AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Andre
I STRAIGHTEN THE sleeve of my jacket as I walk up the side of the semi-trailer, keeping Victor behind me.
“There he is.” Hugo smiles wide. “So good to see you again, my brother.” He clasps my hand and pulls me in for an embrace. “It looks like life is treating you well.”
“I can’t complain.” I eye the boxes his men are unloading from the back of the truck. “What have you brought me?”
Hugo wags one thick finger in my direction. “Always about business, this one.” He reaches out to slap Victor on the shoulder. “You should make him take a vacation.” He grins. “But not until he handles this delivery for me.”
“What is it I’m handling?”
Hugo has spent his life relieving companies of shipments. Over the years he’s intercepted everything from cell phones to pistachios. Baby formula to art.
I don’t know how he does it and I don’t care. All that matters to me is that what he brings has value and the ability to be moved on the underground market.
“Electronics.” He stops one of his men and uses a utility knife to slice open the top of the box in his arms. He pulls out an off-brand tablet and passes the boxed item to me. “I’ve got hundreds of those.” He jerks his chin, sending his man on his way. “The first boxes out were Blu-ray players and I saw some routers at the back.”
“Good.” I step in front of Victor as he tries to come closer, blocking his view. “I’ll look over the itemized list and send you a price tomorrow.”
“Of course.” Hugo glances from one side to the other before leaning my way. “I wanted to discuss something else with you while you are here.”
I force myself to remain relaxed even as I smooth one hand down the front of my suit, keeping it as close as possible to the pistol holstered at my shoulder. Men like Hugo are unpredictable and I know what can happen when they’re underestimated.
“Frederick came to me with a proposition.” He hesitates, like he knows what he’s risking by bringing this up. “He wanted me to start bringing him what I find instead of you.”
Contacts like Hugo are part of what put me where I am, and I worked for years to collect them, sacrificing more than I care to think about to earn their loyalty. “But you didn’t.”
Hugo shakes his head in an almost violent jerk. “No.” He lowers his voice a little more. “You have been good to me, Andre. That’s why I’m telling you what he said.”
I look around the warehouse, scanning the shipments I’ve received this week. It doesn’t appear to be any less than normal. “Have you heard of him speaking to anyone else?”
Hugo’s expression tells me all I need to know.
Victor shifts behind me, leaving the warehouse to step outside and make the phone calls the situation requires.
“I wouldn’t tell anyone else about this.”
I’m sure Frederick thinks the people I deal with can be bought away from me.
One of many reasons he isn’t where I am now.
He had the chance, just like me, to rise from the ranks and take over when the former leader of the New York division of The Association met his maker after a lifetime of gorging himself on food and women and drugs, leaving the infrastructure in shambles and connections with the other divisions abused to the point of ruin.
It’s taken me almost two years to repair the damage he did. To set New York on the path to the kind of greatness it can achieve, proving I’m so much more than what I was born to be.
I won’t let anyone take that from me.
Hugo gives me another sharp shake of his head. “No. I won’t say anything to anyone.”
“I will handle the situation.” I motion to the tables where his accountant and mine are counting the delivery. “I will be in touch when the numbers are finalized.”
My bad mood is even worse when I walk out into the dark than it was when I arrived at the final warehouse I needed to visit tonight, which I didn’t think was possible.
Victor hangs up his call as I walk past, falling into step beside me as we cross the street to where Sal is waiting. “No one else has heard anything about Frederick making offers.”
“That means he started at the top. They’re more likely to keep their mouths shut.”
Hugo is one of the most prolific cargo interceptors in New York, which makes me question why Frederick would go to him first.
