AGAINST THE WIND (Book Two of The Miami Crime Trilogy) (16 page)

Harvey
sipped at his coffee, which was just now cooling down. He said, "I just
didn't like Bob bringing him in. I didn't feel … clean, you know?"

Silvana
said, "What was the breakdown in the ownership between you, your brother,
and Méndez?"

"I'd
rather not say."

"It's
important that we know, Mr Harvey," Silvana said. "Now what was the
breakdown?"

Harvey
hesitated, lost in thought, or maybe worry. Presently, he said, "Bob had
fifty-one percent. Méndez and I had twenty-four and a half each." Silvana
and Vargas both exhaled in unison. Harvey allowed himself a sardonic grin and
said, "Didn't think they had such big chunks, did you?"

Silvana
composed herself immediately. "I have to say, no we didn't, Mr
Harvey."

"Well,
they did. That was Méndez's price for his help, and Bob shepherded the deal
through all the rest of the county bureaucracy. Environmental impact, parking,
planning department, zoning, all the rest of it. For that, he wanted
half."

"And
you gave it to him?"

"Shit,
he knows everybody in the county! He can make things happen. If he wants
something, he gets it."

"What
about financing?" Silvana said. "Where was the money coming
from?"

"Bob
had the money set up through friends of his in the investment world."

"All
of it?" Vargas said. "That must be some serious chunk of
change."

"Serious
is right, Detective," Harvey said. "But Bob had it all
together."

"Who
was financing the deal?" Silvana asked.

"A
combination of a couple of pension funds and a real estate investment trust.
People he knows," Harvey replied.

Silvana
crossed her legs on the sofa. "So Bob brings the money and he also greases
the way through the county red tape. Maxie Méndez provides the permits and
union peace. Is that right?"

Harvey
said yes, but Silvana could tell he wished he was saying no.

She
said, "But you've built other projects before. You've never needed your
brother to … or … or have you?"

"Okay,
Sergeant, now you know my dirty little secret. He had his hands in just about
everything I've ever built. And this goes back over twenty-five years, back to
when he was starting to amass influence, starting to build his empire in what
was then Dade County." He drank from his coffee, a healthy swig. Silvana
could tell it went down hard.

Silvana
paused for nearly thirty seconds, letting everything cool down. Then she said,
"When did the subject of Evalena Diaz come up?"

Harvey
leaped back to their original conversation. "Right. It was that night when
we met for drinks after work. Well, like I said, we started talking about Loma
Linda, and we got heavily into it. We wound up having more drinks than I
usually have. Anyway, after we got done talking business, I was feeling a
little tipsy and I mentioned Diamond to him."

"What
was his response?" Vargas asked.

"He
was very interested. Especially when I described her to him. I even showed him
a few pictures of her I'd taken on my cell phone."

Silvana
saw him hold back a smile when he said this.
They must have been some pictures
, she thought.

"Pictures?"
she said.

Harvey
held back. "Uh … umm … "

"What
kind of pictures," Vargas said. Silvana's heart rate picked up.

Harvey
drank again from his coffee. "Well, you know … pictures. Naked
pictures."

Silvana
took a couple of breaths through her mouth, but she was sure neither of the men
caught it. "Were these … pornographic pictures, Mr Harvey?"

"Why,
no. Not really. She was just by herself, you know, just sitting there. Naked. I've
got to tell you, though, she was something to look at."

"Do
you have those pictures now?" Silvana asked, realizing immediately she
shouldn't have said that. She quickly brought herself back under control.

Harvey
threw her a frown. "Why do want to see them, Sergeant?" he said.

"They
might be important," she said. "Let's see them."

Harvey
retrieved his cell phone from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. A few
clicks and swipes and he handed Silvana the phone.

Evalena
Diaz. Diamond. She sat on a luxuriously-appointed bed, her knees bent and legs
off to one side. Large, ripe breasts, soft and high, a long way from caving in
to the demands of time. Her slim waist accented by a hollowed stomach. Pale,
white skin — unusually white for a Cuban girl — flawless in every
corner of her beckoning body. Hot, red lips, full and slightly parted in what
looked like a naturally nasty leer. Silvana felt her heartbeat speed up. She
handed the phone back to Harvey and took a silent, deep breath.

"You
showed them to your brother. What did he say?" she asked.

"He
wanted to know where he could call to make a date with her. Wanted to know the
number of the escort service."

"So
you gave it to him," Silvana said.

"I
gave it to him. He called the service the next day and arranged to meet her at
that shitbag motel."

