"Alea Iacta Est" - Julius Caesar, crossing the Rubicon to wage war on Rome.

"Take half the crates of Irish we got from Chicago and store them in the Warehouse on Jefferson . We'll take them to Nikki_Swango's place tomorrow. Move the remaining 300 of them for the train headed for Vegas along with 200 of the Canadian stuff we got from the Coast Guard." Husky commanded as he stood there inspecting the shipment.

"Anyone asks, you're carrying urine samples to the clinic. This is the first time, the bosses have their eyes on us , so make sure you don't fuck up. That means no speeding , no drawing attention, no stopping for steak, no getting drunk on the supply or you'll be getting better acquainted with the marine life, capice?" he said to the men as they nervously nodded. In truth, he was not worried. He had paid off the cops, Carmine_Falcone had supplied the locomotive for a cut off the profits, DustinBowls had been paid off his share for the whiskey when they loaded it in Chicago, he had his own guards at the warehouse, even the Coast Guard who smuggled the Canadian were happy.

No, getting the booze to Detroit had never been a cause for concern. It was the journey out west that worried him.

"Oi Tony! Come here" he said as he waved to Blunt_Force_Tony busy supervising the loading of the cargo. Tony and his bat were infamous in Detroit. He had used it to build himself a solid reputation managing protection rackets. A dumb thug once broke a window of one of the shops he protected . Tony responded by breaking the arm he had used to throw the brick in 6 places the next day. He was just the guy Husky needed right now.  

"You look a little pale Tony. Could use some sun. Tell you what , how about you head on down to Vegas get a bit of tan? Oh and maybe give my regards to @Frank_Dicaprio while you're there, haven't met him in a while. " Husky said with a smile and Tony nodded. He knew he didn't need to say anything else, Tony understood. He would make sure the goods were safely delivered to Frank and receive payment . If no hitches occurred. This could turn into a very profitable weekly business. Grinning to himself he walked back to the Rebel's Retreat and called Frank to let him know about the change of plans. Didn't want him getting any surprises.

As he sat in the War Room sitting his Fort Wayne, he grinned to himself. A few months ago he was just a thug, a small time smuggler, a nobody in this town. Now he had powerful contacts on both coasts. He owned a successful speakeasy and he was running one of the largest whiskey smuggling operation in the North. He was no pezzonovante. His stories were not worth sharing yet, but he was getting there. Sitting on the top of the roof a few moons ago , thinking about Scooter's death and his legacy, Husky had made a resolution. He had decided to soar as high as he could. Sitting on his leather chair, with his feet up on the table he mused if he would fare better than Icharus had when he took flight.

As he sat on his desk he heard someone shouting outside. Walking to the window he looked outside and saw a stranger raving about something. It seemed he was a rogue looking to pick a fight. Ignoring him, Husky shut the window preventing any more sound from coming in. He was walking on sunshine today. Even something like this could not dampen his spirits. With that, he went back to sipping his whiskey.

Tired and sleepy Frank was still at work at his new operation setting up deliveries and excepting shipments.  He had connections from coast to coast and from Canada and Sicily.  Business was booming for him but it required attention to details.  Frank, John Scalise, Frankie Yale along with Tony-D and Abe were all sitting around as calls for delivers were coming in.  Chicago mob and the Detroit combination to include Detroit's Purple gang were lining up to send good to the LV Gift Store.  The perfect front to ship and houses goods that would travel north south east and west. 

Frank was struggling to stay focus as he was often thinking about Nikki.  He knew that the money had to be right it would be split with the lions share going to the Don's of every major family from New York to Cali he also new that his piece of the pie would set him up for a nice retirement.  Frank had 100 trucks ready to roll and the largest warehouse in LV to include the store front to move the products to the casinos and trade for the family's short on Irish, Canadian and US made whiskey, Gin and Vodka to include rum coming from Cuba and Florida. 

He dotted his I's and crossed his T's now was the final touches the police received their payments and his two guys in the treasury department have been given their payments.  Frank believed in ensuring everyone got their fair share because if anyone screwed up they would be held accountable.  As he looked at the clock on the wall he shook his head as John walked in telling him that Tony Radhe man just called setting up the deliver date for the extra Canadian Whiskey that was needed to ship to his connection in the far east.  Frank smiled as he Know Nikki had made the deal with her friend HuskyRadhe.

Frank leaned back in his chair and called for the guys to come into his office.  As they entered and took a seat around his desk Frank grabbed a few glasses and started pouring drinks.  Then he took two glasses filling one half way and the other to the top.

Gentlemen thank you for all your hard work.  You see these two glasses here?  You notice one is only half filled.  That's us yesterday the one filled is us tonight.  Know one knows what in it or how filled we are.  So keep your F'n mouths shut and your eyes open.  No one needs to know whats coming in or out or how F'n fast the turn around time is.  Loose lips get us all killed.  So drink up and enjoy the fruits of our labor.  This is for us and owned by us.  The Don's will all get their cuts so you don't have to worry about family wars over money but the legal system and politicians they always get greedy and the honest ones get angry and will come at us with the long arms of the law. 

Frank took the full glass and drunk the whiskey then looked each man in the eye and knew they understood and would never betray his trust.  Then he grabs his jacket and turns towards them.  

Now lets go celebrate dinners on the boss and its good to be the boss. 

Nikki sat in her joint in New York, heels of her hands pressed to her eyes. She was in over her head; no way she could move the 300 crates she'd promised to offload. Her connections had all gone tits up, and she'd be lucky if even 30 could be distributed to her few remaining sources. Yet again she thought of Frank's offer to retire to Sicily, but that was another can of worms she was unready to open. He wanted five children; a recent standard checkup at the doctor had ended in the revelation that she'd be having none.

With a heavy sigh, she started scribbling down names and arrows and question marks. They were here. They had to be. People wanted booze. She just needed to find the right people.

On a wing and a prayer, she lifted up the receiver of the phone on her desk and dialed xMakavelliSw1tchCruz , asskicker extraordinaire. He didn't work distribution last she knew, but surely he knew a guy who knew a guy...