Ch.3

The Snakes Bite pt.2

It's a strange feeling walking away from jobs, almost like the calmness experienced before a storm. A responsibility that's no longer yours, but still has the ability to Complicate things even further. Although Rainbow was done with him for the time being, he still had work to do. Alejandro was still out there somewhere, and with the recent discovery of the Sons of Ragnarok being tied into this mess, it was going to become a race against time for everyone's missions to be executed without too many hiccups. That wasn't his concern though. His biggest concern right now was making it back down to South Pointe, and ensuring that Vincenzo DeBallo wouldn't attempt to spark a gang war. While Vincenzo trusted him to handle the situation, Tyler didn't exactly trust him to stay out of it more than he needed to. Aside from his erratic temperament Vincenzo was well known for striking while the iron is hot, earning him the nickname "Diamondback". On top of that, there was the concern of their loose end, Julian. It was easy enough to get him to talk about the cartel and the bikers, but how long was it going to be until he started talking about the mafia? It was a risk he hated to take, but it had to be taken. Julian was the only individual that he's found that held any relevant information on Alejadros whereabouts. As much as Tyler would've preferred to put a bullet between his eyes, Bandit was right. Julian was more useful to them alive than he was dead right now.

These were some of the things floating through Tyler's head as he loitered outside the Shell gas station, watching the world go by as he waited for his ride. Drinking his coffee, he spots a black Ford Explorer being followed by a tan Ford Taurus. Neither of them had any markings, but the red and blue lights in the grilles of both vehicles gave away who they were. Instinctively, he reaches for his phone, stopping as his hand touches the lining of his pocket before remembering that Domonic called them before he left.

"Old habits die hard, I guess." Tyler mumbles to himself before retracting his hand and going back to his coffee.

A few minutes pass as a black SUV pulls into the parking lot. This time, being a Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows. Pulling in front of him, the muffled sound of the drivers music can be heard being turned down before the passenger window rolls down. Though still too dark to make out any facial details from outside, Tyler could recognize the driver's voice as Luigi Moretti, his de facto partner from earlier.

"Sorry for the wait. Traffic started picking up." Lou says as he unlocks the doors to the vehicle. Taking that as his cue to get in, Tyler throws his coffee cup away and reaches for the door handle as Lou catches the dirtiness of Tyler's shirt.

"Bro, you look like shit." He says as his Italian dialect becomes more prominent.

"Work was messy tonight. What about it?"

"Diamondback wants to talk to you when we get back, and I cant have you walking through the resort looking like you got jumped in a fucking parking lot." Ronnie says as he pushes a button on the center console, opening the back on the SUV.

"I've got some fresh tees in the back. Grab yourself one and get in the back. Change on the way down."

Not wanting to keep The Diamondback waiting, he does as Lou tells him and gets into the back of the Cadillac with a fresh shirt in hand as they exit the gas station parking lot.

"Sorry for busting your balls, Donnie." Lou said sincerely. "The Don takes appearances seriously. I'm just looking out for you."

"I appreciate it." Tyler replies as he takes his blazer off and starts to change out of his shirt.

"So, did you get what you needed out of the guy?" Lou asks

"Enough to get me pointed in the right direction."

"What'd you do with him afterwards?"

"He got spared. We need him alive for the time being. Too useful to be offed just yet."

Hearing the news, Ronnie shakes his head a little bit in disappointment. "You know the boss ain't gonna like a loose end like that."

"It's not his problem to worry about." Tyler replied sternly as he finally gets the clean T-shirt over his head, taking a second to check the pockets of his blazer for a hair tie as he continued the conversation. "We managed to beat some answers out of the guy, and it was decided by someone else that he was too valuable to be offed just yet, so they're keeping him alive for the time being to see what else they can get out of him."

"You're not the only one on this job?"

"It's complicated, but no. The Diamondback has a huge hard on for Alejando right now. Pretty much let me set up the A-team of fixers to deal with this guy." Tyler says as he pulls his hair back into a ponytail.

"So why are we helping you and not them?"

"Because we're a team of like, four people, and I needed an extra hand. They have their jobs, I have mine. My job is to do the dirty work and chase leads that point us to Alejandro by any means necessary. Someone else is dealing with the Lieutenant behind closed doors while I go and update your boss."

"Wait… That guy was a lieutenant?" Ronnie asked, a little shocked given Julians apparel at the time.

"Yeah. Didn't see that coming either. Pretty sure that's what saved him from getting the bullet."

"See, you should've started with that. I mean, I still think he knows too much, but I get it."

"He'll be dealt with accordingly." Tyler says as he puts his shoulder holster on. "How the others decide to handle it is none of my business until it becomes my business."

Catching Tylers holster in the rear view mirror and decides to address it.

"Alright, I gotta ask. What's up with the rig?"

"What about it?" Tyler replies somewhat defensively

"You gotta problem with waistband holsters?"

"Yeah. They're awkward to wear if you carry a full size pistol. Shoulder carry is way more comfortable and doesn't get snagged on anything."

"Well it makes you look like a detective in one of those old mobster movies. And the fact that it's all leather ain't helping your case. All you're missing is a tie, jumpers, and a fedora, and you'd be "Tyler Donahew: Ace Detective"."

"FIrst off, fuck you." He replies with a chuckle. "Second off, have you been on a movie binge again?"

"You got me, Donnie. I've been in the mood for the classics lately."

"How old are we talking here?"

"Let's see…" he says as he trails off a little bit. "The last one I watched was "The Maltese Falcon", so at least as far back as the 40's."

"That explains a lot."

"What?"

"You've still got those old mobster movies on the mind, and now you're seeing bits of the movies everywhere like some sort of subliminal messaging."

