The Darkness - Jason Pinter [122]
48
"Working for them," I said. "You mean the city is
making money off of you. That's why I found a money
order made out to Morgan Isaacs for fifty grand from
Leonard Reeves. Reeves works for 718. You set your
drug cartel up as a legit business, and the government is
making millions of dollars in taxes off of dead people and
blood money."
"Millions right now, maybe. Soon it'll be hundreds of
millions," Ramos said. "And once the Darkness spreads
to other metropolitan areas--Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago--it'll be in the billions."
"How can they let this happen?" I said. "Don't they
know these drugs are killing people? Don't they know
who you are?"
"Know who I am?" Eve said. "Not only do they know
who I am...they're the reason I'm here."
"Panama," I said. "The Hard Chargers--you were
one of them?"
"Yes and no. I certainly did my share of hell-raising
down there. Nothing helps sell a war like violence against
our troops. But those bastards weren't supposed to kill
me. And it's their fault Chester died."
350
Jason Pinter
"Hollinsworth said you found a way to synthesize
Darkness," I said. "So why would the government still
work with you if you stole this from Noriega?"
"Oh, they didn't know," she said. "In fact, they trusted
me so much that when the CIA-backed cartels in the
eighties got out of hand, guess who they put in charge to
oversee things?"
"That's why you're the Fury," I said. "They installed
you as a watchdog because their money was at stake. With
you there, they could make sure the money was going to
fund the Contras."
"Yeah, but that stopped being fun after a while. Why
be a watchdog when you can be the top dog? Those
cartels made billions, but the leadership had more balls
than they had brains. They were more than happy to let
someone take over who could handle distribution on a nationwide basis. Unfortunately word got out and that
reporter Webb found out about it. The CIA tried to pull
the plug. But when you're running a covert operation,
pulling the plug doesn't mean ending things so much as
pretending they never happened."
I said, "So they left you in charge of the largest drug
cartel in North America."
"Your tax dollars at work. And Mr. Reeves here was
kind enough to set up a deal where not only could we work
in peace, but we'd benefit the city of New York as well.
Thousands of federal employees laid off due to a lack of
funds, and that's exactly what we're giving them back."
"Makhoulian," I said. "He was the mole in the NYPD.
He knew everything we were doing."
"More or less. I am a little surprised by how persistent
you are, Henry."
"So why this?" I said. "Why now?"
The Darkness
351
"Well, the truth is we weren't able to perfect the
mixture until recently. But if you believe in fate--like I
do--then everything came together for a reason. Look at
this city, Henry. Its infrastructure is crumbling. It's
billions of dollars in debt. Millions of people have lost
everything, and the people who pump the most money
into this economy--the rich--are losing their jobs. The
pipes have been rotting for years. With the Darkness, I
managed to build the greatest cherry bomb the city has
ever seen, and dropping it into those pipes now will cause
the whole system to come crashing down. Cities burn
from the ground up, not the top down."
"All because you think you were sent to die in Panama.
This isn't about money. It's about payback."
"Call it what you want. Truth is, I'm doing this city a
favor. New York will have a chance to bring itself back
from the wreckage. Twenty years ago this city teetered
on the edge, and it was brought back. When a city comes
so close for a second time, it needs a little push. That's
where I come in."
"No matter how many people die in the process."
"I read somewhere that over a hundred billion people
have died since the earth was created. Am I really
supposed to shed a tear for a few more?"
"You're settling a grudge," I said. "You feel you were
sent to die, so you're taking revenge."
"Not to mention a handsome