‘Johnny? Johnny, come on, stay with me. Johnny!’

‘Shut up!’ the lackey complained.

Simon stared at Johnny’s unconscious form during the entire trip, a lump in his throat. Trepidation overtook him, he was convinced he was going to die.

The van stopped and Simon’s heart skipped a beat. The door to the back of the van opened and Tyler loomed like a shadow against the beam of light that came from the warehouse behind him. Simon squinted, his eyes hurting from the sudden light.

Tyler barked orders to Alia and Blake who grabbed Simon and Johnny.

‘He’s lost consciousness! Careful!’ protested Simon as Alia grabbed Johnny.

She looked over at Tyler.

‘Check him,’ Tyle instructed.

Alia nodded once and checked that Johnny wasn’t faking. He wasn’t, Simon knew he wasn’t. Alia then checked his pulse.

‘Pulse is weak, father. Should we just end him now?’

Tyler sighed loudly, looking over at Blake. ‘You just had to shoot him.’

‘What? He had one over you!’ insisted Blake.

Tyler waved a hand dismissively. ‘Get him upstairs anyway. We’ll inject him with some stimulants. I want him awake for the big moment.’

Simon swallowed hard. He didn’t know what that entailed but he certainly didn’t like the sound of it.

Alia got behind him and pushed him forward, pressing her gun to his back. ‘Try anything and you’re dead, boy, you hear me?’

Simon nodded, gulping down the sick feeling he had and he staggered forward, following his father up the stairs to a large loft.

Blake let Johnny drop to the floor with a loud thud. Simon jerked in place with shock.

‘Stimulants now, or…?’ began Blake.

‘Tyler, we have a new guest!’ shouted one of the lackeys.

Simon turned to see one of Salazar’s men coming up from the stairs with a fearful-looking Rita. She was shaking from head to toe, whimpering beneath the man’s gaze. He thrust her forward and she fell to her hands and knees near Simon.

‘I’m glad to see not all of you were taken in by the cops,’ Tyler grinned.

‘Thought she might be a fun addition to the party, seeing as how she’s been working with your boy for a while.’

Rita glanced up at Simon, then at the table that stood a few feet from where she was. Salazar’s lackey smirked and pulled out his gun, aiming at Rita.

‘And now the fun begins,’ he declared.

Simon held his breath as chaos ensued around him before his brain registered what was happening.

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The pain John felt was excruciating. He’d had worse injuries, but if the gunshot wound wasn’t treated soon, he would lose enough blood to lose consciousness and then eventually die. He was acutely aware of Tyler’s lackey who stood guard over them, so John had to be careful what he said.

At least his earpiece was switched back on now. He didn’t know if anyone could hear him, they had probably closed everything up, but it was worth the attempt to get backup.

Simon lay on his side next to John who lay flat on his stomach. His brother glanced down at the blood that pooled on the van’s floor. He seemed mesmerized by it and terrified at the same time. John had to admit, he was feeling pretty terrified as well. If he didn’t calm his nerves, his racing heart would pump all his blood out through his wound.

‘Simon,’ John whispered. Simon tore his eyes away from the blood and met John’s gaze. ‘I’m sorry, you know.’

Simon stared at him for a moment. ‘I know,’ he said at last.

‘I’m your older brother. I wanted to protect you.’ All John had ever wanted to do was protect his brother. ‘I did you wrong, though.’

Aside from the humming of the van, it was quiet, as was it on the other end of John’s earpiece.

‘It’s okay, Johnny.’

‘I didn’t want this. I didn’t want it to end like this, Simon.’ John felt the trickle of a tear run from his eyes and saw Simon’s eyes sparkle with tears. John heaved shakily.

‘There a reason this is still on?’ came Chief Officer Graham’s voice from the other end of John’s earpiece.

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Simon let it all sink in, slowly realizing just how much his brother had risked his life for him and their mother, just how much Johnny had done to keep them safe from their criminal father, let alone what he’d suffered at his hands. Simon realized Johnny hadn’t picked the wrong side, he had just needed to stay away to keep them safe.

Simon looked over at Johnny, suddenly overwhelmed with grief and he blinked back tears. Johnny noticed and his expression softened. Simon wanted to reach over to him but, bound as they were, all he could do was bow his head and hope his brother knew he was forgiven.

Simon looked up at their father. The man with the strong build whose neck muscles and veins bulged smiled sinisterly, and the man who stood behind Johnny, Blake, and the woman behind Simon, Alia, laughed condescendingly.

‘So when did this happen?’ Simon asked carefully. ‘I reckon I’m the youngest of all siblings.’

‘You are,’ replied Tyler. ‘I reckon I should start from the beginning. Before I met your bitch of a mother–’

‘Don’t call her that!’ demanded Johnny.

‘Careful, boy, you’re in no position to make any demands here,’ warned Tyler. He took a few paces and started over. ‘Before I met your bitch of a mother,’ he added extra emphasis on the insult, ‘I had some fun with some whores. Alia is the eldest and deserves only respect. She found me after her mother had told her who her father was and when she learnt who I was, she wanted in. She was thirteen when she joined me and has been an important member of my operations since. She is a leader in her own right.’

‘You’re too kind, father,’ Alia said. ‘It’s only because I learnt from you.’ Tyler smiled warmly at Alia.

Simon hissed. He must’ve been five if not younger when Alia joined their father, and Simon realized just how far his father’s schemes dated back.

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John tensed and held his breath. This was not how he’d hoped things would go down. He heard Simon swallow loudly next to him.

‘Hello, dad,’ John breathed, his breath shaking. ‘I’ve been hunting you for a long time.’

‘As I’ve been hunting you, son.’

Simon remained petrified, staring jaw clenched at their mother whose eyes were pleading, her face streaked with tears.

John pressed his lips into a thin line. He had tried so hard to keep them safe. But his father, just like he’d been all thirty years of John’s life, was one step ahead and ready to do the unthinkable.

John cursed himself internally. He had his earpiece in his ear still, but he had switched it off after the altercation at his brother’s bar. He needed a way to switch it back on without arousing suspicion, without tipping his father off.

His father was like any other criminal he’d taken down, though, he had to remind himself. He had to get him off his guard to get the upper hand. To do that, he had to find out what made him tick. And to find that, he had to keep him talking. Knowledge was key.

He considered reaching for his gun and realized he should have done so the moment they had walked in.

The muzzle of a gun pressed against John’s temple as someone behind him stepped towards him and unclipped his gun, tossing it towards his father. Someone else held a gun to Simon’s temple. Their father’s lackeys, a man behind John, by what he could gather, and a woman behind Simon, were smirking.

‘Now, sit, boys. Let’s catch up.’

John had to keep his nerves in check, allowing his breathing to keep his heart from beating out of his chest completely. He saw Simon wasn’t faring so well. Without the training John had received, he reckoned he’d be in an even worse state than his brother was.

Their father’s lackeys shoved Simon and John to some chairs and sat them down, binding their hands behind the backs of the chairs. The rope was brittle, it splintered and burned, but John knew how to get himself out of it — if he was careful and worked slowly. Getting to his gun was another story.

Their father turned to them. ‘Now, let’s talk about that disappointment of a son I have who decided to betray me and became, what is it, an agent, detective?’

‘Detective John Miller, Mr. Miller,’ John replied professionally. ‘I’m sorry you saw it as a betrayal, dad, but at the end of the day, Tyler Miller is just another criminal.’

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