We were really good. Kim put him on the spot by literally switching positions. I loved it when she said we were interviewing him. With our trio back in the groove, it was not much different than getting back on a bike after not riding for several years. You don’t forget how to do it. Clearly he bought the fact that he needed Las Ropas Exclusivo. He took us through the showroom, pointing out the best selling items. If there is one thing I know, it’s clothing and quality. It all appeared to be high-end fashion. Maybe the rumor about the merchandise being made in China didn’t apply here. These were quality pieces.
Then, like an electrical surge, the reality of Altalune hit me. These samples in the showroom were most likely made in the U.S.A. and of the finest quality. I envisioned a workroom that manufactured these for select clients in the States and the showroom. However, and of this I was certain because I trusted the evidence we’d been told about, when an order such as the one we were about to place was set in motion to launder money, it was probably filled with the inferior quality cheap Chinese copies with bootleg labels.
Really clever. Then he said, “I am sure you will understand this. In fact, perhaps our friend Mr. Espinosa has mentioned it, but with this type of large, ah, specialty order, I am not the final word.”
He poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher in front of him, took a sip, then continued. “I will have to present it to our majority partner, and if he agrees to deal with you we will set another meeting to conclude our arrangements. Do not be alarmed, but with transactions of this type it is necessary to run some checks on your company. Do you have any objections?”
Kate said, “Of course not. We have to trust each other, don’t we?”
He nodded agreement.
The key word was trust. We were basically unknown in the world of drug money laundering except for the introduction by Luis Espinosa. I hoped the phony bank references plus the U.S. office and Mexican warehouse set up by the FBI were enough to plant the idea we were capable of dealing in millions. Hopefully the elusive person behind this particular laundering operation would come out of the shadows. We knew that considering two of their main sources had been put out of business, whoever he or she was that person and the Rojas Cartel did need a group like ours. The rush of this scam was almost enough to make me forget about Tyler Cunningham’s murder and the fact that I might be a suspect. Almost enough, but not quite. I was still terribly worried.
Kim had discussed the ins and outs of this setup in detail with the Director of the Los Angeles Homeland Security wiretapping operation.
He was certain the same person was behind all three of the target companies, and hoped hitting them at the same time would trigger a meeting with the main person. With any luck, we might be able to smoke out the specter behind up to ten companies that manufactured everything from tee shirts to pajamas—companies that laundered millions of dollars a year. I only hoped Mr. Espinosa would be able to get out of the country alive before the fireworks began.
We thanked Mr. Vashti for the meeting and told him to call us after he spoke to majority partner. Kate added, “Don’t wait too long. We need to have resources in place for our clients within two days and I assure you, we will not have any problem entering into agreements with companies anxious to work with us.”
After that we made stops at the other two companies on our list—Dress-Nation, a company that manufactured women’s dresses in mid-range pricing with a showroom located in The Cooper Design Space and Gorilla Sportswear, a manufacturer of men’s sportswear known for its grunting gorilla lifting barbells logo.
This company was housed in an actual manufacturing facility and did not have an outside showroom. I wondered if they also used Chinese merchandise for the laundering part of the business. We couldn’t have missed Gorilla Sportswear if we tried. It was located in an industrial section in Compton, not the safest area of Greater Los Angeles. In fact I hoped my car would be safe, but relaxed a bit when I saw a Mercedes and a Jaguar parked in spaces bearing names.
A huge reproduction of the gorilla logo dominated the front of the low-rise building with Gorilla Sportswear scrolled alongside. Chain link fencing enclosed the parking lot and loading dock area. Situated on a corner, there was an access street behind it and the closest building was a good distance away. In other words, sort of isolated. This industrial area was definitely a change of atmosphere from the Fashion District.
The meeting at Dress-Nation had almost been a carbon copy of the one with Altalune Fashions. The one with Mr. Vito Laganga of Gorilla Sportswear was different. He looked like the stereotypical conception of a Mafia enforcer. I estimated the big man to stand about six-foot-four or five, tipping the scales around three hundred pounds with shoulders like a linebacker. His jet black hair was combed straight back from his face and he sported a full black mustache. When his lips parted to give us a smile, there was no happiness behind that smile.
We were given a tour through the factory and he alluded to the fact that with their “manufacturing partners” they were capable of filling any size order. I assumed the manufacturing partners were the Chinese.
Like Mahood Vashti, both men said they would have to run it past their majority partner. That was not only what we expected, but what we hoped for. Maybe this really would work. A little tingle of excitement skittered up my spine.
Kate gave both of them the same parting ultimatum—don’t wait too long. So, now all three were faced with a ticking clock. The plan was moving along.
With our work for the day finished, as we drove toward my house the rush of carrying out an undercover scam was evident in our non-stop chattering. I sure didn’t expect to find Detective McCrary sitting on my patio waiting for us, but there he was, lounging in one of my patio chairs.
36
HE GREETED US WITH a broad smile. “Hello ladies. I’ve been waiting for you.”
I wasn’t overly pleasant when I replied, “That’s obvious. Won’t you come in?”
