The first person he saw was Nikesh. The Indian boy was standing in the center of the room. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit, with a red tie and wingtip loafers.
His hair was freshly cut, and Morgan noticed a small shaving nick under his chin.
Nikesh turned around. He nodded when he saw Morgan.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Morgan replied, wittily.
Then Nikesh turned around, and Morgan saw that he had a large briefcase slung over his shoulders. The bag was full, but not overstuffed. There was a combination lock on the front, and the clasp was done.
“Patel, you’re finished here. Flanagan?”
The chubby white kid from the conference room ambled out of the side room. He was also clutching a briefcase, this one stuffed even more. Though the bag looked ready to burst, Chubby-aka Flanagan-seemed to have no trouble carrying it. Obviously whatever was inside didn’t weigh much.
“You two have your orders,” Leonard told them. “And you remember everything I told you.”
Patel and Flanagan both nodded. They looked confident.
Whatever Leonard had told them, they remembered it.
Leonard clicked something in his ear, nodded, then motioned for the duo to follow him. He slid the door open, revealing the corridor. When they’d stepped outside, Leonard pulled the door back into place.
“Your turn,” Leonard said. “Time for orientation.”
Leonard walked over to the side door. This one looked fairly standard, with a doorknob and everything. Leonard simply turned the knob, pulled it open and beckoned
Morgan to follow him.
Tentatively Morgan came forward, surprised at first that the door wasn’t guarded by some super electromagnet or something else similarly complicated.
As he approached the door, another young man stepped out. Morgan recognized him from the conference room. He was black, about five foot ten. Stocky but not fat, with a neatly shaved head. He wore a creamcolored suit and a blue tie, a pocket square neatly tucked into his jacket.
“Theodore W. Goggins,” Leonard said. “This is Morgan
Isaacs.”
Morgan extended his hand. Theodore shook it. His grip was tight.
“Call me Theo.”
“Call me Morgan,” he replied. “So ‘W’ huh? Like
George W. Bush?”
“Do I look like I was born in Texas?” Theo said. “The
‘W’ is for Willingham, my uncle’s last name.”
“Keeping it all in the family,” Morgan said. “Nice.”
Theo laughed. “You keep up, brother, you and me are gonna get along just fine.”
“Get along?” Morgan said.
“You two are partners, for the time being,” Leonard said. “You ever use the buddy system on school trips?”
Neither of the young men answered, but they both knew what he was talking about.
“Same principle. Theo, you’re responsible for Morgan.
Morgan, you’re responsible for Theo. Either of you get into any trouble, it’s up to the other one to help out.”
“No problem,” Morgan said. “That’s a pretty sweet tie,” he noted, admiring the silk.
“Only kind I wear,” Theo said. “Red is too loud. Says you’re trying too hard. Lighter colors-yellow, green- those are pansy-ass colors. Black, white, hell, you’re not even trying. Blue is the perfect in between. It’s bold, but it doesn’t say that. It’s like a backrub. Sounds pretty innocent, but it’s going to get your panties off before the night is over.”
“I’m not wearing any panties. So I guess you already won.”
“Enough, girls,” Leonard said. His voice grew stern, and he moved forward until his face was just inches from
Morgan’s. “Theo is also your insurance policy, Isaacs, and Isaacs is yours, Goggins. If you ever try anything funny, ever do anything to place yourself or your partner in danger…well, there’s a quarter-million-dollar bonus in it for your partner if he turns you in.”
“Wait, what?” Morgan said. “He gets two hundred and fifty grand for ratting on me?”
“Yes and no,” Leonard continued. “I already explained this to Theo, but you need to know it as well. If your partner does anything-talks to the cops, tells his friends, tells his family, tells his fucking shih tzu-if you inform us you get quarter-million-dollar bonus. Tax free.”
Morgan could tell Theo was eyeballing him. He didn’t like it.
“But,” Leonard said, “if one of you lies just to get the money, you won’t need money where you’re going.
So before you decide to play games, ask yourself if the risk is really worth the reward. You can either continue to make money-good money-working for us. Or you can get cute, try to get rich quick, and end up like
Ken Tsang.”
Morgan’s stomach felt like someone had just poured acid inside of it.
Leonard and his people couldn’t have been responsible for Ken’s death-could they?
“Hopefully you’ll never need to know what it feels like to be able to touch your knee to the small of your back,”
Leonard said. “Or for your arms to suddenly grow another joint. Because Ken sure did.”
Theo didn’t move. Did not react. Morgan stared at
Leonard. He was scared, and Leonard seemed to recognize this.
“Now, don’t get ahead of yourself thinking all doom and gloom. Ken was stupid,” Leonard said. “I’m hoping you’re smart. Because if you are, it’s nothing but gravy for all of us. Theo here is your guardian angel, and the bomb collar strapped to your neck. He will protect you at all costs, but if you try and remove him in any way whatsoever-he’ll still be around long after the bomb goes off. Do you get this? Both of you?”
Theo nodded. He didn’t seem to care, didn’t seem affected in the least. It was as though he knew he would never turn. Never lie to these people. He was there for the money. And as long as he did what he was told, that green would pour in.
“I get it,” Morgan finally said. The acid had gone. The look on Theo’s face had made it dry up. This was Morgan’s chance to get his life back. He would never do what Ken did. And he knew Theo would never turn on him.
They both had too much to lose.
“Great. Now that we’re clear on the rules, let’s go over everything. But first, let’s give you a look at your merchandise.”
Leonard opened the door up wider. Theo went back inside, and Morgan followed. And when he saw what was inside, it was all he could do not to gasp.
“How much…” he said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Leonard said.
Morgan looked around. In a dozen neat piles, each about twenty feet wide and five feet tall, were small, individual bags. Each of these bags contained what looked like a different kind of narcotic.
Cocaine. Ecstasy. Weed. Pills. Things Morgan didn’t recognize in the slightest.
And then, in the back corner, he saw something that piqued his curiosity.
Bags filled with what looked like small pieces of black gravel. Rocks so small and so insignificant that they looked like they could have been taken from his grandmother’s driveway.
“What’s that?” Morgan said.
“That,” replied Leonard, “is going to revolutionize our business.”
Morgan stared at it. Theo’s eyes were wide open.
“We call it ‘the Darkness.’ And in one week’s time,”
Leonard said, “you’ll be so busy selling those bags you won’t have time to spend all the money you make.” Then
Leonard smiled. “But I imagine you’ll find the time.”
27
“Nobody knows anything.”
Even though I was holding a telephone to my ear, I wanted to wrap my hands around the piece of plastic and choke the life out of it.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“I’m telling you, Henry,” Curt said. “Nobody here knows a damn thing about Paulina Cole’s article. Nobody knows who gave her those quotes, nobody knows where she got her information, and if it makes you feel any better nobody here has even heard of this so-called magic drug, Darkness or whatever. It’s like she pulled the whole thing out of thin air.”