The Darkness - Jason Pinter [121]
bones to paste, and coat the walls of this room with her
blood. And I will make sure you are alive when all of it
takes place. And only when you have no screams left to
offer will you join her."
I sat there, my whole body cold. Amanda.
"You see, when I kill a person, their death must not be
in vain. It must represent something. Your brother's death
was a sign that even our highest-earning lieutenants were
not invulnerable. Kenneth Tsang's death was a warning to
new employees as to what could happen if you weren't
trustworthy. Brett Kaiser's death showed that we can reach
anybody, anywhere. To me, blood and bone are like paint
and a brush. With the right artistry, one can create a work
of art that speaks to people. Your family, Henry, would be
a message that our reach does not stop within our organization, but that we can touch even the smallest, most insignificant lives."
"You wouldn't..."
"I wouldn't?" Ramos said. "Your mother and father
live in Bend, Oregon, on a sunny little street called East- The Darkness
347
view Drive. I can have a man there tonight. Your parents
could be dead before the evening news. Your parents are
insignificant, which is why their deaths would be all the
more glorious."
"You're a monster."
"I'm only a monster because this involves you, Henry.
How many monsters do you see, day in and day out, in
your line of work? Proximity heightens emotions.
Things could be different. You could have been down on
your luck, penniless, and come to work for me. And
then, like so many of these young men, you would have
understood."
"I don't know anything besides what Paulina wrote,"
I said. "There's nothing more to the story."
"That's not true," she said. "You've been quite an
explorer. Tell me what you know."
I looked up at her, and if looks could kill Eve Ramos
would have been dead several times over. "I know that you
and Rex Malloy were in Panama together, and that your
troop was attacked and Chester Malloy was killed. I also
know that it was in Panama that you learned how to synthesize Darkness, and you managed to smuggle it back to
America. I know that all your drug mules are young men,
and you're using their debts to get them to work for you."
"Great thing about those young men," Eve said, "is
that they have something to lose. You see, when a man
has pride, he will do things he knows are wrong to prove
his worth. These men were born with nothing, but worked
their way into high-paying jobs. When those lives were
taken away, that ambition, that pride, left a gaping hole.
I simply offer to fill that hole. I will not use men from the
slums, poor urban souls who have nothing to lose.
Dealers are nothing more than hungry animals. You feed
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them, throw them an extra bone here or there, they'll do
anything for you."
"Even die for you."
"Not by choice, but yes."
"Why 718 Enterprises?" I asked.
"Ha! That's simple, Henry. I was born in Queens."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
There was a knock at the door behind Ramos. She
went and opened it. A man stood there. He was wearing
a suit, brown hair neatly combed. And he was holding a
legal pad and pen.
"Leonard, come in," she said. "Meet Henry Parker."
"Mr. Parker, it's a pleasure." He didn't offer a hand.
Just as well.
"Leonard Reeves," I said. He looked at Ramos with
evident discomfort.
"How much does he know?"
Eve chuckled softly. "Apparently more than I thought."
"Leonard Reeves," I said again. "Graduated from
Princeton in 1993. Former executive at Morgan Stanley,
and liaison to the Department of Finance."
I watched as Reeves's eyes widened, rage drumming
up inside of him.
"How do you--"
"Which leads me to this question," I said. "How much
is Eve Ramos paying you to sell out our government?"
Now it was Ramos who couldn't contain herself,
laughing hysterically. Reeves looked at her. His rage
seemed to subside as he saw how unperturbed she was by
my knowledge.
"Henry, you have this all wrong," she said. "We're not
selling out the government. Hell, we're working