Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 4 – Legal Arrest of a Rival

Chapter 4 – Legal Arrest of a Rival

I’m about to head out to work to meet Renzo and am surprised to see him outside my house. He’s the spitting image of our dad in his prime, with short black hair, a blue officer uniform, and a hat with three upside-down triangles on it, but he differs with his red eyes that are a result of the recent enhancement injections the police were given and his basic haircut that I always try to get him to stylize.

“What? Don’t trust me even to meet you where I said I would?” I ask.

“Not really,” he admits.

“Ah, so the younger brother is making sure the older is not getting into trouble now?”

“That’s right. I see you’re still wearing one of dad’s Lieutenant General stars.”

“Always and I see you’re doing the same.”

“I always am.” Renzo looks over me and says hi to Isabella, Davito, and Brozo who say hi back. He pets Brozo and then we leave in his police car.

“How are Alicia, Licia, and Rocio?”

“Fine. Are you and Isabella still trying to have another child?”

“Yes, and we may be getting good news soon. I hope it’s another boy, but I’ll be fine with a girl. How about your new dog, Octavo?”

“The kids love him and he loves them back. He’s become another sibling to them.”

“Like dogs usually do.”

“I told mom and dad that we’re going to have dinner with them after we’re done today.”

“I don’t mind, but it’s not that time of the month when we usually meet up again. What’s the occasion?”

“No reason.”

“Are you trying to get me to change my mind? Because I won’t, not after what I’ve accomplished with Coronamento.”

“Dozens of people are dead and more are on the streets out of work.”

“Whoever lost their job at Humphrey will find new ones with Coronamento now that we’ve moved into their territory and enriched the area. As for those who died, it’s a tragedy for those who were innocent and didn’t know better and justice for those who did.”

“What happened to you, Salvatore? When did you become so cold?”

“The day you and our parents almost died.”

“You’re still letting that day bother you?”

“Yes, because it motivates me to protect not only you and our family but also others so that no one will go through it.”

“And you think this is the way to prevent it?”

“I do and you can do the same. The offer for the job is still on the table for you.”

“Don’t bother. Today, I’ll show you that good can still be done by the book.”

Still as naïve as always. I allow Renzo to take point in the arrests we are making today in the desolate area of the city where members of the Humphrey Collective may be roaming. For the first few, they come along after some convincing that their sentences will be shortened if they do and give up any information on where the higher-ups are, what other illegal dealings Humphrey was taking part in, and where the other criminals on the list may be. Some of them come easily because they’re afraid of me or put up a fight because they hate me for not trying to save the kid. Every single one of these criminals we take to the police checkpoint where they are taken to the station to be processed and held for the time being before they can be tried and sentenced. Nothing too interesting happens until one of the criminals decides not to open their door to us.

We do the honors and break down the door for ourselves, point our pistols at a woman with her gun up, and tell her to freeze. She refuses, fires her gun at us, and runs away. Thankfully she misses, and even if she didn’t we’re both wearing outfits laced with ballistic weave that give us basic protection against small firearms. We chase after her and the woman’s husband holds her hostage with a gun to her head, threatening to kill her unless we let them go. I don’t care to listen to him and shoot both the man and woman.

“What did you do that for?!” Renzo asks.

“They were both armed criminals resisting arrest and one of them already tried to kill us. We are within our right to defend ourselves,” I say.

Renzo is about to say something else until we hear the commotion downstairs, upstairs, and outside of this apartment room. We take cover and see people start to come in with their guns raised.

“There could’ve been a way to take them in alive,” Renzo says with a whisper.

“Well, there’s no way of doing that here, so toughen up and get to killing,” I say before leaving cover and popping heads with my pistol one after the other.

Renzo radios for backup while aiding me and covering my back as we make our way out of the apartment. With our backs against each other and downstairs, we find that the stairs are blocked and the only way forward is to cross the hallways filled with criminals who are using furniture as pseudo-cover. We accept the challenge in front of us and carefully but forcefully break through the step-up they have here including their traps as they come out of the room and hidden holes in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Pushing forward, we shoot our way down and are pinned at the bottom of the stairs, but backup comes just in time to help us out. Not wanting them to have all the fun, Renzo and I help them clear out any remaining threats in the building.

Afterward, Renzo says, “Is this what you wanted?”

“I don’t want it all to be killing criminals so they won’t be locked up and let go through our flawed justice system, but this is what I want, in a way,” I say.

“I see.”

Renzo and I quietly walk back to our car and I expect him to say something else, but he doesn’t.

“I’m not a psychopath or a sociopath, Renzo. I know it isn’t pretty, pleasant, or makes us anything like the heroes we wanted to be, but it’s what has to be done,” I continue.

“I know. I get it.”

Do you really? What you’re saying and the silence between us reminds me of the times when we got in trouble with mom and dad. On the radio, we hear how the other teams have made a full sweep of the area, and every criminal on our list has either been arrested or killed, so Renzo and I head to our parents’ house for dinner. Our parents are glad to see us after hearing so much about what we were doing on the news. They say they’re proud of us, which brings a smile to my face while Renzo seems indifferent.

Our mom asks Renzo while cooking, “Did you call or text Ignazio and remind him to come over?”

“I did, but he said he might not come over, like usual. He’s either busy with work or his wife, so I wouldn’t worry about him,” Renzo says.

“Well, give him another text as a reminder. He needs to come over once in a while.”

“Renzo is right,” I throw in. “He’ll come around when he comes around.”

“Both of you shouldn’t be so lukewarm about your brother. Maybe you should make time to hang out or talk to him so he spends time with us.”

“Sure,” Renzo and I say in unison.

Ignazio is the odd brother out who doesn’t want to be in the police and wants to live a normal life. At first, we thought he’d just be the boring, middle brother who would do something like Isabella who might’ve helped us in the offices, but he’s instead kept to himself and stays away from us for the most part except for holidays or when mom and dad are adamant about him coming over. As we eat, we make small talk about what we’ve been up to and current events.

“Salvatore’s employers have been making waves against Humphrey,” Renzo says.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing a lot of good ever since I first started there,” I add.

“Will you let us know or is that top secret?” our dad asks with a smile.

Not wanting to admit to having a part in the bank incident or stealing information at the food pantry, I say, “Investigating our competitor and exposing them for what they are so they can face justice.”

“And how have you been doing that?”

“You’ve seen the news. Everything you need to know is-”

“I know you’re speaking in technical truths like how Giovanni is, but you don’t know how to be plain in the truth while leaving out important bits like he does. You’re not that kind of person, never were.”

“Your point, dad?”

“I’m not going to say that you should stop what you’re doing and quit that company, but I also can’t completely praise you for it. You’ve indeed been doing a lot of good. However, at the same time, you’re the cause of a lot of suffering and death. I just suggest that you pray and really ask yourself if what you’re doing is the right thing. You still pray, don’t you?”

“Always.”

“Then I trust you in the hands of God.”

Looking over to Renzo, I see that his eyes are down at his food as if he’s somewhat disappointed at what dad said. I am a bit too despite not expecting him to say that I was doing a lot of good. All in all, I say today was a good day. On the drive back to my house, I offer Renzo a place at Coronamento again, which he denies again.

“If you say so,” I say. “We’ll see what your coworkers decide tomorrow and then maybe you’ll change your mind.”

“Whatever,” Renzo says before driving off.

Going back inside, I spend the rest of the night with my wife, son, and dog with no regrets about what happened and happy that everything worked out in my favor.