Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Are you not quitting on me?” I asked.

  “Willy, I mean--”

  “Just fuckin’ do it!” Wilimar widened his eyes at his friend who walked to the edge of the alley and then faced me again. “I took your deal because we just needed to track down a dwarf, but now Olly is telling me that the entire Halfling Assassin Guild is after you, and that means they’re after us too, right?”

  “No,” I began. “That’s not the case at all. I think Olly is a bit dramatic.”

  “I just need to know what’s going on.” Wilimar shrugged.

  Seemed like everyone needed to know these days. Why couldn’t they just do what they were being paid to do? Why did this have to be difficult? I had enough to discuss with Dar and the girls as it was, and now these fucking kids wanted to know everything too?

  Fuck that.

  “My business is my business, kid,” I said as I pursed my lips. “I don’t have to tell you anything. You have nothing to worry about but that fucking dwarf over there.”

  “Wade …” Wilimar adjusted the cap on his head. “I don’t have to worry about gettin’ sliced from some assassin?”

  “When I say you have nothing to worry about, believe me, you have nothing to worry about,” I replied.

  “These fuckin’ kids,” Dar scoffed as he pulled out his pipe, lit it, and kept an eye on Olly at the far end of the alley.

  “Fine,” Wilimar sighed. “Should I meet you at the guild in two days with any news?”

  “No,” I answered. “Meet me right here in this alley the morning of the festival.”

  I’d meet with Wilimar first before talking with Hebal, as long as Hebal showed up.

  “Alright,” Wilimar said and then whistled to get Olly’s attention. “And what if the dwarf you like so much isn’t here? You still want to meet me here?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Just make sure you have someone following Hebal at all times, but he should be sitting his ass in his shop that day.”

  “Fine,” Wilimar narrowed his eyes as he looked at his partner on the end of the alley. “The goof still there?”

  “Aye, he is,” Olly replied in a way that made it seem like he had just witnessed his mother being killed.

  “If you have to get someone other than mopey over there on this, then do it,” I said as I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll have your ten copper when I see you next.”

  “Alright,” Wilimar sighed.

  “No one is gonna fuck with you,” I reassured the kid before I turned around and started to walk back to the street.

  “Wade?” Wilimar stopped me with his hand. “I’m not fuckin’ afraid.”

  “Good,” I said as I patted the kid’s shoulder, turned to Dar, and then gestured for him to follow. “We’ll see you soon.”

  “Aye,” Wilimar muttered as he followed us and then stopped next to Olly at the end of the alley.

  “And don’t listen to his lies,” Dar added as he nudged Olly.

  “Whatever,” Olly grunted.

  Before we walked back onto the street, I made sure Hebal wasn’t near the door or window. Then we blended with the street traffic and made our way back toward the Entertainment District.

  “We aren’t still partnering with Hebal after everything he did, are we?” Dar asked as soon as we distanced ourselves from the dwarf’s store. “I didn’t believe a fuckin’ word he told us.”

  “Of course not,” I replied.

  “Then what’s your plan? Why are we going to meet up with him in two days? Why didn’t we just kill him in his store?” Dar asked as he puffed on his pipe.

  “Because …” I said as I eyed Dar. “We’re gonna fuckin’ kill him after I get more gold and something else off him.”

  Chapter 14

  Dar must’ve asked me fifty times how we were going to kill Hebal as we walked back to the theatre. If I wanted, I could’ve told him eight different ways that I wanted to destroy that dwarf, but Cimarra’s reminders of “be careful” rang in my mind with any decision that needed to be made. So, I knew I needed to discuss the situation with everyone to get a clear strategy of how exactly to move forward.

  Dar finally gave up on asking about the dwarf’s demise as we walked down the theatre’s side alley and headed toward the stables.

  “You think Ava is waiting for us inside?” Dar asked.

  “She said she had to keep moving, so I doubt it,” I said as I glanced around at the rooftops of the other buildings. There could’ve been an assassin lurking nearby, so I wasn’t going to take any chances. “Selius should be there, though.”

