles.
"That's enough, Ronald," the elder Giuseppe told his son. "He's had enough."
"C'mon, dad!" Ron whined. "This stupid asshole let some punk screw with the Hat!"
"'Let' is such a strong word," Donald told him. "I'm certain he didn't intend for this to happen."
"O-Of course not!" exclaimed the bruised, burly man. "Hell, it must've happened just before I came in."
Donald nodded. "Possibly. Whoever did this clearly put a lot of thought into this. Speaking of which, Ron, I'd like you to look at the surveillance footage and see what you think."
What about him?" Ron asked, nodding to the bouncer.
"He's suffered enough. This is only his first failure. Let this be a warning to him if something like this ever happens again."
"Yes sir!" the bouncer almost shouted, nodding his head. "I swear I'll be a better guard from now on!"
"That's all I ask. Come, Ronald."
Ron's frown grew and his face turned red as he watched the security footage. "That bastard," he hissed. "He's screwing with us!"
"Though he was foolish enough to reveal he has braces," Donald told him.
"So?" Ron asked. "That's not much to go on."
"Perhaps, but we have our first clue to his or even her identity."
Ron shrugged. "If you say so, Dad…"
"Before the conversation could continue, Donald's phone rang.
"Hello?" he asked.
The voice that replied was mechanically altered. "Good evening, Don Giuseppe! How are you? I heard you got into a STICKY situation! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ah. Your handiwork, I suppose?"
"Aaw, you guessed. Though I may as well BARE the truth? Get it?"
Donald rolled his eyes. Just what he needed: a saboteur with a thing for puns. "If you think this will hurt me or even raise my ire, you are sadly mistaken. I've had worse incidents happen at my other gentlemen's clubs in other cities. Why, even far worse establishments mine have been able to survive much worse than this. This won't even make the local news. Word may spread, but it'll just be stories and rumors."
"Oh, this was just for fun. It's only the beginning. Just a TEASE of what's to come. My future pranks will be grander and more hurtful than this!"
"Pranks, is it?" Donald asked with some amusement. "I feel I should warn you, you are messing with a very dangerous adversary."
p"So are you," the voice retorted, becoming more serious. "I will not rest until I've made you pay. You will suffer."
"You wouldn't be the first to try," Donald retorted. "I have had people try to ruin or end me for decades. I imagine there is little you can do others haven't tried and more."
"That's what you think…"
"Ron gestured to have the phone and Donald handed it to him. "Listen, you braces wearing bastard!" Ron snapped. "I don't know what you think you're going to do, but when we find you there won't even be a body to hide! No one screws with one of our clubs and gets away with it. Let alone someone stupid enough to say there's more coming!"
"Eh, fair enough," the voice replied. "We'll see who finishes who." With that the caller hung up.
"UGH!" Ron snarled. "I think I hate this ass-hat already."
"Yes," Donald replied. "It seems I've made a new enemy."
Ron calmed down as he finally smiled. An evil smile. "And we know what happens to them…"
Luan turned off the voice distorter and hung up the disposable phone. She had their attention. Good. She wanted them to know she was coming, just as her family had dreaded April Fool's Day. She looked at the board she'd made of their operations, wondering which to hit first. The Velvet Hat had been the easiest. The rest would be much harder. Even more dangerous. She didn't mind. She was going to everything she could to thwart the Giuseppe's criminal empire, and then finally end them…/span/p