Chapter 14: Luis

The funeral is well attended. I expected nothing less given Manuel's standing in both the legitimate community and the underworld. I'm standing in the graveyard, watching as they lower my father's body into the ground. Arturo stands beside me, a hand on my shoulder. I feel grief, anger, sadness, betrayal. But I stay impassive, the heir to the throne. The priest says a last few words and then it's over. People are walking up to me, shaking my hand, shaking Arturo's, murmuring their condolences.

My father's good friend, Tom Garcia, snags my shoulders with his arm. "Walk with me, Luis."

He turns me and we take a few steps. Then he stops, gazes hard at Arturo who's following. "Just Luis." Arturo stops, his face a rock, his dark eyes holding lethal promises.

As we walk away from the group, he looks around. "Where's the bodyguard?"

His question seems odd. "You mean Lena? She's home."

"Alive?"

I nod. I have the need to defend Lena. "She killed five men trying to save my father. She saved my life."

Tom raises his eyebrows. "I know her worth. I thought you were too arrogant to recognize it."

He's right about my arrogance but it's still risky of him to point it out to me. After all, he walks with a cane and I have no qualms about beating old men to death. "Perhaps some of my arrogance died with my father."

We stop several feet from anyone. Out of earshot, though I see Arturo watching closely. So does Tom. "The shit arrived just in time, did he? To do what? Clean up the mess, mourn for his dead uncle. Too bad for him you both didn't die."

I let out a breath. I don't feel anger right now, I don't actually feel much of anything. Numbness settles over me like a comforting blanket. "What are you saying, Tom?"

Tom looks at me as if I'm obtuse. I want to hear the words. I want to hear the accusation. "If not for Lena, you'd be dead too. Arturo showed up quickly, but also too late. As if he timed it."

I feel the chill of awareness creep over me. It's been there since Manuel's death, the thought that Tom is voicing. Everything was too neat.

"Who benefits the most if you both had died? Your cousin, of course. The sadistic, useless piece of shit would throw the Ramirez operations into turmoil if he took over. And he would have. He has the strength of family on his side. All your men would be loyal."

I fight the need to look over at Arturo. "Who else knows who the killer is, besides you and me?" I don't add Lena. It's a weak attempt to protect her, but I'll do what I can, though it comes too late to save her from pain.

Tom shrugs. "Some might suspect, but these kind of bold takeover attempts happen all the time. The question you should be asking is who has his back? He's not smart enough to plan something like this alone."

"Not my men." I'm sure of this, but then the doubt creeps in. How did Arturo get to the warehouse so fast? Is one of my men a spy? "Not the men that arrived to save us. Or they would've finished the job, killed Lena and me too."

Tom taps his cane on the earth as he thinks. "Talk to them, find out. You need some you trust without reserve. Arturo will come at you again from the shadows. He wants the power and he can't unseat you unless you're dead."

"Perhaps I should just kill him." I scuff the dirt with my shoe, stare past Tom to the small knot of mourners still talking with each other. Watch Arturo as he bends his head to talk to Tom's son.

"Perhaps. But it would be better if you knew who you could trust first. So that he and his men all die at once. So there's no one with thoughts of revenge."

The silence stretches between us, the topic of murder at a funeral is grim and unsettling.

Tom touches my sleeve. "I loved your father like a brother. He was the leader, I was his second. We trusted each other, saved each other's asses on countless occasions. You know all that?"

I do. I glance at him and see his grief in the wetness of his eyes.

"We never doubted each other. Everyone will expect Arturo to be your second, but if you have doubts, he can't be."

"Yes."

"You have many loyal men. Find the best, the one you trust the most. Tell him the problem and let him help you resolve it."

I nod as I reflect. "I should go." I step away from him, but he stops me with a hand to my arm.

"If you need a place to shelter, you come to me."