Blood Money by Brown Robert

Author:Brown, Robert [Brown, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, American Suspense, Thriller, Murder, Murder Investigation, USA, Tucson, Arizona
Published: 2019-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Antonio Morales did not look like the international drug smuggler Rebecca said he was; he looked like a common street thug. His arms were covered in Catholic tattoos of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Christ on the cross, plus other symbols and numbers that Peter guessed were anything but Catholic. He wore a wife beater t-shirt, saggy jeans, and had a red bandanna.

The bandanna worried Peter the most because it wasn’t on Antonio’s head. It lay on a little side table next to Antonio’s chair, covering something.

Antonio sat on a beaten-down old sofa on the front porch of his little house in South Tucson, in the heart of the Mexican barrio. Not the Hispanic barrio, but the Mexican barrio, because just as many people here were born in Mexico as in the United States. A lot didn’t have immigration papers. Not that the government cared. As much as politicians talked about getting rid of illegal immigrants, undocumented workers kept big sectors of the economy running. If the INS really wanted to crack down on illegal immigrants, all they had to do was go to every restaurant, motel, and construction site and start asking for IDs. But they never did that because Arizona’s economy would grind to a halt.

Peter didn’t know if Antonio had immigration papers or not, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask. Even if he didn’t that was probably the least illegal thing about him.

Rebecca sat on the stairs to the porch while Antonio had told Peter to sit in a chair on the porch. He noticed the chair was set as far back as possible and was behind a pillar, partially masking him from the street.

“Rebecca tells me you got some questions,” Antonio said.

Peter took a deep breath. How much to tell him?

“I was wondering if you knew anything about a Serbian gang here in Tucson.”

Antonio nodded. “The Serbs aren’t really a gang, they’re not street. Got nice middle-class houses and boring cars and normal clothes.”

“But what do they do?”

“A shitload of stuff. Rebecca tell you about me?”

The sudden change in subject took Peter off guard.

“Um, she said you import for dealers. Don’t worry, I’ve probably bought from some of those dealers. I’m not going to narc on you.”

“Rebecca ain’t stupid, hombre. She wouldn’t have brought you here if you were a narc. You don’t look stupid neither. You’ll keep your mouth shut because you don’t want to end up with your tongue pulled out and your ears cut off.”

Peter didn’t have a response to that. Antonio went on. His expression hadn’t changed from the same stony face with which he had first greeted them.

“Drugs are my thing and I don’t know most of the people doing stuff outside that. The Serbs don’t deal drugs, so I know little about them. They’re deep into a lot of shit, though.”

“Like what?”

“Guns is the big one, and human trafficking.”

“You mean they work as coyotes? I thought Mexicans did that.”

Antonio shook his head. “No, they’re not taking

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