by Wyatt Kane
She eyed him up and down. “Looking good,” she said. “Is that one of the Zach’s jackets?”
Ty nodded. “None of my own clothes fit me anymore,” he said.
Just like Dinah, Tempest looked momentarily wistful. “He would have liked to know that it was being put to good use. And he would have liked you as well.” At this, Tempest quirked a grin. “Possibly a little too much,” she said with a wink.
Ty didn’t know what to say to that. Fortunately, he didn’t have to say anything. The blonde superhero had already moved on. “We have a few minutes before we need to leave. Do you have everything you need?”
“Ah, it depends. What am I likely to need?”
“Well, we’re going to meet Rubio Vecoli, current head of the New Lincoln faction of the Vecoli family crime syndicate. They are pretty much the most vile, loathsome crime family in the city. If there’s a new drug or violent scam going on, it’s even odds that the Vecoli family is behind it. They have money, guns, and muscle. But for all that, they also have a peculiar honor. Rubio once said that if you are his guest, no harm will come to you. At least until you leave his company. He is said to despise those of his competitors who act with less integrity.”
“So, he’s an honorable bad guy?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, exactly. But he follows his own set of rules. He won’t try anything to hurt us. Probably.” Tempest smiled. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be armed.”
Ty got the message. “I’ll grab my blaster,” he said. Then he had another thought. “Will Dinah be okay here by herself?”
Tempest nodded. “She doesn’t expect your friend Lilith to return any time soon, and your shield should be protection enough against anything else. And anyway, she still has the blaster you gave her.”
It was enough. “I’ll meet you back here.”
He turned to go, but Tempest reached out and stopped him. “Sounds like you two had fun last night, huh?” she said, grinning broadly.
Ty knew it would take some time to get used to Tempest and Dinah’s openness around their intimate activities. For the time being, he couldn’t help but be surprised by it all. Yet he recovered swiftly.
“It would have been better if you’d been with us,” he managed, and Tempest laughed.
“Of course it would have,” she said, grinning broadly. “And good answer. Now go. Get your blaster and let’s get this over with.”
◆◆◆
New Lincoln was a large, sprawling city. Tempest didn’t fly at her fastest, but she wasn’t taking her time, either. Even so, they were in the air for more than twenty minutes, plenty of time for Ty to be lulled into enjoying the sensation once again.
There was little conversation on the way, but the silence was comfortable. He sensed that Tempest was as happy to simply be with him as he was to be with her. Once again, Ty imagined them just flying off toward the horizon and not coming back. But he knew it could never be. He could leave his old life behind without any qualms. To him, his apartment was just somewhere he lived, and his job was no longer an issue.
But he wouldn’t choose to leave Dinah behind. Even more than that, he was starting to think of himself as part of the team. He may not yet have the same level of abilities as Tempest, but he was doing his best, and with every success, his sense of responsibility grew as well.
His dream of the world protected by a network of superheroes was a long way away, but he was ever more determined to do his part.
He was starting to accept his fantasies of getting away from it all as a remnant of his old life more than a reflection of his current reality. He was even looking forward to this meeting with the crime family boss.
As was usual for Tempest, they touched down in an in a disused alley, away from the prying eyes of the general public. Tempest held onto Ty for a few moments so that he could be sure of his balance. Then they walked the last couple of hundred paces to Rubio’s Bistro, the restaurant owned and run by the crime boss.
“Should I turn on my shield?” Ty asked.
Tempest thought about it. “Maybe not. The glow will attract undue attention. You can activate it quickly at need, correct?”
Ty nodded.
“Then let’s do this,” Tempest said.
◆◆◆
The inside of Rubio’s Bistro reminded Ty of the Concubine Club, except that the Bistro’s focus was food. Yet, just like with the Club, the bar itself took center stage. It was a large, oval affair, finished in dark wood and surrounded by tables on all sides. The place was busy and filled with the hubbub of conversation, and somehow, despite the size of the main room, it contrived to feel cozy.
To Ty, it felt like a comfortable, ordinary restaurant, and it was apparently quite popular. Most of the clientele appeared to be regular people, unassociated with the crime family’s trade. They mostly wore business suits and had either popped in for lunch or used the Bistro as a handy place for a meeting.
Yet there was an undercurrent of danger as well. The Concubine Club employed Badger and a few others to keep the peace. Rubio’s Bistro hadn’t posted any security personnel outside, but there were two just inside the door, standing there like bookends, watching everything within.
They were large men, not in Bain’s league but still several inches taller than Ty and at least twice as heavy. There was enough similarity to their features that Ty guessed they were related. Dark, curly hair, thick necks, and heavy jaws. Perhaps they weren’t brothers, exactly, but maybe cousins.
As he and Tempest walked between them, the one on the left spoke into a communication device woven into his suit.
Ty was tempted to turn his shield on then and there. He felt unaccountably anxious, and the way the security personnel looked them up and down didn’t help.
“Now what?” he said murmured to Tempest. At the same time, he noted that other security personnel were positioned at intervals around the dining area. For a restaurant, during lunchtime, Ty felt it was unusual.
