“I can only imagine, my friend. You have remained remarkably calm during a difficult situation. Unfortunately, I have no answers for you. I’m afraid my resources on the East Coast aren’t as reliable or thorough as they should be.”
Does he really expect me to believe that? I wondered as I glanced over at Harris, who just shook his head. We both knew Alejandro had been supplying the Mexican gangs on the East Coast for years; I had just never cared, because they weren’t anything significant or challenging to my network. Besides, I had some very reliable people I worked with on the West Coast too.
“Has Miguel helped you any?” he asked.
“No. He hasn’t done shit but proclaim his innocence.” I was starting to get tired of this.
“And what do you think?”
“That he’s a liar,” I replied, my voice rising in the specially equipped soundproof room. “And that you took my money, then sold my shit to someone else.”
“Lavernius, my friend, I give you my word. I have nothing to do with the travesty that has happened to you. I only want good relations between us.”
I sighed long and hard. “You want good relations between us, you fucking Latin viper, then give me my shit back!”
“I give you my word, and then you raise your voice and accuse me of being a snake?” I heard a loud thump, which I assumed was him pounding his desk.
“That’s because you are a fuckin’ snake. You were when I met you, and you are now. But I’m used to dealing with snakes in this business. It’s the thieves and crooks I have a problem with, and you’ve become a first-class crook.”
“I am no crook!” he yelled, his anger matching my own. “I could sell my ‘shit,’ as you call it, to the Italians or the Jamaicans and not have to deal with your arrogance or accusations. I do this only because we were once good friends.”
“That’s right, once good friends. Past fucking tense. Now, who did you sell my shit to?” I asked.
“I don’t believe this. It’s like talking to a petulant child with you.”
“Ha! I’m not the one who killed his own men to cover up my crime.”
This news seemed to take him off guard, as he grew silent for a while. “What are you saying? My men are dead?” His voice cracked. If he was putting on an act to seem innocent, he was doing a damn good job. I still wasn’t convinced, though.
“I told you there have been new developments,” I said coldly.
Harris had gotten a tip less than an hour ago that the truck was in a warehouse up in Orange County, New York. I’d sent Pablo’s brother Carlos and his crew up to check it out, since they were the closest. They reported back that the truck was there, but the car was gone. They also found two dead bodies, two men who appeared to be Mexican. In truth, I wasn’t so sure that the Mexicans were really dead before he got there. There was no one Carlos loved more than Pablo, and if he had the chance to avenge his brother’s murder, well, let’s just say God Almighty couldn’t have stopped him.
“What are these developments?” he asked cautiously.
“We found the truck that your men delivered. My car’s gone, of course, but there are two dead Mexicans there. If we ID them as your men, then we have a serious problem, Alejandro, because there’s no fucking reason that your men should have been anywhere near that truck after it was delivered to my men.”
He remained silent.
“Nothing to say, huh?” I asked. “That’s okay, because remember I still have Miguel, and he’ll eventually spill the truth. If I have to, I’ll rip out his fucking liver to make him talk, and then I’ll mail it back to you.”
“Don’t touch him, Lavernius. I am warning you,” Alejandro threatened.
“My, my, my. You’re awfully touchy about your employee, se?or, which is surprising. I mean, if you think about it, Miguel maybe the one who planned the hijacking and then set them up to be murdered. After all, who else knew the truck’s route?”