Kissing Fire Read Online Free

nodded and furrowed his brow. His wheels
were spinning but he didn’t want me to know that.
    “Mr. Shelton, how would you do that and how do I
know that I can trust you?”
    “You don’t. I would have to earn that. I would
increase your distribution by introducing you to the right
connections.”
    He suddenly clicked his fingers and the ginormous
body guards disappeared. Then my contacts showed up. They took
seats on either side of me and Jainukul asked them what they knew
of me.
    After some lengthy discussion and an eight course
meal of some excellent and some not so excellent food, Jainukul
decided he needed to check me out further. I gave him my hotel name
and room number and he told me he would be in touch.
    Damn, I was hoping this deal would close in a day or
so. This could drag on for a while.
     
    ********
     
    A week later I got a call. I was told to meet
Jainukul at one in the morning at an address in a part of town that
I wasn’t familiar with. After a little investigating, it seemed it
was a warehouse district of some sort. There was no way I would
meet with Pete because I was being watched. I had the hotel send
him a message via a courier. It was cryptic and if anyone
intercepted it, they would think it was a teenager sending her
boyfriend a message through a variety of Taylor Swift songs. It was
a trick we’d used countless times, but we always changed the songs.
The letters of the words would come from the second word from the
line of each verse. It was a huge pain in the ass to figure it out,
but it worked like a charm.
    When I arrived at my destination, there were several
of Jainukul’s body guards waiting for me. They frisked me up and
down, and after they were assured I was unarmed and unwired they
both nodded.
    “Mr. Shelton, follow us.” That’s all they said and I
didn’t ask them anything else.
    We wove our way through crates and containers and
reached a building that was well lit. The door was open so I
followed them through it and we ended up in an office in the back
of the building. Jainukul sat behind a desk and there were several
other men present.
    “Ah, Mr. Shelton. Shall we begin?”
    I just nodded and smiled. No introductions were
made, but I made a mental note of what everyone looked like. I had
a nearly perfect eidetic memory so it wouldn’t be a problem for me
to recognize these guys again.
    “I have decided that I would indeed like to expand
my heroin distribution into the U.S., namely the Los Angeles
area.”
    You have got to be kidding me. Are you an idiot?
    “Mr. Jainukul, I understand how appealing that
market might seem to you, but I was thinking something less
conspicuous to start with, such as Seattle or Portland.” I had to
say that. If I didn’t, he’d know right away I didn’t know my shit.
I didn’t really care where he wanted his crap. It wouldn’t get
there anyway if I had any say in all of this. I fidgeted and folded
my hands together, rubbing my knuckles with my fingers and thumbs,
making it appear that what he suggested made me nervous.
    “Mr. Shelton, you must understand my position. I
want L.A. It’s huge and offers me the most potential.”
    Now I rubbed the back of my neck and looked around
the room, acting as if I were gauging the others present. Again, I
could give a rat’s ass about them.
    “Mr Jainukul, you must realize that L.A. is
controlled by the Juarez Cartel. They would not take too kindly to
someone invading their turf.” I gave him a shaky smile.
    I was greeted with a solid stare and dead
silence.
    “Surely you understand the importance of turf
control, Mr. Jainukul?”
    He slammed his hand down on the desk so hard, I
actually jumped. It startled me, as I hadn’t expected it. He was
not as mild mannered as I had initially thought. I knew he was
hardened, but I had made an error here.
    I narrowed my eyes and said, “Mr. Jainukul, is L.A.
worth shutting down all possibility of ever getting product into
the U.S.?” Then I shut up.
    We