Deepstars

Louis's voice was grim on the other end of the line. "Alright Jimmy, buckle up - because I got a whole mess of ugly shit to unload on you."

There was a pause as James heard the sound of papers rustling. "First off, those hunches of yours about the bigger fish seem to be right on the money. After digging into Spike's background, it's pretty clear that punkass wasn't the brains behind this whole operation to take you down."

"I'm listening," James said tightly, his gut tightening in anticipation.

"Well, from what I can trace, Spike spent years running as a low-degree enforcer for the Petrov crime syndicate - you know, those Deepstars mobsters who've been looking to muscle their manner into the city's underworld." Louis's voice took on a harder edge. "And based on the money trails I'm seeing, it looks like the Petrovs were bankrolling this whole vendetta against you from the jump."

James's free hand clenched into a fist until his knuckles strained white. So his old suspicions about thos