(Author's Note:)
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And now it begins.
The Beginning of the End for Dutch van der Linde. At least we'll kill Micah soon…
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Reiner had returned from his hunt with game, and then took a ride back to Valentine. He would meet with Leroux, and have him rendezvous with General Grey and the estate agent. Reiner would also have him buy other land, outside of Lemoyne, provided it occurred after the purchase of property in Lemoyne.
Approximately $65,700 in land in West Elizabeth, with the largest parcel cost being nearly thirty-seven grand.
In New Hanover, approximately $102,670 would be spent on purchasing land eventually.
But he'd nearly clean himself out just purchasing businesses. But considering what came with said purchases and what he saved on lease and supply costs, he'd more than make a return investment.
With interest.
Reiner actually controlled several Jewelers and pawnbrokers, and had a backdoor so to speak in several regional Assay Offices in the West. It helped him find a reasonable excuse for how much wealth he had, he'd acquire a lot of gold, then sell it to the government, and then he'd have a reasonable answer to the question of how he acquired his wealth. The fact he bought the gold through a number of different aliases until it ended up in his hands made it an easy acquisition.
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Reiner rode into town wearing his uniform, he'd changed in Limpany, and headed to the Saints Hotel, where he informed the man at the desk to inform Mr Leroux to seek him out Smithfields Saloon, top floor, private room overlooking the entrance. The man at the desk inquired as to the business, as any reasonable hotel owner would lest they invite the wrong crowds. To which Reiner informed him the man was his personal banker and he'd had him escorted by Pinkerton's to Valentine from Saint Denis.
He then proceeded to the Saloon and entered the room which he'd rented for several months just prior to the Blackwater mess. Reiner then waited and eventually Leroux arrived, his escort with him.
''Officer Levesque, I trust Mr Leroux had a safe and uneventful journey?'' He asked the lead Pinkerton officer as the six Pinkertons entered the room and Levesque had them secure it.
''Safe? Yes, Mr Reiner. Uneventful however, I must inform you he did not have such a luxury. Some brigands attacked the carriage, they seemed intent on taking Mr Leroux, but we drove them off.'' Levesque informed.
''It's as I feared then. I knew it was a risk bringing you here Pierre, but I never thought anyone would be dumb enough to attack you while protected by Pinkertons. At any rate, how are you my friend?'' Reiner asked him.
''I'm well sir, you'll be pleased to know your investments paid off, we now have goods ready to ship, they are deceptively delicious.'' Leroux said as Reiner smiled.
''Mr Reiner, if I may? Mr Leroux had me send a small sample of these goods to headquarters as thanks for our continued services. Mr William and his brother would like to have a regular shipment. They also hinted at the interest in meeting with you personally.'' Levesque interrupted.
''Inform your superiors I'll be in Saint Denis in a couple of months time for an extended period, if they'd like I can send a wire when I'll be there and for how long barring unexpected issues?'' Suggests Reiner, he wasn't opposed to the conversations, he could use the support of William Pinkerton to get some operations set up in Chicago.
''I informed the banks to be prepared to have the funds withdrawn. How much will this all cost?'' Asks Leroux.
''A lot, I need you to head to Caliga Hall and speak with General Tavish Grey, he'll arrange a meeting with an agent who will give you the costs of purchasing the Land, Water, and Timber Rights of Clemens Cove, Clemens Coast, Clemens Point, and Radley's Pasture. Also see if you can purchase Mount View Saloon, Appleseed Timber Company, Bastille Saloon, and Davis Overland Despatch Company, Heartland Stage Line, Boles Overland Stagecoach Company, Doyle's Tavern, Blackwater Ledger, New Hannover Gazette, Saint Denis Times, and most importantly The Grand Korrigan. We can afford it.'' He says.
''This will attract attention.'' Says Leroux.
''That's exactly the point. We want to force the hands of our traitor. I have a list of properties for you to purchase after the purchases in Lemoyne are finalized. Use Gold for each purchase.'' He said. ''Do not purchase the listed properties until the final property in Lemoyne is mine. And wait at least three days before initiating the purchases.'' He stressed.
''I understand sir.'' Leroux replied.
''Good. Mr Levesque, please inform Agent Milton that Dutch van der Linde robbed Cornwall's train, and Dutch van der Linde will be dead within a couple of months. I'll see to it personally and arrange a location for you to retrieve the body.'' Says Reiner.
