Skulduggery 4: Building a Criminal Empire, page 30
Even though it was still early in the morning, Wyatt’s restaurant was busy when we entered through the kitchen door. I had guessed correctly that the restaurant would be open already, so it would be our best bet to find the twins, especially since I already knew that Sully’s hall usually didn’t open until late in the afternoon.
“Wyatt here?” I asked a halfling line cook who sweated over an order of potato hash.
“Through there,” the cook grunted toward an open door off the side of the kitchen.
“How about his twin?” I pressed. “Have you seen him this morning?”
“No, I ain’t seen him,” the cook growled. “Now leave me alone before I burn this blasted hash.”
“I think it’s too late,” Dar said as he wrinkled his nose.
The line cook cursed the potatoes, the stove, and the sweat in his eyes, but we left before he could curse us, too. I peered into the office that the cook had gestured to, and at the sound of my entrance, Wyatt raised his head from a stack of papers.
“Wade, my boy, what can I do for you so early on this fine day?” Wyatt asked.
“Go get Sully,” I whispered to Dar, “and don’t take no for an answer.”
“You got it,” my halfling friend said.
As soon as Dar disappeared back through the kitchen, I stepped fully into Wyatt’s office and shut the door behind me.
“We need to talk,” I growled.
“What about?” Wyatt asked.
His eyes darted back and forth between me and the door, as if he could magically transport himself to the other side if he just thought about it hard enough. I twisted the lock on the office door.
“I think you know,” I said, “but I’ll wait until your brother gets here so I don’t have to repeat myself.”
“Now listen, Wade,” Wyatt swallowed, “I know there might have been an incident, but--”
I raised my hand, and the twin immediately fell silent.
“Like I said,” I growled, “I’ll wait until your brother gets here, and I suggest you save your breath and do the same.”
“Whatever you say,” Wyatt said, “just--”
When I raised my eyebrows instead of my hand this time, the halfling stopped himself again. I seated myself in the chair across from him, leaned against the back, and kicked my feet up onto the stack of papers on his desk.
The blue bloodstain on my boot had just started to show again from beneath the layer of mud that I had caked on top of it.
I was going to have to do something about the elven bloodstain eventually, but for now, I was content to let it be a silent warning to Wyatt. As soon as he saw the blood, he opened his mouth, but then shut it again before he made any sound.
By the time Dar returned with Sully, Wyatt was covered in a sheen of sweat that rolled down his temples and soaked the front of his shirt. He attempted to smile at Sully as his twin walked in, but the other halfling looked as uncomfortable and sweaty as he did.
“You have any trouble?” I asked Dar.
“Nah, not really,” my friend said. “Sully seems to think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding, but I told him we’d been very clear on our end.”
“Have a seat,” I told Sully.
The halfling stumbled over and collapsed into a chair beside his brother, while Dar came to stand just behind me on my right side.
“So who would like to start?” I asked. “I’ll make it easy for you-- what were the rules I told you when we started our business relationship? There were only two of them.”
“We’d never sell you out, Wade,” Wyatt protested. “That was the biggest rule. No one came to ask about you, but if they had, we wouldn’t have said anything, my hand to the gods.”
“The gods aren’t here right now,” I growled, “but I am, so let me ask you this-- why would anyone have come to ask about me? What possible reason could they have had?”
“But they didn’t ask about--” Sully started.
“It should never have even been a possibility that anyone might ask about us,” Dar said. “The only reason we would have to worry about that at all is if you disregarded the other rule we had.”
“Anyone care to tell me what that was?” I asked.
“Don’t over-serve our patrons,” Sully mumbled.
“What was that?” I asked. “I’m not sure I heard you.”
“Don’t serve more than two drinks to our customers,” Wyatt answered for his brother.
“And have you both been abiding by that rule?” I demanded. “Think carefully before you answer.”
“Sully has been,” Wyatt said.
“That’s great for Sully,” I said as I took my feet off the desk and planted them on the floor. “But what about you?”
“I might have…” Wyatt paused to wipe the sweat away before it rolled into his eyes. “I might have served more than two drinks to a few patrons.”
“You might have, or you did?” Dar pressed.
“I did,” Wyatt said and clenched his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, Wade. Really I am. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but please don’t--”
“Thank you for telling the truth,” I sighed. “We already knew it was you because we had one of your patrons followed, and he led the way right back to this restaurant.”
“Look, I know that my brother--”
“We didn’t ask for your opinion,” Dar snarled to cut off Sully’s words. “What you should know is that your brother put our whole operation in danger just for a little more coin from his customers, and that means he put your business in danger, too.”
“Would you like to say anything on your own behalf?” I asked Wyatt. “Perhaps an explanation of why you served more than two drinks to some of your patrons when I thought we had been so clear about the rules going into this?”
“I wasn’t trying to be greedy,” Wyatt blubbered. “It wasn’t about the coin.”
“Then what was it about?” Dar demanded.