“There’s a sign telling us to wait to be seated,” Tempest replied, completely at ease. “So, we wait.”
They didn’t need to wait long. A serving person, a young, dark-haired man who had the look of a student working part time appeared within seconds. “Table for two?” he asked.
Tempest took the lead. “No. We have a meeting with Rubio Vecoli,” she said.
The server didn’t bat an eyelid. “You would be Tempest?” he asked. He flicked a glance at Ty but said nothing.
“Yes, and this is my associate, Ty,” Tempest replied.
The server nodded. “You are expected. Rubio is in his private booth at the back. This way.” With that, he turned and led them between the restaurant tables.
28: Crime Lord
Even though he’d called it a “booth,” the server led them to a door at the back of the restaurant.
Just like at the main entrance, there were two men standing guard, one on each side of the door. They were like twin walls of muscle, and their very size and presence was enough to be intimidating. Either one of them could have picked Ty up and broken him in two.
Compared to them, Tempest appeared tiny, a ballerina surrounded by ogres, and Ty found himself smiling at the knowledge that even so, she was by far the strongest person in the entire place.
Unlike those at the main entrance, these two guards didn’t simply stand and watch. Instead, they took a more active role.
The server gave both guards a friendly nod. “Mr Vecoli’s guests have arrived,” he said. “Tempest and her associate, Ty.”
The brute on the left replied. “Thank you. We will take it from here,” he said, and the server went back to his regular duties.
The brute on the right looked at Tempest and Ty with a blank expression that nevertheless conveyed a formidability that even the mercenaries hadn’t been able to match.
“Normally,” he began, his voice a low rumble, “We would search any guests invited into Mr Vecoli’s booth,” he said. “However, given that i
t is you, Mr Vecoli wishes it to be known that, as a courtesy, we will not do so. But please bear in mind that we will be within arm’s reach at all times, and that we are armed.”
Ty didn’t know how to respond to this. He immediately understood that it might not have been courtesy so much that led to this apparent break in procedure. Rubio Vecoli must have known that Tempest needed no weapons. She was a weapon. So, to search her would have been no more than a waste of time.
Yet Tempest responded as if she was flattered. “Thank you,” she said, as charming as a movie star on a good day. “Rubio’s courtesy is much appreciated.”
As if that was a signal, the brute on the right nodded and stood aside, sliding the door open at the same time.
Ty saw then that it was a booth after all. The door had revealed a horseshoe-shaped, cushioned bench around a long table. There were currently half a dozen people seated there, men and women both, dressed in expensive suits and evening gowns despite it being only about noon. The brute on the left stepped in and spoke.
“Sir, your guests have arrived,” he said.
At this, the man at the head of the table broke off his conversation with the richly dressed woman on the right. On any given day, that woman would have been the most stunning creature in the entire restaurant. A ten on the scale that every man carries around in his head. Yet with Tempest there, on this day, she would have managed only an eight.
Rubio Vecoli was at least as big as his bodyguards. He shared the same general facial characteristics as them as well, wore a neat beard, and was starting to go gray at his temples. The man also wore a cybernetic implant on the side of his skull, behind and above his left ear.
Even before he said a word, Ty could see the fire of intelligence in his eyes.
“Aha! I have been waiting!” he said with a welcoming grin. “Tempest Flaire, I have admired you for some time. It is a genuine pleasure that we should meet. And your companion, of course. Please forgive me, I would shake your hand, but am currently surrounded by this rabble of family members.”
Ty detected a slight accent in the man’s voice and was surprised by how cultured and urbane he appeared. In his mind, a crime lord should have been no more than a thug. It was difficult to reconcile what he saw in front of him with the stories Dinah and Tempest had told.
“Speaking of which,” the man said as he looked left and right. “If you all could give us some privacy?”
A few of his existing guests started to move, but not quickly enough for Rubio.
“Now would be good,” he said. “Come along, chop chop. Leave us!” The crime lord’s tone was light, but Ty distinctly heard the authority within it. Nor was he the only one. With polite murmurs expressing their enduring respect, the crime lord’s guests quickly departed.
“Not you, my lovely,” he said to the woman he’d been speaking to. “It seems that Tempest has brought a companion. I would not be outnumbered. So please, stay.”
The attractive woman, who was wearing a red dress that draped in all the right places, giggled in a vacuous way that Ty immediately found unappealing.
“Come, come,” The crime lord said, gesturing at one side of the bench. “Take a seat. My lovely, perhaps you could shuffle along so that we can face one another across the table. Oh, and as you are getting yourselves settled, what would you like to drink?”
The vacuous woman did as Rubio asked, and very quickly the four of them had arranged themselves as comfortably as possible. Ty sat opposite the woman on the outside, with Tempest and Rubio facing each other farther in.
“I’ll have a daiquiri, if it’s not too much trouble,” Tempest said, and Ty, whose budget rarely stretched to ordering drinks in a bar or restaurant, ordered a Scotch.
