Unveiled (Vargas Cartel #2) by Lisa Cardiff Read Free Book Online Page B

poured like liquid through my mind.
    Strained seconds passed, each one more intense than the previous one.
    “I wouldn’t want Rever to be picked up by the FBI or immigration. We’d be right back where we started. Rever in jail. Evan and Hattie separated,” Senator Deveron said.
    I took a long draw of my beer. “I don’t give a fuck about the status of Evan and Hattie’s relationship. It sounds like Evan can’t seal the deal. Maybe you should be calling him instead of me.”
    “You should care.”
    “Why’s that?” I asked, even though my experience told me I shouldn’t say a thing. Asking questions gave the appearance I cared. It was a sign of weakness.
    “It’s common knowledge the Alvarez and Vargas cartels are at war right now.”
    “What’s your point? A cartel war is hardly a novel event. Over a hundred thousand people have died in the last decade as a result of cartel-related violence in Mexico.”
    “Yet, the Vargas Cartel has been largely immune from all the death and destruction. Have you ever wondered why?”
    “Please enlighten me,” I quipped.
    He chuckled. “Over the last five years, U.S. enforcement agencies have protected the Vargas Cartel in exchange for information about rival drug gangs. We’ve provided weapons. We helped him launder money, and we turned a blind eye to his smuggling activities.”
    “And in exchange, the Vargas Cartel opened its war chest and funded all your campaigns. You basically made the U.S. government an accessory to all sorts of criminal behavior.” I had gleaned most of this information from undercover operatives and Ignacio, but I couldn’t believe Senator Deveron openly admitted the connection. Even after the Fast and Furious scandal revealed the ATF had sold guns to drug cartels, the media ignored the U.S. government’s symbiotic relationship with Mexican drug cartels.
    “Exactly. We have a mutually beneficial relationship. Can you imagine what would happen to your family if the U.S. government shifted its protection to the Alvarez Cartel? With Rever out of the picture, they’re already missing a successor. How long do you think it would take before the members of the Vargas Cartel defected and joined ranks with the Alvarez Cartel?”
    I laughed coldly, even as my gut twisted into knots thinking about the implications of his threat. “Maybe I don’t give a shit.” It was an outright lie. As much as I wanted to sever my ties to the Vargas Cartel, I didn’t want my dad to die, and that’s exactly what would happen if Senator Deveron made good on his threat. My dad wasn’t a good man, but I loved him. I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
    “We both know that’s not true.”
    “I don’t see how I can help you.”
    “Threaten her. Threaten her family. Hold a gun to her head. Blackmail her. I don’t care. Get it done. That’s what you do. That’s why I hired you.”
    “Blackmail her?” I said, barely able to form the words. Rage whipped through my veins like an electrical storm. If he knew about the video of Hattie and me together, I’d kill Ignacio. I owed him some degree of loyalty, but my loyalty stopped the minute he threatened Hattie. “With what?”
    “Everybody has secrets. Find hers.”
    I paced back and forth, squeezing my phone hard enough to shatter it into a million pieces. Before I met Hattie, I wouldn’t have wavered for a second. As much as I despised the family business, I never would’ve chosen anyone or anything to the detriment of my family. Now I was walking the tightrope to hell. “I’ll think about it.”
    “What does that mean?” Senator Deveron spat.
    “That I’ll call you in the next seventy-two hours and not a minute earlier.” I disconnected the call.
    “Shit. Shit. Shit,” I screamed as I flung my empty beer bottle at the wall.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
     
    Hattie
     
    I jogged on the paved path next to the Potomac River. I loved this time of year. Pink cherry blossoms