Enrique had little doubt that the rumors concerning the virus’s dissemination were true. Whether those about Colon were accurate, he didn’t know. But it seemed a novel coincidence that the Bolivian president-elect had been poised to threaten the South American coca growers and suppliers from whom El Tio’s distribution network -of which the Quiros family was a part-obtained the majority of its product.
Right now, however, Enrique had something else to occupy his thoughts. A very personal affair had to be settled. And though he was inclined to stick with his initial feelings about how to do it, he wanted to deliberate on them further, confirm that he wasn’t allowing himself to make a dangerous blunder.
The difficulty now was that he was used to making calculated, rational decisions when it came to business. But in his business, things weren’t always that clear. Actions might be rational and emotional without contradiction. Violence could send simultaneous, definitive messages to both the heart and brain. And there were traditions that must not be violated. Matters of honor and loyalty.
He pictured Felix in the trunk of that car. His head blown to pieces and gnawed by rats. His flesh cooking in a soup of his own blood.
An effective message right there.
Enrique lifted his head from his hands, straightened,
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ed his glasses back on, and sat quietly staring at the 1. The poor, brainless kid had overstepped. His stunt I hit the Salazars where it hurt. What choice did Lucio Bve except to retaliate? Enrique and his people had aggressively cutting into his market, and because do knew they were backed by El Tfo’s international nization, he’d had to accept it, become resigned to (ing profits. Success brought competition; it was a sic law of trade. However, he would not let himself muscled aside, could not allow everything he’d built i to be usurped. He had to protect his interests. And if :io believed Enrique had condoned Felix’s move, as Dp said he did, he would be especially pressed to aw it was a big miscalculation. Show where he drew limits. Show a steep price had to be paid by the asgressor of those limits. Enrique understood this. He appreciated that Felix had ught about his own fate with his deeds. And in a way, B’d also dictated the steps Enrique now must take, ir- evocably linked him to a chain of action and conseence whose end could not be foreseen. Even in his 3W over what had happened to Felix, Enrique rented him for that. And he suspected he always would, it not for him, this whole thing would never have en started.
But Felix had been his nephew. He could not let Lucio get away with his murder. Because it would he the Quiros family look vulnerable and invite fur1 trouble, despite their powerful affiliations. And fam- was supposed to look after each other. Enrique glanced down at the leather case on his desk, embering the night he’d met Palardy at the harbor. Fo be involved in the assassination of somebody with
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Roger Gordian’s fame and stature, even if his connection couldn’t be verifiably established… it was insane. There again, his hand had been forced. He’d had to play along with El Tio, knowing very well that his almighty friend might otherwise become his most formidable enemy.
He scowled. To a greater or lesser extent, maybe all actions you took were predetermined. He didn’t know. He wasn’t a philosopher. But what he did know was that Felix’s killing demanded retribution, and that the contents of the ampule would ensure it was achieved. A drop of it, one drop administered to the food or drink Lucio Salazar was renowned for consuming with boundless passion, and the Sleeper inside him would begin its ferocious process of incubation. Disease would rage through his body, eating away his cells and tissues like the hungry little creatures in that old Pac-Man game. His suffering would make death a craved relief. And Enrique would have full deniability. Moreover, only the merest few would even suspect Lucio had been murdered.
But how would it send a message? How would it demonstrate that Enrique Quiros-college-educated, soft-spoken Enrique-had the qualities to control and build upon the empire he’d inherited from his father? That he was a man who stood on his honor and loyalty? A man who could conduct himself with strength?
Blood for blood. In his world, that was how it had to be. It was a principle that was understood from the brothers and sons who would be Lucio Salazar’s successors, down the line to his street-level dealers and enforcers.
Lucio could not die in bed of some untraceable sickness.
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: Enrique was to be respected, his hands would have rip red.
ng a deep breath, he turned his eyes from the case and reached across his desk for the tele-
i Salazar’s wristwatch read ten minutes past two in afternoon when he received an unexpected and ewhat puzzling telephone call from Enrique Quiros. heir conversation, such as it was, lasted just over
seconds.
, pensive frown on his face, Salazar replaced the re1 on the end table beside him. Then he sat back in “couch, turning his head to look out at the rippling surf far below, his hand moving from the cradled liver to the large gold charm around his neck. fe was thinking that this was maybe the third time had exchanged words since Enrique had taken over : family operation from his father, their last direct con- shaving occurred the year before, when they had got- f together to smooth over a territorial dispute between uple of their lieutenants. At the time, he’d expected jue to assume airs, him having gone to that top col- and all, but it turned out he’d been reasonable and jl. Well, okay, sort of lacy, too, but he hadn’t i up the hard way like his old man, dodging lawmen sides of the border with carloads of bootleg iskey and cigarettes. Most important to Lucio, he’d ducted himself okay, showed integrity, before and They had reached a compromise agreement that tisfied everyone involved, cemented it with a hand- and Enrique had observed it to the letter. Since this was over a year ago now, you wanted to be
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accurate-there hadn’t been any problems between them, except for a few minor bumps and bounces they’d settled through intermediaries. Not until his prick nephew Felix had jacked Lucio’s shipment of black tar and slaughtered his people outside that fucking tunnel.
Lucio fingered his charm, a representation of Saint Joseph, patron of workingmen and heads of families- categories he very much fancied encompassed his position in the great order of things.
On the phone, Enrique had said he wanted to go man- to-man, resolve their problems before they got any further out of hand, turned into a crisis that damaged their relations beyond repair. Meet at Balboa Park over by that reflecting pond in the Spanish City two nights from now, neutral ground, a public place where they’d be free to talk without worrying about bugs or taps. He’d suggested they bring their guards to keep lookout, not bothering to elaborate, which would have been tactless. Obviously, guards would be a precaution against any surveillance the law enforcement community might have going on one or both of them, but the foremost reason for his suggestion was to dispel any concerns Salazar might harbor about the meet being a setup of some kind.
And that had been it. No mention of why Enrique was suddenly anxious to reverse the course toward war that he himself had set or how he planned to compensate the Salazars for their losses. This had raised Lucio’s eyebrows. Even if Enrique assumed the reason for the meet was clear and preferred getting into details about it in person at the sit-down, some stated acknowledgment that a grievous wrong had been committed had been due. And although the omission had not elicited any comment
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i Lucio, he’d tucked it away in a mental back pocket plie’d accepted Enrique’s proposition. iNight after next, Balboa Park, eleven o’clock sharp.
got it. I^And they’d hung up.
f|His face lined with thought now, Lucio continued to out at the satiny water beyond the strand edging Del Mar cliffs, his hand tugging away at his Saint
pendant.
SHe would keep his appointment at the park. Absoely. He’d given his word that he would attend, and it Id be to the mutual benefit of their families to reach (settlement and resume their activities without battling But that did not mean he was about to make a of himself. If Enrique had a razor blade in the sserole, he intended be prepared, bring along a few ises of his own. There were still two days until the two days for him to conduct some research, do ever possible to gain some insights into what was ening inside Enrique’s camp, get the lowdown on her he might have a hidden agenda. And it only sense that the first step in his investigation should i to contact Mr. Lowdown himself. ^Grabbing the phone off the table again, he set it on i lap, lifted the receiver, and hit the speed dial button : would put him in touch with Lathrop.