"Maybe a little bit, But let's get something straight here. "The Maltese Falcon" ain't a gangster movie. It's Noir. "Johnny Apollo" and "The Glass Key", now those are gangster movies. Good ones at that."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I decide to watch a black and white movie." Tyler replied as he put on his blazer, sorting himself out as he holds his arms out.

"How do I look? Decent enough?"

Looking into the rear view mirror, Ronnie gives him a quick once over as he sits at the red light. He still looked a bit raggedy, but it was passable. He knew how tricky it could be at times to change on the go, and knew he would straighten everything up when they got there, so he wasn't going to give him too much shit for it.

"You look like… You're some lower tier executive in town on business. You made a business deal earlier today and you're not too sure how it played out, so you've been stressing out about it until you get that magical phone call that the deal went through."

"So… passable?"

"Yeah, you look fine." He confirms as the light turns green and he turns onto the highway.

With traffic still being light, Ronnie decides to make up for lost time and lays into the gas pedal, letting the Cadillacs tuned V8 engine roar to life as the vehicle picks up speed. Being unbothered by Ronnies driving, Tyler double checks himself to make sure nothing was misplaced. Having always been curious about fixers, Ronnie shifts the topic a little bit as he drives. They weren't uncommon by any means, but it was strange for someone who claimed to be an arms dealer to have a side gig like his.

"So how did you get into fixer work? I thought you were a gun ru– sorry, Arms Dealer."

"I am by trade, but I've picked up a few things along the way that keep me useful across the board.

"Like what?"

"Observation skills, mostly. It sounds stupid until you realize how much you can learn just by studying other peoples patterns."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it like this. Different groups have different habits when it comes to fighting. Some groups like small caliber arms, some prefer rifle calibers. Some like being precise, others are just gonna fill the guy full of holes. Hollow points, armor piercing, the list goes on." He states as he leans back in his seat and crosses his arms. "When you show up to the scene of a few hits and really start mixing and matching all these little things together, you're going to start noticing patterns that start narrowing down who may have did it."

"You can really point the finger to someone else with a bullet like that?"

"Let me ask you this. Ever stop to think about why I brought guns chambered in 7.62 for the ambush when a crate of AR-15's and some armor piercing rounds would've done the job just fine?"

There was a short pause as Lou thought about what he said. Unless the job required something out of the ordinary, he tended to not ask many questions. He just executed them. When him and his crew were waiting on interstate 41, he knew that Tyler was showing up with the gear and left it at that. Assuming the firearms he brought were due to preference.

"Now that you mention it, no. Can't say I thought about it too much."

"It's because you guys like to use 5.56 and nine mils."Tyler points out. "If CSI shows up and finds foreign 7.62 casings all over the place and a bunch of dead Cubans, they're not going to think Cosa Nostra did it. It was too well orchestrated to be a street gang, so they're going to look at other families. Assuming that they already know you guys don't use AK's and Soviet ammo, they're going to look at someone else."

"What about your little firework show?" Ronnie asks. "Not even the Cartel pulls stunts like that outside of their turfs."

"And neither do you. That's all that matters. It's all smoke and mirrors meant to make them look somewhere else. It doesn't matter where they look, as long as it's not at you."

"Huh… that's pretty smart."

"The majority of being a fixer revolves on planning ahead. There's other shit you gotta think about and do, but most of that depends on the situation."

"What if you've gotta move a body?"

"That's a topic for another day." Tyler replies rather quickly, wanting to avoid the subject for the most part. "But to give you the short answer, don't draw attention to yourself, and take your time getting there."

Sitting at another red light, Ronnie decides to keep prodding him with questions. Seeing as he had nothing better to do for the time being, he figured now would be a better time than ever to get his questions out of his system.

"So, how do you like fixer work?"

Being a fair question, Tyler takes a breath as he collects his thoughts.

"I mean… I don't hate it, but it can be a hard job mentally. Most people don't last long in this field if they can't figure out how to turn that moral switch off. It's even worse if they can't figure out how to turn it back on."

"Moral switch, huh? Tell me a little more about that. How does that work?" Lou asks.

"So, there's a sort of morality switch that most of us in this field learn to turn off and on. It's kinda hard to put into words, but it's like turning your conscience off so you don't think too much about what you're doing or what you've done. Some people can't turn that switch off and they end up letting that guilt eat them alive until they either turn themselves in, or they off themselves when it becomes too much. On the other side of that coin, some people turn it off and don't turn it back on. Either because they don't know how to, or they don't want to. Those are the ones that usually go on to be serial killers or some shit like that."

"So you just push it to the back of your mind?"

"Pretty much. Being in the moment ain't the time to stop and reflect."

"Sounds a little sketchy."

"It is, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do." Tyler admitted. "Wetwork will take its toll overtime if you're not careful."

"How did you learn you turn yours off?"

"Iraq. My mom taught me about the switch and how to deal with it, but I never had to use it until I got there. Problem is, most Marines who've seen some shit know what to expect from others when they have to kill someone for the first time. When you don't meet that expectation, word gets around and you start getting weird looks."

"Your mom? Was she military or something?"

"Something like that." Tyler said once again, trying to avoid the topic. "It's a long story. One for another day."

Catching the hint that the conversation might have been going in a sensitive direction, Lou pauses for a few moments to think of a different topic. Silent drives were awkward for him and he just wanted to pass the time.

"So, what's next for you?"

Leaning back in his seat, Tyler tilts his head back and crosses his arms in front of him as he gets comfortable.

