Page 79 of Omar

"Start with the locations," Kadeem told her.

Asha leaned forward and put her finger on the map. "This one here, Church Avenue in Flatbush. Second floor above the laundromat. He keeps two lockboxes of collection money, rotates them monthly. The new rotation started the week before I left, so the current setup is fresh." She tapped the map again. "Two guards. One on the landing at the top of the stairs, one inside. The one on the landing is usually young, mid-twenties. The inside guy is older, handles the counting."

Devon typed. Kadeem wrote.

"East New York." Asha moved her finger east across the map. "Storage unit near the expressway on-ramp. This one's heavier. Four guards, two outside by the fence, two inside. More product here than cash. He stores both but East New York is the main distribution point for TK's supply chain."

"How do you know the guard count?" Kadeem asked.

"Supreme took me there once. He was checking on a shipment and didn't want to leave me at the apartment alone. I sat in the car but I counted everyone who went in and out."

"Once. You counted them once?"

"I counted everything everywhere, Kadeem. For three years. Every guard, every location, every name, every schedule. I didn't know what I'd need it for but I knew I'd need it for something." She looked him in the eye. "Four guards at East New York. Two outside, two in. Supreme visits twice a month, usually in the evening."

Kadeem held her gaze for a moment, then nodded and wrote it down.

When Stone arrived he sat at the end of the table, put his glasses on, and listened to Asha walk through the operational details from the beginning. He had a legal pad and he wrote in small precise handwriting, noting account numbers as Asha recited them from memory.

"The primary collection account ends in 4471," Asha said. "Supreme used it for the Flatbush money. The secondary for East New York ends in 8803. Both route through a business account under a company called Greyline Holdings."

Stone's pen stopped for a fraction of a second on the legal pad. Then it kept writing. "Greyline," he repeated, like he was confirming the spelling. "And these account numbers, you saw them yourself?"

"On his laptop. He left it open on the kitchen counter more than he should have. I memorized what I could."

Stone wrote down both numbers and circled them. "This is extremely valuable. Devon can cross-reference these against the financial trail he's already built."

He asked three more questions after she finished.

"The cash locations you mentioned. How current is that information?"

"As of last week," Asha replied. "Supreme rotated them monthly but he'd just set up the new cycle before I left."

"And the distribution chain from TK. Did you ever see TK and Supreme in the same room?"

"Twice. Both times at the apartment in Crown Heights. Supreme called him 'the kid' and TK called him 'Unc.' They talked like family."

Stone nodded, his face thoughtful. "That confirms the connection Devon established through the financial trail. Different angle, same conclusion." He looked at Kadeem. "This is solid. The Associates will move on this."

He turned to Asha and his expression warmed. "Thank you. I know this isn't easy. But what you're sharing here could protect a lot of people."

"I just want to be free," Asha said quietly.

"You will be." Stone put his hand briefly on the table near hers without touching her. "We'll make sure of that."

Asha sat back in her chair. Her hands were steady on the table but the cost of the last hour was written across her face. She'd just given up everything she knew about the man she'd lived with since Atlanta. Every account number, every guard count, every location. There was no going back from this.

He spent another hour organizing the information into categories for the presentation. When he left he shook Kadeem's hand, nodded at me, and told Asha it was good to meet her properly.

After he was gone Kadeem looked at me across the table. "We got enough. I'm calling the Associates meeting."

"When?"

"End of the week. Stone's putting the package together. Devon's running final verification on the financial data." He gathered the papers. "This is it, Omar. We move on Supreme, we move on TK, we take back what's ours."

I drove Asha back to the apartment. She was quiet on the ride, her head against the window, her eyes on the passing streets.

"You did good today," I told her.