The Cartel

Chapter XI

It was the next night when Andrew informed Carly of the plan he'd come up with. What he didn't tell her was how long it had taken him to think of it between his foggy, aching head and his naps. 

To keep others from getting suspicious and starting rumors, Carly had gone into work that day. Andrew had e-mailed his boss of his need to take a few days of off work. He promised a quick recovery, while Carly could only hope it would be. If it wasn't quick, Andrew would still be at work whether or not his body was ready for it within a couple of days. 

Carly sat at the table while Andrew lay on the couch, a pillow over his face. 

"Andrew, are you sure you want to do this?" Carly asked. 

She was much less certain than Andrew. He was not going to stop because of a stupid headache. Okay, it was more than a headache, but that was not how he treated it. 

Yampa pulled the pillow away from his face and squinted when the lights blinded his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, just listen...I don't think you'll be suspected. Not only would Kayla's old friend and current enemy be right under her nose, but also it would be a bit of a stretch for you out of all of Kayla's enemies to be here. But, if they do run finger prints, I don't think Kayla keen on admitting you're here. I'll probably be questioned, though. Don't worry about me, though-I have a plan."

"Which is?" Carly wasn't going to just let him drop it. She had to be sure he actually had some sort of a plan, no matter how foggy his head was. 

Yampa didn't miss a beat. "I was out the guard and a young woman I had never met before took me into the woods and threatened me, trying to get information on Kayla. Of course, I denied, because I totally don't! Anyways, I'll explain my old karate, old self-defense classes, and a good amount of adrenaline kicked in. I had no choice but to the guard and knock the girl unconscious before getting out of there as quickly as possible." 

"What about the hole? That wasn't there before we came," Carly pointed out. "If it was being guarded, they would know that too." 

"It was there before I came in. Those two bastards must have done it," Andrew claimed with a grin. 

"Those bastards?" Carly echoed before threatening, "Don't forget-your brain hit your skull. I know how to make it do that again."  

Andrew winked, but Carly looked away, faking anger as her stomach flipped in her stomach. 

* * * 

In under seven days, everything went smoothly and according to plan for Andrew. His concussion healed relatively quickly, and Carly was at his side every night.

One night, he'd managed to give Carly a few extra cups of wine than she was used to. But he couldn't go further, like he would have any other night with any other woman. He had too much respect, too much love for her, two things he only thought he had already experienced. Boy, was he wrong. 

Contrasting, Scarlet was never there. One, he never wanted her to be there. Two, Yampa knew that if she knew he was injured then she would seem him as weak and ditch him, which he didn't mind. He just wanted to do it to her before she did it to him. Besides, the week he separated himself from her, the more clinging she became-something that was evident when he returned to work. 

Andrew was able to return to work after a couple of days. Scarlet didn't notice his return until the middle of the day. She slipped into his office when Carly was on one of her breaks. 

"Drew-" 

"Andrew," he corrected. Normally, the exchange was a teasing one, but this time he barely acknowledged  her presence in the small room. He continued typing at his desk while she strode over to him behind the desk. 

"You have much to catch up?" She whispered as her arms snaked around his hard chest. "I'm sure you've been working hard. How about a...break?" 

"Nah," he replied casually. 

For a moment, Scarlet was taken back. Then she laughed. "Funny, Andrew, but seriously." She eyed him ravenously. 

That's when Andrew turned around in his chair, his expression indifferent towards Scarlet. "But seriously, I need to work...You're good, but you're distracting. I value my work, too, and I need someone who does the same." 

"Excuse me?" Scarlet snapped. "Are you inferring that I don't work hard?" 

"Inferring? No, I'm pretty sure I stated it rather clearly, Scarlet," Andrew shot back calmly. "This"-Yampa wagged his index finger from him to Scarlet a three or four times-"is just not going to work." 

"You are no different than any of my other boyfriends," she snapped. 

"Maybe you should try to attract other kinds of men, then," he said blatantly. 

Scarlet exhaled noisily. Her nerves took control. "We're over." 

"That was the whole point of this conversation, Scarlet." 

She stormed out in an irate huff. 

Why did I even consider dating her? Andrew wondered, shaking his head. 

* * * 

It was almost exactly seven days when he was called into the upper levels. Into Kayla's office. He stood right in the middle of the room. Stared directly at Kayla. He looked around, taking all of it in. The location of every piece of furniture-Kayla's desk and chair, the wall bookcase, and the coffee table between two recliners off to his right. Also to his right was a glass wall. Kayla had a clear, wide view of her island and the ocean. 

"Sit down," Kayla told him, and he obeyed. The captain of the guards stood behind Kayla's desk and to her left, his hands behind him. 

Andrew feigned nervousness and kept his hands in his lap or on the edge of the desk. He was just hiding the fact that he was pulling a little device out of his sleeve and putting it under Kayla's desk. Just a little present. Because who doesn't like a good bug? 

Just as he expected, she basically interrogated him on the incident. The captain of the guards pitched in a few other questions here and there. He told them the same story he had given Carly. 

Carly...

Andrew cleared his throat, pulling himself back down to Earth as he was forced to listen to the captain of the guard. Over twenty minutes into the conversation, Kayla said something that threw Andrew off and gave him the willies. 

"If you are on the other team, do not doubt for a second that we won't find out," Kayla stated. "You should seriously rethink if that is the truth, or you will be experiencing The Cartel first hand." 

Anyone else would have thought 'experiencing The Cartel first hand' meant being forced to be one of the guards working the branches or any other body who witnesses it. But Andrew knew the true definition of experiencing The Cartel. It was more than just witnessing the hardships.

Experiencing The Cartel would be going through what Carly had to go through, going through the human trafficking branch.