Until The End

CHAPTER 14 - 'BUSINESS LUNCH'

The foundation for the collapse of a certain strip club in Bayview was laid by the time Dylan dismissed the last of the professional team working on the case. Several clients (now turned suspects) were identified from the local surveillance videos, each of whom was going to have officers hunting them until an arrest was made, or for life-if they were any clever. The anonymous tip received by the nearest precinct was thorough and authentic enough to send the authorities hankering for an overnight warrant.

Dylan had been exceptionally meticulous when it had come to organising details on the owner of the club. The man's criminal history was ransacked, his connections made apparent, and the souls of every felony that he had buried in his past were forced to rise from their graves and trapped between paper and ink.

The information that he had gathered within the initial hour of his workathon had been enough to send the made man to a lifetime anti-vacation in a prison cell, but that hadn't been the goal. It was to eradicate another crime hub the organised families considered as business. The intent was to scourge another crack in the bulletproof shield that the Castillanos had forged around them. It was to debilitate the shield enough that when he finally smashed it with a sledgehammer not only would it shatter with the first impact, but also send flying pellets of broken glass to gash their bodies in the most fatal way imaginable.

There was plenty of digital evidence against the people affiliated with the strip club-courtesy of their diligence as a mobster. It was the arrangement of the slight push needed for the cops to seize the business that had devoured a major portion of his day.

"Get back to me with the details after the takedown," Dylan said as the last member of the team reached the door to his office. Though the cops were going to make the raid public and every news station and newspaper was going to cover the story, he would need the inside details of the process.

"Yes, Mr VanAssche," the man nodded.

As the door opened and closed, leaving his office to himself for the first time since he had walked in at around three in the morning, Dylan leaned back in his chair and took hold of the company files that needed his attention. He could feel the exhaustion caused by the insomnia of the night and the relentless working of the day starting to take a toll on him. But any kind of rest would have to wait. He was accustomed to working for more hours than considered average for the smooth running of his company. In fact, he relished the progress and improvements he made with those extra hours. But it was days like these that made him wish for the quiet that was inconceivable in his line of business.

Dylan kept the files and the summarised notes of the morning meetings delegated to Markus that were sent to him for review aside. He could always look through them at the end of the day. The day's pending schedule that needed his attendance was more important.

"The whole day is booked. I'm sorry but I can't squeeze in an appointment," he heard his assistant say as soon as he pulled the office door open. Dylan sighed. Requests for appointments with him were endless, but Elyse knew how to filter them and allow only the substantial ones to pass through to him. It would be taken care of.

"Just change his schedule, Elyse. He'll never find out."

Dylan stopped halfway through the door. Any amount of surprise that he had felt at the audacity of the suggestion was neutralised by the familiarity of the voice that had delivered it. He tilted his head to the side, suddenly interested in the conversation now.

"That will get me fired, Nadia." His assistant appeared justifiably horrified by the idea.

"It won't if he doesn't know about it," Nadia reasoned with a persuasive smile.

"I can't do that."

"Just ten minutes."

"No."

"Please? I got you a free protein bar."