Brokenheart (Adrian Cervantes Book 3) by Jack Mahoney

Author:Jack Mahoney [Mahoney, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“So,” Casey began, “DEA agents regularly come into contact with massive piles of money and drugs. Their supervisors know this; internal investigators know this. So, agents get their finances examined like codebreakers tracking U-boats. Money’s hard for them to hide.

“Drugs are a different story, though. No one can tell the difference between, like, sixty and fifty-nine kilos on sight alone. Grass, coke, heroin: all fungible if it’s pure enough. If it’s stored properly, it’ll keep. And it’s not like they have to worry about getting raided, right?” Casey mimicked a phone call. “‘Oh, what’s that? We’re sweeping the self-storage lockers on Franklin Avenue? Sure, see you tomorrow.’ Click. Time to move the stash.

“So raw product is a popular retirement fund for a . . . flexible DEA agent. Only problem: how to cash out. You have to turn the goods into money. Agents know plenty of dealers. Informants, people they surveilled, people they arrested, so on. But none of them are eager to handle product for a federal officer.” Casey uncurled his thumb and pinkie for another imaginary phone call.

“I get it,” Adrian said.

Casey awkwardly hung up his pantomime phone. “So, anyway, a miracle happened. States started legalizing marijuana. Not just decriminalizing it, but actually letting folks open up dispensaries and cafes and shit. It’s still Schedule One at the federal level, but California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and so on: all cool. So, if you’re a forward-looking agent who’s sitting on a massive stockpile of shrink-wrapped weed, you’ve got a means to launder it. Turn that green into . . . uh, green.”

Adrian held a hand up. “You just said investigators watch their finances. Wouldn’t a retired drug enforcement agent opening up a dispensary set off all sorts of alarms?”

“Exactly. That’s why they need a front man.”

Realization washed over Adrian like a cloud of tingling smoke. “And it helps if their front man knows what he’s doing. If he has an actual grow operation already.”

“They made the offer above board at first. ‘It’s a win-win,’ he said.” Casey leaned into the twang of Boucher’s accent. “‘You get yerself a stream of legal income. We get to put our product on the market.’”

“Sounds great. Why didn’t you go for it?”

“Because the dispensary market’s bullshit, man! Tons of paperwork, years of waiting to get a license approved. I’d need to move to Colorado to establish residency and actually, y’know, settle down there. Plus, no banks will touch you since it’s still illegal on the federal level.

“I’ve put a couple cultivars on the market, mind you. I’m not totally opposed. There are a couple dispensaries I do some business with. But that’s the supply side!” Casey pointed with both hands, as if illustrating something obvious on a map. “I have a reputation to uphold! Am I supposed to sully my good name selling whatever schwag that asshole’s been sitting on?”

“It’s a matter of principle then?”

“It’s a matter of survival. You think Boucher’s gonna keep letting me grow on federal land once

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