Page 57 of Spyder
“Yeah. Fine,” I growl.
“So, do you actually have that guy’s bag of drugs?”
I shake my head. “We burned it all that day we rousted him.”
“I really wish you guys would let me handle that sort of thing.”
“No offense, but we’re more effective.”
He sighs. “Yeah, but that’s my job.”
“People call us because they know we cut through all the… red tape.”
Singer chuckles. “Red tape. You mean laws?”
“Look, there are no drugs in the streets There are no dealers running around Blue Rock hookin’ the school kids on their shit, right?”
“Yeah,” he grudgingly admits.
“Then take the W and the credit for keepin’ such a clean and tidy town.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve never been a big ends-justify-the-means kind of guy.”
“And yet, sometimes they do.”
He runs a hand through his close-cropped hair, giving me that flinty-eyed gaze that always makes me think of him as an Old West gunslinger.
“What’s Prophet got planned?” he asks.
“The less you know, the better, Sheriff.”
“I disagree. This is my town, Spyder. I need to know what’s goin’ on,” he says. “I need to know what to prepare for.”
“Hopefully, you don’t have to plan for anything.”
He sighs and his expression darkens. He looks down at his feet, frowning as he slips his hands into his pockets.
“And if you guys fail? Shouldn’t I know what’s on the horizon so I can plan for it? Plan to protect the people here?” he asks.
“If we fail, you can expect a host of cartel men, all of them heavily armed, lots of violence. Killing,” I tell him. “And you can expect a flood of drugs.”
“Wonderful.”
“We’re not going to fail, Sheriff.”
“I sure as hell hope not,” he says.
I look at him for a long moment. He’s right. He should be in the loop on what’s going on because in the event we do fail, the shitstorm will fall straight down on his head. And he should be prepared for it. I know for a fact that Singer loves this town as much as we do and is willing to do whatever’s necessary to protect it. He’s been our partner in this from the start and there isn’t a good reason for us to cut him out now that I can see.
“Okay, listen, we’ve been hitting Zavala’s shipments as they come in. We’ve been trying to make it too costly for him to do business here,” I say. “But Prophet’s been hoping for more. He’s been trying to draw him out, and we’ve apparently succeeded. Zavala’s coming here. So, we’ve got a shot to take him out and if we do, then all of this goes away.”
“So, you’ve got a plan then?”
“Prophet’s working on it. We’ll have one soon.”
He sighs heavily. “I gotta be honest. I don’t like this. This is something the feds should be handling… as much as I don’t want them uptight pricks runnin’ around here. But they’re better suited to handle—”
“All due respect, Sheriff, but they’re not,” I interrupt him. “It’s like I said before, we have an easier time of cutting through the red tape to get things done.”
