Chapter 16
J ago
There were no fancy offices, no benign employees who handled fake day-to-day operations to try to hide who and what the Torres Empire stood for. Sure, we had a couple of businesses like the club I owned and operated to help us launder money, but so much of what we did was underground.
It had to be.
But times were changing. Even for the most brutal cartels.
Internet. Social media. Internet banking. Zoom calls. Hell, if I wasn’t careful, the entire operation would become legitimized.
Not unless hell froze over.
From the research I’d done on the Morales Corporation, a consulting firm for improving logistics, Julio Morales had created a goldmine situation for money laundering. While Genevieve’s experience was limited, her diploma from such an esteemed university alone would provide additional credibility.
That, in turn, would drive business their way. Even now after his death.
The corporation had a glossy exterior and provided both privacy and organization while doing business under the table.
Up until now, I hadn’t believed the pretense was necessary.
Had I considered delving into more legitimate operations? Yes, but I’d always come to the conclusion doing so would take more time and effort than I was willing to put in.
I’d concentrated on building our illegal drug empire, ignoring the push to go into arms although I had a feeling that would be on the horizon.
Fortunately, even with the increased competition, cocaine continued to be in great demand in every part of the world.
However, I was a greedy bastard, always hungry for additional methods of creating revenue.
But as savage as I’d become, even I had limitations.
What I abhorred were the cartels who were involved in the slave trade industry.
They were sick fucks who’d sold their souls long before they’d begun sending women and children to fates worse than hell.
Arms were dicey, considering the international law enforcement agencies were almost as ruthless as my organization.
Plus, the Russians had a stronghold on illegal weapons and they were utter brutes.
I was rich beyond my means, a cautious tale of mercenary action and preying on the proclivities of mankind. Drugs were profitable. Period.
In the course of doing business, there were aspects of money laundering by use of remittances and that had proven highly successful up to this point.
I did employ dozens of people to handle that aspect of my business.
Using blackmail, I’d managed to collect several highly respected politicians that in a sense were on my payroll.
At least I allowed them to live and carry out their menial lives by looking the other way. The threat of scandal had always worked well as a deterrent.
I’d also inherited two shell companies, which also helped in cleaning our funds. They’d kept the heat from emerging to a minimum.
Considering bringing the Morales Empire into my fold brought a few different avenues to the table, including a more legitimized base of operations.
A few profitable and legitimate businesses and contracts.
There was a draw in a way, although doing so would add a list of complications.
But I couldn’t afford to pass up the opportunity, nor could I allow her holdings to fall into the wrong hands.
Maybe working with contracts was the way to go.
Shit. What the hell was I saying? Was I starting to think like the feisty woman now?
Although I’d yet to find a thug adhering to a single contract.
But as I’d said, times were changing. My attorney was a decent man but had been used to keep me out of prison, not to create a corporate contract.
I created a basic list of wants and needs, spelling out certain details, and had forwarded it to him with the explicit instructions of figuring it out and getting something legitimate back to me by the early hours of the morning.
If the rumbles on the street were correct, the Moroccan pigs were pushing forward with moving into Spain. I’d need to act fast, which meant Genevieve didn’t have much time. What I’d yet to explain to her was that I’d meant what I said.
I couldn’t take no for an answer. While it had initially been all about business and nothing else, after meeting her, my thoughts had shifted.
Maybe the years of being alone had finally gotten to me.
I’d called a meeting at our largest warehouse. We were set for a major shipment heading into several countries in Europe. The deals I’d procured were worth tens of millions. It was risky to ship so much product, but I’d planned it carefully over the last three months.
Given the climate, I wanted another round of assurances nothing would go wrong.
Both Kruz and Navarro were already at the facility waiting, there to provide me with a preliminary report. They knew why I was doing this. It wasn’t about being nervous but about remaining cautious. I’d learned a long time ago never to go off halfcocked with any decision.
I’d seen that happen one too many times; the result always ended badly, usually with a bloody death.
“You’re late,” Navarro told me.
“I had my reasons.”
“Does it have anything to do with Ms. Morales?” Kruz asked. I’d sent them both home, preferring not to be bothered. Plus, I needed them as watchdogs in case on my night off anything out of the ordinary occurred.
“It has everything to do with her,” I admitted.
Kruz whistled. “You spent all night and all day with her? That must have been some kind of meeting.”
I glared at him. I’d spent the better part of the afternoon doing what she asked while calling in favors and discovering everything I could about the Morales operations. They were more refined than I’d originally believed. “What about the shipment schedule?”
“We’re on track,” Kruz offered. “There are no issues, the buyers already wiring the required deposit.”
“Good. Keep it that way.” I glanced around the larger facility.
We’d almost been raided twice, both times coming close to forcing my arrest. I’d ordered appropriate hits on family members, the reminder decent enough that the heat had quieted down.
What I didn’t know about the Moroccans was whether they’d made connections that could break my stronghold on the police and other operations.
“What about Morales? What is she going to do?” Navarro broached.
He was often a man of few words, getting to the point quicker than most. I preferred that in my men.
