Page 77 of No Merciful Corruption

She lifts the bedsheet further and examines his chest. “Let me guess. Handgun. Nine-millimeter.”

“Neither of them will say.” Diego shoves his hands in his pants pockets. “They won’t even tell us where the gun is.”

“That’s suspicious.” Lettie walks over to the sink and washes her hands. “Why are they being so secretive?”

“Beats the Hell out of me but I’m ready to get out of here.” Just then, Dimitrio and Beni enter the room. “Do you two know what to do?”

“Sasha is loaning us some help. Shouldn’t be too difficult.” Dimitrio says.

Beni’s nose scrunches as he angles his head to take a look at the body. “I never liked that guy.”

“No one did.” Lettie snatches up her jacket and heads toward the back door to make her exit. “If that’s all, I’ll be leaving now.”

Diego takes off after her. “Wait, you just got here!”

The three of us file out of the house and Mauricio waits for Lettie in the driveway. As she approaches, he peels himself away from the car hood and goes to open the back door. We hadn’t asked Lettie to bring any back up from home but God am I glad she did. She’s always thinking ten steps ahead of us.

“And now I’m leaving.” Our sister says. “Unlike the two of you, I have no romantic entanglement keeping me in this city. I don’t like New York. The streets are dirty, the people are rude, and the cab drivers are maniacs.”

“Technically, this is Jersey.” Diego points out.

I ignore him. “Why don’t you stop by the house first? Say hello to Dahlia and Kay. I’m sure they’d be glad to see you.”

Lettie stops in her tracks. A breeze hits and she tugs on the collar of her jacket in an attempt to keep it closed. Today, the sky is dark and gray and the air is crisp and humid. It smells like rain. With her phantom white hair and honey-colored eyes, she looks haunting in this light.

“I…” her features visibly soften. “I wouldn’t know what to say to them. Kay maybe but not Dahlia.”

“I’d love to know what happened this past year that was so terrible that neither of you could be bothered to speak to her.” I stare them both down. “Is there something the two of you need to tell me?”

All I’ve heard are fragments, bits and pieces from an argument here and an awkward encounter there. Up until now I dismissed all these conflicts as a byproduct of the issues I was having in my own relationship with Dahlia or lack thereof. However, I’m starting to believe there’s more to the story here.

Lettie gives a light shrug and wraps her arms around herself. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Figure it out then. Because I’m not allowing either of you to get away with vague answers anymore. It hurts the way you’ve been treating her. It hurts Dahlia and it hurts me. Never mind the fact she was in the hospital and neither of you came to see her.”

Lettie and Diego exchange glances in a language I cannot understand. Between the two of them, an entire conversation is had and they settle on a way forward together.

“Okay,” my sister relents. “I’ll stop by. For a little while.”

I scoff and hold up a hand. “Please, don’t act like you’re doing me a favor. I’d hate to have to beg you to do the courteous thing.”

Her expression softens. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know but if someone nearly died taking a bullet meant for my brother and saved his life, no one would have to beg me to go and say hello. Or even say thank you.”

“You can blame yourself for that.” Lettie snaps. “Nobody said to fly to New York!”

Diego’s voice tightens. “Leticia…”

“If you want to know why neither of us is talking to Dahlia right now it’s because of you!” she explodes. “Because we spent the last year trying to convince her to take you back when you couldn’t even be man enough to do it yourself. And in the process, it cost us our relationship with her.”

Mauricio dips into the car out of sight, likely aware of the fact that he is now encroaching on what is quickly becoming a very private family argument.

She turns to get into the car but at the last second slams the door shut and spins back around. “Actually, now that you brought it up.”

Diego visibly winces. “Oh no…”

“For the record, I never wanted Dahlia in our lives in the first place. You go galivanting around the city with an American tourist for two weeks and suddenly it’s a good idea to invite her to a private dinner in our grandfather’s house. None of this would’ve ever happened had Dahlia not been with you the night of the car accident.”