FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

From the Desk of Mordecai Crossbell - American Division ** (part 2)**

New York was starting to grow on me. I will admit, my dear Prisoner, that at first I loathed this city. It felt new and old all at once but lacking in substance that made London so wonderful. London had a history, its very name conjured up ideas of kings and queens of old.

And compared to that, what did New York conjure?

Frontier wars with natives?

Angry rich men who did not want to fight in this country's Civil War?

This city was without grace and style, rough around the edges but easily exploitable.

The politicking aside, I was making great progress in building up my new Empire. If there was one thing this city had at the surplus was a group of men who were willing to do anything for a dollar. I knew I was still at a disadvantage, I was not politically connected like the more entrenched Bosses down at Tammany Hall, but I had style and was far more willing to break a few bones to get to my goals.

My first order of business was property. New York City was big but also crowded, and anything worthwhile was owned by banks and businesses that were in no way going to part with the deeds to those buildings. Thus, the next best thing was to move the story to my area. That had resulted in buying up property in a less than hospitable location. When I started to buy up homes and buildings every banker in the city had looked at me like I was crazy, I didn't care, as they were only interested in their ledgers and couldn't see beyond a balance sheet. In essence, they were useless.

In a few years I had bought up land that no one would have thought was worth anything. I had systematically extricated the poor and the infirm, paid to have the streets repaved, new light fixtures, and Crossbell Tower built. New York was all about building upwards, so I had made it the centre of my new empire. It had taken less than two years to build and it was now where I conducted myself when I had more visible things to take care of. I also lived at its top most floors. I had no desire to build myself a grand house in this city. I liked my penthouse suite. I enjoyed looking down at the people scurrying through the streets, unaware of my eyes watching them, judging them, and finding them lacking in everything but contempt.

Alas, things had started to hit bumps in the road. People had caught on to my machinations and land prices had started to go up. I had seen areas almost triple in value since they realised I was constantly expanding. I was even grappling with the notion that these misanthropes did not even want to sell to me, as if my money was beneath them. I had withdrawn my offers of generous compensation right then and there. I knew what I had to do.

It was time for Jack to appear and make it happen.

I had not worn this outfit much since coming to New York. For one, I wanted to make sure some intrepid young reporter didn't find any connection in London. While I had taken great pains to keep Spring Heeled Jack out of the papers, I had failed ultimately. I needed Jack to fade into obscurity and legend once again. He could not cross the Atlantic with me.

It had been my Warrior's idea to adapt the costume a bit. Vampires were the things these Americans feared most, so in my free time, which I do admit I was lacking, I turned Jack into what I felt would scare these peasants -- a vampire.

I had made the fangs longer on the mask, and added another clawed gauntlet. However, I had designed a mechanism that extended the claws when flexed. It required pulling back a lever hidden within the gauntlet itself, and I really only planned to use one if ever necessary. Still, it looked more vicious with ten claws instead of five.

I also adjusted my cloak so that, if I needed to stage any kind of theatrics, I could unfurl it with a flick of my arm like wings. It would only work if I was falling from a decent height, but I was certain the effect would do its part when necessary.

The basic outfit had changed to meet more of New York's style of fashion. The idea I had was a nobleman who descended upon the rabble to cull their numbers. I realise that may be a bit too, as my Warrior would say, on the nose, but I still have my standards -- I will always look my best even if I'm doing what society would deem unsavoury tasks.

The final modification was to my cane. The fangs had been elongated such that, if needed, I could hook the head into the neck and pierce the throat with just enough space between them to be like a bite mark. It would be from a small mouth, but I doubted the police would ever really catch on. Besides, I generally used the claws if I needed to make puncture wounds.

The vampire had started to do its work splendidly. Poaching people from the various gangs to work for me had been easier than I expected. Fear and money were powerful motivators. Loyalty could only take you so far, but the fear of death may as well have been chains around the proverbial neck.

The wind howled outside the dilapidated building I was waiting in. I heard them before they were visible, and turned just in time to see them enter my room. I must have looked quite the fright to them, cloaked and masked with fangs and glowing red eyes. I had my cane in front of me, both hands on the head as they paused and looked in on me warily.

"I do not speak to cowards in doorways," I said, glaring behind my mask. I already loathed them. Why was it so hard to get competent underlings? My Warrior had spoilt me.

