It was an uncomfortable night for Tats. He would have liked to sleep, but Smokeless Green had other plans. He felt about as tired as a man who just chugged a gallon of coffee, in spite of the fact hours had now elapsed since he had fortified his mind and body with the powerful green substance.
He didn’t even bother tossing and turning. Those are the desperate acts of an insomniac who believes sleep within his grasp. Tats had the presence of mind to know it was miles away.
When dawn arrived, he went to the door and opened it, thinking he would have the house to himself while he went downstairs. A guard was patrolling the hallway and respectfully asked Tats if he could be of service. Tats told him to take him to the breakfast area so that he could be there as soon as his sister was available.
The guard led Tats outside to a large balcony and then left him in peace. Tats surveyed the beauty of the backyard, admiring it far more even than the front of the house. A hill swooped downwards, leading to a large forest. Tats felt like a king perched on top of his castle.
“Like the view, brother?”
Tats spun around. The guard must have told Becca he was awakened.
“It’s beautiful, Becca!” Tats said sincerely.
Becca laughed. “No one’s called me that in years,” she said, her eyes slightly moist. A sight few, if any, had ever seen in those spheres whose gaze usually cut through a man’s soul.
“Why did you lie about how you found my house?” There was a somewhat murderous glint in her eyes, although Tats knew all too well it wasn’t directed towards him.
“That was for the benefit of your guards. They wouldn’t have believed the truth. You wouldn’t believe anything but the truth.”
Becca looked intrigued.
Tats produced the picture he had shown Rose.
“I showed her this, and then I showed her these,” Tats said pointing to his eyes. “How could she not believe I was your brother?”
The fierceness that had danced on her eyes seemed to evaporate, but Tats knew Becca. He wasn’t quite done saving Rose just yet.
“She’s loyal through and through, sis. I told her it was urgent. I told her I hadn’t seen you in years. She must have looked back and forth between my eyes and the picture at least ten times before I convinced her.”
Becca seemed near complete calmness now, but Tats knew he had just a couple finishing touches left.
“I also told the lie about her just pretending to live around here because I knew you would never allow it to be stated in front of witnesses that someone had led another to your house without your permission. If I had said that in front of the guards, you would have no choice but to kill her. They believed the story that she was just being silly and tricking me into thinking she lived around here.”
Tats looked long and hard at Becca. “She helped me, sis. If not for her, I’d be roaming around every bar in this city, just waiting to get robbed or killed.”
That imagery brought a shudder to Becca.
“Okay, Davey. You played your cards well. No harm will come to Becca unless she ever brags or even hints that she brought someone to my house without my express permission first.”
Tats hugged her.
“Just so you know, sis, I like Rose. I plan to call on her from time to time. If I were to suddenly be told she stopped working at that fine bordello, I would suspect you.”
A craftiness passed briefly across Becca’s eyes. Then, with a sincerity that convinced even Tats that he had truly obtained Rose’s safety, Becca said, “She’ll be safe, as long as she never talks about this incident.”
Tats knew not to push the matter any further.
“So, what is it that brings my brother here on such an adventure after seven years apart?”
Tats knew that when it came to business you had to cut right to the chase with Becca or—brother or not—she would get very impatient. He reached right into his secret pocket, extracted the pound of Green he had (though it had been slightly reduced by his two emergency uses) and handed it to her.
Becca put the bag close to her nose and smelled it, but not with enough force to inhale any of the fine, sand-like particles.
“It’s quality Smokeless Green. This stuff has been getting hard to come by. Not too long ago, you could buy it in any convenience store. Now, getting it is sort of like finding a unicorn.”
“Mr. Brass said for you to keep this pound no charge. See if you can distribute it.”
“Mr. who?” Becca said. “Just what have you gotten yourself involved in, brother?”
“What I’ve gotten myself involved in is the opportunity of a lifetime.” Tats could see she was skeptical.
“I’ve been doing business with Mr. Brass for less than a year, and I’m a millionaire now.”
Becca looked at Tats like she wanted to burst out laughing, except his eyes suggested he was telling the truth.
“Just recently,” he said, and then fanned out a rather dense stack of thousand-falon bills to show he was not lying.
Tats had Becca’s attention. She had been in the prostitution business for many years before she earned her first million. She was now forty years old, and it hadn’t been until about four or five years ago that she earned her first million. That was after she took out a competitor and acquired numerous bordellos in one fell swoop. Now, she was learning her baby brother had just earned his first million. Yes, Rebecca Havensford’s attention was piqued.
“How does Mr. Brass know about me?” Becca asked suspiciously.
“He doesn’t know your name or anything about you. He simply said he wants to start exporting this product to Sodorf because with the gold mine discovery the economy here is going to take off, and there are going to be a lot of potential buyers.”
While Becca had initially been suspicious of this Mr. Brass character, she was instinctively beginning to like him.
“He told me the only problem was he knew of no contacts in Sodorf to export to. I told him that I did and that this person could move all the product he could ship. I told him that this wasn’t my contact’s normal area of expertise but that I could convince her it was the right way to go.”
“Can I trust this man?”
“He saved my life twice and saved me from the cops once. He’s a gentleman to those who treat him with respect . . . and deals with those who don’t.”
“I see you admire him greatly.”
“I do. He can fight with his hands like a pro boxer and like a knight with a sword. He’s been teaching me.”
Becca had to suppress a hypocritical instinct to tell David to get out of the criminal lifestyle while he still could, but she realized she herself had involved him in parts of her criminal organization at an age when he should have just been starting middle school. It was a bit late for her to sermonize.
“I’ll check around a little and see how easily I can get rid of this quantity. I’m getting a bit old to be switching business lines. Selling love has always been my forte. Please stay a few days before heading back.”