"It doesn't make any sense to me Angel," I murmured, looking up from the shit load of paperwork the insurance agent had left us. He sighed and looked up at me, "I know Katie. And that's the exact reason why we can't tell Bobby- not yet. Jerry's warehouse thing is the biggest red flag in this entire file so you and Jack and Bobby need to go visit the guy who shut it down-"

"Commissioner Douglass?"

Angel nodded and closed the folder, looking at his watch. "I'm going to go talk to one of Jerry's friends who was working on the project with him. Try and get some answers," he said, standing up and taking the folders off of the table. I lit a cigarette and began to smoke, "And why can't we just tell Bobby what we know?"

"Because this is going to require a little finesse-"

"Then let me come with you," I suggested, the older Mercer scoffing. "Given your prior reputation as a hothead, you'll be the first one to fuck it up. You're going with Bobby and Jack while I go and get to the bottom of this," Angel finished, leaving no room for argument.

The next morning, I sat beside Bobby as he drove my Challenger, Jack quiet in the backseat. "Couldn't help but notice how you and Angel looked like you had some sort of plan," Bobby murmured, looking over at me. I shook my head and lit a cigarette, "Don't worry about it."

We pulled into the parking garage of the city department, Bobby and Jack watching as I pulled out my cell phone. "We're looking for a black Mercedes, model year 2004 or newer," I said, getting out of the car and beginning to scour the underground parking lot. It didn't take long to find, Bobby jimmying the lock.

"When's he coming out," Jack asked nervously.

"Any moment now. It's almost lunchtime," I replied, Bobby nodding. "Jack, go get the gas. I'm gonna go wait for Douglass…"

Much quicker that I would have thought, the Commissioner made his appearance, walking towards me quietly. "Ma'am, this is my car; can I help you," he asked, looking at me pointedly. I smirked and felt Bobby's weight lower the car, the eldest Mercer walking from the trunk to the hood of Douglass' Mercedes. "Yeah, you can help us: we wanna know about Jeremiah Mercer. Why'd you shut down his business," Bobby questioned as he jumped off hood, leaving a large dent. "I don't know what you're talking about and even if I did, I wouldn't share that information with you people- I can't. But if you'll excuse me…"

The commissioner brushed past Bobby and I, getting into his car.

Bobby sighed and I stepped away from the car, Jack stepping forward. "You asked for it Douglass…"

I kicked in a back window, watching as Bobby and Jack doused the interior and exterior of the car with gas. As they worked, I lit a cigarette, keeping my eye on Douglass. "See, now I gotta light your ass on fire! All I wanted was a name, but you're gonna make me turn your ass into the black gingerbread man now," Bobby shouted, the commissioner rolling down the window to finally speak. "I want the name of whoever's running things around here and I wanna know right fucking now," Bobby said, taking my cigarette.

"His name is Victor Sweet."

Bobby smirked and nodded, "Thanks. And now you can be on your way."

He tossed the cigarette into the car, the flames growing quickly- much too quickly for Douglass to escape. We took off, Bobby pulling me along as my eyes stayed glued on the burning man in front of me.

We sped away from the building, going to a bowling alley to get ourselves together.

"That was fucking nuts Bobby," Jack murmured, stroking my cheek as I began to drown myself in whiskey. I couldn't handle all the killing- and I was disturbed that even though it bothered me, the second time was much easier than the first. Bobby shook his head and looked around, "Where the fuck is Angel?"

"I'll call him."

Angel answered on the first ring, sighing, "Yeah Kate?" I stepped away from the guys and looked around to make sure they couldn't over here me, biting my bottom lip. "What'd you find out Ang," I asked, running my fingers back through my hair. "I'm less than five minutes away. We'll talk when we get there," Angel replied, immediately hanging up with me.

I walked back to the others, their eyes searching my face.

"What did he say," Jack asked, sighing when I shrugged. "Nothing- but whatever he did find, its something big; I could tell that from the sound of his voice. I know my brother," I answered, looking up as he walked in. I immediately ordered him a beer and had it waiting when he joined us, Angel taking it gratefully.

"So," Bobby said, Angel's dark eyes troubled. "Jerry ain't been straight up with us about his redevelopment project- you know, the warehouse conversion into luxury lots, storefronts and all that shit? I found out his dream's dead… Jerry got involved with some bad people. The city got on him about fraud and what not, cut his loans off like a month before ma got killed. So technically, Jerry's broke," Angel replied, Bobby's green eyes looking like fire. "You think this had something to do with what happened to ma?"

Angel sat down and sighed, "No, but I am saying it's something we should look into."

We exchanged a look and Jack, ever the perceptive one, noticed it, my throat tightening with guilt. "We didn't tell you, but we found out that… Jerry's getting a check for a quarter of a million dollars-"

"Wait, from mom's death," Jack asked sharply, his eyes darting between Angel and I. "You guys are coming up with this pretty quick," Bobby said, seeming like he didn't want to hear what I was saying. I smirked and shook my head, "Yeah, we should've been cops." I began playing with my lighter as Angel began to speak, the fire dancing before my eyes. "Jerry owes someone named Victor Sweet some money… And ma had been on his case about the fucking gangbanger."

"Son of a bitch," I whispered. "Jerry gets the life insurance, pays Sweet and gets him off his back. Fuck."

Jack shook his head in denial, "Nah, it can't be like that. Jerry selling out ma for what, some land? He ain't like that- he's one of us Bobby! He's a Mercer."

"Holy shit… look who showed up," I murmured, looking over Jack's shoulder.

They all turned to watch Jerry walk into the bowling alley, our luck seeming unreal in that moment. He went and talked to a large man, oblivious to who was watching him. "Who is that," Bobby asked menacingly, his jaw set. "That looks like Evander Pierceson- him and Jerry were part of the union when Jerry was working on that big housing development my sophomore year. Yeah, that's him," I replied, my hand wrapping around the gun in the back of Bobby's jeans. He reached back and grabbed my hand, shaking his head, "No Kate. Not yet."

Jerry passed the man an envelope and as soon as he was gone, Bobby moved towards Evander, his hand around his gun.

"Hey Evander!"

We watched as he struggled to get his family together, Bobby pulling out the gun, "Uh uh. Ain't nobody going anywhere until we have a little chat. Evan, what's in the fucking envelope?"

"What envelope," he asked, Bobby chuckling humorlessly. "Don't play fucking stupid with me. What are you one of Sweet's boys now? He running shit like his uncle, treating your bitch ass like a house nigger, huh," Bobby asked, cocking his pistol. Evan's daughter ran up and threw her arms around her father, his eyes pleading as they locked with mine. "Don't fuck with him Evander- he ain't in the mood for games," I murmured, looking at his terrified child. My maternal instinct was raging and all I wanted was for him to get her out of this situation. "Just give Bobby the goddamn envelope and walk away."

Trembling, he gave the package to Bobby as I exhaled softly, glad that it was over.

"We'll be seeing you soon Evan- you can count on that."