"Mr
Harvey," Silvana said, "don't take this the wrong way, but how did
you feel about giving him her number?"

"What
do you mean?"

She
began to speak with her hands. "I mean, did you feel like, here's your
older brother who's taken your construction projects away from you, here he is
taking this lovely girl away from you, too. When there are so many other whores
he could have had."

Harvey's
gaze turned downward and he tried to shrug. "I
¾
I don't know. I might have. I don't
know."

"He
could've had any whore he wanted, right? Money was certainly no object. How
much were you paying her, anyway?"

"Please,
Sergeant, don't call her a whore."

Silvana
sat up straight and said, "Grow up, Mr Harvey. You pay a woman for sex,
that makes her a whore. And technically, you were breaking the law, but that's
not why we're here, so don't press it. Now how much were you paying her?"

"Two
thousand dollars each time." His voice was barely audible.

"Did
you say two thousand dollars?" Vargas said. "Two grand?"

"Y-yes.
And Bob later told me he was paying her that much, too. But listen, she was
worth it! I mean, that girl can do things you never imagined. She knows things
—"

Silvana
put her palm outward. "Okay, okay, Mr Harvey. I'm sure she's great. Now,
tell me. Did you ever talk about your business with her?"

"Well,
no, I don't believe —"

"Never?
Not even once?"

"Well,
I may have talked about it here and there. She always had a way of making me
feel comfortable, you know? She could, you know, just draw it out of me like a
syringe draws blood."

Silvana
looked at him. Another guy bewitched by a beautiful woman, willing to do
anything and pay almost any amount of money to feel her wrap that pussy around
his dick and make him come like never before.
What is it with men?

"Did
you ever talk about Loma Linda?" she asked.

"I
don't know. I might have. I don't remember the exact nature of our
conversations."

She
believed him. She believed the guy could spend a couple of hours a week with a
hooker, telling her things he wouldn't dream of telling his wife. That was
really part of the deal with hookers. They supposedly do whatever men want, but
they're really the ones in charge. Men are only there to pretend, and in doing
so, they give the girls their money and their time and tell them their secrets,
just like they do with a therapist. And when their time is up and they go home,
the only thing they remember is the orgasm.

Next
time, they do it all over again.

"One
more thing, Mr Harvey," she said. "I'm sure you realize I have to ask
this. Where were you when your brother was killed?"

"I
was in a meeting all afternoon at the City Planner's office in Hialeah.
Discussing fine points of the project."

"You
never left the meeting? For any reason?"

"I
may have left once to use the bathroom, but I was gone no more than a couple of
minutes. I didn't leave there till around five-thirty."

Silvana
and Vargas thanked Harvey for his cooperation and left his office, the two of
them feeling very uneasy.

Desi Senior

Hialeah, Florida

Monday, December 25, 1989

5:10 PM

D
ESI AND HIS
FAMILY PILED INTO THEIR CAR
, a Plymouth Reliant. It was a 1982
model, boxy to the point of annoyance, and not much fun to drive. But it had
only cost Desi $1300 when he bought it two years ago, and he had just made a
lump sum final payment out of the ten thousand Delgado had given him for
"hazardous duty". Desi strove to keep it clean, because he always
kept the driver's area of his bus immaculate, but with his kids throwing stuff
around in the back seat and the way the cloth interior seemed to attract dirt
no matter what, he just couldn't stay on top of it.

They were headed to Delgado's house in Little
Havana. He had invited Desi and his family over for Christmas dinner, insisting
they come. He wanted their wives to spend some time together and their children
as well. Desi was sporting his new white linen guayabera and Marianela had on
the gorgeous blue dress he had gotten her for Christmas — again with the
hazardous duty pay. The kids were turned out as well. Desi Junior, closing in
on his tenth birthday, wore his new suit, the first he had ever owned. Sofía,
eleven, wore a charming, little-girl white dress, but her face was starting to
show the signs of a beautiful woman who Desi Senior feared would all too soon
burst out and take over his sweet little princess.

Delgado's house stood on Southwest Ninth Street,
on a corner. It was of good size but not a mansion by any definition. Two
stories high and squarish, its exterior was Creamsicle-colored stucco with
muted dark orange trim, a combination that looked better the more you gazed at
it. The roof was of Spanish tile, and the property was bounded by an iron fence
which gracefully turned the corner in a sweeping curve. Orange and yellow bougainvillea
fringed the fence, spilling over its entire length to bring the right splash of
color. Tall coconut palms popped up behind the bougainvillea at appropriate
intervals, their fronds gently swaying in the warm December breeze. A brick
courtyard lay in front of the house, inside the fence, where two cars were
parked, a newish Cadillac and a sporty convertible, the make of which Desi
couldn't identify.

