Syndicate batch 5

Syndicate
Episode 11
Lia disposed of his vomit, tying the bag tightly. She re-entered the bathroom about half an hour later with a cold washcloth. When she put it on his forehead, he opened those brilliantly blue eyes. Lia’s stomach twisted itself into all kinds of shapes. He looked at her, but was silent. She could tell he had sobered up a little.
“I want go to bed,” he said after a few minutes.
Lia nodded and used the handicap helping machine to get him out of the tub and back in his chair. She pushed him into his room. He changed himself, but she helped him slide into bed. He looked at her.
“You knew Alice?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“She knew my parents.”
“Alice and your parents were all good people.”
Kieran used his elbows to push himself up a little. He frowned a little at Lia.
“You knew my parents?”
“Yes. For two years.”
“Wow. And all this time, I thought she was the last one to know them. People come and go so often…” He trailed off. “Do you remember them?”
“Oh yes.” Lia smiled, and sat on the edge of his bed. He looked intrigued, like a small child hearing about Santa Claus for the first time. “Your father, was one of the nicest people I knew. No one has ever been so kind to me. Sometimes, when I was younger, I would explore your gardens, even though the gardeners would give me specific instructions against it. You father caught me once. I thought I was going to be chastised. Instead he looked at me and winked. He said it would be our little secret. Oh! And your mom would always give me one of the first cookies out of the oven when she would make them for your birthday or special occasions. She told me I was her cookie taster.”
Lia felt a lump growing in her throat. She had been very fond of the O’Meara couple. When she looked down at Kieran, he had an expression on his face she had never seen before. His eyebrows were wrinkled in sadness, but his eyes showed happiness. The way he looked at her made her panic. She wanted to hide, to blend in with the walls. Lia began to stand, but he grabbed her wrist.
“Please…” he begged. “Tell me more of what you remember about my parents.”
Even though every molecule in her body wanted to run and hide, Lia forced herself to sit again. Kieran smiled at her, which made her stomach turn to ice.
Lia told him more about his parents. Eventually, when she looked down, he was asleep.
Episode 12
* * *
When Will had walked down the sidewalk and heard the scuffle in the alley, he thought it was going to be another rescue mission of some poor broad. But this girl… was no poor broad. He wandered in the alley, and came upon the scene of a fighting machine. This chick kicked ass. And then he saw her punch the other girl in the face without reservations. And he suddenly had a solution to their Martha Flannery problem. Not that hewantedto hurt Martha. She was a nice woman. But they had to have the option, just in case it was necessary. So he introduced himself. She looked at him like he was some weird infectious mold.
“Not interested,” she said, walking away.
“How are you not interested when you don’t know what I’m selling?”
“I think I can guess.”
“I bet not.”
At this point, she turned and frowned at him.
“You’re not interested in me s€×ually?”
He laughed, which only received a blank stare from the woman.
“I want to pitch you a business proposition,” he explained.
He did think she was attractive though… a few inches shorter than he was, with shoulder length brown hair and a toned, tan body. He could dig it, even if she did seem a bit, masculine.
“I’m not buying or investing in anything, sorry.”
“Tell that to someone who wants your money.”
“If you don’t want money, and you don’t want s€×, what the helldoyou want?”
Will smiled.
“I want to offer you a job.”
Will knew it was probably a bad idea to offer this woman a job before consulting Kieran. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became. In the end, he decided to leave out the job offer when he recanted the story for Kieran. If Kieran rejected the idea, he would make up some story to Carol. She had given him her contact information at least.
But a speed bump presented itself. Will went to the house the next morning, ready to spill the story. He walked in on Kieran having eggs and orange juice.
“You know our little Martha Flannery problem?” Will said. Kieran put down his fork and looked at his friend. It was a classic sign to continue. “I think I have a solution.” Kieran crossed his arms and leaned back. But right when Will began the story, one of Kieran’s employees rushed in with the phone.
“Can it wait?” Kieran snapped. The man with the phone shook his head.
As Kieran listened to the person on the other end of the line, Will’s stomach filled with lead. He waited until Kieran had hung up the phone, and put his face in his hands.
“What is it?” Will asked.
“Alice. She’s… dead.”
So the brandy drinking began. Not even five minutes after he hung up the phone, Kieran pushed himself into the adjacent sitting room, and poured himself a glass of liquor. Will indulged in a few glasses as well, but Kieran out drank his friend.
