“The thing is,” Vargas said, “the market has to level off eventually. You can only build so many top-of-the-line houses in one place. That’s why I know there’s gonna be another big boom somewhere else. There has to be. With Bay Harbor, I got a little lucky, because with the store in Petoskey it all happened right in my backyard. This time, I’ve got to be ahead of the curve, you know what I mean? It’s all a guessing game. Which is what got me thinking…”

Vargas paused to roll the single malt around in his glass. If he was hoping for a spellbound audience, he wasn’t getting it. Jackie called Vargas’s raise, and then Bennett raised him ten more. Vargas slid his chips in without even looking at them.

“I’m thinking, why try to guess where the next boom is going to be, when I can help make it happen myself? Branch out of the custom kitchen business, you know, actually get in on the building itself, from the beginning, once we find the right place. That’s one of the reasons I built this house here.”

That one hit me like an ice pick. Jackie, Bennett, Gill, they didn’t even flinch. They must have heard this one before. Kenny just had a little smile on his face. He’d heard it before, too, and probably liked the sound of it.

“Of course, it’s not all my own money,” he said. “I don’t have that kind of capital yet. I’m just the point man, you realize. We have investors in place, who prefer to stay in the background…”

“You’re talking about shady money?” Bennett said. “You’re talking about real kingpins here?”

“I can’t discuss that,” Vargas said.

“You already are,” Bennett said. “You’re discussing it. You’d better be careful, you’re gonna end up sleeping with the fishes.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Vargas said. “I’m a big boy.”

I had to wonder. For every man who was really connected, there had to be another twenty who liked to sound like it, who liked to run their mouths off just like Vargas was doing.