Chapter 21: Moving Pieces
Sarah looked at him. Then let out a small laugh.
"You actually remembered that." She tilted her head. "You’re among the guys I made that promise to. I don’t just give it out you know."
"I’m aware," Xavier said. "So are you giving it or not."
She studied him for a moment.
"Your character is different," she said. "Not like the others. That’s the only reason you’re getting it."
She picked up her phone and sent the request without making a bigger deal of it.
Xavier’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He didn’t take it out.
"Accepted," he said.
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You didn’t even look."
"I knew you’d send it."
She let out a short laugh. The real one.
"You’re strange," she said.
"You keep saying that."
"Because it keeps being true." She picked up her drink. "Are you always like this or just with me?"
"Just you," he said.
She looked at him over her drink and didn’t respond to that.
"By the way," she said after a moment. "I
have a showcase in three weeks."
"Okay," he said.
"You should come, maybe you would change your mind."
"Depends on the material."
She smiled. Small, slightly frustrated but genuine.
"I’ll make it worth your time," she said and stood up gathering her things.
She walked away down Ardmore Street without looking back.
Xavier watched her go.
Same Sarah, he thought. Worshipped by everyone around her. Completely convinced she deserves it. He checked her favorability gauge it sat at 20%. Expected I was just an interest at this point.
He finished his coffee and stood.
Three weeks, he thought. Now we’re at the beginning of executing my plan.
He flagged a cab and got in.
The report arrived exactly 48 hours later.
A document sent through an encrypted messaging app. Twelve pages. Clean, detailed, no unnecessary commentary.
Xavier sat at his desk with his coffee and read through it twice.
Femi Adebayo. 19 years old. First year Business and Nutrition student at Riverside. Repeated year one which explains the age gap on the course. He scrolled through. Connected to a street group called The Cardinal Circle operating across three districts in Kenvale. Debt collection, low level extortion, underground betting. Estimated liquid cash flow of $200,000 monthly through the group’s operations.
He kept reading.
Personal finances — interesting. Xavier leaned forward slightly. Femi himself is not rich. The group’s money is the group’s money. Personally he runs on about $3,000 a month, drives a leased car he’s two payments behind on and shares a flat with two other members.
Xavier set his coffee down.
So the $50,000 he lent Amira, he thought.
That wasn’t his personal money. That came from the group’s funds. He looked at the screen. Which means he didn’t just lose leverage over Amira when I cleared that debt. He lost $50,000 of money that wasn’t his to lend.
He’s not coming after me because of Amira.
He’s coming after me because he has to.
Xavier closed the report and sat back.
Different situation, he thought. A man protecting his ego is manageable. A man covering a $50,000 hole in his group’s finances is something else entirely.
He pulled up his banking app and stared at his balance for a moment.
$162,154.
The solution to a $50,000 problem, he thought, is not fighting. It’s making the $50,000 irrelevant.
He picked up his phone and called the security contact.
"The report was useful," Xavier said when he answered. "I need a second phase. Find me whoever sits above Femi in The Cardinal Circle. The person he actually answers to."
"That’s a different level of access," the voice said.
"I’ll double the retainer," Xavier said.
A pause.
"Give me 72 hours," the voice said.
[ REBATE SYSTEM ]
Transaction Detected: $16,000 — Security Retainer Phase 2
Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x
Total Return: $32,000
[ Net Balance: $146,154.00 → $178,154.00 ]
[ SIDE QUEST COMPLETE ]
First Intelligence Operation
Reward: +800 EXP
[ EXP: 8,750/50,000 ]
I don’t fight Femi, Xavier thought, pocketing his phone. I go above him. Find whoever he answers to and make the problem disappear at the source.
Money moves faster than fists.
He got to campus at 9AM the next morning.
The east gate, the courtyard, the familiar noise of Riverside doing its morning thing.
Xavier walked through it with his hands in his pockets and his bag on one shoulder.
Nothing dramatic happened.
But things were different and anyone paying attention could feel it.
The girl near the notice board who had done a double take on his first day back now said good morning without being prompted. Two guys he didn’t know nodded as he passed. Small things. The kind of social recalibration that happens so gradually people don’t notice they’re doing it.
Xavier noticed.
Money changes the air around you, he thought. You don’t have to announce it. People just feel it.
Kelvin was waiting outside the Food and Nutrition block like he’d been positioned there specifically.
"Bro," he said the moment Xavier came into range.
"Kelvin."
"You disappeared again."
"I had things to do."
"You always have things to do." Kelvin fell into step beside him. "Normal people have things to do between 8AM and 5PM. You disappear for days and come back looking more expensive each time."
"More expensive," Xavier repeated.
"That’s a new bag again isn’t it."
Xavier didn’t answer.
"It’s a new bag," Kelvin said to himself.
"Okay. Fine. Around. Cool." He paused.
"Amira’s already inside by the way. She looks different today."
Xavier glanced at him. "Different how."
Kelvin shrugged. "Lighter. Like something got sorted out for her." He looked at Xavier sideways. "You wouldn’t know anything about that."
"No," Xavier replied.
Kelvin nodded slowly with the expression of a man who believed absolutely none of that.
They went inside.
Amira was at her desk with her textbook open and her glasses on and her posture carrying something it hadn’t been carrying before. Kelvin was right. She did look lighter.
She glanced up when Xavier sat down.
"You’re here," she said.
"Apparently," he replied.
She looked at him for a moment. "Thank you," she said quietly with a minute smile. Just that. No elaboration.