When Murphy joined them mid-afternoon, Kieran was drunk. When Lia came in early evening, Kieran was completely wasted. Will began to worry that his friend would start injecting alcohol into his veins. It was probably an indirect attempt on his own life. Kieran was usually straightedge, so drinkingthatmuch was like going from 0 to 60mph in less than sixty seconds. Will made attempts all day to stop Kieran from self-destructing. He offered to make Kieran a drink, and filled it halfway with water. He made food overly available, and almost made himself sick eating too much bread in an effort to tempt Kieran to eat. Will even went as far as playing smooth jazz and soothing music to try and coax Kieran into a nap. Nothing worked. Kieran was completely set on drinking himself into oblivion.
Episode 13
Long story short, by the time Lia came in Will was utterly exhausted of ideas.
And now this. Will understood that Kieran was sensitive to Alice’s death. He had every right to be. She was one of the last people he considered to be linked with his parents. But while Kieran does nothing, his empire falls deeper into peril. Will rubbed his forehead and sighed. He was standing outside the door to Kieran’s room, which was now being guarded by some foot soldiers.
“Listen. I needto get in the room. “It’s imperative,” Will said, growing very impatient with these teenagers.
“Sorry, sir. We received strict instructions to let no one in, except a few staff members,” one of the boys answered.
Will closed his eyes for a minute before pulling out his gun. Both boys threw their hands in the air to surrender.
“Move aside!” Will yelled and the pointed the gun at them both while they moved out of the doorway.
Will barged through the doors like a wild boar. Kieran was sitting up in bed. He rolled his eyes.
“You’re insufferable.”
“Kieran, we have to take care of some business, or things will start to fall apart,” Will pleaded.
“Close the doors,” Kieran ordered. Will obeyed. “Listen, I really don’t feel well today. Can’t business wait one more d–n day?”
“You don’t feel well because you drowned yourself in brandy yesterday.”
“So?”
“So, we really have to take care of these things.”
“Give me one day to recover. You’re like a d–n slave driver.”
“I’m just trying to look out for you.”
There was silence in the room. Will could feel Kieran getting annoyed. It was the last thing he wanted.
“Can we just discuss like…three things?” Will asked. Kieran was silent. He looked Will up and down, and finally nodded. “Okay! Item number one, I found a solution to our Martha Flannery problem.”
“What is it?”
“We hire a girl.”
“What?”
“A chick. She could use force if necessary. It’s a level playing field.”
“No.”
Will shut his mouth. He hated when Kieran rejected his ideas so hastily. Will rolled his eyes.
“Maybe I should come back later,” Will said, turning to go.
“Maybe you shouldn’t. I gave you my answer.”
“I can’t help but think you did it to spite me.”
“What?”
“I’m making you attend to business, so you’retryingto make this miserable.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Could have fooled me.” As soon as the words were out of Will’s mouth, he regretted it. Kieran got silent. A chill ran up Will’s back.
“Maybe you’ve forgotten who’s in charge.”
“Kieran…I…”
“Get the f–k out of my room.”
It was a calm command. Will obeyed immediately. However, once he was a good distance away from Kieran’s room, he punched the wall, leaving a dent. The skin on his knuckles broke, but Will just let the blood run down his hand and drip on the floor.
* * *
Monica weighed her options. She was already two minutes late, and this particular man was not fond of waiting. She tucked the pistol in the holding strap around her upper th-gh. If things got ugly, she would have to use it. Doing this would reveal her intentions. Her hands began to sweat as she headed toward the door in the alleyway. A man was guarding it.
“Monica D’alton,” she told him.
“He’s been waiting,” was the response.
Monica nodded. She noticed the bouncer staring at her cle-vage. It was nice cle-vage, so who could blame him? He knocked on the door twice, which swung open immediately. She nodded at the bouncer and stepped in,side, greeted by two other thugs.
They frisked her, as she knew they would. One of the men patted her down. But her pistol was too close to her crotch for him to feel. When she felt his hand slide up the in,side of her th-gh, she stopped him a look, and he pulled his hand away. If he was accused of molesting a client, the boss would be very unhappy.
“This way,” the other man said, leading her down a hallway and through a maze of rooms. She found herself standing outside a door with a large brass crest on it. There were words in Cuban Spanish on the door.
“Stay here until they let you in. He knows you’re here.”