Paz waved a hand at the chair, “Sit.”
I glanced at Little Joe. He was studying a fingernail. I sat.
“I been thinking about this,” Paz said. “I’ve changed my mind. We ain’t going to hit nobody. What we are going to do is grab Pike, take him to the river bottom and let him go.”
“Let him go?” Peggy said.
Little Joe and Wally Chen were looking at Paz like nothing he said could surprise them.
“Yeah, let him go,” Paz said. He looked at me, “Why would we let him go?”
All eyes shifted to me.
“Show him you can take him whenever you want. He’ll be ready to deal.”
Paz leaned back in his chair with a squeak.
“You’re a smart kid,” he said.
“How you gonna get him out of that gated compound he’s in now?” Little Joe asked.
Paz looked at me, “How we gonna do that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You’ll think of something,” Paz said. He waved a hand, “Okay, everyone out for now, till Jack comes up with a plan.”
We filed out and I went and sat on my usual stool. Little Joe moved up beside me.
“I told you not to get too cute with him.”
“I have a terrible habit.”
“What’s that?”
“Someone asks me a question, I think they really want an answer.”
“Yeah, you need to get over that,” he said. He slid off the stool and went back to his normal table.
Frank set a beer in front of me, and I sipped on it for about an hour. Most of the time if I need an idea I just have to let it come. So, I sat quietly and looked at nothing in the mirror. After a while Peggy went out to smoke. When he came back in I had swung around to face him. The smell of cigarettes was pungent on him as he started to move by me.
He looked at me, “Got any ideas yet?”
“Who is Pike’s largest income generator?”
He stopped. “Income generator?”
“Which of his guys make him the most money?”
He stood and looked at me. He was thinking. I could see that it hurt.
Finally, he said, “Probably Diego Luz.”
“Diego Luz,” I repeated. “Where does he operate?”
“He sells Pike’s meth to all the chili pickers west of here.”
“Where west?”
“Way west. Blythe and Quartzite, even on to Indio. We don’t go there, so he doesn’t have any serious competition.”
“What’s the most popular drug there. What makes the most money.”
“OxyContin, hands down.”
“Where do we find Diego Luz?’
“He works out of a ranch he has, out in Wintersburg.”
“Where the hell is Wintersburg?”
“Way the hell and gone. West of Buckeye, south of the I-10. Gives him a straight shot to Blythe.”
“You been there?”
“Hell, no. Why would I be out there?”
“You seem to know a lot about him.”
“Paz keeps track of everything. That’s why he’s the King.”
“But, Luz is working for Pike.”
“If Cicero Paz wanted Diego Luz, Luz would be his.”
“Why doesn’t Paz go east? Into Scottsdale.”
“Bunch of snots.” Peggy snorted. “Nobody over there tough enough. Nobody wants to get their hands dirty.”
“You got to get your hands dirty, huh?”
“You have to get your hands bloody,” Peggy said, turning away from me.
34
The next day Peggy and I drove to Wintersburg. I had told Paz my idea, and with the wave of a hand, he said “Do it.” Peggy insisted he knew where Luz’s ranch was, and also insisted that Luz was alone, except for his ‘woman’.
It wasn’t just next door. We went west to I-17 then south to I-10 then just kept driving west. What used to be scrub desert and farms was now new developments designed like small towns. You never had to leave. But after a while we ran out of those also. We came to the Wintersburg exit and took it south. There just wasn’t much out here. Peggy finally turned off the asphalt road onto a scraped dirt one. The dust boiled behind us. He drove another fifteen minutes then pulled to the side and shut off the motor. There was a gated drive just ahead. The gate was open, the drive was dirt. It wound five hundred yards back toward a dry knoll with a grouping of buildings on it. To the side was a barn and a large corral. In the distance, two horses lounged along the fence, munching on the sparse bunch grass. There was a pick-up truck by the house. There were two other buildings. You couldn’t tell their purpose. They could have been anything. There were four pick-ups by them. The truck by the house was the only one that looked half-way decent. The others were battered and rusty on the edges.
