becoming difficult. There’s no chance that he’d try to pull this on Ram. Ram would have killed him by now. Ever since Ram died, Simba’s been pecking away at us. He’s like a damn child always testing the limits. I keep telling Ben that we have to slam the door on Simba, but he just doesn’t have the balls to do it. Please excuse my language, Officer Orzo. Once I start hitting the hard stuff, I find my tongue has a mind of its own.”
Maggie said, “That’s okay. My father had a foul mouth as well. I didn’t think any less of him for it.”
“A very reasonable attitude.”
I asked, “How bad is it?”
Sasaki swirled brandy in his four-fingered hand. “Oh, it’s sufficiently contained for now, but the potential for disaster is right around the corner. We’ve got people in Floodbank paying double protection. They’re paying us and paying Simba’s people. How long do you think it will be before they quit paying us altogether? We’re supposed to be protecting them from other crime bosses. What else is protection money for? I explain this to Ben, and he just doesn’t get how serious the situation is. I told him about the stunt Simba pulled at the mayor’s banquet, but he was too excited about his new nose to care. You tell me, how do you get somebody motivated when he has everything he ever wanted handed to him before he even knows he wanted it?”
I shook my head and grimaced with a what-is-this-world-coming-to look.
Sasaki was struck by a thought. “Maybe you could talk to him, Juno.”
“What the hell good would that do?”
“He has no sense of what his father had to do to build this business. You were there at the beginning, you and Paul. You could tell him some stories about his father. Tell him what a ruthless man his father was. How he had to fight for everything he got. The kid’s almost twenty-five, and he still hasn’t learned how to be tough. It would do him some good.”
I shook my head.
Sasaki persisted in trying to convince me. “Come on, Juno. It would be fun. You and Paul could come over. I’ll have a big dinner fixed up. We’ll split a couple bottles of brandy and swap some stories about the old days. What do you say?”
“I’ll tell you what, if you can talk Paul into it, I’m in. I hardly know Ben. I wouldn’t feel right talking to him about his father without Paul.”
“No problem. I understand what you’re saying. I’ll talk to Paul and let you know. All right? I really think it would help. He doesn’t listen to me anymore. So what brings you over?”
“We wanted to talk to you about one of your people.”
“Who?”
“Sanders Mdoba.”
“Why are you looking at him?”
Here we go. My heart started pumping nervous beats. Gotta play this one just right. “His name came up in a murder investigation.”
“Murder? I thought you were working vice.”
“I was. Paul asked me to work this case.”
“Why did he do that?”
“The victim’s father works for the city, and Paul’s trying to score points with the mayor by putting Maggie and me on the case. He gave the mayor a line about me being the best detective he’s ever seen, and he ought to know since he used to be my partner. Then he told him that Maggie was the best recruit he’s seen since he’s been chief. He’s hoping that by playing nice he can get the mayor to cool his corruption investigation.”
Sasaki said, “I see. How did Mdoba’s name come up? Is he a suspect?”
“No.” I hoped I sounded truthful. “We know he didn’t do it. We already got our killer-a real schizo. Maggie fried the son of a bitch dead last night. As far as we’re concerned, the case is closed, but the mayor’s investigator- Karl Gilkyson-you know him?”
“No, but I know of him.”
“Well, then maybe you heard how big a shithead he is. It turns out that our killer made contact with Mdoba yesterday. I told him that the killer was probably just scoring some brown sugar off Mdoba. Who cares? But Gilkyson can’t let it go. Best I can tell, Gilkyson got wind that Mdoba’s one of your dealers, and now he wants us to ‘chase the lead.’ Can you believe that? This suit from the mayor’s office saying shit like ‘chase the lead.’ What an asshole. I told him there was nothing to find, but he won’t take no for an answer. He wants to get dirt on Mdoba so he can run it up the ladder to you and Ben.”
“What exactly do you want from us?”
“Your permission to talk to Mdoba.” I was holding my breath.
Sasaki savored a slow sip of his brandy. “You’re right to come talk to us first.” He paused to consider. I needed to breathe. I eased the air out of my lungs, and took long slow breaths so he wouldn’t notice.
A splash of water called my attention to the pool. Done with his morning swim, Ben Bandur stood on the pool’s edge, dripping water into puddles at his feet. The houseboy rushed over with a towel and dried him off while Bandur stayed in place, raising his arms and legs at the right times.
He strutted over to greet us. It was hard to believe this loser was Ram’s son. Ram was the most successful crime lord in the history of the planet, a powerhouse of a man. His control over Koba had been absolute. Nobody dared to challenge him. He would’ve ruled Koba forever if it weren’t for the stealthy, underhandedness of a killer like cancer. Ram had the money to go up to the orbital station for treatment, but he absolutely refused to see an offworld doctor. Sasaki was right that he was the meanest SOB you ever saw, but he was a true Lagartan.
“Juno.” Ben used my name as a greeting. The center of his face was wrapped with pool water-drenched bandages. His bathing suit emphasized an unnaturally large bulge-his nose wasn’t the only thing he got extended.
“Hey, Ben. How’s it going?”
Ben ran his eyes up and down Maggie, checking her out. The bandages failed to hide the lascivious look in his eyes.
I said, “This is my new partner, Detective Maggie Orzo.”
Ben’s eyes focused on her crossed legs. “Nice legs,” he said in a nasal timbre.
Maggie was unsure how to respond, so she didn’t.
He said, “When do they open?”
Again, she didn’t answer, but I could see the flush in her cheeks. I wanted to throttle the little prick, rip those bandages off, and squeeze the hell out of his new nose-maybe fuck it up good. Even Sasaki shook his head in disapproval.
Sasaki spoke in an appeasing tone. “Juno and Officer Orzo want to talk to Sanders Mdoba.”
“Why do you want to talk to that fatass?” Ben’s nasal whine would have been funny if I hadn’t been so busy wanting to rip his nose off.
“They are investigating a murder case and-”
“What murder case?”
“An Army lieutenant,” I said. “Dmitri Vlotsky.”
“Never heard of him. Why do you want to talk to Sanders?”
Sasaki interjected. “He was seen talking to the murderer yesterday. They want to know why.”
“How the fuck should I know?”
Sasaki breathed deep. “They don’t expect you to know. They just want permission to talk to him.”
“Talk to him all you want. I don’t give a shit.” He turned his back on us and swaggered into the house.
Sasaki closed his eyes until his frustration passed. “You see what I have to put up with?”
I said, “He got some work done downstairs, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He had ‘erective surgery,’ as I like to call it. Ben doesn’t get the joke. Every time I say that around him, he tells me to stop talking like a chink.”
I laughed loud and long, fueled by nervous energy.
Sasaki got back to business. “You can talk to Mr. Mdoba. But you can only talk to him about your murder case. His relationship to Ben is strictly off-limits. Do you understand?”
“I understand just fine, Matsuo. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t talk to him at all. We’ll go, and he’ll make up some excuse why he met with our killer-end of story. Then, once Gilkyson sees there’s nothing there, he’ll drop it.”
