Cathal #3
“She doesn’t know anything? I find it hard to believe that if she’s around you much, she has no clue how you make your money. You support her, don’t you? That cottage she lives in, she doesn’t work, so how does she pay for it?” I asked.
“Yeah, we pay for everything, but she doesn’t know how we do it. We tell her we have a business on the US side. She believes us,” he added.
“What kind of business?” Alistair asked.
When Lotario didn’t answer, the pliers were raised. He rushed to tell us. “A used car dealership.”
By then, the gag had been removed from Primo’s mouth again. His hatred for us was evident in his gaze.
“It takes big men to torture someone when it’s four-to-one, and he’s tied down,” he spat.
“As if you haven’t done the same. But since that bothers you so much, how about we let him up? We’ll see how he does against one of us. For every punch or kick that we land, he answers a question, or we start with more painful things,” Darragh suggested.
The rest of us liked the idea, so in a matter of a few minutes, we had Lotario up on his feet. He swayed on his feet. Blood ran from his fingertips. And just as we wanted, it was his brother who stopped us from a fight.
“Why don’t you give him a break and see what you can get out of me? I can guarantee you, I can fight better,” Primo taunted.
We’d hoped we’d get Primo, who was fresh and convinced he could beat whoever was brought up against him.
It was his way of showing he cared for his brother and likely thought his brother would break soon.
We’d give Lotario time to assume his pain was over.
It would make it even harder for him to handle when we resumed after questioning his brother. And maybe even their guy, Lalonde.
We shoved the bleeding Methot down on his vacant chair and only bothered to tie his arms behind his back. Primo was untied and shook his arms and legs to regain feeling.
“Who gets him?” Ciaran asked.
All eyes turned to me. I was an age and physique match with Primo versus my father-in-law. Murdoch was a beast, but they tried to kill my wife and endanger my whole family.
“I want him,” I stated.
Faolán sighed. “I knew you would say that. Alright, but if you need a break, or the others need the same lesson, Murdoch will be my proxy. I’m not as young as I used to be, but I need my family avenged by my own, too.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed.
“Are you done deciding which one of you pussies is gonna take me on?” Primo taunted.
I stepped forward. I tugged off the covering and gloves. I wanted nothing to hinder my movements. I’d burn my clothes again. They were older ones. I handed over my gun to Shane. I handed him my shirt too.
Seeing what I did, Primo ripped his button-down shirt apart, sending buttons flying. I admit, his muscles were a tad bigger than mine, but it didn’t scare me. I’d fought plenty of guys bigger and more muscular than him. They never won.
“Want your hands taped up?” Tiernan asked me.
“Nah, I don’t think I’ll need it,” I said, making my brother chuckle. He knew why I said it.
Primo heard me and took offense. “I’m gonna enjoy beating that cockiness right out of you, rich boy,” he smirked.
“You’re welcome to try. Just don’t cry when it’s the other way around,” I said back evenly.
My family chuckled and smirked. What Primo, his brother, their right-hand man, and the Bragan crew didn’t know was that out of my family, I was one of the ones with the best martial arts moves, and I had always been into Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Savate.
All three involved a lot of kicking and foot strikes.
Sure, I could use my fists, and I did, but when I had an opponent like this, fighting back, I automatically liked to use my feet.
At first, we moved in circles, trying to get the other to strike out first and to test each other.
I waited patiently. Primo broke first and swung at my head.
I easily backpedaled and followed up with a kick to his ribs.
The air came out of him in a big whoosh.
I caught the flicker of surprise in his eyes before he recovered.
He was more cautious with his next move.
To start, I planned to respond after he attacked.
Eventually, I’d become the aggressor, but not yet.
I had to give him credit. He wasn’t half bad. He changed up his punches, threw combos, and was quick on his feet. But none of it helped him land anything. And every time he missed, one of the family asked Lotario a question.
It was clear the younger Methot had never seen anyone stand up to his brother’s fighting skills.
He grew worried. As he did, he got caught up in watching the fight and began to let things slip.
When he did, Primo would tell him to shut up.
But it became like a sickness that Lotario couldn’t control.
