Concrete Jungle

by Onkwehonwe Kashatstenhshera

A cartel hitman, an ex soldier, a wayward gunmen with no cause, an ex KGB agent, & a familiar family oriented coke addicted thug find their way to sunny LS finding themselves around similar scum. Immoral car salesmen, low life bangers, king pins, & hackers. When an eventual rift in the friendship divides their destinies, alliances shift & none of them will ever be the same again.

76. How The Mighty Have Fallen

Cypress Flats

Cherry had searched for hours. She spotted them. He had four men with him. She wishes she had something heavier than a Beretta but it was all she could get her hands on with such short notice. She parked the cherry red Admiral south east of them and put on a green bandanna exiting the car. She began to creep across the street. She got into a squatting stance and began firing. She struck the first MH1 member, a Caucasian with blonde curly hair and blue eyes standing 5'8 in the back four times. As he fell over, the other two MH1 members started running and both drew their weapons but she hit the second, a white male wearing a black jacket over a white Def Leopard T shirt and black jeans. She struck him in the buttocks and as he fell, she put two in the back of his head.

Eddie ducked behind a sea green Vepid Peyote. "Get back here you motherfucker! This is for T Mart!" She roared with rage. The third henchman a red haired white male standing 6'6 and 250 lbs wearing a white wife beater and camoflauge green pants returned fire and she ducked behind a gray Tahoma. "You really shouldn't have come at us on your own, bitch!" He shouted back firing a .50 Desert Eagle.

"I didn't!" She shouted back. The fact was she had asked Gina to come with her. It'd taken some convincing but she had agreed. She was on her way there and was expected to pull up within two minutes when she had pulled her own ride up.

She stayed low as he fired three rounds from the Desert Eagle in her direction. Eddie also fired back, unloading .45 rounds at her. She rolled out from the left side as the MH1 member fired at the right approaching the back trying to flank her and she fired striking him five times in the midsection from his pants button up to his sternum. He fell coughing up blood and she finished him with a sixth round to the throat. Eddie ran dry on ammo and she began firing on him and he tried running between cover but she caught up to him. He turned to face her. His eyes flashed with arrogance. "You're empty too."

"That was fourteen shots..." She said and went to fire but he grabbed the gun in a speed of movement. She saw him go down and she saw blood but he'd knocked the gun away and collapsed. She had used her last round. She saw him laying face down and blood formed on the pavement under him. She didn't want to get too close to check without a weapon. She saw the dropped Desert Eagle on the ground from the gang member she'd hit prior to him. She picked it up remembering that he'd fired a total of six shots so there was one more.

She grabbed the Magnum and went back to where Eddie was except now he was back on his feet. He had his empty .45 in his hand and before she could get the shot off, he pistol whipped her. He dragged the unconscious Filipina into the parked Tahoma and threw her in the passenger side. Gina pulled up in a dark blue Stallion and she spotted Eddie and Cherry just as he started the car. He fired a shot at her almost hitting her but shattered the driver window. He then got in and sped off while Gina needed a few moments to recover from the glass explosion which cut her right cheek. She floored it and began to give chase after the AV member.

Neto

Culiacan, Sinaloa

The Lords Of Culiacán

His time in New Arcadia Parish jail had been educating to say the least. He'd had Culebra go south of the border to find out for sure. He'd confirmed that it was. Neto found himself deep in enemy territory. The cartel boss had taken his son to the cartel land and he figured even with his ranch outside Los Santos he must have known it wouldn't be safe.

He had arranged a meeting with Alfonso Vasquez who was in the countryside after being on the run from his second arrest on suspicious of smuggling cocaine to Los Santos and Liberty City. "¿Por qué debería ayudarte en absoluto, pequeña mierda? Martin Madrazo es el mascarón de proa de la familia ahora."

(Why should I help you at all you little shit? Martin Madrazo is the figurehead of the family now.)

"Porque sabes lo que es ser traicionado. Tus primeros socios volvieron en los años 90 y porque eres un fugitivo buscado. Puede que seas un mal hombre, pero yo soy peor y puedo mantenerme fuera de la custodia de Estados Unidos y México mejor que tú. Por otra parte ... nunca fui el patrón.

("Because you know what it is to be betrayed. Your first partners returned in the 90s and because you are a wanted fugitive. You may be a bad man, but I am worse and I can stay out of the United States and Mexico's custody better than you On the other hand ... I was never the patron.)

"¿Qué garantías tengo de que no intentarías atacarme más tarde?"

(What assurances do I have that you would not try and just attack me later?)

"No habrá razón para ayudarme a derrotar a Martin Madrazo. Sé lo que estás pensando. Un vato sediento de sangre como yo no querría dejarlo así, ¿verdad? Bueno, tienes razón, pero ya no necesito ir tras Sinaloa. Olvidas que los ceros todavía están ahí afuera y mi venganza contra ellos es mucho más profunda que nunca contra ti."

(There's not going to be a reason to if you help me take down Martin Madrazo. I know what you're thinking. A bloodthirsty vato like me wouldn't want to just leave it at that, right? Well you're right but I don't need to go after Sinaloa anymore. You forget the Zeros are still out there and my vendetta against them runs much deeper than it ever has against you.)

The cartel boss of Spanish descent turned to his former subordinate who he had never directly met even though Neto even as an Azteca had done jobs that had benefited the Sinaloa cartel even when Martin had not yet taken over. He said, "Aunque esto es cierto y si bien tengo cierta influencia y puedo hacer que la gente obedezca mis propias órdenes si tuviera que ordenar a mis hombres que encendieran a Madrazo, causaría demasiados problemas. Además, si bien tengo tanto conocimiento como puedo sobre sus propias operaciones y sé todo sobre las mías, Martin ha sido solitario. Alojarse en su casa en la jungla. Incluso yo no podría llegar sin su permiso mientras yo solo soy el patrón fugitivo y él es el mascarón de proa. Mire, pequeño Neto ... tiene miedo de que, como no es Vásquez, y porque antes de mi encarcelamiento se suponía que mi hijo se haría cargo si algo me ocurriera, teme una toma de poder. Y algo le sucedió en Los Santos hace unos años también. No se que No habla de eso, pero perdió un oído. Escuché que te acercaste mucho a él y a su primo, así que pensé que quizás tenías algo que ver con eso."

(Even though this is true and while I have some influence and can get people to obey my own orders if I was to order my men to turn on Madrazo it would cause too many problems. Besides, while I do have as much knowledge as I can about his own operations and I know everything about my own, Martin has been reclusive. Staying at his home in the jungle. Even I couldn't get there without his permission while I am just the fugitive patron and he is the figurehead. You see, Little Neto...he is afraid that because he is not a Vasquez and because before my incarceration my son was supposed to take over if anything should happen to me, he fears a power grab. And something happened to him in Los Santos a few years ago too. I don't know what. He doesn't talk about it but he lost an ear. I'd heard you got really close to him and his cousin so I thought maybe you had something to do with it.)

