Page 57 of Lord of Vice
He nodded and walked away.
Before I had a chance to get up, my phone rang again. I was finished with business and wouldn’t have taken the call had it not been for seeing Zach’s number. At least I could count on my buddy to scour the streets in his city, knocking heads together if necessary to find the information I was looking for. “You found something?”
“I don’t know if it’s anything that makes sense. Yes, I’ve also had to deal with Gray Death coming into my city and my resorts. Iwas shocked at the person bringing it in. It could have been a political fucking nightmare.”
“Let me venture a guess. The son, brother, or nephew of some other prominent pain in the ass in town like a politician or maybe a judge.”
When he sucked in his breath, I could tell I was right.
“How the fuck did you know?”
“Because I had the same thing happen here.” My hackles weren’t just raised. They were flying fucking high as a kite.
“In my case,” Zach continued, “the daughter of a judge who’s put away at least six of my men on bullshit. He has far too much weight in town.”
“I assume you spoke with the daughter.”
“Yeah, although I wasn’t as rough with her as I should have been.”
“Did she tell you she was at a family gathering and some strange guy was there offering the strange party favors as candy? But she had the feeling she had no choice in the matter?”
“You’re a fucking mind reader. What the hell is going on?”
I scanned the park again, still having the same odd sensations as before. “I don’t know but I don’t like it and I have a feeling that it’s conspiracy based.”
“You might be right. I have reputable sources from here to LA and down into Mexico telling me something big is coming.”
“That’s fairly ominous and sadly, at this point worthless.”
He chuckled. “Trust me. I tried grilling a few of them but it was as if shit had been put out on the streets in various locations on purpose with little or no information backing it up. I don’t like it.”
I rubbed my jaw, studying the adorable, feisty woman as she flopped onto the ground, cooing and kissing her dog. She was either oblivious or didn’t care how much danger we were in. “I don’t either. I’ll give you a piece of advice. I think someone is trying to set us up. I’d stay as far removed from starting a war as possible.”
“Those are my current intentions, although I’d pissed at what’s going on.”
“Me too. I may have a lead, a group of mafia dudes coming in from LA. What do you know about the Santos brothers?”
“Decent. Brutal. If the rumors are true, hooked up with another organization that’s very secretive.”
“Could they be behind this fucking charade?”
Zach breathed into the phone. “I doubt it. They firmly believe in following the unwritten rules of our world, my friend. I’ll be curious as to what they have to say.”
“Yeah, so will I. One more question. Have your informants talked about an up-and-coming cartel leader named Emiliano Cabrera?”
His exhale meant he’d heard of the guy at least. “I know of him. I have a source who keeps me informed about the civil war going on in South America. He’s one of the firstborn sons who up and murdered their own father to take control. It’s a dog-eat-dogworld, man, but to date, he’s yet to hit Reno. I’m having trouble with some jerk who goes by the name of the Butcher.”
“Any idea who this guy is?”
“Not at this point but he took out one of my warehouses and six of my men.”
“That means he has a calling card,” I said, huffing. What happened to the good old days where mafia leaders stayed in their own lanes and didn’t use monikers to handle business?
“Yeah. He cuts out their tongues and takes them with him.”
“Shit, man. Who has time for that crap? Too messy.”
“Someone who’s sending a warning.” His voice sounded strained. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”