There is a cliché saying about waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wondered if that was the purpose of McCrary’s impromptu visit. Was I about to get some bad news regarding Tyler Cunningham’s murder? I’d almost managed to put the fear out of my mind but now my heart was racing and I tried to control my trembling hands.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I dropped by without calling. I’d hoped to find you home, but when you weren’t here, I decided to wait for awhile. It sure is pleasant out here.”
“I know that. Now why are you here?”
“I’m sorry, but I need to share some more information with you and ask you something urgent. Remember, I said we hadn’t released Cunningham’s cause of death? The autopsy revealed he was struck at a crucial spot on the right side of the neck with a blunt instrument which resulted in death similar to a stroke. There was a slight trace of blood where the skin was broken. As far as can be told, he died within minutes. We are currently looking for the murder weapon.”
I had to ask. “What does that have to—“
We were interrupted by a cacophony of quacking on my patio and a man’s voice shouting “Shut up you damn ducks.”
Grateful for the diversion, I said, “Excuse me. I have to see what’s going on outside.” Without waiting for a reply from Detective McCrary, I strode past him and flung open my front door. Three ducks raced into my living room followed by a skinny man wearing plaid Bermuda shorts, a tee shirt that proclaimed Venice Dude and wingtip shoes with socks and garters. He tugged at the leash of a dog the size of a small horse and shouted, “Get away from those ducks. Brutus, heel!” The dog paid no attention and pulled the man into my living room toward the ducks as they cowered behind Kate.
If I wasn’t so scared about what McCrary was ready to say, this would have been like something out of a comedy. The dog continued to drag the skinny man across the floor toward the quacking ducks. Finally the detective grabbed the leash with one hand and pulled the snarling dog toward the front door.
“Sir, I am LAP
D Detective McCrary. Get your dog off these private premises or I will cite you for disturbing the peace and trespassing. If you cannot control your animal in public, I will call Animal Control to take him into custody. Do you understand?”
The man looked ready to cry. “Officer, um Detective, I’m just watching him for a friend. My friend controls him so easily I didn’t think it would be a problem to take him for a little walk. I didn’t know he would have his eye on a duck dinner. We’re here on vacation from Petaluma, the three of us. Me, my friend Jake and Brutus. Jake wanted to look around in one of the shops on Washington. Can I call him? He’ll take care of Brutus.”
Yep, definitely like something out of a comedy. McCrary tied the rampant dog to the fence around my patio and made sure the ducks were able to go back to the canal safely. They strode out of my house with heads held high, and one-by-one returned to the water. Meanwhile the terrified guy called his friend and told him he had to come immediately or Brutus would be arrested. Well, not actually arrested, but that’s what he told his friend. Ten minutes later a buff-looking follow jogged up to my patio. One look at him and Brutus settled down and laid his head on the concrete. He looked up at the man I presumed to be Jake and whined. Jake untied his leash, and the dog obediently heeled as the three of them walked away.
After they left, McCrary took up where he left off.
“Look, Cameron, I’m not saying you’re definitely a suspect, but you were in the building at the approximate time Cunningham was murdered and let’s face it, there was a lot of animosity between the two of you. Will you give me permission to search your office so I don’t have to get a warrant. If we don’t find anything that could be the murder weapon, you’re still not out of the woods, but a lot closer to being cleared. At this time we really don’t have any other suspects with a strong motive.
“Um, I have nothing to hide. When would you like to do that?” I glanced at my watch. It was 3:30 and we closed at 5:30. Since I was sure they wouldn’t find anything, I could easily call Maggie and give them permission.
He said, “I can have a team there within half-an-hour. It shouldn’t take that long.”
I flashed what I hoped was a confident smile and picked up the phone to call Maggie. I told her to stay as long as she needed and that she would be paid for any after-hours time. “Just make sure they don’t leave an awful mess. Get strong with them if you have to.”
“Okay,” I said. It’s set, but you’d better instruct your people not to leave my office upside down and to be courteous to Maggie. I’m cooperating and I expect you to do the same.”
He gave a mock salute. “Yes, General, it will be done. Seriously, this is the best thing to do. I would like to see you cleared as quickly as possible. I like you three.” He glanced over at Kate and gave her a wink. “Yep, I definitely like you.” All three of us caught his veiled meaning.
Kate must have picked up on his subliminal message big time, because she invited him to stay for a drink or coffee. Oh, that Kate! Always a sucker for a good-looking man, but I had to say I couldn’t blame her. From a selfish standpoint, maybe it would help me, too. I had a very strong feeling they were searching my office because I really was a prime suspect, but what could I do? Maybe getting friendly would cut me some slack. Yeah, right. Big chance.
McCrary said he was off duty and could stay for a short while, but still might have to respond to a call if anything happened that required his attention. He joked about the life of a detective while Kate plied him with questions. It was easy to see he liked her attention. I wondered if he would make any moves on her once the case was solved.
He stayed until we had to leave to meet Milt for dinner.
The next morning we received a patched-through call. The way it was set up, the phone number on our business cards went to a line the Feds controlled. It was answered by a pleasant female voice posing as our receptionist. Weird, huh? In the era of artificial intelligence voices answering most phones, our line was answered by a real person—an FBI agent. The call was from Vito Laganga asking for Kate.
