Chapter 87.5: Unpleasant Duties, Part III
Piman’s POV
Friday Afternoon (the day of the firing)
“We have an interesting dilemma,” Thomas says, eyeing the rock garden.
“Interesting dilemma?” I’m contemplating the patterns. We’re at the Morikami Gardens in Boca Raton. I prefer this area. Who expects hoods to do business at a Japanese garden? Boca is a retiree haven, not a gang hotspot.
Looks are deceiving.
“We have five disloyal RangeMen that are being fired”—he glances at his watch—”right now.”
I stare at him. “I’ve heard nothing of disloyalty from Pedro.”
“He’s one of them.”
I narrow my eyes. Pedro is my contact within Ric’s organization but if he’s betrayed him, he’s dead. “Betrayal?”
Thomas looks at me. “Officially, I know nothing. Unofficially, I can put shit together on my own. I’m tapped in. They put el Tigre at risk. They put la Tigresa at risk. They put the entire business at risk.” He’s cold, looking at me as if ready to ride.
The source of the rumors I’ve been hearing since I returned to Florida. I’m in. “Management?”
“Knows nothing. They need to stay out of this. I’m willing to take the fall.”
“Why?” I already know why. Let’s see if I’m right.
“La Tigresa’s trying to elevate Mack within the business, but there won’t be anything if the business is taken down. Mack’s reformed. He’s trying to get custody of his boys. He’s trying to do it big. I want him to succeed. His boys need to see that it’s possible.”
Right again. I understand his motivation. “You matter too.”
Thomas smiles wryly. “Ahmed and Hamid matter more. Besides, these assholes are a danger to la Tigresa, el Tigre and the Asesino every minute they walk around free. They’ll talk. They have to be contained. I don’t want anyone else’s fingers on this. If something happens, I go down alone.”
There aren’t a lot of people I would do a favor for, but Thomas called and asked me to meet with him. Thomas dropped his flag and I allowed him to leave in peace because he said he was going to work for Ric. Normally, I make men go through hell to leave, but I wondered why he was leaving. He leveled.
“My cousin, Mack, got locked up. Two and a half years.” Thomas’s eyes were hurt and I knew, in that moment, I’d let him go. Last time I saw a man that hurt, soul-deep hurt, he set a jefe up for a prison sentence.
Les became the deadly fucker he is today because Ric meant more to him than his own life. Thomas had that same look, like he was ready to die that day, and I knew Mack was behind that. I let him go and we stay on nodding terms. Pedro is, was, ‘officially’ my contact, but my men know to pass the same information to Thomas.
Since he managed to get high up in Ric’s organization, I keep my distance from him, but like Ric, he knows if he needs me, he need only call. He was one of my best but I know how to inspire loyalty.
He didn’t have to remain a Reyes to remain loyal.
This is why I don’t fear the feds like most Incas. I know Ric will never take a contract for me unless I fuck with those closest to him: his woman, his child, and his partners, including Hector. We’ve remained loyal to each other. We’re on different sides of the law but we’ll never put each other in danger as long as we draw breath.
Thomas is doing this for Mack. He’s ready to die for his cousin. I’ll help him because this is for Ric.
Thomas’s POV—Saturday
“I swear to God, I’m going straight to the police and telling them about all this shit!”
“Shut the fuck up, Tony!” Julio. “Right now, we need to figure out who has us and what the fuck they plan to do. Did anyone call anyone so they’ll look for us?”
“My momma will look, I promise you. The fact that my ass wasn’t home when she called will drive her crazy. Fuck Mando’s weak ass! He doesn’t have the balls to string my ass up.”
Disbelieving laughter. “Look around, dumbass. All of us are strung up. Only question now is who’s gonna walk through that door. You better hope for Mando. If it’s Hector, our death will be painful. If it’s Ranger . . . “
Patrice. First bit of sensible advice I’ve heard him utter.
I watched Steph all week. It was clear when she arrived on Friday afternoon that she was coming in to clean up. The way she took Tony down verbally, time and time again all week, was hilarious but draining on her. Doing battle with people like that isn’t her MO.
When she got kidnapped, I was scared to my core. I couldn’t believe it. Someone had gotten the drop on us. When I later learned that she’d been moved by Feds and recovered by Danilo, I breathed easier.
Didn’t make that call from Mack any easier.
“Yo! Homie, guess what?”
Diego’s pale. Hector’s clearly ripping him one. I step out. “‘Sup?”
“We popping bottles up in NYC, son! Another $10 million! Jorge’s killing it here.”
“Congrats.”
