Page 99 of Cartel King

Why did Andrés come?

Why didn’t anyone tell me?

I retrieve my phone from my pocket once we’re on the street, waiting for Andrés to pull ahead of us and Matías to get behind us. I tap Pablo’s contact and put the phone to my ear.

“Ellie, I’m going to speak Spanish only because I don’t know where this conversation is going.”

“Enrique, I understand. You can speak Spanish anytime you want. I may have a general understanding of what’s going on, but I won’t be able to follow all of it. I definitely couldn’t repeat any of it in Spanish, and I would never do that in English.”

“I know,chiquita…Hola, Pablo.”

“Hola, tío. Que pasa?”

“I’m bringing Ellie over to my house. I need to know if you changed the rotation and sent Andrés over here.”

“No, I didn’t know he was. Today’s his day off.”

“I backed out of Ellie’s garage, and there was a second car in the driveway. I couldn’t see the driver through two tinted windows since the car was on the other side of Matías. He told me it was Andrés. I’m trying to see if it’s him right now. The car’s passing us to get ahead of me since we’re leaving Ellie’s neighborhood. I can’t be certain. Can you pull up his tracker?”

“Yeah, give me a moment,tío.”

I wait as Pablo looks up what I need.

“Hey, can you also find Carlos? It should be his day off, too.”

“Yeah, I’m looking at both of them. Neither is near Ellie’s house. They’re both at a casino in Atlantic City.”

What the fuck?

“All right. Where are you right now?”

“I’m home. Do you need me to go to your place?”

“Yeah. Where are your cousins?”

“Alejandro’s here with me. He’s in the living room, and I’m getting changed.TresJ’swent toTíaLuciana’s.”

Fortunately, my sister doesn’t live far from me either, so Jorge and Javier can get to my house even faster than Pablo and Alejandro.

“I want all of you to meet me there. Joaquin should already be on his way.”

“Why’s he headed there?”

“I’ll explain when we’re all together, but I need him to run some fingerprints for me.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”

“What’s going on,tío?”

“Can Alejandro hear you?”

“No.”

“TíoMatías lied to me about who was in the other car in Ellie’s driveway.”

“Is it possible he didn’t know?”

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