He turned his attention back to Cruz. “Now, what do you want?” Time for Cruz to spit out an answer.
The humor left the man’s face. So unlike the usually irreverent agent. “We’re still searching for Owen Landry. There’ve been reports of him being back in Atlanta, and our mutual friends sent me to check on you.”
How kind of them. Not. Would Nestor and Victor ever stay out of Lucky’s business now that they’d made their presence known?
But Landry? Back in Atlanta. Did the asshole have a death wish? Probably. He’d been stupid enough to piss off Lucky and conspire to harm Walter.
The two retired drug lords playing house in France must get pretty bored, as much as they meddled in Lucky’s life. “I haven’t seen him, though I’ve kept a watch.” Not too close of one as he’d like to since he’d been told to butt out and let someone with a wider reach track down the bastard who’d nearly gotten Lucky killed.
“That is good. But he can’t stay hidden forever.” Cruz spoke English without a trace of an accent, though he’d grown up in Mexico and used to pretend he only understood Spanish. Give him a reason, and he’d be all“No hablainglés”in a flat minute. And he’d definitely laid on an accent for Charlotte’s benefit.
Lucky hadn’t quite forgiven him for the lie of omission.“No hablainglés”Lucky’s ass!
Wait! Spanish. Cruz spoke Spanish.
“While you’re here, I need you to do something for me.” Walter had given Lucky free rein, hadn’t he?
Cruz’s brow furrowed. “What? And how illegal is it?”
Lucky pursed his lips and cocked his head. How illegal was it? “There’s an apartment building across town. Every evening a bus picks up people and takes them to a warehouse or various places around Atlanta. In the morning the bus takes them home. They go straight inside, aren’t ever seen alone, and seem to be guarded. I want to know who they are and why they’re here. I need you to talk to them.”
“They don’t speak English?”
“I’m not sure. But if I’m going in there, I don’t want to leave empty-handed, ya know?”
Cruz lifted his chin, a gesture so like Bo’s that Lucky’s heart ached for his partner to be on this case with him. “What do you think is going on? Gangbangers? Human trafficking? I need to know what I’m getting into.”
“Could be both, but I’m thinking the warehouse they go to at night might be cranking out counterfeit drugs. Or at least storing them.” He told Cruz about Rett’s suspicions, while leaving her name out of the telling. If the shit hit the fan, he wanted her free and clear.
Cruz stood and paced to the back door, staring out the sliding glass window. “Do you have pictures of any of them?”
Lucky texted Johnson:“You got pictures of anyone from the apartment building?”
“Sure do.”Of course, she did. His phone pinged a few times. Five pictures in all, some from a distance, a couple closer up. The pregnant woman’s face came into view.
Lucky showed the pictures to Cruz, who flipped through the images, and flipped through again. “Text me the one of the pregnant girl. She stands out. We’ll focus on her.”
Lucky did as told. For one of the few times in his life.
“Let’s go. You drive. If what you say is true, I don’t need to take a Corvette. Too memorable. Of course, your car stands out too.”
“I’ve got just the thing. First, I need to handle something.” Lucky held up a finger in a “gimme one minute” gesture, and texted Rett.“Something came up. Let’s push our plans out until tomorrow, okay?”He’d make use of Cruz’s Spanish skills while he had the time. Next, he texted Bo,“Going out for a bit. Back later.”
Bo replied, “Okay.”
Hmm… Some precautions might be needed.“You at work still?”
“Leaving now.”
Good. Play his cards right and Lucky might avoid a lecture. Still, he eased into the SNB parking lot, keeping a careful lookout for Bo, Walter, or Rett’s vehicles. Only a few cars, none of them of any importance.
Losing a bit of his asshole reputation at work came with a few perks. Like the woman in acquisitions not asking too many questions.
Just past sundown Lucky pulled out from under the SNB building in the world’s ugliest chicken shit green Malibu.
Cruz scrunched down in the seat, hiding his face with his hand. “Man, this is embarrassing. I can’t believe you actually requested this piece of shit.”
Getting under Cruz’s skin without even trying. Lucky for the win. “You said our cars were too noticeable.”
