Close Range Christmas by Nicole Helm (best free ebook reader .txt) 📕

“Well, for starters, you realized being beholden to law and order was beneath you.”

Dev opened his mouth to argue with Anth. His law enforcement career had ended because of the physical limitations of his body, thanks to Ace. But one thing Dev had learned in dealing with Ace: don’t try to reason with an insane person.

If he played along he could see what Anth might divulge. If Anth was here, he was far away from the family. If Dev could keep Anth right here, they weren’t just safe, they had a chance to end this.

“I had hoped showing you what monsters your brothers were would change the tide, but you remained stubborn about it. You continued to protect them. You saw their crimes. Always protecting them, and for what?”

Dev wasn’t sure how to answer. Anth was no more sane than Ace had been. It was almost exactly like talking to his father. He’d feel more sympathy for Anth if he hadn’t talked about being made for more than his mother wanted to give him.

In Dev’s experience, when someone tried to give you the escape hatch, you took it. You were grateful for them. Dev hadn’t been grateful enough for Grandma and Jamison—dousing too much of it in self-loathing.

But he’d wanted them. Always what they could give, even when he didn’t believe he deserved it.

He knew better now. That part of his life was over. He had to find a way to end this with Anth—once and for all.

“Well, y-you c-certainly b-beat us. Though we’re still alive, so I’m not sure what the point of those s-sentences was.”

“I couldn’t kill them,” Anth said, as if that was obvious. “That would have turned you against me. Eventually, they’ll have to get what’s coming to them, but we’ll make that decision together. We’ll do it together. You do see how wrong they were. How many horrible things they’ve done. Don’t you?”

“Yeah. I mean, I didn’t at first.” Dev tried to think of what Anth would want to hear. “But your notes were...convincing. I was just confused since you didn’t kill them.”

“We can. We will. Together. That’s what I have to offer you, Devin. A partnership. Building the thing Ace never could. True freedom. True power.”

Dev racked his brain for something to say. Some way to agree with Anth, but this was so insane he didn’t know how to even pretend to be that out of touch. He tried to think back to his childhood, those fuzzy memories he’d tried to push so far away they never surfaced.

When Ace had raged, what had Jamison done? Played the part. Puffed him up. Made the conversation about Ace, not one of his disappointments or escaped sons.

Dev wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing his hands up and down his coat sleeves, trying to create some warmth. “Y-you’ve certainly shown you’re as s-smart as he was. Smarter,” Dev quickly amended.

“It’s amazing how easy it is to set traps when you plan for years. Ace taught me that, but I took it farther. I always took what he taught me farther. He could never get the cops on his side. Me? I befriend one underpaid cop, tell him what he wants to hear for years, then it’s easy to get him to look the other way with a simple down payment.”

Dev’s stomach curdled. He’d certainly considered the fact Anth had had time to plan. And in that planning had been able to do things like plant the bomb and pin a note to Rachel’s coat without them knowing how. Palming a key at some point when they weren’t as diligent, knowing their patterns and where one could hide to be close but no one knew.

But paying off a cop—one who worked with his brothers—to look the other way. Dev hadn’t even considered that once.

“Now things are about to start really going down. So let’s cut to the chase. I’m giving you the chance, Dev. To see the error of your brothers’ ways. I’m the true brother. I saved your life. And you’re a true brother, because you didn’t tell them about me. You passed the test. Now it’s time to start over. I got rid of Ace—”

“Y-you... Ace died in prison.”

“You don’t think I arranged that? You don’t think I arranged all of it. Convinced Ace to go after your brothers. Encouraged him to swim in that psychosis. Ace was flawed. Too obsessed with himself, with you all.” Anth sneered. “He cared more about size and numbers and being a god than actually acting out his vengeance. He didn’t understand that the weak had to be eradicated. The disloyal had to be cut out, root and all. I learned. He kept me isolated. Alone. And I learned the power in being small.”

“There’s power in family too. In working together. Isn’t that what you’re proposing? Us? Family?”

“It has to be the right family. Your brothers failed the tests, Devin. They care more about law and order and themselves. But you. You care about the right things. That’s why we have to start over. Stay small. Just you and me. You can thank me now, Dev.”

Dev tried to work through all that, but decided in the end to just push it away. To just go along with whatever Anth said until they were close enough he could knock that gun out of his hands.

“Thanks,” Dev managed, though admittedly it didn’t sound very sincere.

“Do you understand what I’ve showed you? Do you understand what we can build? Not the Sons of the Badlands. We aren’t sons. We’re power. And power over many corrupts. Ace should have kept us small. He should have focused on family alone. Instead he had delusions of grandeur. We won’t do that. Our kingdom will be small, but it will be mighty. And it will be built on our blood alone.”

“Our?”

“You’re righteous, Devin. Or at least, you have the potential. To keep our bloodline pure. To keep