"The hunt goes on." He answered. "My orders were to find Alejandro by any means necessary, and I haven't found him yet. So i'm either gonna find him, or i'll make him come out of hiding. Our friend was generous enough to point us in the right direction, but it also gives me a small window of opportunity to get this done, so I gotta jump on it."

Looking in the rear view mirror, Lou catches Tyler starting to doze off. It wasn't a big deal, but having worked with him in the past a few times, he knew that he was prone to go long periods without a lot of sleep.

"Donnie, be honest with me bud. When was the last time you slept?"

"That depends. Where do you draw the line between napping and sleeping?"

"Longer than two hours."

"About a day or so. I try to squeeze in naps here and there when I can."

"I don't know how you can do that to yourself."

Still leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, Tyler raises his right hand and rubs his thumb back and forth between his index and middle finger before crossing his arms again.

"It all comes down to that paycheck. I don't get paid to sleep, I get paid for results."

"It must be a real good bounty on his head if you're putting yourself through the wringer like this."

"Oh it is a very good bounty. I can pay off a lot of people with this one."

"You owe people?"

"Technically, yes. This job requires me to pull some strings from time to time, and this one required me to pull a few of them. The rule of thumb is either you return the favor, or you pay them for their help. I don't exactly plan on sticking around to return the favor, so I've gotta pay them back for their services."

"I guess it's true what they say. There's no rest for the wicked."

"It ain't far from the truth, especially when moneys involved."

"Ever thought about setting up a crew of your own for gigs like this?" Ronnie asked. "Yeah, it might be a bit pricey to start up, but it'd make you more scratch in the long run. Hell, it might even take some of that load off your back so you're not running yourself ragged."

"Not really. Most of the time, it's nothing I can't handle on my own, this gig just happened to be a special case where it's going on a little longer than usual. Besides, having a crew on hand strictly for fixer gigs is expensive and risky to keep on a payroll. Keeping it to myself saves me a lot of problems."

"I got you. Well, if you ever have a change of heart, hit me up. I may know a few people that might be interested. Hell, I might even put an application in."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Letting Tyler take his power nap, Lou turns the radio back up a little bit to kill the silence as they reach South Pointe. As the traffic thickens on the neon filled streets, Lou slows the Cadillac down to a crawl. With the sun now on the horizon and many of the bars either slowing down or closing, the streets were now mostly filled with vacationers and party goers pouring themselves into cabs, along with the occasional posted police officers keeping their eyes on the crowds, making sure they didn't get too rowdy. Crawling the final mile or so through the traffic, they finally arrive at The Portofino Tower.

"Welcome back to diamondback hq." Ronnie said as he turns into the parking garage and proceeds to the lower levels. Driving into the parking lot, Tyler wakes up from his nap and looks around to get his bearings. Rubbing his eyes, he looks out of the window and sees the vehicles in the parking lot slowly change from a colorful variety of high end sports cars and sedans, to something that more closely resembles a Cadillac dealership. Fleets of black CTS-V's Escalades lined the walls along with a few White express vans, with some vague company logos slapped on the sides. Backing into an open spot among the Escalades, the two exit the vehicle and take a second to sort themselves out before progressing to the nearby elevator. Parked next to the elevator was a black and Silver Rolls-Royce Phantom with the front license plate concealed.

"Did your boss trade in the Bentley?" Tyler asks Lou as he watches him call for the elevator.

"Nah, he just felt like showing off the Rolls this week." He replied as the elevator doors open and the two step into the elevator. Pressing the button for the top floor, the doors close with a ding as Lou briefs Tyler. Being a private elevator, It would be a relatively quick trip to the office, but better to get it out of the way now compared to wasting time up there.

"Alright, Donnie, you know the drill." Lou says he turns to face Tyler, holding his hand out to request for his firearm.

"Nothing personal, just formalities. I'll hand it back to you when you two are done."

Giving a bit of an irritated sigh, Tyler complies as he reaches into his blazer and unholsters his 1911. Pocketing the magazine and removing the round from the chamber before gripping the front of his pistol and holding it in front of Lou with the grip facing him already.

"You'll get the gun, but you're not getting the ammo." Tyler tells him flatly as Lou takes the pistol from him.

"Fine by me." he replies as he takes the opportunity to finally examine his 1911 up close. For a pistol that's been used and abused as much as this one has, it was still in pretty decent shape. Cosmetically, the heavily worn finish and marred slide made it hard to hide its age. What couldn't be hidden though, was the quality. Despite it's outside appearances, the pistol still had little to no play between its components.

"Nice piece." He compliments as he continues to examine the firearm and notices that the grip was a little wider than a standard 1911.

"Mind if I see a mag?"

Being reluctant, Tyler sees Lous genuine curiosity in the firearm. Had it been anyone else, he would've declined the request out of fear of it being used against him, but having known each other for a while, he trusted him enough to not try anything suspicious.

"Only because I know you." he says as he hands one of the magazines over to Lou. Examining the magazine, he notices the magazine was indeed wider than a standard magazine, satisfying his curiosity.

"Is this a double stack .45?"

"Yeah."

"Huh…That's pretty neat." He says as he hands Tyler the pistol magazine back. "How'd you get your hands on it?"

"Made it myself back in twenty… twelve? Twenty thirteen? Somewhere around there."

"That old, huh? And it's still kicking pretty good?"

"Like the day I finished her."

"Well you did a good job, i'll give you that." Lou remarked as he tucks the pistol into one of the inner pockets in his suit jacket.

"I'll keep you in mind when im in the market for a new piece."

Ding!

Cutting their conversation short, the elevator stops at the 44th floor and the doors open up to a large white room with marble flooring and silver fixtures. In the middle of the room are several circular couch pieces and a black circular coffee table on top of a black rug. Giving Lou his space to do what he needs to, Tyler approaches the table and examines some of the magazines on the table. They weren't anything spectacular, but one of the Magazines Cover articles caught his attention.

