The Darkness - Jason Pinter [78]
right now, I hate Paulina Cole. Not because she tried to ruin
my life, but because she got a story that I didn't. So not only
do I hate her, but I hate her for making me hate her."
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"That's a lot of hate to be carrying around," I said. "But
what we're working on could squash that."
"You aren't going to know that until we follow the
bread crumb trail to the end. Maybe we find something,
maybe we don't."
"I know there's something at the end," I said. "My
brother didn't die for nothing. Somebody had him killed.
And I know whoever had him killed knows what 718 Enterprises is."
"You told me your brother was a courier," Jack said.
"Right?"
"I think so. He was somewhere on the drug ladder, and
not at the bottom."
"You think it's a coincidence your brother gets killed--
you claim by someone higher up on the food chain than
he was--and then such a short time later this story breaks?"
"I don't know," I said.
"I think you have a feeling, the same one I do.You talked
to Butch Willingham, you know my reporting on the Fury."
"I know you didn't have enough to go on to report
more than you did," I said. "And that wasn't much. If the
Fury even exists."
Jack stared me down, backed me down, knowing what
we both full well believed.
"Twenty years ago," Jack said, "I thought I was certain
that there was some sort of kingpin, some sort of Wizard
of Oz named the Fury. And for whatever reason, that
person was eliminating midlevel drug dealers."
"Yeah, so?"
"Paulina might have beaten us to the story, but I don't
think she got the full story. Not even close. If the Fury
exists, he came to power in the eighties, right around the
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time the crack epidemic was strangling the life out of
New York. I don't think that's a coincidence."
"Go on," I said. I felt that familiar rush.
"Twenty years later, your brother is killed. Then this
guy Ken Tsang is killed. Both around the same age, both
likely somewhere on the totem pole in the drug game. And
then Paulina's article about this new drug, the Darkness,
gets printed. Two dealers killed. A new drug hitting the
streets. I think this person was instrumental during the
eighties, and is now taking it to a whole new level."
"History repeats itself," I said. "But this isn't the same
city as it was twenty years ago. I mean, between Giuliani
and 9/11, you can't argue that we're not more secure."
"Security is all relative," Jack said. "When the economy takes a turn for the worse, especially when it nosedives like it has, it breeds crime and corruption. They're
both sides of the same coin. You get one you get the
other. You know the expression, 'can't see the forest for
the trees,' right?"
"Of course."
"Right now, this city is staring at the forest. It's looking
at the big picture. Terrorism, biohazards, all noble and important things to be watching out for. In the eighties and
nineties, we didn't have to worry about things like that. So
guys like Giuliani, Ray Kelly and Bill Bratton could look
at it from the street level, the trees. There's a reason Fortysecond Street looks like Walt Disney threw up all over it
and not like hooker paradise anymore. Twenty years ago,
the cops could look at the city through a microscope.
Nowadays, they need to look at it via satellite. And when
you look at things from a macro perspective, when you're
looking at rooftops and airplanes, you miss the rat holes.
Beneath our noses, there's something big brewing. And
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whoever's behind it is smart enough to know that this is
the right time, and that we might be defenseless."
"Paulina's story," I said, "all it's going to do is create
demand for the product."
"Without a doubt. Nothing gets people motivated like
being told they shouldn't do something. Word of mouth
takes a match to ignite it. For all of Paulina's moxie in
getting this story, I worry that she's going to inadvertently
do the exact opposite of alarming the public--she's going
to make them want it even more."
I suddenly felt nauseous. When I'd met with