Captain – Brothers At Arms #6

Leon shook his head at Alfredo. “While that is a concern, you have to realize that the way you raise your family is just as important as the stories they will hear along the way. Your son and grandsons turned their backs on you. It wasn’t you who turned your back on them. You stood beside your family when they needed you the most. You were there for your grandkids when their own father chose to break the law and go to jail instead.” He looked over at Delaney and nodded at her. “You gave them a home that they abused and left before they could understand the way life really is. They chose to believe the stories they heard from a sad old man, rather than open their eyes and see what they were doing to their lives. That’s hardly your fault. They chose to believe in the wild imagination of your father.”

Delaney knelt in front of her grandfather and reached out to take his hand. “Grandpa, you know what he’s saying is nothing but the truth. My dad and my brothers have so much to be accountable for and it’s high time they face the consequences for everything they have done.”

Gina nodded. “Yeah well, I think they are finally getting that message.”

Alfredo looked up at her and suggested, “Maybe we should make a bigger statement to that effect.”

“What are you talking about Grandpa?” Delaney stared at him.

“It’s time to put my foot down and stop this insanity,” he grumbled.

“And just how are you going to do that, my old friend?” Leon asked.

“I am going to disown them and my father. I’m going to tell them I turned everything over to the Family except for the gold coins and those are for my granddaughters. Then I want to turn all of them over to the Marshals offices.” He looked over at Gina. “Get your evidence together, young lady. I want all four of them to go to jail for the rest of their lives. My family has done enough damage for one lifetime.”

“I’ll testify on behalf of my father’s death,” Emily spoke up.

“And I’ll testify on behalf of my mother’s murder as well as my grandfather’s,” Desi told them.

“And it will come out in court that Sam killed Zeus’s wife and Donna on orders from Vincent,” Marty added. “Plus, I’m sure that he shot the man in his own truck to fake his own death. That will wrap up the whole family. Well, except for the girls.”

“And as this is Barrett’s third strike, he’ll never breathe free air again,” Gina assured them all.

“And I’ll make sure of that by filing charges against him for Carlos’s murder.” Alfredo snarled. “I want justice for my son’s death finally, after all this time.”

“What happens if he just doesn’t give a shit about any of that?” Captain shrugged and said, “Some men just don’t care about family in that way.”

All of them turned their heads to stare at him.

 He held up his hands and said, “Just playing devil’s advocate here.”

Alfredo shook his head. “There is something about Barrett that very few people know, he is very proud of being a Raggetti. He tells people he has a proud heritage to step into from the stories my family used to tell him. If I renounce those stories and Leon backs me up then he’ll be left with nothing. When word spreads so everyone knows he’s no longer my son or grandsons then no one will listen to his boasting. When they realize he’s lost everything, no one will want him around and that will hurt him the worst. He will realize his grandfather led him down a thorny path and that he’s lost everything he ever believed in.”

Everyone went quiet for a moment then one by one they all began to nod.

“That might just work…” Leon’s voice broke through the silence. “If you are willing to face the consequences as well. There will be fallout on your end too.”

Alfredo shrugged. “What more can they do to me? I am an old man not long for this earth. It will hurt the girls more than me.”

Desi snorted. “It isn’t gonna hurt me, I don’t carry his last name anyway and people won’t know unless I tell them just who my father is.”

Delaney shook her head. “I can’t help who my dad is. I didn’t get a choice in that, but lucky for me I can always change my name. I can do that sooner rather than later.

Leon looked over at Gina. “Perhaps you should call in some agents and get this process started then.”

Gina shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that Mr. Vincinti. No, I won’t do that.”

“And why is that?” Leon asked.

“Because my Marshal brothers would take one look at you being part of this and demand to know what you were doing here. And if you have anything to do with the men outside the fence.” She shook her head. “I told you, I came here to find Desi, not to cause trouble for you or anyone else. May I suggest we just wrap this stuff up and you leave quietly? No one ever has to know you and yours were ever here. They also don’t need to know what’s going on here.” Gina looked around and shook her head. “They would never believe it anyway. If they had any idea what you guys found here, they would take it all into custody until it was determined what belonged to who. And I’ll be damned if I’m gonna send Alfredo to jail for something he didn’t do, because that’s where my brothers in uniform would send him, until everything gets sorted out.”

Leon, Zeus and the others just shook their heads.

Zeus was about to say something but Gina held up her hand to stop him. “Besides, if and when this story is told, Desi will have to admit who her father is and that’s one thing she doesn’t have to do but the Marshals will make her do it anyway. She would be compromised and I’m not going to do that to her.”

Leon crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “So what do you suggest we do then?”

“We check those men and find out if they are dead or alive then we patch them up. You finish your business here. After you’re gone, I’ll call my brothers in to take Barrett, his sons and men into custody.”