HONG KONG

Promising Startups in 2019 investors should pay attention to.

"Hong Kong… I wonder how Siu's doing." Tyler thought to himself as he hears Lou knock on a set of double doors, eavesdropping on his conversation as he sorts out the last of his outfit while Lou cracks the door open and changes the conversation from English to Italian.

"(Boss. Your fixer is here.)"

"(Good. Bring him in.)"

After their brief exchange, Lou steps back out and approaches Tyler at the table. Hearing his footsteps, he pulls his attention from his suit and focuses on Lou.

"The Boss is ready for you." He says calmly as he quickly holds his arms out in a T-pose. Another silent order for Tyler to follow.

Putting his arms out as instructed, Lou gives Tyler a quick pat down for any other weapons and finds nothing other than his wallet, phone, and the chest holster he is wearing. For security purposes, Lou takes his Nokia and places it on the table.

"You're good to go in now."

Giving him a nod, Tyler approaches the double doors and gives three solid knocks. After a brief pause, the voice of an older Italian male could be heard calling for him from the other side of the door.

"Enter!"

Having been given permission, Tyler opens the door and steps into the office. In the center of the room was an intricately carved ebony desk with silver leaf detailing. Pacing behind the desk was an older Italian male in a black suit, who upon hearing Tyler enter, turned to face him.

"There he is! If it ain't the Copperhead himself!"

"Good Morning Mr. DeBallo." Tyler said rather flatly, maintaining a professional composure.

"Good morning, Tyler." He replies as he waves to one of the chairs in front of him. "Please, take a seat."

Tyler does so as Vincenzo reaches for a small box on the nearby bookshelf for a fresh cigar. Taking a moment to prep it as he continues his conversation.

"Talk to me, kid. How did the job go?"

"Quick and easy. Everything was ready to go by the time I got there, and we were gone in about five minutes from when the fireworks went off."

"Good… Good." He says as he takes a pause to take a fresh drag from his cigar, Letting the smell of fresh tobacco smoke fill the room. "Speaking of fireworks, I take it that the explosives worked out for you?"

"The batch came out a little hot, but they worked out just fine."

Hearing the news, Vincenzo gives a faint chuckle as he takes a seat at his desk."That's what Luigi tells me. Heh…I thought you micks were good at making shit like that."

Vincenzo's words struck a nerve with Tyler a little more than it probably should have. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in, or maybe it was the jab in general. Something about the statement nearly forced him to speak out of line. "You mix a binary explosive in the dark and tell me how your batch turns out." He thought to himself as he struggled to maintain his composure, taking a deep breath in an attempt to suppress the thought. Quickly finding the right words, he continues the conversation.

"I did what I could, but an eight-to-one mix is hard to eyeball in the dark. I didn't want to prep it beforehand and risk having it go off on the drive over, and having too much light on scene would have revealed too much if someone happened to be watching."

"Relax, kid. I'm just busting your balls." Vincenzo says as he calmly puts his hand up." It didn't leave a crater, so The Sheriffs Union can still cover it."

"But enough about that." Vincenzo says as he takes another drag from his cigar. "What did you find on that fuck, Alejandro? Lou tells me you ran off with one of his goons."

"Alejandro was a no-show, but the guy we bagged was one of his lieutenants. Ended up getting some useful information out of him."

"What'd he say?"

"He said he's still hiding out in Cuba. Somewhere around Moron. He didn't say exactly where, but now we have a ballpark idea of where he is so that narrows down the search by a pretty good margin."

"So when are you going to go and get his ass?" He asks almost impatiently.

"Soon, Mr. DeBallo." Tyler assured him. "I've gotta work through some red tape and get a few things set up before I can get on the first boat to Cuba."

"Whatever you've gotta do, get it done quick. I'm getting tired of this slippery motherfucker making a fool out of me." Vincenzo says as he pauses to take another drag from his cigar as he stares out of the office window, watching the morning sun shine over the gulf coast as he collects his thoughts.

"What'd you do with that other guy afterwards?"

"He's still breathing for now." Tyler admitted. "I've got some people that want to keep him alive to see what info they can get out of him."

Hearing the news, Vincenzo's demeanor shifts to a more serious tone as he turns around and faces the man on the other side of the desk.

"Do you know how big of a fucking risk it is to keep someone like him alive?" He snapped."What if he rats?"

Keeping his bearing, Tyler continues in a calm, but authoritative manner.

"The fact that he's talking is the only reason he's still above ground. You've gotta remember that we're on a time crunch here, and he's the only lead we've found that's given us any sort of relevant info on the guy. Everyone else took their secrets to the grave."

"I still don't like it." Vincenzo replies flatly

"Neither do I, Vinny, but that's just how shit like this works sometimes." Tyler says as he tosses his hands in the air. "I hate the process just as much as you do, but my hands are tied here. I gotta play by somebody else's rules for the time being so the longer he talks, the longer he walks."

"Fine." Vincenzo says as he takes his seat at his desk again and points his cigar towards Tyler. "Then what's your plan for dealing with him when he's done being useful to you? I get that he's leading you to Alejandro, but how much longer will it be until he starts talking about me? If he's already started talking about his boss, it's only a matter of time until he starts talking about other families to save his own ass. If your friends have him now, it's a little late to off him, don't you think?"

"Make no mistake. He may be in cuffs, but he's not untouchable. It can still be done." Tyler says confidently as he leans back in his chair a bit.

"Alright then, humor me. What do you have in mind for getting to him?"

