Love And War (The Other Place Series Book 3) by Elizabeth Roderick

Author:Elizabeth Roderick [Roderick, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Limitless Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-02-17T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Stewart unloads the product very efficiently, which doesn’t surprise me. His crowd are the only ones who haven’t switched to meth or Adderall yet.

Stewart’s got good business sense, up to a certain point. But he’s in over his head this time, because my business sense is quite a few points higher than his.

Meanwhile, Astro makes his first run down to my new supplier, and brings me back a shipment. I meet him at a house in Fresno, where he greets me with a big grin and a hug. “Hadita, my favorite girl.”

I laugh. “I like to hear that.”

We load the stuff into my Toyota, and he’s practically gushing cheerfulness. “I like the new guy, and his stuff is excellent and fucking cheap. I feel good about my prospects in this venture.”

I close the compartment and smile at him, slipping him a wad of bills that’s even bigger than he was expecting. “I don’t disappoint.”

When I get back into the City, I amble into Stewart’s gallery and find him having a conniption.

“Not there, you pathetic moron!” he screams. One of his employees, a skinny girl who looks about twelve, can barely stay on her ladder for all her trembling.

“But, Stewart—”

“Never mind, Ghana, just patch the damn hole and paint over it again.” He sees me and smiles. “Oh, hi, Arty.”

“Hey there, cupcake,” I say. “Not interrupting anything, am I?”

Stewart rolls his eyes and runs his fingers through his short, brown hair. “Just a circus act of brain-damaged clowns. Come on, let’s go into my office.”

We head into the back, leaving his employees to likely conspire against him in a huddle. He sighs heavily as we plop down in office chairs.

“Right on track for the opening, it seems?” I ask.

He grimaces. “This thing is going to be big. Huge. I want to make sure it’s right.”

I keep my face blank. “It can’t be that big. Kid’s an unknown, right? You discovered him.”

“And I’ll go down in history books for it. You should have seen the write-up he got in The Chronicle. Paul Legrange was creaming his panties about him, and now I’ve got a guy coming in from The New York Times. Plus, there’s all sorts of dealers and agents and other vultures circling. Just yesterday I had someone offer me thirty grand for my contract with him.” He runs his hand over his face. “Normally, I’d jump at something like that, but in Justin’s case, I don’t think so. The boy churns out like ten pieces a month, and I’m liable to make way more money than that. Besides.” He smiles. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but the boy’s a sweetheart, without an ounce of ego. He has no idea what he’s worth, and doesn’t care. If I ask him for another exclusive contract at the end of the six months, he’s going to do it.”

My heart’s beating a little faster, but I keep my expression as one of polite interest. “It’s not very nice to take advantage of retarded boys, Stewart.

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