If You Go Down, I Go Down With You

Spider Senses

"Have you really thought this through? How do we merge our staff? How do we make sure the people he brings in stay in line? Are they coming her or are we going into his industry?"

I had told James I would think about it and sent him on his way. He gave me his number and told me to call him with an answer of if I ever needed anything else and winked at me.

Then I called Daryl in after he escorted James out and filled him in on what James and I had talked about. He was asking millions of questions I hadn't figured out yet but I knew if I took this deal I had to.

"I havnt thought about it yet. But I will. And we will be staying right here. And I only plan on taking in members of his staff that are loyal to him and will do whatever he says. And out of this only the ones he won't leave without. Im not taking any chances."

"How do you know he's legit?" I smile thinking of what he said to me. "If I go down, he goes down with me." That stuck in the back of my mind. He was right. I had enough evidence right now to get him locked up, but I like this idea of his. 

Not that I needed anymore money, but this would give us more. And it'll take away my competitor so I get more clients. Granted I had to now shard profit with him but that wouldn't matter if at this point I'd be getting three times more clients.

It didn't even even out, at this point both him and I would make more than double of what we were before. And so would our staff.

"If I were to do this, we would own Brooklyn. We could even expand to Queens, he'll we could expand to all of New York with his help. He's a smart man. I'm leaning towards this idea Daryl."

"I trust you and your spider senses Eliza. You have a way to know if someone is bullshitting you and if you thought he was you'd have killed him on the spot. But you didn't. You should take the deal."

"I'll let him sweat it out. Give him a call next week." I wink at Daryl and he smiles and walks out. He was right about my spider senses. I always had this thing where I could tell if someone was lying to me. I didn't have that while talking to James.

This little truck has yet to let me down. I'm counting on it now more than ever. Because if this deal goes south, not only will it completely fuck me, I might just end up dead...

*
"Miss Ridley, I went over those files you told me to yesterday on Mr. Barnes's cartel. I sorted through the articles and found the most recent ones that were relevant to the information the police had on him so far. I also checked the police database with my source at the precinct."

"And?" Mara was smart. Smart was an understatement. She was brilliant. I took her in four years ago just as I did Daryl. Both of them were older than me, which wasn't hard to accomplish, I was 24.

They were in their late twenties and working jobs way below their potential and payed basically nothing. I had been part of the drug industry since I was young, my father ran a cartel before me, he taught me everything he knew and when he died when I was 19 I completely took over.

I took over his business and I made it my own. I rebuilt it and expanded it. It was mine now. And I made more money in the past five years than he did the entire time I was alive. And with this new deal it would double.

"According to the files on record, Mr. Barnes is no longer keeping his drugs in the warehouse on 8th, he moved it right before you set up the last bust. That was the one time he had been a step ahead."

I hated to admit he had for once been a step ahead of me and the fact that she knew it too had me seething but I'm not a sore loser. I'll just do better next time, if there is a next time. I'm taking this deal.

"I think he has a man on the inside now too. And if you do take the deal, we not only have to worry about his inside man but we have to worry about where he's moved to."

"We can't have him holding out on me..." I'm thinking out loud. "I need to make sure all the gear he has, weapons and drugs, i get it all. If I do this deal it's fifty fifty, I don't want to get fucked."

I guess making James hold out until next week for an answer was out the window. "Call Barnes back in here. Set up a meeting for tomorrow morning. I want all this upfront before I accept anything."