[Georgia 03] Fallen

saw the money coming in from the less legitimate side of the business and thought that they deserved a bigger piece. Ortiz would never approve of some upstart gang taking a piece of the Los Texicanos pie, even if it was his own son.”
    “Starting a business is harder than it looks, especially with a franchise. You gotta pay the fees.”
    “You heard about Ricardo’s trip to Sweden.”
    “Hell, everybody heard.” He chuckled as if it was funny. “Problem with being that age is you don’t know when to keep your mouth shut. Young, dumb, and full of come.”
    “Your people talked to Ricardo about his trip.” Will didn’t say that they were probably torturing the young man during the discussion. “Ricardo mentioned that there might be a way to buy himself out of his problem.” Will imagined Ricardo would’ve been willing to trade his own mother by the time they were finished torturing him. “He told you that he could get his hands on some money. A lot of money. Almost a million dollars. Cash.”
    “That sounds like a deal no businessman can say no to.”
    Everything was lining up. Ricardo had taken his crew to Evelyn’s, where they met with a hell of a lot more resistance than they’d anticipated. They had killed Hector. Even if Amanda was right and Hector Ortiz was just a car salesman, there was no getting around that he was Ignatio Ortiz’s cousin. “Ricardo took them to Evelyn’s house to get the money. Only, they didn’t count on her fighting back. They took too many casualties. They had to regroup. And then Faith rolled up.”
    Ling asked, “You heard this story before?”
    Will kept talking. “They took Evelyn somewhere else to question her.”
    “Sounds like a plan, man.”
    “Only, she hasn’t given up the money. If she had, I wouldn’t be here.”
    He laughed. “I don’t know about that, brother. You seem to be missing something in your story.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Think about it.” Will was still at a loss.
    “The only way you can kill a snake is to cut off its head.”
    “Okay.” He still wasn’t following.
    “Far as I can tell, that ol’ snake’s still out there twitchin’.”
    “You mean Evelyn?”
    “Shit, you think that old bitch could get a bunch of kids to follow her? Whore couldn’t even keep her own house in order.” He tsked his tongue the same way his sister had. “Nah, this is man’s work, bro. How do you think they got one over on my sister? Bitches don’t got the balls for this kind of work.”
    Will wasn’t going to argue the point. Gangs were the ultimate boys’ club—more patriarchal than the Catholic Church. Julia Ling had only been in charge at her brother’s pleasure. Generals don’t go into battle. They send their pawns to the front lines. Hironobu Kwon was shot within minutes of breaching the house. Ricardo Ortiz had been left behind. Benny Choo had held a gun to his head. The man had been beaten. He was abandoned. He was expendable.
    Someone else had tipped them off about Evelyn. Someone else was leading the gang.
    Will said, “Chuck Finn.”
    Ling laughed as if the name surprised him. “Chuckleberry Finn. I thought that brother would be dead by now. Fish sleeping with the fishes.”
    “Is he behind this?”
    Roger didn’t answer. “And old Sledge taken down, too. From what I hear, they did the brother a favor. Go out like a man instead of waiting to be put down like a dog. Can’t say some good ain’t come outta this.”
    “Who’s behind—”
    “Yo, this is over.” Roger Ling banged on the cell door. “Enrique, close it up.”
    The guard started to slide back the panel. Will reached out to stop him. Like a snake striking, Ling’s hand snared out, clamping around Will’s wrist. He pulled so hard that Will’s shoulder slammed into the door. The side of his face was pressed against the cold metal surface. He felt hot breath on his ear. “You know why you’re here, bro?”
    Will pulled back as hard as he could. He pushed with his leg, tried to brace his foot against the bottom of the door.
    Ling’s grip was tight, but his voice implied effortlessness. “Tell Mandy that Evelyn’s gone.” His voice got lower. “Tap-tap. Two in the head. Ding-dong, Almeja is dead.”
    Ling released him. Will fell backward, his shoulders banging into the concrete wall. His heart was going like a metronome. He looked back at the cell door. There was a squeal of metal sliding across metal. The viewing panel closed, but not before