We sat studying the ranch.
“Thought you said he was alone.”
“Usually is.”
I looked at him, “How do you know?”
“Paz don’t leave this guy hanging out here. He’s got a guy inside, tells us what we want to know.”
The buildings looked like they had been dropped from the sky into the middle of scrub, flat desert. There was hardly any growth. Some low creosote up on the knoll. Nothing around the buildings. When Peggy had said ranch, my mind went to cowboys and cattle and such. This was nothing but bare land.
“Diego Luz knows who you are?”
“Probably. He should.”
“So, we walk up there, he knows you are from Paz.”
“Probably.”
“But, he’ll probably want to know why you are here?”
“Probably.”
“So, we draw him out, I put a gun on him, you zip tie him, and we drive him back to the city.”
“What about those other guys.”
“If they are there. I’ll have a pistol to their boss’s head.”
Peggy looked at me. He studied me a minute. “What if there are guys there, and they start shooting.”
“I have a gun to their boss’s head. They start shooting, he’s the first one to die.”
His gaze was steady. I could see the questions in his eyes.
“We can turn around and go back,” I said.
He started the car, “Little Joe says you have brass balls. We go back without Luz, neither one of us will have any balls.”
We started down the long dirt drive to the house. There was a mongrel dog on the porch. It came to its feet, watching us approach. Diego Luz saved us the trouble. He stepped out on the porch, letting the screen door slam behind him. Peggy pulled the car up close to the porch and turned it so I was closest to Luz. He couldn’t see Peggy. I had been wearing a ball cap. I took it off and put it in my right hand to cover the Smith and Wesson. I stepped out of the car. I walked up as close as I could before the dog started growling.
“Mr. Luz?” I said, with a smile. He was a big dark, rangy man with dusty black hair. He stood easy, his hands hanging at his side. They were as big as mitts. He had his share of Indio blood.
“Who wants to know?”
Peggy stepped out of the driver’s side, and Luz started to move. With my left hand, I put the hat back on my head and with the right I pointed the pistol at Luz’s middle. The dog was growling, but staying on the porch.
“Sic the dog and I shoot you first, then the dog,” I said.
Luz moved his hands away from his sides.
“What do you want?” he said. He looked at Peggy, “I don’t get into your business.”
“Mr. Paz needs you to do him a favor,” I said. “You have to come with us to the city to do it. Once it’s done, you will be free to go. Mr. Paz will make it worth your while.”
His eyes slid to the left and I stepped to the left so my peripheral vision could take in what he was looking at. Two men had come out of one of the buildings and were watching. Then two more came out. They carried AR15s.
“Peggy!” I said. Peggy moved around the car and up on the porch. The dog started to bark a
t him.
“Call the dog off, or I shoot it,” I said.
“Loco,” Luz said harshly. He held up a closed fist. “Bah!”
The dog shut up. It backed up a couple of steps with a whine.
Peggy pulled Luz’s arms behind him. He had long zip ties attached to each other, making one long one. He wrapped them just above Luz’s elbows and pulled them tight. Luz grunted. He took Luz by the arm and led him to the car. I walked along side, the pistol cocked and pointed at Luz’s head. We went around the car so it blocked us from the four men. They were moving now. Peggy shoved Luz into the back seat. I got in the passenger’s side, the pistol in Luz’s face.
I heard the men shouting to each other.
“Time to go,” I said.
“Shit,” Peggy exclaimed.
I glanced at him, he was bent down in the driver’s seat. Frantically retrieving the keys he had dropped.
By the time he had the key in the ignition, the men were on us. One on each corner pointing the automatic rifles at us.
“Get out of the car!” the man on my side shouted.
I leaned across the seat and grabbed Luz by his hair. I yanked him forward and shoved the pistol against his teeth. It split his lip and blood gushed down his chin.
“Open your mouth,” I said.
He hesitated.
“Open now, or you die now,” I said calmly.
