Chapter One

David Bell stood in front of his bathroom mirror, running a comb through his thick blonde hair. He stared at the dark bags under his eyes, which had formed only recently.

            Sleep, I need sleep.

            He quickly brushed his teeth and walked out of the bathroom, moving only a few feet in his cramped apartment to his bedroom. He got dressed, wearing a black button-down shirt with a red tie and jeans. At first, he hadn’t liked to wear the tie, feeling as if it were a noose wrapping around his neck. But eventually he had grown accustomed to it, but never liked it.

            Grabbing his phone off of the alarm clock-slash-dock, he headed out of his crammed apartment on Main Street, on the outskirts of Hollywood. He had come here three years, wanting a big break in show business, and had ended up instead who he was today.

            He galloped down the steps outside his apartment complex, heading into the courtyard, and out onto the sidewalk, where he waited for the bus to take him to an office on the corner of Fifth and First, in West Hollywood.

            Upon entrance to the ordinary looking office building, David flashed an id to some security guards, standing around the door wearing white shirts and slacks, anything a normal security guard would wear. Except, strapped in their holsters, were large Uzi submachine guns.

            David quietly walked over to an elevator and pressed the up button. The door opened instantaneously, and he stepped inside, clicking the button for floor three. As the doors were closing, a voice yelled, “KEEP IT OPEN!” In response, David reached and stopped the door with his hand.

            Inside walked a young blonde woman, wearing a blue blouse and a black skirt, which matched with her heels. David tried not to be noticed as he eyed her out of the corner of his eye. She must’ve been new, he thought, because I’ve never seen her before.

            The elevator began to move up, a low humming sound emitting from the small iron box. The girl got off at the second floor, leaving David in the elevator alone. He would’ve fallen asleep right there and then, if it weren’t for the elevator’s vibration and humming.

            That is, if I could sleep.

            Ping! The elevator doors opened on the third floor. David walked out, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. He walked forward and through a clear glass door.

            The entire third floor was devoted to the Company, as the employees called it. If anyone were to walk into the third floor by accident, they would think of this place as a simple accounting firm, managing expense reports and what not. Well, the employees typing on top-of-the-line computers were actually doing that, but not for the average Starbucks’ or Kentucky Fried Chicken’ expenses and earnings; they were managing the distribution, earnings, and expenses of the Company’s main product: illegal drugs.

            David passed by row after row of workers, typing away, and opened the door to an office in the corner. It had lavish furnisher, unlike his apartment, which was all provided by the Company to all high division employees in his division. His maple wood desk was shiny and new with only a computer and some pens on it. A swivel chair sat parked behind it, new too. Everything in this office was new, because the Company didn’t like higher-level employees to get used furniture.

            The door opened again, and in walked Henry Kennedy, David’s “partner”, as Henry liked to refer to himself as. He looked eerily similar to David; they both had blonde hair, blue eyes, and were around the same height, although Henry’s hair was darker and longer than David’s. Henry wore a slick black three-piece suit with a black and gold tie tied around his white dress shirt, which was far more expensive than the clothes David was wearing.

            Henry sat down at his desk and looked over at David. “You should think about getting a better pair of work clothes, you know?”

            “Yeah,” David replied, “you’ve told me that at least three times this month. And I would, if I didn’t have to pay off car payments, my rent for my apartment; right now, a new suit’s the furthest thing from my mind.”

            “Well, that’s what the Company does: it gets you rich and powerful, quick.”

            They both chuckled, as the phone on Henry’s desk rang loudly. He picked up the receiver and spoke. “Hello,” he said. There was a long silence, where the whole office fell into a muted rest.

            After a few minutes, Henry set the receiver down gently. “That was Jack Keith, one of the head guys. We need to go right now.”

            David looked puzzled. “Where are we going? Why are we going?”

            “San Fran. He didn’t explain why exactly, just that we needed to get over there as soon as possible. They’re going to pick us up in a couple of minutes.”

            David and Henry raced out the door of their office and down a flight of stairs in the corner. They went through the front door of the office, and waited a couple of minutes till a long limousine pulled up to the front. The two got in, and the limo drove off, beginning the long drive to San Francisco.