Chapter 26

   Five minutes after leaving Faraday’s home, Nik turned to his partner/driver. “What the fuck was that question about?”

  “I just wanted to know.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m curious about Faraday’s family problems.”

  “You’re talking Greek!”

  “Jefferson-Brown is a family law firm.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I used to live in Vegas. My parents are still there.”

  “All right, so Faraday hired a law firm in Vegas.”

  “When there are plenty here, and from what I saw, Faraday has been in Reno most of his life. Must be a big case to get someone out of town.”

   Nik was about to ponder that before he caught himself. “What the hell does this have to do with Oscar DeBartolo?”

  “Nothing…yet.”

  “One minute you’re a total dumbass, which I’m used to, and then you start thinking like a cop. You’re hard to follow, you know that?”

   Dwayne opened his mouth to retort, then caught himself. He thought for a moment, then turned back to Nik. “Look, I listen to people, all right? I read things and I listen.”

  “So?”

  “It’s checking out dead bodies and all that makes me green. When I’m green I probably say a lot of stupid shit. I’m telling you, though, Faraday doesn’t look all that innocent.”

  “He doesn’t, eh?”

  “No.”

   As they pulled up to Nik’s apartment, Nik looked at Dwayne for a moment, then grinned. “It’s not Faraday you’re wondering about.”

  “Yeah I am.”

  “Maybe a little. No, you’re looking down the road. What you’re really wondering about is this lawyer in Vegas.”

   Dwayne shrugged. “So?”

  “So, let’s worry about DeBartolo.”

  “That’s just it. I am thinking about him.”

  “You have a scenario for me?”

   Behrens’s face lit up. “Yeah! Suppose Faraday lent this Clayton guy his yacht. Clayton then in turn lets DeBartolo use it.”

  “Doesn’t seem too unlikely. And?”

  “What if DeBartolo was lent that yacht to get shot?”

  “What if?”

  “Isn’t it possible?”

  “It’s possible. There’s one big problem so far.”

  “What?”

  “We don’t even know who DeBartolo was yet.”

  “One thing at a time, Nik.”

   Nik shook his head and left the car, then walked up to his second-story apartment, watching Dwayne drive away as he did. He grimaced, then entered what he called the ugliest stucco development he had ever seen. He took off his jacket, then removed his shoulder strap with the gun inside and put it on the small coffee table he's rescued from a dumpster.

   There was a metal box underneath the table with a set of file folders inside. Nik pulled one folder out and opened it. Inside was a set of newspaper articles from El Paso. He pulled out one that read, “Lopez Son Killed in Crossfire.” Nik shook his head as he read it. The article was from four years ago, but it still stung him as much now as it did then. He remembered it well.

   A bounty hunter named Nicolas Viernes had been hired by Mexican mobster Antonio Lopez to track and haul in a French expatriate named Rene Xavier. When Viernes had asked why, he was told to mind his own business. Xavier was in El Paso, while Lopez ran his operation out of Juarez. The bounty was forty thousand dollars, a hard deal to pass up. The exchange was to take place at Lopez's office, but Nicolas was not about to be tricked into being arrested on Mexican turf.

   Nicolas knew of a spot thirty miles southeast where border security was lax. He had dealt with Mexican clients before, and it was a preferred spot. Lopez agreed. However, he put his son Sandro in charge of the deal, a kid that Nicolas knew to be inexperienced and greedy, a combination destined to make any deal go awry.

   He lured Xavier to an El Paso cantina, mentioning possible reentry into France. When Xavier got there, Nicolas slipped him a strong sedative. When the man was out, he took the Frenchman out like he was drunk and put him into his car and drove to the spot. When he got there, Sandro and some henchmen were there. Nicolas was about to drive away, but Sandro flashed the bounty in front of him. All looked as if it might go well, until Xavier woke up and pulled out a knife. He stabbed Nicolas in the side.

   Nicolas blacked out and when he woke up, he was in a hospital. The article was sitting on his stomach when he awoke. It stated that Sandro had been killed by an unknown assailant. Three days later, as Nicolas was leaving the hospital, he saw one of Lopez's henchmen aiming a gun at him. The man killed Viernes's police escort. Viernes grabbed his gun and returned fire, killing the assailant. It was clear that Antonio Lopez put a hit out on him.

   Nik put the article back and grabbed another one, which was from a Spanish newspaper. He didn't read Spanish well, but it was clear that Xavier and Lopez had entered into a business deal involving cocaine. There was another article regarding the search for Nicolas Viernes. One last article, dated months later, dealt with an “alien raid” in El Paso and the death of Rene Xavier. Lopez tried to pin the murder on Nicolas as revenge-killing. It was clear that Lopez owned the Juarez newspaper and was able to spread as much propaganda as he pleased. The police did nothing, as there was no proof, of course, but Lopez had his own ways of extracting justice.

   Nik put the articles back into the box. Nik...Nic...Nicolas....all three and only one in hiding.