He’d come up through the ranks, still considered my top hitman.
He had no qualms pulling the trigger or pulling out any other weapon as ordered.
“She’s considering my recommendations. Did Marco get home safely?”
“He did,” Kruz said, scratching his head. “I’m surprised you allowed him to leave.”
“Every once in a while, finesse is a useful tool.”
“The kid wants to join our operations,” Navarro said in passing. He knew that would never happen.
I laughed as I glanced at the pallets of cocaine. I was eager to get them out of the warehouse. “He has no idea what he wants.”
“What he wants is nothing to do with his sister. He swore allegiance to the Torres family and would destroy his sister if we wanted.”
If there was one thing that pissed me off, it was an ungrateful family member. I’d also had my share of that over the years, including from a cousin currently running a cartel in Mexico. Bastard. “That won’t happen.”
“What are you offering to her?”
I slowly turned my head toward Kruz. “Marriage.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Do I ever kid about anything involving business?”
The two men looked at each other. Kruz knew better than anyone that questioning me wasn’t good for his physical health. He bore the scars of a discussion we’d had years before.
“I can keep more control over her while expanding operations. In turn, she has legitimate protection and can allow me to do the dirty work. She has a legitimate corporation we can lean on while we have more muscle and stronger pipelines. I’d call it a win-win.”
“If you say so.” I took a step towards Kruz and he threw up his hands. “I’m just suggesting she’s a wildcat. You’ve seen that yourself.”
With a deep breath taken, I thought about how much I hungered to tame the feisty woman while not breaking her spirit. “Yes, I do know.”
What she also didn’t have was a tight core of leaders.
While I suspected the two men who’d been with her when she’d arrived at my house the first time were trusted, I had no clue if they were privy to the type of information I allowed both Kruz and Navarro.
Maybe that had worked to her father’s benefit.
Or possibly to his demise.
Right now, it was time for business within my own organization, but by tomorrow morning, I would force a decision from her.
An inspection of the entire warehouse was in order.
It had been a while, which wasn’t like me.
While I trusted the workers to a point, I’d learned a long time ago that even a single bag of missing nose candy often resulted in an entire contract going south.
There were too many easy ways to remove one without detection even though cameras had been installed in every warehouse.
Right now, I was in a nasty enough mood I wouldn’t mind finding some evidence of treachery.
Just as I headed toward one of the other rooms, I heard commotion behind me and turned automatically, reaching for my weapon. Kruz and Navarro already had their guns pointed toward the door.
“I’m sorry, boss. I thought you should know there’s been a strange vehicle that’s passed by the warehouse twice.”
A fucking lookout. I took long strides into the communications room, immediately shifting the main outside cameras to pan the street. With infrared LED vision for night viewing and magnified image sensors, every movement was clearly seen.
“What kind of vehicle?”
“A dark Mercedes,” the soldier answered.
Kruz and Navarro stood behind me as I flipped to the videos taken in the last few minutes, easily finding the vehicle the soldier had mentioned.
The facility was in an industrial area, completely unlike the smaller warehouse located in the city. There were more delivery trucks than anything else. While a Mercedes wasn’t unheard of as I had one myself, I doubted the soldier was wrong about being concerned.
I locked the photo from the video, zooming in to try to decipher who was driving. Not possible. Even with the enhanced filters, the windows were darker than allowed by law.
One thing was certain. The SVA or Spain’s Customs Surveillance System who handled investigation of illegal drugs didn’t normally drive expensive cars.
Could it be any of the dozen other cartels hoping to make an easy score? Absolutely.
Did I believe it?
Not a chance.
My educated guess was that every warehouse and noted location within my empire was being cased.
Every cartel handled some surveillance, but for anyone to attempt a hit on an operation of this size meant they were acting as suicide bombers.
“Is it possible Morales sent a team as a warning?” Navarro asked.
I shook my head. “I doubt it. She takes the care and love of her family very seriously.” However, the thought had crossed my mind.
As soon as the vehicle came into frame about a block away, I reacted, jogging out of the room.
“Go. Go. Go,” Kruz instructed. Immediately the first line of security reacted, heading toward the door.
I was out first, crouching lower and moving toward the street. My men had been trained well, easily able to protect the building from everything with the exception of a full-blown explosion.
Maybe I’d learn a few tips from the lovely Genevieve about firepower. I grinned from the thought. She had no idea what I was capable of.
I hoped for the beautiful woman’s sake she hadn’t crossed me. If she had, I’d have no qualms putting the fear of God into her.
The Mercedes had slowed down to a crawl. I lunged forward, holding the weapon in both hands, firing off indiscriminately. Was it a risk? Yes, but a necessary one.
The bullets mostly pinged or did little damage, which indicated the vehicle had been equipped to handle gunfire.
At least I’d had the element of surprise, but that was short lived, the driver accelerating.
My soldiers continued firing, but I knew how this game was played. If I wanted any answers, they’d need to be caught.
“What now?” Navarro called as the car sped away.
I ran toward my vehicle.
“Now, we play chicken.”