Placing an envelope on the desk, Allan began, "Boss asked me to give you this. He said to deal with them in a fitting manner."Allen opened the brown envelope, his once haughty expression turned stoic. He realized how naïve he really was. He made up his mind to pledge his allegiance to Carl, that was the deal all along.
"You might not be in the mood but settle the spies before you go to see him."
The calm in Allen"s eyes would make people believe he was an unperturbed young man. However, this was the calm before the storm. He trusted each member and took them as his brothers, yet he was deceived, played by the very people he trusted. He couldn"t help but imagine them mocking him behind his back, the scorn in their eyes, he was too docile.
"I understand brother." He replied firmly.
"Don"t be too hard on yourself, next time, be more cautious. Do not be easily accepting of strangers. Take everything with a pinch of salt." Allan calmly stated.
"Then what about boss?" Allen couldn"t help but inquire. He wasn"t sure how to tell fake from real people. He needed to be smarter and more discerning of people.
"Firstly, he is our boss, secondly, he has yet to make an unreasonable request. Most likely, following him won"t leave us at a disadvantage."
"I understand brother, I"ll listen to you."
Shortly after, Allen called for a meeting, he called out the spies and in front of the other members, they were bound and tortured. For the next one week, the wails of the prisoners were heard. Allen successfully used them to set an example. He warned each and every other person directly under him the consequences of betrayal.
After that, he straightaway made an appointment with Carl. Sitting in a private room with the brothers was Carl. He had a reserved air about him.
Whilst Allan was placid, Allen was beyond nervous. He didn"t know how to begin his apology. He was nudged by his brother to begin.
"Boss, I apologise for my behavior when we first met. I was wrong and as your subordinate, I ought to abide by your wishes but I was unruly and acted without discretion." Allen regretfully stated. He looked up to see if Carl was listening. Though there was no sign to show he was paying attention, he actually was.
"From now on, I pledge my allegiance to you, to serve you as you remain my boss." Allen concluded
Carl nodded his head. "As long as you understand, it"s fine."
"Allan how"s your task coming up? Have you informed Allen of the changes?" He asked.
Allan still stoic, replied. "I"ve forgotten offers, however, by your instruction, I"m waiting for a better offer. As regards Gla.s.s Security, I mentioned it in pa.s.sing."
"I see. Allen, you"ll be the Head of Gla.s.s Security so pay heed to my instructions. Remember, apart from guarding the clients, you must also gather information, tacitly." Carl spoke.
He looked at Allan, "Make preparations for an HQ immediately, we can"t be meeting like this. Make sure it has a bas.e.m.e.nt and the bas.e.m.e.nt should have a few levels. What about the expert?"
"I"m searching for especially good ones familiar with the underground setup. I think if we can shelter a few wanted hackers, it would be beneficial."
"Mmh. But continue searching for clean ones too." He advised.
"Yes Boss!" They said in unison.
"That will be all."
~~~
Over the next few weeks, a few properties were successfully sold off and they had acquired a base. The renovations for the hotels was almost done and Gla.s.s Security would soon start running.
Carl and the brothers were in talks for promotion of Gla.s.s Security. They agreed to put up an ad, the first 10 clients would be guarded for free, but they would have to give testimonials and referrals. In order to gain the trust of the clients, they decided to clear the records of every guard. Most of them are gang members, no one would trust them. Then also include that some were former police officers, security guards.
"Allan, you know what to do, Allen, keep up with training. The hackers will form the Cyber support. As this is the first time, we have to do an excellent job, forget the spying for now and concentrate on just guarding."
"But Boss, I think we won"t be trusted if we resort to selling information obtained from our clients." Allen pointed out.
"I understand your concerns. The information would be sold under a different name in the black market, it will not traced to us. You don"t have to be bothered." Carl was happy that Allen had actually asked this question, this could only mean he had started using his brain a little.