Razors' Edge

Gerald looked confused; it was a look that often crossed his coarse features.

Teague told him; “I told you that I would deal with Vittorio, what were you thinking.”

Gerald tried to speak, but he couldn’t find the breath. That will happen when you find yourself on the wrong side of an ivory handled razor.

Gerald who was normally a ruddy faced individual, was now exceedingly pale, and growing more ashen by the moment. That will also happen when you find yourself on the wrong side of a razor.

Teague had found Gerald amidst the maze of rooms and hallways after losing sight of the Pixie.

Gerald was lying prone, with his head in Teague’s lap. There was blood everywhere. That was no surprise considering the encounter the bruiser had gone through with Vittorio.

Teague had spent much time in the Great War and had too much experience with death. He had some small skill at treating wounds, due to his experiences in the fields and trenches, but this was beyond him. All he could do was keep pressure on Gerald’s neck and hold the large man while the life seeped out of him.

After he was gone, Teague hoisted Gerald’s body into a firemans’ carry with only a slight grunt and no visible effort, even though his burden was as tall as he in life and weighed 18 stone. Teague was uncommonly strong; perhaps not as strong as Fitz, but close to it.

Teague carried his fallen comrade through a maze of corridors and

hallways only encountering one wide eyed kitchen staffer along the way. The worker said something to Teague in Italian: Teague’s response was to look the other man in the eye, and what the Italian saw in that gaze made him go quiet and turn into an open doorway to escape whatever was in Teague’s eyes.

Teague made it out of the building and gently placed Gerald in the back of the motor coach. He wasn’t particularly close to Gerald; but had worked with him for several years, and he was not going to leave a man behind.

As he drove to the hotel where the Enterprise offices were; he thought back to earlier in the evening. He wanted to be sure to remember details because he was planning on finding Vittorio and dealing with him; and you never know what information would be needed to accomplish that goal.

Ottimo Cibo was the name of the eatery that Teague was investigating with his two large coworkers along to provide backup if necessary. He didn’t think it would be needed because he wasn’t planning on causing any trouble.

He was looking for a stolen Pixie by the name of Pecht. Maybe stolen wasn’t the right word, because apparently the Pixie was not property, so much as he was his own -person-Pixie? Just don’t call him a fairy because apparently those two fae types did not get along.

Gerald had come up with a surprising comparison: the Chinese and Japanese. It wasn’t surprising; because it was well known that those two oriental peoples did not get along well. Rather it was surprising because Gerald was not known for his brain power.

The relatively new establishment was located on the South Side of

the city and was not under the control of Penrose Enterprises.

Teague had met with his employer earlier that day after spending time at “The Cornish” which was the shoppe that was run by Ms. Rowena, and the place where Pecht; the Pixie, provided the “Special Ingredient” that made Rowena’s food so incredibly delicious. The ingredient in question being Pixie Dust: supplied somehow by Pecht, and probably the reason why he as apparently abducted by the Italians.

Mr. Penrose had shared his experience with the unusual weather that early afternoon. It had snowed. This occurred shortly after Teague had left “The Cornish” and was unusual because it was summer; mid-June in fact, and the earliest it had ever snowed in the city was early September.

It was clear to Teague, based on his employer’s reactions, that the older man was not surprised by many of the events that day. Penrose had kept Teague in the dark because he didn’t want the troubleshooter to go into the day with any preconceptions.

After Teague had spent time at “The Cornish” and learned of Rowena’s suspicions about the Italians’ involvement; he had come back to his employers’ office to apprise him of the situation and to let him know that he was planning on going to the south side to check out the new restaurant. He had to do this because the south side was run by the Italians and there could conceivably be issues because it was a conflicting “enterprise”.

He had told Penrose his intentions and asked on the whereabouts of Gerald and Fitz. The other two enterprise troubleshooters had been making collections down by the docks and Penrose gave the ok for Teague to have the two large men go along as backup.