Neto snickered. "¿De verdad crees que si fuera yo, me habría detenido en un oído? No me conoces personalmente pero conoces mi reputación. Soy peor que Trevor Phillips. Es quien lo hizo."

(Do you really think if it was me I would have stopped at one ear? You don't know me personally but you know my reputation. I'm worse than Trevor Phillips ever was. That's who did it.)

"Entonces habrá tiempo para que ese degenerado adicto a la metanfetamina pague más tarde. Aunque te apoyaré si logras esto, aún tendremos que tener a alguien a quien culpar por esto. Tengo una idea. Usted y el Sr. Phillips han trabajado juntos en el pasado. Aunque ahora eres enemigo, tu odio por Martin Madrazo es de conocimiento público y sabemos que lo odias más que a Trevor. Sería creíble que usted y él trabajaron juntos para robar su dinero, pero en su caso, dejaré saber que fue allí solo por su hijo. A la gente no le gustará, pero lo entenderán. Y con Trevor podemos echarle la culpa del asesinato. Patricia Madrazo iría a sus brazos si ella no estuviera casada aunque odiara a Martin. Esa sería toda la evidencia que nuestros compañeros necesitan para justificar otra guerra con él. No tendría a nadie para secuestrar esta vez y sin influencia. Nuestros sicarios lo atraparían eventualmente. Sería constante pero nadie es invencible. Y en este caso, él cree que todavía estamos en una tregua. Apenas tendrá tiempo de procesar por qué la mujer de la que se enamoró está allí antes de que uno de nuestros soldados le dispare. Y ella."

(Then there will be time for that methamphetamine addicted degenerate to pay later. Even as I will support you if you pull this off we'll still need to have somebody to blame for this. I have an idea. You and Mr. Phillips have worked together in the past. Though you are enemies now, your hatred for Martin Madrazo is public knowledge and we know you hate him more than Trevor. It would be believable that you and him worked together to steal his money but in your case I'll let it be known that you went there just for your child. People won't like it but they will understand it. And with Trevor we can blame the murder on him. Patricia Madrazo would go to his arms if she was not married even though she hates Martin. That would be all the evidence our companeros need to justify another war with him. He would have nobody to kidnap this time and no leverage. Our sicarios would get him eventually. It would be costly but nobody is invincible. And in this case he believes that we are still in a truce. He will barely have time to process why the woman he has fallen in love with is there before one of our soldiers puts a bullet in him. And her.)

"¿Dinero? ¿Que dinero? ¿Cuánto guarda allí?"

(Money? What money? How much does he keep there?)

"Todo ello. Lo guarda en su casa en la jungla. Incluso te ayudaré. Esto va a ser mucho dinero, por mucho que sea. Te dejaré usar uno de mis Skylifts porque necesitarás uno y no sería muy convincente creer que la ingeniosa Santa Muerte robó un helicóptero, ¿verdad?"

(All of it. He keeps it in his home in the jungle.I'll even help you along. This is going to be a lot of money however much it is. I will let you use one of my Skylifts because you will need one and it wouldn't take much convincing to believe the resourceful Santa Muerte stole a helicopter would it?)

"Sharky..No Santa Muerte. Puede que no esté en guerra con Sinaloa después de esto, pero he terminado siendo su peón. Quizás algún día volveré al nombre con el que nací, pero probablemente no lo haré. Pero nunca volveré a ser Santa Muerte..." He said remembering the placa he had earned during his time in the Arizona prison.

(Not Santa Muerte. I might not be at war with Sinaloa after this but I'm done ever being their one day I'll just go back to the name I was born with but I probably won't. But I'll never be Santa Muerte again.)

"Llámate como quieras, Neto. Pero mataré a los restos de tu familia y a todos los aztecas si traicionas nuestro trato."

(Call yourself what you want, Neto. But I'll have what remains of your family killed as well as all the Aztecas if you betray our deal.)

Neto looked the cartel boss in the eye defiantly his brown eyes flashing with malice. "Firme Si vuelves al trato, mataré el tuyo. No quiero perder a mi hijo, pero lo he perdido una vez y de alguna manera estoy preparado para eso si vuelve a suceder. Tienes que matar a toda una familia y, a diferencia de ti, que no podría acercarse a mí sin que yo quiera que te guste ahora, me aseguraré de que vayan despacio y te haré mirar. No me importa si muero después porque sé que tienes un ejército detrás de ti, pero solo con destriparlos delante de ti será suficiente victoria para mí. Puede que ya no siga mi antiguo nombre ... pero sigo siendo tan inevitable como la muerte."

(Cool. If you go back on the deal I'll kill yours. I don't want to lose my son but I've lost him once and in a way I'm prepared for that if it happens again. You have a whole family to kill and unlike you who couldn't get near me without me wanting you to like now, I'll make sure they go slow and I'll make you watch. I don't care if I die afterwards cause I know you have an army behind you but just getting to gut them in front of you will be enough victory for me. I may not go by my old name anymore...but I am just as inescapable as death still.)

The two shook hands. Alfonso whistled to a woman. "Yesenia! Ven aqui!"

She came over. "Esta es Yesenia Ella le entrega dinero a Martin. Ella es lo único que sucede con mi antigua operación y la de Martin. Ella entrega dinero a la casa de Martin en la jungla y solía hacer eso conmigo."

(This is Yesenia. She delivers money to Martin. She is the one thing that is the same about my old operation and Martin's. She delivers money to Martin's house in the jungle and she used to do that with me.)

"Y que? ¿Por qué me importa una mierda?"

(And what? Why should I give a fuck)

She shook her head at him. "El es grosero. El no me ayudaría."

(He's rude. He wouldn't help me.)

"Calmate mija..Cálmate, mija. Es un bárbaro grosero que es cierto, pero es muy útil. Neto, ella puede llevarte allí. Pero ella tiene un requisito propio. Ella quiere que ella y su hermano puedan salir del país. Para ir al norte..."

(Calm down, mija. He's a rude barbarian that's true but he is very useful. Neto, she can get you in there. But she has a requirement of her own. She wants her and her brother to be able to get out of the country. To go to The North)

She turned to Neto. She could speak English too. "This is a fair deal. I want to get out of here. Go to Liberty City."

"You know it's not all peaceful up there, right? I've probably killed just as many people in El Norte as down here."

"It's still not as violent as down there. But I'd be putting my life at risk. So if you want to do this tell me now."

