Completely Legal Proceedings

[Catherine Nilson]

There were few things more important to Cat than money. To say that she was good at her job was a gross understatement, so the fact that she got paid so well shouldn't have been surprising. She could craft mixed shots so beautiful that they seemed like little works of art all on their own, and she could carry enough beer steins to put any Oktoberfest barmaid champion to shame. On a busy night, Cat could dish out drinks so effortlessly that her hands conducted themselves with robotic precision.

She had found her calling.

When her boss, Mkvenner, asked her if she wanted to make a few bucks on the side, that was just icecream on top of the pie. The man had somehow gotten wind of her sketchy past, and had reasoned that it would be a shame for her experience in the drug trade to go to waste. They had storage space and a professional front that Cat could use to bring in less than legit profits. When the proper preparations were made, it was Cat's turn to spring into action.

First she would need to make a few calls, to see how many people in her old gang were left behind to pick up the pieces from the night of her turning. The memories were hazy, but she could vaguely recall Leo crumpling like a sack of potatoes, so when he didn't answer his phone she wasn't surprised. She called his girlfriend.

"Who?" the voice on the phone demanded. Crystal was a cocky Peurto Rican whose parents had emigrated to Canada on business.

"Hey," Cat said, "Don't hang up."

"Spike?" Crystal spat, so surprised that her tone made Cat cringe away from her phone for a second. "They said you was dead!"

"Well obviously not. Look, shut up for a second. I need to talk to you. Where are you."

"Did you go straight? Are you working for the cops now?"

"Why the **** would I do that, Crystal."

"The cops killed everybody there, a'ight, you still alive, that sounds fuckin' convenient to me."

"...Oh."

A long silence as Cat struggled to remember that night. She kind of wanted to talk to her sire about it now. The cops obviously hadn't killed anyone, so who had? Cat listened to the party going on at the other end of the line, then finally spoke up. "So Leo's dead, huh."

"Yeah, and Gasket, and Theo and Marcus."

"What about Julio?"

"You stay away from my baby brother, hear me?"

Cat sighed with relief and sat up on the couch. "So he's alive. Good. Anyway that's not why I called. I just need to talk to you. Are you still with the boys?"

"Yeah, but we under new management. We called the Acid now. You best be careful if you think you gonna double cross us with your cop friends." Crystal hung up, and Cat looked around the apartment.

So Crystal hadn't been a dead end. Maybe she didn't want to deal with what happened, but Julio would. Meanwhile Cat would have to tie up a few loose ends. She couldn't have Crystal spreading false rumors about her being in with the authorities. Coming out of the massacre "alive" was turning out to be a major blow to her street cred.

If she was going to get her hands back in the drug trade, she was going to have to rectify that. She needed to build herself some respect, then would come international attention from suppliers, at which point Mkvenner would buy a boatload of cocaine. Cat would move the product at at least a 300 percent markup.

She would need help with the first part. Cat was always better with product than with people. But Kenlie, she had people on the inside, before everything went to hell. Her people were like family, as far as Cat knew. Maybe they could get rid of Leo's ex girlfriend for her. Of course, K would want to know why. And once she figured it out, she was going to want a cut of the profits.

Cat sighed and unlocked her phone. She hoped Kenlie wouldn't want too big a slice of the pie from this.