Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “You’re taking the list?” Penny asked.

  “Why not?” I replied. “It might slow the dwarf down a bit if he doesn’t know the ingredients by heart like I do.”

  “True,” Penny smirked. “Can’t believe that asshole is trying to steal our business.”

  “And he’s not even using the correct recipe,” I added, and that pissed me off more for some reason. There were a few proper ways to make whiskey, and this recipe looked like it would only make something used for lamp oil.

  “What do we do now?” Penny asked.

  “As soon as we can, we get out of here and get back to the stables,” I began. “We’ve got enough evidence now to move on without the dwarf.”

  “But still deal with him?” Penny questioned.

  “Absolutely,” I replied. “As soon as we know where the fucker is, we end him, but in the meantime, we slow him down. We can’t have another product on the streets.”

  “I agree,” Penny whispered as she stepped back around the desk, but as she did, her step made a hollow sound.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked as I stood up from the chair.

  “Huh?” Penny turned to face me. “No, what?”

  “Step over there, again,” I suggested.

  “Here?” Penny stepped, and nothing happened.

  “Try to your right,” I said and gestured to the edge of the desk.

  “Here?” Penny placed her foot down, and the floor creaked differently. “Sounds hollow.”

  “Yeah …” I looked at Penny, moved over to where she was, but as I did, my stomach clenched inside of my body as if I just dropped one-hundred feet.

  “What?” Penny gripped onto my arm.

  “Something is here,” I said as I held onto my gut.

  “You going to shit yourself?” Penny chuckled.

  “No, no, the keys,” I sighed as the room started to spin like I just had about six whiskey-shots.

  “What’re they telling you?” Penny steadied me with her hands and guided me over to a plush chair near the desk. “Breathe Wade, just breathe.”

  I could barely see as my vision turned into a tight tunnel, so I forced my eyes shut, and then took deep breaths.

  What the fuck was going on?

  Suddenly, Grodmick Opalstone’s face flashed into my mind for a split second, and I remembered the vision of him in the dungeon.

  He was here.

  The keys’ melodic voice jolted my heart.

  “Grodmick’s here?” I asked aloud and tried to focus even though I felt like I was spinning down a drain.

  “Who?” Penny sounded miles away.

  Then another image of Grodmick came into my mind. I could see him blowing on the magic blue light in his palms.

  But that too vanished just as quickly as it appeared.

  “Fuck,” I groaned as I gripped onto my head with the hopes it would stop the spinning sensation, but it didn’t. Instead, it only quickened until I forced myself off the chair and onto the ground, and when I hit the ground, it was right on the hollow spot.

  “Wade?” Penny’s voice seemed closer. “Talk to me.”

  The room stopped spinning, and I could open my eyes again. As soon as I did, I saw Penny’s face inches from mine.

  “Talk to me,” Penny said again. “What’s going on, you’re freaking me out.”

  “I’m okay,” I muttered. “Help me up.”

  “I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Penny protested.

  “Just help me up,” I said again. “I’m fine, we need to check something.”

  “Alright,” Penny agreed as she tried to pull me to my feet, but couldn’t. “Shit, you’re burning up.”

  Suddenly, my body felt like flames pulsed through my veins, and Penny had to take her hands off of me.

  “Roll me over,” I commanded. “I think there is something underneath us.”

  “What the fuck?” Penny furrowed her brow as she looked at me like I had a third eye. “Roll you?”

  “Yeah,” I breathed. “Just push me over. I can’t move.”

  “I’ll try.” Penny nodded and then placed her hands on me once more, and when she did, the hair on my neck and arms stood straight up. “Do you feel that?”

  “I do,” Penny said as she widened her eyes.

  “Push me,” I ordered.

  Then Penny slid me about a foot or so, and the magical hold released its grip over my body.

  “I can move,” I reassured Penny, who looked alarmed.

  “We should get out of here,” Penny said as she stood to her feet again.

