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Chapter 19 - I Spy
🕑 Added 2025-06-22 17:14:12 +0000 UTCGotham
After handling Artemis’ little gift, Miles started to gather enough evidence on Black Mask’s illegal activities to get him put away forever.
Then empty his bank accounts and every other source of wealth he possessed to remove his influence.
Which would start with the GCPD because Zalika had caught something interesting. She was following Roman through the CCTV while monitoring his phone calls and caught something really interesting.
For operations of less than legal status to proceed smoothly, such as Sionis’ crime empire, you either had to have good relations with law enforcement or informants.
With James Gordon leading the GCPD, the first option was not possible, and in a city like Gotham, having informants in the police department was relatively simple.
One of Roman’s lieutenants, Thomas, was meeting with one of their informants in the GCPD, Officer Lang, and Miles was currently posing as a waiter in the small diner.
Miles put down the coffee cups and the pies on the table. Can I get you anything else, sir?” He asked, smiling at the gangster’s suspicious look.
“Are you new here?” Thomas watched him like a hawk. “Yes, sir, just taking over the shift of a sick friend.” Miles nodded, completely innocent.
“Jonathan’s shift?” The gangster baited him, and Miles, for his part, acted confused. “I don’t know any Jonathan; do you mean Tony?” He had done his research before coming in and paid Tony off to call in sick with someone else to fill in his shift.
“Nothing else.” Thomas dismissed him, his suspicion abated for now, unaware Miles had bugged him.
He nodded, moving to the next table to handle their orders, at least until the two of them left.
—
Minimum wage work in the United States was not something to behold. Annoying customers constantly complaining about something, Karens, and the heavy workload.
Fortunately, his targets had left the diner after an hour, unaware their conversation had been taped.
Paying the owner to keep quiet, Miles headed out back to meet Claire, who was waiting at the car and monitoring the listening equipment.
“We got everything. GCPD got wind of a drug smuggling operation and is going to hit it tomorrow.” Claire reported as she sat in the car with Baraka, who they had agreed to bring due to lack of manpower.
“And now, Sionis knows about it, meaning GCPD’s operation is going to be a bust.” The drugs could be found later; right now it was best to let Sionis lower his guard.
“Should we warn them?”
“No, we don’t want Sionis alert for any possible leak; we will continue to gather evidence, and the GCPD can be informed at an appropriate time. Now, let’s see where Thomas went.” Besides bugging the gangster, he had also stuck a GPS tracker in his car and was receiving transmissions now.
—
Thomas stopped his car before a warehouse, handed the keys to another gang member, and walked inside.
“Boss, we’ve got a problem. Gordon learned about the drugs coming to the docks; there is going to be a raid tomorrow night.”
“Hmm, call our contacts, and tell them the delivery location changed; we’ll take the shipment at the shore rather than the docks.”
“Yes, boss.”
—
Tomorrow Night
Miles had bought a camera for this event, and he and Claire were situated on a hill watching over the shore as a small ship approached with Roman Sionis and his men waiting, while Baraka was waiting with the car to act as their escape plan if something went south.
They had to ditch the car far away and make their way to the hill on foot several hours ago and were hidden under a thermal blanket to avoid any possible surveillance.
The ship approached enough for the sailors aboard to put down a walkway, and a man dressed in a suit with a fedora hat, much like his own, came down the stairs, with pallets loaded with packages following.
“Roman, what’s with the last-minute change?”
“Just the GCPD being nosy. You got the stuff?” Roman asked, and Miles could see on the camera as the other man handed over one of the packages. One of Black Mask’s men took the package for testing, and
“Yeah, let me see the money.” Sionis nodded, and several pallets filled to the top with dollars were brought forward.
“It’s clean, boss.” The tester reported, and Roman grinned, his mask giving him a terrifying appearance. More pallets filled with drugs were brought down from the ship while Roman handed over the money.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” Their transaction concluded, and both sides left happy with their haul.
Miles was content too, as he had gathered significant evidence on Sionis, but it was nowhere near enough for him.
Roman left with his truck full of drugs, and the ship sailed away, but Miles wasn’t done yet.
That ship carried a significant amount of cash, and it would be oh so terrible if someone took it.
—
An hour later, the ship sailed back to the shore, men in snow masks coming down, a small but competent mercenary outfit he had gathered and armed.
He had considered hiring more distinguished names, but it would be an overkill, and his name would no doubt travel around.
“Gentlemen, I assume there was no trouble?”
Captain Matthew Neuman, leader of the mercs, shook his head. "No sir, we got them all alive as you said.” He had armed them with non-lethal weapons, as he was sure James Gordon would appreciate having the opportunity to interrogate the drug sellers.
Miles clapped his hands, pleased to hear the raid on the ship was going without a hitch. “Excellent.”
The crew of the ship was brought out at gunpoint, and the leader spat at his feet. “I don’t know who you are, boy, but you made the last mistake of your life.”
The mercenary behind the man slammed his face to the dirt in return. “That is rich, coming from someone stupid enough to sell drugs in Batman’s territory. Perhaps I should hand you over to him and see how long it takes before you sing like a canary.” Miles mocked, knowing these criminals didn’t have the mental fortitude to resist the Dark Knight.
“We aren’t afraid of the Bat.” Another one scoffed, and Miles just shook his head.
“Yes, I wager you aren’t smart enough to feel fear, but an interrogation session with him would do wonders for your intellect.” Miles turned to Captain Neuman, handing him a piece of paper that would lead them to a safe place to hide the ship. “Take the ship to this location, and keep them locked inside until I call you.”
