by Dave Daren
Alvaro sat in a chair opposite him with the sleeves of his button up rolled to his elbows. I could see some of the tattoos on his right arm, though it was obvious the artwork ran the length of his arm. His shoulder length black hair was half pulled up into a bun like some Shogun warrior. Even with his back to me, I was sure that he could be up and ready to attack in seconds, though with his legs stretched out in front of him he almost looked relaxed.
I knocked on the open door to get the men’s attention, and my stomach flipped as Osvaldo looked up at me. He set his paperwork down on the desk and then stretched as if he’d been in the same position for a long time.
“Jipato,” the intimidating cartel man said with a grin that showed the three gold teeth on the left side of his mouth. “Come in. Sit. How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine,” I responded as I took the free chair next to Alvaro and set my briefcase down.
“Alvaro told me you saw my boy,” Osvaldo said. “Do you have any plans to get him out?”
“I do,” I replied.
“Go ahead,” the dark-haired man said as he sat back in his seat and folded his hands over his stomach.
“Well,” I said with a glance toward Alvaro as the enforcer leaned forward to toss a folder onto the boss’ desk. “We know that Everson Juvenile Detention Center is not using their funding to take care of the kids in their care. And Camilo mentioned that some people have bought their freedom, so we also know they accept bribes.”
“Are you suggesting that I pay for my son’s release?” the cartel man questioned with a lifted eyebrow.
“No,” I responded as I shook my head. “No, I have a plan to have the facility shut down.”
“Okay,” Osvaldo nodded and motioned for me to continue.
“I have proof that they’ve been using the kids to make products that they then sell at a higher markup,” I began again. “And that the facility has been donating to Super PACs so that they can pay off judges and other politicians.”
“Judges?” Alvaro asked with his usual smirk that made me feel like he was about to use a garrote on me.
“Yes,” I replied while I wiped my hands on my pants.
Osvaldo leaned forward again and began to tap his fingers on his desk as he processed what I’d said. He had a small grin that made my skin crawl, like he was the cat who ate the canary, and I really didn’t want to be the bird in that scenario.
“The judge who sentenced my son,” the cartel man said with a knowing nod.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “I think he’s been on their payroll for years.”
“What have you found on him?” my employer asked.
“He’s living way beyond his means,” I explained. “He has a massive house that he’s put in his wife’s name, two brand new luxury cars, and he belongs to one of the best country clubs in all of Miami.”
Alvaro made a sound in his throat that sounded like he was choking, but when I glanced over at him he had a smile so big that his dimples showed, and I realized that he had laughed. He shook his head as if I’d told a joke, and a shiver ran down my spine as I wondered what I had said that was so funny.
“Please, continue,” Osvaldo said as his scowl returned to his face.
“I dug into Judge Williams’ financials to see if I could find where he was hiding the payoffs,” I said. “His salary is a matter of public record, and his wife is currently one of the more well known socialites. She doesn’t make any money or have a job, but she does give plenty away to various charities.”
“And their kids?” the scarred man asked, his fingers drummed on the desk, and I couldn’t tell if he was angry or excited as he licked his lips then took a long sip of his water.
“He has three kids from three different marriages,” I said as I shifted in my seat.
“That’s quite a bit of alimony,” my boss replied.
He stood and walked over to the window, his hands behind his back as he stared down at the docks and the cargo ships that came in and out of his business. He was so silent that I wasn’t sure if I should continue. I had good leads, and I could prove that Judge Williams and the Everson Juvenile Detention Center were corrupt if my boss would let me explain.
“He does pay his first two wives alimony,” I said when the cartel man didn’t retake his seat.
I glanced over at Alvaro to see that he still had that smirk on his face, and that he’d sat up straighter while I talked. He had one leg crossed over the other, and he drummed his fingers on the leather arms of his chair as he looked toward Osvaldo.
“Private school for his kids?” my employer asked after a long pause.
The scarred man turned around to retake his seat. He placed his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers together as he waited for me to answer his question.
“His two eldest are in college out of state,” I replied. “And his youngest is a freshman in a private school. The same one that Camilo attends.”
“Oh, really?” Osvaldo chuckled. “That’s an expensive place.”
“Yes, sir,” I said as my stomach did a flip.
It was somehow more terrifying to hear the man laugh than it was to see him scowl. I half-expected him to throw his head back into an evil villain cackle, but he only shook his head and motioned for me to finish my report.
“So he has the two kids in college, the expensive cars and house, the country club, and the hot wife half his age,” I recapped. “I also received a visit from a police officer the other night with a pointed warning about choosing my cases wisely.”
“He threatened you?” my employer asked, and all traces of amusement were gone as his dark-brown eyes checked for wounds.
“The cop didn’t specify who the message was from, but I haven’t been looking into anyone else,” I answered.
“He must’ve realized that you were getting close,” Alvaro added.
“It’ll make a man reckless,” the scarred man behind the desk said. “And you can prove that the Everson Juvenile Detention Center pays for the judge’s extravagant lifestyle?”
