“Gregory is not your boss,” Vic growled.
“Yes sir,” Ben said and stood up. “Anything else, sir?”
She was terrifying the poor boy once again. “I’m not mad at you, Ben. The memory of that child has just put me out of sorts.”
“I understand,” he said.
“Focus on the missing husband. He’s probably at his friends. Newlyweds are frequently disappointed with their spouse in the first six months. They have yet to learn the skill of sharing their feelings, thus misunderstandings can grow into major issues. Remember that when you marry.”
Finally, his happy smile returned. “Yes, sir, I’ll remember that.”
“Oh, and do this now. When you finish, head on home. Under no conditions return to the office. And spend tomorrow updating the financial reports.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, his brow now furrowed.
He tried to take the file in Tubs’ hand but Tubs shook the boy off.
Once the door closed both of them spoke at once. “You need to read this.”
Vic stared at him in shock. “I don’t care what Block has lost.” She walked over to him and sat on the arm of his chair. “However, this appears to be a message to Xavier concerning my death. Clearly, they never considered they would fail.”
“That’s because Robbie Conrad had never failed to kill his target. You were his first and last mistake.” Tub then poked her stomach with the file in his hand. “You have to read this. It appears to be an attempt to warn Xavier of your planned demise.”
“Ben said it was missing property.”
“Ben hasn’t learned to read between the lines. Nor did he have the history of this guy.”
“Nor do you.”
“What you just told me was enough,” Tubs stated. “Maybe I was born to be an investigator. Just read it.”
Vic carried the file to Xavier’s high back leather chair and sat down. God, she hated this man! What could he possibly have to do with their current case?
Interview with Mr. Sanders Block
Client refuses to state item about to be lost. However, he says has “great value to those of an arrogant judgmental nature.”
He says the property will disappear any moment now and only Xavier can secure its safety. He demanded I take this case immediately to Xavier.
I informed him that was not the procedure and he grew angry. “Then the loss is on your head. I gave him a chance to make up for the past, but if he is too busy to do his job, then history repeats itself.”
Mr. Block then left.
“You’re right. Mr. Block appears to have wanted to warn Xavier about my assassination, but with so little clarity that it was almost certain not to reach Xavier until after my death.”
Vic nodded to the file in Tubs’ hands. “Ben had to be taking that interview at the same time I was crossing the street. That message had no chance of saving me, even if Xavier had been upstairs. They didn’t want to warn Xavier, but to taunt him after my death. To make him believe if he’d been here, he could have saved me.” She threw down the file. “But it does give us a person to interrogate.” The thought of seeing Sanders Block again turned her stomach.
“If he’s still alive,” Tubs replied. “If this person is smart, he’ll be dead with clues leading in the wrong direction. Possibly to Xavier.”
“Arrgg!” Vic growled. “I hate cases with female criminals. They are always the worst! And everyone keeps thinking them harmless.”
“Not me,” grumbled Tubs.
Vic rose and encircled his neck with her arms and kissed his bald head. “Never you.” She took the file from his hands. “Both seem intent on the same thing: torture Xavier by warning him in advance of my death when this bitch knew damn well he would receive neither until after I was safely dead.”
Just then a knock sounded on the library door. Vic took both files and placed them in the desk. “Enter.”
Gregory arrived with a matching leather chair to their two.
Vic smirked. “Better let me mark it. It would be the end of the world if we accidentally let Xavier’s chair become Samson’s.”
Tubs chuckled and even Gregory cracked a faint smile. However, once she set the three chairs in a triangle facing each other, her butler-parent lost his humor. “Are you sure this cannot be handled without him?”
Handled without who? she wondered and glanced up at Gregory. He stared at Tubs…as if waiting for Tubs to answer his question. Which meant the ‘him’ not needed had to be her!
“If you are suggesting I am not needed then you are quite wrong.”
Tubs grimaced. “Vic has to be here as Xavier’s stand in.”
“Can this not wait until he returns?” Gregory asked.
Vic lost her temper and yelled. “No, it cannot. People are dying by the minute. The Thames is getting so full of bodies the boats can’t get through. We have to stop this war now. Leave and let me do my job. I can do this.”
“Well, evidently not, since you’ve left Tubs out of your circle,” Gregory snapped.
Vic growled in frustration then faced Tubs. “Sorry. I would have noticed my mistake by now if someone wasn’t upsetting me before the most difficult task of my life.”
Tubs shrugged and rose onto his walker. “I just thought you were waiting for me to get up.”
Between Vic and Gregory they added Tubs giant throne to the circle. “I will sit across from you so we don’t appear to be taking sides against Seth,” she said.
Tubs nodded.
Gregory shook his head. “I would prefer you across from Seth so Tubs and Samson can intervene if he decides to strangle you.”
Tubs grimaced. “Seth is more likely to throw a knife than strangle a person. Vic is better on his right. His aim is best from right to left or straight on.”
Gregory’s raised eyebrows and horrified expression indicated that Tubs analytical evaluation of the seating chart had missed its mark.
She gripped her butler’s arm and walked him to the door. “No one is going to throw knives. We are all going to be on our best behavior.”
