Elijah wasn’t used to anyone questioning his decisions. He sized Alonzo up. The man wasn’t questioning the decision so much as trying to learn. Elijah liked that. He was certain Alonzo was far more than the soldier he claimed to be. He was comfortable in that role because he was used to it, but he could be a king. He needed to learn the ropes and become comfortable in his decision-making. The very good thing about Alonzo was that when he gave his loyalty, he didn’t take it back. That meant he would always give his allegiance to Elijah and Siena, even if he were crowned the new king.

“He knows I’m leopard,” Elijah said. “It won’t occur to him that I’m going to hit him during the day, so his security won’t be as tight. At night, he’s going to have every soldier he can muster, especially the leopards, guarding him. During the day, he’ll want to take care of business. Let everyone know he’s the new boss. He’ll be working at shaking down everyone Cordeau had on his books and cementing his relationships with the gangs running his drugs and guns for him. He’s got a prostitute ring that goes through four parishes. He can’t afford to keep all his soldiers home with him during the day.”

“You have someone on the inside?” Alonzo asked. “Someone feeding you information?”

Elijah smiled like the leopard he was. Hungry. Cunning. “In every family, Alonzo. That man is your bread and butter. You keep him happy. You protect anyone he loves. You build him up. You make certain that whatever he gets from you is far more than he can ever have where he is. You don’t ever ask for anything but information. Nothing that ever can blow back on him or anyone he cares about. They have to come from that territory, not yours, because there can never be a tie back to you. That’s a protection for them. So always, take the time to do homework. Know everyone low, mid and high level. Low level moves up. High level is usually very loyal.”

“Do you have the layout of his compound?”