“I did some things when I was young don’t make me proud. I spent most of my life looking over one shoulder. Now they tell me my insides is hash. My list says I gotta put things to rest.”
Face Mask drew a long, deep breath.
“Here’s the deal. Take it or leave it. You get what you need on Lapasa. I go home to die at peace in my bed.”
Schoon thought it over.
“I’ll have to clear this with the DA.”
“Knock yourself out.”
Face Mask slouched back in his chair.
SCHOON JOINED US SECONDS LATER.
“How do I proceed?” he asked Lo.
“I’ve got no objection to you dealing on Xander Lapasa. He’s talking forty years ago. A murder in Vietnam. Jurisdiction would be a nightmare. Besides, the guy may have zilch. Maybe he’s trying to cash in on some rumor he heard.”
I’d thought of that, too.
“But stay away from Kealoha and Faalogo,” Lo said. “If the scumbag’s moving drugs into my city he’s going down. Cancer or no cancer.”
“This may take a while,” Schoon said.
It didn’t. Ten minutes later he was back.
“The DA agrees. We give Lapasa rope, hope he hangs himself on something else. A prosecutor will join us shortly, but the DA said to proceed since we’re recording and Lapasa has counsel present. Besides, he doesn’t think we have jurisdiction since the alleged crime took place in Vietnam and the perp was active-duty military.”
Schoon left. A minute later he reappeared on the screen and took his seat.
“All right,” he said. “You have immunity on anything you say regarding Xander Lapasa.”
Face Mask looked at his lawyer.
“We’d like that in writing,” Epstein said.
“You shall have it,” Schoon replied.
Epstein nodded.
Schoon picked up his pen. “Tell me about the death of Alexander Lapasa.”
The pharmacy mask shrank inward, puffed out. Then, “Lapasa and I are waiting for a chopper to take us up- country.”
“Where was this?” Schoon asked.
“Long Binh.”
My heart began beating so loud I thought the others might hear it.
“To pass the time we start chewing the fat. I ask why he’s out of uni. He says he’s civvy, in-country looking for business ops once the war wraps up.
“We finally lift off. The chopper’s barely in the air when we take a hit, go down hard. The pilot, copilot, and crew chief buy it. Same for a kid riding in back. I walk away. So does Lapasa.” Face Mask shrugged. “Seemed like a perfect business op for me.”
Sweet Mother Mary!
I shot a hand out to Ryan. “Give me your cell.”
“What?”
“Just give me your cell.” Sharp.
Ryan did.
I punched buttons, my eyes jumping between the phone and the man on the screen. Schoon was now asking about dates.
“January, nineteen sixty-eight.”
“The day?”
“I don’t know.”
Danny answered on the first ring.
“The maintenance worker who witnessed the Huey crash at Long Binh. Did you ever track him down?”
“Harlan Kramer?”
“Whatever.”
“I talked to him. He’s retired and living in Killeen, Texas. Didn’t learn anything new—”