“I’m sending Casey and Fagan in armed,” Gregory declared.
“No, you aren’t. The only people in the room will be us four. And none of us will be armed. Casey will remove any weapons before we enter this room.”
Tubs nodded in agreement. “I’ve told him where Seth likes to hide weapons, so everything should be fine. And I will be armed. So even if I cannot move at my normal speed, Vic will be fine. I give you my word.”
With that assurance, Gregory left the room.
Vic sat in her chair across from Tubs. “Do you think it’s wise to carry a gun to a ‘no weapons’ meeting?”
Tubs shrugged. “You do your job right, then nobody will ever know I did.”
Her focus moved to the walker beside him. “Mind if I move that back so it looks like some odd fireplace grill?”
“Just make sure I can reach it. It will make a powerful weapon.”
Once she had it positioned as the new grill, she returned to her seat and closed her eyes.
“You planning to sleep?” he asked.
“No, I’m just thinking calm thoughts. David thinks negative and positive energy can influence the outcome of events. So I’m focusing on positive outcomes.”
“I’ll do the same, because I wouldn’t let you attend this meeting if I didn’t think you could do it. My job is to protect you, and the best way that’s going to happen is if you end the war now, so we can focus on finding Xavier and the mastermind behind this.”
“We will, but this is step one,” she said, smiling with confidence.
She’d almost fallen off to sleep when a knock stronger than Gregory’s rapped the door. She rose and hurried to the door. Casey waited on the other side, filled with tense energy. “He’s here.”
“Where is Samson?” She asked.
“In the kitchen.”
She breathed in and waited in the hallway, out of shooting range when the door opened.<
br />
Sojourn Seth stormed into the hallway, followed by two well-armed guards. Vic stepped forward. “Mr. Seth, finally we meet. I am Victor Hamilton, Xavier’s partner. He unfortunately has been delayed and cannot make this meeting. However, since it is imperative for all involved that this war ends now, he has requested that I moderate the meeting between you and Samson.”
“That is unacceptable,” Seth declared. “Tell Xavier if he isn’t here in ten minutes, I’m leaving.”
“Then I have ten minutes to convince you this matter cannot wait for Xavier. If you will follow me.”
To her happy surprise, Seth and his men followed her. She stopped at the door. “Only the primary parties will be allowed inside. Your men must stay out here. And you will need to leave your personal weapons with them. Our employee Casey will frisk both you and Samson to ensure there are no weapons brought to this discussion.”
“This is ridiculous! If Xavier is not here, I am leaving in ten minutes. Why should I waste my time removing my weapons?”
She approached him and made eye contact. “This is not a waste of your time. You don’t want this war any more than Samson does. We can stop it today if you listen to what I have to say.”
“If you are wasting my time, you may regret it.”
“This will be well worth hearing.”
Seth cursed beneath his breath and removed a great deal of weapons from his person. “There are you satisfied?” he yelled at Casey.
Casey calmly asked him to remove the knife in his boot and the Chinese blade from his sleeve cache.
“How the hell…Tubs!” he snarled and removed those weapons as well.
Satisfied, Casey opened the door and allow Vic and Seth inside. Seth’s focus went to Tubs. “I should have had you killed when you left my service. You’re telling everyone my secrets. And why aren’t you dead? I heard you took three bullets in the heart.”
Tubs chuckled. “You heard wrong.”
Seth glared about the room. “So where is Samson? He’s the bastard who started this war.”
“Since you have given me only ten minutes, I need you to sit down and listen to what Xavier has discovered.”
“That concerns me?” he demanded.
She sat down in her chair and then pointed him to his seat. After another inspection of the wall behind his chair, he sat down and said, “If you want to stop this war, then talk to the bastard who isn’t here. He started it.”
“Actually, you are both being set up by a third party,” Vic replied.
“Utter nonsense. Samson killed twelve of my men last night, and I’ve more missing today.”
“A great deal of violence is occurring today. I was nearly assassinated twice by a man who works for you.”
“Why the bloody hell would I kill you? You are nothing but a cash cow to be drained.”
Xavier had once told her Seth saw all partners the way he saw his own.
“A third party hired Robbie Conrad to kill me, but had I died, the evidence left in the carriage would have pointed straight to you. Also, a team of your men have been stealing from Samson’s casinos, to all appearance, under your command.”
“That’s a lie!”
“No, Xavier is quite certain they were your men…the ones pulled out of the Thames.”
“Is that what Samson is claiming?”
“Samson didn’t kill them. You are both being played. Someone wants the two most powerful crime lords to have a full out war, no doubt so they can takeover when neither of you have a man left to fight.”
Just then Samson entered the room, emanating strength and fortitude. He sat in the last chair then focused on Seth. “My brothers survived, despite being beaten unconscious and thrown into the Thames with arms and legs tied.”
“I didn’t do that!” Seth yelled.
“I believe you,” Samson replied. He then explained how they followed the creator of the clever casino theft back to his master. “They followed him back to your territory.”
“Bollocks!”
“To a factory you do not own and would never use for meetings,” Samson added.