  “Not yet.” I stopped her with my hand. “You weren’t affected by whatever that was, right?”

  “Just when I touched you,” Penny replied.

  “Good,” I said as I pointed to the spot where I was on the ground. “Can you feel if something is there?”

  “What do you mean?” Penny asked.

  “The place where you stepped,” I said as I pointed at the carpet. “Something has to be there.”

  “I don’t know,” Penny sighed as she moved a foot or so over and started to search the plush carpet with her hands.

  “Anything?” I asked as I looked over her shoulder.

  “Eh …” the pixie continued to run her hand along the carpet until she stopped. “What the--”

  “What is it?” I cut her off.

  “I don’t know, it feels like …” Penny tugged, and a small square patch of the carpet lifted on a hinge.

  “A door?” I chuckled. “What are you hiding, Hebal?”

  “Wade?” Penny looked at me over her shoulder. “We’re not going down there, are we?”

  “We have to,” I said.

  “You said yourself that we have enough evidence with that piece of paper from the desk,” Penny said as she stood and looked down into the square-shaped hole.

  “This could be where he’s distilling,” I replied. “And that could be good to know for future endeavors.”

  “Did the keys tell you?” Penny stopped me mid-step. “You mentioned the name Grodmick, wasn’t that the name in the chest?”

  “Yeah, it was,” I sighed. “They showed me another vision.”

  “Of?” Penny narrowed her eyes. “I’m not about to go down in some creepy hole unless we absolutely fucking have to. Plus, Hebal could come back at any moment for all we know and fuck us in the eye sockets.”

  “He won’t,” I said. “And also, eye sockets? Really?”

  “Wade, fuck, I’m serious.” Penny punched my arm. “What did the keys show you? You went all magical on me again, so help me understand before I step foot down there.”

  “You don’t have to go down there with me,” I offered. “I won’t hold it against you.”

  “I’m not letting you go alone through some secret door in a dwarf mafia leader’s store,” Penny scoffed. “What kind of friend would that make me?”

  “A smart one,” I chuckled.

  “Fuck.” Penny looked behind her shoulder as if to make sure no one was coming in and then smirked at me. “After you.”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” I said as I stepped toward the small opening and felt the hairs on my arms stand straight up again.

  “Wait,” Penny demanded as she ran over to one shelf across the room and pulled out an ancient lantern. “Think this still works?”

  “Does it still have some wax inside?” I asked.

  “It does,” Penny replied as she continued to search around the shelf. “We just need a flame.”

  “Any matc--”

  “Got it,” Penny held up a small box of matches, took one out of the box, struck it, and lit the lantern. “We won’t have a ton of time with this, but we’ll at least be able to see.”

  “Good thinking.” I nodded. “You’re right. I probably would die without you.”

  “I know.” Penny grinned and then handed me the lantern. “We gotta make this quick.”

  “Alright, follow me,” I said as I took the lantern and d
irected it into the square-shaped hole in the floor. “There are steps, but watch your head.”

  “I’m the small one here, remember?” Penny chuckled behind me.

  Then I put one foot in as if I were testing the temperature of bathwater until I felt the first step. I ducked underneath the floor and continued down the thin creaking steps.

  The lantern illuminated a few more steps ahead of me and then I saw the bottom of the stairs. There were stone walls on each side, and the floor was made of dirt.

  I turned the lantern around so Penny could see each step.

  “What the fuck is this place?” Penny muttered as she joined me on the bottom of the slim staircase.

  “I think I know,” I said as I faced the room and aimed the lantern ahead of us. “This is a dungeon.”

  The same dungeon I saw in my vision of Grodmick Opalstone.

  I stepped forward, and the lantern illuminated the first cell, the same cell I saw the famous dwarf architect in.

  “Is this what the keys showed you?” Penny asked.

  “It is,” I replied as I shone the light across the room to the other iron cell.