It’s silent for a minute. “Hey, don’t piss on us.”
“It’s not about that, Mack.” I sigh. “Steph’s been kidnapped. We’re trying to figure out what the hell happened.”
“What the fuck did you say?” Mack’s voice is tight.
I’m trying to keep an ear on Diggy’s convo (“The CO has been recovered. I’m headed to go get her.” Pause. “We’ll need to discuss her security tomorrow.”) and I sigh in relief. “She’s been recovered—”
“What the fuck does that mean, son!? Either you got the Boss Lady or you don’t! Recovered don’t mean shit! Get her back! Make sure she’s safe!” Mack’s livid on the phone and I can hear the party in NYC come to a screeching halt.
I poke my head back through. Diego turns to me. “I’m headed to go get her. She’s safe. She’s with a friendly.”
“Yo, you will see me ASAP! You fuckin’ up, losing the Boss Lady and shit!” Mack shouts and hangs up. I look at Diggy.
“Mack’s less than happy.”
“Mack’s the least of my problems. I think Hector’s gonna kill me.” Diggy leaves, clearly dejected.
Mack made good on the promise. He arranged his shit in NYC, got on the flight Monday, and strode out of the airport like a man on a mission. I had to laugh at him. He looked ready to kill at the slightest threat to Steph.
I love Steph, but Mack? Mack adores her. It’s deep and I understand. Steph believes in him like no other woman in his life besides his mom. He’ll put it on the line to protect her.
Watching Mack and Steph interact for two weeks reminded me why I follow Ranger. Steph’s perfect for him. She looks at my cousin and sees more than a hood. She sees a good man and she’s trying to develop him. Watching her set Mack up with Hal to work on the science portion of the GED was inspired. Hal’s an explosives expert. His command of chemistry and critical thinking is superb, and he was able to break the science portion of the GED down for Mack in a way no one else could.
She asked Diego and Pat to work with Mack and Mario on the strategists’ skill set, and that gave Diggy and Pat a way to work together to start repairing their relationship. Mack’s getting help from all avenues because Steph sees him as an eventual leader in the business, and I’m proud of him and grateful to her.
Steph and I spent lots of time working on the communications that will go out to each lost client and working on new bids. Steph’s got Hal working with Diego on the XO stuff.
Steph’s doing the same stuff that Mando does all the time. She forces everyone to work together and develop each other. It’s inspiring.
This is why I’m loyal to RangeMan. Because the people in charge don’t see criminal records, gang tats, or background. They see the souls of men.
My role as a Reyes, when I was active, was kidnapping. Hell, let’s not be cute about it. I was a trafficker and I was fucking brilliant at it. That’s why I initially joined RangeMan as an armed guard. I knew how to guard against damn near every attack that could come at you because I’d done them all.
That’s why I know Tony won’t be prepared for this shit. He never respected my skill because I never had a real chance to demonstrate it. He inherited my department, but I trained everyone there to guard against a fucker like me. Tony could do the job but he didn’t have my level of expertise at it. Anyway, I dropped my flag before he ever joined the branch.
My job, as a kidnapper, was quiet. Human trafficking is a nasty business and you have to have nerves of steel to do it. I was good at moving people in and out of Mexico, Bolivia, the D.R., wherever. Kidnapping is an art and I had it, but my nerves were getting jangly. Too many close calls and you know that the authorities are closing in. The field was getting tight and it was taking on an ugly aspect.
I was so good at moving businessmen and illegal immigrants that they wanted me to run women.
Oh hell no. I looked at those poor women and made plans to get out. I couldn’t do it. I looked at them and wondered if they were someone’s mother. Someone’s sister. Someone’s daughter. I had a limit and I’d found it. No fucking way. I couldn’t run women then go home and look my mother in the eyes, knowing what I’d done.
Plus, my conscience had started speaking to me again. Karma is that bitch. I’m wondering when she’ll come back around to bite me.
I got out because of that and because of Mack. Mack was running drugs in NYC and got locked up on drug charges. I wanted to know how that happened. Mack was good at running drugs, so he had to have been betrayed. I found out it was one of his lower level boys who talked.
He’s officially ‘missing’. He was my last job before I dropped my flag.
Mack’s sentence was light because I used half of my fortune to get him a good lawyer. We’ve never discussed it because we don’t need to. Mack pays me back monthly for it. I put it in a bank account with his boys’ names on it. I don’t need the money. I needed my cousin out free.
When he made the decision to get out because he wanted to be in his boys’ lives, I respected that. Mack called and told me he’d joined RangeMan. He’d heard about them, heard that they’d hire a man with a less than ‘ideal’ background as long as he’d put that shit behind him. I laughed and told him I was already in, for the same damn reason.
