Chapter 4

~Montreal district B, Chicago~

The wide door leading to the largest office opened, and a man in a navy blue suit walked in. His finely trimmed brown beard runs from his jaw connecting to his mustache. He checked the time on his black wrist watch before clearing his throat, attracting the attention of the man standing in front of the window.

“Romani traders have ended the deal, they said their part of the contract was violated, this morning they left with the gemstones and cartridges,” after tons of rehearsals he finally delivered the message, but he held his breath until his boss spoke.

“For what reason, Hyde?” the man standing in front of the window asked with a deep and husky tone.

He looked out into the freshness of the vast city and the warmth of the sunlight gracing it, while he smoked and drank his beer.

Hyde, his assistant and right-hand man vibrated in extreme fear.

“One of the goods got a disease and infected all commodities,” Hyde's palms had turned sweaty, afraid of his boss's anger.

“They were locked in a common room outside the borders, men were hired to keep the area protected, and-” he was cut off.

“Do you know that the borders are the constabulary's favorite place?” he gently asked while still facing the window.

Hyde shook in fear.

“No, sir.”

“And do you know that these men standing out in the open will attract the ears of the commoners and the constabulary?”

“No, sir. We didn't have time to process that since we had to-”

“Since you had to catch up with the Romani's to get the precious stones so your pay will go up and you will get the nice sport car and chase whores in Chicago while forgetting the sole purpose of the business,” he looked over his shoulder, throwing a glance at his assistant, “is that so?”

Hyde shook his head, feeling trapped with no escape.

“They are professional men from the zoo, they live with the lions,” Hyde said.

That seemed to crack the boss up, he gave a dry chuckle before smoking a lungful cigarette and finally, he turned towards his assistant.

Immediately his midnight eyes landed on his assistant, blood rushed up Hyde's neck and he quickly lowered his head, facing the floor.

The man walked to his desk and disposed of the cigarette in the ashtray, he slammed the glass of beer on his desk startling Hyde from where he stood. Then the man grabbed his glock from the drawer and pointed it at Hyde.

“I should kill you, since you no longer have brains to work with me. I thought brains don't expire, but yours is getting senile,” The boss gripped the gun tighter.

“Sir, the cartridges will get us more traders, the police skipped our mind as we had to achieve our goals,” Hyde muttered.

Right now his life was dangling by a frail thread, working with a renowned man in this dern business means keeping no record of mistakes or missteps as it will land them failures but most importantly, their deadly business coming to light.

“How are you going to achieve your goals if you will be killed, huh?” He cocked the gun, “the constabulary is our fucking enemy, keep eyes on them, I swear if we lose the goods I will blow your head off.”

Hyde's heart pounded faster, “I am sorry sir,it will never repeat again.”

“I hope so, remember it's safety before any fucking thing. We have to watch our backs steady,” The boss lowered the gun.

Hyde nodded, heaving a sigh of relief as the gun was not pointed at him anymore.

The telephone on the desk rang harshly, distracting the two. The boss looked at the caller, seeing it was from Chicago prison, he narrowed his eyes wondering if they had probably been caught, sending a sharp glare at his assistant. He waved him off with two fingers.

“Get me names of the best doctors in Chicago, and have them run a test to see what this fucking disease is,” he commanded.

Hyde answered politely, “Yes, sir!”

“Send the goods to our warehouse in black foot Inn, keep them away from the eyes of the travelers, and get the Rhino pigs pub dusted, we are expecting travelers from established states.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Hmm,” the boss cued him to leave. Once the door closed, he picked the telephone, glancing around making sure he was alone, he returned the call.

When the person from the other side picked up, he waited to hear the voice speak first.

“Taylor?”

That one voice he had grown up to called from the other side, he recognised it to be his older brother, Lewis.

“Lewis, oh my! I apologise for not calling, what kind of brother does not check up on his blood? I sincerely apologize, my desk have been filled up with duties and international businesses that I forgot to reach out to you,” Taylor said as he took a seat behind his desk.

Lewis sighed from the phone, “It's alright brother, I know you are busy and I hope I am not stealing your time?”

“No, no, you aren't. In fact I was about to pass a call but I received the deadly news of what has befallen us, are you listening to me?” Taylor asked.

“Yes, go on."

“You ruined our family's name, the persona father worked so hard to create for our family, you damaged it all, now I see why father gave you five percent of his will.”

Lewis scoffed, “Wait, did you believe the accusation, brother?”

“I didn't see any reason why not to, last summer you were caught with someone's girlfriend, and now you had to steal Uncle Campbell's necklace? Father must be so ashamed to call you his son,” Taylor mocked his brother before pulling out a cigar from his case.

A long silence took over between them and finally Lewis spoke up,

“This is the least response I expected from you. Taylor, you should know better right from when we were kids, I. Will. Never. Steal. From. Anyone. For. Whatsoever!” Lewis barked from the phone.

“Brother, we grew, separated at the age of sixteen to go chase our dreams. Since you only got five percent share, that will require you stealing. You know greedy eyes, envious of my assets, I worked so hard to get to this place-”

Lewis cut him off, “I am satisfied with that five percent and I have never asked for more. Brother, don't you see it, uncle Camp is trying hard to ruin what we have, when father was ali-”

“What I see is a brother turned to a stranger. I don't recognize you any more and I do not know what you've become,” Taylor cleared his throat, “so therefore, I want to unofficially put an end to what tied us together, you go Lewis Baker, I go Taylor Baker but it's just the name.”

He released smoke from his mouth and continued, “We are no longer connected by blood, we just share the name Baker, just the name Baker, like everyone else, I believe I made myself clear.”

And he ended the call.

Lewis is the first child of the Baker's, and by society, the first child gets the biggest share of their father's property, but not in the Baker's.

Since William trusted and loved Taylor more, he gave him ninety five percent of his property, leaving Lewis with a terrible five percent for not following up to his schemes.

Taylor has always been the type that cuts off people who do not benefit him, be it a family member or friend. Since his parents were no more, he didn't see any reason why not to disown his inept brother.

Pressing the bell on his desk, it went off outside and a lady in white shirt tucked into a fitting bodyhug red skirt entered the office, her stiletto heel clicking on the floor.

“Mercy, send message to our airline, we are leaving to Worcester early in the morning, and pass another to the underlying men to keep watch for trains and boats, they must report any man from Roman,” Taylor relayed.

He stood up and started gathering the important files on his desk into his bag.

“I will do that, sir,” Mercy replied.

She was still standing there that Taylor had to raise his head and pinned her with a ‘what are you still doing here’ look.

“What?” Taylor asked the lady whose lips were boldly defined in red lipstick.

Mercy bit her lower lip, looking nervous.

“Do I also come with you to Worcester?”

Taylor scoffed, “Mercy you will follow me everywhere I go,” he sized her up from top to toe, “now go pack you stuff.”

Mercy's cheek turned to red as a nervous blush crept up her face.

“Sure.”