The Deadman

Robert examined the findings that Agent Wilson got. Most of them are detailing the smuggling and human trafficking business. It concluded that Dayton was simply one of the low-level thugs that this city had.

He was simply one of the few bosses who manage to get connections with the Order of the Solar Temple.

“So the syndicates behind them are not going to be involved?”

“Oswald. These people didn’t survive this long because of simply brute strength and intimidation. They are here because they know how to play the game. To make their illegal business prosper. Scheming and planning are their forte. And they know when to fold their cards against our combined group.”

He taps his finger on the table.

“So, they’ll be putting their hands up?”

“They are. Once they heard that CASE was getting involved. They didn’t want to risk it.”

Robert leaned on the armrest.

“Odd. You’d think they’d put up more of a fight.”

“If it’s any rival business? They’d try to put up a fight. Make threats and intimidate. Scheme and try to make it clear that they do not want to be messed with. But my friend, once you involve a group of people who can throw fireballs out of their hands and cure them? They’ll be careful. Weigh their choices and go to the choice that benefits them most. In this case, they’d rather have the Commission clean up the Cultists in their ranks.”

Robert groaned

“That doesn’t make sense. They’re getting a lot of money from this.”

“It’s the bottom line. No matter how disgusting and heartless they can be. Once someone starts going into the business of harvesting young children’s organs. They’d rather not. Even their men wouldn’t want to. Organ harvesting was risky. Yes, you have buyers all over the world, but the price of maintaining one’s conscience was not something these people want.”

“Criminals with a conscience. What a joke.”

“Sadly, it’s more about the profit in the end. The price of keeping an operation like that and keeping it a secret was much more expensive. Like one of them said to me. It had a high cost and low benefits. Bad for the soul as well they say.”

“Then they wouldn’t be our way?”

“Who knows? They haven’t made any promises. Made no contracts and simply said that they won’t interfere with the problem here.”

Robert takes one of the pictures.

“So we’re after this Rubio Ferric now?”

“Yup.”

“So what’s his role in all of this?”

He pointed at one of the files. Robert took the bond paper full of details about Mr. Ferric and read it:

Born in the Province of Burgos Frias, Spain. Rubio Ferric became part of an organized crime after a man named Petro Salvador took him in ten years after the Vietnam war. Petro Salvador was part of a medical unit that was helping tend to civilians and soldiers. It was during that time that Petro Salvador learned the trade and tricks of the Golden Triangle syndicates. Because of his medical background, he was able to gather connections by supplying the Triads in the Triangle with medicine through a company he made.

Flourishing through the years. Petro Salvador had many allies and became friends with Sicilian Mobsters. Their cooperation went well for years and both sides were profiting from their cooperation.

Rubio Ferric was being groomed into the position. Petro Salvador saw potential in him and turned him to inherit his business in the future. But those who were working for him grew to distrust the choice made by Petro. Starting their own businesses, provoking those who are loyal to the Salvador Crime Family.

They fought for two years. With Petro Salvador dead the vultures started to peck through his business. Without him, the deal with the Cosa Nostra was gone and those who won were eliminated by the Ferric who went after their mansion when they were meeting.
Fourteen dead from a well-placed bomb. Rubio Ferric turned to smuggling instead and became the boss of a smuggling operation. Operating in the Alboran Sea, trafficking goods in the Strait of Gibraltar.

When the mobsters noticed his recent success. They shook hands and expanded to the Sea of Crete. There were enemies, but the things that Rubio Ferric learned from Petro were enough. They invited Rubio Ferric into their circle, worked with him, and became part of a crime family based around the Region of Lazio, in the City of Rome.

Rubio Ferric was silent for years. If Agent Wilson didn't dig any information. He would have missed the recent activities that Rubio Ferric had done.

He had been working with a Libyan crime family secretly without the crime family he was working with knowing.

Bringing a lot of money and a lot of goods.

If Dayton Amuso didn’t talk. They wouldn't have known that the bastard was playing them.

That he was earning money from both sides.

Hell, their problem with Rubio was not about his secrets. But the fact that they didn’t give them their cut. No wonder they were willing to throw him to the wolves now that they heard the Commission was going after them.

The Commission was an urban legend. A myth in the criminal underworld that commands fear and respect.

How could they not when one Agent of the Commission could destroy them easily?

Even if the world had lessened their ability to become monsters in the field. They aren’t stupid or dumb enough to provoke an organization that had existed ever since the Time of Myths.

“So Rubio Ferric was now all alone?”

Robert places the document down.

“Nope. Dayton was only one of his many lieutenants. And lately, they have hired someone… an anomaly even among people.”

Agent Wilson takes a picture of a woman from his folder.

Dark hair with shades of red with a lob haircut. Armed to the teeth and equipped with all kinds of weapons strapped to her devilish figure.

“Meet Sofia Rita Grimaldi. Called Ferus by those who know her. Said she spent five years being raised as a guerilla trained in Assassination and Sabotage. Went to the business of being a Fatale after her group got wiped out. Batshit insane. Blessed with luck and a devout Christian if you believe it.”

