Page 81 of Compelled Obedience

“Just run me through what happened all those years ago again,” I encouraged her when she said nothing.

“It’s not going to change anything. At least I’m free.”

“Why do I have a feeling you’re not convinced your stepfather is dead?”

A smile crossed her face as she lifted her head, narrowing her lovely eyes. “Because he’s a conniving pig who used my mother as a cover. He’s capable of true evil. I warned my mother, but she refused to listen to me. I knew his involvement with the cartel was deepening. I just didn’t know how much.”

“And the sergeant? Do you buy his story?”

“Sergeant Randolph doesn’t have any reason to lie to me. He’d been working with the DEA long before Drago was arrested, trying to find a way to convict members of the cartel for years. I heard that almost as soon as the police started questioning me.”

“There are some things that aren’t adding up,” I told her.

“That’s why you called your friend?”

Nodding, I took a sip of my drink, realizing nothing was capable of calming my nerves at this point. “Yeah. Hopefully, Tristen can find something. He knows some people.”

“Like what? That Drago escaped prison? Or that he had another accomplice who’d now determined to hunt me down?”

“Both are entirely possible. From the articles I’ve read on the new leader of the cartel, Mario Rivera, he doesn’t like loose ends or traitors. They have a lot on the line and that makes him and his entire organization more dangerous.”

“If you’re trying to terrify me, you’re doing a damn good job.”

“I’m trying to keep this realistic, Kerri. You were threatened and if your stepfather is dead, then someone else is determined to get to you.” What I wanted to do was have a long conversation with her student. Someone had hired Sanchez Rodriguez but for what purpose? What I’d found fascinating was that when I’d seen him in the school, I hadn’t noticed the tattoo on his neck. Was it possible I hadn’t paid any attention or that it hadn’t been there? If the latter was the case, there were also no red marks from a fresh tattoo. My gut told me the kid had been used to get to her, terrifying her. Why? I had one thought in mind.

To bring Drago out in the open. Was my theory crazy? I wasn’t entirely certain it was.

“I don’t understand why this is happening after all these years, but I’m a much smarter chick now. I was far too naïve at the time or maybe I believed in the system. The authorities pushed me for details, but all I could think about was Casey.”

“Why would they push you for details?”

She rubbed her eyes then glanced out the set of sliding glass doors, rocking gently on the couch. “Because they were certain I’d seen Drago killing a man.”

“And had you?”

I leaned forward, already certain of the answer given the way she took a deep breath and held it. The answer was easy to see.

“Yes, but it was from several years before when I’d still lived with my mother. I was barely eighteen, my mother starting to lose herself in drugs and alcohol. What was crazy was that up until a year before, Drago hadn’t been a bad guy, just a little creepy. You know? Maybe shady. Things got really rough financially and he started hitting her. Then suddenly, it was like he’d gotten a fantastic new job. He bought my mother beautiful clothes and jewels, acting as if everything was peachy keen. Then strange people stopped by the house at all hours. My mother turned a blind eye, encouraging me to do the same. You need to understand she’d had a rough life, her choice of men horrific. My father had been a deadbeat, draining her bank account. Drago showered her with gifts and took her to nice places. Then everything changed for a second time, his moods getting nastier. There were guns and strange people watching the house.”

“It sounds like he got deeper into the cartel lifestyle.”

“Now I know he did. At the time, I only knew something was wrong.”

“What happened that led up to you witnessing the murder?”

“I’d gotten to the point of being fed up so I followed him one night to a warehouse. My mother refused to believe that he was a bad guy. I told her I’d find proof.”

“Did you?”

Kerri bit her lower lip. “I’d overheard Drago on the phone. From what I could tell, he was ordered to kill some guy. That’s why I followed him. I thought the man being held at gunpoint was just a snitch, but years later I found out the man was an undercover officer who’d infiltrated the LA Cartel. Or at least that’s what Detective Randolph told me.”

Maybe that’s why Sergeant Randolph’s actions were questionable. It had become personal to him.

“That’s why Drago was ultimately arrested years later and finally convicted, although I have no idea how he was indicted. There were pictures shown to the jury,” she continued.

“Someone in the organization betrayed him.”

“I guess. I didn’t ask. I didn’t care. I just wanted to find a way to protect Casey.”

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