Cathal #2
“You wouldn’t have been brought into this if you hadn’t helped them. Why couldn’t you leave her in that hospital in Tallahassee? Why did you agree to marry her?” Lotario said in return.
“Because, for one thing, Faolán is attempting to bring his entire family out of the ugliness, at least somewhat. And the second reason is, I couldn’t walk away from her. I started falling in love with Bronagh the moment I saw her.”
“Bah, don’t talk to us about that love-at-first-sight shit. It’s not real. And I would think men like you would know that. You marry for territory, bloodlines, and wealth, not love. And the Bragans don’t bring any of those to the table, not for your family,” Primo sneered.
“That shows you how much you don’t know. Love can happen in one meeting. And we don’t need any of those things, but if we did, why not the Bragans? They have a small territory, sure, but it’s a lucrative one,” Rian remarked.
Both brothers and even their muzzled Lalonde rolled their eyes. It was their loss. We continued.
Hollis asked the same questions we’d already asked, but one right after the other. When he stopped and waited, and there were no answers, it was time to stop talking. Walking over to one of the many cabinets in the basement, Alistair opened it. He glanced back at my father-in-law and me.
“Would the two of you care to suit up? It’s not necessary, but if you want to wear your clothes again, it might be a good idea. Unless you don’t want to get your hands dirty at all.”
I didn’t waste time, and neither did Faolán. I was surprised when Murdoch followed us.
“I’d like to do the same. In case I need to spell the boss or add to the fun.”
“Alright, four of us it is,” Alistair said.
What we put on was the splash-guard clothing that medical personnel or those handling hazardous materials wear to protect their clothing.
Gloves were part of it, but unless we got to splashing, the face shield wasn’t necessary.
As we donned them, the others kept up the chatter about how badly it was about to hurt.
It was true, but they were working to psych them all out, especially Lotario.
“Knives, scalpels, or something else? Or should we start with breaking bones in the fingers and toes first, then move inward?” Faolán asked.
“You pick,” I offered when Alistair shrugged.
“I think some good ole cracking and popping is needed to liven things up. We can move to the bloody stuff soon enough,” was Alistair’s reply.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” I replied.
Alistair and Murdoch stood on one side of the table with Faolán and me on the other. Lotario kept moving his head side to side, trying to see us at all times.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, trying to sound unconcerned, but it didn’t work. There was a tremor in his voice.
“We want to know what your personal grievance is with my family? We’ll go from there,” the head of the Bragan family asked.
“Go to hell, stop acting like you don’t know!” our captive partially yelled.
“How many fucking times does he have to tell you he has no fucking clue who you are!?” Murdoch shouted in Lotario’s face. He was so close that spittle hit the Methot brother in the face.
“You mean to stand there and say you don’t remember Mathéo Methot?” Lotario snapped.
Murdoch and my father-in-law exchanged puzzled looks. “No, we don’t,” Faolán stated.
Then they looked at Alistair and me. It was Alistair who answered. “Mathéo Methot was their father. He left them when they were ten and nine. He left them with their mother.”
“How do you know our dad and he doesn’t?” Primo asked.
“We know it because once we had your names, we began looking into your history. It came up. There was a death certificate for him four years ago. He died in prison from a head injury. They found him at the bottom of a flight of stairs. They didn’t know how it happened or why he was found where he was.
He lingered in a coma for a week before he died,” Alistair supplied.
“We know what happened! The head of the Bragan family had him killed. It was your fault he was in there in the first place. You betrayed him in a deal, and then, after he went to prison, it wasn’t enough for you. You had to silence him. You were afraid of what he’d tell!” Lotario angrily shouted.
“I was never in a deal with anyone named Methot. You said it was four years ago. How long before he died was he sent to prison?” Faolán asked.
“A year and a half,” Alistair supplied.
“That would make it five and a half years ago. I wasn’t in control of the Bragan family then.
That didn’t happen until five years ago.
Until then, it was my brother, Irial, who was in charge.
And knowing him the way I do, I have no doubt he could’ve double-crossed your father and had him killed.
It wouldn’t matter if Irial were in prison in New Mexico, and their father was where? ”
“Arkansas,” Alistair offered up.
