Chapter Eight

“Larry, wait up for a minute would ya?” Ben called out to me as he came jogging up from behind. “I know you don’t have the best grasp of local politics, but have you heard the news? There’s a large group out there that is picking off members of the Malias family, and rumor has it they are offering a mind boggling reward for any information at all.”

“Slow down there a bit Ben, you are talking way over my head. Tell you what, why don’t you explain it like I’m a five year old? Maybe then I can follow you.”

“Well, I suppose this could be considered practice for when we finally become doctors, eh? Alright, where to start. Nobody truly speaks about it, but most of the major cities in this country have a family group running the criminals in the shadows. These guys are scary powerful, I’m talking bought politicians, police forces, things like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could fight the army on even terms.” Taking a quick look around to make sure nobody was looking, he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “The Malias run Nashville, and never speak a bad word about them where people can hear. In fact, probably best to never do it with anyone.”

“Ok, I can follow so far. Let me guess, nothing big happens here without their say so or else there will be. . . reprisals?”

“Yeah, particularly nasty ones. The twin heads are both incredibly powerful Sparkers, probably ranked in the top ten in the nation.”

“Sparkers?”

“Oh, right. Forgot you don’t know all the slang yet. There are three tiers of firebrands. Normal ones can blast fire. Zappers can call down lightning from the storms. Incredibly powerful, but useless indoors and fairly easy to counter. Their flames are a bit hotter. Then the cream of the crop are the Sparkers. These guys are scary powerful, they don’t need any storms. They will just blast you with a lightning bolt from their own hands. In their entire history, nobody has taken a blast from a Sparker and lived. The attack is way too fast to even think about countering, let alone dodge.”

“Ok, and there are two of them running the family? Wow, who would possibly be idiotic enough to incur their wrath?”

“That’s the question on everyone’s mind. Nobody knows. There haven’t been any demands, no declarations of war. Rumor has it that even the Shadow Council hasn’t heard anything, which is even crazier than declaring war. You got that confused look aga. . . oh yeah, Shadow Council. Sorry. The Shadow Council is rumored to be the reason there is only one family per city. They are a collection of the heads of the strongest families in the nation, and they rule with an iron fist. If you want more territory, you don’t go out and get it. You petition the Shadow Council, and hope they agree with your reasoning. If they do, you get more territory. It keeps things peaceful.”

“Or as peaceful as a group that holds laws in contempt ever bothers?”

“True, true. Anyway, nobody knows who is doing this. So far it is the low level dealers that work the streets that have been hit, and the police are being really quiet on how they are being killed.”

“Well, thanks for telling me all of this Ben. I will try and keep my head down, but honestly I don’t know what to avoid. Probably just end up doing what I have been doing, it seems to be working so far.”

“Anytime man, anytime.”

As Ben turned and walked away, I started plotting. It didn’t seem like I gave anything away, which is crucial. Like the saying goes, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. I had a lot of secrets that just keep on multiplying, and the more secrets you have the harder it is to keep them all. Well, I always think better on a full stomach, plus a leisurely lunch would give me a wonderful chance to people watch.

Spinning on my heels, I set off in the opposite direction of Ben. What I really needed was a big, greasy cheeseburger and I knew just the place to find it. Three blocks later, I waltzed in to Gloria’s Diner. “Good to see you again Larry, your table in the corner is free. Why don’t you head on over and I’ll be right there to take your order.”

“Sounds good Alicia. Working hard to day or hardly working?” Nothing better than friendly banter to get you relaxed. Settling in to my corner booth, I always felt like I was in one of those ubiquitous spy novels since I always faced he door. Who cares if an action is cliché if it does what you need it to do? While I was farther from the back door, which was on the opposite side of the U shaped diner, I could easily keep an eye on anyone entering. Besides, my area had the bathrooms, and I was fairly certain in an emergency I could slip out undetected. My personal philosophy was that if you needed an escape, being unconventional was best. Shady characters always scope out any place they enter, and the first glance always goes toward the back door. Sitting between the front door and the back just got you noticed that much faster. If you were not in the direct line of sight, however, you had a split second to compose yourself.

I swear if Alicia put any more swing into her hips as she sauntered over, she was going to throw her back out. Especially since back problems were at best a few years away given how top heavy she was, if you know what I mean. “So hun, what’ll it be? The usual?”

Needing to release a little stress over the revelations Ben had let slip, I decided a little needling was in order. Especially since Alicia went out of her way to be outrageous with her customers. This girl knew how to get the best tips from the male college customers: Low cut white shirts and colored bras to enhance her already formidable assets. “Naw, I’ld like an open thigh sandwich, hold the tomato. Furburger to go.” I managed to reply while keeping a straight face, looking her straight in the eye I got the perfect reaction. Her jaw dropped, eyes wide, she just opened and closed her mouth as she tried to process what I just said while turning a remarkable shade of lobster red. After letting her stew for a few seconds, I couldn’t hold the laughter in and belted out a guffaw. “Oh Alicia, you should see your face right now. Payback is so very, very sweet.”