  “Did you see what happened?” Penny questioned as she moved over to Grodmick’s cage. “A fire or something?”

  “I’m not entirely sure,” I replied as I shone the light on the charred and bent iron bars.

  “Do you think Hebal knows about this?” Penny asked as she squinted at me from the lantern light.

  “How could he not?” I wondered.

  The bigger question was if he knew about Grodmick Opalstone being imprisoned here.

  Did Hebal even know about that magical necklace or whatever Opalstone had?

  “I don’t think we’ll find anything else here, Wade,” Penny said as she nudged me.

  “I think you’re right,” I agreed. “But, the keys wanted me to see this for a reason.”

  “It’s gotta be about Hebal, right?” Penny suggested.

  “That’s what my gut is telling me,” I answered. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”

  “Yes, please.” Penny shuddered next to me.

  Then we both moved back up the staircase and back into Hebal’s office. We secured the latch shut and made sure it wasn’t apparent that someone had used it. After that, we blew out the lantern, put it back on the shelf, and opened the office door.

  I peeked my head out and saw that the guard was no longer outside, but we still crouched low and moved closer to the entrance. Then I tugged the door open, cringed as the bell rang, and didn’t see a guard in sight.

  So, we slid out of the store, shut the door behind us, and then jogged down the street toward the Entertainment District.

  Chapter 10

  Penny and I made it back to the theatre with no issues, and I was eager to get back there and discuss everything with our team.

  “You think they are in the stables?” Penny asked as we slowed to a walk. She had finally taken off her shoes on the way back, and she put them back on her feet as she talked.

  “Yeah, let’s check there first,” I said as I nodded toward the side alley.

  “Okay,” Penny agreed as we both moved down the alley and toward the stables.

  I didn’t see any light from a lantern inside, but we still checked it out first before we headed back toward the theatre. Sure enough, the only thing inside the stables was an excited Azure.

  “Sorry, bud, we’ll be right back.” I patted the dragon's head, shut the stable doors, and then turned toward the theatre.

  “They got to be inside,” Penny said. “They might be cleaning up from the show still.”

  “Ah, that’s true,” I agreed.

  So, we moved toward the back entrance, went inside, and could hear Rindell and the count shouting at each other.

  “Fuck,” I muttered. “What now?”

  “She’s really pissing me off,” Penny said as she wiped her face with her hand.

  We quickened our pace as we walked down the back hall and into the front lobby.

  “Looks like you two have been busy,” Dar chuckled as he leaned up against the wall near the auditorium entrance. “As you can hear, so have we.”

  “They didn’t ruin the show somehow, did they?” Penny questioned.

  “Naw,” Dar said as he blew out a puff of smoke from the pipe in his mouth. “The show went great.”

  “Then what are they fighting about?” I walked past my friend, entered the auditorium, and saw the count and Madame Rindell yelling at each other near the stage.

  Skam was in the middle keeping the two crazies from swinging at each other and Rindell’s girls sat in the first row cheering the Madame on.

  “Wade!” Skam pointed at me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “Where’s Cimarra?”

  “She’s in my office,” the count replied. “Nice of you to join us again.”

  “I had something important to take care of,” I spat. “Now, what’s the issue here? Didn’t we have a good show?”

  “We did,” the count sneered. “But this unforgivable hag almost ruined it for us.”

  “Wade, I can’t even look at this ogre of a man.” Rindell turned away and held her hand up to her forehead as if she were about to faint.

  “Skam, I can take care of this,” I said as I clapped him on the shoulder. “Head on home, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Aye.” Skam nodded and then glanced at both the count and Rindell. “Ya sure, lad?”

  “I’m sure,” I confirmed. “But before you go, can you tell Cimarra that Penny and I are back?”

  “Aye, of course.” Skam nodded, and then left to go find the dancer upstairs.

  “Now,” I breathed as I turned toward the count and Rindell. “What in the fuck are you fighting about?”

