“Does this mean you’re willing to listen?”
“I’m listening, dude. Whether or not I think you’re full of shit is another thing. Start from the beginning,” I say.
“My dad didn’t send me out here, my cousin did. Tony’s taking this shit personally. I don’t think my dad even knows what’s going on,” he says. I’m more than a little surprised to hear that Mancuso is probably not involved yet. All Duke told me was that the kid has some intel that I need to hear and that he’s getting the vibe that it’s legit.
“Tony’s still recovering. He took a shot to the stomach that had him in the hospital for a few weeks. That’s his bullshit excuse for not dealing with this himself. So anyway, I’d been hit in the shoulder, so when they arrested me, I went to the hospital. Some dick from the feds came in and told me that my dad and uncle were going away for life. He said my cousin was half-dead and my father’s organization was done for.”
“Name?” I ask.
“Agent Wilks,” he says. “He was with a scumbag pig who’d pretended to play dirty and butted up to my dad. Officer Adam Davis. That’s when they told me how they’d found the warehouse they arrested me in.”
“What warehouse?”
“A warehouse full of meth. Tony had a beef with the guy who ran it. That’s how he ended up with a bullet hole in his stomach. He was giving the guy shit about missing product or something. I’d been trying to control the situation when Al came from out of nowhere. Davis was smug as fuck when he told me that Alex gave up the warehouse. I didn’t believe it until I got out on bond.” His words are definitive, not like he’s confused or trying to make shit up on the spot. It’s also consistent with the little bits we got from Gloria, Mancuso’s sister, when she called about Alex. Gloria didn’t give us much. It was little more than telling us that Alex had ratted her dad out to the feds and that Tony, Gloria’s son, knew. So, obviously, Alex wasn’t safe there.
She shouldn’t be safe here, either—on principle alone—but she’s Ruby’s kid. No matter how much I hate it, she and Ryan are together right now, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon. The asshole was raised better than to bed a rat.
“You were surprised?” I ask. Now that he’s mentioned it, the opportunity has presented itself to get a little intel on Alex. Ruby’s kid or not, she’s living in Jim’s house, and she’s got my brother under her thumb. She’s too close to this club and, until a few months ago, none of us had even met her. They all think she’s just a scared kid who’s making the best of a bad situation, but I’m not sure that’s true.
“About my sister?” he asks. His eyebrows raise like he didn’t expect the question. I nod and wait for an answer. I can’t say that his vouching for her means shit to me, but if he confirms my fears then that’s reason enough to urge Ryan to back off.
“Your friends tell me she’s happy here,” he says. “Tell me she’s okay, that she’s being taken care of.” For some reason, we’re breaking ground today. We might be able to use him to get a leg up on Mancuso’s plans. Still, his questions unsettle me. I want to ask him why he’s so concerned for a bitch who got him arrested, and how he can do a total one-eighty, going from beating the crap out of her to playing the concerned brother.
“Didn’t think you’d care,” I say honestly. Maybe I can get some insight into what I’m working with. He shakes his head and looks at the plastic container in his lap. When he lifts his head and meets my eyes again, there’s an emotion behind his face that he’s fighting to mask. It can’t be easy, whatever it is that he’s feeling.
“I lost my temper,” he says quietly. “I totally lost it. I put so much on the line, and she wouldn’t let me help her. I still don’t get it. She should want to get away from you people.” I choose not to take offense to the comment. He looks lost in thought and like he’s given up every ounce of fight he ever had.
“And where would she go, if not with us?” I ask. “Because from where I’m sitting, she’s a rat who fell into a pretty good situation.”
“She’s not a rat,” he hisses. His words come out cold as ice, and his eyes are narrowed. The apathy is gone, and in its place is what looks to be flat-out hatred. “You don’t know shit about my sister.”
“Enlighten me,” I say. His anger doesn’t vex me, nor does it put me on edge. If anything, it comforts me. It’s something, but it’s not quite enough. I want more before we get back to Mancuso.