Page 77 of Reno

28

Reno

Alacrán insisted that the money be counted before we proceeded with anything. While Crip and I waited for him to declare that we were golden, Manos paced the floor nervously.

“You alright?” I asked. “You seem nervous as fuck.”

“Hoping jer mahney is okay, Amigo.”

“I told you there’s five million there,” I insisted. “The fact that he’s back there with those two goons counting it pisses me off, to be honest. I’m not going to weigh the product. Do you know why?”

He stopped pacing and looked at me. “Porqué, Amigo?”

“Because I trust you.”

He started pacing again. “Gracias, Amigo.”

“But you don’t trust me,” I complained, chasing him with my eyes as he went from one edge of the room to the other. “This is a one-sided affair.”

“I trust jew, Amigo.” He paused and then shrugged. “Angel? Maybe no. I’m sorry, Meester Wood. Maybe next time things will be deef-rent.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after eight o’ clock. Pissed beyond words, and worried that I was going to be late to pick up Carma, I looked at Manos and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Stop pacing the goddamned floor! You’re driving me nuts,” I complained. I glanced toward the corridor that Alacrán had disappeared into. “What the fuck is he doing back there?”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “The macheen is slow, Meester Wood. It takes time.”

“I could have counted that shit by hand,” I insisted. “This is bullshit.”

At eight forty-five, Alacrán emerged from the rear of the house no differently than he left, expressionless. When he got within speaking distance, he pulled his hand from his pocket and extended it. Pinched between his fingers were a few hundred-dollar bills.

“You were two hundred dollars rich, Mister Tiddlewood.”

I took the money from his grasp. “Better to be heavy than light.”

He crossed his arms. “I have a question, Mister Tiddlewood.”

I crossed mine. “I’ll try to have an answer.”

“Do you realize since you met El Pollo, I haven’t seen him?” He turned up both palms and gave a half-assed shrug. “No one has seen him?”

My butthole puckered just a little. I tried my best to seem unaffected by his revelation. “You can add me to that fucking list, because I haven’t seen that lying bastard, either. It’s the entire reason I’m here, Mister Ramirez. He made promises he didn’t keep. Those unkept promises brought me here.”

His gaze narrowed a little. “What do you think happened to him?”

I didn’t like where the conversation was headed. “Do you want me to guess?”

He gave a slight nod. “Entertain me.”

“Entertain you?” I asked. “I could give you my best card trick if Bobby has a deck of cards. I left mine at home.”

He didn’t so much as crack a smile. “Guess, Mister Tiddlewood.”

Fifty kilos at fifteen grand each would be seven hundred and fifty grand—if we had purchased the cocaine from El Pollo at a reasonable rate. Considering the size of the shipment, fifteen grand a kilo seemed reasonable.

“My guess is this.” I raised my index finger. “He took the seven hundred and fifty grand I gave him and disappeared.”

Maintaining his stern look, he continued. “When you met to make the previous purchase, where did you meet?”