The Cartel Lawyer by Dave Daren (ebook reader below 3000 TXT) 📕

the teen. He had a few charges but nothing too concerning. The car theft would be his first serious crime, and his age would be a factor in the sentencing.

“Jipato,” Osvaldo said as he strolled into the office. “Working already?”

He flashed a smile that showed his three golden teeth, and then turned his attention to his second in command.

“The ship is running late,” the tall man responded to an unasked question. “I’ve been tracking it. It’ll be in port by tonight.”

“Good,” my employer nodded his head in approval. “Any reason for the delay?”

“Storm,” Alvaro said with a frown. “Had to secure the cargo.”

“As long as they didn’t lose any,” the company president muttered with a scowl.

I tried not to jump to conclusions about the cargo, since the less I knew about their shadier dealings, the better, and I had enough to worry about with Camilo’s case and my last case for the Public Defender’s Office.

“The captain knows who he’s in business with,” the soft voice of the vice president interrupted my train of thought.

“Of course,” Osvaldo huffed. “Rob, how’s my son’s case going?”

The full attention of my employer’s scowl got me off guard, but I recovered quickly and turned so I could better look at him.

“I just finished reviewing his file,” I informed him. “His other charges aren’t bad enough that we would need to worry about jail time. The judge will probably sentence both boys to diversion. Camilo may need to pay a bigger fine and have a few more hours of community service since he was the driver.”

“Good,” the scarred man grunted. “It’ll do him good to work hard.”

I nodded my head in agreement, though I was pretty sure the teen was unlikely to take his punishment too seriously.

“I think we should recommend the diversion,” I continued. “The other boy’s lawyer will probably do the same.”

“Good,” the head of the Fuentes family repeated. “Camilo is in the conference room. You’ll text Alvaro the date and time of the court appearance, and I’ll make sure that my son is there.”

“Okay,” I said as I dug my cell phone out of my suit pocket and handed it to the man across the desk from me after I unlocked it.

The giant man’s hand was so large that my cell phone looked like a child’s toy. After he added the number to my contacts, he handed the device back to me, and I took his silent nod as a sign that I needed to leave his office.

I waved as I left, though both of the men had already begun to talk to each other quietly, so I shut the door behind me and then trotted down the walkway to the conference room. The first floor of the warehouse was still quiet when I peeked over the railing to check on the activity below. Not that I was all that interested in whatever was going on, but it gave me a few more seconds of peace before I had to deal with my client, who would know doubt be in full surly teen mode at this hour.

When I opened the door to the conference room, I found Camilo was in the chair at the head of the table in a baggy hoodie and jeans. He had his pristine sneakers on the table as he leaned back as far as the office chair would allow, and his eyes were glued to the screen of his cell phone.

“What’s up, Rob?” the teen asked with a little smirk as he glanced up at me.

“Just reviewing your record,” I replied as I sat in the chair next to him. “Getting started early?”

“It’s the family business,” the young dark-haired man retorted.

“I have the feeling your dad’s arrest record is shorter,” I countered.

I’d learned early that with teenagers it was best to match them quip for quip if I wanted to convince them to talk to me, and Camilo Fuentes was nothing if not sarcastic.

“It is,” the teen huffed. “I’ve heard the lecture before. Want to try something new?”

“We do need to go over the court process,” I said with a shrug.

“I already know the drill,” Camilo said as he sat forward in his chair and put his phone on the table. “Sit quietly, look repentant, wear nice clothes but nothing that makes me look older.”

“And resist the urge to smirk or make sarcastic remarks no matter what’s said,” I finished the list for him.

“Simple,” the Fuentes heir said. “Anything else?”

“Just make sure you don’t talk to anyone about this,” I warned. “Not even your friend, Jimmy.”

“I thought we would be at the same trial,” the dark-haired teen said. “That’s how it’s always worked before. My friends and me are always in the same courtroom.”

“You likely will be,” I said. “And I’ll talk to his lawyer to make sure we’re on the same page. But, the walls have ears so no bragging, no videos, and no reminiscing.”

“Alright,” the teen muttered as he picked up his cell phone.

“Good,” I said with a nod. “We don’t want to make our case any worse.”

“It was just a fucking joyride,” the Fuentes heir grumbled. “There wasn’t even a scratch on that car when the cops took it.”

“Even so,” I sighed. “There’s a chance that the judge or the prosecutor will be harder on you because of your father.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Camilo rolled his eyes as he started to play a game on his cell phone. “But you’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I will,” I said as I gathered my briefcase. “As long as you don’t make my job impossible.”

“I won’t talk to Jimmy,” the teen muttered.

“And no videos?” I asked as I stood.

“No videos,” the dark-haired teen rolled his eyes and held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“I’ll see you at