“I just wanted to make my customers happy,” the halfling continued. “I thought the happier they were, the more likely they were to come back with all their friends. It was only a few of them that I sold more than two drinks to, and they all seemed like they could hold their liquor fine.”
“And that includes the drunken halfling who wandered out of your restaurant singing at the top of his lungs?” I asked. “And who was then arrested, imprisoned, and interrogated by the elves?”
Wyatt turned stark white underneath his sheen of sweat.
“Do you know what happened to that halfling?” I growled and leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees.
“He was found murdered,” Sully said. “He’d had his tongue cut out.”
“Interesting,” I said as if I didn’t know that Ava was responsible for the halfling’s death. “Especially since he was about to lead the elves right back here to this restaurant when he was killed.”
“He was what?” Sully spluttered.
“Like I said,” I exhaled, “it’s very interesting.”
“Did you-- I mean, I didn’t--” Wyatt couldn’t seem to string together a complete thought, much less a complete sentence.
“Oh, I have nothing else to say about that,” I said. “I just thought you might want to think about that halfling’s fate.”
“And think about the role that you might have played in it,” Dar added.
“Did you…” Wyatt trailed off.
“I wouldn’t ask any questions that you don’t really want the answers to,” I warned.
“What are you going to do to me?” the halfling whispered.
“Nothing,” I said as I leaned back in my chair. “Not a damn thing, so you can remember the mercy that I’ve shown you today.”
“Thank you, thank-- I’ll never do it again, I swear,” Wyatt said as the color started to return to his face.
“Good,” I said, “but I need you to remember something going forward from here.”
“Anything,” the halfling said.
“I am not sparing your life because of any personal relationship or connection,” I said, “and that means if you fuck up in the future, I won’t spare your life again.”
“I understand,” Wyatt said. “I won’t serve more than two drinks to anyone from now on, I swear on my grandmother’s grave.”
“May she be cursed to the pits of the afterlife if you’re lying,” Dar growled.
“I’m sparing your life because we have a profitable business relationship,” I continued, “and as long as it continues to be profitable, I’d like to continue it.”
“So would we,” Sully said, “so whatever you need, you just say the word.”
“You’re due for your next pick up today,” I told the twins. “You’ve got two barrels that are waiting for you at Eloy’s, so I need you to come get them before sundown.”
“Of course,” Sully said. “I’ll bring the wagon over this afternoon to collect them.”
“And to pay us,” I reminded him.
“Absolutely,” Wyatt said. “Sixty gold per barrel, right?”
“The price has gone up,” I sighed. “It’s seventy per barrel now.”
“Seventy per--” Sully stopped himself. “Alright, fair enough. Seventy per barrel.”
“I’m glad we understand each other,” I said. “Sales are obviously good for both of you, so if you can keep your shit together and play by the rules, we can increase your shipment to two barrels every week instead of two barrels every other week.”
“We could sell that amount for you now,” Sully said.
“Oh, I know that,” I responded. “The product sells itself, so it’s not about how much you’re able to sell. It’s about how much I trust you to sell, and right now, I only trust you enough to give you two barrels every other week.”
“We’ll earn your trust again,” Wyatt said with a thick swallow.
“I hope you will,” I said. “Give it a few weeks, and I’ll check back in with you to see where we’re at. Until then, just pick up your shipment of two today, hand off the gold, and remember my rules.”
“We will,” Wyatt said.
“See that he does,” Dar told Sully.
“I will,” the other halfling said.
“Thank you both for your cooperation,” I said and smiled as I stood up. “We’ll look for your wagon this afternoon, and in the meantime, I wish you both a pleasant morning.”
“Thank you, Wade,” Wyatt said.
I shook his hand, and then his brother’s before Dar opened the office door to let us back out through the kitchens. As soon as we were in the alley outside of the restaurant, Dar collapsed with laughter.
“What’s so funny?” I grinned.
“Did you see their faces?” my halfling friend demanded. “You had them good and spooked.”
“I’m glad that’s so funny to you,” I laughed.
“You were intimidating, no doubt about that,” Dar said. “Even I felt like I was quaking in my boots at one point.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “You cursed their grandmother to rot in the pits of the afterlife if he turned out to be lying. You didn’t think that was a bit much?”
“I can’t help it that I was meant for the theatre,” Dar sighed. “Besides, it was effective, wasn’t it?”
“I think we scared them shitless, yes,” I agreed. “Hopefully we won’t have to take any further action with them. I’d prefer not to have to start from scratch and find a whole new buyer in the halfling district.”
“Or two whole new buyers, in this case,” Dar said.
“Exactly,” I said as we started back toward Eloy’s. “Of course, I’d like to expand in this district eventually and get more buyers, but I don’t want to lose our income of one hundred and forty gold every other week if we don’t have to.”
“What are we gonna do with all that coin?” Dar grinned.
“Use it to make more coin,” I laughed, “and then use it to make a better life for all of us. I want to start thinking big, my friend. I’m talking expansion in every district.”
