Page 106 of Maddy's Justice

“No, sir. They seem to be crazy about the jet skis. Listen,” Evan said, “you can hear them out on the lake now. They race around for hours.”

“Are they guarded?”

“Absolutely, sir. Men on the lake in one of the boats and men on shore walking perimeter.”

As they continued toward the main building, Odessa joined them.

“Who’s here?” the island’s owner asked her.

“Two Mexicans. Carlos Quintero and his pet animal, Javier Lopez,” Odessa answered.

The island’s owner smiled and said to Odessa, “You don’t like him.”

“He terrifies me. Not many people do, but I can see Satan in his eyes. He is pure evil.”

“People like that can be very useful. Wouldn’t you agree, Evan?”

“I agree with Odessa on this one, sir. This Lopez is evil. He kills for pleasure,” the ex-SAS commando said.

The three of them stopped and the island’s owner asked Evan, “Does he scare you?”

Evan thought about it for a moment then said, “The same way a dangerous, wild animal does. Until you put it down, it can kill. It is their unpredictability and he is not a trained soldier. He is a murderous thug. So, no I don’t fear him. I watch him.”

“Good answer.”

“Carlos my good friend. I’m happy you could make it,” the island’s owner greeted the Cartel officer warmly.

“Javier, how are you?” he asked Quintero’s bodyguard.

Lopez grunted and shrugged a shoulder indicating he was well.

They were meeting in a soundproof, secure room in the basement of the main building. Like every room, luxuriously appointed. Evan was the fourth man in attendance, there to protect his boss. They were all seated on a round, white couch.

“I am afraid I may have bad news,” Quintero said. “We are paying entirely too much for your services.”

“Which services would those be?”

“All of them, but especially the laundry service.”

“Carlos, we’ve been over this before. The risk is too great and our overhead too high to lower it. Besides, we know who our competitors are, those who can handle the amounts we do. We are only a half point above the best of them. You want excellent service; the price comes with it.”

“It is still too much. Our overhead makes yours look like peanuts. We would be happy if you dropped your rate another point.”

“Can’t be done. Besides, where will you go? The others who launder your money are handling all they can now.”

The two negotiators went silent and looked at each other for a long moment. Finally, Quintero said, “It is robbery. We don’t like being robbed.”

“I’ll tell you what, we are handling three billion per month for you now. We will drop our rate a quarter of a point for an additional one billion each month.”

“Three-quarters of a point.”

“One-quarter,” the island’s owner replied. “And, for you personally. I will have you as my guest to the island at least once a month.”

Carlos went silent thinking about the enticement of a private trip to Isla Cantador each month. He had been there four times and the thrill of the hunt was amazing. Almost sexual.

“Let’s meet in the middle, my friend,” Carlos said. “Half a point and a monthly visit to your private hunting ground.”

“Every two months, I have a lot of business acquaintances to accommodate.”

---