After Doug left the office, Alex and Edger continued their chess game as if nothing had happened.
Alex glanced at the old man now and then. Edger's face was stoic, unreadable to most- but Alex knew him well enough to sense that something was stirring beneath the surface.
"You seem worried." Alex said, sliding a pawn forward.
"Not worried," Edger replied, moving his rook, "Concerned you might not get the results you're hoping for."
Alex gave a small smile. "You think he might betray us?"
"Even a cornered rat will bite." Edger said, lifting his glass of whisky for a slow sip.
Silence settled between them. Alex mirrored the movement, taking a drink, letting the simmer.
After a moment, he said quietly, "That might be true. But I assure you, he won't."
"Overconfidence precedes failure," Edger warned, setting his glass down. "You haven't forgotten what I taught you, have you?"
Alex leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "One important key to success is self-confidence. And the key to self-confidence is preparation." He smiled thinly. "I'm confident because I know what kind of men he is."
Edger studied him as Alex continued.
"Doug accepts the hand he's been dealt- but he values his men even more. So, what do you think a man like that will do when he realizes weakness makes them disposable?"
Edger stroked his beard, thinking. "He'd want to change it."
"Exactly." Alex leaned back again, voice calm, assured. "The only way to survive in this world is to become useful. He knows he can't outrun me. So he'll grow stronger, lead better, fight harder- all to protect what he cares about."
He sipped again, savoring the moment.
"And that suits me just fine. A motivated leader. A stronger force. A win-win."
Edger narrowed his eyes slightly. "And if it doesn't go the way you predict?"
Alex's smile turned cold.
"For his sake…" He said softly, "…. let's hope it does."
---
In Alex's safe house.
The warehouse quiet, save for the occasional sounds of the keyboard being hit and the hum of the computer towers, creating a weird yet calming harmony.
Ana sitting in her chair was engrossed in her computer when a notification disturbed her.
Looking at the phone on her desk and reaching for it, thinking, 'Another task??'
Reading the text that was sent to her, she raised an eyebrow,
|Sender: Alex|
~Spectre, sent you locations of business I need you to investigate. ~
Looking at the message again, Ana fell into thought, 'How come he can be down to earth one time and the next he's so commanding.' Placing the phone back on the desk, she shook her head slightly, clearing away any distracting thoughts.
'Let's see what he has for me.' Opening the list that Alex spoke about on her computer, she studied the business locations he sent to her.
|JUST CAR DEALERSHIP|
|CHESTER BUTCHER|
|EDDIE'S TAXI|
She looked at these businesses as she fell into thought, 'Doesn't look to be connected to each other.'
But she continued, as she dug deeper than just what was available to the public, she knew better than to trust what people decided to show to other people.
With practiced ease, she scoured for information and intel.
Not leaving any stone unturned, she uncovered more than just what the public knew about these companies. Heck she probably even found things the companies themselves didn't know.
'Who would have thought these two were working together.' She thought to herself, compiling the data. 'I wonder what he is going to do with this information.'
As she was still deep in thought, Alex walked in with his usual gait and the black jacket he always wears.
Scanning the massive warehouse, he noticed that Ana was still working on her computer, Curious as to what she had found, he approached her.
His posture calm and breathing rhythmically, hands in pockets he slowly closed the distant to her.
But immediately stopped before getting any closer to her, remembering the torture his family jewels had went through for startling her.
Keeping his distance, Alex cleared his throat just loud enough to catch her attention, careful to stay just out of reach.
"Ehm"
Ana spun, gun in hand, aimed straight at him. Seeing this Alex breathed a sigh of relief, pleased with himself for not getting too close.
"You are doing it again." Stared Ana coldly, looking into his eyes.
Looking into Hers, Alex could see she was frustrated with him. Seeing her like that, a small, almost genuine smile graced his face.
"Don't worry yourself about it, treat it as training." Alex replied, walking past her and looking at the monitors.
His eyes lingering more on one screen, "What did you find...?"
Ana didn't respond immediately, she stood still clenching her gun on her side as though contemplating a big decision. The silence lasting what felt like a lifetime.
'What do you mean training...…what's more confusing is how is he so good.' Her thoughts wondering as she kept her eyes on Alex, 'He's even better than HIM'
Alex turned around to look at her as if he didn't understand what was going on, "Did you hear me...?"
He asked, a smirk on his face as if daring her to do what she was thinking about.
'How does he keep doing that? It's infuriating.' She thought as she turned her face away from Alex and walking towards her chair. Sitting down, she pretended like nothing was bothering her and just answered his earlier question.
"There were connections between these three businesses and a Gang group Los Garra." She answered, tapping her keyboard and a document popped up on the monitor screen.
"The butcher store, used as a place to store and distribute their supply from." Then continued to hit a few buttons on her keyboard, the screen changing again.
"The Eddie's Taxi company used as a distributor to the people." Repeating the same action again and the screen changing again.
"And finally, the Money is laundered through the car dealership."
Hearing what she said, a plan formed in his mind, thinking of ways to hurt La Garra. As he was in contemplation. Ana continued,
"One last thing I'm sure you would like to hear," Turning to her computer, "The dealership is not fully owned by Los Garra group only."
Hearing her statement, Alex frowned, 'An unknown variable, then I have to find out more and pla- '
His thoughts were interrupted when a photo of a man he knew all too well appeared on the screen. He looked at Ana with mild confusion, but he was pretty sure that his conclusion was correct.
"Ana- is that who I think it is?"
"Yes, it is." Ana responded, looking at the excitement in Alex.
His eyes flickering slightly with a cold smile, 'The plan is falling into place faster than I could've hoped…'