“The first part says they’re local,” he said. “Guy on the left claims he’s killed three people, guy on the right claims two. I believe them.”
“Why’s that?”
“You don’t want to lie with your skin,” he said. “Too many people want to kill you for it.”
“What’s the thirteen mean?”
“They use marijuana.”
“And you know that because?”
“The number thirteen stands for the letter “M,” thirteenth letter of the alphabet.” He pointed to the guy on the left. See the eight on this one? Stands for the letter “H.” Means he uses, or has used, heroin. Sometimes you’ll see a guy with an eighty-eight, which means “Heil Hitler.”
“Why do they want people to know they use drugs?” Alison said.
“It tells drug dealers that they’re buyers,” Quinn said.
“What are those numbers on their shoulders?” Alison asked, getting into it.
“Their prison I.D.’s.”
“That’s how we find out who they are?” she said.
Quinn smiled. “Exactly.”
I called Darwin, rattled off the prison ID numbers for him. After hanging up I said, “Darwin’s going to run the numbers and find out if there’s any connection between the Bernies and bombers.”
“And if there is?” Alison said.
“There won’t be. You approached Hector with this robbery scam, but Afaya approached you about getting his driver into your bus. My boss thought Afaya might be dealing with you here in Dallas, and in the other cities you work.
“Afaya did ask me about the other cities where I work. But he hasn’t said anything about putting his other relatives to work as drivers.”
“Not yet, but you can bet he will.”
“So what are you going to do, kill Afaya?”
“Darwin gets to make that call. But he’ll probably want you to go on about your work, business as usual, and he’ll put some people into your companies to keep an eye on things.”
“Am I supposed to help Afaya’s people get hired?”
“Again, Darwin’s call. But my guess is he’ll want you to get close to Afaya, develop a relationship, let him talk you into putting someone at most of your Park ‘N Fly’s.”
“What if I want to walk away?”
Quinn and I exchanged a glance.
“There’s no walking away at this point,” Quinn said.
Alison folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going to sleep with a terrorist,” she said, indignantly.
“You will if you have to,” I said. “And you’ll give him the full treatment.”
“Once you guys leave, you won’t be able to make me do anything. I’ll get a new identity, go into hiding.”
“Alison, you’re in this up to your eyeballs. You’re going to help us bring down the biggest terror cell in America, and you’re going to do it for all the right reasons.”
“What,” she sneered, “Patriotism? A sense of duty?”
