Bernard needed to calm down, and review what he knew. This was a lot of new information to get, and a lot of new variables introduced all at once, but it was certainly in his ability to solve. He needed to break it down, isolate the issues, and come up with solutions to each one.
Richard would need to be flushed out before he could do anything with him. If his little crime syndicate was as powerful as he was getting hints about, Richard would probably have a lot of protection, too.
At the same time, he would have to be extremely careful when planning to deal with Richard. Bernard knew that his brother wouldn’t hesitate to confront him directly, and likely even kill him, if he found out he was alive and nearby. Bernard would never forget the look on Richard’s face at the trial all those years ago, the last time the two young men had seen each other.
As for Jez, she wasn’t any less dangerous, although she was certainly more accessible. She probably also thought him dead already, or at least sold into slavery. Bernard had long ago reached the conclusion (although he never had any real evidence) that Judge Barnollen was probably on the take and working with slave traders. Jez would have easily uncovered that as well, if she had wanted to. Even without that information, she and Ben were, as Bernard remembered, a powerful force.
Now add into all of this that it seemed as if Richard and Jez were somehow working together, with Ben potentially acting as a go-between. If they weren’t working together officially, then they at least seemed to be operating in a manner that allowed each to enable the other. So it was either a true partnership, or some sort of symbiotic relationship, but either way, going after one would likely be seen as an attack on the other.
Bernard knew that if he had more time, and less fear, he’d probably try to break the link between the two by working on Ben again; then again, he had no idea how many other ties they had, what exact role Ben played, and how deep the relationship between Richard and Jez really was.
He decided not to waste time trying to get answers to that – as much as he would have liked to collect all the information necessary to have a perfect plan, Bernard also recognized that this distraction would continue to derail all of his other plans, and keep him too anxious to be useful. Immediate action was going to be necessary, and he could live without some of the finer details.
That didn’t mean he wanted to go in blind, though. He had time to gather a little more intelligence, as long as he was moving forward. Jez was going to be easier to deal with than Richard, he was certain; and he was here already doing what he needed to do in order to get a plan put together.
While Bernard was calming himself down and thinking through things, he was continuing to keep one eye towards the building. A cart pulled up, and a delivery man hopped off the cart and proceeded to unload.
The man seemed very familiar with the location and his load, making Bernard assume that this was a routine delivery for him. Although he clearly knew where to go and what to do to complete his job efficiently, the man was so uncomfortable that it was hard to watch. He hunched over a bit, had a bit of a tremble, and his face was sunken in, with a few visible sores.
This was an excellent opportunity – the man was clearly an addict. While everyone had their buttons to be pushed in order to get what one wanted, addicts tended to be easier than most. Bernard reasoned that if he could create a situation where he was alone with this delivery fellow, he would be able to pump him for information with a simple offer of cash.
Almost as quickly as the load was removed, the cart was on its way, leaving the man behind. That was certainly unexpected. Bernard’s good luck continued, as once he was done, the man made a beeline for the nearest bar. Bernard quickly set off to follow.
The hour was still mid-afternoon, so the establishment was relatively empty; the delivery man sat by himself, and when Bernard took a seat at the bar next to him, he greeted him in the friendly manner than one drunk gives another when he realizes he won’t have to feel bad about himself for drinking alone, and may even be able to get a drink or two paid for by someone else.
Bernard returned the man’s greetings, and ordered a beer (which he had little interest in). The two began a simple pleasant conversation, and shook hands as the delivery man introduced himself as Stephan.
“Good to meet you, Stephan.” Bernard said. “Hey, I’ve got to ask you – did I see that right? I was coming around the corner, saw you unloading some stuff at that building a few over, and then like nothing, the cart just rolled off! What’d they do, strand you?”
Stephan laughed and raised his drink a little. “Ha! Something like that. No, actually, it’s a good deal for me. I do local deliveries in town – just the grunt work. But I’ve got a good little circuit going. The cart driver picks me up in the morning and I ride around with him all day, picking things up and dropping them off, and wherever my last drop of the day is, that’s where the ride ends.”
Continuing, the man gestured around the bar a little with his glass. “More often than not, it seems I end up here. A lot of deliveries, and a lot of pickups, at this location. I don’t live too far away, but I can stop in for a drink or two, sometimes maybe even something a little more exciting (if you know what I’m saying). This has become a bit of my neighborhood haunt.”
Bernard nodded in understanding, and the conversation continued. Stephan’s drinks ran out fast, and Bernard was more than willing to buy a few rounds to keep the man talking. They discussed what brought Bernard to the area, and what line of work he was in – of course, Bernard answered only with lies, but it was plenty to keep the man interested and happy.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
In turn, Bernard asked Stephan about the neighborhood, and when the time was right, he asked what kind of building it was that Stephan was making the delivery to when he saw him. Stephan was surprised that Bernard didn’t know it, as the owner was getting to be pretty well-known.
That gave Bernard an opportunity to ask about the owner without seeming suspicious, and Stephan was happy to educate this poor lost soul (as long as the drinks kept coming). He was a friendly, gregarious man, although clearly missing a fix of something. Stephan told Bernard about Jez’s rise from young grieving widow to business maven, but that for all of her success, she wasn’t particularly well-liked.
Jez, it turned out, was known to be miserable. For all her wealth, she often seemed to be depressed and angry. Cruel and bitter to others, most tended to avoid her – it was easy to do, as she rarely attended any social functions or public events. At first, it was thought that she was still dealing with the death of her husband, but now people tended to think that this was just the way she was.
