Kingfish

by Frank Perry

and was cutting Jesus back to be a local dealer. He had a legitimate reason to complain. At the same time, Peña would need someone to take over Mojo’s operations now that their relationship was over. Jesus was trusted and motivated to cooperate with Luca Peña.

  Mojo was travelling in caravan toward Escondido when Jesus called. Jesus wasn’t happy and demanded to meet with him or he would use his network against Mojo. He would be a competitor. No one ever threated Mojo. He ordered his cars to drive to Victorville immediately!

  There was no way to know exactly when Mojo would arrive, but they had enough time to set the trap. Equipment could be moved. Some of Peña’s men were given quick lessons on driving the huge machines.

  It was early afternoon when Mojo’s three cars approached Jesus’s land. The late afternoon sun shone brightly with no clouds. It had not rained for almost sixty days and the dirt road created an opaque curtain behind each car. The early fall temperature was approaching eighty-five, which was warm for the higher desert elevation. At night, it would be cold enough to snow if there was any precipitation. It almost never snowed.

  Mojo’s cars stopped at the open gate. Several men, including Mojo, got out and talked without driving through the gate. Peña was watching with binoculars from a fire road carved part way up the side of the mountain above the equipment building. For several minutes, nothing happened, as Mojo talked to his men. At one point, he used his cellphone, which was useless in the mountains. There was no cellular coverage in most of the desert mountains that could reach into the canyons. From Peña’s vista point, he could see the agitation at the gate, but he was counting on Mojo’s arrogance to disregard subordinate complaints.

  Finally, the first black Chevy Suburban drove through the gate. The limousine and the other Suburban remained outside. The trail of dust from the first vehicle signaled its location throughout the gorge, even when it was obscured from direct view. It stopped at the equipment building, and no one left the car. It sat for several seconds before continuing to drive around to the back. There were no open doors and no passenger vehicles in sight. It drove around front again and stopped. For a minute, nothing happened then the limousine drove through the gate followed by the security truck in blinding dust close behind. Unseen by the caravan through the dust, Peña’s man moved from brush cover and closed the gate. He then jumped up onto the CAT9 Dozer and began moving slowly up the road behind them, sealing their exit. There was no other way out of the canyon.

  When the limousine and security trucks were together in front of the equipment building, two men began trying to open doors and pounding for Jesus to open up. After some moments, they signaled that no one was answering. They stayed outside the armored Suburbans, discussing things that weren’t audible from Peña’s vista above, but the discussion abruptly stopped when they heard the bulldozer coming up the road. Both men went back to their trucks. From above, the caravan looked like a circled wagon train waiting for an Indian attack. Peña used a portable radio to communicate.

  In unison, several big machines started moving around them. Jesus drove a huge earthmover, and two other machines closed around the cars. The scene was quickly obscured by dust that no one could see through. Again, none of the black vehicles moved. When the dust began dissipating, Mojo was encircled by heavy machines that were parked with nobody visible. Peña’s men were in defensive positions, prepared for an assault by Mojo that didn’t happen.

  Inside the equipment building, Peña’s men readied a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG). It was a modern version of an old Soviet design that was built under contract with the US Army in Illinois for the Afghan Defense Forces. Peña had procured many of them through semi-legitimate channels. On the hillsides and behind some of the equipment, men with sniper rifles waited.

  No one moved in the cars. When ready, a small service door opened at the side of the building opposite Mojo’s limousine and the RPG was fired directly into the side of the car. The warhead of the rocket exploded, lifting the massive car off the ground a few inches. Doors flew open and two men tumbled out, crawling on the ground. Within seconds, they rose with MAC-10’s firing randomly, hitting some of the equipment, but mostly shooting in the air. Shots were fired by Peña’s snipers, and both men fell. Mojo’s car was billowing black smoke, and he could no longer hide inside. He rolled out on the ground, bleeding and disoriented from the blast. One of Peña’s men fired and spun Mojo around. The shot from the .30-06 shattered his right hip. Peña ordered the shooting to stop and drove back down from his mountain perch. When he arrived, his men had all moved closer but were still concealed behind equipment, waiting for the security car doors to open. They had more RPG rounds, but held their fire.

