The Cartel Lawyer by Dave Daren (popular books to read .TXT) 📗

corner of the room whined as it came to life, and the forms that needed to be signed were spat out just as the older woman shuffled over to gather them.

“Have Mr. Fuentes sign these,” she told me. “You’ll need to call in the morning to find out when his case will be in court.”

“Thank you,” I said as I took the paperwork and gave her a bright smile.

“Sure, sure,” she muttered with a wave of her hand.

She eased back into her chair, took a long swig of her cooled coffee, and then frowned at the bitter liquid as she set the mug down a little further away than it had been.

“Linda,” the younger policeman said in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! You know who he is.”

“He’s a young man who made a mistake,” I said with a lifted eyebrow.

“He’s the son of a crime lord,” the frustrated officer growled.

“That’s slander,” I warned.

“Not if it’s true,” the cop retorted.

“John,” the redheaded woman scolded. “I apologize. John’s a bit young. Doesn’t know when to hold his tongue. Please have Mr. Fuentes sign those papers, and you’ll be free to go.”

The older female officer glared at the younger man until he clamped his mouth in a tight grimace. His face was a deep scarlet with the rage that he bit back, and the eyes that looked me over could have scorched the skin from my bones.

“Thank you,” I said as I nodded to the older woman. “I’ll have these back in a moment.”

I left before the younger cop could say anything else, though I felt the man’s eyes drilling into my back. It was almost a relief to open the door to the room and move out of his line of sight, and even more of a relief to find all three men exactly how I left them.

“Did you get the paperwork?” Osvaldo asked as soon as I opened the door.

“Yes,” I replied. “You just need to sign it, and Camilo will be free to go.”

“Good,” my employer said as he pulled a pen out of a jacket pocket.

I handed him the release forms and waited as he scribbled his signature across the back page. He flipped through the other pages, signed a few more times, and then handed the papers back to me.

“Perfect,” I said and then gave the forms another once over to make sure nothing had been missed.

“Let’s go,” the scarred man ordered.

He stood and then stalked out of the room with Alvaro right behind him.

“I’m gonna be exhausted at school tomorrow,” Camilo muttered as he followed after his father.

The three men blew past the front desk and Linda, but she didn’t seem upset that they hadn’t stopped. She did give me a smile when I handed her the signed papers and even offered me a sympathetic look when the door banged against the wall again.

“Can I get a copy of those?” I asked.

“Sure thing,” the redhead answered as she took the forms from me.

She shuffled over to the printer, pressed a few buttons, and then slipped the copied papers into a manila folder for me.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. “I hope you have a wonderful night.”

“You’re welcome,” she responded and then eased back into her chair as she opened her book.

Camilo was in the backseat of Osvaldo’s black SUV when I exited the police station. He had his phone out, and he looked bored as he glanced over at his father.

Osvaldo stood next to the open back door while he talked to Alvaro. The taller man nodded his head a few times, and then he turned his attention to me as I joined them.

“Alvaro will drive you back home,” my employer said as he gestured to the other black SUV in the parking lot.

The silent driver from the ruckus at my apartment leaned against the hood of the vehicle with a cigarette in his mouth and a bored expression on his face.

“Right,” I said. “Thanks.”

The scarred man slid into the back seat of the SUV and rolled down his window as Alvaro shut the door behind him. He pinned me with a scowl that made a shiver of fear run down my spine despite the warmth of the Florida night.

“I expect you to fix this,” he warned.

“Yes, sir,” I said with a confident smile.

I’d handled much tougher cases, and even with Camilo’s snarky attitude, I was sure I could have the younger Fuentes sent to a diversion program. A little community service and a fine, and the young teen would be free and clear, though I didn’t think he would learn much of a lesson from the experience. At least, not any lessons the court would approve.

“Make sure you don’t disappoint me,” Osvaldo said with a pointed glare.

“I won’t,” I promised.

Osvaldo’s stare had set my heart thudding in my chest, and as the SUV pulled away I felt a wave of panic about Camilo’s case. It was a simple matter, one that came up frequently in Miami courts. But the younger cop had me worried that he wasn’t the only one who would be interested in getting to Osvaldo through Camilo. There were more than a few prosecutors, judges, heck, even bailiffs, who would probably be happy to punish Osvaldo, either for being a cartel kingpin or simply a successful Cuban businessman. I tried to remember which judges were currently working juvenile court, but it had been a while since I’d worked that section. First thing I had to do, then, was check out the judges.

“Shall we?” Alvaro asked in his soft, deep voice.

“Sure,” I said with a nod of my head while I followed him to my ride home.

As we merged onto the highway, I looked out into the swampy shadows of the