Chapter Thirteen

The members of the task force were seated in the conference room while Mr Ben addressed them.

“I want to commend you all for a job well done yesterday.

 By putting a dent in the Blood gang, our office was able to make one of the biggest arrests in years, all thanks to you.

After prosecuting the suspects, the city will be free of a considerable amount of illegal drugs. However, the Italian mafia are still at large. Without the bloods to operate in their territory, the Italian mafia will likely expand their operations, thereby making our efforts to be wasted.

  I assure you all  that if you’re able to crack this case, you will be promoted. Do not relent. Continue chasing as many leads as possible. You will get a break in no time.”

Mr Ben encouraged them, before he walked out of the room.

“How are we to go about this? None of those we arrested were willing to talk when we interrogated them.”

Justin said in dismay.

“How about you ask your informant if they will be able to help us?”

Maggie suggested to Bryan.

“I already did. They don’t know anything about the Italian mafia.”

Bryan responded.

“We already know that the Italian mafia operates in the Lower West Side of the city. How about we scout the area, and find it’s  members who are dealing drugs?”

Jamal opined.

“That’s a good idea.”

Maggie supported.

“Better still, we carry out one of our old tricks in the book. We orchestrate a fake buy.”

Bryan added.

“It’s been a while we tried that. Since when agent Kyle was shot.”

Justin pointed out.

“I know it is dangerous, but desperate times calls for desperate measure.”

Bryan countered.

The agents finally packed up their documents into files, and made their way out of the conference room for their mission.

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“Pull over there.”

Bryan said to Jamal, who was driving the unmarked car they were in.

They had been cruising around the Lower West Side for over an hour,while  looking for any secluded spot where  drug dealers were likely to hang out, when Bryan finally saw two men standing suspiciously on the corner of a residential block.

After watching them through the vehicle’s tinted windowfor a few minutes, they saw a woman approach the men.

She spoke with them for a few minutes, then a quick exchange took place, which looked like an handshake from a distance to an untrained eye, before she hurriedly walked away, following the way through which she came, while looking occasionally over her shoulder.

“Wish me luck.”

Bryan said as he stepped out of the car, crossed the street ,and made for the men.

He was dressed in blue baggy jeans, a sweater and a baseball cap.

He was about five meters away from them, when the taller one asked.

“What do you want?”

“Some baby powder.”

He replied.

“We don’t have such .”

The shorter one replied.

Bryan immediately sensed that his cover was blown, which could make things  go awry at any moment.

“Come on. Don’t do me like this. I just need a fix.”

He said, while trying to sound convincing.

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Jamal had  gotten out of the car.

The tall man fixed his gaze unto his face for so long, as if trying to search for his true identity, then he said.

“How much do you have there?”

“Fifty bucks.”

Bryan replied.

“Alright.”

The man said in resignation.

Bryan immediately dipped his hand into his  pocket and handed him the money, while the man’s partner gave him two small wrapped powdery substance.

He turned his back at them to face Jamal who was already crossing the street, while making his way towards him.

He winked at his partner who winked back at him, before he made a quick U-turn while removing his pistol from under his belt at the same time.

“DEA! On your knees!”

Bryan yelled at the men who had a look of surprise for a second, before they both made to pull out their weapons from the small  cross bags they hung across their shoulders.

“Don’t even try it.”

Jamal said, while also pointing his gun at them.

“I knew it!”

The taller one said in regret while gritting his teeth.

“On your knees!”

The agents repeated before the  men reluctantly complied .

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Luis was smoking a cigar on his recliner, as he watched two women in bikinis, playing in his pool.

He was soon lost in thought as he tried to think his way out of the conundrum he  was in at the moment.

‘There’s an ability in every disability.’

Was his mantra, which meant that no matter the situation he found himself in, there was always a way to make the most out of it.

“Boss. Is everything alright?”

The question from Marco brought him back from his lost thoughts.

He stared at the tattoo riddled brute for a  while,then he said,

“It’s a good thing that the  DEA took down my competition, but in doing so, they also arrested my connect which has placed me in an impasse.

However, I will not let this set back prevent me from maximizing the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by the Bloods.

All I see at the moment is an opportunity to make more money, as there is more demand than supply at the moment, which means that customers will pay anything just to have a fix.”

“You’re right boss. Our corner boys reported to me that they had twice as much buyers earlier today. The only problem is that we’re running low on product. We need to restock.”

His enforcer said.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve set up a meeting with Salamanca, Paulo’s brother. He has agreed to meet with us, but we’ll need to travel down to New Mexico where he resides.

In the meantime, I heard about a new product that can stretch what we have till we restock. We can’t afford to lose customers because of our inconsistency in meeting their demand.

Continuity is one of the rules in this business”

Luis said, before taking off his robe and diving into the pool to have some fun with the ladies.