CyRun - Chapter 4

"Ok doc, you take good care of her," old man Medici said to the auger, a thin man with a black coat and glasses. The doctor nodded as he signaled two men to push the stretcher carrying the wounded bodyguard away. The auger walked behind them towards a gate set on the opposite side of the garage.

After he was done, Medici massaged his eyelids and sighed. “I need to go to my office. You.” He pointed at the stranger. “Walk with me.”

As they both made their way to the same gates the auger had gone through, all of his men followed him like lost puppies. “But sir, what are we going to do about that dreger Varnetti?”

“Later,” Medici waved his arm as he quickened his pace, eager to get away of his men.

“Boss,” someone said. “Fat Larry called, he’s asking when we make the delivery.”

“Tell him.” Medici pointed at his soldier while still walking, “That he’ll have it when we have it, and not a day before.” 

“Boss, there’s also—“

Medici stopped and turned back. “God dammit, don’t you idiots get a hint? I need to think, and I can’t do that when you’re all fucking talking every five seconds.” He sighed. “Now, I know there are things to do, but if you hadn’t realized we have a dirty dreger breathing down our collective necks and I know you think we can just go to war, blow a couple of cars, kill random thugs and pushers and call it a day. But it doesn’t work like that. We need to watch our moves, come up with a plan, and I can’t do that if you guys don’t shut up.”

His men stood back, some with eyes wide open, some looking down and away. They were scared. No one wanted to make their boss mad, especially when said boss was a well-known crime boss. 

The mysterious man didn’t even flinch. It wasn’t as if he didn’t care or didn’t know what Medici was, or in what company he was in.

“You.” Medici waved at him, “Let’s go. The others.” Medici closed his eyes and massaged his temples, trying to think really fast of something that wouldn’t get whatever muscle he had left killed. “If you don’t need to go out to push your merch, don’t. If you have any pending business, use your phones and add more proxies and blanks to your stash. If you think someone from Varnetti’s side has taken your slab or territory, don’t bother going back. You’re just going to get yourself cratered.”

His men remained silent after hearing his message. Medici thought that was good enough and kept moving, the mysterious man behind him with his hands inside his black jacket pockets.

They first went through a spacious living room or lounge. A hybrid of old and new, it had several monitors and lights embedded on its walls yet it had repo-wood tables, chairs, and even a sofa in each corner. It also had a flickering wall-sized virtual display, failing to simulate a window.

It had seen better days. Some of the lights were off, and some of the walls showed cracks, revealing the rusty, metallic foundations.

Two corridors later, they ended up on a small office. It had several paintings on the left side, a bookcase on the back, and a real window on the right wall, looking out into the dreary and rainy city night. The mysterious man was surprised none of the neon lights of the city seeped inside the room, the only real light coming from a lamp on a wooden desk.

Medici sat behind the desk and waved his at the man. “Please, sit down… erm…” He raised an eyebrow and looked away, as if trying to remember something. “You know, I think I never asked your name.”

The man sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the desk. “Gabe.”

“What’s that?”

The man crossed his arms. “Gabe.”

Medici nodded, “Gabe. All right. I like it, it’s a good name.”

Gabe said nothing. He stared at Medici with cold, emotionless eyes.

“My name is Christofano Medici, head of the Medici family. I think you’re smart enough for me not having to explain what kind of business we run over here.”

Gabe nodded.

Medici laughed as he lit a cigar. “That already makes you smarter than half of my men. I’ve seen you’re very resourceful and you have a very important thing a lot of people lack nowadays.” He opened his palm, hand half-closed, “You have big balls.”

Medici expected his comments to cause at least a reaction on the man sitting in front of him, but he didn’t even chuckle, his expression remaining completely blank. It was beginning to make him somewhat nervous, but he knew how to hide that.

Medici took a slow drag from his cigar, pressed a button on a keyboard of a computer resting on his desk and said, “I’m going to offer you something. You like money, that is obvious. So, there are two ways we can do things, either I pay you right now and we end our business relationship here…”

Gabe reached inside his jacket.

“Or I can pay you more and you stick around because I could use a man like you on my organization. Just name your price.”

Gabe stopped mid motion, closed his eyes, and nodded. He took a small card reader from inside his jacket, typed something on a small keypad on top of it, and handed it to Medici.

“All right, seems reasonable,” Medici said as he took a look at the small display on the reader. “I’ll double it, and you stick around, deal?”

Gabe nodded.

Medici swiped a card on the little machine and gave it back. He stood up, Gabe doing the same, and Medici walked him to the door. “There’s food and drinks on the fridge. Don’t bother the autocook too much and be careful who you call if you decide to use one of our phones, I’ll know who you’re talking to and what you’re saying. Oh, and one last thing: the second floor is off limits. You got that?”

“Sure,” said Gabe with his usual deep voice.

Medici smiled as he patted him on the shoulder. “Good. Nice doing business with you.”