“You don’t think that’s too dangerous right now?” the halfling asked.
“Not if we’re careful about it,” I answered, “and not if we make the right kind of allies.”
“What do you mean by that?” Dar asked. “We’ve already got the miners and the dwarven guard on our side, thanks to Lobrem.”
“That’s just in one district,” I said. “I want to have allies in every district. And that includes the Capital.”
“The Capital?” Dar repeated. “Have you lost your mind? There’s no way any elf would agree to work with us.”
“Maybe,” I chuckled, “but anyone can be bought for the right price.”
“You’re crazy,” Dar said, “but I like it.”
“Not crazy,” I said. “Just ambitious.”
“How would you get any of the elves on our side?” my friend asked.
“I’m still working on that part, but my idea is to play the different factions off each other somehow,” I explained. “Think about how Dalomian and Romus were such bitter enemies, and then think about how many elves have probably made enemies out of other elves.”
“We could play them against each other,” Dar said.
“Or help the elves with less power to gain more power, as long as they remember us when they do,” I added.
“I like what you’re thinking,” the halfling said. “It sounds like we’ve got some real planning to do.”
“There’s always planning to do,” I laughed, “but right now, I might like to set up some of those traps with you to protect our goods and our gold.”
“You got it, Wade,” Dar said as we reached the front door of the bakery.
It was still locked, but Penny didn’t answer the door when we knocked, so we went around to the side of the building and tried the back door. It should have been locked too, but it opened easily instead. As soon as we stepped across the threshold, I knew something was wrong.
I pulled out my dagger, and Dar pulled his own blade out behind me as we moved deeper into the darkness of the bakery. It wasn’t unusual for there to be no light inside the bakery itself since the shades were drawn across the windows and Penny was asleep upstairs, but I couldn’t help but feel that someone was about to jump out of the shadows to attack us.
Just as I was about to throw open the pantry door to check it for assassins, a yelp sounded from the apartment upstairs, and it was followed immediately by a thud overhead.
“Penny,” I murmured, and then with my heart in my throat, I raced toward the stairs.
Chapter 19 - Osman
It had been over a thousand years since I last felt freedom.
I couldn’t remember how long it had been exactly because after a few hundred years, I started to lose count of the years and tried instead to only count centuries. The truth was that I remembered very little of the time before my imprisonment. I remembered world events, who was in power, different battles that were fought, and all that sort of thing, but the faces of my family and the hot sands of my desert homeland-- those were much harder to recall.
After the elves captured me, my lamp had been passed from one elven owner to another. The elf who had actually hunted me used his first wish for something trivial-- more money or power, I forgot which one he’d asked for-- but then no one had used any wishes for a while. Instead, they simply forced me to do their bidding. After all, I was a slave to the lamp, and that meant that I was a slave to anyone who owned it.
“Stay closer to me,” the blonde assassin hissed as we approached my coffee shop. “You’re drifting away.”
“I apologize,” I said. “My thoughts were elsewhere.”
“I can see that,” Ava said dryly.
A small crowd of halflings waited outside my shop when we reached the door. They were regular customers, and on any other day, my doors would have been open for at least twenty minutes already.
“I’m sorry to say that we’re closed today,” I announced at the door, “and in fact, we’ll be closed permanently here after today.”
“But then where are we supposed to get our blasted coffee?” one halfling grumbled.
“Ownership has changed,” Ava said quietly beside me. “If you want coffee, from now on you will have to come get it at Eloy’s bakery.”
“Why the change, Osman?” another halfling asked.
“I guess this shop wasn’t good enough for him,” a third halfling said. “Fucking djinn always thinking they’re better than the rest of us.”
“Listen, friends--” I started.
“No,” Ava growled. “Let me.”
The crowd immediately fell silent at the tone of her voice.
“First of all, Osman is literally moving down the street, not across the goddamn world,” the assassin said, “so you can all stop pissing yourselves that you won’t get any more coffee. Second of all, Osman is a fucking djinn, as you say, and that means he has no control or say over his labor. His new owner wants him at Eloy’s, so that’s where he’s going to be.”
“We didn’t mean--”
“I don’t give a fuck what you meant,” Ava said, “and I wasn’t finished. Third of all, Osman’s new owner has very little tolerance for assholes, so if you can’t be respectful, then I advise you to find a different morning fix than a cup of coffee at Eloy’s. You may find it less tasteful than it has been in the past.”
“Are you his new owner?” one halfling asked very quietly.
“I am not,” the assassin answered. “I do not own living beings.”
“I don’t know if you should--” I started.
“I am his escort,” Ava cut me off, “to make sure that he does not try to escape. Now if you would all please get the fuck out of our way, we have business to conduct. No coffee today.”
“But please,” I added, “come by Eloy’s tomorrow for your usual coffee, plus a free muffin for your troubles.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ava muttered. “I think you’re the only one who makes coffee in this whole city, so it’s not like they have anywhere else to go.”
