Page 33 of Tainted Truth

Son of a bitch still can’t take a hit.

CHAPTER 12

RIO

Pulling into an empty parking lot around the corner from Euphoria, I open my water bottle and pour some of its contents on Dustin’s head. He sputters and lifts sits up. The sun has set, and the club is busy for a Monday night.

Groaning, he lies back down. “Are you two fucking crazy? Taking my fingers wasn’t enough? Now you won’t let me leave New York.”

“You hear that, Z?Estamos locos. What do you think?”

Together we laugh low, in a tone that promises chaos.

“There is something wrong with you two . . .”

Zane smiles and shakes his head. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Dustin sits up, and tears form in the corners of his eyes. “Just let me go. I don’t have anything you want. I told you everything I know.”

“Es ahí donde te equivocas, amigo.”That’s where you’re wrong, friend.

“Do this one thing for us, and you’re free to go. We’ll even pay for your plane ticket. You can leave and never look back. You’ll be leaving behind your family, but I get a feeling that doesn’tmatter much to you, seeing as how you were at the airport without them earlier,” Zane says with a shrug.

“Hey! I care about my family!”

“You have an interesting way of showing it,” I mumble.

Dustin looks out the window, frustration evident in his voice. “And what if I say no?”

I smile wide. “Well, you still have other appendages I can remove.”

Dustin’s hands shake, and his pitch goes up. “What do you want from me?”

Tossing the equipment into the backseat, Zane answers him. “We need you to go into Euphoria and wear this.”

Dustin picks up the listening device and his whole body trembles. “You can’t be serious! You might as well take my fucking arm now because I won’t have a damn head if I get caught wearing this!”

I scoff. “Don’t be so dramatic.

Zane’s mouth thins in displeasure. “We’re not exactly giving you a choice here, asshole. Wear the wire, or you’ll lose more than your fingers this time.”

Dustin’s tears have escaped his eyes, and snot drips from his nose.

Aye dios mio. Suck it up.

“You’re going to go in there with this wire hidden under your shirt. You’re going to ask to talk to Cain. Get him talking. Show him your hands. That and the shiner in your cheek might be the things that save you. See what you can find out about a man named Anthony Cole.”

He sobs in the backseat. “I’m a dead man.”

Zane’s face flushes with rage. “You became a dead man the moment you thought you were above your Oath of Honor. You signed your death certificate when you touched an underage girl.”

“I told you I didn’t know she was underage!”

Zane shouts over Dustin’s whining. “You’re dead because of your own fucking choices! Don’t look to either of us to save you!”

Neither Zane nor I would even piss on a man like Dustin if he were on fire. Because he wears a badge, he thinks he’s untouchable. Fuck that logic.

I’d like to believe that if we weren’t here to do something about men like Dustin and Troy, there would be someone else to take up the mantle. But we’re here now, and we’re willing to make the decision. It’s not even a hard one.

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