For a long, heavy moment, there was a profound silence between the two men. It was the kind of silence that spoke volumes, confirming the weight of the question that had been asked. Ramon watched Max closely, his eyes sharp as he began to piece together an answer for himself.
"I looked into him," Max said finally, his voice echoing slightly in the sterile, high-tech prison room. "Or at least, I tried to. You’re aware, of course, that I am a member of the Stern Family. That’s the entire reason I got involved with two of your targets in the first place; I knew about them through my own connections. It was quite clear after how easily you extracted money from Chad that you were going after the rest of the heirs."
Max leaned back, his expression unreadable. "It was the same for me. I was never intentionally trying to get in your way or dismantle your operations. We were just two predators hunting the same targets."
"You sound like you have a really loving family," Ramon joked, though his tone was laced with sarcasm. "But I can’t say I’m surprised. High-society family dynamics have always been far more interesting, and far more vicious, than anything we see in the street gangs."
"Right, right," Max said, brushing the comment off with a dismissive wave of his hand. He had never truly cared for the Sterns as a real family. In his mind, they were simply players on a board. If there was anyone in this current life who felt like actual family to him, it was Aron, the man who had stood by him through every bullet and betrayal.
"What I was getting at," Max continued, his brow furrowing, "is that one would think my position would allow me to gather more information. But it didn’t. I had my personal guard try to look into him, and he came up with absolutely nothing. I went searching around, trying to figure out what his actual business interests are, asking questions left and right, but there was a total void. Which is strange..."
Max let the sentence hang. The reason he found it so suspicious was because of the private list he had seen in Dennis’s office. Out of all the Stern Family members, Randy possessed the most wealth aside from Dennis himself. For someone to accumulate that much capital, there should have been a massive paper trail, investments, holdings, corporate takeovers.
Yet, there was nothing. It was as if Randy had systematically scrubbed his existence from the financial world. It suggested he was purposely hiding his activities, perhaps even from Dennis. But was it even possible to hide that much money from the head of the Stern empire?
"Right, right," Ramon said, a knowing glint in his eye. "But if I just told you the truth about him right now, it wouldn’t have the same effect. You need to find out for yourself. Once you’ve uncovered what he’s really doing and decided on your own path, then you can come back to me. But I won’t leave you to just get swallowed by your own theories. In the Stern Family, there are currently two people who have received an Invitation."
Max’s mind immediately raced to the most logical conclusion. Dennis was the obvious first choice, but since Ramon was framing this around Randy, then Randy had to be the second.
’Is that how the connection between the Stern Family and the White Tiger group started?’ Max thought, his mind whirring. ’In my previous life, I had only just received the Invitation myself before everything went south, but I never actually attended the events. If one of the Cubs had killed me back then to receive my Invitation and attended those elite gatherings, they would have met the other invitees.’
He began to connect the dots across timelines. ’It could have been Dennis or Randy who originally invited the White Tigers into the fold. Skinny Pete was at the event in the past... so was it him?’
The thoughts were a whirlwind, each one leading to a more dangerous possibility.
"I think it will all become clear to you soon," Ramon claimed, breaking into Max’s internal monologue. "With everything you have accomplished and how quickly you have risen to power, I’m certain you will get an Invitation of your own at some point. Maybe you’re already at the cusp. If you stand out just a little bit more, the Invitation will find you."
"Do you have an Invitation?" Max asked bluntly. "If you do, why don’t you just give me yours?"
"Strange of you to assume that an Invitation would work on just anyone," Ramon commented, his voice dry. "As if it were a simple ticket you could pass around."
Max knew why Ramon was being cagey. On the Invitation itself, the rules were stated clearly, framed like some type of grand, global game. It was tied to the individual.
"Well, if there’s nothing else to say, I think you should carry on progressing as you have been," Ramon said, turning back toward his workbench. "And remember to send us plenty of funding if you want us to continue this research for you. High-grade science isn’t cheap."
As Max exited the prison and stepped back into the cool air of Blitsber, he couldn’t stop thinking about the two forces coming for his life. From what he knew, there was someone within the Stern family and someone within the White Tigers who both wanted him dead.
He had always kept those threats separate in his mind, but a new realization was taking root. If he focused his energy on one, it would inevitably lead him to the other.
"I think I might have just figured out a way," Max whispered as he climbed back into the car. "A way to get to Randy Stern... and have him lead me straight to the White Tigers."
****
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