Romano and Mario were sitting on the balcony in Mario’s suite, looking out at the Pacific Ocean. The Casino Grand opening had been a success. Mario had just given Romano preliminary numbers from the first two nights. Romano was pleased. “It looks like your plan just might work, Mario. I’m looking forward to getting some of the money I am sitting on into some safe investments.”
For the last 18 months they were averaging two shipments per month, without any significant losses. One man tried to shortchange him on one shipment, but paid dearly for his mistake. However, investing the profits from these shipments was proving difficult since 9/11. The Privacy Act had made it risky to transfer large sums of money anywhere, much less into the United States.
“I’m pleased also, Romano, but let’s not hurry on this. We still need Sven and his people to fund these projects. After that we can fund new projects out of profits.”
“How do the Casino projections look for the next three months?” asked Romano. “Will they be good enough to make them happy?”
“The projections are good, and we expect the publicity from this weekend will help significantly. We will know more in a couple weeks.”
“Did your girl get the pictures we needed?”
“Yes, but unfortunately they probably won’t do us any good. Bradford’s fiancée caught him leaving the room. I heard she couldn’t be any madder at him.”
“Shit; at least we have his marker. That might come in handy some time.”
The DEA agent in Cabo San Lucas reported back to his boss. “We are getting close on this. Mario and Romano met with Bradford again. This must be how they are laundering their drug money. Bradford is the key to breaking this wide open. The Zurich group is still the unknown.”
“I’ll see what I can find out about the Swede. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Bradford.”
Chapter 17
Par 4 – 375 Yards
Waiting for Casino Results