Tempted by the Sinner

The gunshots had quieted. I heard talking as I went down to the main floor. The floor was slick with blood and I found Ryan, Dante, and Cosimo in the living room standing over the dead bodies of three Jalisco soldiers.

The room was a mess of jumbled furniture, marked and scratched walls, and empty beer bottles and cans. The TV was a nice new flat screen with a nice gaming system underneath it, and it looked like they were playing Mario Kart before we showed up. I shook my head and met Dante’s eye.

“Anything good?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Just some cash.”

“Take it,” I said.

“What’s that?” He nodded at the computer.

“MacBook,” I said. “Santos was upstairs.”

“Fuck,” Dante said, his eyes wide. “No shit?”

“No shit,” I said. “He’s dead now. Couldn’t help himself.”

“That’s his computer then?”

“I hope so.” I looked around the room for a bag, found one under the sink. I tossed the laptop inside, helped them gather up the scattered bundles of fifties, twenties, and hundreds, and shoved them inside. When we were done, we hurried back into the main room.

Ryan knelt down next to Chad, checked his pulse, shook his head.

“Dead,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said and put a hand on Dante’s shoulder.

“He was a good kid,” Dante said. “Come on. We have to go before the cops come.”

“We’re leaving him?” Ryan asked.

“No choice,” I said. “We’ll get him back eventually. The cops will make sure of that.”

Ryan clenched his jaw but nodded.

We filed out of the house. Ryan and Cosimo turned right, and I turned left with Dante. We walked fast back toward the car.

I tossed the bag into the back seat. Mona stared at it on her lap then looked up at us with wide, scared eyes as I got behind the wheel.

“It’s done?” she asked.

“Done,” I said. “They’re all dead. We lost one.”

“Shit,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

Dante stared straight ahead and said nothing.

I felt bad for him. He lost a guy, one of his own crew, and that was always hard. As the Capo, it was his job to make sure his guys were safe, and this wasn’t even a job he wanted to do.

But this shit happened in our line of work. One day, that dead body would be mine, I knew it just as well as anyone.

I pulled the car forward and sped off, the wheels leaving tire tracks on the road.* * *I dropped Dante off back at his place. He lingered just outside the car then leaned in the open window.

“No hard feelings,” he said.

“None,” I said. “And I really am sorry about Chad.”

“We’ll make sure his family’s taken care of,” he said. “That’s the least we can do.”

“Good,” I said.

Dante met my eye and I saw a hint of my old friend in there. But he was buried by the past, by the loss and the anger that haunted him. I knew we’d never have that old relationship back, and it wasn’t fair of me to expect it.

I nodded to him, and hoped he understood that things were good between us.

He nodded back and walked off.

Mona got out and came up front. She shut the door and leaned toward me, biting her lip hard.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m okay,” I said. “That went better than expected.”

“We should go find out how all the others did,” she said.

I nodded. “But first, I have to make a call.” I put the car in gear and drove for a little while, weaving through the city, until I parked again near my father’s house. There were a lot of cars on his block, and I saw Roberto standing out front, guarding the entrance. I guessed a lot of the crews were done and reporting in already.

I took out my phone and dialed.

Diego answered on the third ring.

“Yeah?” he said.

“Diego, it’s me,” I said. “We made our move.”

Silence from him for a full five seconds. “And?” he asked.

“Santos is dead,” I said. “Killed him myself. I’m not sure how the others did, but I think we cut the head off the snake.”

“Goddamn,” he said, his voice full of whispered awe. “I didn’t expect this.”

“They blew up my fucking house,” I said. “That’s not something I can forgive.”

“What now?” he asked.

“Now you bring your crew down here and start making money. And Diego, if you’re fucking smart, we can have a long and healthy relationship.”

“That’s the plan,” he said. “See you soon then.”

“See you soon.” I hung up the phone.

Mona leaned toward me and reached out. Her hand seemed to hang in the air as she brushed her fingers against my cheek. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer, kissing her like I’d never tasted her before.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “I was so scared. Do you have any idea how scared I was?”

“I can guess,” I said. “But it’s over now.”