“It’s good to hear that. I’ll be sure to convey your sentiments to the Captain.”
“I just want to let you know, though, that I’m still dealing with some personal issues right now. My mother died recently, and I’m trying to hold things together at school for the next few months until I graduate.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your mother. But it sounds like your school issues might be under control soon. I’ll explain that to the Captain. Call me when everything gets sorted out, but don’t wait too much longer. Some final decisions will have to be made soon. You wouldn’t want to miss out on a great opportunity like this one.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you for thinking of me.”
The call ended with some relief, along with overarching worry. The muscles in Wade’s jaw tightened, thinking about how the conversation had gone. He knew whatever time he had left before his status would change had just gotten shorter. His brow line contracted as he hung up the receiver and thought nervously about the call. Hodges snatched me right out of my reserve unit in the blink of any eye when he needed men for the Prowfish. He could do it again. His stomach tightened with a new sense of urgency.
Two weeks after the Coletta meeting, Jake called Wade to meet at the Old Grill. The two men arrived at the same time and walked over to Jake’s favorite table. Wade saw the strained expression on Jake’s face. He’d seen it before; this meeting wasn’t going to include a lot of idle chit chat.
“Good to see you again. Your message sounded urgent.”
Jake began without preamble, “I met with Coletta before he died last week in prison. He transferred $12 million of our marked blue-dye currency to Lugassi just weeks before we made our arrests. The deal was that Lugassi was supposed to give Coletta $8 million back in clean currency. But Lugassi never paid Coletta the $8 million. That’s why we never found the missing funds.”
Wade shook his head in disbelief. “Those two guys hated each other. Why would Coletta just give Lugassi the money?”
“Coletta had an insurance policy. He has records on Lugassi’s drug operations in Central and South America. They were also going into the auto parts business together in Central America.”
Wade sighed aloud. “So the marked money has already been disbursed through multiple offshore banks and is now probably all over the world.”
Jake nodded in acknowledgement before Wade spoke what was uppermost in his mind. “Well, at least Coletta is out of the picture now. Things should calm down for me.”
“That’s partially true, but it’s not all that simple. That’s the reason I called you.”
“What else?”
“The other thing Coletta said was that he transferred all his ‘hit contracts’ to Lugassi — and that you’re on that list. If it’s any consolation, I’m also on the list, but then I’m on every criminal’s hit list.”
Wade frowned. “What? That’s all I need to hear right now. Lugassi’s mob is fifty times larger than Coletta’s gang. I thought with the Coletta guys in prison, things would cool down for me. Damn it! I just got off submarine deployment and missed a lot of school. And now the Navy is getting ready to activate our unit for Vietnam. I’m totally screwed.”
“Did anything ever come of that meeting with the intelligence group?”
Wade’s voice sounded morose when he answered. “Yeah. I met with Jenkins a couple of times. I put together the proposal they wanted, but I don’t have any commitment from them yet. I’m still waiting for a response. They’ve told me they’re interested, but the thing is taking forever to finalize.”
“According to Coletta, Lugassi thinks you’re still out at sea. That’s a good thing for a while.”
“Yeah, good until someone sees me.”
“Then you have to make yourself less visible. Stay away from public places, the Quarter, any mob restaurants or hangouts. If you want to carry a weapon again, I can make a permit happen.”
“I don’t go out as it is. I have no social life — no life at all. I haven’t been to the race track for ages. In fact, I don’t even go to the damn movies anymore.”
“Have you ever considered going to the police academy?”
“No. I promised myself and my parents I was going to finish college before I do anything else with my life — assuming I survive that long.”
Seeing Wade’s discomfort, Jake tried to mollify him.
“One good thing about Lugassi is that he’s so busy, it’ll take him a long time to get to you. You aren’t a threat to any of his businesses, which means you probably won’t get his immediate attention. His operations are all over the state. In fact, they’re so big their size works against them. With Coletta gone, you probably fall under “old business.” He’s got much bigger fish to fry.”
“I need to make something work in my life. I’m graduating from high school in three months, and then I need to find a way to get out of town and start college before someone grabs me.”
Wade paused with his head down. He continued to think out loud, open for any suggestions Jake might be able to provide. Jake was silent, also thinking about what he could do to help.
Wade spoke next. “I’ll go back and contact the Agency to see if I can arrange another meeting. I also have my summer reserve sea duty coming up, and that’ll take me out of town for a few weeks. I guess I’ll have to just spend more time in the swamp.”
Jake offered what little advice he could. “I think the Agency is a good option for you, at least in terms of the mob. You’ll be out of town for training and assignments, and you’ll have the Agency behind you. The mob thinks twice before they target someone in the Agency. Hitting an Agency guy will bring down a whole lot of hurt on them.”
Wade squirmed in his chair. He had the sudden urge to change the subject. “Have you tried Dean’s Seafood lately? I heard they changed management.”
Jake looked into Wade’s eyes, ignoring the question. But before he could conjure up some response to the last question, Wade changed the subject again.
“I’m going to need that permit to carry a concealed weapon.”
“Just fill out the application and drop it off at my office. I’ll take care of it.”
Wade took the time to fill out the permit paperwork never believing he would need it, since most of his previous work had been on behalf of the NOPD. The hope of a calmer existence with Coletta out of the picture was gone with the wind.
Wade oiled the hinges to the hidden trap door under the dash. He put in his old Colt .45 ACP where he always kept it. It wouldn’t be a long wait for the permit to come back, and Wade knew that Jake would cover him if he had to use the gun before that time.
His routine fell into a normal pace. The goals were clear and simple. Finish high school as quickly as possible before the mob found him or the Navy deployed him. Sometime in the next few months, he had to find out if the Intelligence Agency wanted him. Whoever got to him first would change his future in ways he could not imagine. None of his alternatives seemed very bright right now, and a few seemed downright deadly.
Chapter 3
Wade was preparing for a final exam at his friend’s house, a half block off Magazine Street near the upscale “Garden District.” As the study session ended, exam questions rolled around Wade’s head like they were on a loose sprocket wheel. After hanging over books most of the day and evening, a milkshake from the drive-in sounded like a good idea. The drive-in was on the way home, and Wade was long past being ready to leave.