''Agent Milton would likely request a meeting with you to discuss the details.'' Levesque replies.
''I understand, inform Agent Milton that van der Linde will never be able to be taken alive because his gang would never allow it. I'm planning to ensure his death, it's just a question of whether or not you get his body.'' Says Reiner, as he looks out the window. ''Damn, I need to leave. Wait half an hour before you leave the room and the Saloon. Oh, and also buy this Saloon.'' He said before leaving the room and building.
Upon exiting the building, he was met by Belle.
''Hard man to track down, boss. As soon as I heard the Frenchman was coming to Valentine by train, I knew that you were here. So, what's happening.'' Says Belle.
''Not here, follow me.'' He instructed, mounting Bucephalus and leading Belle back to Limpany where he got changed, and led her to the river.
''Listen closely, in a month or so we'll ambush and kill Dutch van der Linde. It's time to burn the syndicate down and rebuild. More legitimate. Coordinate with Donal and when the O'Driscolls and the del Lobo's attack, we'll begin targeting the del Lobo's. We'll replace them and Flaco with Camilla and her faction. After Dutch is dead, we'll reorganize. We will all gather together at Clemens Point to discuss where we go from there.'' He informed his enforcer.
''Aside from Flaco, we all make it out?'' Belle asks.
''Depends how badly we're fucked. Someone's making moves, they're using Flaco to do it. Which means we need to figure out how badly we're screwed. Flaco is the most likely to support someone else taking over, so we'll use his own men against him. I'll meet with Camilla and her own men will turn on her, and then the O'Driscolls ride in. I need you to snipe Dutch dead, then target me and hit me in the shoulder, the side, and the abdomen. Then flee. I'll dispatch the others.'' Says Reiner.
''I can do that much.'' Belle agrees.
''Limpany will serve as the ambush point, I want you within spitting distance of the Road opposite the other side of the river. Use your special rifle with del Lobo ammo. Only Donal will know about your participation, so use the special code.'' He instructed.
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Reiner and Belle parted ways, and Reiner just started to fish at the Dakota River to clear his mind a little bit.
He needed General Gray to stay alive a while longer, but he also needed to inflame the feud a little bit more. Additionally, he also needed to begin generating a more legitimate profit, so he'd begin sending people in mass to the Grand Korrigan once that was purchased and it would be used to funnel profits from moonshining into the ship as a profit from the casino boat. Which in the eyes of more legitimate consumers would help alleviate fears of poor investment in his soon to be prolific food businesses. In a former life, Reiner had had a variety of jobs, and amongst them was working for Griffins, Maggi, F. Whitlock and Sons, Wicked Hots, and Copper Kettle. Each of those jobs was at least six to ten years working there, well except for Wicked Hots as he was certain he died around the five year mark as that was where the memories ended. He was intricately familiar with the recipes of certain products, and most of the technology required to produce said products was in existence. Now, Reiner could solve a few issues such as refrigeration, because his abilities made inventing reliable refrigeration a tame achievement in the grand scheme of things.
Reiner had recreated some chips, BBQ sauce, two minute noodles and gingernut biscuits. He expected that the gingernuts would sell exceptionally well in New Hanover and New Austin because they could last a long time and wouldn't break in saddlebags, and two minute noodles would be insanely popular across New Hanover, West Elizabeth, and New Austin because of how quickly they could be made ready to eat, and in the end, he expected given the state of the competition and assuming everything went smoothly, that he'd have the military banging on his door trying to cut a deal since what he would be producing was mountaintops higher in just sheer edibility and they'd pay premium cash for access.
Reiner had it all mapped out, even suitable alternatives or novelty products that might be a good one off or a seasonal thing to boost profits if things didn't go as well as expected.
In the end, he'd make more money in this than everything else combined.
Such was the irony of life…..
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(Author's Note:)
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We're starting to hit that point where Reiner starts to use his Artificer skills for more than just weapons and shit. 1899 is a very interesting year technologically, so we'll use modern knowledge to acquire certain profits and advantages. Anyways, I've got one more chapter to finish off today, just have the end note to finish and that's it. I'm done for the week,
Not really, but the hard stuff is done for the week, and I'll be doing over things since a couple things got delayed. Anyways, see you guys next chapter.
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