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Tuning out the sound of Poco’s laughter in the background, Leon’s eyes didn’t stray from the second man now tied to a chair, his best friend, second-in-command, Shadow.
“Hurry up and shoot me” Shadow stretched his legs out, not seeming to have a care in the world. “I know how you treat traitors so go ahead and demonstrate in front of that fool. He’ll know not to laugh at you ever again.”
“You think the weight of your betrayal will be lifted by me taking your life?” Leon asked, genuinely interested in his answer. “I don’t even know who you are, the man who has taken countless bullets for me and stood by my side the longest. Who the fuck are you?”
“I am a traitor to the Valachi family. I sold my loyalty.” Shadow made eye contact and maintained it. “I know what I did when I turned my back on your family and what I gained on all the information I stole.”
Poco’s irritating laugh pulled Leon’s attention. “I saved your life before, don’t make me take it with my bare hands. You can either shut the fuck up or I cut out your tongue.”
“Acting tough in the face of your own downfall” Poco wheezed and coughed. “I like a tough man. I may hate your family but you’re a formidable leader. Did you know Shadow isn’t the only one on the mysterious man’s payroll?”
“Mysterious man?” Leon watched Shadow’s face for any hint, but he was no longer looking at him, his eyes were trained on Poco. “Pray tell, who is this mysterious man?”
“I said you were a formidable leader, but you’re quite dumb. What the fuck does mysterious mean? You think it’s a stage name or something?” Poco laughed at his own joke, immediately sobering up when Leon’s chair scraped back.
Comforted by the silence, Leon took measured steps to the only box in the room. Throwing open the creaky lid, he tested a rusted plier in his grip and picked out a long nail and a hammer on second thought.
“When I ran away on the first day of my training-” He began to tell a tale no one knew. “-my father pretended not to know where I was. I hid for hours, sweating buckets inside an abandoned warehouse while my father called out my name repeatedly, forcing compassion into his voice. I made the mistake of falling asleeo because the next thing I knew, I was in a dark room alone with my father. Do you know what he did to me?”
Poco’s body was shaking too bad for Leon to realize he was shaking his head. Dragging one foot out, Leon set the nail and struck the hammer on the head, sending it through skin and bone.
His howls of pain echoed in the large room, stretching forever until his pathetic whimpers replaced them.
“He nailed my feet to the floor and beat me up. Every time he hit me and I failed to try and get away, he hit me harder until I was coughing blood and practically blind. Why am I telling you this story?” Leon shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll ask a simple question instead, who is the mysterious man?”
“I have never seen his face.” Poco groaned in pain, sweating buckets like 8 year old Leon “He appeared out of nowhere and started calling the shots in the ‘take the Valachi’s down’ scheme that more than a few people signed up for. He’s a visionary who sold us dreams, and now I see, that I was a pawn!” He screamed the last part at the camera above his head.
“Just so you know, the reason we know your movements so well is because he’s always watching. He’s in your feed somehow, getting the camera footage and whatever else he can milk out of it.” Poco looked too happy to be divulging that information, grinning up at the camera “Since you tried to get rid of me, might as well give up some of your stupid tricks”
Fueled with a new mission, Leon smashed all the cameras. To Shadow he asked. “Men like Poco who want me dead, I understand, but you? What’s the problem you have with me?”
Shadow remained silent for a while. “I never had any problems with you. This mysterious man approached me when I was already in the ranks. At first I told him to fuck off, but he showed me proof that your father had killed mine – still, I told him to fuck off. He took my no and the next week, my younger sisters were gone.”
“Adele and Danny?” Leon tried to remember the faces of the little girls that always followed Shadow around but couldn’t. He never spoke about them.
Shadow nodded. “The next day after their capture, I received a message with a set of directives and pictures of my sisters gagged and beat up. Message received loud and clear. I had no choice. I sold out information I believed were harmless.”
“Like the location of my brother?”
Shadow shook his head. “I never sold out information about your family-”
“The man is telling the truth” Poco interrupted, “He was so useless, the mysterious man asked me to take him out so many times. What did he get on you to push your hand huh? Those lovely sisters of yours?”
Leon looked between the men. “Why are you suddenly being forthcoming with information? Is this your plan? To catch me off guard and get off on pity’s sake alone?”
“Poco was right about the cameras. I heard something about it on one of the meetings I was always forced to attend but I thought it was the cameras at the house.”
“That’s why you never like me spending time there. I always wondered why you sent numerous texts you know I’ll never read.”
Shadow’s eyes lightened then went dark. “It means nothing in the face of the other things I’ve done. Kill me, I beg you.”
“I already said I am not going to do that.”
“He already knows about my failed mission. What do you think he’s going to do to the girls?” For the first time since Leon tackled his friend to the ground, he saw real emotions in his eyes. “Kill me or give me a gun to take my life. I won’t survive it if anything happens to either of them.”
“What Leon won’t survive is his sister getting taken” Poco’s voice sounded labored but clear. “He has been moving erratically these past few days but I am certain he’s going to go all in with you out of the house. Your sister will be taken tonight and his plan to erase you and your brother off the earth will begin.”
“What the fuck are you blabbering on about?”
“Ignore his theatrics, Leon! Listen to the message hidden within” Shadow raised his voice. “Whatever chance you have to save your sister is now. Run. Go. Now or it’ll be too late”
It already was, but Leon ran out the door, haunted by Poco’s fading laughter and the heavy feeling of Shadow’s choices. Who else was getting paid by this mysterious man who knew so much about their family and held a grudge?