42

  Rufi took a deep breath. The rumours were all over the cobbles. The overdoses had started again. By morning, it was in the papers. By the afternoon, it was in the pubs. And by evening, the Kings had convened another meeting. Sam’Sun was waiting for Rufi and had whisked him away in a black carriage before he could say a word.

  “How many are they saying?” Sam’Sun asked as their carriage went North out of the Goblin Town and into the East End.

  “Ten so far,” Rufi replied numbly. His mind was racing. How could there be more of it? He had snatched Haney’s supply, and the coppers had got the fresh batch. There was no way there was anymore of the Bad Batch on the streets. “Eight junkies, a singer, and some famous theatre director.”

  “All of them last night?”

  Rufi nodded.

  “Where?”

  “Most of ‘em were junkies down in the RatHoles and one of them was a hooker down by the Docks. The director and the singer were found in the Umbry theatre.” Rufi felt his stomach churn. He wanted to vomit. He had given his uncle his word that it was over, and not only was there a fresh wave of overdoses but two high profile ones to go with it.

  Sam’Sun sighed wearily.

  “They will put this at our feet,” Sam’Sun said.

  “I’m sorry…”

  Sam’Sun waved away his apology.

  “You were certain the product was off the streets?”

  “Yes. Haney was the main supplier and I robbed him. Then the coppers got his fresh batch. Unless they were selling to more than one supplier,” Rufi said.

  “And you have no idea who the supplier is?”

  Rufi clenched his jaw. He couldn’t point fingers at the Gnomes, not with his own personal involvement in distributing the Bad Batch. Besides, what evidence did he actually have? A few scraps of paper with Gnommish scrawl and some red string? Rufi shook his head in response to his uncle’s question.

  “The only thing I’m sure about is that they’re not from inside the city.” Rufi said.

  “We will tread carefully here, Nephew.” Sam’Sun said. “Do not speak if it can be helped.”

  Rufi nodded. Their carriage rolled to a stop around the back of the famous Waca Lounge. Rufi stepped out of the carriage and looked up and down the street before opening his uncle’s door. Sam’Sun stepped down with a hand from Rufi, and they made their way to the back entrance. Two Humans stood guard at the door. They patted down Rufi, took his weapons, and then welcomed Sam’Sun in.

  The Waca lounge’s private backroom was certainly more plush than other meeting spaces. It was well lit but still dim and cosy, with golden candles flickering in elaborate candelabras on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. There was a smattering of comfortable sofas lining the walls of the room for the seconds. The table in the middle was a large poker table with a velvet green tabletop. The other three Kings were already sitting around the table and looked like they had been here for a while. That wasn’t good. Sam’Sun was similarly perturbed by the scene before him.

  “Have I interrupted?” Sam’Sun said, stopping short of the table.

  The Yano looked decidedly unhappy. Delilah gave him a sheepish smile. Bill gave him a predatory grin.

  “You told us this Bad Batch was off the streets and the deaths would stop,” Bill growled, his arms crossed with a triumphant smirk on his face.

  “Ten more overdoses were recorded last night,” The Yano said.

  “And two of them were very high profile,” Delilah added. “Eliza Hartwell and Manny Litteragi. Their names and faces are all over the papers. Eliza was a well known singer and Manny had many powerful friends.”

  “Care to explain yourself?” Bill said, clearly enjoying the opportunity to look down on Sam’Sun.

  Sam’Sun’s baleful eyes roamed around the table. Rufi felt a crackle of wrathful energy radiate from him.

  “No.” The word thundered even though Sam’Sun had not raised his voice. It rumbled from deep within his chest and rippled across the room.

  “No?” Bill repeated, baring his teeth like a dog ready to bite.

  “Who are you to stand me on trial?” Sam’Sun said, keeping his voice perfectly level.

  The Yano looked away from Sam’Sun, Delilah took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder, while Bill leaned forward and stabbed his long index finger at Sam’Sun.

  "Well, when you give a feller a job to do and they fuck it up and prove themselves to be incompetent…”

  “You need to watch your fucking mouth Bill,” Rufi snarled, taking a step towards the Landlord, his fists balled.

  "What the fuck did you just say to me?" Bill leapt from his chair, sending it skittering across the floor, his second, Golden, appeared from the shadows behind him.

  Sam’Sun was suddenly between Rufi and Bill. He was shorter than both of them but so broad and impassable they almost looked like squabbling children next to him.

  “Gentlemen!” Delilah cried out, standing up and slamming her hands on the desk. “You are here under the Firm’s assurances and protections. Please do not disrespect that.”

