Page 36 of Capuleto

I picked up the phone and called him.

There were few people I trusted as much as him. As soon as he answered, I let it out.

"Aleksa, we have a big problem. No, I don't need you to come here, just find out who's distributing Mentium to teenagers through the Dark Web behind our backs."

"Mentium?" he asked, surprised.

"I'm going to put you on speaker so Dante can give you a summary; he knows it better than I do."

I placed the phone on the desk in the office, with the speaker on, and let my manager fill him in.

"Damn, what a mess! Well, let's look on the bright side, with that kid dead, the others won't want to buy a damn pill again."

"On the contrary," Dante interrupted. "This morning the selling price has doubled because the bets have gone up to stratospheric amounts. These kids know that suicide is a side effect, not something that happens to everyone, so they think they're going to be immune."

"Fucking brainless bunch!" exclaimed my friend on the other line.

"We need to trace the source. Contact the seller pretending to be a prospective buyer, see where that leads us," I said.

"As soon as you hang up, I'm on it, R. Have you told Koroleva yet?" At least he hadn't suggested that she might be behind it.

"No, my wife doesn't know anything about this..."

"Well, you'll see when she finds out, if I were you I'd be ordering some bulletproof vests and wearing them two at a time."

"Me? But it's not my fault!"

"Since when has that mattered to your wife?" I loved the concept my men had of her.

"That was before."

"Before what? Your birthday? Oh no, you've only known each other for a few weeks. Or maybe you meant before you blew the balls off that bastard who cost us a good chunk with Gordo?" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Nikita and I are fine. Things have changed since Santorini."

"Whatever you say, but that damn Russian is like a fucking minefield, you better be careful and show up with a good bouquet of roses and a bottle of expensive perfume with a few drops of anesthesia, to distract the enemy and not hit the wrong button."

"You handle your part, and I'll take care of my wife."

"At your command. I'll call you as soon as I have something. See you, R."

I didn't even have time to hang up when a loud bang sounded at the door of the bar.

Dante and I looked at each other and ran towards the entrance.

16

Unexpected visits

As soon as we reached the entrance, we realized that the loud noise had been caused by a vehicle crashing into the access door of the club.

The glass from the door piled up on the floor while a frantic Jonás Sánchez screamed outside, out of his mind, demanding that we come out.

He sported a gash on his forehead from the impact. His blue shirt was wrinkled, suggesting he might have been wearing it since yesterday.

A gasoline canister hung in his right hand, and in his left, he toyed with the flame of a lighter as a warning.

It didn't take a genius to realize he was threatening the integrity of the place and our lives.

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