The blind servant is a trillionaire

Chapter 2

It was raining cats and dogs 

Griffin walked slowly down the back alley behind the Apex Country Club. He wore a cheap gray raincoat. He kept his head down. He wasn’t really using his cane to walk this time.

He did not need the cane, his vision was perfectly fine behind the milky white lenses. He watched the shadows carefully.

The alley was completely empty. But Griffin heard the sound of quick, light footsteps splashing in the puddles behind him.

He did not turn around. He just stopped walking.

"You are breathing too heavy, Nico." Griffin said quietly.

A young boy stepped out from behind a rusty dumpster. Nico was fifteen years old. He wore a dirty oversized jacket. He was completely soaked from the rain.

Nico was not just a street kid. He was the top runner for the underground network of Griffin. He managed a hundred orphans who watched the streets and gathered information for the Oracle. They were the eyes and ears of the shadow empire.

"I ran all the way from the harbor, Griffin." Nico gasped for air. He wiped the rain from his eyes. "You did it. The shipping union got a massive anonymous donation. The workers are celebrating in the streets. Kastor is completely bankrupt."

"Kastor was a parasite." Griffin said coldly. "He deserved to be crushed."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a thick stack of hundred dollar bills. He held the money out.

Nico took the cash quickly and shoved it deep into his jacket. The money fed the network. It kept the street kids safe and warm. Griffin took care of his own.

"I have bad news." Nico whispered. He looked around the dark alley nervously. His hands shook slightly. "The club owner is getting suspicious."

Griffin frowned. Malakai was the owner of the Apex Country Club. He was a ruthless billionaire with deep ties to the criminal underworld.

"Malakai knows there is an information leak." Nico explained quickly. "Four different CEOs have lost their empires in the last month after visiting the club lounge. Malakai hired private security sweeps. They found nothing. Now he thinks it is an inside job."

"He will never suspect a blind masseur." Griffin said calmly.

"He is not looking for a masseur." Nico said. He paused, pulling a small silver recording device from his pocket. "One of the kids planted a bug in the private office of Malakai this morning. Listen to this."

Nico pressed the play button.

The recording was slightly static, but the voice of Malakai was loud and clear.

"The Oracle is stealing my clients." Malakai growled on the recording. "He is using my club as a hunting ground. I want every single employee interrogated. Start with the lowest trash. The cleaners, the cooks, the therapists. Beat them until someone gives me a name."

Another voice answered on the recording. It was a deep, gravelly voice.

"We already started, Boss." The second man said. "We grabbed one of the young street rats begging near the back door. We broke his fingers. He told us the blind guy talks to the street kids."

Griffin felt a sudden, freezing chill run down his spine.

"Turn it off." Griffin ordered sharply.

Nico turned the device off. The young boy looked terrified.

"They grabbed little Sam." Nico whispered. "They tortured him, Griffin. They are coming for you. They know you talk to us."

Griffin gripped his white cane tightly. The wood groaned under the pressure of his hands. He rarely felt genuine fear, but the thought of his network being hunted made his chest tight.

"Where is Sam now?" He asked. His voice was dangerously low.

"I do not know." Nico shook his head. Tears mixed with the rain on his face. "But the enforcers left the club ten minutes ago. They got your address from the employee files."

Griffin looked at his watch.

His apartment was only five blocks away.

"Nico, listen to me very carefully." He said. He put his hand on Nico’s shoulder. "Go back to the safehouse. Tell everyone to stay completely off the streets tonight. Do not contact me until I send the secure signal."

"What are you going to do?" Nico asked.

"I am going home." Griffin said coldly.

He turned around and walked out of the alley. He did not tap his cane anymore, he carried it like a weapon.

He walked fast through the heavy rain. His mind raced with calculated possibilities. Malakai was a dangerous predator. If Malakai caught the Oracle, he would torture him for the access codes to the shadow empire.

He reached his apartment building. It was a rundown brick building in the poorest district of the city. He purposely lived in a terrible neighborhood to maintain his fake identity.

He walked up the concrete stairs to the third floor.

The hallway smelled like old cabbage and wet dog.

He stopped in front of his apartment door. The door was closed. It looked perfectly normal.

But he noticed the tiny piece of clear tape he always left on the bottom door hinge was broken.

Someone was already inside his apartment.

Then he closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath. He had to play the blind victim. 

He tapped his cane loudly against the wall. He fumbled with his keys intentionally and made a lot of noise.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The apartment was completely dark. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Then he reached out and pretended to search for the light switch on the wall.

"Do not bother turning on the lights, blind man." A rough voice said from the corner of the room.

Griffin froze. He acted completely startled. He dropped his keys on the floor.

"Who is there?" He asked. He made his voice tremble. He held his cane up defensively. "I do not have any money. Please take the television and leave."

Two men stepped out of the shadows. They were massive heavily built enforcers. They wore dark leather jackets and held heavy suppressed pistols in their hands.

"We do not want your cheap television." The first enforcer laughed. He stepped closer and pushed the tip of his pistol directly against the forehead of Griffin.

The cold metal pressed hard into his skin.

"Our boss wants to ask you some questions about the street rats." The enforcer said cruelly. He paused, pulling back the hammer of the gun. "And you are going to tell us everything you know."