  Men slowly circled the table, hands disappearing inside jackets. Rufi didn’t take his eyes off Bill. The Landlord leered wickedly back at him, the skin stretching thin across his skull.

  “I’ll fucking turn you inside out you little…” Bill spat.

  "Bill!" Delilah said again.

  Bill’s jaw worked, the muscles twitching under his skin, his cold eyes drilling into Rufi, who didn’t flinch.

  “Big balls for a cunt that was strung up from my warehouse ceiling not too long ago, huh?” Bill snarled at Rufi, a nasty smile on his face.

  “One day,” Rufi warned Bill.

  “Anytime you want, cunt.” Golden snarled at Rufi from over Bill’s shoulder.

  “Quiet yourself, Nephew,” Sam’Sun said in Kittei. “Your place is not to speak here. Go.”

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  Rufi stood where he was, his heart thumping in his chest, anger and adrenaline swelling his muscles with furious energy. He could taste blood in his mouth, and the corners of his vision began to bleed red. He could hear the wardrums pounding...

  “Nephew.” Sam’Sun growled over his shoulder.

  Rufi blinked. He looked around the room. Taking a deep breath, Rufi stepped back from the table.

  "If he wasn't your nephew..." Bill breathed in Sam'sun's face.

  Sam'Sun didn't lift his eyes. He looked straight at Bill's chest where his heart was.

  "But he is," Sam’Sun muttered, low enough for only Bill to hear him. “Always remember who he is and who I am, William. You forget yourself too often.”

  Bill said nothing. The threat hung like a guillotine between them.

  “Your second needs to take his place,” The Yano said to Bill.

  Bill stared at Sam'Sun for a few seconds longer and then looked over his shoulder at Golden and nodded his head. Golden melted back into the shadows.

  “Please gentlemen, can we conduct ourselves with just a bit of professionalism?” Delilah said. “Or are we just a bunch of crooks on the street corner?”

  “And what would you know about that, girl?” Bill snarled at her.

  “Easy there Bill,” a familiar voice warned from the shadows.

  Rufi looked over and saw Bobby Fish sitting languidly on a sofa, swirling whisky around a glass. Bill eyed Bobby coldly.

  “Why? Has she got her hands red before?” Bill said.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Bobby said. “But lest you’re doubting how red my hands are, I wouldn’t disrespect a Taverly in front of me.”

  Bill grinned at Bobby and then sat down in his chair. He smirked at Delilah and then at Sam’Sun.

  “Well take your seat then, Sam, and let’s get on with this shit.”

  Sam’Sun stood for a moment longer. He looked at Bill and exchanged a mutual nod of respect with Bobby Fish before sitting down. Delilah took a deep breath and then smiled at them.

  “Sam’Sun, I apologise if it felt like you were being accused or questioned,” she began. “But we were given assurances that the Bad Batch was off the streets, and now we have a new wave of overdoses and more media attention.”

  “We were also given assurances, Niece,” Sam’Sun replied. “All Burn selling was to cease in the city. You all were supposed to clear your streets and warn your dealers. Instead, my Nephew has spent two weeks cleaning up your mess, dealing with your drug dealers, and putting himself at risk because of your mistakes.”

  Delilah looked around the table.

  “I warned my people,” she said.

  “I too,” the Yano added.

  Bill remained silent.

  “And Cameron Haney?” Sam’Sun growled. “To whom does he belong?”

  Delilah looked at Bill.

  “He’s from your neck of the woods,” Bill said to Delilah.

  “I’m not the one giving him refuge,” Delilah countered and Bill shrugged.

  “The little squirt came to me wanting a safe place to rest his head. I didn’t ask too many questions…”

  “But you took his gold,” the Yano said.

  “I did.”

  “Then he was your man,” the Yano said.

  “No chance. He come over from the East End. Ms. Taverly here should have done something about him.”

  “You may pass the blame as you wish,” Sam’Sun interjected. “But the fact remains, none of you ceased operations, and more Burn came into the city. My Nephew took care of this boy Haney's supply and yet he was restocked again. If the police hadn’t taken that then we would be looking at far more than just a handful of overdoses.”

  “We’ll deal with Haney once he lands in BlackWater,” Delilah said. “For now, we need to know where this new package has come from and how it got onto the streets.”

  “Sam’Sun, may we question your nephew?” the Yano asked. “After all, he conducted this investigation, only he has intimate knowledge of what is going on.”

  Sam’Sun thought for a moment and then raised his hand, beckoning Rufi to the table. Rufi cleared his throat and stepped out of the shadows to stand at his uncle’s shoulder.

