His eyes narrow.“I’m counting on it.What do you have?”
“I’ve been in their computer system, and I know the names of the girls they’re shipping.Plus the codes for the ships.I don’t have them written down, but I do have something even better.”
He takes this in like I’ve just given him the recipe for my grandma’s corn bread, and I want to punch him.But he doesn’t know what I do about what I’ve been up to.
I didn’t go undercover for my own fucking health.
“I’ve also got this.”I slide the card key across the table and watch it land right in front of him, then look up with a triumphant smile.“It’ll get you into the dance hall where they were keeping me.I’m guessing they’re not there right now.Seeing as how they were just raided.”
He looks up at me, and now his face is showing the proper amount of surprise.“You have a key to their building?How the fuck did you get that?”
Now it’s my turn to shrug and grin like I know exactly what I’m doing.“I did some lifting while I was there.You need information?Then let’s go get it.”
He pauses for a beat, no doubt reorganizing his plans, and then nods once.“You know we’re going to start a war with your family over this.If your father is running this ring, or even cooperating, this is going to end him.”
I snatch a croissant from the tray sitting next to me and take a bite.Because if we’re about to go to war, I want to have a full stomach.
“Good,” I say.“I’ve been wanting to take that asshole out since I was thirteen.It just took me a while to figure out how to do it.”
Lucien
Iglare at the men sitting around the table, furious that they’re taking so long to decide.This isn’t rocket science.I’m going after a smuggling ring and I need backup.It’s not that I need the men–I don’t–but I want to know that once I start this war, I’ll have support in the city to finish it.
It’s not a question of not starting the war, either.Brooks wants it, and I’m not going to be the one to tell her no.She’d probably kill me if I did.
And these men should be on my side about that.Crow Lafayette runs in some of the same rackets as Boudreaux, so we’ve had deals with each other before.I don’t call a lot of people friend, but Crow is as close as it gets in my world.If I were in trouble and none of my own men were available, I’d go to Crow and expect him to at least hear me out.
Jonathan Benoit isn’t technically in the underworld anymore.He took his family up into the light several years ago, and they’re legitimate business people now.But he’s still got interest in the shipping industry, and I went to him first to see if he could help me stop ships from leaving the docks.
He hasn’t answered me yet.
As for Sean Duhon...
He’s the only man in this meeting I’d call a cold-blooded killer.He’s as crooked as they come, and has more power in this town than almost anyone else.He’s got his fingers in everything.Gambling, entertainment, shipping, gun running, drugs, politics, and girls.I don’t like the man.Honestly, I usually go out of my way to avoid him.But he knows about the meat trade and if anyone has an inside route to figuring out who’s running this ring, it’s him.Being in the same room as him leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, but if it means we knock this ring down and take Dom Landry out, I’m willing to do it.
Now that I have Brooks safely at home, I want to save the girls she’s after.I want to help her find Aislyn.And if that means dealing with people who make me want to bleach my own eyes afterward, I’ll do it.
For her.
The other thing about these three men is that they all hate the Landry clan almost as much as I do.Dom has made enemies of them all, either through business or through his sparkling personality, and I thought that if I brought them here and told them I had a way to take him down, they’d jump at the possibility.
So far, none of them is jumping.
And I don’t have the fucking time to sit around and wait for them to make up their minds.I need to get to the dance hall and use Brooks’ card key to get into their offices again.Figure out if I missed anything, and then rectify it.We need to know when the smuggling ships are leaving and what they’re called, then get to the port ahead of their departure times and stop them.
“He’s going to get caught, at some point,” I say quietly.“And before he does, he’ll wreak havoc on the city.He’s going to have the FBI on his ass, for sure, and maybe DHS.None of us wants that.This isn’t just a Boudreaux war.It’s a war to keep our city clean.”
Sean Duhon chuckles at that, and I flash him a reluctant smile.
“Yes, I know, the wording is...ironic.But you know what I mean.None of us needs the feds down here.”
The three men murmur amongst themselves, and I know I’m getting to them.They hate Dom enough to want to take him down, but the bigger motivation is that they don’t want the FBI in town.New Orleans exists somewhat outside of the law, thanks to our lack of organization when it comes to crime, and we like it that way.
If Dom causes enough trouble, though, the law dogs are going to start looking at us too closely.
But if we can take him down, we get rid of Dominick Landry and close down a ring that might bring the feds to our doorstep.We prove to the feds that we’re still maintaining a clean city, or something like it.We don’t give them an excuse to look twice at us.It’s a win-win.
And a triple win for me, because I have the added benefit of laying this gift at Brooks’ feet.It’s not just that I want to help her take her father out.It’s that I want to make sure she never has to deal with him again.Give her the vengeance she’s searching for, for what he did to her when she was a kid.
