Chapter 5: The Exchange

The Man in White gawked at the small mountain of a man that stepped out of the back of the half ruined Mahir Supron that had just sputtered to a stop not far behind the first one that the Valentinos arrived in.

He knew that the members of the Animals, whom he deduced this person was a member of, were usually of large statures due to the Juice that they injected themselves with.

But this person in front of him was way bigger than any that he had heard of. He easily towered over even the biggest of his bodyguards. To him, they all seemed like children.

And he did not like that feeling at all. And he definitely did not like how that large brute was looking down at him.

It was he who always looked down on others. And he was not about to let some gangoon look down on him. Even if it was only an unavoidable technicality due to the other peron's height.

He was about to order the large brute to kneel down when he was suddenly interrupted.

"Sorry we're late. We had some.. unexpected issues" One of the older Valentinos said as he stepped forward while giving Benny a pointed glare.

"Padre said you have what we're looking for?" He asked as he turned his attention back to the Man in White hopefully. "It is really vital that we get it."

The Man in White turned his attention away from Benny who was looking up at the sky while attempting(and failing) to whistle innocently when it was implied that he was the cause of the delay.

He would let the large brute be for now. The matter at hand was more important and he could not afford to mess it up. Kang Tao's higher ups seemed really eager to have this deal succeed for whatever reason and he knew better than to question them about it.

The Man In White nodded at one of his men who retreated back towards the middle vehicle and took a large silver metallic briefcase out from the rear compartment.

He then proceeded to hand it over to the Man In White who then stepped forward and extended his hand with the briefcase towards the older Valentino.

"We are Kang Tao. When we promise something, we deliver." He said with disdain. Offended that they would even doubt them. "Your Padre has the access codes for the case."

The older Valentino nodded as he reached into one of his pockets and took out a shard and handed it to the Man In White with one hand while receiving the case with the other.

"Pleasure doing business with you." He said with a grin and a hint of relief in his voice. He gave the case a quick once over before handing it off to Benny.

It was much safer in his hands. That was part of the reason why they hired him after all. People were less likely to try and get it from him as compared to if it was one of his fellow Valentinos holding onto it.

'Now for the hard part..' He thought as he gave a quick glance around the area. They heard from one of their netrunners that there was chatter about the Maelstroms maybe trying to make a grab for the case. But they haven't seen any sign of those chromed out freaks whatsoever all day.

'Probably didn't want to get into a fight with both us and Kang Tao at the same time.' He decided. 'I probably would've done the same. Only complete gonk brains would try to do something like that.. or Edgerunners.'

The two leading men exchanged some final pleasantries before retreating back towards their respective vehicles. Their men following close behind them while keeping a careful eye on the opposite retreating group. No sense in letting their guard down now. Even if they've already gotten what they've come for.

It was as the Kang Taos were getting into their vehicles that the Valentinos suddenly paused in place. They had just turned their attention back to their vehicles when they remembered that one of them was pretty much unusable now.

This was a serious problem. The sole remaining Mahir Supron could only take either the group of Valentinos(barely), or Benny(also barely). Having only one or the other was out of the question as it would split their strength in half and pose a huge security risk.

"I wonder if those corpos would be willing to lend us one of their rides.." Benny muttered sheepishly as he scratched his head.

Almost as if in answer to his question, the squealing of tires could be heard as the Kang Tao delegation backed out of the clearing and drove off.

The Valentinos watched them leave and let out a collective sigh.

"Well fuck.."