Page 111 of The Fourth Option
The gangster’s demeanor shifted. “Good. So let’s talk about the logistics of our business. Dirty hands and all.”
Vargas stood up and turned his back on them, surveying the river, a meandering white ribbon reflecting the milky overcast sky. “I can see my refining plant from here,” he said. “Two ships unloading today, direct from San Salvador. You know we process more than a million pounds of sugar per day?”
“You’ve tapped the right market,” Kimbel said, attempting to relieve the tension. “Americans love sugar.”
“My more profitable business, the one we share together, however, is in trouble.”
“How so?” Kimbel asked.
“These attacks on my,our, people.”
“Fulgencio, we—”
“Did I not just give you five million dollars for that Ice Queen’s campaign? Does she not run the police department? What the hell are they doing? What the hell areyoudoing? Can’t you get control of her?”
“I’m working on it,” Kimbel replied as coolly as possible. “The good news is that Bates’s people recovered everything from the Staub house. These murders, these attacks, are being spun the right way as Mexican cartel spillovers. It’s not touching Genyra. If you look through all the papers, you’ll see no mention of Snowball. We’re keeping that out of New Orleans. Bates only lets dealers sell Snowball to out-of-towners, and the murders sound like the usual cross-border mayhem.”
Vargas rolled his head on his neck as though limbering up. “Be that as it may. Someone is killing my workers. My men. Someone knows.”
“The police think it might be asicario,” Kimbel offered.
“Ithink it might be asicario!” Cuchillo shouted. He closed his eyes, regaining his composure. “These men he killed were Barrio Eighteen. Do you know what that is?”
Kimble nodded. “A gang.”
“Not just a gang. It’s a fucking army. Your State Department just designated them a foreign terrorist organization, a label they wear with honor. My sources tell me they were killed by one man with a dog?”
“That’s what we understand. Bates has the resources of the NOPD at his disposal. Whoever this is, he won’t be around much longer, that I can assure you.”
“Let me make this perfectly clear to you, both of you, Bates, your Ice Queen in the DA’s office: You find him and make him suffer. If not, my associates from Barrio Eighteen might just pay you a visit.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
LIEUTENANT CORNELIUS BATESdidn’t like the idea of the FBI poking around his case in the Ninth, until he saw Special Agent Jennifer Jimenez walk across the threshold of his HQ office on Royal.
She wore her hair back in a tight ponytail, but Bates was already imagining what it would look like tumbling forward as his eyes passed over the rest of her body. She even made the gun and badge on her belt look good.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked, approaching her from around his desk, smoothing his tie over his snug shirt.
He reached out to shake her hand. Firm.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Lieutenant Bates. I have a few questions on the murders in the Garden and any connection to those last night in the Ninth.”
Bates returned to his position behind his desk. She took the chair facing him, jazz drifting in through the open window behind her. Royal Street was one block over from Bourbon and it was nearing twilight, which meant happy hour was in full swing.
“What’s the FBI’s interest in my case?” he asked.
“International drug trafficking.”
He knew the superintendent would play this however Icy wanted. The DA did not like the idea of runaway crime on her watch, but if a drug war was heating up, she intended to lay that culpability on the feds. Bates needed them to stay out of his way, chasing shadows, especially after his recent call with Walt Kimbel.
“What are you offering?” he asked.
“The Bureau can lean in with federal resources.”
“We’ve got adequate resources on this thing. We know the area. And I don’t have to remind you: we lost two of our own.”
She nodded, her hands resting on her knee. “Sincere condolences onthe loss of your men.” After a respectful beat, she added, “You think this might be spillover international cartel activity?”