“Yes, sir, what about the money? There is at least fifty million dollars there.” If every operation was going to be this rewarding, Neuman knew he made the right choice.
“Keep it for now; I’ll have it retrieved later.”
—
The mercenary group wasn’t the only people he contacted. People that were in positions to come across information of value were contacted to work for him in return for payment, though some with ill reputations had to be convinced through other means.
Zalika’s technopathy came in very handy during the negotiations.
Evidence on Roman Sionis was moving along well, as his lieutenant Thomas wasn’t still aware of the bug, and Miles kept tracking their illegal deeds across Gotham, which included protection rackets, weapon smuggling, and drug sales for the most part, along with several smaller hustles.
Now, it was time to act.
—
Gordon’s Residence
James Gordon, commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, released a sigh of contentment, as he was finally home after a long day.
Barbara, his beloved daughter, opened the door, greeting him with a hug. “Welcome, Dad. How was your day?”
“Same old. How was yours?”
Barbara shrugged, as Jim knew school was rather easy for her. “The school is the same as always. Oh, you got this envelope. I think it is a flash disk, but I didn’t open it.”
“Thank you, sweetheart; I’ll open it after dinner.”
—
Dinner was one affair where father and daughter worked together for some bonding time, and after they were done, James sat before the television and opened the thick envelope. Inside it was a phone number on a piece of paper and a flash disk, which he inserted into the television and played, wondering who sent them and why.
His eyes were glued to the TV when it played a recording of Black Mask in the middle of a drug deal. GCPD was after evidence like this for months but had come up empty-handed, and with Batman busy with the Justice League and metahumans that were popping out of nowhere, the caped crusader didn’t have the time to target Roman Sionis.
James Gordon rang the number.
“Good evening, commissioner. I believe I have your interest.” A suave and captivating voice answered the call, one that was foreign to James. “Yes, you do. Who am I speaking to?”
“Miles Beckett, we have a mutual caped associate.” James was inclined to believe the man, because it would be pretty stupid to claim to know Batman to the one man in the GCPD that was known to work with him.
“Batman, huh? I don’t remember him mentioning you before.” Not that the caped crusader talked much about his friends.
“I tend to stay out of his territory; you know how protective he could be, though I had to make an exception as Roman Sionis came to me first.”
“What did that bastard want from you?”
“Tried to offer me a business deal, though I am afraid I didn’t listen to the details before ending the call. Now, if you wish to hear what I have on Sionis, we should talk face-to-face.
“Come to the department then.” The man should have no problem coming to GCPD, as James could ensure his safety. If not, he would go prepared.
“You have a rat infestation, Commissioner. That is why your raid on the docks failed.”
James clenched his hands, remembering the smug look on Black Mask’s face as they didn’t find anything at the docks. “I knew something like this was possible, but not who. Got a name for me?”
Which soulless bastard had sold them out to someone like Roman Sionis?
“Officer Lang, I have him on video informing Thomas Moore of the raid.” Lang was a pretty unassuming face, all things considered, and James guessed if it was true, that must be the reason why Sionis picked him.
“Fine, do you have a place in mind?” He would take precautions, of course, but this was an opportunity he could not miss.
“I’ll pick you up.” On cue, a car horn blared outside, and James got up to go and look, seeing a black limo outside.
“Give me a minute.” He ended the call and dialed Batman’s contact to verify the man’s claim.
—
Claire opened the door, letting Commissioner Gordon inside, and Miles gestured to the seat across from him as Baraka drove for a tour around the block.
“I called Batman; he didn’t know you would be in Gotham.”
Miles smiled, ignoring “I wanted to work without his glare at my back.”
“Well, what do you have on Sionis?”
The man pulled out several flash disks, handing them over, each one labeled with the crimes Black Mask was suspected of and a couple more they didn’t know, and photos of Lang sitting with Thomas Moore, eating pie. “These should be more than enough for you to put him behind bars for life.”
The man had a cold look in his eyes now, with a smile that was more threatening than assuring, and leaned closer to James. “Though, I happen to have something more interesting in mind. How would you like to catch Sionis red-handed?
James smiled, imagining that bastard in cuffs. “Very much so.”
—
Gordon had reviewed the evidence, including the moles they had in GCPD, and planned according to that.
He had sent Barbara out of Gotham for the duration of the operation, since Roman Sionis was just the type of scumbag to target her in retaliation.
Tonight, Roman Sionis was going to sell weapons to a warlord from Africa, and if the intel provided by Miles Beckett was true, it would open the doors of the continent’s black market to Sionis.
Which could not be allowed.
Moles inside GCPD were called to the department for an impromptu operation against the Penguin and were arrested, cutting Sionis off from his informants.
It was an all-hands-on-deck operation, and right now, dozens of vehicles were making their way into the docks where the meeting would take place.
Roman Sionis was just about done.
In other parts of Gotham, Miles' mercenaries were getting ready for an operation of their own.
Comments
Samuel Bowman
I think the only thing I don't really like is the fact that he is basically Raymond reddington but with a no kill rule?? If you know Raymond then you know that he will get his hands dirty if need be and he certainly doesn't have a no kill rule.
orcun demir
Happy to hear it, and I am glad you enjoyed it:)
GameMage
This was another awesome chapter. Great story and thanks for writing, too bad I'll have to wait days for another update, but it's worth it.
