Nguyen aimed her cleavage at Maggie. “Who are you?”
Maggie spoke with straight-ahead cool. “Detective Magda Orzo.”
“Are you partners?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry for the rough treatment you just received, but you can hardly blame my bodyguards for reacting that way. You didn’t give them much choice, entering unannounced the way you did. What brings you here, officers?”
My hand was outright gyrating. I tucked it under my leg. I didn’t want her knowing how badly she’d hurt me. “We’d like to know about your dealings with Carlos Simba.”
Nguyen wore an amused expression. “Mr. Simba is an entrepreneur. He approached me to see if I would invest in his new shipping company. Lagarto Lines looked like a sound investment, so here I am.”
“Carlos Simba is a known figure in organized crime.”
“He’s nothing of the sort. He’s a very successful businessman. He’s going to be the first Lagartan to compete with non-Lagartan shippers. That means jobs and affordable shipping prices for Lagartans. I would think he’d be a hero to your people.”
“What goods does he plan to ship?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters if he’s going to sell our people as slaves.”
“Don’t be so shortsighted, Officer Mozambe. Mr. Simba will be able to cut into Lagarto’s trade deficit. That means the peso will be stronger. Think of all the things Lagartans could buy with a peso that’s worth something-medicine, robots, computers. This is the first step for Lagarto to enter the galactic economy.”
“Don’t bullshit me. You don’t care about Lagarto. You’re selling slaves for your own profit.”
“Look who is suddenly the moralist. That’s quite the attitude from a hatchet man for the Bandur organization. Bandur enslaves his people with their own vices for his profit. I fail to see the difference.”
“But…but…” I stammered like a fool. I couldn’t find the words to defend myself. Maybe because there weren’t any. Maybe there was no difference between Nguyen and me.
“You tire me.” She looked to her bodyguards, “Escort them out, will you. See to it that the guards don’t let them back in without a warrant.”
I stood up and dropped my right into my pocket. My gut stirred anger, vengeance, and guilt into a vile stew that I couldn’t vomit.
Nguyen’s voice stopped us at the door. “You know I have camera implants in my eyes. Whenever I’m feeling down, I recall the recording of our last meeting. It never fails to cheer me up.”
My hand went spastic within the confines of my pocket. Maggie led me out to the sound of Nguyen’s tech-amplified laughter.
I felt shell-shocked from my run-in with Nguyen. She’d gone from moving O to moving slaves, and she wasn’t shy about letting people know it. I dropped Maggie at her hotel. Seeing all the offworlders coming in and out, I once again marveled at how rich she had to be to afford that place.
I headed home for dinner with Niki. I was looking forward to seeing her. I felt bad about being gone so much. Since I’d stopped my enforcing, we’d spent a lot more time together, and I wasn’t used to going this long without seeing her.
My phone rang. The young girl from the dock dropped into the passenger seat. She looked at least a year younger than her real self-overdue for a holo-update.
“Is Mdoba back?”
“He was,” she said. “But he’s gone again. He took his boat out on the river.”
Thanks for nothing. “Call me when he gets back, okay?”
“Yep.” She disappeared in a flash.
I pulled into the drive and entered the house. I found Niki sleeping on the sofa. “Hey, Niki. It’s me.”
Silence.
“Niki?”
More silence. An empty pill bottle sat on the table.
My mind slid six years to another episode. In an instant, I remembered a blue-skinned Niki breathing shallow, and then the sirens and the stomach pumps. Not again! I flew to her side, checked her pulse. Both my hands shook. Her pulse ran strong and regular; her color was good; her skin felt warm to the touch. I let out the breath I’d been holding and sucked at the air. Ever since that night six years ago, I’d always think the worst. No OD tonight; she’d just double or triple dosed to get to sleep. I’d been neglecting her.
Niki’s mini-relapse complemented my total one with foreboding clarity. My life was running full speed in reverse. I was running around fists first, doing Paul’s bidding, and chasing the hot skirt in some kind of pathetic attempt to recapture my youth. Looking at Niki, my Niki, I could see the ridiculousness of it all.
My galloping heart was slowing to its normal beat. I brushed Niki’s hair off her face and listened to her breathing. I sat on the floor and rubbed my too-sore knuckles. I’d see this case out, because Paul needed me, but then I would be done. I’d quit the force altogether. It was time to put all my energy into Niki. We still cared about each other. We could make it work again.
Niki barely woke when I picked her up. I carried her to bed, whispering soothings in her ear.
I was munching a sandwich when Paul called. Holo-Paul sat across the table from me. “How are things going?”
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah, we can talk. Catch me up.”
It was hard to know where to start. “Sanders Mdoba is the son of a bitch that tipped off Ali Zorno about our witness.”
Holo-Paul looked delighted. Real-Paul sounded pissed. “Mdoba?
"Shit!”
“The kid’s blood is on his hands, Paul. We still don’t know who told Mdoba about our witness, other than it must be a cop. We tossed his boat, a rusted-up number in Phra Kaew. We found vids of Vlotsky’s father and four other board members caught with their dicks out. He blackmailed them into approving a business license for Carlos Simba’s shipping company, Lagarto Lines. He had Vlotsky’s kid killed to keep him in line. He’s moonlighting for Simba.”
“Bandur is losing control. I can’t believe Simba flipped somebody that high up. Does Sasaki know?”
“No, I didn’t tell him. I was afraid Mdoba was working under Sasaki’s orders.”
“What’s this shipping company about?”
“They’re shipping slaves to the mines, Paul. Simba sells them to Universal Mining. We found a man today who sold his daughter to Simba. It’s only one instance so far, but when we start combing through all the missing persons cases, we’ll find lots more. Guess who the middle man is?”
Paul replied, “Mai Nguyen.”
Surprised, I said, “How’d you know?”
“I’ve been digging into Mayor Samir’s funds. There are connections between him, Nguyen, and Simba all over the damn place.”
The alliance between Mai Nguyen, Carlos Simba, and Mayor Samir solidified in my mind. “We’re getting close, Paul.” I was up out of my seat, pacing. “The Vlotsky hit looks like Simba’s doing, but the mayor must have a stake in the slave trade. Simba must’ve asked him to try and keep us from digging too deep.”
“Do you think that your Army guy has anything to do with it?”
“Yeah. I keep trying to discount him, but it’s too big a coincidence that he and Zorno were cellmates. Why?”
“Private Kapasi’s back on leave as of this morning. Once the Army heard the news reports that we caught Vlotsky’s killer, they decided the murder wasn’t Army related. He should have made it back to Loja this afternoon.”
“Hold on.” I froze Paul’s image and had the system dial up the little girl from the dock.
“Hello?” she said.
“Which way did he take the boat?”
“Upriver.”
I hung up and unfroze Paul. “I gotta go, Paul. Mdoba’s heading upriver. How much you want to bet he’s going to meet with Kapasi?”
I was already out the door. Holo-Paul followed me through the courtyard. “Get me proof, Juno. We’re running out of time.”
I sped to Maggie’s hotel, honking through the intersections. I tried calling, but she didn’t answer, so I left a message. What the hell was she doing?