Chapter 18

Murphy jerked awake, his cell phone ringing from his pocket. He retrieved it and answered with a slurred “Hello.”

            “Where in the f**k are you?” Dominick growled from the other end of the line.

            “Good morning to you too, I took the liberty of finding my own hotel to stay in since your last choice was so drape.”

            “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

            “I revised a little bit, for what we are expected to do I’m going to enjoy living on someone else’s dime to the fullest. Don’t worry I will be there for all your appointed meetings and will still be at your beckoning,”

            “You better be, just know I’m really keeping an eye on you know.” Dominick snarled with finality.

            Sighing loudly Murphy told him “I got into some of that stuff you left for us to review so I’m really not going to be a problem. I actually need some more.”

            “That’s good very good; we’ll see how you do in person. We are all meeting in an hour I expect you to be there, don’t worry about eating dinner will be served.”

            Murphy wrote down the address Dominick provided. He showered and dressed in one of his black suits a white collared shirt, and light blue tie. Returning to the living area he clicked off the TV and left locking the door behind him.

            Walking to the car Murphy thought he spotted shadows under one of the pines surrounding the cottage. He paused for a second and stared intently watching for movement. When he didn’t see any he proceeded to his car wondering where the sudden bout of paranoia was coming from.

            Murphy put down the windows of his car and allowed the wind to whip through his car on the way to dinner. He thought it odd that Dominick held all these meeting when nothing was really ever discussed, and anything he wanted to relay could be done in a quick phone call.

            It took a couple times of driving around the block before Murphy found the restaurant. It was snuggled between a rare book store and a donut shop barely visible from the road. Soft light floated through the front window, giving inside a comforting look. A small red weather beaten canopy hung over the door.

            Walking in the door he was hit with the pleasant smells of garlic and olive oil. The tables were covered with red and white checkered cloths and pyramid shaped lamps hung from the ceiling over each table. The floor was sleek black linoleum and mopped to a shine. The waiting staff dressed in white shirts with black pants and a red handkerchief hung from their left side.

            Scanning the place Murphy spotted Dominick and the gang sitting in the far corner, he was last to arrive like normal. He threw a slight wave and started heading towards the table, waving off the host in the process.

            “Finally you decide to join us.” Dominick sneered as Murphy reached the table.

            Pulling out a chair Murphy glared at Dominick and said “Being on time for these so called meeting is not important, nothing is ever said that cannot be completed with a simple phone call, and frankly I find them to be a waste of time.”

            Murphy dropped into the chair with a satisfied grin on his face. The tension between the two caused everyone else at the table to scoot their chairs back a few inches, Dominick’s rage apparent in his death stare.

            “Since you seem to have so many things to do I’ll make this quick.” Spat Dominick.

            “Proceed then, our behavior is unquestionably making the rest of the table uncomfortable.”

            Dominick cleared he throat and peeked around the restaurant to ensure no one was taking a special interest in them. Satisfied he raised a glass and announced “To the good times to come.”

            Each man matched his glass in the air and clinked glasses in the center of the table.

            “I have brought you all here for a simple announcement, and good food. I have leased a warehouse nearby, and already stored our equipment there. I have also ordered materials ordered so that we can have many rooms constructed. My plan is that each room can have a theme, that way when we finally do receive our orders from Don it will be one less step we have to take to complete the process.”

            The group nodded approval in unison, and even Murphy was impressed with the idea. He had intended to leave right after the announcement but decided to stay and try to build a little camaraderie. With the crimes against humanity that they were going to have to commit knowing each other better could never hurt.

            At the end of the evening Murphy was feeling better about the whole situation as he walked to his car light headed and slightly dizzy from too much good wine.