The major difference between the operational capacity of the Baron, and the operational capacity of Bartolome, was sheer efficiency. Day in and day out, Persephone, Shiang, and Arthur were working closely with each other and numerous of the Baron’s agents across Longley to find where Santiago had gone into hiding. Every waking minute was spent furthering their mutual goals. Small, seemingly useless leads and ideas were quickly analyzed together in a congruence of details that each evolved into usable information. It was quite contrary to the past, when Arthur had worked for Santiago. Half their time had been spent shooting the shit, meandering around, and doing jobs completely unrelated to their main goals. To put it a different way, it was a measure of discipline.

  They had already located numerous locations in Longley where Santiago might be hiding out, something that had taken CargoLink and the Soldados a year to do. It helped that Arthur already knew Bartolome owned or lease numerous buildings around the city that he operated out of. Less than ten, but placed strategically at important areas of the city while still being close enough to each other to create an area of influence. Arthur had already verified most of them, but about half of them he didn’t recognize. The other half were located and confirmed by the rest of the Baron’s men. Although they all had different purposes on the outside, most all of them served as makeshift hideouts. Meaning, any one could be the main base of operations, where Santiago was staying. To no one’s surprise, despite having attacked the Baron twice, failed, and now being some of the most wanted vampires in Longley, the Soldados decided to stay. Persephone thought it was stupidity, Shiang thought it was greed. Arthur knew it was pride.

  The only thing holding them back at this point was the Baron’s single rule regarding this whole mess; they couldn’t start a war. They couldn’t just go out and start shooting up buildings in the same way that Santiago had done. The Baron stressed that keeping the situation under control was the only way they could proceed, and that if they simply went on a string of murders it would only make things worse, not better. Arthur had to agree, but he also had to listen to Persephone argue with the Baron for a long while on the phone. Yet, despite all her protests, the Baron’s word was final. Arthur was starting to recognize this fact, and it only stirred his imagination at what kind of person the Baron really was in order to command such authority.

  So, the closest of the Baron’s circle, which now included Arthur, were trying to figure out a way of going about this without burning the whole city down. All the players of this operation were present at Glasshill. Persephone, Shiang, Arthur, and a man named Obadiah, who everyone called Obi. Obi operated a small contingent of very professional, very dangerous vampires. Interestingly, they did not work for the Baron directly, and weren’t just mercenaries. Instead, they were a sort of in-organization group that worked directly for the same people that the Baron, and Bartolome worked for. They didn’t hold the same kind of rank as the Baron, or the same level of jurisdiction or freedom as a Judge, but instead were a precise, internal group directed at problems that couldn’t be dealt with directly. A secret police, of sorts. It all reminded him of the death squads that Claudia had mentioned. So, Arthur wondered how bad it had really gotten if the Baron had to ask for help from the likes of people this dangerous.

  Obi wasn’t particularly tall, but he was heavily muscled. His head was shaved and he had a clean shaved beard as well. He wore plain, non-distinct clothes, and had a calm, straightforward demeanor. The only standout feature was a long scar that started on the top of his head and dragged down to his left cheek. That was the only obvious indicator that he wasn’t as plain as he appeared. But Arthur knew better. He had only met people like him once or twice before, usually within the hostage rescue SWAT teams that the precinct sometimes worked with. Ex-military guys that had no qualms about killing and would go about it without blinking an eye. Not in a manic, vicious kind of way like Santiago and his men, but in a professional, necessary kind of way. It arguably made them more dangerous than vampires like the Ferals, because all of their actions were controlled and focused. Arthur didn’t really want to know first hand just how powerful they were including their Potential.

  Obi sat quietly during their meetings, absorbing the information that was being presented to him. He never spoke unless spoken to, and never gave his thoughts unless asked to. What really sealed the idea that he wasn’t someone to be fucked with, was that he was one of the only people ever that Arthur saw Persephone talk carefully to. She never tried to throw her weight against him or lord over him. She was consummately professional, never speaking beyond her means, reigning in any emotion when mentioning Santiago, and never assuming anything. She was more than willing to be patient whenever Obi asked a question or needed something verified. It dawned on Arthur that Persephone was afraid of Obi, or at the very least respected him to such a degree she wasn’t willing to offend him.

  So, throughout the meeting, Arthur did the same as she did, and kept his mouth shut unless spoken to. He wasn’t willing to test how loyal Obi really was.

  “I haven’t noticed any kind of influx of new vampires in the city recently, so I think we can assume that Bartolome has not had time to send reinforcements to Santiago. However, with the events of the club, can we assume that Santiago’s forces suffered?”

  Arthur realized that Shiang was directing the question to him, “Maybe. I only ever saw about twenty guys at once, but that was only at one location. And usually when it was a bigger job.”

  “And how many locations?” Obi asked quietly.

  “Twelve total,” Persephone said, shuffling through some papers at the table. “Our best estimation of their forces would be around fifty people. But, it’s unlikely we’d have to worry about that many at once. Even if they’re mustering in force to get ready for an attack, they still need to run their operations elsewhere. So twenty at most.”

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  “At most,” Obi repeated.

  Persephone, unsure if that was a question, looked at Obi, then at Shiang, then back to Obi. “Uh, yes.”

  “Hm.”

  “Based on information given,” Shiang said after a moment, “Even if we theoretically hit one place, they could just retreat to another. It would be a slow, grinding fight and we’d burn down half the city in the progress.”