"
Mira
la casa
," Marianela said breathlessly as they parked across the
street. "What a beautiful house, Desi!"

"Yes, my love, it is beautiful. But I promise
you, we will have one just as beautiful one day. And not twenty years from now,
either. Much sooner."

"Daddy, who lives here?" It was Sofía,
nose pressed against the car window, admiring the house.

"Mr and Mrs Delgado, darling. And their
children. They have a boy and a girl, too. You and Desi Junior will meet
them."

Desi Junior said, "Daddy, who are Mr and Mrs
Delgado?"

Desi replied, "They are good friends of your
father's, my son. You know him. He has been to our apartment before. Mr Delgado
and I work together on some things." They all got out of the car and
started for the house. The sun, although low in the sky, still warmed the
street.

"Does Mr Delgado drive a bus, too?" Desi
Junior asked.

His father answered, "No. He is a
businessman. And he has asked me to go into business with him."

Sofía said, "Are those his cars in front of
his house?"

"Yes, Sofía. Those are his cars. They are
very nice cars, no?"

She said, "Can we have cars like that one
day, Daddy?"

He put his arm around her and looked down at her
hopeful little face. "Of course we can, honey. You wait and see. We will
have cars like that. I promise."

Delgado answered the door only seconds after Desi
rang the bell. With a congeniality Desi had never seen before, he welcomed them
into the house. He wore a tan silk sport shirt and gray linen slacks and
appeared to be completely at ease in his comfortable surroundings. His wife,
Vanesa, immediately presented herself, and the kids, Luis and Liliana, were
right behind her. The introductions were made and they all went out to the
spacious patio behind the house.

Desi took note of the interior as they made their
way back to the patio. Well-appointed and tasteful, the Delgados weren't in any
way over the top. No red velvet, no cowboy decor, no tacky vinyl wall
coverings. He wasn't sure what he expected, but he knew he didn't quite expect
this. The house was really nice without being the least bit gaudy. Desi always
thought people in the drug business blew all their money on overly fancy shit,
like Tony Montana in
Scarface.
Round
bathtubs and shit. Not Delgado. His place was tasteful, kind of like Mr Sosa's,
the Bolivian drug lord in the film, only not nearly as lavish.

They took seats out on the patio. There was a
pool, and already, Luis, who was about Desi Junior's age, was asking if they
could take a swim. Delgado said sure, why not, and Luis dug up some extra
trunks for his new friend.

Liliana and Sofía, on the other hand, were not
connecting. Liliana was a couple of years younger and frankly, not very cute.
Her English carried a heavy accent, which Desi knew Sofía didn't like, her own
English being near perfect-American. He had often heard Sofía sneer at Cubans
who couldn't take the time to learn proper English and to do away with their
accent. Nevertheless, the two girls sat to one side and Liliana tried to make
conversation while Sofía nodded and grunted an occasional reply.

Vanesa brought refreshments for everyone. As she
served them, Desi noted her astonishing beauty. She looked to be around
thirty-five, but having lost none of the eye-popping sex appeal of her early
twenties. Her body was built for turning heads, no doubt about it, starting
with long legs that apparently ran through her black dress all the way to her
neck. Narrow hips and waist somehow propped up a big chest, which showed just
enough cleavage in the cut of her dress to get Desi's saliva glands working.
The sinking sun broke across her high-planed face, brightening a scarlet string
of a mouth and tiny nose which looked as though they came as an expensive,
pre-packaged pair. Her eyes, dark and alight, smiled at everyone as she passed
around the drinks. Desi and Marianela had beer, Delgado and Vanesa drank wine,
Pepsi for the kids.

Desi spoke. "Julio, I want to thank you and
your lovely wife, Vanesa, for inviting us into your home on Christmas. We are
honored to be here."

"It is our honor," Delgado said.
"Our families should spend more time together. After all, our families are
the most important thing in our lives,
verdad
?"
He raised his wineglass. "To good friends and beautiful families. May our
friendship last forever."

They all toasted to a forever friendship and
drank. Vanesa turned on a radio that had been brought out to the patio. It played
a hearty salsa tune, but she kept the volume low so everyone could speak
normally.

Marianela said, "Vanesa, your home is just
amazing. I love it." Her hand gestures covered the rear portion of the
house. "How long have you lived here?"

"About five years," Vanesa said.
"Would you like to see the rest of the house?"

"Oh, I would love to!"

