Contents
CHAPTER 44: The Man in the Middle
Overview
Skinny Reams oversees the final jade shipment in Port Massy, reflecting on the risks and secretly skimming kilos as insurance. Moth Duke arrives claiming a tip about heat, then ambushes Skinny’s crew to seize everything. Skinny dives into the Camres and escapes, concluding Kromner sanctioned his betrayal and execution.
Summary
Under the Iron Eye Bridge in Port Massy, Skinny Reams waits with four coats to receive the last of four jade shipments ferried up the Camres. He distrusts the jade trade and the Kekonese suppliers, fearing government crackdowns and empowered militias, but runs the job for Kromner and quietly skims a few kilos from each load as personal insurance.
A limping Kekonese boatman and two crewmen deliver a box labeled twenty-five kilos. Remembering how the “man in the middle” was acknowledged, Skinny accepts without weighing, planning to move the stash to Kromner’s warehouse where Moth Duke oversees cutting and packing.
Before Skinny’s men can load out, two black cars arrive. Moth Duke steps forward with gunmen and claims there’s supposed to be heat, offering backup. When Duke pointedly asks if Skinny got “all” the rocks, Skinny recognizes the greed and betrayal a beat too late. Duke’s men open fire, killing the Breuer twins; bullets rake the fleeing boat as the suitcase of cash falls into the river.
Skinny throws himself into the freezing Camres, shedding his coat and shoes as he sinks, then fights to survive in the dark water. Unsure whether any of his men lived, he is certain of one thing: Moth Duke would not turn on a fellow foreman without tacit approval. Skinny concludes Kromner ordered the hit and the theft, marking him for elimination after he delivered the business.
Who Appears
- Willum "Skinny" ReamsSouthside Crew foreman in Port Massy; manages jade shipments, secretly skims kilos, survives Moth Duke’s ambush and suspects Kromner.
- Moth DukeKromner’s foreman at the warehouse; arrives with gunmen, stages an ambush to seize the jade and kill Skinny’s crew.
- Pats RudySkinny’s coat; uneasy before the meet and present during the ambush under the bridge.
- Carson SunterSkinny’s coat; stands watch at the dock during the ill-fated pickup.
- Coop BreuerOne of the Breuer twins; helps load the jade and is gunned down in Duke’s attack.
- Bairn BreuerThe other Breuer twin; assists at the pier and is killed in the ambush.
- Limping Kekonese boatmanDelivers the shipment and accepts payment; likely killed when Duke’s men shoot up the fleeing boat.
- Boss KromnerSouthside Crew boss; not present, but implied to have approved Moth Duke’s betrayal of Skinny.