They're Scared

Thomas Austin was the boss of the Chicago Mafia. According to John, his strength was roughly on par with Viggo Tarasov, whom he had killed before. It was only because Viggo had been based in New York, where there were too many major criminals, that he had seemed like a mere underling.

Thomas was panicking now, almost as badly as Santino had.

He had thought John Wick had nothing to do with him. After all, he was in Chicago while John was in New York. But then one of his men had taken photos by the lake and spotted John with an Asian man. It was like money falling from the sky. With a ten-million-dollar bounty on John, even as a criminal, he would need a long time to earn that much. God had taken pity on him and let him pick up free money.

So he had not hesitated to send his men to collect it, while also updating the Continental Hotel with the information. Though he considered it easy money, John Wick was still a legendary figure who had been famous for many years. Thomas believed the stories were somewhat exaggerated, but caution was still necessary. No one joked around with their own life.

By informing the Continental Hotel, the hidden assassins in Chicago would also move out, increasing the odds of killing John. He knew his own limits well. If he could pick up the money, great. If not, he would let it go.

But he had still underestimated John Wick's strength—or rather, the strength of the Asian man with John. He had clearly noticed that the famous John Wick was actually following the lead of this obscure Asian man.

He looked at John standing guard by the door with a gun, then at the Asian man