Rubio touched the cybernetic implant at his left ear. “Marco, a daiquiri and a Scotch for my guests, if you will. And a Cabernet for me and Julia, here.” That done, he regarded Ty and Tempest closely.
“Now,” he said. “I doubt you’ve come all this way to waste time on pleasantries that neither of us will truly mean. So, to business. I have to admit, I was surprised to receive your communication. Yet it is also gratifying to know that your attention is not focused solely toward me and my little enterprises. And as it happens, I might have the information you require.”
Tempest nodded. “That’s why we’re here,” she said. “Tell us what you know.”
But the surprisingly urbane crime lord wouldn’t be rushed. He stared at them in silence for some seconds. It was as if they represented a problem that he wasn’t quite sure how to solve. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Yes,” he said. “Of course. But here’s the thing. Over the past little while, the Vecoli family interests have been taking a bit of a battering. We can deal with competitors. Law enforcement is just a cost of doing business. That is the nature of things, and it will never change. But there is one thing that is somewhat annoying. It’s unpredictable and costly, and I would like it to stop. Can you guess what that one thing might be?” Rubio asked, his expression creased into a genuine grin.
Tempest returned the grin openly. “I’m sure I could,” she said. “But why don’t you tell me anyway, just to make sure we're all on the same page?”
“But of course. Anything for a lady.” Yet even then, instead of replying directly, he approached the topic from a tangent. “You see, our little enterprise is on the verge of becoming more major and taking over large parts of the New Lincoln. We have much of the infrastructure in place and are ready to go. But our plans keep getting interrupted.” He paused to give his next words additional weight.
“The interruption,” he said, “is you.”
Before Tempest could respond, the door slid open once more, and a different server walked in with their drinks. She set them down in front of the four of them and left without a word.
“Thank you,” Rubio said to her departing back.
“I can see how that would be a problem for you,” Tempest said, still smiling broadly. It was as if they were talking about something as innocuous as the weather. “Perhaps you could tell me exactly what you would like me to do about it,” she said.
Rubio’s expression hardened. His smile disappeared, and everything about him became turned into a threat.
“You can stop,” he said.
The tension in the booth had suddenly become palpable. Ty felt it clearly, he knew that Tempest felt it, and even Julia wasn’t immune. The woman in red offered a giggle and hid behind her glass of wine.
As for Ty, the very thought of Rubio trying to tell Tempest to back off rankled. It was like he was trying to buy her, like he might buy a corrupt cop, offering her something of value to turn a blind eye.
He must have let the irritation show on his face, because the next thing he knew, the full force of Rubio’s attention was directed at him. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation. The crime boss was dangerous in many different ways. Sure, Ty had his blaster and his shield, but the purpose of this meeting was to gain information. Not to cause a confrontation.
“Do you have something to say about that question, lad?” Rubio said, and any semblance of civility was gone from his tone. In its place was nothing but malice. “Be careful if you do,” he continued. “I don’t know who you are, but that you’re in Tempest’s company suggests there is more to you than there seems. Even so, remember this well. You’re in my house, drinking my Scotch. I will brook no disrespect at my table. Do you understand?”
29: The Value Of A Favor
A week ago, Ty probably would have cowered under the man’s baleful glare. His former self would have been no match for the man in any way. But when compared with Bain, Rubio Vecoli was a comparatively minor threat. A mini-boss, only slightly more dangerous than Angie the Hutt.
Ty held the man’s gaze. “Disrespect works in more than one way,” Ty said. “We are your guests. Do you so casually assume that your guests are open to being bought?”
If the tension had been palpable before,
now it climbed another notch. Ty no longer felt as if he was in a comfortable restaurant. Instead, he felt as if he was in a sauna. It was like the temperature had climbed fifteen degrees within a couple of heartbeats.
Rubio continued to glare at him. Ty might have said more, but Tempest placed her hand on his arm in a way that could have meant he should not. Yet at the same time, he sensed she was proud of him.
He maintained his silence but didn’t look away.
He thought that the crime lord might erupt into rage at any moment. The man might have surged across the table to grasp Ty by the throat. Ty knew he could activate his shield fast enough to be secure, but didn’t want it to come to that. All he could do was sit there under the crime lord’s glare, growing increasingly conscious of the way Julia was trying to edge away.
The tension grew to nearly unbearable levels.
Then, all at once, the crime lord broke into a broad and unexpected grin. He threw back his head and barked a laugh. For long moments, he let it all out, leaving the other three at the table a little uncertain.
Yet the tension was broken. Ty allowed himself a quiet smile and a sip of his drink, and after a few moments, Rubio calmed himself down.
“I am impressed,” the crime lord said to both Ty and Tempest at once. “By the look of him, I thought you had brought me a rabbit,” he said. “But this rabbit has a spine!”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Tempest replied, and her answer led to another round of laughter.
After a while, with a far less dangerous atmosphere in the booth, the crime lord continued.
“In any event, he is right, and if you took offence then I do apologize. However, my comment still stands. With no insult intended, please do tell me if your companion is right. Is such an arrangement beneath your honor?” Once again, the crime lord’s tone was light, but his intent was serious.