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“Hell yeah I do,” I agree, spinning the recliner around to face the kitchen.
“That’s enough,” he sighs wearily. “So, you know I’m on the task force assigned to pinning crimes on the Vargas family.”
“Yeah.”
“And you know that I’ve been on it for years, and we’ve failed to make evenoneserious arrest.”
“Yeah.”
Vincente speaks up. “And I told you we have connections in the police force that help us out.”
The reality of what they’re saying rushes in to my brain and it finally smacks me across the face. “Dad, that’syou? All this time, you’ve worked for them?” Almost as if I’m a computer that’s glitching, I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
“Not exactly. In college, I joined a secret society, a brotherhood if you will. Part of that decision was for my career: I knew the force had connections through the brotherhood, and I planned to take advantage of them.”
“So that’s why you promoted so quickly,” I whisper, catching up.
“Exactly. We all take an oath to take care of each other, and help as needed. So the brotherhood helped me get promoted faster, and I helped to keep other brothers out of the kind of trouble that could land them in jail.”
“Why didn’t you guys tell me?” I ask the guys. “If I knew my dad was on your side, I wouldn’t have been so terrified of them finding out!”
“It’s one of those secret society things,” Sandro shrugs. “The fewer people who know, the easier it is to keep a secret.”
“I… wow. All this time I thought my parents were these shining beacons of unimpeachable character, andthisis the reality. Mom, are you in this society, too?”
She shakes her head. “No, just your father. I’m not connected in any way. We thought it best that one of us keeps our nose clean, just in case things go south.”
My head is swimming. All this time, I thought I had to do everything in my power to keep my parents from finding out I was involved with the very family they were trying to catch. I’ve been suffering horrible guilt at deceiving them. Instead, we’ve all been on the same side, all along.
I blow out a heavy breath. “Well, this is definitely a better outcome than I imagined, when I pictured you finding out I’m involved with them,” I tell my parents, gesturing to the guys. “But we’ve got another problem.”
“I had a feeling,” Vincente states. “Is this why you were acting weird earlier?”
“Yeah.” Sighing, I relay the entire business with Manuel.
To my immense surprise, instead of fury or horror or any of a dozen emotions I could imagine they’d reply with, my father bursts into laughter. The guys join him, and even my mom smirks.
“Wait, let me get this straight: Manuel Vargas threatenedmylife, to get you to turn onthem?” Dad gestures at the guys, and I nod, confused as to why this is amusing.
“Yes… I guess I need you guys to explain the joke to me, because I didn’t find it very funny.”
“It’s just that between me and their father, we’ve got a rap sheet eight pages long on Manuel. Any of two or three dozen offenses that could land him in jail for the rest of his life. He’s not in the brotherhood; the only thing that’s protecting him right now is my agreement with the man he just tried to screw over. That’s like a titanic level fuck-up right there. Give me a minute.”
Dad pulls his phone out of his pocket, then shoots off a text. After a few seconds, it dings with a response and he grins. “Well, guess who has a giant win for the task force?”
“Papa told you to burn him?” Elian asks.
“Yep. He’ll be caught red-handed in a few hours, with enough to implicate him—and only him—in seventeen individual crimes.” Standing, my dad brushes off his slacks. “Boys, it was great to see you, but I think I need to get to work. I hear there’s about to be a big break in my case.” Turning my way, Dad says, “Sloane, can I talk to you for a minute?”
I follow him outside, where he leans against his car. “I know this is all a lot to take in. I can’t say I’m surprised that you somehow ended up involved in all this, but I am a little sad for you. Your mom and I hoped you’d have a life free from this sort of entanglement.”
“Serious question: Did you guys know it was Elian Vargas I was with on those catering jobs all along?”
He barks a short laugh. “Are you kidding? Sloane, we know the full name, date of birth, and social security number of everyone you’ve spent over ten minutes with for your entire life. Of course we knew who it was.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? All this time, I’ve been terrified of telling you the truth, for fear you’d be pissed or disappointed or something.” The level of betrayal I feel is neck and neck with relief at this point.
“Sloane, we could never be disappointed in you. If this is the life you choose, the life you’re meant to have, so be it. Your mom and I are incredibly proud of you.” He steps forward and wraps me in a hug. “I know you’re in now, and there’s not much we can do to change that. Just try to keep something for yourself, like your career, and know that whatever happens, your mom and I will look out for you.”
