Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(94)
“We’re supposed to trust you on that? Fuck you.”
Vega regarded Isaac for a second and then continued. “I am going to speak plainly and offer you some truths that might make you trust me a little. I am the man who interrogated Ed Mills, your contact in Joliet. I am the man who led the cleanup of Martin Halyard’s murder scene. I have you all dead to rights on conspiracy to commit. And I have Mr. Wahlberg there on murder one. There’s more. I can put you away for the rest of your lives. Your entire club. I don’t need our conversation today to make that happen.”
“Then do it.”
Vega shook his head. “Not my goal. I’ve been deep under with the Perros for almost eight years. I’ve been Santaveria’s right hand for five of those. He is my goal. I think you and I have the same goal. I can help you achieve it. But I need something in return.
“You want me to do your dirty work, and you expect something in return?”
“My official goal is the end of the Perro Blanco cartel. That’s what I’m working toward. But I have seen a great deal about the way Julio works. He has hurt others even more than he has hurt you. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t rain horror on someone. He takes strength from it. He believes it gives him power. So I am willing to help you end him. I have wide latitude from my office to achieve my official goal, and Julio’s death is a long stride toward that. The time is coming in which we have to act. He is stirring up far too much strife in the States lately. He truly believes that his power is infinite, and it is making him reckless, especially where you’re concerned. A man like that cannot be allowed to be reckless. The damage he does is extreme. So it’s time for us to act, but he will slip past us. I know he will.”
“I hear a lot of chatter. Nothing to make me give a shit about your problems.”
“Julio does not know about your latest scheme. He thinks you are still on your knees. But I know you are planning to fight.”
Isaac shifted, and Badger knew he was trying to control his reaction—and that he was short on control today. Badger’s heart sped up even faster. He was starting to feel lightheaded. That intel was still fairly fresh. How could Vega know that?
“What are you talking about?”
“The Perros don’t know. We caught it first. But one of the Scorpions in LA talked business on the wrong phone. We picked it up.”
“Jesus. Who?”
“Not your man. Not Bart. He’s good—he’s got us locked out of the club good and tight. Somebody else had the miss. You’re all way out of your depth, making mistakes that show it. But that’s beside the point.
With the Florida Scorpions gutted”—Everybody in the room, Vega included, twitched at his word choice.
He cleared his throat and went on—“and the LA charter seceding, the whole pipeline is in chaos. All the pipelines. Julio is putting a lot of his men in the States to fill the gaps, and that spreads him too thin, makes him weaker. The weed pipeline is the most important and the least stable now. Weed’s not all you’ve been running, by the way. I know you checked the truck at your pickup. But if you had gotten into the truck and dug back, you’d have seen a false wall. You’ve run shipments of human cargo three times.”
“Christ.” Show muttered it, but Vega heard him and looked over Isaac’s shoulder.
“Indeed, Showdown. May I call you Showdown?”
Show shrugged but didn’t answer otherwise.
Isaac’s voice was tight when he said, “Cut to the chase, Vega.”
“Yes. Here’s the deal I can offer you. I am at Santaveria’s right hand. I can get him to meet with you.
You proceed with your plan to fight back—I don’t have the details yet, but I know how you think, Isaac.
My guess is that you are planning a battle of some kind at the Bulls’ pickup point in Amarillo. Am I close?”
Badger couldn’t see Isaac’s face, but he knew he was simply glaring. Vega went on. “That’s good. Texas is perfect. I can get Santaveria to meet with you. I can get him back into the States. The Perros have a large packaging and distribution facility there, and he will feel safe enough to come into Texas. I can get him into a room with you. I can outfit that room in any way that you would like. And I can see to it that he is ultimately unguarded—that will take some help from you, because he travels with four guards. But I can give you a good shot at him.”
“You’re a Fed, and you’re telling me that your whole office will arrange to help me kill a man.”
Vega nodded. “I am. There is a price. The four of you go down for Halyard. He had powerful friends on the right side of the law. We need a resolution to that open case.”
Isaac laughed, and Badger could almost taste the bitterness in it from across the room. “The right side of the law. There is no right side of the law.”
Vega leaned forward, his arms crossed on the metal table, as if he had a secret to share with Isaac. “I can get you a decent deal, not too much time. Six-to-twelve. I am telling you that I have you on this charge already. I am offering you the chance to, as is your way, collect on a debt. And I am offering you short time for a premeditated murder you committed—a federal court conviction on that charge would get you mandatory life, no parole. You are the winners here.”