Page 40 of Cartel King

“Mano,there’s something off. I don’t know what it is, but she’s hiding something. You told me you couldn’t find any records of her, even when you had Joaquin hack police records from all over New England. That’s weird, don’t you think?”

“It is, but there’s bound to be an explanation. There always is. I’d say?—”

Saved by the bell when the doorbell rings. But a moment later, Pablo steps into my office. He’s a replica of Luis at that age, even down to the similar scar they both have on the back of their right hands.

“Welcome back,tío.

“Hola, sobrino. Have you found out anything in the Heights?” Hello, nephew.

Jackson Heights is our hub. It’s in Queens in what’s always been a heavily Colombian community. We run a lot of our operations out of there. Even though Luis and I live in New Jersey, the boys—that’s Pablo and our nephews—all live in the city—Manhattan.

“Just people complaining when their stash runs low. It’s good business when the dealers can have it.”

Scarcity’s driving up the street price, so our kickbacks are bigger. But it won’t be long before everything runs out.

“We’ve got the warehouse in Parsippany that has enough to float us for another month.”

Luis shakes his head at my suggestion. “But we wanted to sell that in the Netherlands.”

“I know, but with the cost of shipping and customs over there, we’d make more keeping it here. Go ahead and distribute that.”

Pablo looks at his dad, then me, as he nods. I look at Luis, then Pablo.

“Out with it. What did your father tell you to do?”

“He didn’t tell me to do anything.”

“Fine. What did your father allude to that you took the hint and did on your own?”

“I didn’t entirely work on my own.”

I drum my fingers on the desk, and Pablo barely contains his shiver. He just turned thirty-six, but that one gesture still strikes fear in his heart. He knows I’m moments away from losing my temper. That always bodes poorly for anyone in my sight.

Pablo sucks in a breath before he speaks. “You know, after what happened the last time, can you blame us for being concerned and cautious?”

He means my ex-wife, Daniela. That bitch was loyal to nobody but herself. She sold secrets I purposely planted to test her. Once I knew she was cheating and scheming to make money any way she could, I ensured the alliance with her father fell through. I set it up so he suggested the divorce, and she filed the paperwork. But it was my doing all along. Needless to say, my family doesn’t want a repeat of that.

We all knew Daniela was trouble from the start. I’d hoped we could at least have a peaceful marriage and maybe develop some affection. But that would never have happened. If a woman I could barely stand caused that much trouble, my family’s concerned about any woman I could care about.

“You think I’ll turn a blind eye to her, or I won’t see the red flags because I’m infatuated with her.”

“Those are your words,mano, not mine.”

Luis tries for conciliatory now, but too little, too late.

“I’m just saying what you’re thinking, aren’t I?”

Luis doesn’t have to say anything. His expression tells me all I need to know.

“What did Joaquin find?”

“It’s what he didn’t find. He hacked the FBI and the DOJ. He came up with nothing for her name. We got a set of prints off her.”

“You did what?!”

I really am going to lose my shit.

“We got a set of her fingerprints off her?—”

---