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“Dirty Dozen,” Wit said.
“How many times do I need to say how much we hate being called that. We started as far more than a dozen,” Bozz warned.
“I don’t know, boss. It’s beginnin’ to grow on me,” Hen admitted.
“Well, there’s a lot more out there just like these guys.” Brodie went on. “This has been going on for decades, and for decades, we’ve fought the good fight…”
“We?” Ronan asked. “You were… one of them?”
Brodie nodded. “Still am. On the good side, that is. That’s how all of this came about. I’ve been following along for years, watching our family take this on and tear Chalice apart faster than anyone else could in history. BK Security getting involved isn’t anymore a coincidence as Wit and Hen coming up in the ranks like they did, working Safe Haven, and winding up right where you all are right now.”
“Unbelievable,” Wit said.
“It would be…completelyunbelievable, if you hadn’t already worked this thing so deep and for so long,” Brodie said, giving purpose to everything they’d done up to this point. “You’ve met allies along the way who’ve helped you in various Chalice-related cases, but there are so many you haven’t met who’ve been in the background. Helping. Feeding information and leads.”
“Like David Kimball, Mariana Guerrero the queen pin cartel boss, and Ambassador Dalton…” Cane said.
“The Ambassador is Neily’s dad,” Ryker stated about his wife, Neily.
“And Marianna Guerrero is Daily’s mom…” Ronan started. “Sensing a strong theme here.”
“You aren’t wrong,” Brodie pointed out. “Like I said, none of this has been by coincidence, but rather a perfectly orchestrated dynamic that needed to be formed to combat the evil doings of what’s become the largest international organized crime ring of our time. None of us could fight this alone, and together, we lacked resources. So…”
“You built your own regime to send into battle,” Wit said. “Us. All of us.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding. And it worked,” Brodie continued. “Chalice has been around for… decades. And in a handful of years, you guys have dismantled them in a way… none of us could. They were growing too fast. We’d take out a piece, and they’d build up two more cells. Now… one remains.”
“And they have the only ledgers remaining?” Killion chimed in. “We have taken every single ledger with every single takedown. We have to be getting close to having all of them, which means we hold the keys to the kingdom.”
“Closer than you think.” Brodie winked at Wit and Hen. “You have all the ledgers… well, for the most part.”
“I don’t follow.” Wit stood and began to pace, the news falling heavy on his shoulders. “I don’t understand how me and Hen havin’ this new legal trouble plays into any of what you’re sayin’.”
“You hold the final keys to the kingdom. You have the ledgers,” Brodie informed.
Hen joined his brother and paced. “Those keys? From the will reading?”
“In a sense. Those keys unlock the door that you guys destroyed getting in here.” Brodie chuckled. “The final ledgers… are here. With Safe Haven.”
“Then they must come with a lot of fucking power and influence if they’re worth twenty-five million apiece,” Wit surmised.
“More than all the others combined,” Brodie shared with a slow nod, letting the information sink in.
“Jesus,” Bozz said. “That’s…”
“A lot.” Brodie finished for him. “It’s heavy stuff and comes with a lot of responsibility. Safe Haven was built on the back of those ledgers. It was the initial attempt to bring down the corrupt regime. We’ve saved a lot of lives with Safe Haven but haven’t made enough arrests. It didn’t come without some successes, hence the ledgers. But ultimately, we were just a Band-Aid on a much larger wound that bled out constantly. Until you guys.”
“That still doesn’t explain how our team became a part of the fix,” Bozz said. “Or how we fit in to it all.”
Brodie smiled. “Remember when you first realized what was going on and that you were being used?”
“It was the case we were working when we came face-to-face with BK Security…” Bozz paused. “Ah. It was intentional that we became a part of that case. Our toe-to-toe with them was to bring light to the real enemy.”
“We put that in motion,” Brodie said. “Because of Hen.”
“Because of me?” Hen questioned.
“You were planted with the Dozen…” Brodie put up a hand and paused. “Excuse the name use, I don’t know what else to call you. You’ve always been Dirty Dozen on our end too.”