The two men who entered, a yellowish tiger and a silver fox, looked more than a little nervous. They were from rival gangs, but now under my employ they were partners. Still, bad blood would linger for a while. I wasn't surprised to see the fox holding a knife and the tiger a pipe of all things. It made me chuckle a little.

"What's so funny?" the tiger asked, puffing up his chest to look bigger than he was.

"You," I said with contempt edging into my voice. "You think a pipe is going to save you if I want to kill you?"

"Fuck you," the tiger said. "You're just some rich man in a costume, I--"

I did not like his tone. I was on him in an instant, my cane up and slamming hard into his ribs with the blunted head. I pulled back and hit him again in the same spot, hearing the telltale sound of bones snapping. The tiger groaned and dropped to his knees holding his chest. I didn't even need to look at the fox; I spun my cane and smacked his hand hard enough to make him drop the blade. The man looked terrified now. Better.

"You are fortunate I do not want to start from scratch, gentlemen," I said with a hiss of annoyance, "but do not test me again. You come in my presence armed again you will not enjoy what happens to you. I'm not your enemy unless you force my hand."

I sighed and returned to my relaxed position. I saw the tiger glare up at me. I brought the end of my cane down right onto his foot. Pushing down to cause him pain. He winced and clawed at his foot, trying to pry it away.

"Have you two done what was asked?"

"Y...Yes!" the tiger hissed. "God dammit yes! Move that thing!!"

I ignored him. I looked at the fox. "How difficult was it?"

The fox gulped and shook his head. "Not very. Once we destroyed some shops in the area, everyone wanted to get out before we got to 'em. Some even just up and abandoned their homes."

"I will not say excellent, but you have done satisfactory work." I reached into my cloak and pulled out two small stacks of bills. I handed one to the fox and then glared down at the tiger. I threw it at his feet and lifted my cane. He gasped and held his hand achingly close to his chest.

"This is your only warning," I growled. "Disrespect me again and I will make sure you do not see the sun rise. You work for me now. Keep driving the people out of the area. Bring in more people if you need to, but be careful. If someone betrays me, you all die."

I did not wait to hear from them. I left through the shadows. I was already in a foul mood from being in their company. I would have to make an example out of that tiger should he become more of a problem.

That thought made me grin.

---

Crossbell Tower was my own castle. I had designed it like a rabbit's warren of hidden passages and lifts all throughout the top ten floors. I lived at the very top, but the various floors below my penthouse were personal areas for me and then my executive suite of offices where I conducted business. The best part was that I had installed a secret way to get to the top without having to go through the elevators or the stairs.

There was a hidden passage set into the corner of the building. The stonework was flawless, but if you put in four claws, like on my gauntlet, you hit the release mechanism hidden within that caused the door to swing open. With a grin I stepped inside and closed it behind me.

I hit the switch and the light came on instantly. Bulbs lit up from floor to roof, running the entire height of the tower. I grabbed the leather handhold on the rope lift set into the ground and kicked the mechanism, releasing the weight.

For seconds I felt like I was flying. I was going up the height of the building at a speed no lift could mimic. I knew if I was not careful I could die, a slip here or a misplaced foot there, but I enjoyed the thrill of it. It would take me to the landing at the top, a platform I could step off onto with stairs going up and down the height of the top most ten floors. I looked back down the shaft in which I had come and pushed the button to reset the mechanism for the next time I needed its use.

I headed down to my executive suite and pushed open the hidden door behind the bookshelf. My Warrior would hear the bell ring in his room upstairs and know where I was. He would be here within seconds.

My hat down and my mask pulled off, I exhaled. Things were looking better and better, and I knew I was on the right course of action. Soon I would have enough resources to take out the so-called Bosses of this infernal city. Then, I would rule it like I never could have ruled London, where power and money would flow through me and I would be the prince regent in all but the title.

As my kingdom grew so did the tools at my disposal. Soon I would have more than enough resources to delve deep into every gang in the city. I would find Simon and make him mine. I sighed at the very thought of having him chained up in my bed when the doors to my office opened up.

The Warrior strode in, dressed impeccably as ever, and holding a small notebook. He approached me and dropped down to his knees immediately, head bowed. I reached out and stroked him between his ears before motioning with my hand to get him to stand. We had to talk business before pleasure.

