The material links Jason to drug runners in the Keys and separately lists Heder as a Keys figure with a wife called Lori. Cal Hampton is described as an associate of Heder as well.
So Heder is connected to both of Jason's worlds, work and friendship. Is there anything official that actually states the employment relationship, or is boss an assumption everyone has made?
Nothing states the employment relationship. What exists is that Jason works around drug runners in the Keys, that Heder is a Keys figure, and that Cal is described as an associate of Heder. Boss is an inference and a reasonable one.
That is a much better model and it changes how I read Jason. He is not working for someone, he is inside something.
The Cal connection is the one that makes boss feel too simple. If Cal is an associate of Heder and a friend of Jason, then Heder is the hub of that whole social group rather than an employer sitting above it.
And that is the whole reason meeting Lucia could be the best or the worst thing that happened to him.
inside something is way worse than working for someone. you can quit a job