“And we’ll be ready to step in and fill the void he’s going to leave. I doubt all the small dealers are going to care who they’re working for as long as they’re working. It’s all about the laws of supply and demand.” He turned his head without lifting it and smiled at his father. “Once all the rumors about what happened to him become a provable fact, there’s going to be a war. The sharks will smell blood in the water.”

“You did this?” his dad asked, his smile widening.

“I planned for a war, and if you plan, then you’re prepared. All these idiots are going to kill to get to the top, but we’ve got the manpower to take that away from every single one of them. Everyone’s going to learn that they’ll either have to abide by the new power structure or die. Those are the only two options I’m putting on the table.”

“That was brilliant, but who carried this out for you?”

There was a trace of skepticism in his dad’s tone, but he didn’t mind it from him. “Pablo sent some of our most trusted men. It didn’t take many, and Delarosa was arrogant enough not to have a large force guarding his most precious asset.”

“We need to be careful. You’ve started sawing through the head of the snake, but it’s still poisonous. He’s poured money into finding out who’s responsible for his problems, and I’m talking from Colombia to here.”

He didn’t respond as they crossed the line into New Orleans East. There was no denying the cold tingly sensation that ran down his back. Nothing in his life had given him the rush that the last year had and outsmarting his old workmates had given him solace. Despite all that, there was that little part of his brain that embraced the fear he didn’t want to lose because it would keep him sharp.

“Hector Delarosa plays the role of a gentleman well, but he’s an uneducated butcher at heart.” He hadn’t forgotten that Delarosa had at first agreed to meet him, then told him to fuck off. That kind of disrespect had to be repaid. “His successor will take less than a year to blow up the business because she’s even more mindless than he is. I just gave them a nudge in the right direction.”

“What about Nunzio Luca and Carlos Luis? It’s my guess that they’re the two who’ve made the most inroads here and along the southern coast.” His dad referred to his book again, and Jerome smiled.