"I swear this country is going to turn my fur grey," I said, walking around my desk and sliding my fingers across the smooth wood. "Loyalty is cheap. No one has fealty to family or name. How can a country function without pedigrees like mine to lead them? No wonder this place seems bursting at the seams and ready to always fall apart. It lacks control."

"Yes, Master," Gideon said with his handsome voice. I smiled a little bit and felt my pants tightening. The desire to go to him, to fuck him, was strong. But I had to focus. I was not a slave to my body.

"The meeting went well, but I may need you to go and remind them about who is in charge. The tigers are rather frustrating to work with, I have come to realise."

"Yes, Master," the Warrior repeated. "They're indeed the most troublesome gang in the city. It's a wonder the Bosses can control them at all."

"Oh, I doubt it is actually control and rather a mutual agreement. The tigers will only obey as long as their interests are being met. The moment they're not, I can guarantee the Bosses will see violence if they don't capitulate to what they need."

I was tugging off my gloves, reaching down to unlock one of the drawers on my desk. I had kept a file here on what I was doing in the city. Of course it was coded, so if someone did happen to walk in on me working on it they would think I was staring at gibberish. When I pulled the drawer open, I paused.

This was wrong.

The papers were not how I had left them. The ledger on top was on the bottom when I had put this away. I always kept it at the bottom since it was always a living document -- I would use it constantly, but it was never imperative that it had my topmost attention. I also saw other pages not aligned correctly.

Someone had been through my desk.

I flipped through the pages and hauled the folder out, putting the ledger back in the place it belonged. I frowned. "Warrior," I began, "you did not touch my desk, did you?"

"No, Master. I only touch your desk's content with your explicit order. I would never even put your cup of tea on your desk unless instructed."

"Very true. In that case, I believe we have a small problem."

"Master?" The Warrior stepped closer. Was that defensive? I almost said it was cute. But no, I had to focus.

"Someone has been in my desk," I said, motioning down to it. "And they are good at it. There's no evidence the locks were picked, so they must have a key."

"That shouldn't be possible."

I put the file back in the drawer, slamming it closed. "Alas, it is. The cleaners have master keys for the whole floor, including drawers. I should have paid attention to that detail. I didn't think anyone would dare go through my things."

"Why would the cleaners have drawer access, sir?"

"Because if I need to go through something, it is best to have others with keys to frame. It's highly unlikely I would ever need to do something like that, but the option is there as a precaution. Plus I thought we vetted our cleaning staff better than this."

After a few seconds in thought, I turned to my Warrior and unbuttoned my shirt.

"Wake my secretary," I told him. "Get her here and have her quietly compile a list of every one of our cleaners and their personnel files. When she's done, send her home for the rest of the day with a bonus so that she forgets what she was asked to do."

"Yes, Master," the Warrior said, quickly heading out of my office at a half jog.

I flopped myself into the chair and turned to look out over the city. I chuckled a little and shook my head. "Well now, it's been some time since I had someone think they could play against me," I said to no one. I didn't care. I liked the way I sounded. "Let's see what you got, friend."

---

"I think I've narrowed it down to two people, Master," my Warrior said from the desk he was sitting at. Dawn had come and he had been pouring over the personnel documents with gusto. I had sat down and helped, but mostly watched this wolf process the task.

I could have done it, easily, but this wolf was becoming more and more the model of the very servant I desired. He had picked up on how I think and while not terribly bright, he was a wolf after all, he was intuitive. In this instance I wanted to see what he could come up with before I stuck my nose too deep into the task.

During the hours between when I had arrived at the Tower and now, I had gone up to the penthouse to shower and change into something much more comfortable. I had come down wearing a green silk robe and nothing else. No one would come into the office with me here, and it had been locked anyhow.

I was sipping my tea when my assistant spoke. I leaned forward and looked at the paperwork, nodding at him to continue.

The Warrior began his analysis: "Based on what I know and the content of these files, in the last three months we've hired three tigers. One of them is in the mailing department downstairs and doesn't have access to your office level."

"Also they're not a cleaner, so they wouldn't have the key."

"Yes, of course." The wolf blushed, moving the page to the side. He had missed the obvious. Strike one. "The two remaining are cleaners who do have access to this floor and the master key to get in and out of the building's more secure areas. When we hired them we looked into their families and didn't find any connection to the gangs here in the city. We figured they were just innocent people looking for a paycheck."

