The Darkness - Jason Pinter [65]
genius has figured out a way around this.
The human brain produces a certain amount of
dopamine, a neurotransmitter often associated with
pleasure.Dopamine is released through many pleasur- The Darkness
185
able experiences, including food, exercise, sex and, of
course, drugs. Simple crack cocaine releases a larger
amount of dopamine than the brain is accustomed to,
so when the user takes a second hit before the brain
can replenish dopamine, a lesser amount is released.
Yet the Darkness circumvents this by causing the
brain to produce more dopamine. This means that
each successive hit will have the exact same impact
as the one preceding it,making it more addictive than
nearly every drug on the market.
It's no wonder the cops are nervous.They're facing
streets about to be teeming with a drug that's cheaper,
more plentiful, and delivers, pardon the expression,
the best hit money can buy.
God help us all.
26
Friday
The call came close to midnight. Morgan wondered
what the hell had taken them so long.
He didn't recognize the voice on the other line. It wasn't
Chester, and he didn't think it was Leonard. Not that it
mattered much. He assumed there had to be more to the
operation than the two guys he'd met. There were twelve
other men in that room--well, eleven after the accident
with Jeremy--and they'd all been recruited like him.
Leonard had said that they'd each been recruited by a
different person, as Leonard had been brought in by this
guy Stephen Gaines. If each new recruit was brought in
by a different guy, a la Chester, that meant at least eleven
people on Chester's level.
Morgan wondered just how many people were a part
of this organization. Then he wondered how long it might
take before he could be promoted, and how much money
he'd have to bring in. Didn't matter. He'd do it.
In his mind's eye, Morgan could see Jeremy's lifeless
body sliding down the wall, clumps of his blood like egg
yolk on the wallpaper behind him. Morgan wished he felt
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187
remorseful, wished he felt some sort of sympathy for
Jeremy, but as hard as he tried he simply could not.
When Leonard described what the job entailed, it
was a zero sum equation: either you had the sack for it
or you didn't.
Jeremy didn't.
It was clear from the moment the mission was explained. Morgan had seen that look before. He found it a
little funny, considering he'd gone so far in business
because of his ability to spot men like Jeremy. Men who
wouldn't take the extra step, who worried so much about
teetering on the diving board that they couldn't even see
the riches hidden beneath the water's surface.
Morgan saw it all. He had a knack for it, could see
deals before they materialized. That was the rule of
thumb: first one in, last one out. See the profits before
everyone else did, and stay longer than everyone else
who got cold feet.
That look in Leonard's eye said it all. New product.
That's when Morgan knew he had to jump in.
When you introduced a new product to the marketplace, you didn't trust it to people who couldn't sell it,
who couldn't get the job done. A new product has an extremely narrow window of opportunity to work, and
while that door is cracked open, you needed to wedge everything but the kitchen sink in there because once that
sucker closed up, it wasn't cracking open again.
Morgan sold to people. Plain and simple. He sold them
investments in their future. He sold them the belief that
if they did not trust him then they were putting their
family's stability at risk.
Was this any different?
Morgan had done a few lines in his day. A night out at
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Jason Pinter
the strip joint with his buddies, a bump or two in the
bathroom to make those lights flicker just a little faster.
He didn't quite have the taste for it, though, felt if you
needed an external force to get high you were simply
doing the wrong drugs.
Not that he judged them. Most people were simply not
born with the same drive and instincts Morgan had been.
His parents were blue collar all