"Why?"
"I've decided we can't take any more chances," said Cummings.
Another pause in the conversation. Then—
"Gibson, do we understand each other thoroughly?"
"What makes you ask that?" John believed he detected a note of surprise in Gibson's counter question.
"I want to be sure, that's all," Cummings said. "You know how much I'm relying on you. You know what I've done to put you where you are. You're only going to be mayor for one term and we'll have to clean up enough then to last us the rest of our lives. When your term expires I want to quit the game.
"You were broke when I met you and I've made you mayor of Los Angeles. You have power and a reputation and if you don't spill the beans you'll be a millionaire when you walk out of the city hall in four years. For ten years I've had this plan in my mind, waiting for a chance to work it. When I met you I knew I had the man to go through with it. I've spent a lot of money, risked everything I had and there have been times that I've had a fight on my hands to keep the boys in line.
"It looks now as if I'm going to come out on top. While you're mayor we'll work carefully. Probably it will be a year before we start out after the money. We can afford to wait that long once you're in office. But everything, everything, you understand, depends on you."
"Everything you say is true," said Gibson, seriously.