Kazankis returned to his office. Hearing tires on the gravel lot, he walked to the front door, flipping off the lock and alarm. A black Escalade pulled to the door, the moon reflected bright and full across the windshield, as though the vehicle was propelled by celestial forces. The driver’s door opened and Orlando Orzibel uncurled from the Escalade and walked to Kazankis.
“You wanted to see me, Jefé?” Orzibel said.
Kazankis raised an eyebrow at the Escalade. “You drove here by yourself, Orlando?”
“Chaku had to handle a problem.”
“Anything important enough for me to know about?”
Orzibel flicked the question away with the back of his hand. “Nada. A client at a strip club missed a payment.”
Kazankis nodded. “The usual bullshit. Morales will handle things, right?”
“If he doesn’t, I will. What do you wish from me, Jefé?”
Kazankis beckoned Orzibel inside. The pair walked the short hall to Kazankis’s office. He resat at his desk and stared at Orzibel.
“I seek reassurance, Orlando.”
Orzibel stiffened. “What do you mean, Jefé?”
“We’ve had problems recently. Ivy Hatton. The discovery of the bodies. Then I see a news story about two cops ambushed at a restaurant.”
“I can explain, Jefé. The attack was a—”
Kazankis’s raised hand cut Orzibel short. “If it doesn’t affect me directly, I don’t want to hear about it, Orlando. There’s a fresh shipment due tomorrow and all I need to hear is that I’ve no cause for worry about anything.”
“No worries, Jefé. All pay-offs are made. Joleo and Ivy Hatton’s replacement, Landis, will pick up the box between Customs shifts. It will be delivered to the hut and …”
“My special drivers will meet them,” Kazankis finished with a nod. “Mr Scaggs and Mr Salazer will deposit the product in your specified places. And I expect you’ll take product downtown for local use.”
“Like I said, Jefé, nothing has changed.”
“How about Landis, the new guy I sent as Ivy Hatton’s replacement? You sure he knows his part?”
“Joleo tells them everything they need to know.”
Kazankis’s eyes narrowed. “Joleo didn’t fucking tell Ivy how to keep his mouth shut, now did he?”
“I think he did, Jefé. Many times. But Ivy did not listen.”
“Fuckin’ Ivy looked and talked tough in prison,” Kazankis said, shaking his head. “He kept to himself. So I made him one of my special salvations. But Ivy took to drink and drugs, Orlando. It made him soft in the body and weak in the mind.”
“I did not notice the problem until I heard of his loose mouth in the bar, Jefé.”
Kazankis stood from his desk and walked to Orzibel, his voice suddenly as cold as death. “Dammit, you gotta keep closer track on them, Orlando, y’hear me? You gotta watch everything.”
Orzibel’s jaw clenched but his gaze dropped to the floor. “It won’t happen again, Jefé.”
Kazankis stared at Orzibel a long moment. His voice warmed up. “How many we got coming in the new shipment, Orlando? You always check with Tolandoro, right?”
Orzibel paused. “Miguel says there are, uh … nineteen new products on the way.”
“Nineteen? You don’t sound sure.”
“I almost said eighteen, but Miguel found another at the last moment. A fifteen-year-old girl he claims is a true beauty.”
A hint of a smile drifted over Kazankis’s lips. “That young? A true beauty?”
Orzibel flashed a grin. “Miguel has a good eye.”
“Maybe you can bring her by my house before you put her to work, Orlando. If she’s that pretty.”
A knowing wink from Orzibel. “Si, Jefé. I think I know what you like.”
41
Leala sat in the darkness and listened to the pounding of her heart. She had made it back to the shed, but felt strange, even beyond the ugliness with Yolanda and the pimp. It was like eyes following her, but when she’d turned, nothing, though once she had sworn she saw a shadow dart through the alley at her back.
There was but one thing to do: call the Ryder hombre and tell him where she was. Even going to a gringo prison had to be better than moving through the streets like a rat. At least there would be food and a roof and fewer bugs than where she currently slept.
It was late, but she would call Señor Ryder.
Leala stepped from the shed, wincing as a foot crunched over a dry frond. The house was as black as always. A dog barked in the distance and traffic hissed, honked and roared on the wide avenue two blocks over.