Penrose had listened to Teague’s intentions and knew that Vittorio frequented the new Italian restaurant. He was uncertain if Teague had already known that bit of information and was the reason he wanted the other two large men to accompany him there. Penrose did notice that Teague reacted slightly when he mentioned the Italian enforcer. Not many would have noticed Teague’s reaction; maybe no one but Penrose would have. In any case; he did think it prudent that Teague have company when checking out his suspicions because the Italian gentleman had a very unsavory reputation and was known to use the razor with extreme skill and no small amount of gusto.

Penrose heard Teague state that he would handle Vittorio if needs be; and had little doubt that the big man could do that if it had to be done. His only concern; knowing both men, was that neither would quit once they began, and that it would end in one of their deaths. Penrose’s money would be on his man Teague.

The restaurant in question was in the South Side and that part of the city was run by the Italians; so he let it be known by Teague that he wasn’t to do anything “permanent”, because Penrose did not want to get into it with the Italians at this time.

After meeting the two large men by the docks; and a lengthy discussion on pets, by Gerald, they had made their way to the “Ottimo Cibo”.

The relatively new eatery was on the ground floor of a nicely appointed red brick building that was multiple stories, and over a century old. The restaurant took up a quarter of the first floor and it turns out that there was a maze of rooms and hallways behind the kitchen that were also a part of the establishment.

Upon their arrival they had been seated much more quickly than Teague would have expected; especially since there was a line of people  waiting for entry.

Even standing outside the front entrance to the eatery they could smell the deliciousness. If the aroma was any indication of flavor, then surely the food must be as good as what he had eaten just that morning in his employers’ office when he was first instructed to look into this thing.

A short, sharply dressed man who introduced himself as Carlo; invited them inside. Several patrons at the front of the line grumbled at the three large men who cut in front of them, but none of them actually said anything after Carlo gave them a “look”.

They were seated near the rear of the tastefully decorated Italian eatery. even though there were twenty tables in the restaurant, it was strangely quiet in the dining room. you would expect a certain amount of background noise when you get 50 to 75 people together in a room. but the diners were so intent on their meals that the only sounds in the room were the sound of people chewing and swallowing delicious food. that and the tink, scrape of silverware on their plates. oh! and there was moaning. you know the kind of moan that escapes when you experience something so intense and pleasurable: yeah that kind of moan.

it was a more than a bit amusing watching and listening to Gerald order his meal. Fitz as it turned out had a surprisingly good mastery of the language in the menu and ordered a sumptuous meal for the three of them; all the while sounding like he had been born and raised in Rome. after he had ordered their meal, Fitz met the gaze of both of his coworkers and simply shrugged his massive shoulders.

Carlo and several other wait staff were very attentive and they had wine and bread and water very quickly. even the bread smelled heavenly and the garlic butter spread upon the slices of warm bread was the stuff of dreams.

as much as it pained him to do so; Teague knew he had to look about before the food arrived or he would be powerless to do naught but consume the delicious fare.

he asked one of the smartly dressed servers for directions to the bathroom and left the dining public in the main room enjoying what must surely have been the best meal of their lives based on the single minded way they devoured everything upon their plates.

Teague had been searching rooms and halls beyond the bathrooms for several minutes when there was a disturbance and he spotted a small figure darting from the hall into a room off to the right.

he only caught a fleeting glance of a person who couldn't have been more than 3 feet tall at most. the thing that struck him upon seeing the brief glimpse was that he was reminded of pictures he had seen of his great grandfather as a little boy in the old country.

he chased the elusive figure through a series of rooms and hallways and quickly got turned around. there were no windows back here so he had to stop and take stock before choosing which way would probably get him back to the dining room.

he was about to choose a direction to try when he heard a heavy thud followed by Gerald's voice. "I got ya, you slippery devil", the bruiser shouted.

it took nearly a minute for Teague to find the room where the rough sounds were originating from; and when he did find the room he saw Gerald on the floor in the middle of a puddle of blood that was too large to be good.