  “Hopefully,” Dar added.

  “Ah shit,” I sighed as I clapped my forehead.

  “What?” Dar spun around as if someone was about to attack him.

  “Did we lock the door?” I asked. “Ava and Selius wouldn’t have been able to get inside if we did.”

  “No, I don’t think we did,” Dar said as he moved toward the door. “Penny was going to be working in there, right?”

  “I think so,” I sighed in relief.

  “Let’s check inside,” Dar said as he walked over to the door and tugged it open. “Unlocked.”

  There were no lights on inside the stables, but I could see Azure’s shadow wobbling over to us.

  “Hello?” I greeted the darkness and waited to hear if Selius responded. I didn’t know why he’d be sitting in the dark, but maybe he was tired from an exciting day.

  “Doesn’t look like anyone is here,” Dar remarked. “Just Azure.”

  “Alright,” I breathed as I turned around and held open the door for Dar. Then, I locked it up with my key. “Let’s check the theatre.”

  “If they got here without any trouble,” Dar said. “They wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

  “Let’s hope so,” I replied as we made our way back up the small hill and entered the theatre through the back door.

  There was no one screaming at each other this time, but I could tell the performers were in the middle of the final walkthrough before the show tomorrow night.

  “Again, ladies, again!” the count’s voice echoed.

  “If I were an assassin and a small halfling, where would I be?” Dar asked as we approached the staircase.

  “Let’s check the auditorium,” I suggested. “I know Cimarra likes to watch the practice so they could be with her.”

  “True,” Dar said as he pushed open the door, walked through the vacant lobby, and turned into the auditorium’s entrance.

  “There they are,” I whispered as I spotted our crew sitting in the middle section of the middle row.

  “Selius and Ava?” Dar squinted since the lights were dimmed just like they would be during the show.

  “I can’t tell,” I replied as I moved down the center aisle toward the crew. Then I sidestepped down the row in front of everyone else.

  “Hi, Wade,” Selius whispered to me as soon as he saw me.

  “Glad you made it, kid,” I said as I sat down and turned in my seat to face everyone.

  “Ava still here?” Dar asked as he sat in the open seat next to Selius.

  “Naw,” Selius muttered. “She took off as soon as she dropped me at the stables.”

  “I figured,” I whispered as I nodded toward Cimarra and Penny on the other side of Selius.

  “You don’t have to whisper,” Cimarra said with a smirk. “The dancers won’t be bothered.”

  “Good to know,” I replied. “Everything go smooth over here today?”

  “Rindell has been quiet, and the count is focused on the show,” Cimarra took a deep breath. “It’s been a dream. He is really focusing on his true calling again. It was good we took the business aspect away from him.”

  “I refilled our water and put Selius to work.” Penny grinned over at the kid.

  “Yeah,” Selius said with a stretch. “She made me clean the elephant tubs.”

  “Good,” I said as I nodded toward Penny and then Selius.

  “We should also have enough grain and
yeast for at least one more batch,” Penny added. “Whenever we decide to get that going.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Of course,” Penny flashed her eyes at me. “How about you?”

  “Yeah,” Cimarra said as she leaned forward and rested her elbow on her knees. “Selius told us what happened at the guild, and Ava vanished as soon as she dropped him off so we couldn’t get an update from her.”

  “Did she tell you where she was headed too?” Dar nudged Selius next to him.

  “Naw.” Selius shrugged. “She just threw me in the stables and took off.”

  “She might’ve been followed,” I said as I ran a hand through my hair. “We’re gonna have to be a little more cautious if we go out on the streets.”

  “Which is all the time,” Penny chuckled.

  “It is what it is,” I replied.

  “What about Hebal?” Cimarra asked. “Selius told us that’s where you were.”

  “It went about how I expected it to,” I said.

