CHAPTER ONE
DOM
“Go fuck your wife or something. Get her to take that stick out of your ass while you’re at it.” I chuckled to myself when a stream of obscenities spewed from the speaker on my phone.
“I swear to fuck, Dom, if you screw up this deal, I’ll skin you alive,” Rebel promised. “Maybe you shouldn’t go alone. I’m sure it’s not too late to ask Casper or Stray to meet you there.”
I cruised along down the snow covered street in my blacked out Audi, rolling my eyes as I listened to Rebel try to talk me out of handling this deal myself. “What’s the problem? You don’t trust me to secure a deal like this? I can handle it, dude. Stop being such a control freak.”
Rebel didn’t think he had control issues, but I knew better. Even though he often oversaw any business dealings we got ourselves into, tonight he had dinner with his wife’s family for her mother’s birthday. Since the guy I was on my way to meet had a pretty tight schedule, this was the only night he was available.
It was one guy and one deal. I had no doubt I could handle it. There may have been five of us running this operation but we didn’t need to hold each other’s hands to get shit done.
“Wanting to make sure things get done properly doesn’t make me a control freak,” Rebel protested.
“Actually, it does. I’ll call you after the meet. Try to un-twist your wife’s panties from your ass crack in the meantime.” Before he could spit another obscenity laden retort, I hit the button to end the call.
Rebel Kane was one of my best friends. The acting leader of the Graveyard Kings, as we’d come to be known. An all-around badass and generally good guy, he had trouble giving up the reins of control to anyone else.
Tonight’s meeting was important. I understood his need for everything to go well. The guy I was about to meet had the ability to take our business to the next level. Our black market activity included a variety of high demand items. Although none paid quite as well as human organs.
We were able to obtain the occasional organ here and there. Usually easy things like kidneys. The man I was about to meet, Morgan Teller, had approached us with a deal that sounded too good to be true. I was going to find out if that was the case.
He claimed to have a prison connection. The ability to supply us with a steady flow of organs from maximum security and death row prisoners. Everything including hearts, which were the hardest to obtain. A partnership like this wouldn’t come without a price. Still, it might be worth it.
Morgan and I were meeting in the parking lot of the local movie theater. He chose the location, wanting to remain public yet able to speak privately. Fine with me. I didn’t mind freezing my ass off in the bitter February cold if it meant securing a solid deal.
My phone began to ring. Seeing Rebel’s name on the screen, I ignored it. He needed to calm the hell down. I pulled into the movie theater parking lot, finding it especially barrensince it was a random weekday evening in Wintervale. A city big enough to have a theater but just the one. About a dozen vehicles filled various spots in the lot. I pulled around to the back and parked.
I made sure to back in so I faced the rest of the parking lot, able to see when anyone arrived. My gaze landed on a silver Lexus parked at the end of the next aisle. Was that Noah fucking Cunningham? What the hell was he doing here?
A white SUV pulled up next to me then, stealing my attention. A thirty-something man with longish hair tied back and a grizzly beard got out. He knocked on my window.
When I rolled it down a few inches, he asked, “Are you Dominik Taylor? I’m Morgan Teller.”
Getting out of the car, I stuffed my hands into my hoodie pocket in an effort to keep warm. It also helped that I had a small revolver tucked away in there. Just in case. One couldn’t be too trusting.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, even though I really didn’t give a shit about polite nonsense. Rebel would kick my ass if I didn’t do my best to make the deal happen.
“We need to make this fast. I have somewhere else to be.” Morgan cast an anxious glance over his shoulder as he scanned the parking lot.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go inside out of the cold?” I nodded to the sports pub across the street. “We could grab a beer.”
Ignoring my question, Morgan got right to business. “I can start you guys off with one body a week. Anything you want from it we can have harvested on our end. Drop off to a secure location. Money up front. We want fifty percent of your organ sales.”
He threw a lot at me without too many words. I nodded, mulling over the information.
“Fifty percent is a pretty high ask,” I said. “I’d have to run it by the other guys in my crew.”
“Fifty is more than fair I think considering how much you’ll make with a regular supply. And we’re doing the removal. Of course, I need your guarantee that if you guys get caught, you’ll never speak my name to the authorities.” Morgan’s eyes darted around my face. Like he was too nervous to maintain steady eye contact. He was starting to unnerve me.
“Of course not. None of us are rats. We know how this works.” I was willing to tell him anything he wanted to hear. Whatever it took to make the deal happen. “Are you okay, man? You seem jumpy.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. He took a sudden step back, staring at me with suspicion. “I think someone’s been following me. I’m sure it has nothing to do with our arrangement. I’d like to get moving before they find me here.”
In my peripheral view, I saw the door to the silver sedan open. Noah Cunningham stepped out. Dressed all in black with a hood pulled up to hide his dirty blonde hair and most of his face, he made his way toward us. Light on his feet. Making not a sound.
“You better not drag any shit to our door,” I warned Morgan. “We have enough problems of our own. We’re not taking on yours as well.”
