Chapter 28 #2
“You might be confused about who you really are, Ashling, but I’m not.” He stirs the sauce and then plates the food.
“And who am I really? Tell me all the things you like about me.” I wink at him.
“Girl,” he says, shaking his head. “Shameless egomaniac tops the list sometimes.”
That makes me laugh. “Not even.” I cut into the steak and take a bite. “Oh, my God. This is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
I know he’s being sarcastic, but I don’t care. Because it is incredible that he can cook like this. “If you wanted a different career, you could be a chef.”
“If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing, I’d be a fighter. Boxing or mixed martial arts.”
“Oh, right. Sure.” I nod as I chew, even though the thought makes me sad.
“What?” His knife pauses after slicing the meat. “You wouldn’t like that?”
“If your job was to hurt people? No.”
Swirling a piece of meat through the port sauce, he glances over at me. “What do you think my job is now?”
“I mean… Sure, if you have to. But the job is to make money. You have to protect the Crue’s merchandise, which might happen to be stolen. But the main job isn’t to hurt or kill people.” When he’s silent, I cock my head. “Is that your job?”
“It’s on the list.”
Falling silent, I nod slowly. Apparently, I’m still naive.
“I just thought… Scott works on a computer most days. And he used to travel. There were shipments. Weapons mostly, I think. But some other things, too. It wasn’t murder-for-hire, though.
When I started hearing about him from other people, about ho w he’s got such a talent for shooting, I asked him. He’s not a hitman.”
“Most days, I’m sure he’s more than that. But don’t kid yourself. Sometimes, that’s exactly what he is.”
“How about you? Are you a hitman?”
“Not by title. But I am whatever an op calls for, which has included murder. In fact, I’m pretty sure one of the kills the Crue ordered was to clear the area of potential threats, since Trick’s little sister was a new GU student.”
“You said that before. What’s your proof?”
“No proof, but it tracks. We were sent after one of Casanova’s contacts. A male GU student who was in the wind. Suspected of being sympathetic to the cause.”
“Why?”
“Friendly with a serial killer who thought women should be collectibles or dead. The Crue had us track this Wilson kid down and kill him. The guy was no threat to our operation. He was nowhere near it. Who he might’ve been a threat to was a pretty young coed.”
“I never even met anyone named Wilson.”
“Never had a chance to. Trick made sure of that.”
“Are you certain it was Scott’s idea?”
“He didn’t deny it.”
“Well…” It’s a little like being punched in the gut. I know my brother is dangerous to other dangerous people. But would he preemptively order a killing before someone had even become a threat to me? “Wilson was definitely a bad guy?”
War swallows and leans forward on his elbows. “Ever look at a Massachusetts map of registered sex offenders?”
“Gross. No.”
“So you wouldn’t know there are zero in Coynston. The word is there used to be five of them. And then around the time your sister-in-law got pregnant, they all moved away. Or disappeared.”
“And you think that was Scott’s doing?”
“Not just his. C Crue controls Coynston. That’s their territory since they took it from the Palermos. And when the Crue bosses started having kids, it became a place where sex offenders are not welcome. Even the clergy is vetted. No pedophile priests in Coins.”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s not a secret amongst the Crue. A couple weeks into training, one of the older guys told us.
The Crue has a chokehold on Coins. Nothing comes in that they don’t want.
Which is why it stands to reason that if Trick was willing to send his baby sister to Granthorpe University right after a serial killer scandal, he would clear the decks. It’s right out of the Crue playbook.”
“Well, what do you want me to say? That I’m mad at Scott for making the campus a safer place? If people don’t want to become targets maybe they shouldn’t be friends with serial killers.”
He extends his fork in an “exactly” motion. “Agreed.”
“So, why are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you because you said you want to know who I am.
Then, as I was talking, it seemed like you were starting to think I’m a worse breed of criminal than the guys you grew up idolizing.
I’m setting the record straight. I’m a bad breed of criminal, Ashling.
But I’m no different than the Crue bosses. I’m just younger.”
“Okay, here’s the thing. I probably do romanticize the Crue a bit.”
“A bit?”
“Can I tell you?”
His eyes lock with mine, and he nods.
“So it’s gonna come down to one thing: do I agree with your reasons for doing bad things or not?
If you beat someone to death for taking your parking spot, then no, I won’t be okay with that.
Murder isn’t a joke. I don’t take it lightly.
” Licking my lips, I exhale slowly. “But I also understand that people who live by the sword, may die by the sword. That’s the expression, right?
So if someone is bad, really bad, and has been warned to stay away and doesn’t…
That’s on them. And if they would be a threat to a child, they shouldn’t even get out of jail.
But if they do, I’m very okay with someone from the Crue telling them they can’t live near my nephews or the Stroviak girls.
And actually, it’s safer for the pedophiles, too.
If they can’t control themselves and tried something, tried to take one of them.
” I swallow the burning sensation in my throat.
“I wouldn’t let that happen on my watch.
And I was trained in a certain way.” My voice drops low as I recall what Scotty taught me.
“It was drilled into me that when people hesitate, their own gun can get taken and used against them. So, if I pull a gun, I use it. And if I use it, the person at the other end doesn’t get up again. ”
“Good,” he says. “That’s the way it should be.”
Hmm, I think, chewing. I guess I’m a bad breed of criminal, too.