“I can,” I confirmed. “The Super PACs that the facility donates money to made payments directly to the judge’s campaign fund. I have all of it together, and I’m ready to submit it to the DA. After I leave here, I’ll make an appointment to see him to give him all of the evidence and have Camilo released as soon as they’ve had a chance to review everything.”
The beefy cartel leader threw his head back as he began to laugh, and the sound filled the office like a shotgun blast. My heart skipped a beat as I tried to think of what I’d said that was so funny. He slapped his hands on the surface of his desk as he continued to chuckle to himself, and then he wiped a stray tear from his right eye before it could run the length of his scar.
In the chair beside me, Alvaro shook his head as he made that raspy, choking sound that I realized was his laugh. I couldn’t decide if I should run or if I should just stay glued to my seat as I waited for them to contain themselves and tell me what was so funny.
“Uh...boss?” a middle-aged man with a bright reflector vest asked as he stepped into the office. “Is this a bad time?”
“No, no, come on in,” Osvaldo said as he waved the man in.
In an instant, the laughter died away from the two men, and my employer once again had the familiar scowl on his face as he waited for the man to tell him what he wanted. The man stopped about halfway into the office with his hands clasped in front of him. He shifted from one foot to the other and glanced toward me as if I might be able to help him.
“Well?” my employer asked as he waited for the man to continue.
“Uh,” the middle-aged worker muttered. “Well, we’re done unloading the trucks. I just wanted to check in before we headed out for the night.”
“Are all the shipments intact?” Osvaldo asked as he began to drum his fingers on the desk again.
“Yes, sir,” the man said as he began to nod his head like a bobblehead doll.
“Then you’
re dismissed,” the scarred cartel leader responded. “Have a good night.”
“You, too, sir,” the worker replied before he hurried out of the room to tell his men they were free to go.
I wished that I could go with them, but I wouldn’t run away. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and my plan was a good one. I wasn’t sure what he found funny about the situation, since his son would still have to wait a week at least before he could get out of the terrible facility, but I did know that he would be happy to have the boy back home.
“It’s a good plan,” Osvaldo said when we were alone again. “It is.”
“But?” I asked as I met the man’s dark-brown eyes.
“But that’s not how things are done,” the beefy man informed me.
My heart started to race as I watched the two men. I was an officer of the court, even if my employer worked for the cartel, and that meant I couldn’t be a part of any crimes. That was especially true if they involved Alvaro and the Everglades, but I couldn’t afford to lose my job, either.
“What do you have planned?” I asked and instantly regretted it. I should have stood up and left so I wouldn’t have any actual knowledge of their plans.
“We’re going to use this as an opportunity to put some fear in the judge,” my employer said with a small shrug as if he hadn’t just revealed he was going to threaten a magistrate to an officer of the court.
“Fear?” I questioned with a glance toward Alvaro.
The second in command had his legs stretched out in front of him again, his hands on the arms of his leather chair, and something like a look of contentment on his face. He turned his almost black eyes to me as a smirk tugged at one side of his mouth, and he reminded me of a snake that was coiled and ready to strike.
“Yes,” Osvaldo said as he drew my attention back to himself. “Fear. Listen, Jipato, you need to learn how this world works.”
“I’m an officer of the court,” I reminded him. “If you want to do anything illegal, I should not be present. I can leave if you’d like.”
“You’ll stay right where you are,” the scarred man said with a deep scowl that pinned me to my chair. “You work for me now, Jipato. And you’ll do as I ask.”
My heart raced in my chest as my mouth went dry. It was not so much a threat as it was a promise, and if that was how he planned to convince the judge to release his son, then I had no doubts at all that the magistrate would be easily swayed.
“Okay,” I muttered. “How exactly do you plan on instilling fear?”
“We let him know we’ve figured out how he really makes his money,” the cartel man said with a shrug as he leaned back in his chair and rested his hands over his middle.
“He sent the police after me when he realized I was looking into him,” I reminded the surly man. “What makes you think that he won’t try to do the same thing with you? He knew who you were when he sent Camilo to Everson.”
“True,” my employer responded with a nod. “He thinks he’s untouchable.”
“I will remind him he is not,” Alvaro finished as he pulled his switchblade from his pocket and began to flip it like he had in my apartment.
“We can’t go around beating up judges,” I huffed. “Even if it wasn’t illegal, it would be a direct path to you, and even I couldn’t keep you out of prison.”
“Alvaro does not ‘beat people up’,” Osvaldo said. “We will simply remind the judge that he is not outside of our reach. And, we’ll keep his little money making schemes out of the hands of the DA as long as he plays along.”
“He’ll owe you a favor,” I said as I realized my employer’s plan.
Blackmail was still deplorable, but it was a far better choice than murder. Though I wasn’t entirely convinced that the giant next to me wouldn’t rough the judge up before the deal was done.
“Exactly,” the scarred man said as he clapped his hands together and flashed a smile at me. “This world runs on favors. We keep his secrets, and he’ll owe us a favor when we need it.”
“Like getting Camilo out?” I suggested.
“For starters,” my employer nodded. “Of course, he’ll have to be smart enough to take the deal.”