Teague had rushed to Gerald's prone form on the floor and cradled the large mans' head in his lap. he knew almost immediately that there wasn't anything he could do for the man.

now he found himself at his employers' office. the door was open as it usually was when Mr. Penrose was in residence. the century old mysterious door had a hand print of blood now because Teague brushed against it on his way in.

Penrose stared up in dismay when he saw his man's bloodied form enter and he sprang up from behind his gargantuan desk of teak and ivory.

"Jowan", he said to his employee, "are you okay lad?"

Teague was accustomed to his employer addressing him by his given name. in fact it was a habit of Penrose to call everyone he dealt with on a regular basis by their given name.

"it's not my blood Mr. Penrose sir", Teague told his employer. "it's Gerald's". he continued with "He's gone sir!"

Penrose's face darkened with displeasure. Gerald was not his best or favorite employee; but he had worked for Penrose for several years and the older man felt responsible for his people and something like this was not to be tolerated.

"Tell me what happened Jowan", Penrose demanded of Teague.

"It were Vittorio Mr. Penrose Sir", Teague told his employer. "I told Gerald that i would deal with Vittorio, but that buffoon didn't listen." Teague shook his head slowly and said; "I should have gone on my own sir".

Penrose thought a moment and said "i don't know that it would have made a difference lad". He continued with, "i'm sure you did what you thought best".

Teague looked his employer in the eye and told him; "I'm going after Vittorio sir". Teague nodded his head slowly and said "I aim to finish him"

Penrose walked to a cabinet and pulled out a basin of water and several towels and started to wet a towel and slowly wipe down Teague's bloodied arms.

"I can't let you do that lad", Penrose told him.

Teague looked confused and said "But sir! Gerald didn't deserved to be cut up like that". Teague took the towel and started to wipe his face. Then he said "no one deserved what Vittorio did to Gerald"

Penrose looked up at Teague; this was normal as Teague was 17 or 18 centimeters taller than his older, smaller employer. 

"do you remember what you said to me when i asked you to work for me?", Penrose asked.

Teague's brow furrowed and he cocked his head to one side to consider his employer.

"you told me that there were two things if you were going to work for me". Penrose continued with; "you said that if you were to work for me, that your mother would not pay any more", Teague nodded his head in agreement as he remembered that conversation from several years ago.

Penrose continued: "do you remember what the second thing was?" Teague again slowly nodded his head.

Penrose told him; "you said to me, and I quote; I'll not kill for you". His employer gently laid a hand on Teague's arm and told him; "so i can't let you do that lad"

Teague looked upset; like he might say something he could be sorry for, but after a moment he simply said "but Mr. Penrose Sir, that beast can't get away with that"

From the doorway a familiar voice was heard. "Can't get away with what?"

the two men turned to the door and the expression on both of their faces was one of utter disbelief. 

There in the doorway stood a very bloody Gerald.

"What the Hell!" Teague blurted out, even though he knew that Mr. Penrose did not approve of language like that.

"You were dead Gerald", Teague continued, "i watched you die man; how can this be? And why didn't you leave that devil Vittorio alone like i told you"

Gerald entered the room and took one of the towels to start cleaning himself off. He spoke as he wiped himself. "well Teague, after you left i saw that devil Vittorio follow you from the other side of the dining room so i followed him."

Teague was surprised because he had no idea that he was being followed by such a dangerous man.

"Anyhow", Gerald continued, "i saw that he was about to go at you with that terrible Ivory handled razor of his: and i couldn't rightly let my friend get cut up by no Italian devil, so i tackled him"

Teague was surprised because he had no idea that Gerald considered him a friend, despite having worked together for several years, and also because it hit him, that Gerald had saved his life tonight.

Teague was overcome with feeling and actually embraced the other man and held him tight for several moments before Gerald said in a labored voice "I can't breathe Teague".

Teague and Penrose were in for another big surprise when they heard a soft, high voice say, "i am actually how this can be". they turned to the door to see a very slight figure dressed like a country boy from the old country from more than a century past.

Penrose broke the silence with "What the Hell!"