Children Of A Lesser God

"Boss, things are getting real tricky in most areas. Cops are locking down entire blocks, searching for then d.a.m.n mutants."

"Yeah Boss, it"s next to impossible to do an honest days sales anymore."

"We"re bleeding money left and right here boss. And the runners are scared they are going to get busted, so as soon as they sell out, they stop."

Complaints were flying all over the place as the various men and women in the room voiced their concerns about the business. As the man who had just taken over running the illegal side of the business in this city, Tony felt more like someone had taken a s.h.i.t on him as opposed to feeling great about getting promoted. As it stood, this was the last test before he could begin officially working for the legal side of things. Of course, nothing was running smoothly and the only people he had working for him were full of complaints and no solutions.

Tony couldn"t help but sigh and turn away from the window before sitting down at lead seat of the long rectangular table. Looking left and right, his eyes strayed for just a moment on Desi who happened to be on his immediate left. She was dressed in a tight fitted suit that did little to hide her sensational curves along with black rimmed gla.s.ses that made her look totally like the secretary she was pretending to be. Seeing his gaze land on her, she couldn"t help but smile back provocatively, giving him a bit of encouragement.

"Alright. Here"s what we are going to do. Get some tests together from our legal contacts and test the runners to get them a clean certification. After that, reduce their carrying loads to only what can be concealed on their persons. At this point, no one gives a d.a.m.n about small time runners so as long as they don"t look shifty, things will be fine. The cops are more worried about what"s in their blood as opposed to what"s on their person."
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"So you want us to play by the law?" One of the more ruthless looking leaders asked.

"Why the h.e.l.l not?" Tony shot back. He knew that he was being put to the test and whatever decisions he made would either cement his position or bury him. The worst thing he could do right now was nothing.

"Most of the runners have records. And you want them to actually submit themselves to a government backed testing?" The ruthless man asked as though Tony were an idiot.

"It"s quite simple if you would stop and think about it. In the last six months, how many raids have the police conducted? When"s the last time you heard about the DEA cracking down on a supplier? Or h.e.l.l, how many of our people have been stopped and frisked in the last four months? No one gives a s.h.i.t about this right now, so why the h.e.l.l aren"t we out making a killing?"

"Well..."

"f.u.c.k! Everyone here needs to b.a.l.l.s the f.u.c.k up and get to it. Once they are certified as clean, they are walking the golden G.o.d d.a.m.n road in this city. Long as we don"t flash our merchandise to a badge, they aren"t going to waste time with it. For once, they have bigger f.u.c.king fish to fry. Am I wrong?" Looking around the room, the dozen leaders had finally shut up and started to think about what Tony had said. No matter who it was, they realized he had a point.

"Excuse me. Mr. Hearn?" A women in a skirt and dress shirt popped her head through the door without knocking.

"We are a bit busy at the moment Christina," Tony responded back in a flat voice.

"Sir, it"s a call concerning that individual you rated. You asked that I tell you as soon as something came in."

"Ah. Yes. Ladies and Gentlemen, excuse me." Tony got up and walked over to a side door and stepped inside. The corner office was still being redecorated after it"s last resident had vacated rather suddenly. From what Tony knew, it wasn"t in a pleasant manner.

After picking up the phone, Tony spoke a bit, answering the questions asked and in turn, asking a few of his own. After he put down the phone, he picked up his cell and sent a quick message before going back into the meeting room.

"Are there any other objections?" Tony asked after he returned to his seat. All of the others who had gathered shook their heads no, with just the ruthless looking man opening his mouth.

"What happens if we find infected within the runners?"

"We"ve got a special place for those people. Christina will pa.s.s out some information to everyone on your way out. There is more than one way they can make money for us," Tony commented with a glint in his eye. Although the other leaders didn"t understand what he meant, they had no problem making a buck off of someone else, no matter how that buck came to be. So far, it seemed like this new leader was off to a good start.

After the room cleared, it was only Desi and Tony left.

"Did you let her know?" Desi asked as she slid closer to Tony.

"Of course. You think she would let me go if I failed to mention it as soon as I found out?"

"He he he. To think you would be scared of your own cousin who you used to think almost nothing of."

"Yeah. And if you met her, you would think she is d.a.m.n scary now too. I have no idea what happened, but either that boy is the luckiest man alive... or he won"t be breathing much longer."

"She still never explained it?"

"No. And I stopped asking. She"s doing her own thing now and no one is going to get in her way. And that is just the way those old guys want it."

Desi could only nod her head as she stood up and started rubbing Tony"s shoulders. No matter how much power he acc.u.mulated at this point, he would never end up matching his cousin in this life. At this point, he could only hope he lived to see an old age.

...

Max came back to the bar and stood there for a minute, without saying anything. Leo, who had been waiting patiently, was about to say something when Max held his hand up to stop him. Had it been anyone else, Leo probably would have lost his cool since it was rather disrespectful. But when it came to Max who had been a part of his life since as far back as he could remember, he knew the middle aged man just needed some time to collect his thoughts.

