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people sick, if that’s what you want
to do, but a lot depends on what you want to put it in and how sick you want to
make the people.”
     “How
much did Tom Willett tell you?” asked Mac.
    “Not
much. He mentioned something colorless and odorless that could be put in
something somehow that would kill or make seriously ill anyone who ingested
it.”
    “And
what did you say?” asked Mac.
    “Told
him ricin would do the job nicely. First thing that jumped to mind. I told him
there were lots of things that could make people sick, but then they’d recover
and wonder what made them sick and then go on about their business without
thinking much more about it. But if what ya’ll want to do is take down a couple
a drug lords,” he lowered his voice, “and that’s what I suspect you want to do,
then makin’ some people a little sick won’t do it for you.”
    “What
then?” Mac asked.
    “Then
you need something stronger, like ricin . A little bit of that and, well,
shit, they’d be dead, and then there’d be hell to pay. That would be the end of
the drug lords who produced the shit that caused the deaths.”
    Culler
said, “Ricin. That’s what the KGB used to kill that guy on the bridge in
London. Remember that Mac? They stabbed him in the leg with an umbrella.”
    “Georgi
Markov. He was a Bulgarian defector,” said Mac.
    “Yep,
that’s the stuff. I know the story. It only takes five hundred milligrams to
kill you. That’s about the size of a half a grain of sand. Stuff’s made from
castor beans. You can buy them anywhere and I can mix you up a batch in no time
at all, powder or liquid—your choice. Just depends on what you’re gunna put it
in.”
    Culler
and Mac considered how much to tell Barker, though Barker had clearly figured
out what they wanted to do. Maybe Rothmann had told him more than he would
admit. In any event, if they were to succeed, they would need Barker’s help.
    Sensing
their dilemma, Baker decided to jump in with both feet. “Look guys, I’m here to
help y’all. I think I got a pretty good idea of what y’all want to do out
there, and I can tell you straight out there ain’t no half measures in this
business. Either go big or stay home. That’s what my ole daddy used to say. Do
it right the first time or don’t do it at all. Y’all look like good guys to me,
and Tom and I go back a long way. You’re on the right side and that’s the side
I’m on, too. We all wear the same color hats. You want to fuck up the drug
lords and turn their own people against them. That’s a good thing. I’d like to
have a part in that. Just tell me what you want to do and I’ll help you do it.”
    Santos
glanced at Mac and nodded.
    “Okay,
you’re right, of course,” said Mac. “You’ve figured it out. We’re planning on getting
into to a shipment of heroin bricks and salting it with something that will
make the users never want to buy any of the druggie’s shit again.”
    Barker
nodded, “Yep, figured.”
     “And
if they get sick enough, they will turn on the pushers and eventually on the
drug lords themselves—right up the ladder until the entire network is
disrupted. That’s our goal.”
    “Yep,
well then, ricin’s what y’all need.” Barker took a theatrical sip of his
coffee. “Untraceable and easy to make. Only problem is you’ll kill anyone who
ingests even a tiny bit of it. But that’ll sure as hell get their attention.”
    “And
Tom seemed okay with that?” asked Mac.
    “Yep,
suspect so.”
    Culler
looked over at Mac. “Can’t say as I disagree with him, and if the goal is to
get their attention, that’s the way to do it.”
    “If
we decide to go that route, how would you get it into the heroin bricks?” asked
Mac.
    “Well,
I’d probably use a liquid form and either pour it on the bricks and let it soak
in or, if they’re wrapped up in paper or something, y’all could use a syringe
and inject the ricin through the packing to the center of the brick. The