Stone Cold: An MC Erotic Romance by Kristin Fletcher Read Free Book Online

crack sounded like a gunshot.
     
    Chad let Raul go, and ignored him as his body fell to the floor between his chair and Victoria's. He picked up the dagger off the table, which fell from Raul's hand, twirled it expertly in his fingers for a brief moment and then set it beside his plate, as if it were part of his setting. Then he looked back to Cesario with calm eyes, "As I was saying, I don't believe it is the DEA who is the concern."
     
    Cesario lifted a hand to his guards, who, without hesitation, lowered their guns, and holstered them, returning to their station beside the door. Chad picked up his beer and took a drink. No one else in the room moved. Victoria, too stunned to move, starred at the knife beside Chad's plate with blatant alarm.
     
    Cesario met Chad's eyes with calm pools of his own, "Please continue. You have my interest."
     
    "Before we were with the Juarez cartel, the Lords of Darkness ran and networked for the Tijuana cartel. But we left Tijuana because it was too risky to work with them. Shipments were late, they weren't the right size, sometimes too much, sometimes short, and security was a joke. Several of our members are still in prison from mistakes and poor management Tijuana employed at the time. After we cut ties with Tijuana, you approached us requesting that we use our networks to support your growing business in our area. We accepted and it has been very profitable for both sides."
     
    Cesario nodded to this, "Yes, this is all true. Go on."
     
    "While it is true that the DEA doesn't like our club, I doubt very seriously that they would go so far as to only target shipments meant for us, letting all others from your side of the network pass through unscathed. A DEA agent who was inside or an informant for the DEA would not be so narrowly targeted. There is no purpose served allowing 20 or 30 other shipments pass, and focusing only on us. I doubt, being as small as we are compared to your many other networks, that our shipments are as attractive as many of the others."
     
    Cesario shrugged his shoulders to this estimate of need-to-know information, allowing that he didn't disagree, "Go on, I'm following so far."
     
    "So, with these two things in mind, the informant would be someone who has an interest in breaking us apart. You asked for this meeting because you are aware that we have once again expanded our network capacity. We are taking over territory in our area at a steady rate and holding it with solid management. In fact we are taking over a great deal of territory which was once supplied by networks for Tijuana. What I would suggest is that you are not looking for a mole associated with the DEA, but rather a mole associated with Tijuana. I believe that when you discover this person, our shipments will once again come to us without a problem, and our networks will be profitable to you once again."
     
    Cesario leaned back in his chair, his eyes steady as he processed this theory. Chad ate slowly from his plate and took a drink from his bottle of beer. Everyone else was still as stone, waiting. Raul on the floor remained unconscious, blood draining into his eyes from the split skin of his forehead.
     
    After several long moments, Cesario leaned forward, and put his hands together, "This is a very interesting idea. I can see why my good friend Mike holds you in such regard. Dante? What do you think of what Mr. Chad has brought to us?"
     
    Dante, who appeared to be coiled like a viper, relaxed slightly, "I see merit in his speculation. I would suggest that we look into this."
     
    Cesario nodded his head, "I feel the same way. So, Mike, with this new speculation presented, I'm afraid I will have to ask that we table our negotiations until I have time to investigate what your man Chad has brought to our attention. I apologize for this expenditure of your time."
     
    Mike nodded his head, relaxing slightly as well, "I understand, of course. Your efforts serve us both, and anything I can