When Stephan excused himself to go to the restroom, Bernard thought to himself – he also took the opportunity to “accidentally” spill his drink so that he had to order another, as Stephan had given him some ribbing about not “keeping up with him” drink for drink.
Bernard knew that he had to eliminate Jel. For the Lenoran Union and the expansion of his own ideas, he needed to solve the drug dependency issue and shut down her operation. For his own safety and sanity, he needed to deal with the connection to his past and his own unresolved anger.
Stephan had mentioned, in giving a description of his route, that one of the things he delivered regularly was alcohol from (what Bernard assumed was Richard’s) distillery. Given what he had learned about Jez’s temperament and reputation, she probably drank alone – possibly to excess.
Well, Bernard thought, I’ve played this tune before. However, he couldn’t afford to go chat with Jez, get her drunk, and then kill her, like he did with Timmus. No, unless the opportunity really presented itself, he’d have to do something different. But he’d play it by ear for now; something would come up.
At that point, Stephan returned from the bathroom, looking considerably more alert. Clearly, he’d been consuming something else in his absence. That was of little enough concern to Bernard, though; he had to see if there was any other way to use the man and his information. Perhaps an infiltration?
Bernard thought on his feet a bit and decided to make Stephan an offer. “Stephan, I have to tell you something, man. I’m going to level with you; the real reason I’m here is do some selling. I sell packaging – bottles, leather pouches, that kind of thing. I’ve had a horrible trip, and I’m coming up empty-handed. I can’t go back home without a sale, man, you know?”
Stephan nodded, “Yeah, I figured there was more to the story, but I don’t pry – to each his own, right? And I get not wanting to talk about a string of bad luck. But I can’t help you with that man, I don’t make any decisions, and I don’t need any bottles or whatever.”
“No, no, I get that, I get it. I just need to get creative, man. Try a new tactic.” Bernard paused, then ordered another drink for Stephan, who noted that Bernard’s had been filled in his absence. “Sounds like maybe this owner you’re talking about could make my whole month, maybe more. It could change everything for me.”
Bernard continued, putting on a show of sounding desperate and a little drunk. That’s why we’re here talking, I guess – providence! I was all distraught, and I got led right to you. Now you’re telling me all about this woman, and she sounds like the perfect customer. How about this? I just got an idea…”
Stephan leaned back and took a long drink, not saying anything, while Bernard continued. “Maybe you let me fill in for you tomorrow. I’ll meet you wherever you say, do your delivery there, and then once I’m in the building, I can get in front of her and give her my pitch! Maybe the initiative will impress her. I’ll still make sure that the delivery gets done right, and I’ll make it worth your time!”
Bernard quoted a number at the man, who almost did a spit take. Bernard had offered him a ridiculous amount of money – easily what he made in a few weeks – to do a single delivery. Rather than leaping at the opportunity the way Bernard expected, Stephan narrowed his eyes and gave him a more appraising look.
“Hmm. I don’t think so, friend. Seems to me like you want to get in there awfully bad, don’t you? You knew that I had delivered there – and I don’t think that was a casual observance. You were casing the place, weren’t you? What’s your game, anyway?”
Before Bernard could even answer, Stephan put his drink down and waved his hand dismissively at Bernard. “I’ll give you some advice. If you’re thinking about trying to break in and rob the place, don’t. You don’t want to cross this woman, and you don’t want to cross the Marknosan family either. Maybe you’re really a traveling salesman, maybe you’re a thief, maybe something else, but I want no part in it.”
Bernard was shocked. He thought for sure that Stephan would go for the money, but he didn’t play his hand right here at all. Apparently, Stephan was too scared of retribution to take a risk; even as obviously drunk and high as was, Stephan wouldn’t dare do anything that would get him in trouble with Richard later. Before the situation could escalate, Bernard immediately agreed to drop it.
“Sure, sure. I understand, man. Wasn’t trying to put you in a bad spot. Just a drunken idea, you know? I just hate the thought of going home broke…it sucks. I tell you what, just forget all about it. Let me get you one last drink, just to prove there’s no hard feelings. I’m going to take off; I’ve got a lot of thinking to do about how I’m going to offload all this product before my cash runs out completely.”
With that, Bernard closed out the tab, wished Stephan a good evening, apologized again for making him uncomfortable, and made his way out of the bar. The afternoon had turned to evening, and it was already getting much darker out.
He made his way around the corner so that he could keep an eye on the bar, and went over his options. Should he try to poison Jez’s alcohol supply with her own drug, maybe make it look like a suicide? That would have been great if he could get into the building, but Stephan wasn’t playing ball. Since the man worked with a driver, he probably couldn’t just easily show up and take his place anyway.
What was plan ‘B’, then? Maybe he could set fire to the place while Jez was inside. Bernard liked that idea, thinking back to his early days in Khartok. There’d be some poetic justice to that plan (at least in his mind), and the fire would definitely disrupt the operations and supply chain.
Whatever he decided, Bernard knew he’d have to move fast. While he thought he had put on a convincing show as a blue-collar type, the fact that someone had been asking around about Jez could get out, and get too many people interested. Stephan was obviously a junkie – Bernard realized he’d probably sell intel on him for a fix.
If Bernard was going to avoid screwing this all up further, he realized that he’d better make his mind up now. So much for proper planning.