  “This scoundrel accused me of … of …” Rindell scoffed.

  “I discovered this floozy in the back hallway in an unsavory position with one of our customers.” The count widened his eyes. “That is not the reputation our theatre deserves.”

  “Then you’ve never gotten a blo--”

  “I agree with the count,” I cut Rindell off. “So, it’s true?”

  “I have never been more--”

  “Is it true?” I asked again. “We talked about this before we allowed you all to stay here.”

  “Wade, darlin’,” Rindell cleared her throat and then glanced over to her girls. “We just want to help.”

  “You’re helping us just fine by serving the whiskey,” I added. “Now, answer my question, please.”

  “We want to make some coin!” One of Rindell’s dancers shouted at me. “She was just looking out for us.”

  “Thank you, sweet pea,” Rindell blew a kiss to the dancer and then hushed her. “She’s right, darlin’, we did all the heavy lifting for your little theatre tonight and didn’t get a damned thing in return.”

  “As we agreed upon,” I said as I pursed my lips. “Your return is a bed and food in your selfish bellies.”

  “Selfish?” Rindell scoffed. “Why I never in all of my years--”

  “Shut it!” I growled. “I don’t have time, Madame, or the energy to play your dramatic games.”

  “I apologize.” Madame’s lip trembled. “To answer your question, yes, it’s true.”

  “Disgusting,” the count scoffed.

  “Says the man who visits the whore down the street,” Rindell smirked.

  “That’s ju--”

  “Quiet,” I sighed. “You went behind my back, Madame.”

  “I understand that, but,” Rindell stepped back. “When I saw for my own eyes just how much coin you were making, I got antsy and decided to let my girls do what they do best.”

  “Your girls?” the count shouted as he pointed at Rindell. “So, there was sex happening all over the theatre?”

  “Duh,” Miss Coco chuckled. “Once everyone that wanted a drink got one, of course. We made a little extra, big deal.”

  “Where?” the count panted.r />
  “The hall, the alley, their seat, wherever we could find space.” The halfie remarked. “I don’t enjoy working for free.”

  “In their seat!” the count nearly fell over. “There is a time and a place to do such things, but not during my show!”

  “You girls aren’t working for free,” I hissed. “How can I trust you if you don’t abide by our deal?”

  “Is it so wrong for us to make a little coin for ourselves since you’re too cheap--”

  “Don’t even!” I held my hand up toward Rindell. “Again, we are giving you all a place to sleep and food to eat as payment, that was the deal.”

  “I just don’t see what the issue is,” a tan-skinned dancer shrugged. I think her name was Miss Cloud. “We’d only bring you even more coin doing what we do best.”

  “She’s right, darlin’,” Rindell winked at me. “We can figure something out, can’t we?

  “The issue is not you and your girls sucking dick in the backroom, it’s you going against our deal,” I sneered. “I don’t appreciate that.”

  “I, for one, don’t want anyone’s penis … being sucked or fondled during our show.” The count rubbed his forehead. “We must have some dignity for the theatre.”

  “Unless it was your dick being sucked, right, county?” Madame giggled.

  “You make me sick,” the count shook his head.

  I needed to separate these two from each other to solve the problem. Rindell was a wildcard, and I needed to deal with her accordingly. The count would only push Rindell off a cliff, and I’d have to clean up the mess.

  Not tonight.

  “Kieran,” I huffed. “I hear you and understand, but why don’t you go get some rest. You did an incredible job with the show, but I think this is something I can handle with the Madame, now.”

  “Wade,” the count said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you dare let this … this ragamuffin destroy what the--”

  “Count,” Cimarra’s voice cut the entertainer off as she walked down the center aisle with Penny and Dar behind her.

  “Ah, Cimarra,” the count began. “If anyone would understand it’s--”

  “Your cut of the profits,” Cimarra said as she tossed a pouch of coin toward the count.