CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: EXTRA C AND PERIDOT’S REQUEST

I entered cafe Gnosis. On the staff today was a girl with long brown hair and an unsettling smile. She looked at me while wiping some coffee mugs mugs. "Mr. Abel. I was told you’ll come around, the private room you reserved is ready."

I nodded and entered the private room. As always, languidly sitting sprawled on her sofa was the information broker Peridot. Cafe Gnosis was honestly a very small place, even amongst people in the underworld who would sell or buy information it was reputed but not that greatly.

"You’re here!" Peridot said. Today was one of the rare times that she stood up and greeted me upfront instead of keeping me waiting. This was usual when she needed something.

"So, what’s going on?"

"The clue you handed me, Rooney, that came quite in handy."

I remembered the last conversation I had with Scott, the Owner of the New Engine Gaming company.

"They are pretty popular in this field apparently, all this gambling and casino business. A good fish even by your standards."

"The other group?"

There were two people who had paid Nick’s gang at the time of the accident, the false accident. With one of them being someone like Scott, I had lost most hope of that being a good enough lead into finding out the truth of that incident, but even so, there was a thread that I was yet to grab and unravel.

"They might be connected. That’s part of it. I need more information on these people, and all of it seems to be somehow tied to this Rooney guy."

My brows raised. I slowly reached ahead and grabbed a cigarette from the box Peridot had left on her table. I pulled one out—Fucking flavored cigarettes. I put it right back removed one of my own.

"So, what do you need from me?"

"I want you to run a job for me." Peridot finally put her feet down and opened her laptop. She turned it toward me. On the screen were images of a door.

"That is...?"

"I managed to trace the line to here. A shell holding of the company that paid for the hit from Nick owns this place. This place is also a place that another of my clients wants to know about."

"You are growing, aren’t you?"

"Cafe Gnosis is going to be the biggest place in Hell City young boy, what do you know."

I did know. Peridot’s skills were enough to make her an invaluable information broker. The only reason she was stuck to this place was because she wanted to stand on her own feet instead of working for someone else. In that regard, getting her establishment to the level where Cafe Gnosis sat within a year was already quite the deal.

I leaned closer and looked at the photos. They seemed to be dashcam screenshots from some car. Her information gathering methodology was always insane to look at.

"Where is it? Don’t tell me Genge."

"Not a place like that. It’s on Aversque Boulevard."

Near my fucking house?! I looked at Peridot and she shrugged.

"This small metal door leading to nowhere, it is an underground warehouse I presume?"

"Correct. It used to be a part of Syn Hotels before they closed down."

"Oh, I remember that place. I went there as a kid."

"I remember too. Had you ever tried their lamb chops?"

"They were great, yes," I nodded. I was about to mention how my sister and I both adored the dish but shut my mouth before saying anything. There was no need to mention anyone she didn’t need to know about.

Nor did I want to remember them out loud.

A sigh left me and I shook my head, focusing on the image again. That’s when I noticed. Blurrily stuck next to the metal door was a sticker. A sticker shaped in a way that I had seen rather recently.

"Do you want me to break into this place?" I asked.

"Not exactly. It would be best if you can sneak in, but their security is crazy tight. People seem to be entering from somewhere else and something happens down there but I haven’t been able to figure out much of what." Peridot ran her hands through her hair and grunted frustratedly. "I just don’t know what."

"I might have a clue," I said. Peridot and I met eyes, she seemed to have a strange light in her pupils as soon as I mentioned my possession of a clue.

Now was my turn. I gently leaned back on the sofa, crossed my leg, and took a long drag of the cigarette.

"I’ll make the information free for you."

"You would have done that for me breaking in anyway."

"It’s a package deal, my dear Abel."

I swung the cigarette in my fingers. "Information is the most valuable material in the world, Peridot. That it goes cheaper than gold is already a crime."

"Bitch, that’s what I say." Peridot chuckled and shook her head. "Alright, I’ll do another job for you for free. Completely."

I raised my brows at that statement. Wasn’t that a little too much payment for some small knowledge like how I could access this dilapidated building?

"What?"

"I will ask for something quite big."

"It’s an investment as much as it is payment, dear Abel." Peridot smiled. "We both know you are going to shake things up, and I am going to use that to the fullest."

"I appreciate the faith."

"Don’t let me down. Well then, what exactly is this hint you have?"

"That..."

***

After leaving Cafe Gnosis, I sent a message I hadn’t expected I would have to send so soon.

[~: Sebastian.]

[Sebastian: Yes?]

[Sebastian: A DM! Are you sliding into my DMs?]

[Sebastian: I didn’t expect you to be so forward. Well, I won’t say I am not interested]

[~: ??]

[Sebastian: Spoilsport.]

[~: Can I get the link to Vangels? It’s a direct link, right?]

[Sebastian: Ohhh! That’s what this was for?]

[Sebastian: I knew you would see the appeal.]

[Sebastian: Here, open the link in TOR or something, it won’t run on normal browsers anyway. It should be okay but Eric and I both use a VPN so I’ll recommend the same when you access it.]

[Sebastian: Three way split! Use my reference code as well.]

That was it.