"Well...you go in and you record what you need to. We'll find out if you're for real or if you're just setting us up so you and your hermano can leave."

"I'll get it done. Or die trying..."

Two Weeks Later

Neto arrived not long after at Madrazo's ranch. They already had the plan in motion and had discussed it for weeks. Neto got changed and was now wearing camoflauged military fatigues and he had his face painted camoflauge green. Joaquin was there too. As was Brujo and Tito. Plus Emiliana and Moira.

Neto had them with him to just stake out and do recon of the jungle house. They'd arrived in two Landstalkers at the eastern point of the jungle. "Comunicaciones Pásalas ..." Neto said to Joaquin. "Estamos en el patio de Madrazo..." He added grimly.

(Comms. Pass those out. We're in Madrazo's backyard.)

"Entonces, ¿qué tiene este vato contra los bancos? O al menos una caja fuerte?" Inquired Brujo as he moved through the jungle with his M9.

(So what does this guy got against banks? Or at least a safe?)

"La casa es la caja fuerte," Neto explained to his fellow Zapatista and fellow cartel dropout.

(The house is the safe)

"Estoy en la puerta..." Joaquin announced. "Esto parece que todo se hizo un 82% correcto. Consiguieron todos los juguetes, pero estas cámaras ni siquiera están dirigidas al punto de incumplimiento más débil."

(I'm at the gate. This looks like everything was done 82% right. They got all the toys but these cameras aren't even aimed at the weakest breach point.)

Moira jokingly said to Neto, "¿Tu novia está haciendo que su dinero caiga normalmente?"

(Is your girlfriend making her normal money drop?)

"Si. Ella está preparada para grabar todo dentro de la casa..." Neto replied.

(Yeah. She's prepared to record everything inside the house.)

Emiliana suddenly had alarm in her voice. "Neto ... ¿tiene hijos viviendo con él? Porque eso complicará mucho las cosas y no es para lo que me inscribí."

(Neto...does he have kids living with him? Because that's going to make things a lot more complicated and is not what I signed up for.)

He replied to her, "La familia no es el problema. Ellos son la respuesta. Madrazo es extrañamente muy devoto según Alfonso Vásquez. Todos los domingos por la mañana envía tres guardias al servicio de las 6:00 a.m. Cuando regresan, él envía al resto del equipo junto con su familia a misa, lo que lo deja a él y a sus tres guardias en esa casa. Y esa es nuestra ventana."

(The family is not the problem. They're the answer. Madrazo is strangely very devout according to Alfonso Vasquez. Every sunday morning he sends three guards to the 6:00 AM service. When they get back he sends the rest of the team along with his family to leaves him and his three guards in that house. And that's our window.)

"¿Por qué tendría que hacer eso?" Asked Brujo.

(Why would he do that?)

"Teme que alguien vaya a secuestrar a sus sobrinos y sobrinas. Y nunca deja el dinero y no cree que nadie tenga las pelotas para venir y robarle.

(He's afraid somebody is going to kidnap his nephews and nieces. And he never leaves the money and he doesn't think anybody has the balls to come out here and rob him.

"He has nieces and nephews?" Joaquin shot back.

Neto spoke with intimate knowledge. "Esos son los hijos de su primo. El estupido. Así es como Martin siempre lo llama. No creo que Javier haya tenido hijos."

(Those are the children of his cousin. El Stupido. That's what Martin always calls him. I don't think Javier ever had any children.)

"Tienes razón compa. Trabajaste con él en el pasado, ¿)verdad? Bueno, descubrí algo sobre él. Su verdadero nombre es Isiah Madrazo. Los mantiene con él y le deja ver a sus hijos, pero no los dejará volver y vivir con él hasta que repare algunos de los errores que cometió en el pasado. Conociendo a Martin, ¿quién sabe cuánto tiempo tomaría eso?" Stated Culebra.

(You're right compa. You worked with him in the past, right? Well I found out something about real name is Isiah Madrazo. He's keeping them with him and he lets him see his kids but he won't let them go back and live with him until he makes up for some of the mistakes he's made in the past. Knowing Martin, who knows how long that would take?)

"Probablemente sea porque es una idea estúpida..." Remarked Tito aware of the irony of that statement.

"Aquí viene Yesinia. ¡Ella es hermosa! Bien jugado, Neto!" Joaquin remarked.

(Here comes Yesenia. She's beautifil! Well played, Neto!)

"Fuck off..."

"Tenemos una ejecución a punto de bajar aquí..." Observed El Brujo as he stared through the fence and saw several men with bags over their heads.

(We got an execution about to go down over here)

"Are you at the Tennis Courts?" Neto asked.

"Si mon..."

"That's his spot."

Brujo watched as Martin stood with a Beretta and fired a shot into the backs of the heads of each of the cartel members who had fucked up. Tito was also held his stare while Tito looked down. Somehow he felt empathy for them.

"Why is she doing this?" Asked Joaquin over the comms as he had eyes on Yesenia.

"She wants me to smuggle her brother and her out of the country into the US."

"I guess that's putting her at some risk..." The ex Seal said.

"

Joaquin noticed something else. "We got ground censors..." He repeated the same sentence in Spanish. It was about a foot away from his foot and had a red flashing light.

"Did you hit one?" Neto inquired.

"I don't know. I'm not sure."

Moira spotted something. "Joaquín, tenemos a dos hombres en camino de Sánchez ..."

(Joaquin, we've got two men on Sanchez's coming your way...)

"Agárrate fuerte. Voy a cubrirte, carnal..." Brujo stated.

(Hold tight. I'm coming in to cover you bro)

Meanwhile inside, Yesenia greeted the cartel boss. "Buenos Tardes, Senor Madrazo.."

(Good afternoon Mr. Madrazo)

She handed him a book with the cartels budgets and accounts on there, the ledger. He eyed her intently but then took the ledger and began flipping through.

Brujo made his way through the water sloshing through with his Handgun at the ready to use on the two bodyguards if need be. "De repente, sentado en mi trasero y solo cobrar dinero de la factura GI suena mucho mejor ..."

(Suddenly sitting on my ass and just collecting money from the GI bill sounds a lot better...)

Joaquin was the one who had done most of the planning since he was an Ex Seal. Neto didn't like to admit as much since he had a more dangerous reputation and he had certainly killed more people in the game and had done anti government activities for almost five years but El Culebra was more dangerous than he was. He had better training and above all was no addict. Still, Neto was the leader and a big homie but any good leader listened to his men.