Smacking me in the arm as she pretended to be offended, “You know, you shouldn’t get a girl’s hopes up like that Larry. I might just throw you out.”

“Oh please, you’re just mad that I finally got the better of you in one of our exchanges. That and the fact that someone finally managed a novel pick-up line on you when you weren’t expecting it.”

“I hate to admit it, but you are right. Congrats, you win this one. So seriously now, what can I get you?”

“The usual will be fine. Cheeseburger with pickles and grilled onions, ketchup and mustard. Oh, can you throw on an extra slice of cheese? Since I’m already being bad today, a little more wouldn’t hurt.”

“Gotcha. Fries?” At my nod she walked away. Laying my head back, I studied the ceiling tiles as I pondered my next set of moves. Library research had proved futile, and the newspapers were next to worthless when it came to figuring out who did what in the Malias family. I had my best luck by interrogating the low level lieutenants, but they could at most give me someone one or two tiers above themselves. I needed to get someone from middle management, that was the key to busting open who I needed to take out to avenge Sarah.

Currently, the top two firebrands were common knowledge, and out of my league without a plan. Draco and Ryu Malias were rather nasty characters. Both sparkers, they feared nobody. They earned their utterly ruthless reputation, if you crossed them they went after your family first and you last. Rumor also had it they had a powerful waterbrand with them at all times in case of assassination attempts, but the healer also helped with the torturing of those who displeased the bosses. Imagine getting repeated third degree and fourth degree burns, only to have them healed at an accelerated rate. The sick bastards repeated this until their victim’s body ran out of resources to fuel the constant healing. Hearing how they handled their enemies made the decision to remove the blight on humanity easy.

Below them was their accountant and lawyer. Keeping his abilities quiet, Leo Dorinson cut quite the figure. Immaculately cut hair, precision tailored suits, he had charisma leaking from every pore in his body. Unfortunately for society, the sculpted blond used his way with people to keep the dregs of society out of prison and on the street, where they could in turn pad his already deep pockets. If I wanted the most bang for my buck, he would be the first target I would take out. There is no better way to throw an organization into chaos than to cause havoc with the finances. People who don’t get paid get very angry very fast. Unfortunately for me, he never went anywhere with less than three bodyguards. Judging by the photos in the papers, the guards were changed on a weekly basis to keep them from getting complacent.

Those were the top three of the group, and the end of specific information I had. I had sketched out some theoretical structure based on what I would do. The next lower level of trusted aids would have to have several members, each tasked with overseeing a portion of the group activities. Weapons, drugs, alcohol production, internal discipline seemed likely divisions. Specifics would have to wait until I knew more. As I was pondering this and waiting on my burger, something started nagging at me. What could I be missing? My order was placed, I was fairly confident in my assessment so far, but something in the diner just seemed off. Wait, sitting upright I looked around confused. It was lunchtime, and this diner did a fairly brisk business. Why was it so quiet then? Four tables over I saw the answer. Leo Dorinson himself was there with four rather burly bodyguards. No wonder nobody wanted to attract notice, if Ben was right these guys would be on high alert.

Just then a much subdued Alicia dropped off my burger. Smiling at her, I gave her a small head nod. At least she had the presence of mind to drop her more overt attempts at flirting with her customers. Smart girl. Smashing down the bun on my burger, I still needed to almost unhinge my jaw just to get that first bite. That’s why I love this place. They don’t skimp on the premium meat, and actually season it before it sees a grill. As I enjoyed my burger, I surreptitiously studied Leo and his entourage. How often do you get a windfall like that just dropped into your lap? I doubt a better time to take him out would ever come again, but there were two major issues. One, what could I use to take him out. Two, and much more importantly, how could I do it without drawing attention to myself? It was far too early to give the Malias’ a target for their rage. The bodyguards weren’t helping either. Two of them were eating with Leo, and the other two kept a lookout over the entire restaurant. Damn, but I hate going up against competent help. The other two would most likely get their food to go, never really presenting me with an opportunity. As I was taking the last bite of my burger, a form of inspiration hit. Unfortunately, it was in the form of an inhaled bit of bun going down the wrong pipe.

Coughing and hacking, I downed the remaining half of my glass of water as everyone turned to stare at me. “I’m ok” I wheezed at them. “Bun went down the wrong pipe.” Seeing them all turn back to their meals, I gave an internal sigh of relief. Having left a generous tip for Alicia, I sat back and pondered for a second if I could pull it off. It would have to be absolutely perfect timing, and I absolutely had to maintain a walking speed. Settling my nerves, I made my move.

As Leo reached for his glass of water, I got up and headed for the door. Right before I lost him from my peripheral vision, I tried something I had never done before. I froze all the water in his throat and the back of his mouth, blocking his airway. Walking through the front door, I ignored the beginnings of pandemonium as I made my way back to campus.