He slowly opened his mouth and I shoved the barrel in. The hammer was back.
“Lower my window,” I said.
Peggy hit the button and my window went down.
“If you shoot me, Luz dies,” I shouted. “If you shoot the tires, Luz dies. If you shoot the driver, Luz dies. If one shot is fired, Luz dies. If I see a truck following, Luz dies!”
I said to Peggy, “Start forward, normal speed.”
Peggy put the car in gear and we started rolling forward. At the last second the two men in front stepped aside. Peggy kept the car rolling. I watched through the back window until we reached the gate. None of the men had moved. With a jolt Peggy goosed the car and we took off in a boiling cloud of dust.
I pulled the barrel out of Luz’s mouth. He spit a gob of blood on the floor board.
“Jesus,” he said, and spit again. He looked at me. “Why do you do this? I stay out of Paz’s business.”
“This isn’t about you,” I said. “This is Paz and Pike.”
His eyes just looked at me, dark and blank, as he processed this.
“How about you cut these damn zip locks? They hurt like hell. I will be no trouble.”
I flipped my knife open and he leaned to the side so I could get to them. I sliced them. He leaned back rubbing his arms where they had bit into him. He looked out the side window, watching the desert go by. He stayed like that all the way back.
35
We were in Paz’s office. Diego Luz sat in a chair, his elbows on his knees, his head in his huge hands. His dark hair hung over his hands and face. He looked up at Paz, shaking his head slowly, side to side. He took his hands and combed his hair back with his fingers.
“I do this, I’m done,” he said.
“You don’t do it, you’re dead,” Paz said.
Paz looked at Little Joe. “Put a gun to his head,” he said.
Little Joe took out his pistol and put it to Luz’s head. Luz didn’t move.
Pax looked at Wally Chen. “Take a picture of that,” he said.
Wally Chen stood and took his phone out. He moved around to get the right angle and took two pictures. He looked at Paz.
“You got your phone?” Paz asked Luz.
“I got it,” Peggy said. He pulled Luz’s phone out of his pocket. Paz nodded at Luz and Peggy handed him the phone.
“What’s the number?”
Luz rattled it off.
“Send him the pictures,” Paz said to Wally Chen. Wally Chen fooled with his phone a minute then Luz’s phone pinged.
Paz held his hand out, “Let me see.”
Luz handed him the phone. Paz looked at the pictures then handed the phone back to Luz. “You had no choice. We had a gun to your head.”
Luz looked at the pictures then at Paz, “Pike won’t care,” he said.
“That’s a chance I’ll have to take,” Paz said.
I smiled at that. Little Joe frowned at me and I stopped smiling. I guess Paz wasn’t trying to be funny.
Paz looked at me, “You got what he’s supposed to say?”
I took the typewritten sheet out of my pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Paz. He straightened it out and read it. He sat back looking at me, then at Luz, then he read it again. He nodded, “Yeah, that’ll do it.”
He said to Luz, “Call Pike, tell him what’s on that paper. Don’t read it, just say it. Make it sound normal. This is a deal too good to pass up. You try to get cute, Little Joe shoots you in the kneecap.”
Luz took the paper and read it. He read it again. He looked up and this time he looked at me. He called Pike. The room was still. We could hear the tinny buzzing as Pike’s phone rang. We heard him answer.
“It’s me,” Luz said. “Yeah, it’s all good. Guy came over from L.A., he’s got a deal for us.” We could hear Pike say something. “Yeah, it’s too big for me. I need you in it.”
He listened a minute, then, “He has what he says is a million dollars of opioids. OxyContin, morphine, shit like that. He wants to unload them. Ten cents on the dollar.”
He listened a moment, “I don’t know. I don’t want to know. The less we know the better. I’ve done business with this guy before. He’s always delivered.”
