Entangled With The Mafia

Chapter 8: The Killings

Damien

When the General leaves, Damien breathes a lot easier.

He despises the man, and he rarely truly hates anyone. He no longer sees the point in maintaining their alliance, but getting rid of him will be costly and problematic. He is currently the only one on his side, and even though Damien no longer needs him, killing him will be bad for business. Everyone will hunt him down like game and tear apart everything he owns. He isn't willing to lose everything he spent a lifetime and a half building. No, the general isn't that important.

He loosens his tie and lights a cigarette. He smokes it quickly, then lights another. This long, senseless meeting isn't the only issue bothering him, and he knows it. As much as he tries to ignore it, it keeps swimming to the surface.

The men he sent to the station still did not return or send a message. Rhett's arrest was unexpected. Typically, his men aren't taken into custody. For something like this to happen out of the blue makes very little sense. He thinks of calling Fred again but changes his mind. It's far too late for that. Tomorrow, there'll be news.

He's about to put on his blazer when the phone rings. He contemplates ignoring it but answers it in any case. Very few people know this private number. If someone's calling, it has to be something important. It better be. "Damien Keller."

"Damien, you won't believe what I found out!" Gary is practically shouting. "The information has come to me now. This sure is something."

Damien glances at his watch. "It can't wait until tomorrow?" Three in the morning was a somewhat ungodly hour to be ringing someone up. Elizabeth stopped by but left when she couldn't see him. He knew how much she hated when business matters intervened with their private lives. Tonight was their anniversary, and he missed it. He would have to find a way to make it up to her.

"I found out who's been sending all those spies." Damien's breath catches in his throat. "You still want it to wait?"

Damien sits back down. "Tell me." For months, he'd been waiting for this response. He's elated. This has been a rock in his shoe. Whoever this person is stirred a lot of trouble in his business.

"He's not from the FBI or the CIA. We already knew that. He's not a cop, either. He works for a private association, so someone's definitely hiring them. They keep their information under lock and key, so getting the employer's name wasn't possible. But if we find him, we can make him talk."

"Tell me about this man, Gary." This is what he really wants to know.

"Started working for this association four years ago. He has some accomplishments, so he's a formidable opponent. He gets the job done. That's what I'm trying to say. His past is inconclusive. No one knows where he's from, where he grew up. He lives right here in LA." Gary stops for a beat. "He has an impeccable reputation. Strangely, I never heard about him."

"You have his address?"

"Right here."

Damien gives him instructions. He expects them to be carried out as soon as possible. Gary knows the drill. He feels triumphant. At least one matter has been dealt with, and he feels somewhat at peace. "One more thing, Gary. His name."

"Devon Tyler," Gary says. "Born November 16th, 1988 in God knows where. I don't even know if this is his real name. He's good at hiding and keeping s**t hidden."

Damien nods. "Thank you for your call, Gary."

He hangs up and decides to light another cigarette. He pours himself the finest whiskey he owns and just sits for a while. Devon Tyler isn't his primary concern, but he's part of it. Damien wants to know why he's sending spies to his establishment and what he wants so badly. Or rather, what his employer wants.

If he refuses to participate, Damien will have him killed. Simple as that.

Once again, he's about to leave when Ethan comes in. He raises a brow. "You're still here?" Ethan never stays this late. He went right after the General.

"I stopped for a drink. There's some serious s**t going on, Damien. I told you not to f**k with the Browns, but you never listen."

Damien sits up. He crushes his cigarette. "What is it?"

Ethan tells me. Damien balls his hands to form fists. He feels the overwhelming need to smash something. Crush it in his hand. He drains his glass. He follows Ethan out of the door. It feels like this terrible day will never end.

He gets in the car with Ethan. "Are you sure the Browns did this?" He can't believe the gall of that family. He ruined them years before, right after they plotted the murder of his father. He made sure none of them were left, but this is what sparing the little ones got him. He never believed in killing innocents, but these same innocents haunt his sleep.

"It's that little cunt, Sebastian." Ethan lights a cigarette. "What was he at the time? Thirteen?"

"Sixteen." Damien will never forget. He remembers clearly the way the boy looked at him after he shot his mother in the head. The hatred in the boy's eyes made him contemplate killing him, but in the end, he walked away. He figured that with no finances or support, there was nothing he could do. His brothers were even younger than him.

How they proved him wrong.

"You should've killed them all."

"Someone's backing them up."

"We have to find out who." Damien looks out the window. "And end this once and for all."

They stop at the city's morgue. A small, balding man approaches them. "Mr. Keller, please follow me."

Sure enough, there they all were. Ethan curses and walks away back to the hall. Damien keeps watching them, looking at their dead bluish faces. Shot, all of them. Pure cowardice. Rhett is a traitor, and he should've guessed it long before when Theo mentioned it. Now, it was far too late. He got away with it, and the Browns took the victory. But not for long. Never.

This wasn't business. This was strictly personal, and whoever did this, the Brown boys, wanted to send a message. He received it, and he would gladly respond with equal enthusiasm. They outsmarted him, but they were no match for him. Well, whoever was behind them outsmarted him.

He meets Ethan out in the hall. "You can't smoke in here."

Ethan scoffs. His hands are shaking a little. "What? It'll bother the dead? Pollute their lungs?"

Damien breathes out sharply. "We have to make a personal visit to all those men's families. Compensate them. I'll do it myself. You take care of everything else. Get the cash ready."

Ethan pauses momentarily. "They were good men. The most loyal. Those f***s have no idea what they've done."

He hands Damien his cigarette. Damien formulates an immediate plan. Everything else will wait. This is far more important than anything else.

He will have to call Gary and change plans.