“She’s ripped. Have one hell of a body too… So what’s up with her”

“Strong as two men. Got her nickname because she’s one hell of a predator. Spent a year in Bolivia, and by the time she was done in that place. She got rid of an upstart cartel who were trying to takeover. Not through seduction or any of that. Just pure planning, persistence, and a monstrous focus.”

“She had connections to the occult?”

“Nope. She had her encounters, but this one’s simply just born different. She’s a feral amazon-like woman, Oswald. Got one hell of a bite and a temper.”

“And she’s here now?”

“Maybe. She keeps her track clean. All we know was that she’s protecting her client's interest in this city and she’s not the type who gives a shit about CASE.”

“Crazy. Sounds like a problem.”

“She’s anti-magic as well.”

“Huh?”

“She's blank. The unnatural doesn’t work on her so any hexes or curse was useless.”

“Is she a terminator?”

“Kind of. Which makes this recent assignment… more dangerous. You got to understand that Dayton and his goons were nothing small-time compared to this Rubio Ferric. Dayton and his crew were careless. Because they thought they were already no one here that would fuck with their turf. Unfortunately, they got themselves involved with the OTS and had been smuggling people to harvest their blood and organs.”

Robert tapped his fingers.

“What happened to those folks?”

“Got them returned to their home. The organization was planning to support them until they can get back to their feet. They also went under mind wipes through hypnosis. Not true hypnosis or erasing a memory like that. Since no one can violate the soul directly. So they'd have to settle with hypnosis and mind wipes through drugs and hypnotic suggestions.”

“This ain’t MK ULTRA right?”

“Nope. Brainwashing them would take resources that the organization doesn't have right now.”

Agent Wilson’s face was a blank paper. A car passed by. Robert looked at the paper. His eyebrow rose at the information he was being presented with.

“I guess I can’t be reckless with this.”

“Slow and steady this time. If that woman gets a whiff of what you’re doing. She’ll hunt you down.”

“I’d take that in mind.”

Agent Wilson raised one finger.

“Oh, one more thing. She’s after someone as well. Don’t know who it was since this one seems to have escaped after a crime family in South America got taken down. A former soldier turned mercenary who vanished from their sight. They suspect that this guy escaped with a lot of money during the chaos and went under the radar here in Europe. She’s honoring the contract because apparently, this fucker killed one of her comrades in one of their shootouts. Shot him in the forehead.”

“Is that one here as well?”

“Don’t know. Gotta hand it to this one since he vanished without leaving a trail as well.”

“Is it a personal hunt?”

“Yeah. Apparently even the guys who said they stole from them aren’t really a high priority. No one knows him because most of them got killed during their own civil war. One thing we do know was that he must have spent a lot of money to vanish.”

“And this Grimaldi lady was the only one who knows his face? That's it?”

“Yes. She's obsessed with him.”

“Jesus, so she’s something to look out for. But that isn’t it, right?”

“Nope.”

Agent Wilson looks around.

“There might be Halfbreeds working with them like Bo. Muscles that are Halfbreeds.”

“Where are they getting them?”

“Heard there's a network. Usually, they are the offspring of women who spread their legs to the cults and gave birth to them. Said that one of the women gave birth to fifteen Halfbreeds. Some are turned into pure brutes who are hired for muscle. The rest who have the intelligence of their demonic father are put to use in running a business.”

“And you’re asking me to take care of this?”

“You can kill them with a good shot in the head. Bo was above the usual Halfbreed and was one of the successful ones since he managed to run a business under Dayton. Well, I'd still think you need to be careful.”

The scope was bigger than expected. Some people need to be avoided and it wasn’t as carefree as before. Robert guesses that they must have heard of what happened and are now more alert about it. It's an assignment that can't be done like last time.

Fighting an entire group like this was suicide.

A waitress passed by.

Robert ordered a cup of joe for him to drink. Agent Wilson sighed apologetically at him.

“I know it’s a hard assignment. I don’t expect you to go in there guns blazing like last time. It gave good results. Allows me to pull resources, but draws a lot of heat.”

“Don’t have to talk to me about it. Got a good scolding after I got reckless.”

“No one wanted to believe they were serving Bathory’s Wine. Once they knew, those bastards needed to save face. One thing that worries me was that they had a lot of information already about this without telling us.”

“I'm not surprised honestly.”

“They might have known what’s happening. Suspected it, but there are a lot of restrictions. You know how these people are.”

Robert folded his arms snorting.

“Not surprising.”

Agent Wilson’s disappointment was clear. He loosened his shoulders and clasped his fingers together.

“This was one hell of an assignment. Do I have a starting point? Any clue? Leads?”

“For now I want you to find their Captain. Seek his Associates, Soldiers, and find Fredo Marcello. Get him to talk. It wouldn’t be easy now that you got a lot of heat on you. But if we find this bastard. It will be worth the time. Rubio Ferric trusts Fredo and for a good reason. His soldiers are going to be tough to crack and anything that will attract attention will drag that woman to check. So this time I really advise that you be discreet as possible, seek out Fredo Marcello, and get him to talk. Push his buttons until he spills beans.”

Robert took a look at the last document inside Agent Wilson’s briefcase. There’s a serious lack of information other than a picture taken from a camera. Wearing a mustache, a casual dress shirt, and calling someone with his phone. Accompanied by two bodyguards who are barely hiding the Uzi in their holster.