"To put it simply, I have The Sheriffs Union botch his paperwork."

"Botching paperwork, huh?" Vincenzo says with a chuckle, still doubtful of what sounded to him like an on-the-fly idea. "Sounds a little too good to be true…"

"Think about it for a minute. Other than six feet under, there's no place better for him to be right now than in Prison. He's got nowhere to go unless he wants to be deported and take his chances with the cartel."

"So your plan is to keep him in prison? Is that it?"

"I don't need to keep him there, I just need to get him there. The inmates will handle the rest. The prison system in Florida is so brutal and corrupt. It ain't gonna take much for a guard to turn a blind eye to a murder. When he goes to jail, Inmates are going to read his processing papers, and what they find in there is going to dictate how he's treated. It's already going to be stated in his papers that he's a snitch, so he's going to be treated like shit regardless. Now if we slip a CP charge in there, I promise you, god won't even be able to save him, and nobody will say shit once everythings said and done. The prison might open an investigation, but once the guards see the charges he has, it'll be an open-and-shut case."

Vincenzo was taken back a little bit. While he agreed that getting him killed in prison was a viable option, sticking that kind of charge on someone felt questionable. Even if it was technically a victimless crime in this case

"Really? You want to try and stick him with a charge like that?"

"To be fair, Vinny, that really depends on you. How badly do you want this guy dead?"

"That still feels like a real low blow. Even for me."

"I completely agree with you here, but what other options do we really have? Putting a bullet in him is off the table. There's way too many eyes on him right now, and that's not going to change until he's behind bars. If you want him dead, we're going to have to fight a little dirty here."

There was a moment of awkward silence as Vincenzo sat on the idea. Morally, he didn't agree with it, but it wasn't a horrible plan.

"Look at it from my perspective, Vinny." Tyler sayss assuringly. "I know the lady running the show. She's a bit of a bitch, but real big about doing things by the book. Even if he tried to make some sort of plea deal by being a rat, nobody's going to care if it doesn't lead to alejandro, so odds are that once we're done with him, he's gonna be handed off to the cops, and they'll put him in jail until someone else is interested in hearing what he has to say. Rough guess, he spends at least a few weeks in GenPop before the FBI even considers hearing him out, and that window gives us the perfect opportunity to take him out."

"Who's US? This is your job, kid."

"Me and The Sheriff's Union. They're the only ones that can get closer to him than I can, and they can do what I can't. I've still gotta go back up to Davie and deal with the other half of this shit, so I can handle both of those while i'm up there."

Sitting in contemplation, Vincenzo was a little impressed by how in depth he went.

"You've put some thought into this."

"That's what you pay me to do.."

"It's still a big gamble, kid. You sure it'll work?"

"It's your best bet if you don't want to invest more into this than you already have. You could hire someone on the inside to deal with him, but they've got nothing to lose, so there's no guarantee they won't talk if they dig into him. All this'll take is a little persuasion and a few strokes of a keyboard. Pull the cash for this out of my check, and i'll foot the bills for the Sheriffs Union, and make sure this problem of ours disappears."

Vincenzo sits on the plan in silence for a minute. He didn't like the bind that Julian put him in and he really didn't like the options available, but he was aware that Tyler was right. As much as he tried to avoid dirty tactics like this, it was a necessary evil in this situation. If he didn't want him to live long enough to talk more than he has, this was the safest and cheapest option for him. With that acknowledgement in mind, Vincenzo gives a sigh.

Consider yourself lucky, Tyler." he says as he stands up from his chair and approaches a small safe embedded into the wall, entering the dials combination as he talked.

"If this was anyone else, we wouldn't have had this conversation, but I know you, and I trust that you're going to unfuck this, so i'm gonna go out on a limb here for you. I'll see who in the union is in the loop with what's going on, and you'll sort it out with them."

Closing the safe, Vincenzo returns to the table and tosses two brown envelopes on the table in front of Tyler.

"Here." He says as the envelopes land on the table with a dull thud. "That should cover the mess on 41, and whatever fucked up shit you have in mind for dealing with that loose end of ours. Where do you want to meet with the Union?"

Picking up the envelopes, Tyler could feel how densely packed the envelopes were. Given their weight, his guess was that there was roughly twenty to thirty grand between the two. Not wanting to disrespect the Mob boss who essentially paid him in advance, he skips the counting process and places the envelopes off to the side for the time being as he answers his question.

"Last I heard, Broward and Miami-Dade county were working pretty closely with the secret squirrels on this thing. Our friend was picked up in Davie, so i'd say the main cop shop in District 21. Pass on my description, and we'll run into each other soon enough."

"Alright. I'll see what they can do."

With that out of the way, Vincenzo sits back in his chair with a strained groan as he prepares his next line of thought.

"Alright, back on topic... Obviously you got him to talk, did he say anything useful?"

"He said that they were trying to get one of their lieutenants back." Tyler answered. "Apparently, one of Alejandros' other lieutenants got picked up by the DEA out around Fort Myers a few weeks ago, and he's working on sending a goon squad out there to hit the transport bus on its way to Union Correctional."

"How big of a goon squad?" Vincenzo asks, now a little more curious about Alejandro's actions behind the scenes.

"I don't know for sure. If that convoy from this morning was anything to go off of, it would've been a pretty good sized squad. Maybe ten or so between three rides, but they also hired a biker gang to make a few straw purchases for them, on top of being some extra muscle for the hit."

"You're certain about that?"

"That's what the lieutenant tells me."

Vincenzo ponders for a moment as he tries to connect the pieces. If Alejandro was in hot enough water that he needed a third party to handle business for him, then that explained why he wasn't part of the convoy, but who were the bikers? The more he thought about biker gangs, the more it riled him up.

