Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
A sad smile crossed Williams’s face. “I mean what I say. I don’t care how you answer this question. I simply need to get a lay of the land. And if you’re in trouble, you might talk to me about it.”
“Trouble?”
“Joshua, are you planning on seeing Hector Morales while you’re filming in Mexico?”
“Of course. He’s a friend of mine.” That was overstating things. “Friend is probably not the right word. He’s an acquaintance who’s been extremely good to my charity over the years. I’ve spent some time at his place before.”
Williams’s sharp eyes narrowed on him and Josh was reminded of a hawk looking for dinner. “You’ve been to the compound?”
“I would call it a mansion. Compound has a weird connotation.” A working connotation. A compound was where cults lived and militaries trained. It wasn’t a good name for Hector’s gorgeous manor house.
“Are you aware that Hector Morales goes by another name? Have ever heard the name El Comandante?”
He suddenly felt like he was being interrogated. Which was ridiculous. He glanced around the room. Was this some kind of setup? Were there cameras on him? “If this is a joke, I don’t think it’s a terrifically funny one.”
Williams stood up and went to his small laptop bag. He pulled out a folder and came back to the table. “Hector Morales runs one of the largest drug cartels in the world. You wouldn’t know that unless he told you and you’re a part of his inner circle or you’re a member of elite law enforcement or intelligence. The file I’m about to show you is highly classified.”
Definitely a joke. “Okay, now it’s kind of funny. This is Kay’s doing. She knows I love the classified stuff.”
Williams looked grim as he placed the folder in front of him. “Is that your woman? Kay is a nice name. You should be careful about taking her into dangerous places.”
He opened the folder and it took everything Josh had not to jump back. Blood. That was Hector, but not the way he’d seen him before. Not a smiling businessman in tailored suits. This was a snarling animal, watching over a group of bloody men.
“The men with the guns to their heads were two of his lieutenants. Unfortunately, they had large shipments confiscated by the DEA shortly after they were smuggled over the border. You don’t get a second chance with the Jalisco Cartel.”
“Are they dead?” A stupid question.
“Oh, yes. In my estimation, Morales has had over two hundred people murdered or assassinated. He’s killed members of his cartel, civilians who threatened him, several members of US intelligence, and I won’t go into how many Mexican law enforcement officers he’s had murdered because they were trying to do their jobs. He specializes in opioids. By some reports he’s responsible for about half of the illegal opioids smuggled into the US in the last five years. We believe he took on some new partners who have aided in his business, people who helped him get around the DEA and local law enforcement. One of those partners…well, do you remember when I told you I’d made mistakes? She’s one of my mistakes.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” He closed the folder. He didn’t need to see anything more. This man was a DEA agent. He would know who the drug dealers were.
“I’m telling you because I think you should cancel your trip out to his place. Over the years, I’ve learned to trust my instincts, and something isn’t right. I wish you could stay out of Mexico entirely, but I get that you’re filming. Are you supposed to visit him at the end or beginning of the shoot?”
His head was reeling. How could he have not seen what that man was capable of? He prided himself on being able to see through the masks people wore, but Hector had fooled him entirely.
Was that why Hector always insisted on staying out of the spotlight? Josh had thought it was refreshing to have a person who wasn’t interested in being in the tabloids, who didn’t want to take pictures with the Hollywood actor. For Josh, that meant Hector was real, authentic.
Hector was a criminal who was somehow using him. But how? Why start up a friendship with him and lie about everything?
“Josh? I know this is hard,” Williams was saying.
He shook his head. “I don’t understand why he would lie.”
“I’d like to find that out, too,” Williams explained. “I’ve been out of the game for a few years, but I have some worries that this isn’t about you, though you’re being used.”
“Used to what purpose?”
Williams’s mouth closed.
“What? It’s classified?” Now the man clammed up on him?
Williams sighed. “It’s better we leave it here. The truth is I’m not sure what’s going on and who’s involved. Some of these people could be very dangerous and it’s best you don’t get in too deep. In this case, the less you know the better off you’ll be. I’ll be down there with you and I’ll take a look around, talk to some old contacts. When I can, I’ll let you know what’s going on. And until then, I definitely think if you care about that woman you talked about, keep her far away from that place.”