be stealing from the city to try to make his own pile. Get a stake and haul ass, with or without the girl. But is he that stupid? The world?s not big enough to hide from Edward Po. If that?s Sands?s plan, he?s a moron.?
?He?s no moron. The opposite, in fact.?
Kelly stands and begins doing dips between two crossbars on the poles supporting the deer stand. His triceps flex like those of an Olympic gymnast. ?So,? he says, ?whatever game Sands is playing with his accounting, he?s doing it on orders from Po. Or at the very least, with Po?s blessing.?
?That brings us back to my original question. Why risk a gaming license worth hundreds of millions of dollars to steal a few hundred thousand, or even a few million, from a small town in Mississippi? Edward Po can?t be that stupid.?
?He?s not,? Walt Garrity says in the tone of someone who knows.
?Are you familiar with Po?? Kelly asks.
?Not by name,? says the old Ranger. ?But from what you'?ve said so far, I think I?'ve got the picture. Po?s Chinese organized crime, right??
?Right.?
?If he has U.S. operations, they?ll involve human-smuggling, prostitution, possibly drugs, and definitely money laundering.?
?Right again,? says Kelly, looking slightly surprised.
?I wondered about money laundering,? I think aloud.
?Casinos are tailor-made for it,? Walt explains. ?Casinos are just banks, really, without all the pesky regulations. Wherever you have casinos, you have large-scale money laundering. The feds have passed a lot of regulations, but there?s so much money to be made, crooks can bribe casino employees to ignore them.?
Caitlin says, ?Would the profit be enough to tempt someone as wealthy as Po??
?It?s not a matter of profit,? Walt says. ?Not the way you think of it. The biggest problem any criminal has is what to
with his profits. Take drug dealers. Cash money weighs more than the product they sell. Cash is one big pain in the ass. A guy like Edward Po needs hundreds of legitimate businesses to lay off all the cash he takes in. Maybe thousands, if he?s that big in China. Import-export firms, currency exchanges, car dealerships, you name it. But casinos make the best laundries. Casinos and online gaming sites, based offshore.?
Kelly, Carl, and Danny are looking at Walt with new respect. Apparently, they took the older man for what he appeared to be, a tired cowboy who might know his way around a horse and saddle, but not a computer.
?So Tim might have been right about Sands manipulating the casino?s gross,? I reason. ?But if I understand you correctly, they could be
the earnings of the casino rather than underreporting.?
?They might run some dirty money through that way,? Walt says, ?but they?d be paying county, state, and federal taxes on it, and that gets costly. The bulk of the operation would be handled by wiring large sums into the casino?s bank for gamblers who show up a day or a week later, then gamble for twenty minutes, and cash out their accounts in money that?s now legally clean. The casino makes false reports to the government to understate or misrepresent the wire transactions, and that?s it. It?s a dream setup. How many casinos does Golden Parachute own??
?Five in Mississippi alone.?
Walt chuckles softly, then begins to laugh outright.
?What is it?? asks my father, who seems to recognize Walt?s tone.
?Those casinos ain?t casinos at all,? says the Ranger, his face reddening. ?They?re goddamn Chinese laundries.?
Kelly?s nodding thoughtfully. ?That'?s got to be it.?
?If you?re right,? I say, ?then why would Sands risk such a sweet deal to do things like fight dogs and run whores??
Caitlin leans forward and speaks with cutting clarity. ?The same reason a dog licks his balls.?
There?s an awkward silence, then the men burst out laughing.
?Because he can,? Carl says.
?It may be just that simple,? Kelly reflects. ?Men follow their compulsions wherever they are. I see it all the time overseas.?
My father clears his throat and says, ?This Freudian analysis is all fine and good, but what are we going to
? My wife and granddaughter are sitting in Houston with strangers because of these bastards. I want to know how to resolve this situation?fast.?
Everyone?s looking at Kelly. He stands motionless for a time, his eyes focused on the floor at the center of our circle with Zen-like calm. He?s thirty-nine years old, with not a spare ounce of fat on him. When he moves, his body ripples with corded muscle, yet his blue eyes seem mild, even amused most of the time. He may work for a security company, but when I see him like this, all I can think is
?I'm tempted to pay Sands a personal visit,? he muses, still looking at the floor. ?Before we do anything else.?
?For what?? I ask.
?To lay out some ground rules. He already threatened your family. He could strike at any time. He needs to know that any move against you will result in him being wiped from the board.?
I hear a couple of audible swallows.
?I can see that,? Walt says pragmatically. ?The problem with going that way is you?re unzipping your fly the minute you talk to him. If Sands sees what he?s up against, he could pull in his horns and shut down for a while. That'?s the opposite of what we want. Right??
Kelly considers this argument, then nods with certainty. ?That'?s
why we?re going to end this thing tonight. Sands and Quinn are our immediate problem. We need to get them by the balls as fast as we can. Then the inevitable will happen.?
?What?s that?? Caitlin asks.
?Their hearts and minds will follow,? says McDavitt.
Kelly looks at me. ?You said dogfighting?s a felony, right??
?Right. Even attending one is a felony. And the sentences can be pretty stiff.?
?Then tonight we?re going to run a quiet little op. A photographic expedition. We?ll shoot pictures of Sands, Quinn, and any local dignitaries who might be in attendance, plus the whores and anything else worth shooting. At that point, you?ll have evidence that could put Sands in jail for serious time. Your DA will have no choice but to cooperate. I?'ve seen dogfighting in Kabul. It?s brutal stuff. If Caitlin publishes one photo spread on the
?s Web site, the PETA people will be calling for the partners of Golden Parachute to be crucified on the Washington Mall.?
Walt nods. ?I?'ve been trying to find out where they fight. Nothing yet, but I'm on it.?
?What do we use for equipment?? I ask.
?I?'ve got night-vision optics in my gear bag,? Kelly says. ?Scope, camera, range finder. Carl?s probably got some stuff too.?
The sniper nods. ?We got a new scope at the sheriff?s department. I can have it up from Athens Point by tonight.?
?How do we get close to one of these fights without being detected?? I ask.
Kelly smiles cagily. ?Most of them happen by the river, right??
?That'?s what Jessup told me.?
?Then we do a Huck Finn.?
?A raft??