"Which MC was it? Outlaws? Bandidos?"

"Sons of Ragnarok." Tyler replied as he braced for the mobsters reaction

"Who the fuck are they?" he asked sharply

"According to my guy on the inside, they're A biker gang based out of San Francisco. Why they're trying to stretch to the East coast is beyond me, but you might be able to ask your brother about them. My info on them is limited, but I should be able to dig up more on them if you need me to, but that'll take awhile."

Spinning his chair towards the nearby window, Vincenzo stares out towards the cities skyline with a look of frustration on his face.

"I can't fucking stand bikers." He said almost through gritted teeth. "They're impossible to keep in line. Especially the big four."

"Well, as much as they want to be, they ain't one of them, they just like to think they're on the way to becoming one of them."

"I don't give a fuck what they think they are!" Vincenzo snaps as he forces himself to his feet, Nearly flipping the chair on it's back in the process."I run the East coast, not them!"

"Saying nothing, Tyler lets the man pace back and forth across the office for a minute as he takes his moment of preoccupation to pocket the envelopes given to him earlier in his blazer. After a few moments of pacing, Vincenzo breaks the silence yet again to ask a few more questions.

"You said you have someone on the inside, right?"

"That's correct."

"Ragnarok's your problem then."

"It's already being handled." Tyler assured him.

"Good." Vincenzo replied, somewhat impressed that both of their agendas were near parallel to each other. Although it wasn't a surprise that they were, something didn't sit quite right with him. Unable to figure out what it was, Vincenzo steps over to another window and stares out at the city skyline, rubbing his chin in thought as he tried to figure out what it was that felt off.

"None of my business, but who's your guy on the inside?"

"I can't give that info out, unfortunately. What I can tell you that he's good at what he does. He managed to shut down one of the international Hells Angels Chapters."

"What is he? An undercover cop?"

"Yeah, and he's real good at what he does, so don't dig into him."

"Is he part of The Union?"

"What do you think?"

Shifting to a stern tone once again, Vincenzo turns his head towards Tyler.

"I think you know my stance on working with outside feds, kid."

Visibly frustrated with where the conversation was going, Tyler leans forward onto the desk as he raises his voice to match Vincenzos.

"And you know my situation, Vinny. I get that you don't fucking like it, but you're going to have to get over it for awhile. Neither of us really have a fucking choice in the matter of who I work with. I'm caught in the middle here, and I'm doing what I can to make sure none of this comes back to bite us in the ass. I told you well ahead of time that the feds were eventually going to get involved, and now we're at that point. I appreciate what you've done to help me out this far, but now it's time for you to step back a little bit, and let me do what I have to in order to help you here."

"You're talking a lot about helping me, but I don't think you realize what kind of fire you're playing with." How do I know you're not gonna burn my ass at the end of it all?"

"Jesus Christ, Vinny! How much more transparency do you fucking want?" We're on the same team here! Do you really think i'm out here doing all of this just for the hell of it?"

Stopping what he was doing, Vincenzo walks to his desk as he stares Tyler down, only speaking with a cold warning.

"Pick your next words wisely, Tyler…"

The silence was almost deafening in the room as the two were now standing off across from each other. With one chance left to prove to Vincenzo whose side he was on, Tyler weighs his options. Verbally trying to reason with him would be pointless, so he slowly reaches for his wallet and removes an intricately designed poker chip which he places onto the desk.

"Do me a favor, Mr. DeBallo."Tyler says as he pushes the poker chip over to Vincenzo's side of the desk. "Take a look at that chip. What does it say around the edge?"

Looking at the chip still on the table, Vincenzo was immediately aware of the significance of the Metal token. Even from a distance, he could tell that what he just put down was a House Chip. An identifying piece for the members within The House. Picking it up, he studies the weathered green and gold colored chip. In the center was the engraving of a snake. More specifically, a copperhead snake. On the back was the symbol of a club. The symbol usually reserved for underground merchants and networkers. At one point, that chip belonged to his father, and Tyler inherited it after his passing. Knowing how close he was to him, it was no big surprise that he decided to continue his legacy.

Continuing as asked, he looks around the outer ring of the chip and reads the latin phrase out loud.

"Aleatorium semper vincit… The house always wins."

"Exactly. The House always wins, but we only win if we look after each other. The House is built out of cards. If one goes down, we all go down."

From behind him, Tyler hears the office doors open as somebody enters the room. Even with the individual being out of sight, he could tell through the dialect that it was Lou stepping in to do his job. Not daring to turn around, he continues to stare at Vincenzo.

"(is everything alright in here?)" Lou asks his boss in his native tongue of Italian.

There was a tense silence as Vincenzo spotted Lou with his hand behind him already reaching for his gun, waiting for the signal. He may not have liked how Tyler got his point across, but it wasn't worth shooting him over. Even if it was, he had his own reasons for keeping him alive.

"(We're fine, Lou. It's under control.)" Vincenzo says as he closes his hand on the chip. Keeping it out of sight of Lou,

"(Are you sure you don't want me to fix his attitude?)" Lou double checks as he quietly brandishes his glock 17.

"(I said we're fine, Luigi, now back the fuck down!)" Vincenzo yelled towards his Capo. "(If i need you, i'll call for you. Now go back outside!)"

"(...Yes, Boss.)"

Having clearly received the message, Lou quietly re-holsters his pistol and goes back into the foyer, closing the door behind him. As the door closes, the two Listen to the clicking of dress shoes walking away from the door until they were both comfortable that he was far enough away that he wasn't attempting to eavesdrop before continuing yet again. Opening his hand, Vincenzo looks back down at the Chip. It was a humble reminder of what The House cherished the most: Transparency, Loyalty, and cooperation. Just like a house of cards, if any of those are missing, the whole thing would collapse.

