Authors Note: Thank you to my friend LaRascasse for giving this story a quick once over. Its probably not to everyone's liking but i hope the readers following this story enjoy it.
A piece of glass stood between Rob and the arrogant young man in the next room and Rob glared at his long-time friend, Leon. "I thought we decided I would pick him up," Rob said with tone in his voice that made Leon uneasy.
"Be angry," Leon said "But at least listen to why I had the guys pick him up first. When I left the club last night, I considered the options and came to the conclusion that if we were right and if this kid is important to our phantom we don't want any more backlash onto the club, it's better that nameless and faceless men took him that can't be tied back to anyone. Trust me, these guys are very good at their job," Leon indicated the men walking into the room that Jim sat in.
Rob turned back to watch the scene on the far side of the glass wall without another word. "We all want to be involved, to take charge, it is our natures as alpha male types, but you know I am right," Leon said as he poured his lean frame into a comfortable chair and turned up the sound from the room they watched.
"Look," Jim was explaining, "I barely even know this Lewis guy. Yeah, we call him the god father but it's more like a club of sorts from when we were at university. You know, like the God Father movie. We aren't related or anything."
"So you went to university with him, you know him, you met him, you could pick him out in a line up, you're hardly strangers," A short stocky man pressed.
"I guess but he rarely showed up at anything himself, he usually sent representatives if he wanted us to do anything, hack the medical sciences labs or Dean's computer, you know easy stuff. My friends and I joined the VM for the parties, man could those guys throw a wild night. The only times I saw Lewis personally was when Bella and I went someplace together. He seemed to know her," Jim stopped and thought about that, "He always said he had plans for her."
"What sort of plans?" A tall muscular man asked.
"I dunno but one of the guys found me just after Bella and I broke up and told me Lewis was pissed, really pissed that she had defected to the other side, and that he wanted to see me. Each time we set up a meet, he was called away - first down south and now overseas," Jim looked up at the two guys. "Look, go pick up Bella Biancotti. She would know him better than me I reckon."
"What did he mean by the other side?" Again it was the tall man that spoke.
"Big business, the corporate elite. She had a degree in business and a cushy job straight out of school. Stupid bitch thought she was too good for us and dumped not only me but all her friends from school. She totally sold out! Hangs out with the rich old foggies she works for now, forgot what they do to the environment," he almost spat the last bit out his anger rising making him less careful with his words.
"We have already spoken to the girl. She has never heard of Lewis Arfor so you better stop bullshitting us and tell us what we need to know. Where can we find him?" the short stocky man had become belligerent and was standing over Jim in a threatening way.
"The dumb cunt lied," Jim shouted his anger getting the better of him, "She talked to him like an old friend. Hell, if cared enough about her at the time I would have been jealous. " Jim lapsed back into his cocky arrogant demeanour and shrugged, "Always more fish in the sea."
"Yeah we'll check your statement but you better come up with more than that if you wanna get out of here any time soon," the man growled and walked out of the room followed by his partner.
"He doesn't seem very concerned about his circumstances does he?" Rob said considering how calm the boy was after being picked up and dragged back to a nondescript building by strangers.
"Any chance he is telling the truth?" Leon asked Rob.
"Doubt it, but I can call and find out," Rob looked at his watch, "They should have landed in Venice by now, I could give them a call."
"Let's wait a bit and see what else he has to say," Leon opened the door to the small room and let the men who had been interrogating Jim in. "Gentlemen, this is our client. He probably knows more about the phantom than anyone and what he knows could fit on the head of a pin, so let's help him out shall we?"
"The kid is cocky, it's like he thinks he is untouchable. He admits to knowing and meeting Lewis Arfor at least once but deflects well. He hasn't asked where he is or why. It's like he was expecting us and has all the answers ready to go," the shorter man shook his head, "If you hadn't assured me he was our only link to the phantom, I would tell you he was a decoy just like all the other dead ends we have come up with."
The taller and quieter men waited until Leon looked at him before speaking, "Well we know the phantom is young, up to three years either side of this guy's age, that's new information. We also know that Lewis is probably an alias, if like this idiot said and his girlfriend knew him. So it must be someone she knew from school or where she lived. Add to that the name of the group that recruits environmental activists from university and it seems we've got a bit more to go on, more leads to check at the very least. We have been concentrating on criminals and older more established business men. Maybe it's a militant arm of Greenpeace or something. What sort of businesses do you and your partner own?" He addressed Rob.
"Nothing of interest to environmentalists I am sure," Rob considered the question, "The attacks seem to have been more of a personal nature."
Leon nodded," Good points, and maybe Bella remembers an old friend she ran into at university parties."
"Follow the other leads first. Let's let Bella and Mel enjoy their holiday. They have security with them now and if it is a bunch of young mafia wannabe's we should be able to handle it from here," Rob said quietly scratching at the stubble on his chin which was rapidly becoming a beard.
"He can be our guest for a few days while we chase up a few leads, in case we need more details, like what VM stands for exactly," Leon said. "Give him a room, but don't make him too comfortable. I want him thinking about exactly how loyal he is to his brat pack."
