The Amberlight Tavern was a low-tempo place catering to young business types. Soft music, hanging plants, booths all along a side wall opposite the bar. Billy had arrived ahead of him, and it took Axel a moment to spot them in the rearmost booth. As he made his way toward them, Billy saw him and gave a passing waitress a three-finger signal.
He slid in on Billy’s side. He and Billy wore sport jackets, the Mexican a glossy blue suit. He was thickly black-haired, big-shouldered, with a brush mustache. Late thirties, was Axel’s guess. Billy introduced him as Duro Cisneros and they exchanged nods.
“Smith and Jones,” Cisneros said with a smile, his voice a deep rasp.
A tall blonde in a black pantsuit and red bowtie brought three large drafts and set them on the table. As she collected the two empties, Cisneros reached up with one hand to adjust her tie, eliciting a stiff smile from her, and Axel glimpsed a small red crescent on the man’s inner wrist.
“So, Mister Cisneros,” Axel said after the waitress left. “Who are you?”
“A guy in the same business as you boys, Mister Smith, only a better-paying end of it. I’m good enough at it I’m here and not in some cell, same as you. My favorite color’s blue and I like Pacino movies. Enough of the get-to-know-you?”
“Fine by me. What’ve you got?”
Cisneros leaned forward. “Bearer bonds. I told your buddy while we were waiting, but he doesn’t know what that is. You?”
“Interest-bearing instruments. They’re not registered to the people who buy them. Not registered to anybody. Whoever holds a bearer bond can collect the interest on it to maturity or redeem it anytime, no ID required. But they make it too easy to evade taxes, launder money, all that, and the feds stopped issuing them more than a year ago. There’s a lot of them still in circulation, though, and you can still buy them in Europe.”
“Your buddy said you’re smart. College guy.”
“That’s me. How much is the rip?” Axel said.
“Seven fifty K.”
“Jesus,” Billy said. “No shit?”
Cisneros smiled. “No shit.”
“What’s the play?” Axel said.
“Jewelry store, but fuck the jewels. Pain in the ass to fence and too easy to get cheated. The thing is, the store’s also a laundry and a drop for an investment company does all sorts of illegit shit. It’s got no ties to any outfit, of that I’m sure. If it did I wouldn’t touch it. The store’s run by an old man, got a guard. Around ten o’clock on a morning not very long from now, somebody’s gonna stop by that store to drop off the bonds and collect some jewels. Then just before noon, somebody else is coming by to pick up the bonds. Only the bonds won’t be there anymore because we’ll have them. There’s a security camera that wouldn’t help the cops much even if they saw it, but the company’s not about to call them. They won’t want to discuss bearer bonds with them or the IRS.”
“Your guy knows all this?” Axel said.
“He does. That’s why he gets seventy-five. He buys the paper from us for six seven-five, I get two seventy-five, you each get two. If it’s not enough, we’re done talking.”
Axel and Billy exchanged a look.
“Why not we cash them?” Billy said. “Get another twenty-five apiece?”
“Listen to you. Be the most you ever had in your hand and already you wanna bump it. The guy’s a pal. Him and me play straight with each other. He gave me the lead, he gets his cut.”
“Who is he?” Axel said.
“My business.”
“How’s he know about all this?” Billy said.
“His business.”
“Yeah, all right,” Axel says. “But I take it the carriers are pros, which is why you aren’t doing the job by yourself, why you’re talking to us.”
“Nothing gets by a college guy.”
“Pro carriers can make it hairy,” Billy said.
“It can always get hairy. But odds are not this one. The investment people been using this laundry for a lot of years, using the same carriers. Never had a problem. The carriers are good, but they’ve been doing this for so long without trouble they’ll probably be sleepwalking it and we won’t break a sweat. Still, you never know, and the take is worth a three-man team. I already scouted the scene, mapped the thing out. I’ll take you there, show you how it lays. We can run through it all except for the inside stuff, and I can draw that for you on paper. We’ll be ready is what I’m telling you. So … what do you say? In or out?”
“You ain’t said when or even where,” Billy said. “Here in Houston?”
“You boys ain’t said in or out.”
Axel and Billy looked at each other.
“In,” Axel said. “And we ain’t boys, we’re just not old as you.”
Cisneros laughed. “Three weeks. Third of July. Dallas.”