Chapter 25: CHAPTER 25

[Tom's POV] 

I saw the men approach the van as they emerged from the green scenery of the forest. I quickly opened the doors and Hudson stepped inside with a huge smile on his face, tapping on the briefcase in his hands. Both him and his men had a satisfying look on their faces as they couldn't hide their joy of a successful mission. 

We headed straight to the base, but took a circuitous route to ensure we weren't being pursued by anyone who decided to chase our asses down. Call it paranoia, but it was worth the effort.

Upon arriving at the base, I placed the briefcase on a table in the center of the room. Everyone gathered round, eager to see the painting for themselves. When the briefcase was opened, those who didn't get the chance to see the painting as they were on look out or did not get a clear visual on the painting, came up close as they had waited in anticipation. They kept wondering why the painting was worth the trouble and the huge amount they were paid just for stealing it, they knew that the remaining payments would come once it had been delivered, that was something they all looked forward to. 

I removed the painting from the briefcase, but it was just a seemingly normal painting that had no value to the world, maybe it was worth a lot among the mafia families but to us it was just another painting that could have been seen at an art gallery. The men were disappointed, and it was clear that their curiosity had been deeply betrayed. Nevertheless, they will each be paid a substantial sum of cash for the piece of junk. 

There might be some valuable piece of information embedded within it but that was none of my concern though, because I have already received a full payment for the job which was an additional $50,000 from the moment the client received the news of the operation and a clear picture of the painting. 

As I cogitated the thought, I was distracted by  Hudson's voice. I turned and saw the middle aged man with a beer in both hands, then he stretched out his hand and made a gesture of handing one over to me. I politely refused the offer and the next words that came out from him were… "Well, suit yourself. Also you've been wearing that mask all day, I think you should take a break or maybe a breath of fresh air." He said before taking a huge gulp of chilled beer down his throat. 

There was nothing I could say to a man hell bent on celebrating the success of their mission, after all it definitely called for one. He had called Mr. Santiago to inform him about the current location of the painting and he had two helicopters sent our way, one to retrieve and deliver the painting directly to him, and the other to take me home back to Central City.

Snart had also received his cut from both sides, I guess that was one of the perks of being a middle man. 

 I arrived back in Central City that night, and the city was as lively as ever. People were going about their business, but avoided the dark alleys, as you never know what might be lurking in the dark.

As soon as I got to my apartment, I threw my bag aside, fell on my couch as i slowly sank into it. I let my body relax while  I inertly drifted away into my sleep.

… 

[Mr. Santiago POV] 

At first I had my doubts and was skeptical about the man named Ghost who Snart had referred to him as the right man for the job. 

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I provided the available information which he would definitely need for the operation and let him study it then waited for him to give me feedback when he was done analyzing them. Most experts I had contacted before him had taken a minimum of three days to break down the blueprints and come up with a plan for the operation, but within two hours of analyzing the files he was able to do a complete security breakdown down to the doorbell even. 

I was utterly impressed because he so exceeded my expectations, so I sent him $150,000 for his capability and was willing to provide whatever equipment he needed to carry out the job without a backwash. 

They set out to carry out the job and I was expecting some kind of thing to go wrong with the mission but to my greatest surprise they all came back alive, he didn't lose a man as a result of thorough planning. Hudson had contacted me earlier and informed me of how efficient Ghost was in their mission, he said the man's eyes were like that of a hawk as he oversaw the mission. 

Although he didn't have to tell me much about it because I had him place a separate camera on his body so I could watch the operation on my laptop. I sat behind my desk in my study as I poured myself a glass of martini to suit the entertainment I was watching live. Though I could not get clear audio because the signal was crappy over there, the camera did well and compensated for that without a distorted visual. 

But not for long though, the live feed started glitching when he headed down the basement and I completely lost visuals the minute he passed through the security doors Ghost had unlocked for them, that was when I lost the camera's signal and I just closed my laptop then went ahead to attend to another business at hand. 

I really wanted to watch how Ghost operated but with the little I saw was enough to convince me of how reliable he actually was. I didn't have to wait too long before receiving a call from Hudson that the painting had been secured and they were heading back to base. The joy I felt at that moment was the most I had experienced in a while. That painting had given me an upper hand over our rival family, the Santini's. The godfather of that family was my cousin who was known as Mr. Santini, we had a falling out few years back and that painting was a family treasure entrusted to him. With it I could put an end to our rivalry and come out superior. 

I had got an understanding on how valuable of an asset he would be if I was able to recruit him to work for the Santiengo family. It would be extremely favorable to us if we had him on our side. He would do jobs for us and help me secure power and eventually give me an advantage over several enemies and also conquer different territories. I extended an invitation to him but that fucker declined the invite I had extended towards him, to calm the raging storm he did offer a worthy deal which compensated for his crude response. 

A deal where he would inform me beforehand if a job which would go against me ever came across his way, a heads up is enough to prepare against any impromptu attack for my men are always willing and ready to defend the family. A family they are ready to give up their life for. 

There is a war currently brimming within the criminal underground and the falcon family are being attacked, eventually they will be wiped out and there will definitely be a power vacuum in Gotham and I desire to claim it. While everyone is fighting and trying to safeguard their territories, I would work behind the scenes and come out on top, victorious above everyone else. That is why I wanted Ghost by my side during this crucial time, everyone would want to secure their territories and subjugate others then claim it as their own.

But with an asset like Ghost by my side, the banks of Gotham, museum, the wealthy fat folks and private collectors, any building I can get my hands on a huge sum of cash or attain priceless artifacts wouldn't stand a chance against me. I would build an empire in Gotham then expand into Metropolis, Star City, and any city which might be good for business.

Not even Batman and his merry crew dressed in kevlar would be able to put a halt to my operations, just as he is called Ghost's, so would my men have operated without a visible trace which might lead back to me.

My ambition to expand and to make the name of the Santiago family be feared across different crime families and with me attaining absolute advantage of crimes, I will be revered within the criminal underground and beyond. 

The Santiago family name would send chills down the spines of our enemies for they would definitely not be able to predict our next move, a smart mastermind would be planning it for us. There's no way they could comprehend when we would be coming for their asses. 

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