Culebra addressed all the men and women under them. "En primer lugar, todos deben saber esto, ya que algunos de ustedes son ex militares. Esto no hace falta decir que no hay medevac ni apoyo en tierra. Cualquier lesión que suframos la abandonamos. Cada uno de ustedes tiene un paquete médico. Solo deberíamos estar cometiendo un robo a mano armada y un asesinato. Tanto los sirvientes como Madrazo van a la iglesia, pero si los sirvientes no van a la iglesia, nosotros no entramos. Hay seguridad, pero debería ser ligero a esta hora del día. Nadie tiene las bolas para estafar a Martin Madrazo en su propio territorio. Hasta ahora."

(First of all you should all know this since some of you are ex military yourselves. This goes without saying there is no medevac and no ground injuries we sustain we walk out with. Each of you has a medical should only be committing one armed robbery and one murder. The servants as well as Madrazo are going to church but if the servants don't go to church, we don't go in. There is security but it should be light this time of day. Nobody has the balls to rip off Martin Madrazo in his own territory. Until now.)

Neto stated, "Se trata de la feria para el resto de ustedes, pero para mí se trata de recuperar a mi hijo. Solo quiero asegurarme de que tengamos la oportunidad de cuidar a Madrazo."

(This is about the feria for the rest of you but for me it's about getting my kid back. I just want to make sure we get a chance to take care of Madrazo.)

"Si está allí como se supone que debe estar, lo atraparemos. Pero es mejor si no te pones como lo haces normalmente. Simplemente ponga una bala en él y termine con eso."

(If he's there like he's supposed to be we'll get him. But it's better if you don't get like you normally do. Just put a bullet in him and be done with it.)

"¿Estás hablando en serio?"

(Are you fuckin serious?)

Culebra leaned in. "Carnal...he's not the one that pulled the trigger on Nenetl he approved of the order sure but that was Javier and for all you know Javier didn't even pull the trigger himself. Since when do cartel royalty need to do that much of the dirty work on their own?"

"Javier has pulled triggers, wey. I didn't get a chance to kill him. That fuckin gava Trevor got him. He stole my kill. But he didn't have the balls to take more than an ear from Martin."

"This isn't about your revenge. We got a narrow enough time frame just getting that kid outta here. As a matter of fact...that's going down before we make our move. I found that IAA bitch...Ana..."

"WHAT?!"

"You don't trust her. I don't trust her. But she did tell you the truth and she has the least reason to lie to you at this point. She wasn't thrilled I found her safehouse at all. We had a chat though. No violence between us just guns pulled but we kept it civil. She needed to understand that the IAA may be good maybe even the best at finding people but we can find people too. We're all about recon..."

"GET TO THE POINT! And give me one reason I shouldn't have you greenlit!"

"Because I've had your back almost as soon as you got to this city and I knew your reputation down here. Besides...you're about to kill Madrazo. The baby doesn't need to be around for that or see that and there may be some trauma if he's seen Martin as his papa all this time but it's easier to blame some strange chinita he's probably never gonna see again rather than the man who's his biological father. If you take him from the man that's been raising him then you're the bad guyt in his eyes for a while and it'll take him time to trust you. You rescue him from the mysterious chinita though you'll be somewhat of a middle ground between her and Martin but he's still little and some of those familiarity memories even just sub conscious associations will kick in and he'll remember you without even realizing he does. Then it'll be second nature and that cabron Madrazo will just be a memory until he isn't even that anymore."

"We're meeting her after this?"

"Not directly after but yeah..."

"Orale. You've earned yourself a pass."

"Tu sabes you need to lay off the cranka, man. It's fuckin with your cabeza..."

Emiliana, oblivious to the discussion in English stated, "Está lloviendo bastante mal. Al crecer en la iglesia, mis padres solían decir que eso significaba que Dios quería que nos quedáramos en casa hoy..." Observing the weather.

(It's raining pretty badly. Growing up in the church my parents used to say that meant God wanted us to stay home today.)

It had started to for sure. Brujo chuckled at that. "También dijo que te vas al infierno por el clima y te quedas por la compañía ..." This earned a laugh from the other Zapatistas.

(He also said you go to hell for the climate and stay for the company...)

Culebra had to crack a grin at that. "Creo que Mark Twain dijo eso."

(I think Mark Twain said that.)

They waited and they saw a van pull up. There were several vehicles and Neto asked on the headset addressing Culebra, "¿Cuántos sale eso?"

(How many is that coming out?)

Culebra counted watching through his cans. "Siete."

(Seven)

"¿Alguna señal de Martin?" He demanded

(Any sign of Martin?)

"Negativo. Nunca lo vimos entrar o salir. Pero si él está allí, lo atraparemos."

(Negative. We never saw him come in or out. But if he's in there, we'll get him.)

"Hay niños allí ... ¿estamos seguros de que ninguno de ellos es hijo de Ikal?"

(There are children in there..are we sure none of them are Ikal's child?)

Brujo shook his head. "Hay dos niños más un conductor y Patricia Madrazo. No, espera ... más un guardaespaldas."

(There's two children plus a driver and Patricia Madrazo. No wait...plus a bodyguard.)

Emiliana said, "La familia ha abandonado el edificio. Repito, ¡la familia está clara!"

(The family has left the building. Repeat, the family is all clear!)

"Preparémonos para movernos..." Culebra stated.

(Let's get ready to move)

They snuck through the woods area and then he held up a hand signalling them to stop. He saw a figure in red at the top of Madrazo's house. The figure wore a raincoat and appeared to be holding something. The person flashed a red light in their direction. "The fuck is that, Quino?" Neto growled.

"That's Ana. She's got your son..."

He relayed the rest of this to the Zapatistas in Spanish. Neto hated the sight of the Chinese American and he didn't like involving her but though his lips did not smile his eyes did. "She got him out of the nursery...without that boboso even realizing it..."

Emiliana saw a dark red Burrito pull up. "Ahí está nuestra chica. Ella es puntual."

(There's our girl. She's punctual)

The black haired light brown skinned Mexican woman who was half Guatemalan had pulled up

"Orale."

Joaquin began to use bolts to cut through the fence and the armed insurgents made their way through the opening slowly, stealthily, moving through as the rain poured down on them. She dropped off the van and then got into a beat up yellow Perenial and drove out.

"Orale Ella se ha ido. Vamos a mudarnos."

(All right. She's gone. Let's move in)

They moved in and could hear a soccer game on. Neto and the others all had FX-05's. Neto, taking lead slowly opened the door and they made their way inside. One of the guards sat out under the deck protected from the rain but also listening to the Football game. Joaquin grabbed him from behind putting him in a chokehold. He tried to struggle but it was to no avail.

Brujo spotted the fridge open in the kitchen and could see a figure standing there getting a shut the fridge just enough to get through and the man saw him, a middle aged old Mexican with thick messy black hair which was graying and an already gray mustache. He put the man in a chokehold. Brujo and Tito carried the man and they began to tie them up on the floor. "Puerta frontal segura.." Joaquin stated.