“And if he doesn’t take it?” I asked.
“I’ll convince him,” Alvaro added with another flick of his switchblade.
I looked between the two men as I tried to wrap my head around what they were saying. I still wanted to go to the DA and give them the information I had gathered on the Everson Juvenile Detention Center, but it would lead directly back to the judge if they looked too closely at the finances, and then Osvaldo wouldn’t have the corrupt magistrate in his pocket.
If that happened, then Alvaro really would take me out into the Everglades and feed me to a python or an alligator, maybe while I was still alive. The second in command had broken into my apartment once already, and he could do it again while I slept. At least he would wake me up before he killed me, though that wasn’t very comforting.
“If necessary, you can send the appeal to get my boy out to another judge,” Osvaldo said as the silence in the room began to grow unbearable. “But Judge Travis Williams will need to stay on the bench.”
“Okay,” I said after I was sure my voice would stay steady. “I will check the status of the appeal when I get home. Though I think it would be easier if the judge changed his verdict rather than if we requested another judge and started the process all over again.”
“If you say so,” the scarred man said with a nod. “We’ll add that to our deal with him.”
“Perfect,” I mumbled.
I had started to rethink my choice of employer. Even though the money was enough to pay my mother’s medical bills, the personal cost was high. I had knowledge of their plan to blackmail a judge, and it went against everything that I had vowed to uphold as a lawyer to willingly break the law and against every set of morals my mother had instilled in me since I was a little boy.
Alvaro’s knife flicked open and shut in a steady rhythm as I had my internal debate, and I realized that the two men had gone silent as they watched and waited for me to pull myself together. My employer drummed his fingers on his desk as he processed the information I had given him and his plans moving forward. His dark-brown eyes were locked on me, and his face was twisted into a scowl as if he could read my mind and disapproved of my moral dilemma.
“Why don’t you make the call?” Osvaldo asked as he broke the growing quiet.
“The call?” I asked, and my heart lurched in my chest. “To the judge?”
“Who else?” the beefy man asked, and the scar on his right cheek seemed deeper in the shadows cast from the setting sun behind him. “I want to make sure that you don’t do anything foolish… like go to the DA and turn in all that evidence you’ve gathered.”
“Sure,” I said with a nod and a tentative smile, though my stomach turned sour at the idea of being a part of the crime.
“Listen, Jipato,” my employer said as he paused the constant drum of his fingers and stared straight into my soul. “There’s a right way to do things… and a smart way to do things. We could take what you found to the DA, have the facility shut down, and the judge thrown in jail. Or, we could have a judge that owes us and is eager to help when we find ourselves in need of a favor.”
“Of course,” I muttered.
He was right, from a strictly business point of view. He had a business to run, and his employees often found themselves in a courtroom. I’d already represented three of them, if I counted the one that landed me my current job, and I’d represented his son, too. He could protect them all by having the judge in his pocket. Besides, the cartel leader would be a criminal making a deal with another criminal. It wasn’t like the judge was an honorable magistrate being blackmailed into doing something he wouldn’t normally do. Osvaldo would just become Judge Williams’ next friend with deep pockets that would pay for his lifestyle. But what about the other kids at Everson? What did I owe them?
“Do you have the judge’s number?” the scarred man across the desk from me asked.
“Yes,” I said as I tugged my cell phone out of my pocket.
“Good,” the dark-eyed man nodded and flashed his three gold teeth as he smiled. “Go ahead and request a meeting with the not so honorable judge. I’m sure he’ll be eager to hear from you since he sent that cop to threaten you.”
“Sure,” I muttered while I searched my contact list for the number to the courthouse.
The directory picked up after the first ring, and I clicked through the options until I found the office of Judge Travis Williams. I waited for someone to pick up, but the phone continued to ring. I glanced out the window at the setting sun and realized they would be gone for the day. The judge wouldn’t get my message until the next day.
“Judge Williams,” I began as the answering machine clicked on. “This is Roberto Torres. I believe you remember who I am. I’d like to set up a meeting with you. You have my number. Call me back as soon as you get this.”
I hung up the phone and swallowed the bile that rose from my stomach. It was for the best, I told myself. I had made my choice to work for Osvaldo with open eyes, and as long as the magistrate made the right choice, both sides could continue on as if nothing had happened.
“Good job, Jipato,” Osvaldo said as he nodded his head in approval. “Now, go enjoy the rest of your night. But you call Alvaro as soon as the judge gets in touch with you.”
“Of course,” I said with a nod as I scooped up my briefcase and stood to leave. “Have a good night, gentleman.”
My legs were like jelly as I walked out to my car. I’d survived another meeting, my client would be out of juvie, and the judge would finally learn the consequences of accepting bribes.
I just hoped that I hadn’t slipped too far into the cartel’s world.
Chapter 18
I was on autopilot as I started the drive back to my apartment. I replayed the conversation with Osvaldo, the subtle threat that my life would be forfeit if I didn’t choose the ‘smart way’ of doing things, and the constant metal click of Alvaro’s switchblade as he opened and shut it in a steady rhythm.
