Brutal Read Free Page A

worth it.
    I was a mini celebrity here. Because, well, I was different. And I kind of liked to fight, a lot. I constantly got offered bigger jobs in better clubs outside of the city, but I wasn’t leaving. I needed to be in the trenches, I needed to be where the criminals were. The owner approved of my loyalty, and though Max skirts the law, he doesn’t seek out breaking it. Max replaced Gary in my life, you could say. So as the club grew, so did my name, and so did my admirers. Criminals you’d think wouldn’t trust easily, but they have this thing about loyalty. So if they trust you? You hear everything. You’re privy to it all. I’ve never betrayed that trust.
    Not even that night when I avenged my family by slitting the throats of Donnie ‘British’ Carna and Benjamin ‘Benny Boy’ Russo in the alley behind the club, without breaking a sweat or shedding a tear. I slowly slit their throats, because if you’re going to end someone’s life, that’s the most intimate way to do it. Before the life left their eyes for good, I told them that I had never forgotten. When realization dawned for them, I smiled. When they choked on their own blood, I smiled. When they died reaching for me, I smiled then, too.
    That’s when it happened. That’s when I realized: I was born for this, and I would never stop.
    So there you have it.
    That was almost seven years ago that I had my first taste of vengeance. I’m twenty seven now, a successful DJ, and I do what the police can’t or won’t. I know things they don’t. I see the things they don’t see. Don’t get me wrong, the DPD has come a long way since my family’s deaths. The Captain really cleaned house. But they still can’t be everywhere, and since I have many different resources at my disposal? It would be a shame not to use them. I don’t go after anyone who doesn’t deserve it, and I only take a life when that life isn’t worth making a call over. Trust me; some people are better off dead.
    Murderers, rapists, traffickers, big time abusers, drug lords, you name it. I track them, rough them up a bit, and get them ready for pick up, I may even kill a few, if the situation calls for it. I’m like a civil servant; only I’m not always very civil about it.
    Yeah, you’re welcome.
     
     

 

     
    M onths of searching and six perps later, we have finally caught a break. Three days ago, I found several strands of hair at the scene of Briggs' pick up – female hair – I was right, surprise, surprise.
    I’m apprehensive and excited to find out who she is, finally. She’s managed to take down two perps with heavy mob ties, including attempted trafficking, drug trafficking, and known gang activity. One perp was known for beating the local girls, and one well known officer who was beating his girlfriend and damn near killed her.
    Jesus, Briggs was one of us. Turns out, with the phone conveniently left in his pocket, he was a sick son of a bitch, too. If the situation wasn’t so critical being- she’s a female-and no one will turn on her if they knew her identity anyway, I’d haul her in myself. Now I’m chasing a ghost and I have cells full of criminals as proof. She’s also making the DPD look like a bunch of rookies on a permanent donut break. Bitch of it is, most of us do want to make a difference. There’s always dirty cops, but that’s not the majority. The public blames us for every bad thing that happens here. I’d be everywhere if I could, but I’m not fucking Superman. I’m a detective who makes pennies, but works 70+ hours a week. If someone has a solution my fucking ears are open.
    I head into my office, with the knowledge that no one will disturb me. I scare the shit out of my co-workers, and that’s just fine with me. Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke, I always say. Except I don’t joke. I rarely even speak to the people I work with. I have a job to do. I’m not here to make friends. The only friend I have is my partner, Jonas Rafe,