A New Beginning

Chapter 73: Doing Business

Chapter 73: Doing Business

There's a knock at his office door. The sun is setting in the hallway behind the visitor to Caledon Hockley's office, casting long shadows along the walls and over the portraits of all the Hockley ancestors.

"Master Hockley?" his manservant says.

"What is it Riptide?"

"I have a telegram for you, sir, from the men you employed to do that... errand from you."

"Wonderful, please bring it in."

Riptide enters the steel tycoon's office with the slip of paper on a small silver tray. Cal sits behind his desk, with his hand on his chin. His face is only half-illuminated by lamplight, but any witness could see that he was smiling to himself. As his manservant approaches, he reaches out and takes the slip of paper. He reads it carefully and his smile becomes wider.

C, STOP

NOT MUCH TIME TO TALK STOP. HAVE THE GIRL IN TRUNK. QUITE FEISTY, I COMMEND YOUR CHOICE IN WOMEN STOP

MEET BEHIND THE BAR, ACHILLES AT 10 PM STOP

WILL MAKE EXCHANGE STOP. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE MONEY. STOP

M STOP

Cal can barely contain his joy. The gang has succeeded in grabbing his fiancée, everything had gone according to plan. He then brings out his chequebook and writes the exact sum that the leader requested.

"Oh, they certainly have earned it. Rose does tend to put up a fight."

Riptide merely nods, glad to see that his employer was in good spirits, despite the terrible deed that he has done. He was relieved that all his spying and trailing of the young woman had paid off and now hopefully, things could go back to normal for everyone in the mansion.

"Bring the car around Riptide, is the basement ready for her arrival?"

"It is sir,"

"Good because the last thing we need is someone suspecting what we might've done..." the steel tycoon chuckles. He stands up from the desk with his briefcase, grabs his coat and hat by the door of his office before exiting.

"Things are looking up Riptide, things are looking up."

...

"Are we sure we can trust this guy boss?" one of the gang members asks as the entire group stands in the back alleyway behind a bar called Achilles. All of them are smoking large cigars, their hats pulled over their faces. They are waiting in the shadows with the car parked near the rear of the alley. The sounds of bar nightlife drift out the open back door of the grimy kitchen. This bar was on the seedier side of town, where all the Mafia gangs and other morally questionable big wigs toasted their victories or did business together. Although, more often than not, it usually ended up with guns being drawn and the occasional fight breaking out.

The leader of the group, simply known as M, the underboss of the family chuckles quietly at his brother's doubt.

"We can't, but he'd better have that money, or we can give him a good shakedown. After all, this was all his idea and doin'. We are just the actors, he wrote the script. If he don't hand over the money, we can take care of this girl ourselves. She might be a good goomah; red hair can sell for a pretty penny these days. But we may have to wait until she pops the kid out."

"He said nothing about her being with baby, nor that she was a biter," the same member says, rubbing a spot on his hand which revealed a bite mark. "It made her harder to get under and lift."