  “Ruf’Gar,” the Yano said, nodding his head. “Tell us of your investigation.”

  Rufi looked at his uncle, who nodded for him to proceed.

  “First of all, Yano was right. This is a specific strain of Burn that has been laced with something that is killing the addicts,” Rufi began, willing his voice to sound certain even as he carefully chose which parts of his story to hide from the table.

  “How do you know?” Delilah said.

  “I took some of the Bad Batch to a Gnome Warlock we have out in the Foundries. He said it had been tainted with something, and that was what is killing users.”

  “What is it tainted with?” the Yano asked.

  Rufi licked his lips. If he revealed the source of the taint was something that could only be found in the Gnommish empire, then the fingers would automatically point at the Yano and his Gnomes. If that happened it wouldn’t be too far until they got to Tiko and then Rufi himself.

  “This I don’t know,” Rufi said. “But it could have been accidental. Just a poor grow.”

  The Yano looked at him curiously for a moment and then gestured for him to continue.

  “Me and my boys made our way through every top level distributor in the city. Haney was our last stop and he had kilos of the shit. We took it all and sunk it in the river. After that, we did another circuit of the dealers and everyone was dry, nobody was holding any sort of weight. I managed to track the Bad Batch to a warehouse on the riverfront, but whoever had been there was long gone.”

  “No clues as to who they were?” Delilah asked.

  “No. Just a bunch of empty boxes and bottles of beer,” Rufi lied.

  “This wouldn’t be that warehouse that caught fire all of a sudden, would it?” Bill asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Convenient that,” Bill said. “All that evidence gone up in smoke.”

  Rufi ignored Bill and continued.

  “Whoever was selling it was using the river. They would come up by boat, deliver to Haney, and then leave the same way. How Haney got the gold together to get a second package, I don’t know. I’m assuming it was on consignment. How the police knew it was coming in, I don’t know either. I only got wind of it after they had raided the place. I searched the warehouse afterwards and found the same packaging as the other kilos of the Bad Batch, so we can assume it was the same product and the same supplier.”

  “So this Cameron Haney is the main source of this tainted product?” The Yano asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then it is him we need answers from.” The Yano looked at Delilah.

  “I’ll talk to the twins,” Delilah said.

  “Not possible,” Rufi said. “From what I hear, he’s still at the police precinct. They’re trying to get him to flip. He won’t land in BlackWater for weeks.”

  “So if Haney was the main distributor and he got both his packages lifted, then how the fuck are people still dying?” Bill said.

  “I don’t know,” Rufi replied. “If you’re all being straight, and none of you have done a side deal anywhere, then there’s no way it could get back into the city. No one wants to touch the shit anymore. Not with my boys breathing down their necks and all those OD’s. Even the junkies are sketchy about trusting Burn at the minute.”

  The Yano sighed and tutted.

  “Ruf’Gar is right,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. Burn does not have a long shelf life. After the weeks spent in transportation, there is not much time before it starts to rot. Especially if it is being kept on a boat or in a riverside warehouse. The moisture will ruin it. And there’s no way a fresh supply can be grown, cropped, dried, and transported in such a small time frame. Any of this tainted product being sold has to have started rotting by now.”

  “So why the fuck are people still dying?” Bill growled.

  “This is your concern,” Sam’Sun said, rising from the table. “I will have no further involvement in this matter.” He stood and looked imperiously around the table at the other Kings. “You sell poisons and then complain about the deaths. This is why I will not deal with such things. Do not contact me on this matter again.”

  "You do not stand with us, Sam'Sun?" The Yano asked.

  Sam'Sun looked at the Gnome. His expression was implacable.

  "I have never stood with you creatures," Sam'Sun growled. "Never forget, our relationship is one of convenience and necessity. I will not have my people dragged into your games. Put your houses in order."

  Sam’Sun turned and strode out of the Waca, leaving the Kings to stare at his broad back. Rufi fell into step with him, grateful to escape. He helped his uncle into their carriage and then got in after him. As their carriage pulled away, Sam’Sun sighed and closed his eyes.

  “I’m sorry Uncle, I shouldn’t have lost my temper,” Rufi said after a few minutes of pensive silence.

  “You will learn Nephew,” Sam’Sun replied. “You have done well in this matter. And whatever it is you aren’t telling them, I hope you will take care of it without further need for lies.”

  Rufi swallowed and looked at his uncle’s impassive face.

  “Yes Uncle.”

  “We will have nothing to do with this mess from now.”

  Rufi stared into the distance from the window of his cab. How he wished that would be true.