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Diego hangs his head. “Your dad found a stash of drugs that night, questioned me about it, and it turned into an argument. My leader walked in just as your dad threatened to call the police. He told him to give him his shit back, but your dad refused. You know how he was about his establishment. Refused to be bullied or threatened by anyone. My leader shot him in the chest...and then your mother came running when she heard the shot. He killed her instantly.”
“Why didn’t you fucking tell the cops that?”
Shaking his head, Diego cries, “Don’t you get it? I caused your parents’ murder! I was the one that bought that shit here and created that situation. I’d have gone down for that, too.”
“Where the fuck is Armand Rodríguez, and why is the lieutenant here?”
He closes his eyes and says, “You still don’t get it.” His body shakes as he cries, but I don’t give a fuck.
I pull my chain around my hand, allowing the links to slowly drag across the concrete floor. Diego begins to cry harder. “Please. No more!”
“Then tell me where the fuck Armand is at.”
He shakes his head, and I have no choice but to drop to the floor and beat him with my chain-wrapped fist.
“He’s my brother,” he finally cries.
Toad and Axle pull me up to stand.
“I don’t give a fuck! Where is he?” I growl.
“When I tried to get out, he became the sole leader of Víboras. I was supposed to remain the face of the gang after he joined the force the year before. Didn’t want to, though. He cleaned up all the evidence. That’s why they couldn’t solve the murder.”
His eyes flick away and then back to me. I don’t miss where his glance landed.
“He’s your brother?”
“Sí. The lieutenant and Armand are one and the same. He liked the money he was making in the streets too much to give it up, but he liked the credibility the force gave him. Ryan...was close to figuring it out. He’d shown up at the pub too many times. So he had him followed. He came here...one night after it closed, and...Miguel followed him. Found him in the office...and shot him. Dumped him in an alley not too far away.”
I thunder, “Wake his ass up!”
“Nitro, we’ve got your back. Trust us to take care of this, man,” Axle says as I walk toward Lieutenant Aaron Rivera, whose real name is Armand Rodríguez.
“I have to take out the trash, bro,” I argue as another white-hot flash of pain shoots through my leg.
I remove my gun from my holster as I stand over him.
I hear Simone walking in my direction and she stops beside me, turning my head to face her. I try to ignore the plea in her eyes.
“You okay?” I ask.
Simone caresses my face and says, “I’m okay, but you must be taken care of. Let your brothers eliminate the threat.”
“Can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” she says, kneeling before me and checking my thigh. “It’s a through and through. You’re going to be just fine. Let’s get back to your place, and I’ll take care of you,” she says with a wink.
“He fucking killed my parents! Hid behind his badge! All this time, he’s been over my brother, watching every fucking move he makes to keep him from learning and telling the truth. And when Ryan figured it out, he was ready to take him out. Give me one goddamn reason why I shouldn’t make sure this scumbag is no longer breathing!”
“Because it will never bring back your parents. This is so convoluted and fucked up on so many levels, Nitro. You killing him...will take you from Ryan. I’m sure that your parents wouldn’t have wanted that, and neither would Ryan. It’s why he hid it from you for so long. He knew you’d sacrifice everything for this.
“If you kill him, it will all tie back to Ryan; he can’t afford that. They will piece it all together. He could lose his career over this, Nitro. If you ever wanted to protect him before, now’s the time. He’s protected you all this time. Now it’s time to give that back.”
She’s right, but it’s not grounding me. I search her eyes, trying to find my reason to hang on, but I swear I’m losing it. I’m two seconds from putting a bullet in his head.
“I need you,” she whispers. “I know you think you can’t give me what I need, but I know that you can. Please. Let your brothers clean up this mess.”
“Go take care of your woman and that bum leg,” Merlin says. “Promise you. We’ve got this.”
