Vito

4 - Meetings & Creeps

"Holy shit."

In the folder I held, it had a paragraph on the left, explaining what the situation was and stuff along those lines, but what really caught my attention and caused my dumbfounded reaction was the picture.

Carol with a big, hungry smile on his face held a clearly underage girl in a... position. They were both naked and the girl seemed to fear for her life, judging by her face being contorted in a shriek, her anguish forever frozen in motion on the page. As if that wasn't enough she was bleeding, profusely. I didn't need to read the fine print to understand what I was seeing. Not only was the mayor preying on an underage girl without consent, it seemed those were the last moments she was allowed to live. Him cleaning up any loose ends I could only assume.

"Exactly." Grayson commented, no doubt reading the disgust on my face. "He's been doing this for who knows how long, we barely managed to luck across some of these photos in a.." He paused, leaning in closer as if he was telling a secret, "not so legal expedition."

I was still digesting what I had seen and was half listening. I could understand murderers, they might feel threatened or might feel the need to showcase dominance in some way. I could understand robbers, they needed to make a living, even if they were already high status and wealthy, greed doesn't discriminate. But, a man with such a high status, who could easily get female attention based on who he is, preying and killing underage women. Absolutely mind boggling.

I handed him back the folder. "That does make thing's a bit clearer."

He give an understanding nod. "You understand now why he's trying so hard to silence me. Such evil doesn't deserve to continue living. We must avenge these helpless girls." He said in a passionate tone.

A woman dressed in full maid attire suddenly walked in. She carried a tray with Whiskey and three glasses, which she set down on Grayson's table and retraced her steps after a quick bow.

I grunted my agreement while taking the now full glass Grayson offered me. Not my usual cup of tea but it'd do.

"Now.." Grayson started after taking a large gulp of the substance, "I figure Carol is gonna offer you some significant wealth, so I won't assume you'll take on this risk for free." He pulled out a notepad and flipped to a blank page. "Put a 7 figure price here and I'll see what I can do."

So, the Chief was indeed that desperate. I wasn't interested in being paid off like some above average hitmen, however. "I'll pass."

"Pardon me?" Grayson had an incredulous look on his face that would've looked perfect in an advertisement. 'Money doesn't fix all problems' with that shocked face representing the majority of the population discovering this. Elite stuff. "You're going to help us out of... goodwill?"

The way he spat out the last word showed exactly what everyone thought of me. Vito doesn't do things that he doesn't benefit from in some way. Even Grayson in our first meeting seemed to be up to speed with this belief. Now, was that true? Hell yes. Didn't mean I had to like it though.

I smiled. "No. I am merely not interested in monetary gain."

Grayson seemed to be replaying the words in his head, what else would I want? "Power." He said, finally, something seeming to have clicked.

"Indeed. I wish to be involved in your campaign and your party should you win in the elections." I responded, swirling the glass with a wide smile.

Grayson sat straight up suddenly. "Ho-"

"How do I know you're planning to run for mayor?" I interrupted, swirling the whisky around the glass before I finished it off. "It was an educated guess until now. I did some research the same night the Mayor surprise visited me, you see." I briefly thought back to the long, sleepless night. Not a fond memory but it was proving it's worth. "You have the backing of a lot of individuals who stick to the shadows, waiting to suck up to whoever fills the role. Should a certain someone disappear, of course. Then, you just admitted you got that information by illegal action. You didn't happen to find that laying around, no. You were digging for dirt and found a whole shit pile."