“Okay, Arkansas. My brother had contacts, associates, and even some of his men scattered all over the country. He could’ve ordered it. Or it was a horrible accident. Why are you so sure he killed him?” Faolán asked.
“You hadn’t seen your dad since you were kids,” I added.
“We got a letter from him. It was a couple of months before he was killed. Dad wrote to tell us about the betrayal by the leader of the Bragan family in Las Cruces. He warned us to be alert in case he came after us. He said that he didn’t feel safe, even in prison, and he wanted us to stay away.
Dad said when he got out, which would be in six more years with good behavior, he wanted to make up for what he did. He regretted leaving his family.
“We wrote letters until we received notice that he was in a coma. We were headed to see him when they called to say he had died. The warden claimed they had no idea we existed until they found one of our letters hidden in Dad’s cell.
That’s why we want every last one of the Bragans dead,” Primo hissed.
“I’m sorry that you lost your father, but it has nothing to do with my daughter or me. And I can bet the rest of our family had no clue about your father. And the men who followed my brother are no longer a part of our family,” Faolán countered.
“We don’t give a fuck! We want all Bragan blood eradicated!” Lotario shouted.
He wore an unhinged expression. Clearly, he at least believed in blood feuds. Great, a fanatic.
“What about you? Do you believe an entire family deserves to die because of the wrongdoing of one or a few of its members and the men they paid?” I asked Primo.
He sat there, not saying anything for several beats. I was about to address his brother when he spoke.
“I believe that there is no way to know how far the rot goes. If his brother was capable of it, then so is he, his daughter, and the rest of their family.”
“Then, based on what you just said, we can only assume anyone who is blood-tied to you is rotten like you are, and we must kill them, too, including your mother,” Darragh said from his spot nearby.
He said it softly, but it got a huge reaction from both Methot men.
They shouted over each other about how we’d better not even think of touching their mother or anyone else in their family.
They had no idea that we wouldn’t arbitrarily kill the members of their family without proof that those individuals were involved in the things these two were.
And those had to consist of heinous acts such as rape, senseless murder, trafficking humans, incest, and pedophilia, which were the top ones.
Their yelling was brought to an end by a sharp, ear-splitting whistle from Fallon. He had the sharpest of us all. I rubbed my ears.
“Shut up! We’ve heard enough. Unlike you bastards, we don’t kill innocent people. And even if Faolán were guilty of being the one who betrayed your dad, assuming your dad told the truth, it wouldn’t mean killing Bronagh,” Fallon snapped.
“Our dad wouldn’t lie to us,” Lotario snapped.
“How would you know? He left twenty years before that letter. He was a man who felt no compunction about abandoning his wife and children. And don’t tell me you know he wouldn’t.
Alistair, why don’t you share what the team has discovered so far about Methot Senior over those twenty years? ” Fallon suggested.
“Gladly. He was in and out of one scheme or another, making money any way he could. He was in jail a couple of times. He had kids with two other women, and he left them, too. Anyone who approached him about working to make money fast and with as little real work as possible, he said yes to. Whether he actually worked with Irial Bragan, we haven’t discovered yet, but it could have been that your dad was the one to betray Irial,” Alistair told them coldly.
It took gagging Primo to get his younger brother to stop yelling and swearing at us. We went back to the questions we originally asked about their numbers, other farms, or recruiting spots like the warehouse. Who else helped them in their business? Lotario refused to answer.
We commenced by breaking his fingers. Faolán and I did the majority of them, though Murdoch and Alistair got a couple.
I had to admit, the little bastard screamed in pain but wouldn’t tell.
Toes were harder to break. To assist with that, we were given pliers to get a good hold on his toes and twist with enough force.
He screamed even more. Primo kept trying to jerk loose from his bindings in the chair.
Lalonde was a statue, except for his eyes, which moved with every movement we made.
It wasn’t until we pulled out several of his fingernails that Lotario gave us anything. Of course, we’d have to verify everything. It wouldn’t be the first time a captive lied to stop the pain.
“Our family isn’t in on this. They don’t know what we do for a living. Mom doesn’t know,” he sobbed.