  Obi looked at Persephone, who said, “We can’t do that. The Baron wants us to do this quietly, and smart. We can’t start a war in his city.” Nobody seemed to disagree. Or rather, seemed to want to risk going against the Baron’s orders. “...so, we need another plan. I know you’re here to do what we ask, but you have more experience than any of us in…this kind of thing. Any ideas?”

  Obi didn’t answer for a while, staring at the various papers on the table that included a map of Longley, photos of CargoLink locations, and various information reports. “Cutting the head off the snake isn’t an option?”

  Persephone shook her head, “You know the rules as well as us, if not better. The Judge will face consequences from different people. Plus he’s not in country.”

  Obi was silent for a while. “So you don’t want a war, and you don’t want us to kill their leader. I’m finding it difficult to figure out our use here, with these restrictions.”

  “I know,” Persephone said, “And don’t get me wrong, I want them all dead. Maybe the most out of anyone here. But we can’t just kick down doors.”

  The room went quiet. It seemed as though everyone was struggling to come up with any method of approaching this problem, because at their deepest core everyone in the room simply did want to go kick down doors and raze Santiago and his men to the ground.

  “What if there’s another way?” Arthur asked. The three others in the room looked at him. ‘Santiago runs multiple operations across Longley, like we know. I’ve seen many of them first hand. They do all sorts of stuff, through contacts who want different things at different times. Pretty much all illegal. I’ve seen them run drugs, weapons, cars too sometimes.”

  Obi looked at Persephone, “The Baron doesn’t find issue with this?”

  She shrugged, “The Baron isn’t opposed to others trying to make money in his city. If anything gets out of hand, then we intervene. Like we’re doing now.”

  Arthur took a deep breath. He considered what Dot had said about lying, skirting the ultimate goal by making a different point. He didn’t want to do that. Persephone would catch on if he tried playing games with her. Instead, he simply started talking and hoped that reason would precede bloodlust. Or at least, fear of the Baron’s retribution.

  “My point is, per the Baron we can’t go gun down fifty people in the city. But, I never took the majority of Santiago’s men as the most loyal types. Santiago is as loyal as they come, but not all of the Soldados. They get paid like all the rest of us. If we start choking their revenue sources one by one, the army will start to leave. And they’ve already brazenly attacked us, twice now.”

  Arthur could already tell Persephone was getting ready to reject his idea, but he continued before she could say anything. “And, if Santiago does decide to hit us back, which he will; we’ll be ready. Ambush him and kill him right then and there. It’s not the head of the snake but it’s close enough. It’ll cripple the Baron’s influence in Longley for a long time. Stop whatever he’s up to. Santiago will be dead, the Baron will be happy.”

  Obi and Shiang, as far as Arthur could tell past their stoic expressions, seemed to be approving of the idea. Persephone hadn’t move at all. Shiang looked back to Arthur,

  “That’s a fine plan, I think. But executing such a plan is going to be a little more difficult. Especially because as mentioned, we can’t just go barging in and start shooting places up.”

  “That’s exactly right,” Arthur said, “Fortunately, I’ve thought of a few ways we can be a bit more subtle. My contact at the police thinks I’m working on the federal level now. Which means I can submit anonymous tips to her about some of the locations. She’ll be able to get approval for totally legitimate police raids that we won’t be involved in at all.”

  Shiang nodded his head, following up, “And we know they have a few operations around the ports and shipping centers. As long as I have the requisite details, I can get the port authorities to clamp down on them. I know for a fact some of them have connections to the DOC.”

  Finally, Persephone spoke. Fortunately, it wasn’t to oppose the plan. “The Baron’s given me access to most of his own personal resources since the club incident. I can use them to try and lock down anything else they might be up to that isn’t strictly do-able across main channels.” Arthur stopped himself from smiling. Persephone might hold a grudge, but she wasn’t vindictive enough to ignore a good plan when it was presented.

  As Persephone looked around the table, everyone nodded. “Good idea Arthur. But, first things first.” She turned her attention to Obi. “We’ll need confirmation on a lot of these operations. Since Benny is…gone, we’ll be looking to you to source information in the mean time. At least until we find a replacement. I know you’re usually about knocking heads, but I’ve been told that your guys can be quiet when they need to.”

  “That’s true,” Obi said. “Recon isn’t out of our purview. Give me the locations and we’ll start right ASAP.”

  Everyone began to work on their piece of the operation, all preparing their own methods of stifling the cash flow to Bartolome’s operation. Arthur grinned, not only because the cogs were greased and nobody wanted to waste time, but also because they had all thought he had a good plan. He stood, getting ready to make a call to Dot, but Persephone gently put a hand on his arm to stop him.

  “Good job, Arthur. You saw a clear path through all this chaos, even when I might not have. And that isn’t light praise. Especially considering you might the one most involved in all this, next to me.”

  “Thanks. Though, it wasn’t all me. Actually, I think I finally realized something that you told me a long, long time ago.”

  ‘”Is that so?”

  “Yeah. You told me the only way I’d survive is to think outside the box.”

  Persephone cocked an eyebrow at him, “I did? I don’t remember saying that.”

  “You didn’t say it. You wrote it to me. The last line of the letter, that was the instruction on how to handle the gift to Bartolome so long ago. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it back then. In fact I thought it was some sick joke.” Arthur chuckled.

  Persephone was staring at him as she stood. “I’m not the one who wrote that letter.”

  “What? It wasn’t you? Then who did?”

  Persephone turned, making her way out of the room. “Those instructions came from the Baron.”