New Years Eve, 1955
The next morning Fontaine woke up in his bed at him home in Mercury Suites. He looked over and saw Evie still lying next to him smoking a cigarette. "Good morning," she smiled.
"Morning," he smiled back, sitting up in the bed. "Have fun last night?"
"Plenty," she said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
Fontaine took his pack off the nightstand next to him and lit it. He inhaled deep and savored it. This wasn't the fake tobacco from Rapture, it was the real deal from the surface. "So, what's your girl's story," Fontaine asked, smoke pouring from his mouth and nostrils.
"Who? Mina," Evie asked. "She's looking for her father. You should know, you helped smuggler her down here."
The bastard Russ smuggled her. Not me, he thought.
"Yeah, I remember," he lied.
Evie was one of the few people he trusted with select secrets and he always knew that if she blabbed, he could just as easily kill her tomorrow but for now she's safe.
"I'm surprised you're asking," Evie said.
"You saying I don't have a heart," Fontaine chuckled.
"No, it's just you usually don't get curious about people are aren't high profile."
It was true Fontaine was curious only because the girl seemed so damn familiar to him. Her face. He couldn't get it out of his head. He had to have known her or someone who looked like her and the last name, Binetti. He's heard it before.
"Just making small talk sweetheart," he said and rubbed her bare back with his hand. "What's her old man's name? Maybe I could help her out. I know plenty of people."
"She said his name's Frank Gorland," she said.
In surprise, Fontaine gasped and coughed on the smoke from his cigarette. That name was one of his old aliases. Then he remembered. Binetti, Francesca Binetti. A twist out of Little Italy he had been with back in the day. She was the only person he'd almost got attached. She was a prostitute in the beginning but after he kept coming back to stay with her, she gave it up. Then there was the pregnancy and he made tracks. Pregnancy.
The more Fontaine thought about it the more he saw how much Mina looked like her mother. Mina was his daughter and she came all the way here to find him. But why and what if she figures out who he is? If he gets made what will happen? He couldn't let that get out. If everyone finds out about him and this girl then they will just see him as a con man who had child with a whore. He knew how to handle loose ends but a part of him could only think about her mother.
"Frank are you ok," Evie said worriedly, putting out her cigarette.
"Ye-yeah doll," Frank coughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, who has she got to help find her father?"
"Booker DeWitt is handling her case," she replied and began rubbing his shoulders.
"DeWitt," Fontaine laughed. "The guys a born loser and she's got him finding someone. He couldn't find his ass with both his hands and a map."
Evie looked down. She wanted to speak up for Booker but she knew better than to back talk a man like Fontaine. "Booker says he's doing his best," was all she could say.
"Sure, he is," Fontaine said, rolling his eyes. He knew DeWitt shouldn't be a problem for him. The guys got gambling debts out the wazoo so he could easily be paid to drop the case and if he doesn't well there's other ways of persuasion. "So, how'd she find out her old man was down here?"
"She had a friend who was an old partner of her fathers. A ruskie by the name of…Boris Petrov I think," she said.
Boris you sonofabitch, Fontaine thought. Guess he was trying to sabotage me by sending that brat down here. I'll get word to the surface and have him taken care of.
Loose ends. Fontaine couldn't stand loose ends.
"Frank your face is turning red. Are you ok," Evie asked.
"I'm fine," Fontaine replied. "I just thought of something I forgot to take care of back at Fontaine Futuristics. I'm gonna use the phone for a minute. Don't go anywhere."
"I'll be right here wait for you," she smiled, showing him her body, which was half out of the covers now.
Fontaine grabbed his pajamas pants lying next to his bed, slipped them on and stepped into the next room. He quickly got on the phone and called his man Reggie. He had been with Fontaine for a long time and was the only one who knew his real name.
"Reg, there's a few things I need you to do," Fontaine said. "First get word to the surface. Our old friend Boris Petrov is done. You got me? Done. And then I need you to-"
"I hate to interrupt you Frank but we got another problem," Reggie said. "DeWitt is wanting info about Frank Gorland."
"I'm way ahead of you pal," Fontaine said. "That floozy Evie just spilled the whole story. I want you to send Eustace down to DeWitt's office with a payoff. Enough to cover his gambling debts. Tell him we have no information and that it would be in the interest of his health if he dropped the case. If he doesn't then Eustace will deal with him."
