Page 66 of Trig

“And you…what do you provide? Guns?”

“We arm the people. We guard the people. We protect the people.”

“And they pay you?”

“Everyone except the elders. They have little money. We do it for free.”

“Why do any of it? Do you have a personal vendetta against him?”

Oscar looks away. I tap my gun against the wall three times to get his attention.

“He killed my parents when I was eighteen, so yeah, you could say that.”

I feel a little bit of sympathy for him as I hear the pain in his voice.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I couldn’t protect them then, so I do this in their honor.”

I nod. “And Cisco? You said it’s too late. What does that mean?”

“We have a brotherhood. When we meet, and we bring you in, you have vowed to be beside us. If you leave, they take it as you are now against us. Cisco made that vow; he understood the consequence if one should leave.”

“If you don’t work for anyone, why do you answer to these brothers?”

“When I started this operation, I started it with them. They came to me needing some help for their people that religion alone can’t fix. There were rules decided on. Rules that keep the dark out of the light. We all agreed.”

“Does Cisco know everything you just told me?”

Oscar nods his head. “Everything except the vendetta part.”

“He’s young. He doesn’t understand the ending to this story and neither do you.”

“Nobody forced him. He willingly vowed without asking the proper questions.”

I growl.

“And Mya?”

“The truth!”

I nod.

“She may be working with Cisco, but she’s not part of the organization and I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t want her anywhere near these transactions, so if today ends well between you and me, she’s no longer allowed to participate through Cisco. I can keep her busy running a more legal empire.” He pauses. “I know I’m not a good guy on paper, but I do like her so far. I think she likes me despite what she says. I know that I don’t know your daughter in a way I should yet…but I want to. So, I’m asking for that type of time, and if you decline and she agrees, I just want to be clear; I won’t stop seeing her, so you’ll have to put a bullet in me.”

I nod. “Don’t worry. That’s very much still on the table. All that for a girl you barely know, huh? You sound insane.”

“Maybe I’m a little crazy but I’m not delusional. I’m not saying I’m in love or want to marry her. I just know what I want. I’ve always been that way. We have a weird chemistry and an interesting connection. I think you, of all people, would understand that. Look at you and Nine.”

I squat in front of him and burn my eyes into his soul. “Don’t compare your one-night stand bullshit with my daughter to us. How do you know our names?”

He half grins. I point my gun at his kneecap.

“Every well-known criminal knows who you two are, and they knew you were here on the islands. At least, you were rumored to be here somewhere. I used to hear stories of you two when I was younger. My uncles would talk like you guys were a myth. The savage hitman avenging his brother’s death, slaughtering everything on site until one day he met a woman whose beauty would make his heart beat again. It was a story told over and over again. They said you came here to escape from American monsters, but these monsters found you and they killed the beauty your heart belonged to. They said not even death could keep you two apart, that your love was so strong, you brought her back from the dead. It was said that on this very island, you punished the people that caused you pain by burning everyone and everything down to the ground.” He pauses. “Not a soul survived, yet the story still spread is what used to get me.”

“Sounds like your uncles sold you on a fairytale,” I say.

“You want honesty from me, but you don’t return it.” He scoffs. “My uncle Miguel was obsessed with you two. He had pictures and news stories online from Las Vegas. He showed me them every time he’d tell the story. He was convinced you two would start a war here, but to his surprise, he said you two vanished. Not a peep after the massacre. Not one story told. No gossip down the criminal line. Just silence, as if you never existed.”

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