“What’s going on, Junior?” my father demanded. “Where’s Sal?”
“He’s on the phone at the moment. We just discovered that a man named Eben Juarez is not in prison where he is reported to be. We’re in the middle of a case involving the DEA, drugs, and money laundering. Sal put us on lockdown last night when he started to get worried.”
I swallowed tightly as I stared at the storyboard and realized what it was telling me. “I think the shit just hit the fan.”
“I’ll call in more guards,” my father stated, “but I think we’ll stay here until you tell us otherwise. You need to concentrate on solving whatever this is, not worrying about the kids.”
That wasn’t going to happen. I always worried.
“Just make sure you’re safe and don’t take any chances for anything. This feels personal, and I don’t want you guys caught in the middle.”
“We’ll be careful, Junior.”
“If you have any problems or feel like something is off, call Sal. He can come get you.”
“We’ll be fine, Junior.”
That remained to be seen.
“I need to go, Dad. I have to talk to Sal. I’ll call and check in this evening.”
“Be safe, son.”
“You, too, Dad.”
I hung up and walked over to Sal.
He shot me a frowning look and then quickly ended his phone call. “What is it, caro?”
I briefly closed my eyes. “I hate to say this, but…” I opened my eyes and looked intently at the man my world revolved around. “This is personal. I think Juarez is after us.”
Sal’s eyebrows snapped together. “Explain.”
I couldn’t, not really. It was just a feeling I got after looking at the storyboard. The connecting factor was the fact that Eben Juarez wasn’t in prison.
“I don’t know if this has anything to do with the case I was investigating for the DEA or if those are two separate things, but I think Juarez arranged to get out of prison so that he could come after us.”
The man loathed me to the depths of his soul. I was the main reason his empire collapsed and he went to jail. He more than wanted me dead. He wanted to torture me before he killed me.
“He was a drug dealer and a human trafficker, Lany, but we caught him and took down his empire. There’s nothing left of it.”
I shook my head. “Why would someone break him out of prison? He was either more involved than we thought or he’s valuable to someone. I’m betting the cartel. Every single alias we’re researching links back to the Fernandez Cartel except his. I think there’s a connection somewhere that we just haven’t found yet.”
“Colombia and Mexico are worlds apart, Lany. What reason would the Fernandez Cartel have for working with Juarez?”
They weren’t that far apart, and most drugs had to go through Mexico to get to the United States. Maybe the cartel was working with Juarez.
“Juarez hates me. You know this. He blames me for everything.” He’d shouted death threats at me during his trial enough times for me to be wary of the man. “If he’s escaped prison, then he is coming after me.”
“Okay, say you’re right.” Sal crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “What does this have to do with the DEA case? Is it related? And how is he related to the aliases we’ve been researching?”
“As we know, Anton Gambino and Viggo Marcus are just aliases, and Juarez used Victor Cruz as an alias.”
Sal nodded once. “Right.”
“So, what if this is all the same man and his name is Fernandez?”
Sal just stared at me, but his nostrils slowly began to flare. “Lyn, check with the FBI and see if there has been an uptake on human trafficking in the last year or so. Lany, call Crenshaw and ask him for everything he has on the Fernandez Cartel and the investigation into Eben Juarez, Anton Gambino, and Viggo Marcus.”