"Clearly we were wrong," I said, slightly annoyed. He was taking too long to arrive at the point. I knew why, of course. He was afraid if he didn't show his work he would have been blamed for jumping to conclusions. Not a strike against him, but almost.

"Christopher Blinkins." The Warrior slid the file over to me. I picked it up and began to leaf through it. "I believe this is the man we're after."

"You said you had two names."

"The other is Mabel Hanson. She's older, not as fast, and has grandchildren. The odds of her being the culprit are slimmer."

"Because she has a family?"

"People with more to lose generally don't get involved in these kinds of things. That isn't to say she isn't possibly the culprit, but my instinct is that Christopher is the man we're looking for."

"Very well." I looked at the wolf who looked like he had more to say. I tilted my head to the side and frowned. "Something else is on your mind?"

He hastily picked up another file and opened it. "Y...Yes sir. I was going through everything on every tiger we have in the building. I pulled out our file on the tiger gang when I was trying to figure out if Christopher was our target."

The wolf tapped the file in front of him with a bunch of dossiers on them. The top one being Quinten, the tiger gang leader. He was handsome. He reminded me of my old reporter. But I looked back up at the wolf who was still talking.

"I don't know how I missed it the first few times, but I believe we have five people in the building with ties to the Tigers, not counting Christopher, sir."

I sat back in my chair and put my tea down on the saucer. I stared intently at my Warrior. "How did you make such a blatant error?"

The look of pure fear crossed his face. I could see his hands trembling as he clenched the papers tighter. He almost creased them but quickly put them down before his hands came together, wringing themselves in his nervous habit he'd somehow picked up when he had been...punished. I hadn't had to punish him in a long time. It was good to see my work had stuck.

"I...I...I have no excuse, Master."

"No excuse?" I growled, standing up slowly, looming over the wolf. "You realise that one of them could have killed me? When I gave you this job to vet all of my new hires, I figured you could handle a simple task! Was I mistaken?"

The wolf was now on his knees in front of me, his head down by my feet. He didn't move but I could still hear him speaking. He knew better than to talk into the floor. "I'm clearly not up to the standard you require of me, Master." He said through tears. Not sobs, but he was crying.

"And you openly admit that this was all your idiotic fault? That I was a fool to trust you with such a simple task as to keep vermin out of my employ? Not going to blame my secretary? Or the recruiters on the street? You're to blame for this?"

"Yes, Master..."

I sighed. Maybe I had done my job too well. I brought my hand down and tapped him between his ears, a sign he needed to right himself. The Warrior quickly sat back down on the sofa and looked at me with his red eyes, the look of pain that he had disappointed me all the clearer on his face.

"You are a wolf from the streets of London," I said calmly, reaching out and playing with one of his ears, rubbing it between a thumb and index finger. "You are always going to be several steps behind a man like myself. I do not blame you for that. If anything, you demonstrate you are very good at what you do and I give you the same leeway I would give another of my kind." That was a lie. I hated most other caracals. We generally did not get along well. But it was true, I did think more of him than his station required.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Master," the wolf said, trying to look down, but I held his chin to keep his eyes on me.

"You did not fail me, my Warrior," I said calmly. "What happened was we have more information than we once did. The file you referenced was updated several times since we hired these tigers. You are using new information."

I saw his face look confused, then down at the papers. "My...My apologies then, Master, for my emotional outburst."

"You are fine," I said and rubbed him between his ears. "That being said...do not jump to conclusions again, boy. You are better than that." I said and grabbed one of his ears, pinching. I watched him wince. "Do you understand?"

"Yes...yes Master!" he groaned. When I let him go, he rubbed his ear, shaking slightly. I looked down and saw the man was aroused. I smirked, but I could not play with him just yet. "What shall we do now?"

"That is simple." I walked back over to my desk and sat down behind it. "I'm going to leave a morsel for our thief and follow them to his boss. If it is not Quintin, then he will know where I need to go."

I grinned and leaned back, turning to look out the window.

"As for you, Warrior, take care of the gang members in my employ. Make them suffer before you kill them. I want them to know that going against me is life threatening. Feel free to take your anger out on them, too. Cut loose, my pet."

I saw the wolf smirk and nod. "At once, Master."