I wondered if Dante’s paranoia would leak over to Kobe, she was the newest person hanging around.
“You need to be careful, stay alert. There’s always a lot at stake,” Miguel reminded me unnecessarily. “I hope that I’m more than just your handler, we’ve become friends, right?” He unsnapped the cape and shook it before leaning to the side and grabbing a broom.
I nodded.
“I know that you are worried about that girl, you friend’s sister. Just remember that there is more at stake. Think of all the people you will save in the long run when you bring this gang down. Think of all the criminals yet to be caught. Do your job, don’t get sidetracked.”
I sat in silence as the sound from the leaky faucet dripped.
“What’s going on, why do you think Dante is paranoid?”
“He put the green light on Thane. Thane has been a member of the gang longer than I have.”
Miguel paused, broom in hand, and looked back at me. “A kill order on Thane? Hmm, was a timeline given?”
“No. He gave Crow the order. I’m trying to figure out how to save Kobe, bring Dante down, and now save Thane.”
“Your job is to bring Dante down, don’t get sidetracked.”
“But they want to kill Thane because of Kobe.”
Miguel lowered the volume on the stereo.
“They think Thane might be an informant.” I twisted my hands in front of me and tried not to think about Thane, he was innocent this time but there was a world of other crimes the man had committed. Hell, dealing drugs to young girls for sex was just one of the many things I had spied.
Miguel dusted the hair from my neck and the back of my T-shirt. “Let Thane go, he’s not your job. I’ll add that you’re worried that he’s going to be killed.”
“Not just worried, it is going to happen.”
“I’ll let your task agent know but there is nothing you can do without blowing your cover. Big picture, remember?”
I nodded. “What about you? Do you have anything for me?” I asked and pushed myself from the chair. It squeaked under the pressure. “Have you heard anything?”
“There is a load of heroin coming in.”
“Where?”
“Christmas cards,” Miguel stated.
“What do you mean Christmas cards, it’s almost September not December.”
“Exactly, stores are ordering that shit now since it all goes up before Halloween anymore. The cards are laced with heroin.
“So, you think this may be why Dante is nervous?”
“This shipment would take him into the big time.”
“But, where would he sell them?”
“Think about it, lots of possibilities. Teenagers, who would think anything strange of kid carrying a greeting card? Or, more probable, where is it almost impossible to smuggle drugs into?”
“Jails, prisons…”
“Bingo. But no one checks cards, it is the easiest way to get something to a convict.”
“I haven’t heard anything about this.”
“We’re just assuming it is Dante, not one hundred percent positive. But can you think of anyone else in the area who could handle this kind of traffic? He’s got people on the inside. They can get the word around.” Miguel rested on the handle of the broom for a minute. “He’s got places to hide the inventory.”
“Sasha’s?”
Miguel shrugged.
“Thanks, Miguel, I’ll see you around.” I unlocked the door and then strode out into the sunlight as the glass door closed behind me with a soft thud and the soft sound of Miguel locking the door seemed a distant echo.
Dante lived nearby, so it would only take a couple of minutes to get to him. Pulling onto the street, I sped down the empty roads as worn down houses passed me. I never understood how people could willingly live like this. How did you choose to live in an area where it wasn’t safe to walk down the road or where you couldn’t roll down your windows more than an inch for fear of being carjacked?
The crimson red Honda sat by the curb, untouched by the neighborhood kids. That was one of the good things about being a DT Coyote—no one touched your shit. Perhaps it was the only good thing about this undercover assignment.
I pulled up in front of his house, disgusted by the trash covered lawn and peeling paint. The dead grass crunched under the weight of my boots as I was filled with the familiar since of foreboding.
Rap music boomed from the house, shaking the windows. It was the only sound on the otherwise dead street.
For four years I had been coming here, as little as I possibly could, and in all that time I wasn’t sure why I was always repulsed by the sight of Dante’s home. It didn’t change except to get worse.
“Fuck yeah,” someone cheered from Dante’s home as I approached the front door.
I knocked hard as Kanye West’s latest hits and loud laughter continued. Raising my hand once more, I knocked hard enough to leave my knuckles sore, and I scowled at the stained door. It swung open, and Spider stared, his dark eyes red rimmed.
What do you want?” he asked, his voice hoarse as he blocked the entrance.
“Dante,” I said, my eyes on the room behind him. It wasn’t much better than the front yard, and the smell of weed and cigarettes flooded through the entryway.
“Does he know you’re comin’?” Spider asked, being a typical pain in the ass.
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists with an audible crack of my knuckles that had Spider smirking as he stepped aside and allowed me into the suffocating living room.
“I’m just fucking with you, man,” he said with a stretch of his skinny arms, the putrid scent of body odor competed with the alcohol on his breath.
I strode across the living room and ignored the sleeping naked woman on the couch. “Where’s Dante?”
“I’ll get him,” Spider said as he stepped on top of food filled paper plates left haphazardly on the floor.
“There’s no need,” Dante called down the hall as his heavy footsteps approached us. “Hey, Easy. You’re just
