The Black Dahlia (Cartel Series #1) ✔️

Prologue

“Those who live by the gun, die by the gun.”

He was out of breathe, evading the crowded flea market full of locals and tourists on a summer day in Medellin. The temperature and humidity was high, as expected from Colombia in summer and our un-named person of interest was feeling its full wrath. “Well why was he running?” you may ask, good question. He was running because he was being pursued by two men. They were not any other men, they worked for the Medellin cartel.

The chase continued and they entered a narrow alley and he managed to evade them for a bit due to a jam caused by a fruit cart being pushed through the alley, he managed to merge himself with the crowd and  run  catch a   breathe. Maybe he shouldn’t have breathed a sigh of relief so soon, because one moment of lapse in concentration made him miss the ice cream truck moving through the street that began where the alley ended.

He saw it too late to make a maneuver and the truck rammed him straight through his gut. He went flying up and landed face first. This created a commotion and the chasers became aware of their target’s whereabouts and rushed to get hold of the semi-conscious man, sedated him for precautionary measures and escorted him to their vehicle. “What took you so long?” asked the driver.

“Easy to ask questions, when you sit on your ass doping nothing”, remarked one of the men caustically as he shoved the sedated man in the back seat.

When the man regained consciousness he was in a dimly lit, yet big space and his hands and feet were tied to the chair he was seated on. “Must be one of the abandoned factory building owned by the cartel”, he mused to himself. His train of thoughts were broken by the sound of boots on the hard concrete floor.

He walked gingerly and stood solemnly in front of the man.
He was a well-built and tall man, wearing a designer Armani suit, Dolce and Gabbana tie and a pair of Gucci loafers. He was dresses from head to toe like royalty. He was Luiz Sanchez, the big boss of Medellin cartel.

“Tell me the truth”, Luis said to the man as his stern gaze pierced through the man’s soul.

“Patrón, I did no wrong” he said confidently.
“¡Mentiroso!”(Liar), Crees que estoy ciego? (You think I am blind?)”
Luiz roared like a lion.

“I have all the transaction details, you are cornered mi querido niño (my dear boy), and all I need is the truth from you, no more lies. Tell me the truth and you are free to go”. Luiz said almost mechanically, throwing bunch of documents in his face. The documents contained all the details of the man’s discrepancies, specifically the financial fraud he had committed.

No one expects a cartel to be as slick as a multinational corporation like Sony or Apple, with proper digital databases and monthly financial reports to detect any wrongdoings. Well times have changed now and Medellin cartel has  ushered in the new age to keep the business thriving. Armed with modern technology and other techniques to legitimize their business, the Medellin cartel was more a corporation and less a criminal organization.

The man in question was an accountant, who had risen higher above in the ranks but due to his experience in the system and overconfidence, he let his greed get better of him.

You never mess with Luiz Sanchez, he might not be a psychopath but he was a shrewd businessman, who had his fingers on the pulse of his employees and the business. No detail is missed by the experienced eyes of Senor Sanchez.

The man was completely trapped and he had only one way to freedom. He confessed everything, from the tiniest of the details to the biggest ones. After he was finished Luiz smiled and said “Gracias (thank you)” and walked away, before making a cut-throat signal to his men.
Luiz Sanchez never forgives deceit, for him honesty and trust are the pillars of any relationship.
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It’s a cold winter evening in Guadalajara, Mexico. The man was tied up and gagged on a chair. He was struggling to get free, but his efforts were futile and screams were muffled. A spotlight was focused on him.

The door opened slowly, revealing a masked man walk in slowly pliers in hand. He was wearing a Jason Voorhees mask, but dressed like royalty, in his Armani tie and Ferrogamo shoes and custom made Italian suit. This was an unique juxtaposition of classy and psychotic. On seeing this sight, the victim started writhing and shaking desperately in order to free himself from his bound state.

The masked man snapped his pliers and gave an evil laugh and slowly walked towards the man. He held his arm and twisted it until it snapped, breaking a few bones. The other hand met the same fate. Then he proceeded to slowly and gently cut his thumb of the right using the pliers, with a crunch the thumb fell off and the man began sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. Without even pausing to catch his breath, the masked man proceeded to meet out the same treatment to his other thumb.

He called out for one of his men to get a knife and a plate. Then he proceeded to cut of the poor man’s head clean off his body and set it up on the plate.
The masked man clapped his hands and light went on in the room, it was full of cartel members in the shadows who were illuminated now, visibly shaken by the display of extreme sadism.

The masked man removed his mask and said “you dare cross me, you will be served” and proceeded to show the plate all around the room.
He was none other than, Alejandro Martinez heir apparent and main overseer of the Sinaloa cartel.