Geek Mafia: Mile Zero by Rick Dakan (reading tree txt) 📖

for something that might hide a camera, but there were too many options to choose just one likely candidate. Or maybe there weren’t any, but he wouldn’t bet on it. He opened the door to find an empty living room - hardwood floors and nice natural light, marred only by the sight of Isaiah sitting in a folding chair beside a card table in the middle of the room. Paul saw a realtor’s business cards and a stack of flyers describing the property on the tabletop.

“You selling houses now?” asked Paul.

“It was convenient and empty,” said Isaiah.

“And secure I hope,” said Paul, looking around for signs of Isaiah’s other Crewmembers. He thought he heard a creak from upstairs, but it might have just been the house settling.

“As secure as it can be,” said Isaiah.

“Is Winston coming?” Paul asked.

“I couldn’t get a hold of him. He’s apparently busy with other matters.”

Paul assumed Win was taking care of Raquel’s body. Or at least he hoped that was the case. “Ok, well, I’ll run him down later. But this can’t wait.”

Isaiah nodded and said nothing, indicating that Paul should proceed.

“We’ve identified Eddie’s ally. The other Crew that he’s lined up to take Raquel’s place.”

“How?”

“We spotted Eddie talking to one of them. A real bastard named Raff.”

“I haven’t heard of him,” said Isaiah said. “Where does he work out of?”

“I don’t know for sure. But he used to be part of Chloe’s Crew in San Jose. And he betrayed us. Totally fucked us, in fact. Set us up to fail, got the police involved and turned the Crew against itself. All the while hiding daggers in his smiles. He’s as dirty a fucking bastard as they come. And let’s not leave out the little fact that his partner shot Winston.”

Isaiah, who’d remained stone-faced through Paul’s tirade, frowned at this last fact, raising an eyebrow as if to say, “Really?”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine Winston’s going to be too happy about that. I’m telling you, he’s got to be the guy that killed Raquel. It fits everything we talked about.”

“Is the man who shot Winston here as well?”

“No,” said Paul, thinking of Bee.

“How can you be sure?”

“He’s dead.”

Isaiah nodded. “Then that debt at least had been repaid.”

“That’s not the point!” shouted Paul. “The point is he’s a murdering, no-good son of a bitch.”

Isaiah held up his hand, “I hear what you’re saying. And I agree, this doesn’t look good.”

“That’s an understatement. We need to do something.”

“What would you suggest?” asked Isaiah.

“We need to drive Raff and whoever he’s with out of town. We need to make sure they never come back again.”

“And you want my help with that?”

“No,” said Paul. “I’m offering you my help with that. This guy is bad news for you and for your whole shadow corporation scheme. If he gets involved - if he even finds out what it is exactly you’re planning to do, the whole thing will come crashing down around your heads, I guarantee it.”

“I hear you,” said Isaiah, although Paul could not tell if the man actually believed him. “Where is this Raff now?”

“I’m not sure. We’re tracking him though. We had an encounter with him down by Mallory Square. We think he might be in the Hyatt complex there by the water - which is where Eddie and his crew are staying by the way.”

“So he knows you are here?” said Isaiah.

“I think he must have known we were here from the beginning.”

“Why? How?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he tracked us here. Or maybe he found us through Winston. I don’t know.”

Isaiah sat still and pondered for a moment, staring out the front window. Paul wondered if he might have an earpiece in, listening to a report from Amelia or one of his other companions.

“I agree with you. We do need to isolate this Raff person and find out what he knows about Raquel’s death. Assuming what you’re telling me about him is true, he is the most likely suspect. Indeed, the only likely suspect, and we should treat him as such. Raquel deserves justice.”

“Great,” said Paul. “How do you…”

“But,” Isaiah interrupted, “We must tread carefully. We don’t yet know what his relationship with Eddie is. Indeed, it’s entirely possible that Eddie had nothing to do with the murder. And if we can avoid alienating him and his crew, we must do so.”

“Why?” asked Paul. “Why is Eddie so important that we have to tiptoe around him like this? What’s his deal?”

Isaiah paused again, this time staring at Paul instead of out the window. Paul met his gaze for as long as he could, but eventually blinked. Isaiah then said, “Eddie has important contacts in the Caribbean - ones we would be hard pressed to duplicate.”

“What? With banks in the Caymans or whatever?”

“Those too of course, but that’s not important. The banks are always eager for new money. No, Eddie has his hands in another big business down here - cruise ships.”

