Vicious Cycle 2

5

Ben tapped his ring against his glass as he watched his men. The only people looking at him directly were Frankie and Kyle. Everyone else was too scared to meet his eyes.

He placed his glass down on the table that sat between them. They were in a different warehouse, and the men across from Ben looked like they were attending a funeral. Truthfully they would be if they didn’t step it the fuck up.

“I’d love for someone to explain to me how Tony's men managed to shoot one of my men in one night, and then intercept an arms shipment the next.”

“They grabbed the shipment before it even got to the port,” Michael said.

“There was no way we could have known what they were up to.”

“So we are with out armor except what we have...Do I pay you all well?” Ben asked.

The tension was palatable, and he knew they were all worried about what would happen next. He was usually calm and better about things but he actually could understand why his father did the things he did and acted the way he did.

“I asked a question. Do I pay you all well?”

Kyle was the only one with the balls to speak up. “You pay us all very well. It’s why you expect us not to fail you.”

“Then why are Tony and his men getting the better of us?”

He couldn’t believe this was even happening. Tony was a moron and young.

What Michael said was true, Tony and his men had managed to redirect one of his ships so that it docked in a port they would be able to control. But it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. 

“Tony must have a tech guy on his team,” John added.

“Aren’t you a tech guy?” Ben questioned.

“I dropped the ball, okay? Tony and even Thomas before weren't known for their forward thinking.”

John was being flippant, and it took everything in Ben not to smash his fist into his face. His father would have, but he didn’t operate that way. He demanded loyalty, and when that loyalty came into question, he wasn’t going to torture you. He was just going to kill.

“I think it’s more than that. I think we must have a rat,” Ben said, looking at each of the men in turn. He knew that they were wondering which one of them he suspected.

“You can all relax,” he voiced.

“I don’t think that anyone here is the snitch. If I did, I can assure you that you’d be dead by now.” Ben continued and they all relaxed.

“Who do you think it is?” Frankie asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Ben pretended as though he had a lead on who had betrayed him, but in truth, he wasn’t even sure if there was a snitch. For the last 3 to 4 years, they had peace between them, and that peace had made Ben complacent. The only new person he added was Frankie after David's death

“What matters is making sure we don’t end up with our thumbs up our asses again while Tony screws us over.”

Everyone at the table winced at Ben's unhappy tone.

"Talk to the security at the club and monitor club. The reason I opened this club was to monitor these guys and see what they were up to. Tony's guys like to come to the club now and get dances and what ever. Keep a close watch and snoop around. Try to get to the bottom of this. You're dismissed."

"Do you want me to pull the car around sir?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah I am going to meet Miranda for lunch."