  Peña stopped outside the perimeter with Jesus then walked past the equipment to where Mojo was squirming on the ground. His security guards stayed inside the bullet-proof Suburbans with the windows up. Peña’s men would kill anyone that showed himself. He walked next to Mojo, who was cursing and trying to roll over to push himself up. His lower right side was useless with the hip blown away. Peña didn’t normally carry a gun, but Mojo’s was lying on the ground not far away. He picked it up and blew dirt off. Mojo started to say something when Peña shot him through the temple. He stepped closer and fired several more times into the corpse, as a signal to the guards hiding in the armored cars. Then he signaled for his men in the building to bring another RPG. Standing only thirty feet away, the rocket was aimed at the lead car, waiting for Peña’s instruction.

  Peña yelled, “You men in the cars. Throw out your weapons and step out where I can see you. Nothing happened quickly, and he was about to shoot the rocket when the doors opened in the front vehicle, and men came out, leaving their guns inside. They stood near the car until ordered to move away as a group. Peña then had the RPG aimed at the second car, and they surrendered also.

  Peña’s men kept their positions with rifles pointed at Mojo’s guards. He was standing in front of the body. “You men. You have a choice to make. It is a choice to live or to die. If you chose to live, you will be well-compensated, working for my new western distributor, Jesus Ruiz. If you do not want to be loyal to him, then you can leave now and disappear. You will not be trusted. We run a business based on trust. Mojo broke that trust. You see what happens when you break the trust. Those that want to leave can get in the first car and drive away.” He signaled for one of his men to collect the guns from the car. “You men that want to be part of the new organization and take orders from Jesus can stay.” He signaled for those leaving to move, but all remained still. He walked closer to them. They all had the hardened look of East LA gang members and ex-cons. He walked past them all, then back to the middle and shot one fellow in the head that sneered at him. All the men jumped startled.

  “That man (pointing with the gun to the dead guard), he will serve as an example to all of you. If you cross me, or your new boss, you will die.”

  Nothing was said by anyone. “Now, get this trash out of here. You can start by helping Jesus bury them up in the canyon. The men quickly picked up the bodies and threw them into the scoop of a nearby skip loader. Jesus was smiling from the background.

  “Thank you, Luca. I never met Mojo in person, and he’s not somebody I could stand for long. You’ve done me a service and a great honor.”

  Peña put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We will do some good business together, Compadre. Bury them deep, and bury that (pointing to the destroyed limousine) with its owner.”

  “That’s no problem Luca, I have miles of desert there (gesturing farther up the canyon from the building). I’m sure I can handle a few more graves.”

  “Oh, one more thing Jesus, Yesterday, last night, Mojo stole nine hundred keys from me in San Pedro. I want you to find it. You owe me thirteen million dollars for it. He had an earlier shipment of the same amount that he tried to steal. I want you to find it, and you can have ha
lf for free as a reward. That piece of shit there (pointing toward Mojo’s body in the loader) took two shipments that cost me most of my cash, I want it back.”

  “I have some good men, Luca, some bad hombres that will find it. You’ll get your money back.”

  “Thank you, my friend.”

  Peña’s men reloaded the weapons in the trunk of one car and left for San Francisco. He returned to the airport for the flight home. One problem was solved.

  Jericho

  “What’s going on!” Peña was frustrated. He’d waited to the following morning to call Senator Jenson. He tried his home office and his mobile phone. Both went to voice mail. He waited half an hour, more than he had ever needed to wait in the past, but Jenson was ignoring him. Has something gone wrong, and Jenson was afraid to talk to him! In desperation, he called the Senator’s office, but was told that the he was not in the office currently. When he asked, the receptionist said he would be gone for an undetermined time. Luca demanded: “Is he sick?” “Is he in California?” “Is he on vacation?” She refused to give any details. He demanded to talk to Jenson’s Legislative Director.

  “This is