The Relic Runner Origin Story Box Set Ernest Dempsey (top 10 books of all time txt) 📖

the others. Juarez, Guadalajara, and other larger cities received more press in the American mainstream media, but behind those headlines, dozens of other towns and villages teemed with violence.

Many of the details Dak had seen were worse than anything he'd ever witnessed during his service with the military. Beheadings, dismembered body parts, public hangings, and worse, were all standard methods utilized by the cartels.

The barbaric display of butchery the cartels used was intended to get people in line, to choose a side, or to let everyone know who was on top—at least for now. With his peripheral view of the Mexican drug wars, Dak didn't know all the ins and outs, but he noticed how it seemed like a seesaw in the way that cartels rose and fell. Few had been around for more than a decade, with new and ambitious leaders climbing through the ranks or building their own operations to rival others.

Some tactics in the power struggle smacked of Romanesque methods with covert assassinations, sabotaging supply chains, and plying corrupt government officials and police for assistance in a multitude of avenues.

It was a zero-sum game. There would be no winners, only temporary leaders atop a board that constantly changed, evolved, and stripped down even the mightiest king, elevating new pawns to a monarchy built on powder. Cocaine had always been a part of the cartels' commodities, but with marijuana legalization on the rise in the United States, the organizations had to make a pivot.

They were businesses, after all, and when a product became less profitable, the leaders knew it was time to push something else with higher margins.

Enter the return of heroin.

A dangerous narcotic that had all but played itself out in America returned to the streets with new vigor. The cartels flooded American drug houses with the stuff, and with it, the number of overdose deaths had skyrocketed in recent years. On top of that, many of the drug lords blended fentanyl into their heroin, which caused the number of deaths to surge even higher.

Dak sat down at his computer station and flipped open the laptop. "So, what is Luis doing with a cartel?" he asked as the screen bloomed to life. An image of El Capitan in Yosemite filled the monitor with a few blue folders and documents populating the right-hand side.

"From what my intel says, he's the right-hand man to Giovani Mendoza—the head of the Dorado Aguila cartel."

"Golden Eagle," Dak said. "Interesting name. Someone thinks highly of themselves." Dak masked his bewilderment at the information for a moment, then spilled it. "Did you say he's the right-hand guy?"

"Yeah. It seems he's head of security and a key enforcer. From what I've gathered, he's pretty ruthless. Cops won't touch him. And American agencies won't try. They have too many other fish they're working on, higher-profile targets."

Luis, ruthless? The thought shook Dak to his gut. He'd seen Luis operate in combat. He did his job with careful efficiency. He'd killed in battle, everyone on the team had. But ruthless? That didn't sound like Luis. Then again, siding with Bo and the others to leave Dak for dead went against everything he thought he knew about the man as well as the rest of the crew.

It seemed Luis Martinez had completed his journey to the dark side.

Will interrupted Dak's silent contemplation. "I don't think I have to tell you how dangerous it will be to go after your boy on this one, Dak. He's protected. Not just by guns and a small army of cartel soldiers, but by the local law enforcement too. You won't get much help on this one if you decide to do it."

"I didn't have help on the last one either, except for your intel."

"Yeah, but this is different. Car—" He caught himself and stopped before he said Carson's name. "Your last target was on his own. I wouldn't advise an entire team of spec ops guys from any branch going into this hornets' nest. It's suicide."

"Thanks for the advice," Dak said. "I'm not taking a team. So, I should be fine."

"I had a bad feeling you'd say that."

Dak ignored him. "You said I won't get much help. Does that mean I'll get some?"

"Yeah," Will confirmed. "I have a contact in Guadalajara not too far from there. She can help you with anything you might need: weapons, supplies, whatever. I told her you'd be in contact."

"She?"

Will snorted. "You got a problem working with a woman?"

Dak chuckled. "No. Just wondering if it's one of your old girlfriends, because if so, maybe she won't help me as much as you think."

"You're funny," Will said flatly. "No, nothing ever happened with me and her. I'll send you her contact info when we get off the phone. Her name is Carina Perez. She's a tough one. Used to work for an anti-drug task force with the Federales. Now she runs a cantina outside Guadalajara."

"She's a bartender?" Dak's doubts were obvious in his voice.

"I didn't say she was pouring the drinks, although maybe she is. I recall she made a pretty good margarita. But the cantina is a cover. She helps equip locals with weapons so they can defend themselves. Keeps it real hush. Only works with double-checked referrals and always uses trusted third parties to make her deliveries. She's smart."

"I wouldn't say being a gun runner is smart if you're going against the cartels, but I like her moxie. I'll say that."

"I'm sure you do. I'll send over the information now. Good luck, Dak. Don't get yourself killed. Or worse."

Dak snorted. "I make no promises."

He ended the call and focused on the news headline he'd pulled up during the conversation. His finger dragged the article down beyond the fold as he read the details about a convoy of Methodist missionaries who'd been slaughtered in the crossfire of a local drug war. The location of the killing was Uruapan.

According to the reports, a cartel called El Nuevo Guerrero was being blamed for the massacre. Dak figured that was one of the rivals of Luis' organization. Why