“And Razor?” I asked. “How does he fit into all of this?”
“He’s an enforcer. He did work for Simmons in the past, but last I heard, he was workin’ freelance.”
“If he was excited to hear there’s a hit on you, then you must not have parted as friends.”
“I wouldn’t have called us enemies either. More like cautious acquaintances.”
“You think he’s done work for the Knoxes?”
“Maybe not in the past, but if I were Gerry Knox and knew I was comin’ for him, I’d want the best of the best protecting me.”
“And this Razor is the best of the best?”
“He used to be. He’s always been a hothead, too quick to anger. But the last time I encountered him, he’d grown a little paunchier and liked his liquor a little too much.”
“Don’t we all,” I muttered.
He gave me a surprised look, then the hint of a grin tipped up the corners of his mouth. “Unlike you, I hear it’s dulled his usefulness.”
I wasn’t so sure my usefulness hadn’t been dulled, but I saw no reason to point it out. “Why start with Miguel first and Razor second?”
“Because Razor can be unstable, depending on how drunk he is. I’d rather start with Miguel, who will probably shit his pants when I walk up but is unlikely to throw a punch or pull out a gun.”
I frowned. “It sounds like these two guys could have some valuable information. Why didn’t we start with them?”
“I wanted to see where your contacts took us.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t see Miguel until today, and I figured as late as it was, Razor would be drunk off his ass. Besides, I’d rather track Razor down in the daylight.”
“So what’s our overall plan?” I asked. “Sure, we’re trying to gather information to pin this trafficking ring on Knox, but what are we planning to do with the information?”
His lips pursed together. “I haven’t decided.”
“Our goal is to stop Knox. But if he’s eliminated, we both know someone will step up to take his place,” I pointed out, not dwelling on what ‘eliminated’ would mean.
“That’s why we’re gonna bring it all down,” he said matter-of-factly.
I did a double take. “That seems ambitious.” Especially since these kinds of investigations typically took weeks or months.
He didn’t respond.
“Let’s say we get the evidence, don’t you need to turn this information over to your contact and let them take care of it?”
He scowled. “I told you yesterday that they’re leavin’ it up to me.”
I leveled him with a look. “And then you’ll be free of them?”
He was still before he said, “That’s the plan.”
“You don’t trust them?”
“I’ve been fucked over before. So, no.”
“Then we need to come up with a plan that makes sure you’re free of them,” I said.
“We need to see what we can find before we can come up with a plan,” he grunted.
That made sense, but I was still frustrated. “You know, I might be able to actually help with the plan if you’d tell me who gave you this assignment.”
He didn’t respond.
