The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) by C.L. Swinney

scotch and began groping the woman. She shivered from his touch, but not in a good way. She’d be paid, but her dignity would be lost. If she pulled away from the monster, she’d be killed.
    Before she was forced to have sex with him, she noticed some of his men stirring. She wondered if today was the day the beast sliding his hand up her thigh would die.
    One of the men told him the visitor had arrived. He considered telling his men to tell Calderon to wait while he had his way with his new lady friend, but business always took precedence over pleasure.
    El Hefe’s men stopped escorting Calderon as he made entry into the area where he was seated. They posted at the doorway. Both men took the safeties off their MP5 automatic sub-machine guns and focused on Calderon.
    Calderon noticed their actions and smirked. He then looked over to his boss and said in English, “Boss, we have a problem.” Calderon was careful not to smirk at El Hefe because the last person to do that was chopped into pieces and placed in a barrel of acid.
    El Hefe smoothly replied, “No, you have a problem and you are taking entirely too long to fix it. I’m not paying you to hold grudges, I’m paying you to locate and retrieve my money.”
    “I need Pedro to make it happen. He’s been working for the police and I’m sure he knows the location of the money.”
    El Hefe took a sip of drink and calmly swirled the single ice cube in the glass around and around then stopped. The silence in the room was deafening to Calderon.
    Finally El Hefe spoke. “I’ve solved part of your problem, and I am telling you now leave Pedro alone. Your actions have brought many people looking for us. The money was with Pedro in his vehicle, but I’m sure he didn’t know it was there.”
    Calderon felt excitement and anger stirring within. Why the hell is he protecting pendejo Pedro , he wondered.
    “The locals have my thirty million dollars at a fairly secure warehouse. In three days, heavily armed guards will transport the money to the First National Bank downtown. I would suggest you get my money prior to it being deposited,” he declared emphatically.
    Again Calderon was stunned. He was pissed off and wanted to say something but stopped short. After taking a shot of tequila Calderon asked, “How do you know Pedro wasn’t involved and how do you know where the money is?”
    El Hefe chuckled and snapped his fingers. Two men walked over to their table with a large silver platter in their hands and set it on the table. He reached over and pulled the lid off exposing the head of another member of their cartel.
    “You see, my men caught Juan trying to leave his home with his wife and children and a lot of money. They brought them to me. I simply told Juan to tell me the truth and I would spare his children. Juan hesitated so I killed his wife in front of him with a machete. After Juan told me how he set up Pedro and how Juan’s cousin knew the police seized thirty million dollars after they found him, I took his head off.”
    Calderon was no stranger to gruesome violence. It was a way of life for him since he was six. They prayed to Santa Muerte and believed killing was their rite of passage to Heaven. However, the fact that El Hefe had done the killings personally was a direct message to Calderon and everyone else associated to the cartel. Calderon was being told never go against what El Hefe said.
    He was about to respond when El Hefe continued, “I left his eyes open because I want you to look at him Jose. Look through his eyes and see what he has become. I believe you know what must be done. You must make this happen. All the resources of the cartel are available to you. I can absorb a thirty-million dollar loss, but this is personal. I want my money back. Once that’s done, anyone not loyal to the cause will be hunted down and killed.”
    Calderon tossed back another tequila shot. He had not anticipated any of this new information. He was still convinced