Vanesa put her drink down. "Come on. I'll
show you."

As Vanesa led Marianela inside, Delgado said to
his daughter, "Liliana, why don't you show Sofía your bedroom and some of
your things. I think she might enjoy it."

Sofía's expression said, "Oh, pul-eeze,"
but Desi nipped it in the bud and said to her, "Sofía, honey, go with
Liliana. Go see her room."

Liliana, not sure if she was being made to do
this, and even less sure Sofía was on board with the idea, nevertheless took
Sofía by the hand and brought her into the house. The boys had lost themselves
at the far end of the pool, romping and playing and splashing and generally
having lots of fun.

Delgado turned to Desi. "Thank you for
coming,
hermano
. It means a lot to me
that you would come to our home on Christmas."

"No, no, no. Thank
you
, Julio. To go from our little apartment to your beautiful home
is … well, it's something we never expected we would do."

"Yes, from your little apartment,"
Delgado said. "That brings me to something I wanted to speak with you
about."

"What is that?"

"You remember I said you were working for
Griselda Blanco now? Now that you have performed some little jobs for us?"

"Yes," Desi said.

"Well," Delgado said, "we have
another one coming up. And there will be more to follow."

"What is the one coming up?"

Delgado's eyes darkened and tapered into a tight
squint. "We're going to take care of the fucking cocksuckers who tried to
kill you. Who tried to make your lovely wife a widow. We've found out who they
are and we're going to make them pay for what they did."

"Who … who are they?"

"First, I must know you are with me on this,
Desi. I must know you are one thousand percent on board."

Resolve burned in Desi's eyes. "I am ten
thousand percent on board, Julio. You can count on me."

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear. But I
must also tell you, if you come on board, you are with us for keeps. That means
you must quit your job as a bus driver."

Desi flinched. "Quit my job? You mean, never
drive a bus again?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"But … but … I have over eight years on the
job. I'm building seniority, I'm —"

"Desi, Desi, listen to me, my friend. I'm
offering you more security than your bus job. And a lot more money."

"M-more money?"

"Much more money," Delgado said.
"For this job coming up, we will make ten thousand dollars apiece."

"Ten th —" Desi choked on the
words. Then, a moment later, he said, "But that's what you gave me last
week. For the deal gone bad. And now … now,
another
ten thousand?"

"That's right. Another ten thousand. In cash.
And there will be a lot more in the future. But you have to be available at all
times. You can't work it in around your bus driving shifts. Do you understand?"

"But, what will I tell Marianela? I can't
tell her I'm quitting my job to become a drug dealer."

Delgado said, "First of all, you won't be
dealing drugs. Not unless you want to. Of course, if you want to do that,
there's no limit on the amount of money you can make. But for now, we will just
be doing these little jobs for
La Madrina
.
As for Marianela, you can tell her the truth, if you wish, or you can tell her
I offered you a job demonstrating and selling expensive cars for wealthy
clients."

"Cars? Wealthy clients?"

"Yes. You can say I am a free-lance car
salesman. That I am acquainted with many wealthy people who don't want to
actually go to a showroom when they buy a car. I bring the car to them. They
look at it, drive it around the block, and buy it. I get a nice commission. And
I want to bring you in to the business, because it's growing and I can't handle
it all myself."

"Is that what Vanesa thinks you do?"
Desi asked.

"That's my cover job, but no, she knows the
truth. I tried telling her that story some years ago, when Griselda brought me
into the organization, but Vanesa didn't believe me. I eventually confessed
everything to her. She knows about everything, but she doesn't care, because
she knows I love her and the children with every ounce of my being. She knows I
am doing all this for them."

"Marianela would never believe me if I told
her that story about the cars," Desi said with a head shake.

"Then, by all means, tell her the
truth."

Desi swallowed hard. He knew how difficult that
would be, and wasn't sure how Marianela would take it. She was so innocent. And
Desi Junior and Sofía!

But, yes, Desi Junior and Sofía. And Marianela.
That's the reason for doing this. Stay out
of the way when the bullets fly and the money rolls in. Just don't get involved
with the drugs themselves. Delgado even said it. He said I don't have to go
near the drugs.

And what
would I be doing? Just giving it to guys who have it coming, like those fuckers
who nearly killed me a few weeks ago. It's not like I'm going to be running
around shooting innocent people, women, children. Ten thousand dollars for this
one job! That's more than I make …

"When is this next job?"

Delgado said, "I have to know, are you in,
Desi? You will quit your job?"

Desi nodded, a firm single nod. "I'm in. When
do we go to work?"