Brian stumbled his way through a necessarily ill-defined explanation of what he wanted to do, a description of mobile sales that declined to identify the product being sold. He finished with a lame, “And that’s my plan.”

“You want my honest opinion?” Mr. Worthington fixed him with a level gaze. “Your idea seems a little half-baked.”

If he hadn’t been so intimidated, he would have said, It’s completely baked. But something about the banker discouraged any attempt at humor. Brian stood. “That’s what I thought.”

“Sit down.”

It was an order not a suggestion, and Brian dropped back into the chair.

“I didn’t say we wouldn’t give you the money. I was just stating the fact that you don’t seem to have thought this through. Now you want this money to buy marijuana—”

Brian felt the panic rise within him. “I didn’t say that!”

“Calm down; the bank doesn’t care about anything except ensuring that its customers make sound investments.”

“But I didn’t—”

“You didn’t have to. It’s our job to know our customers. Now what I’m suggesting is that perhaps marijuana is not such a promising venture. States’ decisions to legalize and decriminalize pot are leading to lower prices and lower profit margins nationwide. But this opioid epidemic seems ripe for exploitation. Not only does law enforcement’s aggressive stance keep prices high, but addiction ensures repeat business. And, as luck would have it, the most recent statistics indicate that street opioids have overtaken prescription opioids as the leading cause of drug deaths. So, this, we feel, is where the money is, and I’m sure if you invested in this type of merchandise, you would quickly and easily get an impressive return on your initial outlay.”

Brian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this a trap? Was the room bugged? How could the man have possibly known that his plan was to deal weed? Had Oscar told him?

He needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Mr. Worthington smiled. “Calm down,” he said, and it was as though he could read Brian’s mind. “We’re on your side. Because if you make money, we make money. Now what I’m suggesting is that we can hook you up with some of our other customers who are already involved in the supply end of this business. I assume distribution is your specialty?”

Brian nodded dumbly.

“So you would find customers, the supplier would provide you with access to product, selling it to you at a markup above wholesale…” He leaned forward, smiling tolerantly. “…as suppliers are wont to do, and you would then market it at street value, which should net you a hefty profit. Does this sound satisfactory to you?”

Brian said nothing, unsure of how to respond.