“Cruise ships?” asked Paul.

Isaiah nodded.

“What’s so important about cruise ships? If you need a buffet hook up, I can…”

“They go everywhere,” said Isaiah. “In and out of every major port.”

Paul understood at once. “You’re talking about smuggling.”

Another nod.

“But don’t they go through customs like everything else? And aren’t there all kinds of extra security and all that? There’s got to be easier ways to smuggle things in and out of the country.”

“Security is tight if you’re a passenger,” Isaiah agreed. “But once you’re on the inside, it gets much easier. And there’s no more comfortable way to smuggle people. If you have the right contacts in customs and pay off the right people on board, you can move people and cargo without arousing any suspicion. And the nicer the cruise ship, the more expensive the berth, the less likely you are to attract unwanted law enforcement attention. Eddie and his crew have those connections. They practically live on those cruise ships and they make payments to officials in every major and minor port in the Caribbean.”

“Ok, sure, I guess,” said Paul, who didn’t care at all about smuggling or any of that. He just wanted to get Raff out of his life ASAP. “Fine then, we’ll keep clear of Eddie, at least until we know whether or not he’s involved.”

“Agreed,” said Isaiah.

“But if he is involved…”

“If he’s involved, there will be justice for him,” said Isaiah. “Raquel was a friend.”

Paul nodded and sighed, taking a deep breath. He needed to calm down and focus on the task at hand. “So, what now?” he asked.

“What do you think?”

“Well, for starters, I’ll send you over a pic of Raff and everything else we know about him. That way you and your people can be on the lookout for him. And maybe you can check with your sources or whoever and see if you have any idea who he might be working with.”

“Any information about his former partner might help,” said Isaiah. “The man you said is dead.”

“Yeah, sure.” Paul thought of Bee and her obsession with the dead man. Maybe if Isaiah could track down some history on him it would give her some closure.

“Of course Winston’s the one to talk to about that,” said Isaiah. “He’s much more knowledgeable about the various Crews out there.”

“I’ll get in touch with him about it, don’t worry,” said Paul. “I guess in the meantime we need to decide what to do about Raff when we find him.”

Isaiah cocked his head to one side, indicating he wasn’t sure what Paul meant.

“I mean, should we take him into custody or something?”

“We’re not the police. We’re not the military,” said Isaiah. “You may of course do as you please. This is your home, and I have not promised Raff or anyone associated with him - besides Eddie apparently - my protection. But I would advise against it.”

This assertion surprised Paul. “Why not?”

“It’s not what you do. Nor is it what we do except in the direst of circumstances. We gather information and use it to our advantage, and I find that you’re not likely to gain the kind of information you want by kidnapping people and forcibly questioning them. Besides, it’s a messy business. A messy, dangerous business that attracts cops.”

Paul didn’t know if he agreed, and Isaiah must have read his doubt on his face. “If things need to become physical, you’ll know it. But don’t be the one to escalate matters. Not until you have to,” said Isaiah.

“It might be too late for that.”

Isaiah shrugged. “The decision is yours.” He stood up and held out a hand to Paul, who shook it. “In the meantime, we’ll proceed as before. I’ll meet with Eddie again, but I won’t let him know that we’ve discovered his connection to Raff. We’ll see how he wants this situation to play out. But until we have more evidence, I won’t help you move directly against Raff.”

“All right,” said Paul. “I’ll send you the info on Raff and keep you up to date. And if you talk to Winston before I do, tell him to call in.”

“Of course,” Isaiah replied, releasing Paul’s hand. “Best of luck.”

Paul turned and headed for the door, but before he could open it Isaiah said, “I have to tell you something.” Paul turned to look back at Isaiah.

“I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen from you so far,” he told Paul. “If you and Chloe can sort this situation with Raff and Eddie out in a tidy manner, I’d be willing to offer you a larger role in our little project.”

“Tidy?” asked Paul.

“Only two goals are important to me right now, Paul. Finding Raquel’s killer and keeping Eddie’s cruise ship network intact. Eddie’s Crew’s network, I should say. As for Raff or Eddie or any other individual, well…” he shrugged.

“Ok,” said Paul, who didn’t really care about having a bigger role in Isaiah’s shadow corporation but was very interested in fucking over Raff. “Good to know. I’ll let you know if there’s anything you can do to help achieve those two goals.”

“Please do.”