"What about the girl," Reggie asked.
"If DeWitt drops the case and says he found nothing maybe she'll give up and won't be a problem. And who knows maybe I can use this to my advantage in the future. The public loves a family man."
"Right Frank," Reggie chucked. "Oh, and we got those files from Sullivan thanks to DeWitt."
"At least he's good for something. Alright send the pay off and keep me in the know."
"Got it," Reggie said and hung up.
Fontaine hung up the phone and sighed. At least that's taken care of for now. He headed back to the bedroom and smiled at the sight of Evie lying out of the sheets on the bed. Well at least he can have some more fun. It was New Years Eve after all.
XXX
Booker sat in his office after he just got the call. Reggie told him they'd be sending someone by with a message for him. Booker felt something was off so he sat at his desk with his hand cannon held in his right hand under his desk pointing at the door. It was always better to be safe than sorry and Booker knew this saying well. He saw the silhouette of a man on the other side of the glass part of his door. There was a knock and Booker thumbed the hammer back on his gun.
"Come in," he shouted.
The door opened and in walked a man in a black hat and trench coat. He was pale and thin with a pointy nose. The man looked like a human sized rat to Booker. In his hand he carried a black leather bag. "Hello Mr. DeWitt," he greeted calmly. "My name is Mister Eustace Caine. Mr. Fontaine sent me."
"I figured as much," Booker replied. "What's in the bag?"
"Oh, just a little thank you from Mr. Fontaine for your assistance with Mr. Sullivan yesterday."
Eustace made his way over to the desk, gently placing the bag down before Booker. Booker let his gun rest on the top of his leg and he carefully opened the bag. Inside he saw stacks of rapture dollars rubber banded together. Booker knew something wasn't right. Instead of information he got money. He had stepped somewhere he shouldn't and he knew it now.
"A bribe," Booker said. "Why?"
"Drop your case on Miss Binetti's father," Eustace replied. "That's it. There's enough money in this bag to cover any of your outstanding gambling debts Mr. DeWitt. You should take it."
The man was right. Booker needed the money bad and this was the quickest way to do it. But if he took that money, he would be giving up any ounce of pride he had left and leaving Mina high and dry in the search for her father. The girl had trusted him to make good and now here he is staring at the answer to his problems. If he didn't take it and kept investigating something would happen to him and it wouldn't be good. Fontaine wanted this case closed for a reason so it also strengthened his curiosity.
Booker let out a sigh and closed the leather bag. "What choice do I have," he replied and sat the bag on the floor next to his chair.
Your a sorry piece of shit DeWitt, he thought to himself.
Eustace smiled wide, showing off his pearl white Dandy Dental made teeth. "Excellent choice Mr. DeWitt and a smart one I might add," he said. "I bid you good day." And with that Eustace turned and walked out the door.
When he was gone Booker took his hand cannon and sat it on his desk. "What am I going to tell Mina," he asked himself.
XXX
Later that night the city night life was blustering. Citizens were out dancing, drinking shopping and celebrating the arrival of the new year. Fort Frolic was especially filled with activity. All the shops and bars were crowded especially Eve's Garden. Mina rushed from table to table to fill drink orders along side Veronica and the other waitresses. Her and the other girls were dressed in a uniform consisting of a white blouse, a short black shirt, and a red flower pinned in their hair.
On the stage a red-haired girl in red lingerie was dancing at the poll while a small band played music for her off to the side. Men crowded to the front of the stage to stare at her and throw money as she went through with her performance. The bar and tables were packed with men and women out drinking their fill. As Mina went back to the bar to refill some glasses a drunk man sitting at the bar grabbed her by the hand. It was a young tired looking man with brown hair parted to the left. Mina recognized him as Hector Rodriguez, one of Sander Cohens chosen few. She'd seen him drinking here more times than she can count.
"Hey lady give me some service," he drunkenly said.
"Hang on Hector I'll be with you in a moment," Mina said as nice as she could.
"Well hurry it up would ya," he hickuped. "I got to meet that old fruit-I mean-Mr. Cohen ina few. More of his goddamn problems I gotta take care of. I'd do anything for that man I told him then he made me-" Hector's mind trailed off and his attention turned back to the stage. Mina sighed in relief and returned to refilling her empty glasses.