"...You proved your point, kid." Vincenzo says as he gives a subtle nod and holds the chip in front of Tyler.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye on this now." Tyler says as he attempts to grab the Chip back from the mafia boss only to realize that he has yet to let go.

"A word to the wise, watch where you raise your voice." He warned Tyler as he gave him a cold stare that could peer into one's soul. "You may be a part of the House but we're not at the table, you're in my domain. I don't like it, and my boys don't take disrespect like that lightly. Are we clear on this?"

"Yes, we are."

Satisfied that they both came to an understanding, Vincenzo lets go of the chip, letting Tyler place it back into one of his pockets. "Good. Let's try this again, shall we?"

Sorting themselves out, the two sit back down at the desk as Vincenzo breaks the silence. Having sat on his words and thoughts from a few moments ago, he finally organizes his thoughts and addresses his concerns.

"You're playing with fire, Tyler, and that scares me."

"Why? I would've thought you'd love having someone on the inside."

"I do, don't get me wrong, but I'm not comfortable with someone working outside of The House this much. It's not something that a lot of people can pull off and come out the other end alright." Leaning onto the desk, Vincenzo unlocks his fingers and points a bony finger in Tylers direction. "I've known your parents for a long time, kid, and you're just like your old man. You're a gambler. You like taking risks, if you know that someone will take the heat off of you. It's a smart move, but it's a dangerous one the more you play it from that angle. Sticking close to the feds will keep you above ground and out of jail way longer than any of your other contacts, but at the end of the day, they're cops and they've still gotta job to do. I don't know who's pulling your strings and to be honest, I don't think I want to know. but mark my words. One day, you're bound to get a job that comes across your desk that has my name on it, and you're gonna have to choose a side. What are you gonna do then?"

It didn't take long for Tyler to come up with an answer. Having a feeling that this would eventually be a possibility, he gives a simple answer, that left some wiggle room if that day came.

"I tip you off, you fake your death and disappear, we cut our ties, and we never see eachother again."

"So the feds would have your loyalty in that situation?" Vincenzo asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd have to do what I have to. I'm in a situation where I can't exactly say no, but I'm not gonna bite the hand that fed me either, but that's where the loyalty comes in. I buy you what time I can for you to at the very least get out of town. Hell, your brother should be able to manage to get you a new identity. Maybe, fake your death. After that, that's it. Hunts over. You go your way, and I go mine."

Vincenzo was content with the answer given. It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but to be honest, he was never looking for one to begin with. He just wanted to see what kind of response Tyler would give. He knew that he usually had a contingency plan of some sort up his sleeve, it was one of the reasons that he liked using him as a fixer when the situation called for it.

"I love how much thought you put into that, Tyler, but let's be honest here." Vincenzo says as he leans back in his chair. "When that day comes, there's no running for me. I'm seventy four for Christ's sake. Me and Sal have been the head of the DeBallo family since well before The Commission fell. Even if I dropped off the face of the earth tomorrow, the only way that hunt will end is when the feds find me sleeping in a pine box at the bottom of a six foot hole...You want my advice? When that day comes, do what you can to stay out of it and let me go out in my own blaze of glory."

"And then what? Go find a nine-to-five and pretend this was all a fever dream?"

Hearing the sarcasm in his voice, Vinzenco lets out a small laugh.

"Nine-to-five? Kid, I know you're fucking loaded. Throw some of that money at your little gunrunning op, and go legit with that shit. Maybe find some help for that war torn brain of yours."

Content for the most part with the information passed in the meeting, Vincenzo goes back to a professional tone of voice. Despite his concerns about what was to come, he was confident that Tyler had it under control.

"I think we're done here. I'll have my guys lay low for a few days, but i'm not pulling them off the streets. There's too much work to be done, but I'll make sure they stay out of the way of you and your friends."

"Thank you, Mr. Deballo." Tyler says as he gets up from his chair, leaving the mob boss with one last word of advice. "Between you and me, keep an eye out for some properties going up for sale in the next few days. You might be able to make a buck off of them."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Exiting the Office, Tyler approaches the table where Lou was waiting for him with his phone and firearm. Handing his phone back, Lou leans in with a low, but stern tone to Tyler

"We need to talk. Not here."

Having a feeling that he may know what the talk would be about, Tyler says nothing and follows him to the Elevator that was already waiting for them. Pressing the button for the garage level, the elevator makes a Ding! As the doors close and begins to descend. Now in privacy, Lou addresses Tyler in a serious manner.

"Alright, Tyler. What the fuck was that all about up there?"

"Things got a little heated between us for a minute. I can't really tal–"

"I don't need to know what you two were talking about! What you need to remember is who you're talking to! Thats the fucking Don of the east coast, man. You can't just buck up to him like that. You've gotta mind your P's and Q's around him. Especially right now."

"Right now? What's going on with him?"

Handing Tyler his 1911 back, Lou looks around the elevator out of habit, and talks to him in a lowered tone.

"Can I trust you with something?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"This needs to stay between you and me." Vinny says as he watches Tyler re-chamber his pistol and holster it.

"Vinny's getting up there in age and his mind's starting to go. We've been seeing it more and more lately with some of his judgment calls getting more and more… unpredictable per se."

"And nobody's done anything about it?"

"What can we do? We can't exactly tell the Don to step down." He exclaimed. "All the families below him don't want to risk starting something by bringing it up, and there's no way in hell i'm going down because word got out about a mutiny."

