She looked both of us up and down, speaking to Francisco without turning to him. “So it’s good?” she asked in heavily-accented English.
“It’s really good,” said Francisco. “Smooth. Strong.”
“And consistent?” asked Isabella.
“Very.”
Isabella drew in a long, slow breath. “Okay,” she said. “Two hundred and fifty thousand, as agreed.”
I took a deep breath and glanced at Sean. He nodded at me.You can do this.
“No,” I said.
Isabella slowly took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were a beautiful deep brown, but they were utterly without warmth. “Excuse me?”
“I have a counter-offer,” I told her.
“That isn’t how this works. We agreed a price.”
I looked nervously at Sean. “We said two-fifty on the phone to get you here. But the weed is worth six hundred thousand. You know that. We know that.”
Isabella stared at me...and then laughed out loud. “InTexas,maybe. But we’re not from Texas. We’ll sell itto our dealers for seven hundred thousand...maybe eight. If we pay you six, it’s barely worth the trouble.” She shook her head. “Two-fifty. Take it.”
I wanted to take it. I was terrified. But two hundred and fifty thousand wouldn’t pay for Kayley’s treatment. I shook my head again.
There was a tiny noise, barely audible, from off to my left. Themen with guns, readying themselves in case they were told to fire. Isabella was looking at me pityingly, urging me to do the smart thing. I felt myself weakening.This is not me. This is not my life.I was a freaking botany geek, for God’s sake! I just wanted to run and let someone else deal with this.
And then Sean put his hand on my back. Just a gentle touch, but I could feel the whole strength of him throbbing through me, letting me know he was there, that he was beside me in every possible way, forever. My legs stopped shaking.
“Six hundred thousand,” Sean and I said together.
Isabella shook her head. “You are wasting my time,” she said. And turned to walk away. I saw her nod towards the men with guns and there were three clean, crisp metallic clicks as the guns were cocked.
It was time for my Hail Mary pass.
“Six hundred thousand for the weed,” I said, “...and something better.”
Isabella took another few steps towards the plane and, for one horrible moment, I thought she was going to ignore me. But then she lifted her hand. No bullets came, so I assumed she’d put the gunmen on hold. “What?” she asked, irritably.
“Me.”
Isabella slowly turned around. “Explain. But do it in the next thirty seconds.”
“I increased the THC content of that cropat leastthirty percent above normal. I did it through a combination of custom fertilizer mixes, lighting cycles and precise watering. It’s complex, but replicable. Maybe the crop isn’t worth $600,000 to you, butthe value is in the process.”I offered up a silent prayer of thanks to Stacey. “I can teach your farmers the same method. How much money could you make, if you can grow stronger weed?Millions.Tensof millions, over the next decade. And I don’t even want a percentage: all I’m asking for is $350,000. A one-time fee. Plus another $250,000 for the crop itself, which you already agree it’s worth.” I was ready for her to haggle me down to $500,000, which was the amount we actually needed.
Isabella studied us for a long moment. “Risky way to make an offer,” she said at last, nodding towards the gunmen.
“If we’d just told you on the phone, would you have taken it?” asked Sean. “We had to promise you cheap weed so you’d come here and sample it, see how good it is.”
Isabella stared at him. “I don’t appreciate being tricked, Mr. O’Harra.” She turned to Francisco. “Do you believe she can do it?”
Francisco tilted his head to one side. “I believe it’s worth three-fifty to find out.”
Isabella sighed. “I’d need you in Mexico,” she told me. “You’d have to visit our farms, teach them individually. It would mean several trips.”
I nodded quickly. “Anything. Sure.”
Sean stepped forward. “Me too. I don’t leave her side.”