An hour went by and she couldn't see Veronica anywhere. As she went upstairs to services customers, she saw Evie standing in the corner wearing a low-cut red dress speaking to a group of three men in expensive suits. Mina walked up to her and excused herself for interrupting. "I'm sorry Evie I don't mean to jump in but have you seen Veronica," Mina asked.
Evie looked at her for a moment and then began to giggle. "Look at the stage sweetie," Evie said with a slight drunken slur. "She's about to come on."
Veronica, I thought you were joking. You didn't, Mina thought then leaned over the railing to look down onto the stage.
The band began to play a slow tune and the spotlight hit the stage and Veronica strutted her way onto the stage from the back dressing rooms. She wore a black robe and she began to move around the stage winking and blowing kisses. Mina rolled her eyes watching from above. Veronica dropped the robe to reveal the black underwear she had on. Her father would have a heart attack if he knew," Mina thought to herself.
As she started to dance on the stage it was rough at first but the more the band picked up the better she became. Soon even Mina was impressed with how good she was doing and money began to hit the stage from all directions. "I think she'll be my newest girl," Evie said suddenly standing next to Mina. "I mean she's no Jasmine Jolene but she's damn good."
Down on the ground floor the door opened up for Booker. As he removed his fedora he looked to the stage and was shocked to see Veronica on the verge of removing her bra. Booker looked away and proceeded to find Mina. "Booker," he heard someone call him. "Up here." Booker looked up and saw both Mina and Evie waving down at him. He headed to the stairs and made his way up.
As he walked their way he was frowning at Evie. "I can't believe you let Veronica up there," he scolded her.
"Booker sweetie, she's a grown woman," Evie smiled. "If the girl wants to show some skin for extra money, who am I to say no. If you're so worried about her indecency jump on the stage and get her off."
Booker sighed, "I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to talk to Mina."
"Go ahead Mina," Evie said. "I hope Booker has some good news about your father."
"Me too," Mina said following Booker out the door behind them.
The pair made there way over to the records store where it was relatively less busy and Booker thought about what he should say. He could tell her the truth, that he was bribed and he had to drop the case or things would get worse or lie and not let her think he was a coward.
"Mina, there's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it," Booker said, rubbing his thumb and forefinger nervously against the brim of his hat. "Your father he…he died in an accident in Hephaestus a couple years ago. I'm-I'm sorry." It only took a second for Mina to process the information just given to her and the tears began to flow. She dropped down to the floor and drew her legs up to her chest and began to cry.
You should had never been born Booker. Liar. Drunk. Gambler, Booker thought to himself and downed his head. He then crouched down in front of Mina and placed a hand on her shoulder. He'd just lied to this girl and he'd have to live with that which just made his attempt at comforting hurt all the worse.
"All that time and money getting here just to find out he died," Mina wept. "Just time wasted."
"It wasn't completely wasted," Booker said. "Look at where you are. A city under the ocean. You found friends down here and you have a home to stay in. You may have lost someone but you also gained something."
Mina dried her eyes for a moment and thought. Evie and Veronica had practically been her family since she arrived down here and Booker had jumped through every hoop he could to help her find out what happened to her father. It helped ease the pain but it didn't completely take it away.
"I know Booker," Mina said with tears still in her eyes. "Thank you for helping me. I'll uh…I'll bring your payment tomorrow."
"Keep your money," Booker replied. "It's on me."
"No, I want to pay you. You did a lot to-"
"Keep it," Booker said again. "You need the money more than I do."
"Thank you," she smiled. "You're a good friend Booker."
He didn't reply. What she had said hit him like a kick in the gut. Damn your cowardice Booker DeWitt and damn you, he cursed himself again.
The music playing through the speakers throughout Fort Frolic ceased then a familiar voice began to speak through them. "Hello my dear fellow citizens of Rapture," said Andrew Ryan. "Take this night to enjoy yourselves for you have earned it. You are what makes this city great. You are what makes the city thrive and grow. This has been a successful year and I look forward to the next one with all of you. Let us all count down into the new year." As he began the count so did all of the people around Mina and Booker. "Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year! Happy 1956 everyone and may it be another prosperous new year for us all and may the great chain of endeavor guide us through."
As Ryan's voice stopped the speakers began to play 'Auld Lang Syne'. Everyone was cheering and singing. Couples kissed and others drank themselves silly.
Mina wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Booker. "Happy New Year Booker," she said, giving a weak smile.
"Happy New Year kid," he replied.