There was a pause upon hearing the words leave his mouth. Vincenzo was notorious for being pretty hot headed at times, but he didn't think it had was bad enough for thing to have gotten to this point. Maybe he spent too much time away to really notice.

"I promised you I wouldn't say anything, but I've gotta ask. Why tell me about this?"

"A number of reasons. Two of those reasons being that you're an associate that knows how to keep his distance, and I may be able to make it worth your while."

"I'm listening…" Tyler says, now with piqued curiosity.

"So, I've been catching some whispers on the street that he might be on some sort of Commission board. I don't know how true it is, but you can move around more than I can, maybe it's something you can look into for me."

"Shit. He knows about the house." Tyler thought to himself as he thought about what to say next. Straight up declining the offer would raise too much suspicion in the long run, but if Vincenzo caught wind that he knew about this, he'd be guilty by association.

"Let's say for argument's sake that you're right and I find out that he's on some sort of council board. What do I do then? I'm just an associate. My word ain't gonna carry no weight."

"You let me deal with that when the time comes." Lou replied. "Right now, I just want to know if the rumors are true."

"You're starting to sketch me out bud. What are you planning?"

"I'm trying to find a way out."

At that moment, the elevator stopped with a DING! just as it all started to make sense. Lou has stated in the past about wanting out of the life, but knowing there's no such thing as an easy way out, Tyler figured he was just making empty threats, but time sounded different. There was sincerity in his voice. Even if he didn't have an exit strategy, he was trying to come up with one.

Exiting the elevator, the two entered the parking lot as Lou took the lead and escorted Tyler to his vehicle. Leading him to the less lit part of the lot away from prying eyes as Tyler continued the conversation.

"You're seriously thinking about jumping ship?"

"It's been on my mind for a while." Lou stated. "Vinny's starting to go off the deep end and it's only going to get worse. I don't want to be here when it gets to that point."

"Out of curiosity, how many people know?"

"Know about what?"

"About your plan. If word gets out, people are gonna get the ax, and my head'll probably be on that block right next to you."

"Right now, just you and me." Lou assured Tyler. "Like I said, I've been listening to what people have been saying, but i'm not doing anything until I get all of my facts straight."

Somewhat relieved that Lou hasn't pulled the trigger on any plans, Tyler willingly plays into his hand for the time being.

"I can't make any guarantees, but I'll keep an ear out for anything."

"I appreciate it, bud." Lou says as they get to Tylers Vehicle. A black Dodge Ram 1500. Running his hand along the inside of the rear fender wells, he finds the keys and unlocks the doors to his truck as Lou speaks up one more time before he closes the door.

"One more thing" he says as he hands him a stack of bills with a yellow band on it.

"I'd prefer if this conversation never happened. I may want out, but im not trying to get myself killed over it."

Looking at the money in his hand for a moment, he gives Lou a subtle smile as he stashes the money in the center console.

"...What conversation?" He asks assuringly.

"Good man." Lou says with a sigh of relief and taps the back door of the truck.

"Now get out of here and for christ sake, man. Go the fuck to bed."

"You said it yourself. There ain't no rest for the wicked." Tyler says as He turns the key and the Hemi engine roars to life.

Watching Lou walk away, Tyler closes the door and leans back into his seat. As he runs his hands through his hair now stressed about the new situation hes been put in.

"Ugh… Fuck me." He exclaims with a groan "What are you gonna do, Tyler? What are you going to do?"

Sitting there for a moment, he sifted through the list of things both going on and needing to be handled. The next few days would have a lot of moving parts and that was just the reality of it. Lou though, his situation felt like a wrench being thrown into his plans. Maybe it was the fatigue setting in, but it still put him in a rough spot. After the talk about Loyalty with Vincenzo, he understood the feeling of wanting out. Even before joining Rainbow, he wanted a way out of the life. Unfortunately, there's only two ways out of it, and the best option included waiting.

Having sat on everything long enough, he pushes his problems to the back of his mind and focuses on the situation at hand. He was done dealing with the mafia, now it was time to deal with Rainbow. Given the time between the interrogation at the concrete plant and now, they should have an update on what's going on. Grabbing his faded hat from the dash, he empties his pockets of Vincenzos money into the center console and Dials the number of one of his partners that are a part of the operation.

"Hello?" a female voice answered from the other side.

"Meghan, it's Tyler."

"What's up?"

"I just wrapped up some business in Miami. Y'all still in Davie?"

"We were, until Eliza wanted everything moved to the station in downtown Miami."She said in a frustrated tone.

"That saves me a drive, but why?"

"Apparently, they're the only ones that have a helipad."

"She couldn't just use oh, I don't know… The airport that was right up the fucking road?"

"I tried telling her that, but noOoOo. That's too much paperwork given the timeframe. At least Davie PD was nice enough to give us a hand moving things."

"Better than taking trips, I guess."

"That's one way of looking at it."

"Well, i'm like ten minutes away from that station, so i'll buy a box of donuts, see y'all in a few."

"Roger that, we'll see you when you get here."

As the two hang up, Tyler tosses the phone into the passenger seat and puts the vehicle into gear to exit the parking garage. Turning the Radio on, he manages to catch the morning traffic report from the broadcaster.

"Traffic today on Interstate forty one is bumper to bumper after a transformer explosion in the early hours of the morning left three workers in critical condition. Broward County Sheriff's Department has shut down parts of the roadway for the time being, and is advised that you find an alternative route if you're traveling across the everglades today. To help ease the pain of your commute today, Here's a blast from the past with The Hollies: Long cool woman."

As the music begins to play, Tyler finds a fresh cigarette pack and lights one, rolling the window down as he takes a much need drag.

"Today's gonna be interesting."