7:00PM

September 10, 1956

Las Vegas, United States of America

A warm orange sunset, whisking away the last few rays of the sun greeted Antonio as he was finally able to turn the street into his own beloved neighborhood. How many days had he gone on his fruitless mission, again? Whatever the actual amount was, it was far too many. Without really realizing it, a delicate smile started to creep onto his face as he caught sight of his house, that is until he noticed the police cars next to it. The speed of his car began to drop alongside his heart as he focused his mind on ignoring any grim possibilities. In front of him were three police cars with officers around them, were they even working? Instead they seemed to be just standing around, one punching another’s arm as you would at the end of a bad joke while another one seemed impatient, checking his clock and tapping his foot. Were they waiting for someone? Was it him? Antonio held his breath as he slid his car into his driveway. They weren’t precisely in front of his house but rather in front of his neighbor’s. Yes, why would this have to do anything with him? All he needed to do was just keep calm and hurry into his house, absolutely no turning back. 

Tense, like a prisoner having been caught red-handed, Antonio got out of his car. His fingers seemed to have grown numb and struggled in following his orders as he fumbled in locking his car door. After that struggle he began making his stiff trek towards the door, sweat beginning to form on the back of his neck almost in contrast to the cool breeze that was settling in. 

“Antonio Lovure,” a woman’s voice called out. Antonio froze just as he would if a gun had been placed to the back of his head. The voice, though he couldn’t quite recognize it, seemed to come from the direction of the police cars. Nothing good could come from this but at this point there was really no option. Slowly he turned around to see just what was the problem this time. 

“Eloise Montgomery,” Antonio whispered. Out of all the people that he could have imagined to be lounging around in his neighborhood surrounded by policemen, Eloise Montgomery would have been at the very bottom of his list. She wasn’t particularly someone that he got along with but he couldn’t deny having a slight bit of respect for her, even if she had involved herself in business with his father. While it was true that he detested the majority of his father’s business partners just as much as the man himself, Eloise was a small exception. He could never catch even the slightest hint of malice in her actions, or any emotion for that matter. Rather she was just so robotic in her behavior that Antonio could never find a fault in anything she did. All her deals with his father somehow managed to benefit each other and never hurt anyone to the point that it was rather admirable. A businesswoman through and through. Not to mention he couldn’t help but see a shred of himself in her, the way in which she referred dryly to her own father at times was all too familiar. 

“It really is you,” Eloise sighed. Even if she was the one that had called for him she seemed almost disappointed. Well he couldn’t simply walk away now could he? Begrudgingly and against all his dearest wishes Antonio made his way towards Eloise and the police cars around her. Once he was close enough to be in hearing range she began to shake her head.  “Poor child, just what has forced you to have to live in this miserable ghetto.”

Ah, that was right. The one fault that Antonio could attribute to Eloise was her elitist attitude. This woman had been born right in the very cradle of the city’s wealth and raised to have a penchant for nothing less than the finest and most valuable of all things. Saying that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth would be an understatement, saying that perhaps she was born with a silver shovel in her mouth yet another one. It seemed more so that she had been born with a golden excavator in mouth and even this could err on the smaller side. To a woman accustomed to nothing less than the greatest luxury then this, a by all means ordinary middle-class neighborhood, seemed to be the very definition of poverty. 

“It's not the worst,” Antonio shrugged. Yet Eloise didn’t seem to be very impressed, rather she seemed more appalled than anything.

“Just what is Alessio doing? If I had a son I could never…” Eloise’s words trailed off. Of course, though Antonio knew little and cared far less for Eloise’s personal life he did know that she had no children, nor had she ever married. It was rather surprising when considering that even though she was older now, she still had a quiet sort of beauty that was eternally evident. She resembled some ancient empress who looked to belong in no place other than on her own throne. The strong features of a well-preserved bloodline, dark silky hair, and a pair of bluish-green eyes that seemed so simultaneously dull yet attent. Eloise was beautiful and rich, the only thing that had prevented her from marrying had been her attitude towards marriage itself. To her it seemed a blunder, a waste of time and effort, the absolute worst decision that one could make in life.

“Whatever that man does is none of my concern as long as he lets me live my life,” Antonio stated. For a second Eloise seemed stunned but quickly shook it off, letting out a simple heartless chuckle.

“Ms. Montgomery, it's time now.” Eloise turned around, this time truly without a single shred of emotion, to the policeman who called for her. Slowly and perhaps with a shadow of determination she nodded her head.

“Antonio I believe you’d like to see this as well,” Eloise sighed and turned around to follow the policeman. Yes, of course, what the hell was going on? While he’d rather avoid any possible interaction with the police it seemed Eloise trusted them and as far as he had known Eloise she had been intelligent enough to know who to side with. Not to mention honorable enough to never betray someone or lead them into some trap. Albeit a bit hesitant he still followed her.

