Page 23 of The Vicious Defender

"I want you to kill him," I order.

The two boys look at me, and then at each other.

"Are you serious?" Phoenix asks.

I nod again.

"But he's a kid, sir," Heath protests.

"So are you," I retort.

"But he's innocent," Phoenix argues.

"They're all guilty of something," I answer, my tone firm.

"You can't make us do this," Phoenix says, and Heath looks at his friend in surprise.

"Watch me," I challenge.

"If we do this, will you promise to honor my father's memory and wishes?" Heath asks.

"Sure, why not," I lie.

Phoenix is shaking his head. "He's lying, Heath. We shouldn't trust him."

"You don't have a choice," I say.

"But what if we refuse?" Phoenix asks.

"Then I'll kill the both of you," I threaten, raising my gun and pointing it at Phoenix's head.

The boy swallows hard and lowers his head.

"Fine, sir," he mumbles.

"Now go and do as you're told," I instruct, lowering my gun.

As the two boys walk off, I can't help but wonder what my adoptive brother would think if he could see me now. He'd be horrified, and rightly so. But I need to be sure that Heath will be able to take over the cartel one day, and I can't let his father's death go unavenged.

I'm doing this for the family. For the Scorpions. For the future.

Heath will thank me one day.

As the minutes pass by, I watch the monitor carefully. Everything is going smoothly until Phoenix comes up to the target, and a few minutes later, the feed goes blank.

I can't believe it. He fucked up.

I grit my teeth while Saul leans forward, surveying the screen.

"What happened?" I growl.

"Looks like the cameras have been disabled," he responds, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"How could Phoenix have done this?" I hiss, my blood boiling.

"I'm not sure," Saul responds.

"Damn it!" I swear, pounding the table in frustration.

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