"All I"m going to say is that there is no problem."

"So, he really was recommended by Tony Hearn? The Tony Hearn who just took over in New York?"

"Yes."

"d.a.m.n. What is a guy like him doing in a place like this?" As part of his training, Leo was always made aware of big movements in the family. Because of this, he knew that Tony was now one of the most powerful underground bosses in the family. And for someone who was approved by this person to show up here, Leo just couldn"t make sense of it.

"Don"t ask. In fact, it"s best to never ask about his past. Also... it seems that someone even further up is behind him as well."

"WHAT!?!" Leo was shocked, to say the least. For someone higher than Tony to be behind Laz... he just went blank at the thought.

"This... this is a chance even your father would kill for. But it is also ma.s.sively dangerous," Max finally concluded. When he made the call to the couple of guys he knew to check on the reference, he never thought he would talk to Tony himself. In fact, the idea never even crossed his mind. Normally, a lower level manager would take the call, relay it to the secretary and wait back for the yes or no. The fact that the young man was important enough for Tony to take the call himself relaid just how important Laz was to him and that someone else. There was more Max wanted to say to Leo, but he had sworn not to say any more than he already did. Max had a family and didn"t want a loose tongue to cause a disaster.

"Still. I can"t help but shake the feeling that until this call, Tony had no idea where Laz was. It almost sounded like he didn"t even know if he was alive... What the h.e.l.l happened in the past?" Although those questions weighed on Max, they could only be kept in his head. All he could do from here on out was to hopefully get Leo and Laz connected in a good way. This could secure the future for this son of his former boss.

"I don"t even want to think about what might happen if Lester gets involved... d.a.m.n G.o.d, how did two people from the same parents end up so different." Max finished his thoughts before turning his attention back to Leo.

At the present, Leo was trying to figure out ways to generate business for Waves. Although the weekend was the bread winner, it wouldn"t be enough to let the place grow. He needed something to be a draw a few days during the week as well. So far, the live band and Karaoke night was doing ok, but it didn"t get much in the way of money since it was big with the 18+ crowd that couldn"t drink.

"Hmm... I wonder if Laz will have an idea?" Leo already thought of Laz as a gold mine.

...

The person who was suddenly at the front of a lot of people"s minds was currently sitting down on the couch in his camper while watching TV with Vivi while playing with the pouch he had picked up. After some trial and error, Laz figured out that he didn"t actually have to physically put something into the pouch or take something out of it.

"So... If I just focus my spirit sense into the pouch, I can basically locate the thing I want and have it come to me. In the same way, I can use my sense to cause something to go into the pouch in whatever way I want," Laz said to Vivi, who seemed to be ignoring him. It wasn"t that she was mad at him or anything. The problem was that she was the one who had figured all this out, but was currently unable to use the pouch. That, mixed with the fact that Laz kept playing with it just caused her to be done with him. For her, this was something that she had knowledge about and therefore wasn"t that impressed by it after a while. But for Laz, it was like the best toy he had gotten in a while and he just kept throwing random s.h.i.t in it and pulling it back out. It was like the difference between a new driver getting their license and wanting to drive all the time and an experienced driver who would rather stay home.

After Laz tried sucking the refrigerator into it and succeeding, Vivi finally had enough.

"Would you knock that s.h.i.t off already?"

"What? It"s amazing."

"It"s annoying. It"s not like you can just use that whenever you want," Vivi said, rolling her eyes.

"Why not?" Laz questioned.

"How the h.e.l.l will you explain it if you suddenly make a couch or a bed or a gas grill appear out of thin air?" Vivi asked, mentioning the things he had put in and taken out of it.

"Uh... Right." Laz finally realized the problem. Just because he could use it, didn"t mean he could show other people. It would have to be for emergency use only. Despite knowing this, he was still half tempted to try putting the old motorcycle into it.

"What are we going to do next?" Vivi finally asked, trying to get Laz"s attention away from the pouch.

"Next?" Laz didn"t understand.

"You can"t think it will be fine to just hole up here for too much longer and not do anything right? We need to keep moving. The monsters in the area are thinning out for now and there are no more high growth spots. If we want to keep getting stronger, unless you want to start killing some people, we will need to move soon." Vivi rationalized.

Laz knew that she was right, but he was finally starting to feel a bit settled in the area. He knew people, got a job and no one knew who he was. It was perfect. But he also knew it wouldn"t last. For now though, he was going to put it off for a while longer.

"Well. I"m still waiting on Jade"s info about my parents and I just got the job. So until I make some cash, we will have to stick around for a bit."

"Fine. But don"t get too comfortable. Or attached. We can"t stay here forever."

"Yeah." She was right. Besides, he still had at least two more goals on his list. Find the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who killed Kat and the a.s.shole for Kennedy. He wasn"t going to forget those two promises. Not even if his life depended on it.