I’ve been out for five years now and, when I joined RangeMan, I was honored that Mando thought I could be the perfect liaison for the branch. I busted my ass, especially after Bobby rejected me, to prove I was worthy.
Mando told me to quit half steppin. Either I believed in the RangeMan code of honor or I didn’t. Get out if I wasn’t truly down. I stepped back, looked at the men I worked with, the work we did, and the reputation of the company and stepped my game up. Mando was right. Who else was gonna hire a hood with a criminal record, no (legitimate) work history, and a gang affiliation?
Besides RangeMan?
I watched the league of assholes (Diggy’s nickname is fucking perfect) Friday night and waited. They were plotting how to take Steph down. No one else. Just her.
Just another reason to put the assholes away.
I’d texted Diggy while I was with Piman and he said Mando was gonna fire Tony in about 20 minutes. Piman mobilized his men and had a man shadow each of their dumb asses from the moment they left the RangeMan building. They each went home, changed into their club gear, and met up again. They hit the hot spots for dinner and dancing and, once they had enough liquor in them, started planning. That’s how I knew exactly how to find them. Old techniques coming back fast.
Jackie was tending the bar and, after a little bribery, I guaranteed that their drinks would be extra strong. They also have Rophynol in them. I watched as they finally started drooping and dropping. I smiled and sauntered over.
“Yo!”
Patrice looked at me blearily. “Thomas? ‘Sup man?”
“Not much. Need some help?” I made sure I was overheard so this didn’t appear to be a kidnapping.
“Yeah . . . that would be good.”
The bouncer, Mike, smirked at me. “Little too much?”
“Yeah. Can you help me? I’ve got my SUV outside. We’ll just pile their drunk asses in.”
He laughed and he, John (the other bouncer), and I managed to walk all five assholes outside and stuff them in my Expedition. I tipped the guys $100 each and threw deuces. I drove to one of our special ‘holding’ buildings. I was pretty sure that one of the LoA would recognize where they were the moment they woke up and that alone would terrify them. I chained each one up and left. I headed to each of their apartments and entered using the master security code. That way, if anyone asked, they each made it home according to our records and I clearly dropped them off. I set the alarm again and left.
I hit a bodega and grabbed some water and a bag of chips before heading back to RangeMan.
Alibi in place. I was seen in plenty of places with cameras and the LoA were each re-deposited in their apartments with the alarm turned on. I was the last man to see each one.
Today was a quiet day. I started by arming and rearming two alarms before heading to work. Piman’s men are taking care of the other three so they all appear to leave within 30 minutes of each other. Most of the men were still in shock over the firings. Mando, Diggy and I sat with Candy and Steph and started working through PIPs. Steph told us to get used to it.
“You guys have suggested hiring women and disabled vets into this company. I’m still undecided about that but I do know this: Mat time will definitely disappear if we do. I intend to discuss this with the Leadership Core when I reach San Antonio, so get ready. I don’t expect to take men to the mats in order to get compliance.” We looked at her in surprise. She and Candy nodded.
“Quite frankly, from an HR perspective, mat time is an HR nightmare. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Candy said. Diggy started to speak but Candy raised a hand to cut him off. “It worked before because you men all had the same background, military or gang. Those are backgrounds that respect the power of physical supremacy, right?” We all nodded. “Yeah, well, how do you think the Wall Street guys in NYC are going to handle that?”
We cringed. Mack’s already said they’ve had to modify in NYC. The fact that Javi’s not exactly renowned for his mat skills up there helps. He’s creative with punishment in NYC and the men respect it.
“Exactly,” Steph said, smiling at us. “Honestly, I felt for Patrice a little. Hit me too hard and he had to contend with Hal, Mack, Diego, and Ranger at some point.” We laughed. “Don’t hit me hard enough and I just get to beat up on him. That’s exactly what happened. He had his pride beaten on two levels because he knew he couldn’t really hurt me without getting it back 10x as hard.”
I laughed mentally. That’s pretty much what I thought as I watched Steph take him down on the mats. Patrice fights much better than he fought Steph. Not saying Steph isn’t good on the mats. I’m just saying Patrice didn’t bring his ‘A’ game against her like he would have against Ranger. He had to take a beating to save his life.
Too bad it was already forfeit.
We spent the morning coming up with performance plans, determining how to break the cliques up, and forwarding the performance plans to the XOs. Steph got on a conference call with the other XOs and explained exactly what she explained to us. The XOs are looking forward to implementing this in their offices.
