Chapter 32

Dante

Waiting on the tarmac, I watched as the cartel’s plane landed at a small airport outside Kansas City. With my arms crossed, I leaned against my Aston Martin with a smirk on my face. A light jacket covered my holster and blocked the autumn chill in the air.

The seal on the plane released with a whoosh before the door opened, lowering the stairs. Aléjandro stepped out into the sunlight. Behind sunglasses, he scanned the tarmac, his gaze landing on me.

It had been a week since we’d flown home from San Diego ourselves, and a week since I called my brother-in-law with my theory.

Brazen.

Aléjandro shook his head as he came closer. “Nice car. Not as nice as my Porsche.”

“Ten fucking times better than your Porsche.”

He looked around. “I thought Mia might be here. You know I haven’t seen her in a week.”

“She wanted to come,” I said, getting into the driver’s seat as Aléjandro sat to my right. “I wanted a few minutes before other ears were around.” I glanced in his direction. “What have you learned?”

“The manifest your man found had the Goodins on a plane owned by the same LLC that deposited the five hundred thousand in their bank account. Rei dug into the LLC. Whoever filed for the corporation did their due diligence to hide the true owner. It’s buried under layers of corporations.” He looked in my direction. “Who have you talked to about this?”

“You, Dario.” I hesitated. “Reinaldo called me a few days ago.”

Aléjandro nodded. “He told me.”

“I should have been the one to clear the air about Camila.” I should have been. I could blame the fact that I’d been bogged down in hunting for proof of Herrera’s involvement against the Roríguez cartel. And then there’s the fact I wanted to spend every waking moment with my new wife. Of course, business with the famiglia was always a factor, such as Emerald Club being raided a few nights ago.

Those would all be excuses. Reinaldo made the move, and I was humbled by his gesture.

“You two good?” Aléjandro asked.

“Yeah. He didn’t know that I’d made a move on Camila.”

“I mean, I knew. I didn’t know that Andrés changed his mind or that Rei was in the running until that ball was already rolling. Glad you two talked. We all need to be together on this. If Herrera is behind it, we need to have proof. Mi padre won’t make a move on another cartel without evidence.”

“Our fucking father was the opposite. Blame, attack, kill, and then justify.”

I headed the car toward the club to my office. “Lorenzo found something I want to show you before we head to the apartments.”

Parking the car in the lot beside Emerald Club, Aléjandro and I walked toward the front door. “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

My brother-in-law shook his head. “No, I’ve wanted to check it out, but the timing was never right.”

“When Dario became capo, he moved his office to his apartment and upped security there. I always thought Rocco would take over the responsibility of Emerald Club, but…”

“Yeah,” Aléjandro said with more than a side of sarcasm. “Things didn’t work out so well for him. I’m not sorry.”

“So, the club is mine, and I’m fucking spread too thin. I’m training a few of our trusted soldiers to run things here.”

Enzo met us at the door. “Mr. Luciano.” He nodded.

“Enzo, this is Mr. Roríguez, my brother-in-law.” I wasn’t certain of Enzo’s statistics or what qualified for the term giant, but he was damn close.

“Sir,” Enzo greeted.

“Too bad you couldn’t have found a bigger dude to watch the door,” Aléjandro said, his gaze sweeping from the ceiling over the main portion of the building that went up three stories with catwalks and large spotlights in the rafters. Taking off his sunglasses, he studied the staircase that led to the second floor and windows that looked down from my office on the third floor.

“Second floor is VIP,” I said, “Better liquor, private entertainment, and gambling. We were raided a few nights ago. ATF claimed they had proof we were facilitating the sale of illegal drugs, serving alcohol to minors, and profiting from prostitution.”

“What did they find?”

“Not a damn thing. We have our contacts with KSPD who tipped us off. They caught wind of the warrant. We were squeaky clean.”

Aléjandro laughed as we made our way to the elevator. “Someone deserves a payoff.”

“Always.”

We boarded the elevator, taking it straight to the third floor. My office was just off and to the right. “Come in.”

“Nice,” he said, looking around. He peered through the windows that looked down to the first floor.

“Through the back room, there’s a view of the hallway to the private VIP rooms.”

“ATF didn’t question the private rooms?”

“We’re a private club. If a member wants some alone time with his or her friend or loved one, we offer the space. Maybe they just want some quiet time.”

“Plausible answer.”

I nodded. “Have a seat behind the desk. I want to show you what Lorenzo found.” Aléjandro sat in my tall leather chair as I brought my computer to life. “His office is downstairs. We can talk to him later. He was having the same issues with the LLC as Reinaldo. Lorenzo decided to go another route and follow the money. He went back in time.” I clicked the mouse and brought up the screenshots of the Goodins’ bank statements. “You bought your house…”

“Right before Mia and I were married, May of this year.”

“It was about that same time that Mrs. Goodin’s influencer gig took off. She went big in record time.”

“I don’t understand,” he said. “People like true crime.”

“Influencers make their money in a variety of ways, commission through unique links, sponsored content, and ads. Jennifer had been at the whole influencer thing for over a year, but about the time you bought your house, she was targeted by some big money sponsors. At first, they looked legitimate, but as Lorenzo dug, he realized the money was coming from the same source.”

“The LLC?”

“Exactly. The new sponsorship increased her visibility. It wasn’t entirely responsible for her success, but it played a big role in getting her in the spotlight.”

Aléjandro’s forehead furrowed. “Get to the point.”

“Lorenzo connected the money to Ivan Kozlov.”

“Fuck. Not Herrera.”

I shook my head. “Kozlov knows where you live.”

“She was reporting on his bratva in her podcasts.”

“Yeah, I bet he didn’t see that coming.”

The figurative wheels were turning in Aléjandro’s head. “He lured them away and set up the computer system in the house next door.” My brother-in-law stood. “Fucking next door to me.”

“That’s shut down, but Silas needs to fortify your security.”

“Why go to all that trouble, be ready with a sharpshooter, and send in the big guns at the same time?”

“He wouldn’t. It’s not the way the bratva works. They work more covertly. In my opinion, you were attacked on two different fronts that night. Kozlov’s man was next door when the attack came on you and Reinaldo.”

“Brazen,” he said.

“We still don’t have proof, but my money is on Herrera. He would benefit from the Roríguez cartel looking weak.”

“We’re not weak.”

“Fuck no. Instead of surrendering or faltering, you went on, business as usual. You even married another of your princesses off to the famiglia. Nothing in that says weak. And the marriage shows the alliance is as strong as ever.” 

My phone vibrated. I looked at the screen. “I need to take this call.” I walked into the back office and shut the door. Standing at the windows, I spoke. “Are you calling to tell me we’re in for another raid?”

The informant spoke. “No. I thought you might want to know who reported Emerald Club.”

“You have a name?”

“Valuable information, if you ask me.”

I gripped the phone tighter. “You’ve already proven your worth. You know I’m good for it.”

“Word on the street is that you’re doing business with a cartel.”

“What does that have to do with who reported Emerald Club?”

“If you ask me, you’ve been double-crossed.”

“You have a name?” I asked.

“Juan Garcia.”

“Fuck, you might as well say John Smith.”

“Well, Juan is here on a legal visa, but Homeland Security is questioning his connection to a known cartel.”

Fuck.

My thoughts went to my wife.

“Drug lord?” I asked, holding my breath.

“Elizondro Herrera. You owe me.”

I let out a long breath. “I do. Can you get me physical proof? I’ll pay extra.”