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The clicking of the train wheels kept time with Gaius' heart. Click clack, thump thump. Despite half a bottle of scotch while he had waited for the train to arrive, he hadn't been able to calm his heart, or his fears. Three days previous he had received a telegram from his father, telling him to come to New York.
Word was some crooked cops had raided his father's biggest warehouse and in the process arrested all four of Gaius' uncles. Marcus, the oldest, whose fast temper and faster fists struck fear into his enemies hearts. And Anthony, the family book keeper. Bookish looks belying a vicious nature. Brutus, a doctor who patched up broken bones as well as broken relationships and Theodore, the baby of the bunch, and too new to the family business to know true heartache.
None of this had surprised Gaius, nor did his father's request to not rush his trip. But in the early hours of Thursday he had been awoken by someone banging on his door with an intensity seldom warranted in the morning. The man at the door was his closest friend.
"Gaius, I've been calling for an hour, is your phone off the hook?"
Gaius pulled the man aside and whispered.
"I had a lady friend over and I really didn't want any mood killers.
Now what's so all fired important that you-"
His friend thrust a wrinkled telegram out at him. It only had three words.
"New York, Now"
"Who is this from Andy?"
"I don't know." Andy said as he ran his hand through his sweat soaked hair. "And no one in New York is picking up. I already bought you a train ticket, no body is flying out cause of the snow."
Gaius nodded. "I'll get packed. Meet me at the station with my best Thomsan and five thousand dollars. I don't know what to expect and I want to be prepared."
Now, on the train, every conceivable possibility confronted him. Had his father moved in on the cops early? Were his uncles ok? He thought of his father's fiancee Sonia and frowned. Those rotten cops wouldn't try anything with her would they? The thought turned his stomach. Originally when he had met Sonia he had hated her, most of the women his father had dated ended up being social climbers and gold diggers. But Sonia proved she knew her way around the family business and Julius' heart and eventually Gaius had seen that Sonia was the real thing.
Taking a deep breath he leaned his head back and tried to rest, he had no idea what awaited him in New York. The clicking of the train wheels lulled him into an uneasy sleep and he dreamt of his father and the first time he had seen his father kill a man.
A gentle tap on the shoulder woke him and as he reached for his gun he saw the conductor, who had wisely taken a wide step backwards.
"We're in New York sir. You requested to be notified when we arrived."
Gaius nodded and handed the man a hefty tip. As the train slowed he made sure the last vestiges of sleep were cleared from his mind and face and steeled himself for whatever lay ahead in New York. After collecting his luggage he stepped out to find a taxi and was surprised to see a flock of black cars collected like birds.
"Godfather?" Gaius saw the Godfather of New York and his bodyguards.
"Get in the car, I'll explain on the way downtown."
The drive was fast and Gaius could barely keep up with where they were going, let alone everything the Godfather was telling him, but the one thing he was aware of was that his father was dead. He sat in silence, watching the building zip by.
"How did it happen?"
"Shoot out with several police officers. Your father was ambushed on the way into his office. Turns out one of the men who worked for your father felt he was owned more money than your father was paying him, sold him and your uncles out."
"Tel me the rat bastard isn't still alive."
"He is, but we have him down at headquarters. I thought you deserved the chance to deal with him. But right now we are headed to the jail. One of your uncles has been badly injured by the guards and we can't wait another second to break them out."
Gaius swallowed hard. He had a feeling which uncle had been hurt.
"Was it Theodore?" He asked. His heart flipped when the Godfather shook his head.
"Anthony."
Gaius frowned, wondering how his uncle Anthony could have been the one to be hurt. But it didn't matter. He was going to get all four of his uncles out of prison and then there would be hell to pay. He hadn't returned to New York under ideal conditions but by God, he was going to give the city a run for it's money. |