He listened again. “Cash, he wants cash. He wants to meet. He knows about you, he wants you in. He knows I can’t handle it by myself. He says he’ll bring samples and have photos of the whole thing.” We could hear the sound of Pike’s voice, but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“You decide,” Luz said. “He said you decide, just so it’s someplace private. Someplace he’ll feel safe.” He listened some more. “Where’s that, again?” He listened. “Oh, your place. Your old place. It’s still empty?” He was silent. “Tomorrow night, 8pm, your old place.” He looked at the phone and disconnected. He looked at Paz. “You get that?”
“Smart,” Paz said. “Nobody figures he would use that place again.”
36
Because Pike had no idea who I was, I was chosen to be the dealer from California. Paz sent Little Joe, Wally Chen and Peggy to Pike’s old warehouse five hours early. They took automatic rifles, and a deck of cards to pass the time.
At seven forty-five, I pulled into Pike’s old parking lot and parked in the front. The sun was about done for the day and the automatic lights of the parking lot were buzzing as they struggled to ignite. Diego Luz was next to me. He was very quiet. Frank and Vanilla were in the back. Paz wanted a show of force. Once again, Paz wasn’t going to dirty his hands and had stayed behind. I didn’t see Little Joe’s or Peggy’s cars. I just had to assume they were inside, and they had gotten there before Pike’s guys.
The Diamondbacks were playing a night game, so I found the broadcast and we sat in the gathering darkness listening to the ball game. This year they had a decent team. With them it was up and down.
Pike was right on time for Phoenix, which is to say he was fifteen minutes late. Pony Boy was driving. I knew that because the overhead lights glinted off his bald head as they turned into the lot. He angled the car so the lights were on us. I looked at Luz.
“Get out,” I said. He reluctantly climbed out. Pony Boy looked at him for a long moment, then parked. He cut the lights. He stepped out, joined by three others. One of them was Bono Pike.
“This your guy?” Pike said to Diego Luz, his eyes on me.
“Yeah,” Luz said.
He turned, “Let’s go inside. I don’t like standing in a spotlight.”
Without looking to see if we followed, he walked across the lot to the front door of his old place. We followed. Pony Boy had the keys, he
unlocked the door and we followed him inside. The place smelled musty. It was a reception area with an office off each side and a door to the back. Pike flicked the lights on. Someone was still paying the electricity. Pike turned to me, “Let’s see what you got.”
I made a show of looking around, “I want to make sure we are alone.” With all of us in, the room was crowded.
He waved his permission and I went to the door to the back. I rattled the doorknob. If for some dumb reason the guys didn’t know we were there, they would now. I opened it and looked through. When I turned back, Wally Chen followed with an automatic rifle covering the room. He was followed by Peggy, then Little Joe.
Pony Boy said “Shit,” under his breath.
One of Pike’s other guys started to move, but I had my pistol out and pointed it at him.
“Don’t make a mistake.”
“Where’s the big guy, and the dude with the red bandanna,” Peggy said. Pike looked at him, having no idea what he was talking about.
Peggy looked at me, “They ain’t outside, are they?”
“Not with them,” I said. “These guys all came together.”
Wally Chen waved them against the wall and began patting them down. He was thorough, even checking their ankles. Peggy collected the weapons. Once they were clean, Wally Chen had them sit, facing the wall with their hands behind their heads. He saved Pike for last. Pike wasn’t armed.
Little Joe pulled his phone and hit a speed dial number. The phone connected on the other end and Little Joe said, “It’s clear.”
A moment later the outside door opened and Paz walked in. He looked at the men sitting, facing the wall. He looked at Little Joe and nodded.
“Get up,” he said to the men. The other men hesitated but Pike climbed to his feet. He showed no fear. He was a tall man, with gleaming boots and slicked back hair. His eyes were on Paz. He nonchalantly took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and shook one out. He lit it and blew smoke out the side of his mouth, and upward, like he didn’t want to blow smoke on anyone. It was the only outward tell that showed he might be nervous.
“You could have just called and asked for a meeting,” Pike said.
“Would you have come?” Paz said.
The Bag Lady, the Boat Bum and the West Side King Page 13