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Description
"Mr. Lynch will see you now." the young man tells Xander as he shows him into Freddy's office.
After the man has left them, Xander looks at his brother with a quizzical expression; "That guy for real?" Xander asks him.
"Oh; after Gunther quit Maria insisted I move him up in the organization." Freddy tells him; "She's been a bitch the last few months so I figured it might shut her up for awhile. Anita's in charge of security now, Doug just runs errands."
"So...we live right next door and never see each other." Xander says goodnaturedly; "So what's up?"
Sighing heavily; "Shit, that's what's up." Freddy says conspiratorially; "After we took on the Jade Empress of Chinatown for May, everything was golden. Business boomed, anybody that even seemed like a potential enemy disappeared into the woodwork, and we had more work that we could keep up with. That's when I built and furnished this damn house for Maria. But for the last few months; shit's been slipping away."
"What's going on?" Xander asks in concern.
"Oh, the usual business problems." Freddy says; "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it's almost like someone is targeting me." he says in a hushed tone. "First we had two shipments get busted by the Coast Guard, then the third didn't even make it out of China before it got stung. Since then I can't seem to get anyone to sell or ship me anything. We've also had two crews get busted; caught red-handed pull'n jobs. Jobs that should have been 'milk-runs'! Hell the last decent deal I had was with May and her people and I was so late finally getting her order that I had to cut the price so bad I barely broke even."
"Oops." Xander replies; "She still talking to you?"
"I don't know, I'm giving her time to cool off." Freddy admits; "The latest problem is the feds that have been searching the city for all the weapons that got looted off those dead soldiers. They've found five of my stash houses so far. And with those military weapons on the street it's just another hit to my business."
Shrugging; "That's just bad luck." Xander comments.
"Ya." Freddy replies, his tone making it clear that he believes otherwise; "I don't keep anything on my computer anyway, but I paid a guy to take the microphone and camera out of it. I been changing phones faster than I change underwear, and I've even started having Anita sweep my office for bugs twice a day, just in case. But I still can't shake this feeling that someone is trying to put me out of business." Freddy tells him; "And in this business that means sooner or later someone puts you out of business permanently."
"Well, you called me." Xander says casually; "I assume you at least suspect someone; so who am I hitting?"
With an embarrassed expression; "That just it, I don't know." Freddy tells him meekly; "Right now the only people I trust is you, Maria, and Anita. Everyone else...?" he finishes questioningly.
"You don't think maybe Gunther...or Anita?" Xander asks, leaving the question unasked but understood.
With a negative shake of his head; "No, Gunther's too old school, he'd die before revealing anything I told him in confidence." Freddy tells him; "And Anita's had loyalty beaten into her by the Marines; as you know. So no, I don't think it's her."
"So what do you want me to do?" Xander asks.
Handing his brother a piece of paper; "This guy is supposed to know what's going on in the city, set up a meet and talk to him." Freddy says with a shrug; "Maybe he's heard something."

Description
"Mr. Lynch will see you now." the young man tells Xander as he shows him into Freddy's office.
After the man has left them, Xander looks at his brother with a quizzical expression; "That guy for real?" Xander asks him.
"Oh; after Gunther quit Maria insisted I move him up in the organization." Freddy tells him; "She's been a bitch the last few months so I figured it might shut her up for awhile. Anita's in charge of security now, Doug just runs errands."
"So...we live right next door and never see each other." Xander says goodnaturedly; "So what's up?"
Sighing heavily; "Shit, that's what's up." Freddy says conspiratorially; "After we took on the Jade Empress of Chinatown for May, everything was golden. Business boomed, anybody that even seemed like a potential enemy disappeared into the woodwork, and we had more work that we could keep up with. That's when I built and furnished this damn house for Maria. But for the last few months; shit's been slipping away."
"What's going on?" Xander asks in concern.
"Oh, the usual business problems." Freddy says; "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it's almost like someone is targeting me." he says in a hushed tone. "First we had two shipments get busted by the Coast Guard, then the third didn't even make it out of China before it got stung. Since then I can't seem to get anyone to sell or ship me anything. We've also had two crews get busted; caught red-handed pull'n jobs. Jobs that should have been 'milk-runs'! Hell the last decent deal I had was with May and her people and I was so late finally getting her order that I had to cut the price so bad I barely broke even."
"Oops." Xander replies; "She still talking to you?"
"I don't know, I'm giving her time to cool off." Freddy admits; "The latest problem is the feds that have been searching the city for all the weapons that got looted off those dead soldiers. They've found five of my stash houses so far. And with those military weapons on the street it's just another hit to my business."
Shrugging; "That's just bad luck." Xander comments.
"Ya." Freddy replies, his tone making it clear that he believes otherwise; "I don't keep anything on my computer anyway, but I paid a guy to take the microphone and camera out of it. I been changing phones faster than I change underwear, and I've even started having Anita sweep my office for bugs twice a day, just in case. But I still can't shake this feeling that someone is trying to put me out of business." Freddy tells him; "And in this business that means sooner or later someone puts you out of business permanently."
"Well, you called me." Xander says casually; "I assume you at least suspect someone; so who am I hitting?"
With an embarrassed expression; "That just it, I don't know." Freddy tells him meekly; "Right now the only people I trust is you, Maria, and Anita. Everyone else...?" he finishes questioningly.
"You don't think maybe Gunther...or Anita?" Xander asks, leaving the question unasked but understood.
With a negative shake of his head; "No, Gunther's too old school, he'd die before revealing anything I told him in confidence." Freddy tells him; "And Anita's had loyalty beaten into her by the Marines; as you know. So no, I don't think it's her."
"So what do you want me to do?" Xander asks.
Handing his brother a piece of paper; "This guy is supposed to know what's going on in the city, set up a meet and talk to him." Freddy says with a shrug; "Maybe he's heard something."