“That’s great, so exciting,” Edwardo said.
“You deserve it, son. You work really hard, and I am proud of you,” said Guillermo.
“Gee, thanks, Pops,” Edwardo said.
The drug business had been booming, and Guillermo had been raking in a lot of money. There was a downside to this though. All this drew too much attention and the cartel rivals wanted a piece of the action. The leader of the Carlsdale family, Devin “The Duke” Carlsdale, had been imprisoned, but this hadn’t affected their ambition. The Duke, along with his two younger brothers, ran the crime family, and they were determined to take control from the Sin Nombre Cartel. The Carlsdales had successfully taken over some territories and formed strongholds covering thirty percent of Miami—districts that had once belonged to the cartel. For the last seven years, the Duke managed to run the entire operation from behind bars and was still able to deal blows to the cartel.
Guillermo hadn’t planned on remaining in Miami forever. His plan was to eventually sell his home, relinquish ownership of the restaurant to the cartel, and move to Milwaukee. This was what he had planned, retiring from the cartel lifestyle. He had been thinking about the nicer cities to live in, and Milwaukee was the place that seemed to be the most suitable to him.
The Carlsdales fight for territory could lead to overthrowing the cartel completely. Bloodshed was an inevitability, so Guillermo’s retirement plan wasn’t completely far-fetched.
Edwardo would be attending one of the local universities, because Guillermo didn’t want him studying far from home. Edwardo would graduate in another three to four years, and after that Guillermo would move the entire family to Milwaukee. They were a close-knit family, so the idea of leaving Miami wasn’t going to be a problem for any of them.
“So, do you need me to do anything here today, Pops?” Edwardo asked.
“Yes, the tables need to be wiped down and the floors… wait, turn the TV volume up!” Guillermo said.
“…today, during the parole hearing of crime boss Devin ‘The Duke’ Carlsdale, nineteen heavily armed men covered in full body armour made a forceful entry into the court building, successfully breaking out the criminal mastermind from federal custody. It is believed that the escape was staged because the chances that Carlsdale would be granted parole seemed highly unlikely. Standing by is our correspondent Karen Summers, reporting live from the federal courthouse in Florida.”
“We are reporting live, and as you can see; we are about five yards from the court entrance where the armed men entered the building. The men also exited the building the same way. We spoke to one of the court bailiffs, who has confirmed to us that there was nothing that could have been done to prevent the escape, as they were outnumbered and completely outgunned.”
“Karen, are you able to tell us if there were any injuries or fatalities?”
“Pat, the court bailiff we spoke to informed us that another officer had suffered a concussion after receiving a blow to the head from the butt of an assault rifle belonging to one of the assailants. He has been transported to the hospital by paramedics, but we’ve been informed that the officer will be okay.”
“Are you able to tell us anything else about the people that were present when it all happened?”
“Pat, what we have been told is that although there weren’t any casualties during what seems to be a well-planned jailbreak, the people that witnessed the event are shaken up. This has never happened in the history of this courthouse, and it must have been devastating to have to experience something like this.”
“Karen, I can only assume that no one could get a good look at any of the assailants during the attack.”
“You guessed right, Pat, the gunmen were all wearing masks. There were several black, unmarked vans that dispersed in separate directions within a few minutes of the infiltration. Not only were the vans untraceable, they all just seemed to vanish into thin air shortly after the attack.”
“Okay, thanks, Karen. Our hearts go out to the people that witnessed this horrible event. We will bring you updates as soon as we have more information about the courthouse attack. Pat Waters for CSCG News.”
“This is not good,” Guillermo said as the look of worry overcame his face.
“What’s wrong, Pops? Nobody died from this,” Edwardo said.
“I know, son,” Guillermo said.
“Is this going to be bad for business?” Edwardo asked.
“What do you mean by that, son?” asked Guillermo.
“Come on Pops, I’m not stupid, you know. The late-night meetings with ‘your friends,’ the hidden cellars in the storeroom, the fact that no one from the cartel ever bothers us. It’s fine, I know everything you do is not out of choice. I know that you are only looking out for all of us,” Edwardo said.
“You know about the hidden cellar—you didn’t look inside, did you?” Guillermo asked.
“Nah, it’s none of my business. If you felt I needed to know what was in there, I’m sure you would have told me by now,” Edwardo replied.
“How did you get so smart, boy?” said Guillermo.
“I learned from my smart dad, I guess,” replied Eddie with a smile.
“Okay, here’s the thing—the Duke escaping from prison might affect the business from the security side of things. Escaping from prison, disappearing, and then successfully staying below the radar all cost money… and because of this, the Carlsdale family might want to take over even more of the cartel’s territories. The cartel might increase the number of soldiers that currently protect North Walnut Grove and all their other territories. However, if this doesn’t work and the Carlsdales succeed, it will definitely affect the amount of money we make. If they take over North Walnut Grove, who knows what kind of arrangement the Duke will have with
