That gives me pause. There’s not a damn thing homophobic about the Kutsenkos or Andreyevs. They’re modern Russians.They have reason to beveryaccepting of any lifestyle. Why would a gay couple in our organization matter to them?
“Were they blackmailing you because of it?”
“Yeah. They don’t care, but they know other families would. They weren’t going to use it against you directly. It was information to sell to anyone who wanted to fuck you over from the inside out. They knew not everyone would accept my brothers. It was tell them where you disappear to, or they’d sell the information to a Mexican or Colombian rival.”
“You believed them?¡Qué pelota eres!” What an idiot you are.
“I’d do anything to protect my brother!”
“Shitload of good it did you. He’s dead because of you.”
José wails with grief. For the few hours left of his miserably pathetic life, he’ll regret that to his last breath.
“¡Lo sé!” I know!
“So, they told the O’Sheehans where our family’s most sacred place is because you told them.”
I rear back with the pipe ready to crack more ribs on his left side. There are at least two I haven’t gotten to yet.
He shakes his head. “No. I knew they were bluffing about telling any New York family about the estate. That was an empty threat. The Kutsenkos went after the O’Rourkes’ ancestral home to punish them, and it’s cost them millions ever since. We know Pasha, Misha, and Aleks nearly died last year in the Czech Republic because the O’Rourkes’ reach is that far. I believed them when they said they’d tell someone in Mexico or Colombia about my brothers. I figured they’d sell the info to your rivals in exchange for someone in Latin America going after the O’Rourkes for them. I didn’t guess they’d tell someone in Upstate.”
“Why were they even in contact with the O’Sheehans?”
“I don’t know. Probably something to do with your woman since she’s Maks’s sister-in-law. When Drew sent men to find Tómas and Miguel, I tried to lie. I said they were just best friends since they were kids. I said I was as close to Tómas as Miguel was. They had photos of them on vacation in Jamaica.”
I told them not to go there. I told them too many syndicates do business there for them to ensure their privacy. They didn’t fucking listen. A horseback ride into the mountains to a coffee plantation likely cost them Miguel’s life.
“Why’d you tell anyone about the estate if you knew your brother was there?”
“I was supposed to get a text before the attack. I was supposed to get enough heads up to get my brother and me away from there.”
“And the text never came in.”
José shakes his head again. He’s strung up, naked with his arms over his head. He can’t even hold it up anymore, so it lolls to the side, resting against his left bicep.
“I got the text, but it wasn’t an alert to get out. It said dead men don’t tell tales.”
“No shit. There was no way they’d let you live once they attacked. They didn’t want anyone to survive that. You were their first target outside my family. If they hadn’t killed you, how did you think you’d survive my brothers and me? If we’d died, how would you have survived mytíos? If you hadn’t confessed, they would’ve killed every survivor to ensure the guilty were punished. They’d never have trusted you again.”
“¡Lo sé!But I had to take the chance if it could save Miguel.”
“You should’ve come to us the moment anyone approached you with that information. You know we supported them.Wewould have protected them. Instead, you got your brother killed.No oneis to blame but you.Youdid this. It’s allyourfault.”
“¡Lo sé!¡Lo sé!¡Lo sé!”
He keeps repeating himself, the emotional anguish worse than the physical pain he’s endured. I know Tómas made José confess all of this to his parents, made him be the one to tell them he got their other son killed. They’re an old Cartel family, so our relationships with the other families is no secret.
“Let’s go back a moment. I want to be completely clear. Drew approaches you with the knowledge that Tómas and Miguel are a couple. He threatens your brother. How do you get from there to telling them about the estate? They would have been safe there.”
His hands fist and unfist, and he trembles. It makes the rope he’s hanging from vibrate, which makes him swing and twist since only the tips of his toes touch the ground.
“It was theseñoritaor my brother. I told you we were supposed to have time to get away. It was tell him where you took her, or he’d hunt down Tómas and Miguel.”
“Which Kutsenko told Drew to approach you?” I’ll kill whichever one it was.
“I don’t know. Drew never said.” I believe him because Drew knows if he survives my family, he wouldn’t survive selling out the Kutsenkos.
“Why’d he think you’d know in the first place?”
