Page 74 of No Greater Oblivion

“Half brother and yes. Something’s going on there. It makes me suspicious.”

“Has the sale gone through yet?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Narvaez Enterprises is a majority stakeholder in Li’s shipping company—the one he uses as a front to smuggle things from China. They were looking to buy him out last summer.”

“I remember. It’s how I got pulled into all of this in the first place. Li was setting up Narvaez Enterprises to take the fall in the event he got caught.”

Alejandro holds American citizenship which means under the principle of extraterritorial jurisdiction, he can be prosecuted here, regardless of where his crimes were committed—of which there are many. And if those crimes include Li’s drug trafficking ring, the federal government gets involved. The consequences of such are unfathomable. While I don’t doubt Alejandro’s ability to evade the law like a Teflon Don, no one can predict the outcome of a trial like that. If he goes down, he could potentially take the entire company with him.

Morales got close to me because I was close to Li’s social circle through my friendship with Damiano. His ultimate goal was to get to Li whom he blames for his former partner’s death. When I eventually put the pieces together myself and figured out how Alejandro’s family’s company was connected to Li, I knew I had to do something.

I got closer to Rian whom I’d previously paid little attention to, especially since I’d hooked up with his brother Sasha before and the two of them don’t get along. However, my getting close to find intel didn’t exactly work out the way I planned and what I developed with Rian became real.

“Here’s the thing…” Morales draws his bottom lip between his teeth, deep in thought. “I don’t think Huang’s trying to set up Narvaez. I think he’s going after O’Neil.”

My head whips around. A beat passes before I’m able to find my voice. “What?”

“Did you know Huang has almost everything under O’Neil’s name?”

“I’m not surprised. The DEA almost took him down a few years ago. In order to start over, he needed to conduct business under someone else. Rian’s his childhood best friend and they’ve worked together for years.”

“Don’t you find it suspicious though? Why O’Neil?” he asks. “Huang has family whose identities he could’ve worked under. Two sisters and cousins in Shanghai. The Empress’s lease is under O’Neil’s name, all the warehouses and factories he owns are also under O’Neil⁠—”

“Well, Rian must’ve sold them to him.”

“A bunch of empty plots of land out in Midwestern states most Americans don’t even know exist?” Morales makes a face as if to shame my naivety. “I know you’re smarter than that.”

“Why would Li set up Rian? They’re like brothers.” I shake my head. “No. I can’t believe he’d do that. He’s a lot of things but Li’s loyal. Especially to Rian.”

“Answer me this then—why’s he allowing Narvaez to sell his shares to Antonov knowing the half brothers can’t stand each other?”

“Because Alejandro has a controlling stake in the company and he can?”

Morales cracks a smile. “He does in the shipping company. Not Huang’s LLC.”

“You lost me.”

“Huang owns the shipping company and has a separate LLC under which he conducts his legitimate business. Narvaez has a controlling stake in the shipping company but his shares in the LLC don’t hold as much weight as Huang’s. They would’ve had to put the sale up to a vote.”

Realization dawns on me. “There was a meeting—between Alex, Rian, Li, Sasha, and Damiano.”

Morales gives a nonchalant shrug. “Makes sense. They’re not the only shareholders but between them, they hold a majority of the voting power.”

“This is beginning to get a little more complicated than I can understand,” I say.

“It’s all right. Do me a favor, figure out how the vote went and where everyone stands. In the meantime, I’m going to find out what’s going on with Huang’s shipping business. If Narvaez is selling his stake in the LLC, I suspect it’s because he intends on severing all ties with Huang.”

Morales leaves and I debate lighting another cigarette to calm my nerves but decide against it.

No use smoking myself into a stupor. A fire wasn’t enough to kill me and it’s unlikely a bunch of herbal cigarettes will.

Alejandro

“How long have you suspected Li was up to something?”

Sasha Antonov runs his tongue over his teeth as the muscles in his jaw tense. He finishes the last of his vodka and sets the empty glass down on the bar. “Since before the holidays.”