(Front gate secure.)

"Un guardia asegurado en la cocina ..."Replied Tito silently.

(One guard secured in the kitchen...)

"Joaquín, ven a la casa..." Instructed Emiliana.

(Joaquin come to the house.)

Culebra replied, "Estoy al frente..."

(I'm in the front)

"Espera, Culebra. Hay una amenaza en la sala de televisión..." Moira warned.

(Hold, Culebra. There's a threat in the TV room.)

Brujo added, "Vamos a ir por el costado."

(We're gonna go around the side)

Neto was prepared to go and take out the bodyguard in the TV but was willing to listen to his soldados and soldadas. Just then, however, another guard walked right by them. He sighed not wanting to fuck this up and also to show leadership but today the weight of leadership was heavier than most.

Just then, however, another guard walked right by them. Tito fired hitting the guard in the lower right leg and the guard screamed in agony and Tito began to tie him up too. "¿Qué está pasando allí?" Joaquin asked hearing the shot.

(What's going on in there?)

"Todo despejado, Culebra. ¡Ojos a Madrazo!" Emiliana said.

(All clear, Culebra. Eyes out for Madrazo!)

"Seguro como mierda nos escucharon ahora..." Muttered Brujo.

(They sure as fuck heard us now)

"¿Qué quieres de mí, wey? Tuve un segundo para reaccionar y lo hice. ¡Podría haber tenido un arma y usarla en nosotros y yo me ocupé de la situación!"

(What do you want from me, wey? I had a second to react and I did. He could have had a weapon and used it on us and I dealt with the situation! )

"Estoy entrando..." Joaquin stated calmly.

(I'm coming in)

"Establecimiento de cargos en la sala de seguridad..." Announced Moira.

(Setting charges to the security room)

"¿Qué fue eso?" Asked Neto.

(What was that?)

"Tuvimos que dispararle al segundo guardia en la pierna. Lo llevaremos a la cocina," Replied Emiliana as Tito put black tape around the guard's mouth who tried screaming but to no avail especially over the sound of the Soccer game.

"El fusible se está quemando," Announced Moira. It went off behind them as they passed the security room.

(The fuse is burning)

"Que chingada! Ella dijo que ya nunca sale de la casa. ¿Dónde diablos está?"

(What the fuck! She said he never leaves the house anymore. Where the hell is he?"

"Es un fantasma, hombre. Ha sido uno por meses, carnal."

(He's a ghost, man. He's been one for months, brother)

Neto then said, "Todos a la oficina. Ahora mismo."

(Everyone to the office. Right now)

Joaquin came in. "No Madrazo?"

Neto shook his head. "Solo un par de bolsas."

(Just a couple of bags)

Tito stated, "He's gone...with the money. The girl gave us up, Neto."

Brujo relayed that in Spanish to Emiliana and Moira.

'

"We gotta get the fuck outta here then..." Culebra said looking out the window. Neto then sniffed in the air. "¿A qué te huele eso?"

(What does that smell like to you?)

"Like we fucked up."

"No. pintura."

(No. Paint)

He exchanged glances with the other Zapatistas. "The house is the safe..." Tito said echoing what was said earlier.

Neto he tapped the wall listening for the sound. He punched the wall in. "Jesus, Neto. Don't you think it's a bit of a meth head thing to punch holes in walls? We could have used a cuete."

"You're an ex seal...shit you're a man and you got a problem punching holes in walls?! Who hasn't done that? Shit, the Navy really is for fags..."

"Hey, I'm a citizen of both countries but the US has a better military, fool! Name one battle the Mexican army's fought in the modern day besides the drug wars?"

"115,000 cuerpos not enough for you, Chickchan?" Neto demanded calling him by the Maya word for serpant."

He punched through and they saw the money. He pulled out a stack of bills. They all began unloading the money. "¡Vamos a necesitar algunas bolsas!"

(We're gonna need some bags!) Called out Emiliana.

"¡Puede decirles a sus hijos que no estudien, porque pueden comprar su entrada a Harvard en este momento!" Tito exclaimed.

(You can tell your kids not to study, cause you can buy their way into Harvard at this point!)

"Recuerde, esto está volviendo a la comunidad. Tiene que. Recorrerá un largo camino..." Moira stated.

(Remember, this is going back into the community. It has to. It will go a long way.)

"Lo haremos. Pero no sé si alguna vez volveré a vivir en México. Y para quedarme donde estoy, estoy aumentando las ganancias de la pinta poco a poco y solidificando el control de Onda en las calles..." Neto insisted.

(We will. But I don't know if I'll ever live in Mexico again. And to stay where I'm staying I'm kicking up profits to the pinta a little at a time and solidifying Onda's control on the streets.)

"Neto, no puedes ser parte del problema y parte de la solución también. Uno de estos días tendrá que tomar una decisión..." Emiliana said.

(Neto, you can't be part of the problem and part of the solution too. One of these days you're going to have to make a choice.)

"Ese día no es hoy. El mundo es un lugar feo, mija. No lo logré y no puedo. No todo el camino."

(That day isn't today. The world's an ugly place, mija. I didn't make it and I can't it. Not all the way.)

"¡Hola a todos! Hay otro muro. Están por todas partes," Interrupted Tito.

(Hey everybody! There's another wall. They're everywhere)

"It's the whole house..." Joaquin said.

They got more. "La camioneta está llena, carnal. Tenemos que irnos," Culebra insisted.

(The van is full, carnal. We need to go.)

"¡Solo unas pocas cargas más!" Insisted Neto.

(Just a few more loads)

"Ikal, Ikal, en todo el tiempo que te conozco y he servido juntos en las fuerzas armadas, ¡nunca te has perdido una ventana!"

(Ikal, in all the time I know you and have served together in the armed forces, you have never missed a window!)

"Nos di una idea de quince minutos. Son doce minutos para la iglesia, un servicio de cuarenta minutos y doce minutos de regreso. Agregue cinco minutos para cargar dentro y fuera de la camioneta y podemos restar siete para vencerlos a la ruta de salida," Neto insisted. "¡Estaremos bien! Maldita sea, mira todo este dinero!"

(I gave us a fifteen minute cushion. It's twelve minutes to the church, a forty minute service and twelve minutes back. Add five minutes to load in and out of the van and we can subtract seven to beat them to the exit route. We will be fine! Goddamn it look at all this money!)

"Se acabó el tiempo. Tenemos que irnos..." Brujo declared.

(Time's up. We gotta go)

"Quiero un barrido más para Madrazo. Dormiría mejor sabiendo que lo sacamos del mapa de una forma u otra," Culebra stated.

