Page 65 of Sawyer
Connor nodded. “I learned some things. I think there are more who’ll talk now that someone else talked first. A Bernise Clancy says that no one would have ever suspected Lele at all except that Hector let it be known she was involved. He was smart, from what I can tell. Creating rumors with a few people here and there, people who could be counted on to spread gossip. Always different ones. Always on the down low. People will keep anything to themselves except a secret. Pretty soon, it just became assumed, when anything happened, Lele was probably involved.”
Sawyer took that in, cracking his neck and doing his best to control his breathing. “Was she willing to give you that in writing?”
Connor nodded. “She was. Like I said, I’ll have more statements soon. But it’s clear the only reason your Little girl developed a bad reputation was that her stepbrother wanted her to. Bernise had figured that out herself. She thought that he probably did it because he was shifting the blame from himself to his little sister. He’s a real piece of work to do that to an innocent like Lele. By all accounts, he’s been doing it since they were kids.”
“He’s a piece of shit,” Deke growled. “I want to bury this guy six feet under.”
Sawyer understood the feeling. “You’ll have to wait in line, Deke.” Connor’s findings weren’t unexpected. Sawyer had known Hector would be at the root of it all. But that didn’t make it hard to hear.
He needed to keep going or he’d be taking a drive to Elk Jaw.Not that he wasn’t going to do that soon anyway. The only thing stopping him was the need to get Lele cleared.
Law spoke up. “Lovelyn got the records you sent her, Sawyer. Raleigh was very interested. Said he thought he had a good chance at getting your girl’s verdict overturned. Lovelyn also read them, in case they magically disappeared from their office. Once they're in her brain, they aren’t going anywhere.”
Sawyer nodded. That was good news. He’d already talked to Raleigh to give him the heads-up about Lele’s situation. Raleigh was a good man and an incredible lawyer. He’d get Lele’s case handled.
Now it was Sawyer’s turn. “I’ve spent the past three days digging into Hector Cortez, and Deke is not wrong. He is a worthless sack of shit. But he’s a smart one. He’s got quite the racket going. Hector is using Videotopia to launder money for the cartel supplying the Lawless Warriors, and therefore the Society and the General with drugs.”
That got Ravage’s attention. “The Santiago cartel. Those Chileans are some ruthless bastards.”
“Right,” Sawyer agreed. “Hector is charging set prices for his drinks and game time and doubling that amount when he makes deposits.”
Ravage had something else in his mind. “Hector has to have a local supplier. The Warriors aren’t doing it. And the big players in the cartel don’t handle the small stuff. You got a name?”
Sawyer pulled a picture from his folder and held it out to Ravage. “I do. I was able to run face recognition software on the picture I took of the man I saw behind Videotopia. I need you to track down Lucio Montoya.”
“Why don’t we just turn the fucker in?” Gage asked.
Ravage huffed a dry laugh. “The Santiago Cartel is no small change operation. They got billions of dollars coming into them every month. And that's just from the good ole’ U.S. of A. Theyhave the connections and the cash to grease a lot of palms. I'd be willing to bet somebody at the bank somewhere up the food chain is on the take.
Wouldn't surprise me if they've got people in the Elk Jaw Police Department and the DA's office too.” Ravage pushed back from the table and strode toward the door. “I’m on your man. I’ll find him,” he said, walking out the door.
“He's right,” Sawyer said. “The Santiago Cartel is a powerful organization, but that's not my biggest problem.”
“The fucking cartel isn’t the biggest problem? If they aren’t the biggest, who is?”
“My biggest problem is Lele.” Sawyer had everyone’s attention now.
“What do you mean, Lele?” Hutch demanded. “How could that sweetheart be the biggest problem?”
“It's not because she did anything wrong. It's because her stepbrother is a master manipulator and most likely a psychopath. Willing to do anything to get what he wants. And I mean anything.”
Reid leaned forward in his chair, eyes sharp. “Anything like what?”
Okay. Time to lay everything out on the table. “According to Lele, her dad and stepmother won a trip to Hawaii in a radio contest. I checked the station's bank records, and there is no indication that they ever paid out for a trip to Hawaii or that they had ever held a contest like that before or since. When I talked to them, they said that someone called in and asked them to play it as a joke because it was going to be a gift from the family. The DJ didn't see the harm in it, so he did. The radio station received so many calls for a contest they didn't sponsor, they had to quietly print a retraction. The DJ lost his job.”
“Why do I think this is leading somewhere really fucking dark?” Law asked.
Sawyer’s jaw clenched. “Because it is. I couldn't find any names, but what I did find was a withdrawal from Hector's bank account for the exact amount that a vacation in Hawaii would have cost. They conducted a thorough investigation into the explosion that blew up the catamaran and killed her dad and stepmom. It dragged on for a long time. The results were inconclusive, but the explosion was listed as suspect at best. Some of the evidence they found in the wreckage led them to believe that someone had possibly brought an explosive device onto the ship.”
Reid shoved his chair back from the table. “Sonofabitch. That fucker killed his own mother. Do we have motive?”
"Both her stepmom and dad had over a million dollars each in insurance, but apparently no will. Lele has already told me how thankful she was that Hector was there to handle the funeral and all the legal stuff. She never mentioned anything about any insurance. It’s pretty clear that Hector intentionally kept Lele in the dark and stole anything that might have belonged to her. I know for a fact that when they sold the house, she never saw a dime.”
“This guy needs to die,” Law said, his fury roughening his voice.
“Brother, that's not even the tip of the iceberg,” Sawyer said. “I finally got my hands on the police records and the trial transcripts from Lele's trial. She was set up from the start. She didn't stand a chance. The general worked with Hector to set her up to be the fall guy before Jaxon went to trial. My guess? Hector was at the root of that, too. I was able to enhance the pictures the police had as evidence. It’s true the car was Lele’s, but she wasn't the one driving it.”
Hutch shoved to his feet. “Let me guess. The driver was Hector Cortez.”
