Chapter 519: The Children of Empire
Al Capone was just the first of many names on a list, silently and covertly transferred to the German Mob. The list? Names of major players in America’s criminal underworld. Or at least the biggest names, which Bruno remembers hearing about in his past life.
Anyone who threatened to disrupt the consolidation of illicit power within the United States was silently removed. No "Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre" or other such gruesome headlines would hit the news again for quite some time.
But even if these murders didn’t reach the news, or were printed for public consumption. They still happened, and the fate of the American criminal networks changed forever. After returning to Tyrol, Bruno washed his hands of the event.
He never spoke of it again, nor continued to hold direct ties to the German Mob across the Atlantic. Any further business that needed to be attended to between the two parties was done through a proxy.
The only reason he had even shown his face in New York was to remind Mr. Fritz that he wasn’t some new age aristocrat, he was scum of the earth, and just another boot in Bruno’s service.
Bruno was ultimately right... President Hughes lost the primary later that year, and Calvin Coolidge lost to his opponent in the democratic party. John W. Davis was sworn into office and became the new President of the United States, beginning in 1925.
But it mattered little. Bruno had enough evidence to bring the entirety of the American federal government down if the dirt was leaked to the public. Who sat in the Oval Office actually mattered very little to him.
But what Bruno was most surprised to see was that the wiretaps had not been removed after Hughes left the office. In fact, the new president seemed not remotely aware of them. As if Hughes had not even warned the man.
Either way, German Intelligence did not blindly believe the information gathered from these bugged calls. Rather, they treated it as suspect, only verified if other forms of intelligence corroborated what was said on the tape.
Frankly speaking, none of this really mattered to Bruno, who, during this time of peace, found himself focusing more on his own family than matters that were being delegated to the proper departments.
Erwin was a prime of example of this. Having dropped out of the military academy, to pursue a life as a civilian. He had long since graduated from university, and had taken over his father’s conglomerates as the primary driving force of administrative control.
And to Bruno’s surprise, the corporations from all industries that were tied to his name, and family’s wealth, never operated more efficiently. Erwin had inherited his father’s work ethic, spending most days in the office, securing government contracts, and ensuring that revenue was built on long term and stable growth.