Seth had tensed, clearly intending to yell, but Samson’s statement shocked him into silence. Samson met Seth’s angry gaze. “That one small detail told me it wasn’t you doing this. They were your men, but someone else is giving them orders.”
“Who?” Seth growled, his hands gripping the arms of his chair with barely restrained fury.
Samson leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin in thought. “Do you have any idea who owns 123 Water Street? It’s an old factory.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed. “Not presently, but I will. Is that where my men went?”
“It’s where the creator of the cheat went,” Samson said. “However, you may not own him. The interrogator that tortured my brothers called him ‘the Professor’.
“Never heard of him.” His eyes went to Tubs. “Do you know him?”
Tubs shook his head.
Samson leaned forward, requiring Seth to refocus on him. “If he’s still alive, he might be able to identify who is behind this clever plot to take our territories.”
His words seemed to agitate Seth into action. The man leaned forward as he hissed, “Do you swear you didn’t kill my men?”
“I let them go, because I wanted proof it was you who did this.” Samson paused and let his words sink in before he continued. “Before I start a war, I will always get proof of my grievance and give you the opportunity to make it right.”
“And you’re here to get compensation for this theft?” The outrage and fury in his words would have sent most men running from the room.
Samson shook his head ever so slightly. “No. I am here to join forces with you to determine who we should really be going after.”
Seth’s eyes rounded in surprise, then he turned and glared at Vic. “Xavier doesn’t know?”
“He is undercover, working the situation.” When that didn’t appease Seth, she added, “However, he has determined it is not one of your lieutenants, nor the other crime lords.”
“Who else could it be?” Seth slammed his hand upon the arm of his chair.
Despite the waves of anger the crime lord sent her way, Vic met his vitriolic gaze. Knowing Tubs had a gun gave her the courage she needed to reply with calmness. “It may be a foreign entity who wishes to take over your businesses to support their causes in England.”
“What causes are those?” Seth snapped.
“One would guess once they own the underworld, they believe they can either control or destroy England. In either case, you will both be dead long before their purpose is known.” She then smiled at Seth. “Your death was already in the works.”
His eyes widened at her reply. “How?” he asked.
“If you recall, your assassin Robbie Conrad tried to kill me today.”
His right hand flicked out as swatting a fly. “Your claim is absurd.”
His attitude outraged her. She had a great desire to lob a vase at him, but knowing the importance of their mission, Vic restrained herself. “You doubt my claim because I’m still alive?”
“He’s never—”
“…failed to take out his target. Yes, Tubs mentioned this was his first and last failure. He died during his second attempt on my life. However, the evidence in the carriage he drove all pointed to you. Scotland Yard was all ready to bring you in on attempted murder charges before Xavier stopped them.”
Tubs leaned forward and spoke softly to Seth. “You could run your operations from jail, if you could get there. But you and I know you’d never make it out of your house alive. You’ve committed too many crimes. The police would shoot you for resisting arrest the moment you blinked. The evidence in that carriage was your death warrant.”
Seth gulped and met Tubs eyes. “I did not send Robbie Conrad to kill this boy.”
“I know,” Tubs said. “And fortunately for you, Xavier realized that before he personally ended your life. He’s rather protec
tive of his staff.”
“I’m painfully aware of that,” Seth growled.
Vic leaned forward. “And lucky for us, Xavier was able to unravel the truth so that instead of fighting each other, we can find and attack this third party.”
Seth focused on Vic. “If you have a name, I will finish this today.”
Vic dearly wished to give him a name, but constrained herself. “It is not just one person. They have a network of people working for them. Many of which you believe are working for you. They have hijacked your men by offering far more money to obtain their obedience even as they continue to receive the salary you pay.”
Seth hissed in rage.
He reminded her of an angry cobra ready to strike. Maybe she shouldn’t have wound him up quite so much. So she focused on Samson. “Are we in agreement that both of you intend to stop all fighting with the other the moment you leave here?”
“Yes,” Samson stated.
“This war is over,” Seth snarled.
“When you tell your men to stand down, some won’t, possibly because they don’t like following orders, but on the other hand…”
“They are following someone else’s orders,” Seth snarled and glared at Samson. “Let us agree that any of our men who continue this fight once we’ve declared it ended will be shot.”
“Xavier would prefer them to be interrogated,” Vic interjected before Samson could agree to that horrible plan. “We need to remove the entire network, not just the head.”
Seth stared at her. “I’ve underestimated you.”
“Oh…because I can remember what Xavier says? Believe me, I would have never been made partner if I couldn’t do that.” Tubs and Samson had made her promise not to impress Seth with her intelligence, rather to give all credit to Xavier.
Seth frowned and refocused on Samson. “Xavier’s right. We need to remove the entire nest. I want every last one of these bastards killed!”
“Then let us both do the interrogations,” Samson suggested.
“Can I join? I’m rather good at asking questions.”
Seth stared at her as if she were mad, but Samson took her side. “The kid does have a way of getting people to talk. Look how he got us talking.”
The CrimeLords' War (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 7) Page 12