“Good morning, Mr. Laganga. I have you on speaker phone. Have you conferred with your partner?”
“Yeah. Not only my partner, but Mahood Vashti at Altalune and Greg Clark at Dress-Nation. We are not as naive as you may think. Clearly you are actively setting up lines of supply, but we find it curious the only companies we find you have contacted so far have the same majority partner. I assume that was by design, so let’s be straight with each other. Are you planning to contact others in the group?”
This was an unexpected turn of events. We hadn’t counted on them communicating with each other, and certainly not immediately. I shrugged my shoulders, at a loss to signal Kate what to reply. Kim grabbed a yellow pad we used to itemize our moves and wrote tell him three will do it in large letters, then held it up for Kate to see.
“Well, Mr. Laganga, you are certainly on top of things. I always admire efficiency. To answer your question, for the time being the three companies will be able to fill our requirements sufficiently. Since you are all aware of our agenda, might I suggest a joint meeting with the three of you. We can hash out the details and hopefully finalize a very profitable deal for all of us.”
For the moment, Vito Laganga said nothing and there was silence in the room.
Being the consummate closer that Kate was, she pushed it. “Take time to consider my suggestion about the meeting, but perhaps this will help. We have a tight schedule as far as finalizing a working arrangement for merchandise. Several other manufacturers are anxious to accommodate us. We have but to contact them. However, we thought it convenient to have three sources under the same umbrella, so to speak.”
Finally Laganga said, “You want to meet with me, Mr. Vashti and Mr. Clark at the same time? Under the circumstances that might be a bit risky. Although your company appears to be of recent creation, some of our competitors involved in similar transactions are no doubt aware of you. I propose we work out the details individually.”
That was the moment of truth. “No, we cannot do that. No joint meeting, no deal. If we are all in agreement at the end of that meeting it will be very lucrative for everyone, but we still need to meet with your mysterious partner as a final step. We must know who we are dealing with, and I only deal with the top people. We have confirmed that all of you answer to the same person. Agree to what I’ve suggested or you will be passing up transactions worth close to eighty million dollars over time with a healthy slice of that for you and your friends. I have a feeling that would not make your partner very happy.”
I was so proud of Kate. I don’t think I would have had the courage to possibly blow the whole deal, but as she always said you have to be willing to walk away from the table, and her quick decision to throw out the figure of eighty million was certainly enticing. We hadn’t even discussed how many millions to mention yet.
Once again Laganga hesitated. Finally he said, “I will set up the meeting. The conference room here at my factory, tomorrow. I’ll call to advise the time.” He abruptly terminated the call.
I wasn’t keen to go into back into that area. Neither were Kate nor Kim. Quite frankly, the scruffy appearance of the industrial area and the isolation made us nervous.
My adrenalin pumped big time. Some people get off on danger, but I’m not one of them. I asked if he said anything else before he hung up.
“No, except that he’ll check with the others and call back with the time. I would have felt more comfortable meeting in the Fashion District, but maybe he thought that would be too obvious. His factory is pretty much out of the way and it’s unlikely anyone would observe us meeting with those three together. Remember, we are supposed to be big new players in the money laundering business, so I can imagine him thinking it would be feasible for us to be recognized by others in the game. What do you say? Should we play it safe? We can still bail. I have to have an answer ready when he calls back.”
Kim was the first to reply. “I don�
��t like the idea of going back there either, but I’d like to see it through. I’m guessing no thugs will come charging in like the cavalry. Not unless they somehow find out we are not who we represent ourselves to be.”
There was another thing to consider. Kate and I are very skilled in martial arts, and that saved us when we were in danger before. Even though we’d been held at gunpoint, we were able to wrap up the embezzlers before the FBI team even got there. And I do mean wrap up. We had them neatly bound to chairs with yards and yards of duct tape. All the Feds had to do was take them away.
Kim doesn’t practice karate or anything like that, but Kate and I are black belts. We’re women who can defend ourselves and our friend, if need be. That and our history entered into my decision to agree with Kate. I was in.
Making a huge deal with the three companies was the first step in smoking out the top dog. We agreed the plan should go smoothly. When we had to come up with the deposit money, which would be recovered when the businesses were raided, the Feds would supply us with millions of dollars of previously confiscated drug money.
What could possibly go wrong?
37
IF SOMEONE HAD ASKED me that question a few weeks later, I could have given them plenty of scenarios that would result in dread. But as we drove to the meeting, we were very optimistic. In a few days we would go back to our normal lives none the worse for the wear, and possibly with some reward money for Marjory’s family.
Kim said, “Well, I’m glad I didn’t let Nathan down even though he really had reservations about putting me in this position in the first place. I didn’t tell you, but it was actually my idea to come here and help identify the mole.”
She went on to tell us she first got the idea when they were having a delicious dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. Nathan seemed distant. Distracted. She finally got him to share why he was so lost in thought, and he told her about what was going on at the secret Los Angeles Homeland Security wiretapping operation. They had tried to identify the leaker without success, and three raids had gone bad already.
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