Through him, we learned the names of two distant cousins in their organization. It was confirmed that their mom had nothing to do with their business. Then, as my kicks and punches began to draw blood from Primo, Lotario babbled more.
There was another farm like the one taken out in Milford.
The other one was in southern Michigan, outside a town called Coldwater.
Lotario was even kind enough to give us the address.
They held recruitment drives for both farms in the Detroit warehouse.
They planned to set up a similar recruiting hub in New Mexico after taking over the Bragan territory.
Suddenly, Primo swung away from me and went after his brother. However, he hadn’t counted on any of us standing between them. There were three who did: Cian, Rory, and Declan. Primo wasn’t dumb enough to challenge all three, so he snarled at his brother.
“Shut the fuck up, you idiot!”
“Why? They’re gonna kill us, Primo. And there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it. They haven’t tortured your ass yet, but I’ve had enough. Just get it the hell over with,” Lotario half sobbed.
“You’ve always been a pussy and a disappointment. Mom should’ve drowned you when you were a baby,” Primo hissed.
“Yeah, well, at least Mom loves me more. She’s always been afraid of you. You’re the one who came up with the big goddamn idea to go after the Bragans to avenge Dad. That bastard left us to starve with no money. I knew we should’ve let it go, but no, you had to have your revenge,” Lotario snapped.
I backed off, allowing the brothers to argue. We might learn more this way than by beating or torturing them. All of us stayed quiet.
“What kind of son doesn’t want to avenge his father? I should’ve left you at home. We never would’ve had shit if it weren’t for me. I’ve always been the one to find ways to pay bills and put food on the table. And Mom doesn’t love you more. And she’s not afraid of me!” Primo shouted back.
We allowed them to bicker back and forth, spinning each other up.
As they did, they dropped more useful tidbits.
A ton of resentment was bottled up inside them.
It became clear that Primo had always been the leader and Lotario the follower.
If the younger Methot hesitated to do something, Primo bullied him into it.
Finally, they ran out of yelling energy, and Primo whirled around to face me. He was seething.
“Come on, fight me like a real man, fucker!” he shouted right before he rushed me.
He was prepared for my feet. So instead, I gave him a two-jab combo that made him stagger back and shake his head to clear it.
I no longer waited for him to attack. I went on the offensive.
I rained blows and kicks all over him. He tried to dodge and shield himself against them.
Primo even tried to initiate some punches of his own, but he couldn’t keep up with me.
It wasn’t long before he was kneeling on one knee, panting loudly.
Sweat ran down his face, along with blood from several cuts.
He blinked up at me. He wasn’t wary. He allowed fear to peek through.
“Tell us what your real business deals in. We know it’s not used cars. And we want the names of your business associates. Whatever you’re into, you’re not doing it on your own. Someone is buying your shit,” Hollis stated sternly.
“I’m, I’m not telling you anything,” Primo panted.
Without warning, Murdoch moved. However, he didn’t approach Primo. Instead, he went to Lotario. Faolán’s number one said nothing as a knife appeared out of nowhere and he sliced it across the younger Methot’s chest. Blood welled instantly. Lotario’s scream was loud.
“Jesus Christ, he’s cutting me! Tell him or I will,” Lotario screeched.
“Keep your mouth shut!” his brother roared.
But Lotario was finished listening to anything his brother said.
He babbled more. He told the names of the people they dealt the drugs and stolen items through.
They smuggled both through Canada, since, according to them, its border was easier to cross.
As dual citizens with legitimate business on the US side, they had a reason to cross daily.
And since they officially lived on the Canadian side, they had the right to be there all the time, too.
He told us the names of two border agents that the brothers paid to look the other way. One was on each side of the border. Primo attempted to attack his brother again, but Murdoch and Hollis grabbed him and then dragged him over to his chair, where they bound and gagged him.
When it came to disclosing bank account numbers, Lotario ran out of information.
But before going back to Primo, we decided it was time to ungag Lalonde and ask him questions.
He’d watched us. We hadn’t gotten even close to bloody and painful, which, honestly, I found disappointing.
I wanted to inflict pain on them. It fed the vengeance monster inside of me.
“Ungag and untie that one,” Darragh instructed, pointing to Michel Lalonde.