“So, Jason, it really breaks my heart that it has come to this. What were you thinking?” I said.
“Mr. Dominguez, I was out of line, I get that now. Please show mercy,” said Jason.
The Turk, whose fists were wrapped in premium Italian leather, landed two heavy blows on Jason, one on his jaw, and the other split his right cheek. This is exactly what I meant: the guy’s timing was impeccable. He knew exactly when and how to execute. He hit him with just enough force not to knock him out, but enough to let him know this situation was serious, and no one wanted to hear his whimpering.
“Now, we know that you’ve been talking to enforcers. Why did you start chirping? We gave you everything a man could ask for. Not many people your age are in the position we placed you in. What did you tell the enforcers?” I said.
“Mr. Dominguez, I swear to you on my life, I haven’t spoken to anyone. It’s like you said, I’m in a very good position, and I earn too much with you. I have way too much to lose,” Jason pleaded.
Blood had started to trickle down his cheek, and I couldn’t tell yet if he was lying. The Turk landed another couple of blows, and Jason almost fell out of his chair. There were no cuts from these strikes, but I could tell the punches hurt. Jason was tougher than I had thought—he was no longer begging.
“You are not getting out of here, alive, I think you know that. If you tell me the truth, not only will I spare your family, I will make sure they are well looked after. You have to tell me the truth, though. What did you say to the enforcers?” I asked.
“Like I said before, I haven’t spoken to anyone about anything, Mr. Dominguez. You are making a mistake,” Jason said.
Before he finished talking, the Turk punched him a couple more times. I could see we weren’t getting anywhere with Jason—he wasn’t going to confess. I have interrogated a few people in my time, and something told me Jason was telling the truth. I still had to get rid of him though, so I gave the Turk the nod. The Turk drew a muzzled, nickel-plated pistol from the holster under his jacket and shot Jason in the head. What a waste—he had so much potential. The Turk would make sure the body was untraceable. Jason would be sawn into bits and placed in several trash bags. The bags would be distributed to three separate locations, liquified with acid, and incinerated. It doesn’t get any more thorough than that.
We got back in the SUV and headed downtown. We would be making a stop at the Big Fish to go over everything that needed to happen before we headed to Nasarawa, and so I could get an update on any developments relating to the trial.
“Guys, we’re heading for the Big Fish. We can grab a drink or two and go over the list we discussed yesterday. I take it all is in order?” I said.
“Yes Dom, I have the list for the Americas. I had a glance, and I think we’ve got something to work with,” Alex said.
“Same here Dom, we should be able to make some moves with the list from Europe,” said Chris.
“Excellent. Someone, please get Joe on the comms and ask him to meet us at the Big Fish. We’ll need his input,” I said.
We pulled up to the Big Fish about 8:45, and as soon as our vehicle came to a stop, one of the valets opened my door. As I stepped out of the SUV, I could see it was a busy night. I saw a number of high-profile customers through the restaurant windows as we approached the entrance. There were businessmen from all over the city, a few crooked politicians too. There were a couple of doctors from Milwaukee Memorial. I made it my business to know the people who frequented my restaurants.
The doorman held the door open for us, and as we made our way to our table, I got polite nods from everyone who noticed me enter the building. My permanently reserved table was towards the back of the restaurant. So, as I walked past, I shook a few hands and exchanged a bit of small talk with people who mattered. Just before we arrived at my table, a couple of waiters hurried over and started placing bottles, glasses, and a bucket of ice on the table. The place always reminded me of the day I met Laura. I remembered seeing her for the first time. It was as if time froze, everything else in my peripheral vision had collapsed, and all I could see was Laura at her table. Boy, did Cupid hit hard that night. Shortly after we sat and poured our drinks, Joe arrived and took his seat.
“Hey Joe, glad you could make it. Guys, I take it this area has been swept?” I asked
“Indeed Dom, it was done before we got here. It’s okay to talk freely,” Alex said
“Good. We need to go over our lists. Joe, hopefully you’ll be able to flag any legal ramifications based on our plan of execution. If there are issues, I would like you to talk us through the best options. Alex, let’s go through your list first,” I said.
“The list isn’t that long, Dom, I have only three people. Fidel Guzman from Guzman’s Fabrics. He has never complained about payments, however he missed last month’s fee, citing slow business. We looked into his books and found that, although business has slowed down a bit, he could have managed to squeeze out at least half of what he owes
