Arnold Culler had been very busy indeed. The Prince has chided him for not dedicating himself fully to the investigation regarding O-Yama and he had been right to do so for Arnold had been quite distracted.

He had learned, throughout his long existence, that there was money to be made in the subjugation and exploitation of others. Slum lords, pimps, pushers, thieves – their type had existed long before Arnold. Indeed, they would always exist, and truly the money they made was obscene.

In Jackson, Arnold had in thrall a number of influential men in these walks of life. The cocaine trade in the city was thriving and brought millions of dollars into the city every month. Arnold was quite handily able to skim off the top of this, and adding to the kickbacks he received from a few prominent pimps, he was able to live quite comfortably there. Arnold had been a silent partner in the vice trade for decades, seeing that a few men – all of whom were in his pocket – controlled the whole game.

In Sacramento it would not be so easy. Coming to town with no bearings and no name had made things difficult, and much of his time had been dedicating to creating that name. Finally, when he became Reeve, after the Lost Nights, he was able to begin getting back to his old tricks again.

The Avalon, and particularly his ghoul, had been instrumental in getting a foothold in Sacramento’s drug game. Through Gary, Arnold had met a promising young man who was lieutenant to one of the more powerful dealers in the region. Arnold had given the young man his assistance, eliminating some of his enemies, and facilitated the man’s rise to power. In the end, Arnold helped the young man stage a takeover of the organization – a multimillion dollar drug operation that spanned the state – and it was easy enough for Arnold to thrall the man, who already owed him so much.

His assets, which had already been on the up and up since taking the manager’s position at Avalon, suddenly went through the roof. He found himself in possession of considerable cash on hand, and it seemed as if it would only continue.

After putting a down payment on a 2009 Cadillac Escalade ESV Arnold began turning his attention to other purchases.