They went on in silence towards the gate that Antonio had seen Cian skip on through many unfortunate times. Of course, Cian. Whatever it was that had happened he would know and gleefully inform Antonio of. After all there was no censor for that man’s mouth and many times before he had already annoyed Antonio in going on about his boss’ affair. Ah perhaps that was it. Yes, that fool had likely let his tongue slip in front of the poor wife and whatever ensued had forced the police to get involved. Now having assured himself that this was nothing more than a marital spat, Antonio was able to raise his head high. There was nothing to fear, he repeated to himself over and over as the gate was pushed open to reveal what lay behind it, nothing to worry about… except perhaps the dead body hanging from the tree. So that was where Cian had gone.

“Hmm so the victim got tired of his worthless pathetic existence and hung himself. Suicide, thats all, no investigation required,” Eloise decided. The policeman who had brought them there nodded along to her words, quickly scribbling the information down in his notepad. Eloise didn’t just trust the police, she had them tied around her fingers, launching them around like weightless puppets.

“I’m sorry but in what world does this look like suicide,” Antonio interrupted. Eloise turned to him, a tiny hint of surprise somewhere between all her apathy. Anyone who could see the crime scene would be inclined to believe that it was anything but a suicide. Yes, upon hearing that he was hanging it would be easy to assume that he had done so himself, yet he wasn’t simply hanging. Cian’s hair, rather than being filled with twigs and leaves as it usually was, was drenched in blood to the point that it was impossible to tell what his hair color had once been. The blood had then spilled on downward in clear streams across his body and pooled around on the ground below his suspended feet. Now what kind of suicidal man stabs himself in the head before hanging himself?

“Ms. Montgomery if I may ask, who is this man,” the policeman asked, clearly irritated by Antonio’s contradiction of his master’s words. Eloise turned away from Antonio, instead choosing to focus on the grim sight in front of her.

“There's no need to worry, rest assured that he’s with me,” Eloise decided. As she gazed upon Cian’s body there still seemed to be a lack of emotions, almost as crude of a reaction as the way she spoke. Slow and dry, drowning in melancholy without the slightest hint of any shore in sight. The policeman did not seem very assured but his doubts were weaker than his fear of Eloise, pushing him to ultimately leave Antonio and Eloise alone with Cian’s body. “Salas, he’s the police chief, he’s not on my side nor on my enemies but he’s paid enough by the both of us to turn a blind eye.”

Antonio shook his head. What had once been his greatest fear now seemed only a distant ghost. He couldn’t care less for whatever side the police were on at the moment, Cian’s body seemed like a somewhat more important matter to discuss. “Why are you here anyways?”

“An old employee of my father,” Eloise sighed. While for the most part the tone in which she spoke was dry and lifeless, her voice seemed to harshen with a loathing as she mentioned her father. “Mr. Becker had no family and his current employers didn’t know much about him. They found records of him working for my father and called me over to see if I could tell them anything they didn’t already know.”

“And?”

“Antonio… Mr. Becker was just another worthless man who could never amount to anything. I never talked much with him but what I learned was that he had no goals, no hopes, no aspirations for bettering himself. He was absolutely nothing and he could never be anything. I suspect that he must have finally realized just how pathetic his life was and tried to fix it only to get himself involved with the wrong crowd which led to this. Don’t hold sympathy for the sad excuse of a man he was,” as Eloise spoke, Antonio couldn’t help but notice that she did so in a way that was far from referring to a brutally killed stranger but rather did so as if referring to her worst enemy. Though Antonio was well-aware that he himself could be insensitive at times, well, Eloise was truly something else to aspire towards. “My name and by extension my family have already been dragged into this mess all because of one idiot’s carelessness. If it gets out that my family could have been involved in a murder like this… those who aren’t aware of the circumstances are quick to blame easy targets. This man has no family or friends, no one will win anything if there is an investigation. I, on the other hand, have everything to lose, especially now with that bastard child in power...”

To this Antonio could respond nothing. It was yet another reminder of why he had always respected Eloise. To let the whole world burn just to see her family safe, it was a mindset that Antonio couldn’t help but to aspire wholeheartedly for. As much of a gut punch that it had been to see Eloise at first, he could now appreciate her presence. In a sense she had helped ground him down and remind him of his priorities, to wash out the bad flavor that Carlos and Noel had left in his mouth and allow him to focus on Jane and Otis' safety.

"So you’re saying that even though a man was murdered not too far away from my home there’s still nothing to worry about?”

"It's a one case thing. His own fault and the consequences only for him.  There aren’t any serial killers roaming around the neighborhood if that's what you're worried about," Eloise explained. Antonio could finally feel a slight semblance of relief. Eloise Montgomery was without any doubt a sly woman, yet she had no reason to lie to Antonio. She had always been painfully blunt with every word so if she said there was nothing to fret about then that was final. Antonio watched as she sighed and turned around to check if the policeman had returned to no avail. "It looks like I'll be forced to remain here for much longer than anticipated. You should probably head home now that you know what's going on. Perhaps we can meet over tea some other time."

"Absolutely not," Antonio said definitely. Eloise let out a half-hearted chuckle.

"I was hoping you would say that,” she laughed dryly. Of course, Eloise was raised in an environment that pushed her to often extend courtesies to acquaintances, though it could be said without a doubt that she was none too happy about this.  Yet another reminder of their similarity and of why Antonio couldn’t look down upon her like he did with his father and his contacts. With that final bittersweet thought Antonio nodded and turned to leave.