(I want one more sweep for Madrazo. I'd sleep better knowing we took him off the map one way or another.)

They all eyed the Chicano of Kumeyaay and Mohave descent. "Y luego lo quemamos todo."

(And then we burn it all down)

Neto didn't like it but he sighed. He and Tito and Brujo began squirting gasoline out from the gear they'd brought with them each having a can.

They searched closets and various guest rooms but to no avail. "Come on, we gotta go..." Culebra insisted. They got ready to light it up when a bookshelf slid aside and a man cursing in Spanish fired an AK-74 at them. They didn't even get a good look at them but they fired on him, Neto, Joaquin, Emiliana and Moira all hit him. He fell over with rounds in his chest, stomach,and both legs.

Neto saw he had an M1911 Handgun. A speedy thought went through his mind. I hate that gun... He saw his face. Martin Madrazo. He was lifting the handgun to fire at Moira or where Neto thought Moira had last been. He fired the Serpent into his wasn't close enough to him to where he would be able to disarm him fast enough. Just like that. The man who had controlled his life for years and whose cousin had ruined it was gone with a single gunshot to the forehead. Martin had a look of recognition on his face moment.

Neto had dreamed of this day. He wanted to cut off Madrazo's other ear, his nose, skin him bit by bit remove fingers, toes, everything. But today, he had chosen practicality to save a life. It hadn't been about revenge in that moment. Just stopping him.

"What are we shooting at in here?!" Demanded Tito coming in. Joaquin saw the body. "Is that Madrazo?"

"It was..." Neto said.

"¡Estoy golpeado!" Cried Moira.

(I'm hit!)

"¿Dónde?" Neto asked as he and Culebra got to her side seeing the blood on her hands from holding the wound. "Lado izquierdo..." She groaned.

(Left side)

"¿Pasó la bala?"

(Did the round pass?)

"Si. Pasó por..." Moira said as he lifted her shirt up and they saw the round had passed through as it had an exit wound. "Estaré bien."

(Yes it passed. I'll be fine)

"Consigue el kit de coágulo," Joaquin instructed.

(Get the clot kit)

They patched her up and helped her up when Brujo called out, "La escuela dominical ha terminado. Ellos están de regreso," He then saw Moira and called out, "Mierda!"

(Sunday school's over. They're back. )

"La familia ha vuelto?" Asked Neto.

(The family is back?)

"No. El primer turno de guardias."

(No. The first shift of guards.)

Emiliana asked Moira, "¿Vas a poder moverte? No tenemos camilla."

(Are you going to be able to move? We don't have a stretcher.)

"Si. Solo ayúdame a volver a poner mi kit."

(Yes. Just help me get my kit back on)

They helped her get her vest back on. "Todo bien. Todos podemos llevar una mochila llena de dinero en efectivo. Salimos a la selva y nos podemos ir..." Neto said.

(All right. We can all take a backpack full of cash. We go out into the jungle and we can be gone.)

"No. No la estamos arrastrando a través de la jungla. ¿No te importa ella? La sacaremos de aquí a salvo."

(No. We're not dragging her through the jungle. Don't you care about her? We're getting her out of here safe.)

"¡Si no me importara, imbécil, me habría tomado mi tiempo con Martin en lugar de darle una muerte fácil!"

(If I didn't care, fool, I would have taken my time with Martin instead of giving him an easy death!)

He then added, "Tampoco les dejaremos nada de este dinero. Lo quemamos todo y nos vamos."

(We're not leaving them any of this money either. We burn it all down and go.)

"Hay alrededor de cien millones de dólares por ahí esperándolos en la furgoneta. Necesitamos cazar y disparar rápidamente y denunciar tus asesinatos. No necesitamos más sorpresas."

(There's about a hundred million dollars out there waiting for them in the van out there. We need to hunt and shoot quickly and call out your kills. We don't need anymore surprises.)

They made their way downstairs. A man came from the door on the side at the bottom of the stairs on the left and Culebra lit him up with a burst of rounds to the neck. He fell bleeding unable to breathe. Another guard came through a door on the right and Moira fired a burst striking the man in the left side of the face. "Son las dos de abajo en el vestíbulo."

(That's two down in the front hall.)

Another came out and Emiliana hit him in the right temple. "Tres.."

A fourth came from outside to the north and Brujo's Rifle banged out hitting the Sicario in the forehead painting the wall with his brain matter and blood. "Cuatro."

Neto saw a man through a double glass door and he fired striking him through the glass door and the glass shattered and the man fell over with wounds to the chest and stomach. "¿Alguien vio al Landstalker en el que entraron los guardias? Lo vamos a necesitar," Brujo said.

(Anybody got eyes on the Landstalker the guards came in? We're gonna need it.)

"Ya lo estamos cargando," Moira stated as she and Tito had gotten outside as they had taken separate paths in the house to get out.

(We're already loading it up.)

"Otra camioneta de hombres acaba de pasarme en el camino de entrada," Stated Tito.

(Another van of men just passed me in the driveway)

Neto saw a black Burrito pull up. He let the driver have a face full of lead as he drove by. The SUV slowed to a stop as he fell against the steering wheel. The back opened and a man got out but Neto fired getting him in the right ear. He fell and Neto reloaded. On the right side of the van, two more guards got out but Joaquin lit up the first with a burst of rounds to the chest while Emiliana hit the other with a barrage of her own.

Tito and Brujo went into the Burrito and began to drive in front while Neto, Joaquin, Emiliana and Moira rode in the back. "Mierda!" Culebra growled.

(Shit!)

"Que?" Neto asked him as he drove the Landstalker.

(What?)

"¿Qué quieres decir con "qué", wey? ¡Ese fue un espectáculo de mierda allí! ¡No dejamos líos así!" The ex Seal shot back.

(What do you mean 'what', wey? That was a shit show back there! We don't leave messes like that!)

"¿Qué hacemos aquí arriba? Tengo a la familia esperando para entrar," Tito interrupted.

(What do we do up here? We got the family waiting to go in)

"Tomar con calma," Neto replied.

(Take it slow)

They drove by and a window rolled down and a young Mexican boy with a Cesar style haircut of about eight or so looked out the window unsure of the faces he was looking at. They arrived at the airfield. There was so much they had to put it in a net.

Joaquin was weighing it as well. "That scale says we have 6000 pounds!" Brujo translated this to the women. "That's two hundred and fifty million dollars..." Culebra finished.

"If that money is even close to being right we're gonna have a weight issue..." Neto said with a sigh.

"That helo can carry 9000 lbs."

"That's 9000 lbs at 2000 feet. If we want to get out of here we gotta get past the Sierra Madre Ocidental Mountain range, homes. It aint worth it."

