Playing with Hellfire

Salveeno took the picture from Anthony and inspected it. He saw the young boy with long hair who seemed unbeknownst to the fact that he had been photographed. When he saw this, a confused and frustrated expression came upon Salveeno's face.

"Seriously, Anthony?" Salveeno asked disappointedly, "We're here trying to do mission impossible, and you're worried about some fucking kid!?"

"This isn't just 'some fucking kid', Salveeno!" Anthony said sternly, "I had to kill Sammy because of this kid! That was the only way to save myself from the situation that I was put in."

"What? How did this kid put you in such a situation?" Salveeno asked in a baffled tone.

"This kid had some sort of deep-rooted connection with Don Mayr." Anthony replied, "I told Don Mayr that I had killed Sammy because of a rule that his men overstepped. I actually didn't kill Sammy, I just hid him, but stupidly, I let him in a room with this kid, not thinking much about it. Turns out he knew about the promise, so I had to kill Sammy right there to prove my loyalty. At this point, I don't know if he'll interfere with the plan again. He lives in Youngsville, so it's a considerable possibility. Him being alive may end up being the reason that we die."

"Okay," Salveeno said as if he accepted the answer, "I understand killing this kid, but why do I have to do it? Why can't you send your own men to take care of him? He's in your territory anyways."

"That's precisely why I can't do it." Anthony replied, "When that kid is dealt with, I'm the first person that they're gonna question, and I need to have an answer. If I have my people pay someone to stage it as a robbery gone wrong, there's a possibility that the people we pay snitch on us if kept alive by Mayr's men. However, if an outside party, meaning your people, pay people to stage a robbery, I can get rid of those people myself before they have a chance to snitch. This way, we accomplish our goal and have an explanation for Mayr's people. Right now is the best time to do it as well. Mika went back to the West and he won't be back for a while. This is the perfect opportunity."

Salveeno let out a big sigh. "Fine." he said hesitantly, "I'll take care of it. But for the next meeting, I want it to be about our actual business, and I want all your executives there as well. No more bullshit side missions!"

"Alright." Anthony replied with a smile. Salveeno turned around and began making his exit. As Salveeno walked towards the exit, Anthony's smile turned sinister.

The reason that Anthony gave Salveeno for wanting him to do the job, although plausible, was not Anthony's real plan. Based on reports from Tommy's men, Anthony understood that this kid was capable of taking care of himself. If for some reason Anthony's men failed the job, then the kid could just report to Mayr's men and have Anthony eliminated. However, by having Salveeno take the responsibility of disposing of the kid, in the worst-case scenario Anthony could just throw Salveeno under the bus and have him deal with the wrath of Mayr's men. It was a win-win for him.

A few minutes after Salveeno left the building, Anthony exited as well.

-

A few days passed. Anthony hadn't heard back from Salveeno, so he started to worry. "The kid knew all that about our dealings," Anthony thought to himself, "what if he was able to scare Salveeno with information on him as well?". "No, that can't be the case," Anthony reassured himself, "Salveeno's job is to kill him, not converse with him."

As possibilities flew through Anthony's mind, he became more and more nervous. As he was lost in his anxiety-inducing thoughts, his phone rang. As soon as it rang, Anthony jumped in his seat, as if he was just snapped out of a trance.

Anthony pulled his phone from the pocket of his suit jacket and looked at the caller ID. It read "Salveeno". Anthony immediately picked it up, hoping for good news.

"Hello!? Salveeno!?" Anthony exclaimed. "The job's done, Anthony." Salveeno's voice replied emotionlessly from the other side of the phone, "I want that meeting tonight. I can't afford to wait another day. Make sure you and your men are at the same place we met a few days ago by midnight. I'm gonna arrive with Hector, my underboss, and we're going to make this deal official."

"Alright, Salveeno." Anthony replied, "You have my word."

When Anthony hung up the phone, he felt absolutely elated. Not only did Salveeno manage to get rid of the kid, but he also didn't cause any major uproar about it either. It was a clean, lowkey job.

This meant that Anthony did not have to throw Salveeno under the bus either. Convincing another crime organization to be his primary partner to overthrow Mayr would be too much of a hassle. So far, everything was going right for Anthony. He felt a massive burden lifted from his shoulder. He felt as light as a feather.

-

The daytime passed and it was now 11:30pm. Anthony had made a similar arrangement with the security guard of the office building, an arrangement to ensure that the front door was unlocked and all cameras were turned off.

Anthony had arranged the meeting to be in one of the conference rooms where there was a large oval desk that could seat up to 25 people.

Anthony's men slowly entered one by one, and by 11:45pm, Anthony and all 10 of his executives were present. They all sat on the far side of the room, opposite the door.

All of Anthony's met sat in silence with confident expressions on their faces and waited for Salveeno to arrive.

As soon as the clock hit 12am, Salveeno entered the room and behind him walked a large hefty man with his bald head covered in tattoos. This was Hector, Salveeno's underboss.

"Alright, Anthony," Salveeno said as he sat opposite Anthony and his crew, "Let's make this quick. Right after this meeting, I have to make my way back to my territory."

"Of course," Anthony replied, "but first, I need to see proof that you've finished the other job."

Salveeno gave Anthony a brief cold stare, but then shifted his gaze and let out a deep sigh. "Knowing you, I expected something like this." Salveeno said as he reached into his pocket. Salveeno pulled out a phone, opened a picture, and slid the phone across the table to Anthony.

Anthony picked up the phone and inspected the picture. The picture showed Soju's lifeless body laying on the floor in a pool of blood. Next to his head sat gooey pieces that seemed to be pieces of his brain.

"This kid was more than I bargained for," Salveeno said, "but in the end, my men got it done. A clean shot to the head. Are you satisfied now?"

Anthony smirked when he saw the photo. He put the phone on the table and slid it back towards Salveeno. "Alright," said Anthony, "we can talk business now."

"Just to be clear," Salveeno said as he leaned over the table, "I haven't agreed to be a part of your plot just yet. I need to know why you think that we can take down Don Mayr."

"Right now is the best, and possibly, the only time we get a chance to overthrow Mayr." Anthony said confidently, "I can convince the organizations that operate in the centre of the country to take part in our plot to overthrow Mayr as well."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Salveeno, "you really think that they're gonna take a chance with this? We're playing with hellfire here!"

"I plan on convincing them by informing them about 1 small piece of information that I have." said Anthony, "I know that at this time, Mayr's crew is incredibly weakened, and this is because Mayr has been incapacitated for most of this year."

A look of disbelief immediately showed up on Salveeno and Hector's faces. "If we take this chance," Anthony continued confidently, "then we don't have to answer to Mayr anymore. We can do as we please in our own territories. No one to hold us back. Hard offer to deny, isn't it?"

"Hold on a minute." Salveeno said frantically, "how do you know that Mayr is incapacitated? There's no way that they would let this type of information get out."

"It's because I arranged for the assassination of Mayr." Anthony said boldly.