AGAINST THE WIND (Book Two of The Miami Crime Trilogy) Read Online Free

drug world were actually far more valid than his. Where
tonight was Desi's first true deal, she had been moving weight for over a year
now, hustling up whatever business she could without getting in anyone else's
way. There was this gang of teenage girls calling themselves Las Brujas , the Witches, operating in
East Hialeah, Desi's old neighborhood. They controlled a lot of the dope moving
through that part of town and they would have certainly extracted a hefty tax
from this young upstart if they had known about her. But Alicia knew where they
operated, knew all the corners and alleys and empty lots they controlled, so
she made it her business to go where they weren't, staying well below their
radar.
    Standing five-six, she was slim and dark, temporarily caught in that
in-between stage with her beauty not yet fully emerged, but beginning the
process of shedding her tomboy past.
    Desi, at five-eleven, was hard-muscled and unafraid, a veteran of many
street altercations, accustomed to the use of force when he figured it
necessary. He had watched Dad's rise in the drug business over the last several
years and he knew the importance of tonight. Alicia was solid. He knew she
wouldn't let him down, wouldn't flinch if things went south.
    Both he and Alicia were born and raised in Hialeah, tight friends since
elementary school, although she refused to quit school with him in the eighth
grade. Her drug activities never could sour her on her thirst for learning, the
quenching of which often gave her a rousing sense of accomplishment.
    The trio stood on the driver's side of Desi's Dodge Durango. Dad held a
leather briefcase containing two keys of coke. His thick voice cut the quiet
night. "You're gonna take this to Liberty City. A coupla niggers are gonna
meet you, one of them is called Bebop. They'll be waiting for you in the
parking lot of an apartment complex. It's on Northwest 61st Street just off
13th Avenue. First apartment complex on your left after you cross 13th. Three
stories high. They'll be in a black Lexus SUV. Got it?"
    Desi's shoulders were relaxed and he showed a lot of calm for this, his
first important work. "Bebop. Northwest 61st off 13th Avenue, first
apartment complex on the left. Three stories high, black Lexus SUV."
    "Right. Now, remember, make them show you the money first," he
said. "Then, and only then, do you open this briefcase." His words
hung in the fresh, breezy air. Desi and Alicia nodded. "One of them will
produce a knife. Don't be startled, don't make any moves that might set them
off. He only wants to make a small cut in one of the packages to pull out a
little bit of the coke for testing. Once he's satisfied, one of his friends
will give you the money. That's when you give him this briefcase."
    "Do I count the money right there?" Desi asked.
    "No. It will be in banded packets. Pull one out and look through it
and make sure they're all hundreds. Each packet should hold ten grand."
    "Then what?"
    "Then you back away and get in your vehicle. Remember, back away,
got it?"
    They both nodded and Desi said, "Back away."
    "That's right. They'll be backing away, too. They shouldn't try
anything after the deal goes down, but you have to be ready in case they do.
Take this." He gave Desi a Springfield .357 SIG semiauto.
    "Dad, this is your piece.
I can't take that. It's yours."
    "Take it. And hope to God you don't have to use it. Give it back to
me when you come back with the money." Desi nodded. Dad turned to Alicia.
"You holding, mi hija ?"
    "Yes, sir," Alicia said, and she reached under her long
sweatshirt and pulled a huge Dirty Harry-sized revolver out of her waistband. One
biiiiiiig motherfucker. It looked almost as big as she was, but she handled it
with ease, fully in control.
    Desi's eyebrows shot up. He didn't know Alicia owned such a lethal piece.
He figured she had some girl type of weapon, like maybe a .25 or a .32 or some
little thing like that, but this fucking cannon?
    "Is that … is that a .44