Mat time is annoying to all involved.
I walk into the ‘holding’ building at 1200. I have a small complement of weapons but I don’t plan to do significant damage to everyone.
Just the ringleader.
I walk through the maze of hallways and rooms to the room I deposited them in. They’re awake and, as I hoped, scared shitless, wondering who has them and plotting to take that person down (as if I’m that stupid).
“Thomas! What the fuck is this about?” Tony yells, livid. “You are fucked the moment I’m out of these chains! And you better believe the cops will hear about this. I’m not a RangeMan anymore! You can’t do this shit.”
His boys cringe. They know better. Didn’t Patrice just tell him to pray for Mando?
I smile. “What makes you think you’re getting free alive?” Tony looks at me, shocked. “You got off light getting fired but”—I walk over and stand next to him and mock whisper in his ear—”that sentence is exactly why you’ll leave in a body bag.”
I look at the rest. “You all caused multiple problems at the branch but that’s not why you’re dead men. You’re dead men because the rules were simple: Keep your fucking mouths closed. Don’t talk about RangeMan business outside the building. Now the chatter is high in every group I’m tapped into that a group of RangeMen said Ranger’s stateside.”
Every single one of them pales.
“What? You fuckers think I spend my time in my office jerking off? The job of the liaison is to be the communications man. I’m tapped into intel networks. I hear things.”
Pedro and Patrice start shaking. “Thomas, Thomas man, we didn’t say shit! We had nothing to do with it!”
They’re yelling to try to convince me of their innocence but I shrug. “Then who talked?”
“Tony! Tony was running his fucking mouth.”
Tony looks at them, livid, and I shake my head.
“You were there. You knew and you didn’t inform us so we could do something about it. You talked, or listened, and said nothing. That makes you just as guilty.” I look at Nacho, whose mouth is still wired. “Send me an email, motherfucker. Drop a note.” I smirk as Nacho shakes his head and a tear runs down his cheeks. Julio says nothing. His eyes are closed and he’s shaking.
I stare at Tony, who is also shaking in fear. “That’s right. Keep crying. You’ll wish you’d left your cousin alone before I’m done. You’ll wish you’d never joined RangeMan, because you don’t know what brotherhood is.” I look at all of them. “None of you do.” I look at Pedro and Patrice. “You never would have convinced me to say shit, no matter what I was threatened with. You two? You gave Tony up to save your own skins. No honor.”
And I get started.
I’m leaning up against the building, smoking a cigarette (guilty pleasure. I’m sure Ranger would kill me) when Piman arrives 2.5 hours later.
“That’s all?”
I nod. He loads the body bags and shuts the van door.
“I have a shipment going to Colombia and another to El Salvador.”
I smile. I like the karmic irony but these fuckers will talk too easy. “Colombia. How close can you get them to Brazil?”
Piman smiles. It’s not a nice smile. “I think I can make that happen.”
Colombia is not as bad as it used to be, but they speak Spanish. They might have a fighting chance there. Deep in the Amazon jungle? I stub my cigarette and smile. They won’t know where the hell they are. I stripped them to their cargos and left them with one knife. Nacho has it. I wonder how long it will take them to kill each other. Tony’s the closest to death. If he survives the trip, it’ll be a fucking miracle. I expect they’ll abandon his ass first.
Oh well. Whatever happens, happens.
Mack shows five minutes later and I get in the car. “Yo, son. Here.” He hands me my passport and airline tickets and I hand him a flash drive. “You OK? The Boss Lady approved your vacation but she wants to know what’s up. I do too. What’s good?”
“You’ll find out. Send that file to Hector. Tell him Raptor sent it.”
Mack stills. “Raptor‘s supposed to be tits up.”
“He came out of retirement for a minute.” Mack looks ready to explode so I raise my hand. “To protect la Tigresa, el Tigre and the Asesino. No other reason. After all, those fuckers were just fired. Who do you think they’d shoot their mouths off to first?”
Mack stares at me before his shoulders slump. “Aigh.” He raises the flash drive. “This?”
“Insurance for the rest of the branch. To make sure they get the point. Miami only. And make sure Mando isn’t there when it’s played. He doesn’t need to hear that. Steph, Candy, and Maria too. They don’t need to hear that either.”
Mack nods. “Be careful, homes.”
“I’m prepared for the consequences. Got any messages you want me to deliver to the family?”
“Tell Abuela I said hello and Happy Birthday.” Mack shakes his head and says nothing else. He drops me off at the airport and I board my flight to the DR.
Time for some R&R.
