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

I glanced over at Alvaro to see that he still had that smirk on his face, and that he’d sat up straighter while I talked. He had one leg crossed over the other, and he drummed his fingers on the leather arms of his chair as he looked toward Osvaldo.

“Private school for his kids?” my employer asked after a long pause.

The scarred man turned around to retake his seat. He placed his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers together as he waited for me to answer his question.

“His two eldest are in college out of state,” I replied. “And his youngest is a freshman in a private school. The same one that Camilo attends.”

“Oh, really?” Osvaldo chuckled. “That’s an expensive place.”

“Yes, sir,” I said as my stomach did a flip.

It was somehow more terrifying to hear the man laugh than it was to see him scowl. I half-expected him to throw his head back into an evil villain cackle, but he only shook his head and motioned for me to finish my report.

“So he has the two kids in college, the expensive cars and house, the country club, and the hot wife half his age,” I recapped. “I also received a visit from a police officer the other night with a pointed warning about choosing my cases wisely.”

“He threatened you?” my employer asked, and all traces of amusement were gone as his dark-brown eyes checked for wounds.

“The cop didn’t specify who the message was from, but I haven’t been looking into anyone else,” I answered.

“He must’ve realized that you were getting close,” Alvaro added.

“It’ll make a man reckless,” the scarred man behind the desk said. “And you can prove that the Everson Juvenile Detention Center pays for the judge’s extravagant lifestyle?”

“I can,” I confirmed. “The Super PACs that the facility donates money to made payments directly to the judge’s campaign fund. I have all of it together, and I’m ready to submit it to the DA. After I leave here, I’ll make an appointment to see him to give him all of the evidence and have Camilo released as soon as they’ve had a chance to review everything.”

The beefy cartel leader threw his head back as he began to laugh, and the sound filled the office like a shotgun blast. My heart skipped a beat as I tried to think of what I’d said that was so funny. He slapped his hands on the surface of his desk as he continued to chuckle to himself, and then he wiped a stray tear from his right eye before it could run the length of his scar.

In the chair beside me, Alvaro shook his head as he made that raspy, choking sound that I realized was his laugh. I couldn’t decide if I should run or if I should just stay glued to my seat as I waited for them to contain themselves and tell me what was so funny.

“Uh...boss?” a middle-aged man with a bright reflector vest asked as he stepped into the office. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, come on in,” Osvaldo said as he waved the man in.

In an instant, the laughter died away from the two men, and my employer once again had the familiar scowl on his face as he waited for the man to tell him what he wanted. The man stopped about halfway into the office with his hands clasped in front of him. He shifted from one foot to the other and glanced toward me as if I might be able to help him.

“Well?” my employer asked as he waited for the man to continue.

“Uh,” the middle-aged worker muttered. “Well, we’re done unloading the trucks. I just wanted to check in before we headed out for the night.”

“Are all the shipments intact?” Osvaldo asked as he began to drum his fingers on the desk again.

“Yes, sir,” the man said as he began to nod his head like a bobblehead doll.

“Then you’re dismissed,” the scarred cartel leader responded. “Have a good night.”

“You, too, sir,” the worker replied before he hurried out of the room to tell his men they were free to go.

I wished that I could go with them, but I wouldn’t run away. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and my plan was a good one. I wasn’t sure what he found funny about the situation, since his son would still have to wait a week at least before he could get out of the terrible facility, but I did know that he would be happy to have the boy back home.

“It’s a good plan,” Osvaldo said when we were alone again. “It is.”

“But?” I asked as I met the man’s dark-brown eyes.

“But that’s not how things are done,” the beefy man informed me.

My heart started to race as I watched the two men. I was an officer of the court, even if my employer worked for the cartel, and that meant I couldn’t be a part of any crimes. That was especially true if they involved Alvaro and the Everglades, but I couldn’t afford to lose my job, either.

“What do you have planned?” I asked and instantly regretted it. I should have stood up and left so I wouldn’t have any actual knowledge of their plans.

“We’re going to use this as an opportunity to put some fear in the judge,” my employer said with a small shrug as if he hadn’t just revealed he was going to threaten a magistrate to an officer of the court.

“Fear?” I questioned with a glance toward Alvaro.

The second in command had his legs stretched out in front of him again, his hands on the arms of his leather chair, and something like a look of contentment on his face. He turned his almost