“Now,” he continued, “back to my grandson. Vegas, Nevada only has two years of high school left. We’re not talking about a life sentence. I know it’s been a few years, but Consuela’s not an ugly woman.”
“No, she’s not, but can you hear yourself?”
“Loud and clear. The question is, do you hear me?” He leaned forward, looking me in the eyes.
“I do.” I couldn’t believe I was even considering what he was saying. “What about Marie? What the hell am I supposed to tell her?”
“You’re a smart man. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
My phone rang with an unfamiliar number. I answered it without hesitation, thinking it could be Nevada.
“Hello?”
“Vegas, man, it’s Johnny.” His speech sounded slurred.
“Johnny Brooks?” I could feel Pop watching me.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “I need to see you, brother. Can . . . can we meet up?”
“I’m handling something with my son right now, Johnny. Let me hit you back after I deal with this.”
“Vegas, you . . . you don’t understand. This is important, man. I really need to talk to you,” Johnny pleaded.
“J, you been drinking?”
“A little. But only because of what’s happening. I need to see you, man.”
I liked Johnny, I really did, but I couldn’t deal with his drinking at the moment. “I’m sorry, man, but I gotta take care of this thing with my son.”
“Aw, damn. A’ight, handle that. But when you finish, man, hit me back. Please. It’s life or death.” Johnny hung up.
I held my phone for a second, totally confused by our conversation.
“That was Johnny Brooks?” Pop asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s drinking again.”
“That’s too bad. He came by the shop a few weeks ago, looking for you. I offered him a drink, but he turned me down. Said he’d been sober for a couple of years.”
“Well, he ain’t sober now. What’d he want, anyway? Money?”
“No. He said he had a good job. We were supposed to talk, but he saw fat-ass KD Shrugs and hauled ass out of there.”
What the hell was KD Shrugs doing in New York and at our shop? I wondered.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think KD and Johnny knew each other,” Pop said.
“They do. I helped Johnny get a job with Tyler when he got outta rehab,” I told him.
“Tyler Shrugs?” Pop raised his voice.
“Yeah, he was calling around, looking for reliable drivers to drive shipments across the border. Johnny was sober at the time, so I thought it was okay. He’s been driving with them for over three years.”
“Dammit.” Pop exhaled hard. “I wish you had told me this.”
“What’s wrong? I knew you didn’t want Johnny driving for us, so I sent him down there with Tyler. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is KD Shrugs and his cronies may represent the biggest threat to our business that we’ve ever seen.”
“Pot-belly KD Shrugs? He’s not even a sheriff anymore.” I shrugged. “How’s he gonna hurt us?”
“He’s not a sheriff, but Tyler’s moving up the ranks of the Texas Highway Patrol fast. With his father’s guidance, which could be more dangerous.”
“So, what’s his problem, anyway?”
“KD doesn’t like that we’ve been calling the shots the past few years when it comes to distribution on the East Coast and in the South. There was a time when that was his job, and we had to bow down and kiss his ass to move product.”
“Fuck that redneck bastard and his Barney Fife son,” I said, starting to get pissed off.
“I feel the same way, but don’t sleep on him. He’s had a taste of power, and we both know how intoxicating that can be. He’s been putting together a war chest, using some secret business that a lot of our friends are concerned about. With Trump in the White House, all of a sudden KD’s gaining political favor.”
“What kind of business?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s a moneymaker. He’s been using our marijuana shipments and protections as a Trojan horse to move it.”
I glanced over at my father. I hadn’t seen him look so worried since my Uncle Larry escaped from the nuthouse two years ago. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was more concerned about this shit than he was about Nevada.
“Do we have a plan?” Pops had taught me to have a plan and a backup plan. I’d been in situations with him where even the backup had a backup plan.
“I shut down our weed operation in hopes that it might slow him down, but he has other clients. It also might just have pissed him off and made him more determined. I’ve also been working with the new president of the National Sheriffs Association, Derrick Hughes out of Fulton County, Georgia,” Pop said. Something in my old man’s voice didn’t sound right.
“Derrick’s a cop, but he’s a good brother,” I replied. “So what’s he gonna do for us?”
“He took a few other sheriffs down to have a talk with KD. The sheriffs from Arkansas and Tennessee made it home just fine, but Derrick and Sheriff Andy Wilkins from Augusta never made it back. They vanished—along with their car.”
“What the fuck happened to them?” This was not good at all.
“Nobody knows. Their cell phones were found in the swamp near Shreveport.”
“And you think it was Shrugs?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
“I know it was KD Shrugs, and so do the other sheriffs. We just can’t prove it. But I’ll get to the bottom of it. I hired someone to find out what he’s up to. We should know something in the next day or so, but . . .” He paused when there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”
Junior walked in with a frown on his face.
“You ping my son’s phone?” I asked him.
“Yep, but nothing came back. Either Nevada’s battery’s dead, or he’s turned off his phone.” Junior took a seat next to me.
“Okay,” Pop said. “Now I’m worried.”
Rio
37
I was exhausted in