  “Ladies!” the count’s voice bellowed out again. “It’s tap left, tap right, bend low, and then I will come out and close the show.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” Cimarra said as she reached her hand out and touched mine on top of the seat.

  “Me too,” Penny echoed.

  “Just him, or are ya both glad I’m good too?” Dar questioned.

  “Of course, Dar,” Cimarra smirked at the halfling.

  “Meh.” Penny shrugged.

  “Don’ take it personally.” Selius clapped Dar on his back.

  “I’m curious, though,” Penny began, “how did Hebal respond when he saw you guys?”

  “Well,” I said as I scratched at my arm. “That’s what we need to talk about.”

  “Damn right, we do,” Dar scoffed. “Wade wouldn’t tell me a damned thing until we were all together.”

  “No point wasting breath if my plan would change,” I said with a shrug.

  “I had guessed that his dwarf rage took him over when he saw you and then he tried to kill you.” Penny leaned back in the seat, pulled one of her knees up close, and rested her arm on her leg. “Or he just shit himself when he saw you.”

  “I was confident that he wouldn’t kill us,” I replied. “Unless we showed him we knew what he was doing.”

  “Did he know we killed his guard?” Cimarra asked.

  “And distiller,” Penny added with a smirk.

  “No, I think he knew they were killed, but not by who,” I began. “He blamed ‘personal family issues’ for why he stood us up, and then he requested a week before we picked up our original whiskey arrangement with him again.”

  “And what did you say?” Cimarra questioned.

  I went on and explained the entire meeting with Hebal to the rest of the crew.

  “And he believed you were that clueless?” Penny asked as she glanced at the dancers on the stage.

  “One more time!” the count demanded. “You will all know this routine as if it were your family name.”

  “Looked like he did,” I ignored the count’s voice and explained. “More importantly, we set up a meeting with him in two days.”

  “Huh?” Cimarra furrowed her brow. “For a whiskey drop off?”

  “Yep,” I said.

  “But we don’t have a miners event until next week,” Cimarra straightened her posture.

  “I know,” I said. “We’ll tell him a random location, and when he and his crew show up, we take double the gold and kill em.”

  “Fuck yeah we do,” Dar chuckled.

  “How many usually go with him to the pickups?” Penny questioned. “Fighting one dwarf differs greatly from fighting three or four.”

  “There are usually two others with him,” I replied. “So three dwarves in total.”

  “Me, you, Penny, Ava, and Skam can easily handle them,” Dar said with determined eyes.

  “What if they try to double cross us?” Penny asked. “They might not even bring the gold.”

  “I thought about that,” I said. “The exchange is going to be in two weeks. By then, Hebal will know that his distiller guy is dead, and he won’t have anyone else to make it for him. He’ll have to keep partnering with us, and he knows he committed twice the payment. He’ll show up with the money, apologize, and then keep working to make the whiskey himself in the background while he continues to deal with me. Even if he’s paying twice the rate per barrel, he’s still making a massive profit, and he only agreed to pay double this one time. He’ll want to keep the status quo a bit longer.”

  “That makes sense,” Penny agreed. “I still think we should bring Ava, though.”

  “I dunno if Ava will have time,” I said. “She’s leading the Assassin’s on the chase of their lives right now.”

  “We can’t lose sight of that either,” Cimarra sighed. “The assassins could know our location at any moment.”

  “I know,” I said. “Maybe I just have a lot of faith in Ava, but I’m not too worried about the assassins … yet.”

  “Ava can handle herself, but we cannot have them being led back here,” Cimarra said as she tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

  “Of course,” I said with a slight nod toward the dancer. “For now, I think Hebal is our top priority while Ava handles the guild.”

  “All by herself?” Penny asked.

  “No,” I replied. “We’ll help her as much as we can, but like I said, maybe I have too much faith in Ava.”

  “She knows what she’s doin’,” Selius squeaked.

  “That she does, kid,” I agreed.

  “So, if Ava can keep the guild busy enough, then we’re moving forward with killing the dwarf?” Dar asked as he narrowed his eyes. “We just jump him and his crew at a made-up exchange?”