Leon stared at her. “What about the men Barrett had? The ones still alive? They will name me and my men in their statements.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gina retorted. “Who will believe them? They all have records and Barrett has racked up a novel’s worth of criminal history. These men don’t know any truth. Their lies will outlive them. If I am asked, I will say I came here to check on Delaney and she had her hands full with these men attacking this compound. I helped her and called my office in. As to who was here? I don’t know any of you.” She shrugged. “Least of all if you were involved, Mr. Vincinti.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then finally nodded his head. “I still hate that Alfredo will have to go through this without any help. He came forward to repair the damage his father did to the Family and I can’t help him get through this part of the process.”

“Mr. Vincinti.” Alfredo gave him a nod. “My family is totally in the wrong here. I didn’t know what my father was doing all these years. I didn’t listen to his stories because I was too busy earning a living to provide for my family. I had heard it all in my youth and I knew the truth. My father liked to tell tall tales. With each telling his stories grew bigger and bigger. My son took his tales as fact. And even then he retold the same stories to my grandkids. They became entitled and they believed as he did, that the law couldn’t touch them. My father was a fool, living in a daydream world. It’s about time to tear their rose colored glasses off their faces and show them the real world. The harsh world, where everyone has to follow the same rules. Barrett is about to find out how unforgiving the real world is. And just who his real friends are.” He scoffed. “If he has any real friends out here at all. It is time to set the record right and call him out for all his misdeeds.”

“I will help you with that,” Desi told him. “I have firsthand knowledge that the Marshals can use against them all.”

Leon nodded. “I will finish up my business here then go back home and wait for the fallout. If asked, I can confirm what you call them out on, if I am asked.” He reached for his phone to get his security team on the line then told them to check the men outside the fence.

Delaney knelt in front of her grandfather and asked, “How are you going to do this, Grandpa?”

“I’m gonna take an ad out in the newspapers and see if it catches on. I’ll tell the whole world about his lies and misdeeds. Of how he allowed his sons to become what they have become. It could blow up in my face but I want everyone to know what a failure he is. Everyone he ever spoke to will know what a disappointment Barrett is. All his creditors will know he’s a thief and a liar. I want to drag him and the boys down so low, no one will ever trust them or believe a word they have to say. I’ll turn his money over to the authorities, so he can’t use it. I want them broke and broken.” Shaking his head he admitted, “My own father began this slide into infamy and my own son and grandsons finished it. The Raggetti name once meant something proud but they turned that around. They made it dirty and not worth a damn.” He looked up at Leon to meet his gaze. “I only hope I live long enough to put the record right.”

Leon shook his head. “We all hope that my friend. You didn’t have to bring me in but you did because it was the right thing to do. Back when your father took the gold, he did so without any qualms about returning it. He led us to believe that he would return it and then refused to do so. Then he robbed one of the vaults right under our noses and again, you returned that money and gems he took from the different families. The fact that you did that stands strong in the crimes your father committed. And when you return the money and the gems your son stole, you will do right again. You can’t change the past but you can and have made right for what they did.”

“Well, most of what they did.” Alfredo sighed heavily. “I can’t bring the souls they dispatched back or put the families they tore apart back together.”

“No one is expecting you to,” Desi commented. “But those are not your sins, Senor.”

Just then, Leon got a text from his men outside the fence. He read it and looked up at Zeus. “They found four of the men on the other side of the fence injured but still alive. Apparently, one of the flash bombs hit dead center and caught four of the men unawares and they were killed outright. Then three others were impaled by tree limbs and they didn’t make it either. Only three men got away but from what I understand, they were injured as well. They are bringing the injured men in with them.”

Click opened the gate and they brought the four men inside.

 Delaney watched them all. The men looked bloody and burned, but she knew one of them. She walked over to Chico and shook her head. “Bet you never expected this outcome, huh Chico?’

“You little bitch.” Chico growled as he groaned in pain. There were burns around the top of his head and eyes. “Your dad told us all we had to do was wait you out. So no, we never expected the light show you put on. What the hell kind of explosives were those anyway? I’m blind here.”

“In case you didn’t know this about me, I like to make flash bangs,” Delaney explained with no remorse in her voice, “That’s all they were, just lil ole flash bangs.”

“That ain’t what they felt like.” Chico snarled at her. “I felt like I was in a war zone.”

Delaney sighed. “Chico, you of all people should have known my dad is a stone cold liar and a back stabber. He damn near sent you to prison once. Why on earth would you believe him again? Shame you once, shame on him. Shame you twice, shame on you.” She reached out and patted the other man’s shoulder. “You just got fucked for a second time, you dope. Now you will all go to jail.”

“Fuck you bitch.” Chico growled. “And fuck your old man. If he comes near me again, I’ll kill that rat bastard!”

Delaney crossed her arms and glared at him. “You should have walked away when you still had a chance. Don’t blame me because you made the mistake of listening to the world’s biggest liar.” Then she turned her back and walked away.

Leon ordered his men to take them down to the cells.

Grave Digger grabbed his kit and followed a few minutes later.