Read Online Mob Rules by Cameron Haley - Free Book Online Page B

me.
    â€œOkay, but I’m on the right track, yeah? The first part, I mean. What other reason could there be to hit Jamal and Jimmy Lee, two guys with those specific talents?”
    â€œThe problem with your hypothesis is that it overestimatesthe importance of the deceased. I have a lot of taggers and warders in the outfit. As far as our operational security is concerned, they will not be missed. These were low-level guys. Jamal’s tags weren’t responsible for tapping a significant amount of juice. Jimmy Lee’s wards were not protecting anything of great importance.”
    â€œSo it still doesn’t make any sense.”
    â€œNot yet. Truly, it’s not a bad plan, in principle. If you could squeeze assets in critical positions, and if you could move quickly enough that your enemy couldn’t react in time, it’s not a bad way to initiate hostilities against a rival outfit.”
    â€œBut that’s not what’s happening here. Papa Danwe is hitting low-level guys. He doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry about it, either. If I were doing it, I’d hit them all at once, or one right after the other, at least. I wouldn’t take my time about it.”
    â€œJust so. Which is why I suggested you have discovered only part of the pattern.”
    â€œOkay, but whatever it is, the fact remains that Papa Danwe has given us time to react. So what’s our play?”
    â€œFirst, tell me about Jamal. I assume you’ve made an effort to contact him.”
    â€œYeah, but the Haitian is blocking me.” I told him about my efforts to reach Jamal, and my attempt the night before to summon his ghost from the Beyond.
    â€œIf Papa Danwe did, in fact, send those creatures to kill you, perhaps his plan is unfolding more quickly than we imagined.”
    â€œAny idea what they were? You ever know the Haitian to use something like that before?”
    Rashan shrugged. “Just about every culture on earth, living or dead, has some kind of ghost dog or hellhound. In the northof England, they were called barghests, or town ghosts, and they were thought to stalk lone travelers at night. They are denizens of the Beyond, and for that reason they are usually associated with death and appear as minions or messengers of the underworld.”
    â€œWell, yeah, I got that much from Wikipedia.”
    Rashan arched his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, Dominica, I am old but I am not a scholar. If you think it might aid you to know more about them, I encourage you to pursue it.”
    â€œThe point is, I haven’t been able to contact Jamal, and it’s pretty obvious Papa Danwe doesn’t want me to. But what’s the point of keeping Jamal quiet if the Haitian has to launch overt attacks against the outfit—against me—to do it?”
    â€œIt seems likely that Papa Danwe isn’t aware that you’ve connected him to Jamal’s murder. If he prevents you from contacting Jamal he keeps that connection hidden, from his point of view. And, after all, you have no real evidence that he was responsible for the attack on you.”
    â€œIt was him.”
    â€œHave you found any other connections between Jamal and Papa Danwe, besides the murder?”
    â€œI’m not sure. I don’t think Jamal was working both sides. If Papa Danwe needed Jamal’s craft for something, maybe he was trying to recruit him. When Jamal wouldn’t go for it, they squeezed him.”
    â€œIt fits what little we know, but of course, we don’t know enough. The question remains, for what purpose did Papa Danwe want Jamal?”
    â€œDoes it really matter, boss? Papa Danwe hit Jamal and Jimmy Lee. He probably means to squeeze more of our people. He sent those ghost dogs after me. He’s making a move. Shouldn’t we start hitting back?”
    â€œI am loath to launch a war against a rival organization unless it is absolutely necessary. One doesn’t get as old as I