DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
As Samuel stood in the Tenebrium Police Department morgue, surrounded by the cold, slowly rotting bodies of his men, one thing was abundantly clear: Hugo knew what he had done, and he was coming for him.
“Leave,” he shot at the medical examiner, who scrambled to comply. “How long has he known?” he asked Bobby quietly.
“The whole time.”
Something had changed between Samuel and Bobby. Usually, there was a mutual respect, the love between a father and their child, and a reverence that came from having pulled that child from the gutter. That was all gone now. For the first time, they were equals.
Bobby sat at the chair beside Flynn’s desk. They looked oddly serene.
“I’ll admit I was clueless about Jeffrey; I couldn’t work out why Hugo killed him. Then with Jack, it really did seem like an accident, but not Frank. Then the Kellys killed more of our men, and I let myself hope that it all was just some terrible coincidence.”
He looked dispassionately at Abe, pale and dead, lying on a gurney in front of him. His chest lying open, and his ribs spread. His organs lay in little dishes on a tray next to him.
“How did he find out?”
“I found it hard to look my best friend, my brother, in the face knowing that the man he loved was about to die, and I wasn’t going to let him do a damn thing about it.”
Samuel suppressed the urge to strangle them where they sat.
“And the others? How did he find out about them?”
“You raised him to do one thing, and he does it very well.” Insolence was usually met with a swift strike with the back of his hand, but Samuel didn’t think that would work here. Something in Bobby’s eyes told him that.
“So, it will be Stefan and Alice next, and then he’s coming for us.”
“Looks like,” Bobby said with resignation. “He didn’t kill Vito. I did. I put him out of his misery after Hugo’d had his way with him. You should have seen him. Grief has driven him mad. I’ve never seen Hugo like that before.”
“Then we need a plan. We need round the clock protection, people capable of heading him off. I don’t particularly like my chances against a supremely pissed off Hugo, d’you?”
“I already have a plan. Let him come.”
A rubber band snapped in his mind and before Samuel really knew what he was doing, he had hauled Bobby out of their chair and slammed them against the wall by the front of their white blouse.
“You listen here, you little shit. I dragged you off the streets. I raised you. I raised an empire, and I will not let it be dragged down by one man’s obsession with another.”
“Obsession? He loved him! Your son fell in love, and you just couldn’t let him have it. Worse, you let him have it just long enough for hope to bloom, then you took it back. That’s what’s killing him and that’s what’s gonna kill you.” Bobby’s voice echoed around the room as they got louder and louder. “It took me far too long to realise it, but I see you now. You’re afraid. You live in your ivory tower hiding from the world, giving orders, because you’re scared. When you’re at the top, the only way to go is down. Well, it looks like Dill Kelly is gonna have to get in line.”
“You think Hugo is only a threat to me?”
“I betrayed him, just like you. He wants blood. Maybe he’s owed it.”
“Owed?” Samuel sneered. “What is that love-sick fool owed? I have given him everything, family, security—he’s wanted for nothing! He was nothing before I found him—I made him.”
“You talk about your son like he’s a commodity.” Bobby pushed Samuel hard in the chest separating them, but didn’t advance. “Your blood runs through his veins. What do you think he’d make of that?”
“Doesn’t matter now. He’s never going to get a chance to know. But you had better know this: if you don’t kill him before he kills anyone else, I will kill Dana?—”
It was a threat that had worked a thousand times, but not this time.
“You do that and then we’ll both be gunning for you. How do you like those odds?” Bobby was calm and composed as they spoke. It gave their words a lethal quality.
“I raised him, and I can crush him. The same goes for you!”
“Maybe when we were kids, but not now.” Bobby sat back down in Flynn’s chair. “For what it’s worth, I don’t want him to hurt you, but I won’t stop him if he tries.”
“You think you two are the only hitters I’ve got?”
“I think Hugo is your best. I think you know that Gen is the only person who would stand a chance against Hugo, and she won’t help you. I think you know that sticking with Alice will only get you killed faster. You didn’t raise a man; you raised a wolf. You taught him how to hunt, you taught him how to kill, but you never taught him how to be a person. He didn’t know that there was more to life until he met Evan. And then you killed him. You’re not dealing with a man who lost his love, you’re dealing with a rabid animal. You’ve never faced something so dangerous.” Bobby flicked idly through the papers on the desk then pushed them away disinterestedly.
“You’re just going to lay down and die? Let him kill you?”
“I’ll fight. I have something to lose. But he doesn’t and that’s on you. When did we get so fucked?” Bobby shook their head and leaned back in the chair.
“What?”
“When did we forget that we were supposed to be family? You used to be dad first, boss second. You used to care about us. Somewhere along the way we became pawns. I guess the view from on high makes everyone else look smaller.”
“Empires are not built on kindness,” Samuel said stiffly.
“No, they are not, but you can’t hold onto loyalty with an iron fist either. I’m done. If Hugo kills me or not, I’m done. Fight your own wars. Do your own dirty work. You got lucky with Gen after what you did to Hassan, after what you made me do to Hassan?—”
“You knew?—”
“You made me believe he was a traitor!” Bobby surged to their feet and closed the gap between them, so they were yelling in Samuel’s face. “I thought I was protecting her!”
“Then what’s your excuse with Evan Carter? You knew exactly why I wanted him gone. Maybe there was a little part of you that didn’t want to let Hugo go either.”
“Maybe, and I’ll pay for that. Goodbye, Dad. Be safe.”
And with that, Bobby turned and left.