"Shit..." There was also Yesenia with her brother Alberto a dark skinned mestizo man with way black hair wearing a beige jacket over a teal t shirt and blue jeans. "What about them?" Joaquin asked. "We're already overweight as it is."

"We promised to get them out of the country. We're gonna stand by that!" Neto vowed.

The chopper was soon in the air with the net below being carried. They took a different route and got across the border. They landed finally and Neto handed her a bag full of money. "There's three million dollars..."

"There's a lot more money up there than you think..." She said.

Neto asked, "What does that mean?"

"It's more than just Madrazo's money. More than just his men will come looking for you..."

"That's not your problem. It's mine. Here..." He handed her a brown paper bag. "Your new identity. Passports. Everything."

She hugged him. "No eres un mal hombre, Neto. Tu corazón es como un diamante cubierto de tierra, cenizas y sangre. Pero en algún lugar hay un buen corazón."

(You're not a bad man, Neto. Your heart is like a diamond covered in dirt and ash and blood. But somewhere down there is a good heart.)

"Si tú lo dices, señora."

(If you say so, lady)

"Lo sé."

(I know so)

2 ounces of emulex on a ten second timer

Paul

He waited with Freddie Owl Child spotting for him. He was in the projects on the rooftop of a building. "This seems like a weird spot for an FSB contact to be laid up. The Podt Ops neighborhood?"

"Yeah..." The Blackfoot Indian IAA agent said. "Or it's perfect. Oh sure he moves weight and he does stick out like milk on a black top but he barely leaves his apartment. He does maybe once a week. Truth is, he touched down around here a few years ago maybe three or four. Besides even if it is suspicious and those project kids down there are killers it's still Teranto. It aint like Los Santos. Or even Liberty City."

"So what? He's their connection?"

"Yeah. FSB got their hands on a lot of dope from Europe. This asshole is sitting on a gold mine."

"So shou;dn't we be try and take it from him? If I didn't I'd think at least you fools would want to."

"No. That's not something we're gonna touch. The less direct we are about it, the better. As a matter of fact, don't you go getting ideas about taking them either."

"Yeah but wouldn't it look more suspiscious if we didn't take them? If we want this to look like a drug hit or a rival anyway?"

"Except we're not supposed to actually know about it. The way he's got it on the street, he's the only one besides his runners who knows he's a connect. Normally, those guys down there probably wouldn't want to move shit for a white guy and maybe they'd have it in their heads to try and take him out or torture him to find where he keeps his stash. But that wouldn't work. He's trained to withstand pain."

"Yeah but nobody can hold out forever under torture."

"No, maybe not but they're not government agencies. They're a bunch of dumb gangsters. Tuvia is smart enough to where he could trick them into killing him before they could get an that's neither here nor there, kid. They don't know where his source comes from and that's better for all parties involved. They get rich selling his dope and there doesn't even have to be any violence over it."

"What are you talking about?!" Paul asked as he kept his eye on the Sniper Rifle. "The Post Ops got enemies all over Teranto. From their own people and us. And the Dead Beats may not fight them as far as I know but I doubt they like them."

"Yeah, you could say they got beef on the street but none of it has to do with their high quality shit. I'm telling you, Redwood. We're not taking his blow or his smack. His guy that has the shit and moves it to him is gonna have to move on. He doesn't know the ghetto boys so he can't just stroll through there and be Tuvia's replacement. We'll deal with him too."

"I just got a hard time believing there's drugs on the table the Agency wouldn't want..." K:or stated.

"We commandeer drugs sometimes but other times it's better for everybody to get rid of them. We only use drugs to further some agendas. The end justifies the means but in this case we don't need his European dope. Even if it is fresh from Afghanistan some of it. We already have connections to the cartel who can get their hands on it. "

Paul kept his left hand under the butt of the stock. He didn't have a bipod so he was using a leather military style had his in a loop sling. This was made by having the sling connected to the front swivel and the other end in a loop to go as high up on his bicep as possible. Then he put arm his through the area between the rifle and sling. Then in a clockwise motion ended up with the forward hand gripping the rifle under the front stock close to the swivel. "It's funny..." Paul stated. "Ivan is who really taught me how to snipe and now I'm fucking him over."

"That doesn't mean a thing. You don't look relaxed."

"Most times that I've done this I was crouched. The situation called for it."

"Well, that's not as good as being prone..." Owl Child told him. "And it's even worse if you're ever sniping standing up."

"So?"

"There's nothing he can teach you that I can't. A critical component of sniping is acquiring a good "cheek weld" or "stock weld". This means your cheek bone is held fast against the butt stock to insure proper sight alignment and sight picture. The pocket of your shoulder will absorb the recoil. Without a good cheek weld, parallax in your scope is guaranteed and you will never become proficient with any sniper weapon system optic-equipped rifle."

Paul did what he said. Freddie then chuckled. "Hey I got a hard question for ya, kid but it's cause I know you hate Uncle Sam. If you had a say who would you rather work for or with: A Native who was working for the Agency or a Russian who aint Indian but hates the United States? Especially one who has a troll farm trying to get Jock Cranley elected? Given your views that's gotta be a catche 22."

"No comment."

"Yeah. I'll take that either as you know and don't wanna speak about it to save face or you really don't know."

"What I know is I don't work for these idiots. You do. You work for alphabet agencies. For me this is a simple trade. No...it isn't even a trade. Tanaka's gonna die for the shit he pulled. But if Uncle Sam wants to think they 'gave' him to me and that I'm somehow earning my freedom by cleaning up my own mess, I'll do that."

"You realize I'm with the Agency myself, right?"

"Yeah. And you're expendable just like the rest of them. Unless you're some Nikita wannabe in black..."

"Don't you mean red?"

"I was talking about Mai."

"You know who I'm talking about. The wife of Devlin."

"Never met her don't care to. I know that enemy Neto made out in New Arcadia is banging her."

"It's funny isn't it, kid? How you're enemies who will probably never meet but you know who each other are?"

"Not really. Pretty sure there was people on both sides of World War II that never met each other. All I know is they better never come up to Canada. I'll stay outta New Arcadia. And that's fine. America is a shit hole anyway and my life never got better going down there. I should have stayed up here where I belong."

"Funny you say that. Your tribe as well as mine recognized no borders and we're on both sides of it."

"Yeah...we did. But I was born up here though. There's Mohawks down there and Mohawks up here and i'm an up here type. Liberty City is overrated. Los Santos kind of is too I liked it but not as much as I probably would have in the 90's."

"You're insane for that," Owl Child said. "Race riots, celebrity murder trials, crooked police officers...I like Los Santos to visit but living out there is something else."