  “What if he’s planning the same thing against us?” Penny questioned. “For all we know he could be planning to ambush us, too.”

  “He probably is,” I said. “That’s why we have to be smarter than him.”

  “How?” Dar asked.

  “Well,” I began. “I’m still thinking it through, but the obvious answer is we ambush him before he ambushes us.”

  “Got it.” Dar nodded.

  “We can finalize a plan before we do the meetup in a few days,” I said. “But before we move on, there’s something else that I need to mention about the dwarf.”

  “What?” Penny asked.

  “Yeah, what else needs to be said?” Dar pursed his lips.

  “When we talked with him earlier today, I noticed something,” I said as I looked at Dar. “He was wearing a necklace.”

  “Fuck,” Dar fist pumped. “I fucking knew he had it!”

  “What?” Selius asked as he sat up straighter in his seat.

  “The necklace from your vision?” Penny widened her eyes. “Shit …”

  “I think so,” I replied. “I’m not positive, but I think it was Grodmick’s necklace.”

  “What the fuck does this even mean?” Dar asked with a tense look on his face. “Is he related to Grodmick or something? Did he kill him like we thought? Maybe Hebal doesn’t age as long as he has the ne--”

  “I don’t know,” I cut my ranting friend off. “But I thought it was important to share.”

  “Uh … you think?” Dar chuckled. “Not only is this asshole our enemy, but he may have the next treasure the keys are guiding us to. It’s insane!”

  The dancers had stopped practicing at the same moment, Dar yelled out. So the count glanced back and gave us a dirty look but then continued with the practice.

  “It is.” I nodded in agreement. “If anything, I think it’s confirmation that we need to move on from him. It’s time to kill Hebal, but are we all in agreement that this needs to be done?”

  “Before I answer that,” Cimarra cleared her throat. “I need to know how the meeting went with the twins in the Halfling District. Selius caught us up for the most part, but I want to hear from you,
too.”

  “Why?” Dar threw his hands up in the air. “Didn’t you hear what Wade just said?”

  “Because …” Cimarra eyed the halfling. “Our coin might be at risk if we move forward without Hebal and have no solid back-up plan to replace the loss of profits.”

  “He’s been trying to--”

  “She’s right,” I stopped Dar. “We need to be smart with our every move, especially with the growing list of enemies we are making. I apologize if I made it seem like I--”

  “We’re here to help you, Wade,” Penny comforted me. “And we appreciate that you value all our opinions, especially after the guild life.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I locked eyes with the beautiful pixie. “The meeting with the twins was a success. They’ve agreed to go into business with us again long term.”

  “What exactly are the terms?” Cimarra asked.

  “I informed them we may move into their neighborhood, and would resume our agreement as soon as we did,” I said. “As for what they want, they just need a barrel each, every other week.”

  “Simple enough,” Penny remarked. “And it’ll only be easier if we have a place in the district, too.”

  “So, is it safe to say that we can move forward and buy that bakery you mentioned?” Cimarra asked.

  “That’s the plan,” I said. “I’ll head over there tomorrow and complete a deal with the owner.”

  “Good.” Cimarra nodded. “Once you know the details, just let me know so we can put aside the funds.”

  “Hmm,” I hummed as I thought. “Do you think you can come with me so we can pay him on the spot?”

  “We have another show tomorrow,” Cimarra started. “I’ll need to be here all day for preparations and Rindell watch duty.”

  “Of course …” I nodded.

  “I’ll go with you,” Penny said. “I want to check the place out, anyway.”

  “Okay, I’d like that,” I glanced at Penny and then looked to Cimarra. “Could we take some funds with us just to secure the place if he requires it?”

  “But you’re not even sure how much it’ll be, right?” Cimarra wondered.

  “I plan on negotiating the price down a bit,” I said with a smirk. “Two hundred and fifty gold should be more than enough to secure it.”