Read Dominant Species Volume Two -- Edge Effects (Dominant Species Series) for Free Online Page B

steal the shit. You
can stash it and you can sell it. You can do it all if you want to, just stay
out of my way.”
    Eddie figured it had been worth a shot. He took another puff.
“Okay. Sixty-forty,” he said. “But I don’t go near the shit after I tell you
where it is. Period. You’re on your own.”
    “Now you see why I get seventy.”
    Eddie ignored it and took another puff.
    “I gotta work the manifests, too, ya know. I gotta fudge 'em so it
looks like less came in than did. As long as I do that, we could stay in
business forever. But it takes some doing. It ain’t easy.”
    “There still ain’t no risk in it—and don’t bullshit me. You can
screw with the manifests in your spare time.”
    Eddie snuffed his cigarette in the moist dirt. “I don’t know . .
.”
    “I know you don’t know, and that’s why I get seventy,” Geary said.
    “You don’t have to get shitty about it,” Eddie blinked.
    “No offense, but I been at this a long time. Probably since you
was in diapers. All you gotta do is tell me where the shit is— that’s it. You
give me the goddamned container number and go have a smoke or a circle jerk
with your little pals. When you get up the next morning the shit’ll be safely
stored away. Hell, come to think of it, your part ain’t even worth thirty.”
    “Whoa. Whoa . . . thirty’s the lowest I’ll ever go.”
    “We got a deal then?”
    Eddie thought it over. Geary watched his face scrunch up like it
was in a vise.
    “Yeah. We got a deal,” Eddie said.
    Perfect, Geary thought. “What ‘cha got?” he asked. “What’s come in that’s
worth a shit right now?”
    “Not much at the moment. There’s some first-aid stuff coming down
tomorrow. There might be some drugs.”
    “Good. Drugs are good. Good place to start.”
    Geary knew the kid wasn’t happy with the deal, but he’d get used
to it. He watched Eddie kick idly at the dirt. He could almost hear the words getting and screwed swimming in his head.
    “You’re gonna make a lot of money, kid.”
    “Not as much as you.”
    “That’s right. But when all that money starts coming your way,
you’ll be damned glad I’m your partner.”
    Eddie lit another cigarette. “How’s Tap Porter?”
    “Oh, he’s dead.”
    “No shit.”
    “Yep. Dead as a stick.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “I killed him when he shorted me. I cut him from here,” he
answered, as he touched Eddie’s stomach and traced a line to his chin, “to
here.”
    Eddie looked into Geary’s small, black eyes and tried to smile. He
was a tough kid, but the malice in those eyes put his bladder on the very edge
for a second.
    “Yeah . . . ?” he asked, trying to pretend he was tougher than he
was.
    “Yeah. You stick to the deal. Don’t you ever cheat me. I won’t
tell you again. If you fuck me over there won’t be nothin’ to discuss. I’ll
just kill ya.”
    He tapped Eddie’s arm with the back of his hand as if they were
best friends. “We got a deal?” he said.
    Eddie swallowed. “Yeah. We got a deal.”
    “Let’s meet here tomorrow, same time. You can tell me where the
drugs are then. See you around.”
     
    * * *
     
    Geary left the kid standing there smoking. He’d given him
something to think about, he was sure of that.
    Geary had always figured it was best to be upfront in your
business dealings. He couldn’t stand wishy-washy deals or bastards who tried
to screw you. It was best to just get it all out up front. He’d meant what he’d
said. He’d said the same thing to Tap Porter. He hoped the kid had listened.
Tap Porter hadn’t.
    When he got back to the dump that night, Geary was relieved when
he saw the drums still there in a jumbled pile; he’d half expected someone to
grab them before he got to them.
    The moonlight was bright enough that he didn’t have to use the
flood just yet. Good thing. It wouldn’t do to advertise his presence at the
dump, scrounging around in the middle of the night.
    He’d made a crude