106 Well-Calculated (1/2)
”Firstly, you will have you call off your forces in Syracuse and handover my things to me,” the authority in his voice was astounding. The way he held his demands showed me the true ident.i.ty of Anthony Murray, the man who ran the mob. This subtle jab at Darcy had been to inform him that we had cracked his codes, picked up all the clues his sloppy employees had left behind and were prepared to raid the place if we needed to. It was an extremely well-calculated move. The voice from the other side waited patiently for the list of demands to finish.
”Secondly, you will stop selling products in my markets-” Anthony was cut off by Darcy, whose silence I had been commending for the past few minutes. As it seemed, Anthony's demand had made him uneasy.
”Those were my markets, to begin with. You were the one who weaselled into the areas and started selling your stupid s.h.i.+t.” Yes, that sounded extremely mature coming from a middle-aged man.
”I didn't steal from you, I won those territories from you fair and square, and you wouldn't even have known if you hadn't checked the records yourself. Your little gangsters are extremely easy to buy. Their prices are low, as well. You should think before choosing the company you keep.” Anthony feigned a sigh and then cut down on the dramatics. ”If you're quite done with your sentimental bulls.h.i.+t about how who crossed the line first, could we talk about the problem at hand?”
”This doesn't sound like a negotiation,” came Darcy's gruff voice.
”It's not supposed to. You're old and senile; you keep forgetting how this world works. I don't negotiate with people, who I know do not respect the word of others, I demand it of them.”
”You expect me to go with this unattainable series of demands?” Incredulity laced his tone.
”Yes.” That was all he said. I was impressed. He sounded like the bad cop that he had wanted to come off as. I wondered who else had helped him go through the process. Scott? I was pretty sure that he came nowhere near the conversation.
”You're up against the wrong forces, Anthony. You know that I'll never say yes, what are you playing at?” And there he had it. He already knew. He might have been old and senile and whatever else Anthony thought of him, but he probably knew every nook in the book. Anthony was banking on it.
”Are you sure you know me very well? I'm just giving you the offer of your life. This will ruin you. Don't make me do it, Luke.” The teasing lilt to his voice made me snicker, silently. He winked and then waited for Luke to reply.
”I dare you to try. You know you'll never succeed in your stupid plot.”
”THAT, my dear Luke is where you are wrong. I've done a considerably good job in taking away fifty percent of your clients in the past three years. Are you sure that I can't break you apart in this year?”
”As I said, you can try. You will never succeed.”
”Always so c.o.c.ky, Luke. You know what happened last time!” My eyes snapped but at that. Last time? What does that mean? Anthony didn't even look at me as he stared intently at the cell phone.