“I have nothing concrete, but rumor has it he’s got ties to Santiago Botello.”
I looked back at the screens that lined my office wall and focused on the judge. I hated men like him. I’ve built my business and a lot of money off weak men and their vices, and I’ve seen it all, but men like Judge Michelsen are the worst of the worst.
He’s the type that will pass judgement down on people while perched high on his bench, looking down his nose at someone who fucked up one way or another, all the while he is guilty of the same crime if not more.
Some criminals are dangerous and have earned their judgement, but some simply made a mistake and have to pay for it, while men like Judge Michelsen are worse yet remain untouched. They aren’t beyond the law, though they think they are.I wasraisedby a man just like him. He knew how to put on a show for everyone around him until the night he took his own life.
Michelsen was a piece of shit. I knew that before today, but if he was in bed with Botello, that was a level of fucked up even I didn’t touch. Santiago Botello went beyond the business I ran. He dealt in drugs, flesh, and guns. Santiago Botello used his money to buy people off, making himself well insulated and untouchable.
I bought some people off, but my business, while it wasn’t clean, it wasn’t dirty either. Looking at the screens over the high stakes games, you would see the city’s wealthiest and most influential people. Bankers, business owners, developers, lawyers, the chief of police, and judges, they were all bought and paid for knowing if they took me down, they would go down with me. It would be mutual destruction should they come after me. In exchange, they got a place to come off the grid to gamble with high stakes without having to go out of state.
There were armed guards at every door. Security inside and outside the building. Nobody could have weapons, phones, or watches inside except for my people, and we searched everyone before they entered.
“It looks like he’s heading this way,” Donovan muttered, watching as Michelsen crossed the floor toward the back hallway that led to my offices. “He can’t possibly think you would loan him more money.”
“He’s desperate enough, and if you’re right and he’s in bed with Botello, you don’t know how much money he’s spending there.”
“Botello could be paying him off with girls.”
“Could be,” I agreed, even though I doubted that was the case. Botello had a reputation worse than my own. They said I was heartless, and I never corrected them.
“Boss,” Hector called over the radio. “Someone wants to meet with you.”
I grabbed the radio sitting on my desk and spoke into it. “Send him back.” I allowed the judge access so I could find out what he wanted. If money was what he was after, he was in for a letdown. I aimed to collect on what he already owed me, then ban him from my games.
“This should be interesting.” Donovan smirked. “He’s too high profile to kill without bringing the feds down on us.”
“Dead men can’t pay anyway,” I muttered, watching as he walked down the hall toward my office.
Judge Matthew Michelsen was in his late fifties. He was tall and thin, with dark hair that was heavily streaked with gray and thinning. He wore khakis, and a collared shirt like he just got off some golf course somewhere. His gait was confident, like he owned the world when, in fact, his world was spinning out of control.
I despised him and everything he stood for. When he got to my office door, I hit the switch under my desk that would release the locks and allow him entrance.
“Judge.” I used his title deliberately each time he came in because it always seemed to piss him off I announced who he was.
I didn’t give a fuck. Most of the people in the outer room knew who he was and didn’t care, either. Nobody that walked in here could throw stones at the man because they were all guilty themselves.
“Montgomery” He sneered haughtily like he hadn’t just walked into my office. “I need to extend my loan a bit.”
Weak, I thought to myself and sent a look over to Donovan, who was leaning up against the wall by the surveillance screens.
He smirked, knowing exactly what I was thinking and what was going through my mind.
“You already owe me a hundred and fifty thousand, Judge. I’m not in the mood to throw any more money your way.”
“How do you figure that? I only borrowed one hundred from you!” His face heated with anger.
“You borrowed one hundred, Judge.” I did not hide the contempt in my voice. “But you’re five months late in making payments. I’m done waiting. You won’t get another dime out of me, and I’m ready to take your assets to settle your debt.”
I don’t give money away for free. Everything comes with a price, and everyone has to put up collateral. I don’t care who they are, what life they live, or where they are from. The judge put his home up as collateral for the loan. He wanted the money off the bank’s books, and I didn’t ask why. Now that I know he may have a connection to Botello, I now know what my money paid for, and it made me sick.
No. This asshole wasn’t getting anything else out of me, and I was about to make his life a living fucking hell while I watched his world burn down around him.
I got up from my chair and rolled up the cuffs of my shirt. The move was one that had intimidated many in the past and it didn’t disappoint with the judge either, as I rounded my desk and leaned against it in front of him.
“I’m done waiting, Michelsen. You borrowed money and have yet to repay it. Your daughter goes to that fancy school of hers. You and she both live in your perfect house and drive shiny new cars, but you don’t pay back your debt to me? I’m taking that as an insult, Judge.”
“College is expensive.” He swallowed audibly. He was tall, but I towered over him. Where he was thin, I was thick with muscle. He also had fifteen years on me and lacked any survival skills for this type of life. He should have stayed on the straight and narrow.
