The Kings Of Cool

192

Chon follows Old Guys Rule away from the meeting.

OGR gets into his four-door Dodge Charger and heads north on the PCH, back up toward Laguna, turns south onto Arroyo and then onto Lewis up into Canyon Acres. Eventually he pulls into a driveway.

I could do him now, Chon thinks.

The VSS Vintorez sniper rifle-with a scope he doesn’t need and a sound suppressor he does-rests under a blanket on the passenger seat. It would be a simple matter of rolling down the window, waiting until OGR gets out of the car, and putting two in his head.

Yeah, except it doesn’t necessarily solve anything, Chon thinks. It does get justice for the murders, and it definitely sends a message that we’re not to be fucked with, but OGR is more the gofer type, not the boss.

OGR gets out of the car and goes in.

It’s a nice house-California bungalow-small and well maintained. But nothing about it says “kingpin.” Nothing about it says the owner is taking a “licensing fee” from every successful dope dealer in the OC and San Diego.

Unless, Ben thinks, OGR is just a guy who has a cop buddy and they thought they’d do a shakedown on a gullible pot grower.

The other possibility is that OGR is a big player who’s smart enough to lie low. Live under the radar until he has enough stowed away to pull out and go to some island paradise.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, he thinks.

Just take the next step, like get OGR’s name.

He puts in a call to an old buddy from the Stan.