CHAPTER THREE
", you're going to need to leave your weapon at the door," Dozer said as I watched on the club's closed circuit security system. This was the monthly meeting of all Southern California kingpins, and we had a strict rule about no weapons in the meetings.
"Man, that's fucked up!" Mario yelled at the camera. He was new to the game, so he'd have to learn. I watched as Dozer bent his 6'7" frame so that his face was level with Mario's.
"That might be true, my friend, but that's the rule," Dozer said as he held out a plastic box for Mario to deposit his weapon. "You want to argue with me?"
"Nah, homie, we cool," Mario said as he dropped his gun in the box and leaned back from Dozer's intimidating stare. Not many people were foolish enough to try and tangle with a Samoan man the size of a refrigerator. Dozer smiled, tagged the box with Mario's information, and then put a lid on it and added it to the stack of weapons he'd already collected.
"Welcome to the meeting." Dozer smiled as he turned and allowed Mario to enter the main floor of the club. "Please help yourself to food and drinks at the bar. Mr. Malone will be starting the meeting in fifteen minutes."
I smiled at the nice touch of hospitality that Dozer always added to the proceedings. It wasn't necessary, but it helped soothe bruised egos and made the meetings feel more professional.
Five minutes before we were scheduled to start, Riza came rushing through the door, pushing Dozer out of her way as she tried to head for the office. He held his ground and held out a box for her weapon. She shot him a look of immense irritation and muttered something I couldn't hear before she pulled her pistol out of its holder and dropped it in the box. She quickly covered the floor and barged into my office without knocking.
"Boss, we have a major problem," she began.
"You know I'm about to start this meeting, right?"
"Oh fuck that, this is major," she said as she began to pace the floor. "Dax, Lydia's missing."
"What?"
"Fuckin' Lydia is missing. She's been gone for three days and no one's said a word until now," she said as she ran a hand through her long black hair.
"How do you know she's missing?" I asked. Lydia Banks had been my lawyer for ten years. I'd found her just after she'd finished a year as a low-level defense attorney for the state and was disillusioned with the system. We'd met in my club, had a one-night stand, and the next morning, I'd hired her on the spot. It turned out to be the best decision I'd ever made. Lydia was the person who dealt with the police, the courts, and the prison system. They were all hazards of the trade. She filed the paperwork that kept my hotel and club legitimate and she got bail for the low-level dealers in the organization. Most of all, Lydia kept me out of the fray.
"She didn't show up in court for the bail hearing this morning," Riza said. "I asked around and no one's seen her since she left Dooley's on Saturday night after closing."
"You tried to track her down in all the usual places?"
"Of course I did," Riza said as she turned and planted her hands on her hips. "How fuckin' stupid do you think I am?"
"Don't get an attitude with me, Ri," I warned. "I don't have time for that bullshit today. First, Beck fucks up and now Lydia disappears, this is just fuckin' great. I have a meeting to run!"
"What do you want me to do about it?" she asked.
"Get your ass out there and find my fucking lawyer!" I yelled.
"You want me to stay for the meeting?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off. "Stay and listen to what's going on. Maybe you'll get some information on where Lydia is, who the hell knows."
I wasn't pissed at Riza and she knew me well enough to know that, but I was pissed at Lydia. She was a good lawyer, but I knew she had a problem. I'd known about it for a long time. I'd tried to get her to go to a clinic and dry out. I even offered to pay for it, but she was hardheaded and refused to acknowledge that her drinking was starting to affect her work. I'd warned her about that. It was one thing to fuck up her personal life, but it was an entirely different thing to fuck up my business, and I wouldn't have it. We had come to an understanding, but it had been touch and go for the past few months and Riza had had to bail Lydia out on more than one occasion.
I'd seriously considered replacing her, but the problem was that I didn't know any other lawyers who would skirt the boundaries of the law the way she did. Until I found someone as equally trustworthy, I couldn't afford to cut her loose. Despite her drinking problem, she was still an incredibly good lawyer who was willing to work around the clock to get what she wanted.
Besides, she knew all my secrets.