"You fucked Agent Thu didn't you?" Paul demanded. The Blackfoot IAA agent didn't respond. "Yeah...your silence tells me everything I need to know..."

"Yeah maybe. Look you got your views and that's your right to have them. I love our Native sisters and I'd prefer to have kids with them but where I am now I'm not ready for that. I've been with Arab and Asian women. I really like the latter a lot. They're not that different from us."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" Paul asked. "How come you never hear them claiming us then? And while we're at it even if I bought into this notion we all just originated in Africa and after that we went to Asia and after that we went here you never hear anybody saying that white people aren't really from Europe cause we're all African. Or that middle easterns aren't really indigenous to there. Or a black guy from any part of Africa except the Horn of Africa isn't really from there. They only say it to make US illegitimate. They have an agenda."

"You can't tell me in the days before you thought like this you never thought Asian women were hot. You were in Bohan for a while sure but you were here in Canada before that. You must have seen them as attractive."

"Sure but I didn't act on it. The most I'd ever go for is somebody half Asian. That's the thing with you skins that think like you do youi can just use that as a loop hole to stay faithful."

"So would you be ok with some Native girl using you and your mixed features as a loop hole to stay loyal but also get her fix of the green eyes on a white guy?"

"Not especially, no but if that was the case I'd rather have it be me than some white guy she goes with. Cause the half breed thing assumes that most Natives in the US are 100% right now in this day just cause most have two Native parents but it's not."

"Well, I'm a full blood and if i was to have kids with an Asian they'd probably just look fully Native So fine you admit as a teen you thought about it but even now, nothing? You don't think Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese or Japanese women look good? Hell maybe you haven't seen enough of the world like I have. And the IAA...has got some lookers. I have seen kids that are half Native and half Asian and they're probably the best looking out of any of our mixed bloods the features go together."

"Do I look like a white guy? No."

Owl Child didn't like that implication that only they would be into Asian women but he was coyly playing off that stereotype and he knew that if he was to say it around him or any other minority that liked Asian women was just trying to be like a white guy.

"They're not that different I'm telling you."

"Yeah they are. Oh wait don't tell me you're another one of those that believes the Bering Strait Lie?"

"Is it a lie? They've done DNA testing on Navajo students and found that they were similar to Siberians. There's there halogroups three migration waves. There was yours and my kind that came over earliest which is why we still look Native but not as Asian. Then you got the Athabaskan subgroup so Apaches, Navajos, the Dene in Canada plus whatever groups in Alaska. After that you got the latest groups. Inuits, Tlingits and the like. The way i look at somebody like Mai or even somebody like Ana is that we're not a different race. Not in the large scale different cultures sure but we're just cousins that haven't seen each other in fifteen thousand years."

Paul had the sneaking suspicion that somehow other IAA agents besides Owl Child or whoever else were listening. He pretended to be none the wiser. "What about the 9 repeat allele found in populations from Greenland to Argentina? Absent in Asian populations?"

"That's just a genetic mutation from what I can tell..." The IAA agent said. They had eyes on the contact. "There he is..." Paul saw him. He was a white male wearing a black parka and a black beanie and green camo pants and brown boots. He had an Afro Canadian gangster standing next to him who had dark skin and a gold earring in his left ear and he wore a black puffy coat with a hood. They were facing three other gang members from the same gang. There was no reason to think they were on opposing sides but the target had one of them for a bodyguard anyway since it was a drug deal about to go down.

"Exactly but even if we're somehow a hybrid people between Mongoloid and that or there was distance marriage at the Bering Strait area that mutation is what makes us Indigenous. I'm not some Chinese American who sides with the same government that once invaded China...ever hear of the Eight Nation Alliance? America was one of them. And I'm not a Hmong who helped a country depopulate her own country just because they were Catholic and didn't want to side with Ho Chi Minh against Catholics. And I'm not a Blackfoot that has the name Owl Child a great warrior who killed settlers but then sides with the same government that killed a lot of their bands just to go after the real Owl Child..."

"No. You're just the guy that sided with a Japanese rogue IAA agent that ended up being the one that killed his mom."

He was looking at him as he said this but before he'd taken his eye off the scope a moment but he'd had visual on the target. He pulled the trigger anyway.

The target was in fact hit. The round had pierced him on the left side in the area just between his neck and chest the round going straight through the collar bone. "Nice shot but you really shouldn't have taken your eye off the ball for even a second. You could have spooked him and he could have went into hiding in the projects. And it wouldn't have been possible to get him out of there with that many feet on the ground."

"I could have hit that in my sleep..." K:or insisted. "I didn't even need to see. I just needed the wind. That told me what I needed to know."

Freddie eyed the commotion caused by the shooting. The Afro Canadian gangsters were panicking and arguing since he had shot their connect. They then took off the man with the money, a lighter skinned black male with a mini Afro wearing the basketball team for the city's jersey plus baggy blue jeans under a silver coat carrying the briefcase full of money took off.

"Poor bastards. They didn't even get their shipment..." Fred said with a laugh.

"They got to keep their lives. Plus the money. They can find plenty of connections outside the projects. It's Teranto."

Two Days Later

Neto and Paul stared a moment but Neto let out a cackling howl and threw his arms around Paul in a bear hug. "What the motherfuck, carnalito?! You get lost in the pinta few years and you grow up on me, eh? What's that shit?"

"It's not all good news, man...I'm only out cause of Mai. She'shaving me do some shit for her."

Neto's grin dropped. "Por serio?"

"Serio carnal..." He sat down and explained everything to him. From watching the news Neto most likely knew the story but he wanted him to hear it from the horse'smouth.

"Sorry about your hyna, homes...I know what you've been through."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not. I should have never...it don't matter."

"Hey, you don't gotta put on a front, man. There's no shame in saying you miss her. Nenetl wasn't perfect but I'd rather she was alive than dead."

"I don't care about Aila..." he said and the word al;most choked him though he gave no indication. "We both know that's a lie."

"Even if it is it doesn't matter. We had our differences and I got near her and she died. I should have stayed away from Teranto. She was sort of smarter than the rest of the rez dogs. She'd have gotten clean and probably left the rez left the gang, all of it."

"Si lo que dices es cierto, no creo que ninguna distancia entre tú y ella haya impedido que Lucifer la use contra ti."

(If what you say is true, I don't think any amount of distance between you and her would have stopped Lucifer from using her against you.)

Paul, not sure if this made him a shitty IAA agent that his friend could read him this easily or if it just made him human plus Neto had dealt with people trying to kill him anyway. He said, "No importa porque ella se ha ido. No importa lo que siento, es irrelevante. Esta ruca, Dawn, cree que sí importan, pero no es así. Ahora solo es un recuerdo y cualquier idea de que hice esto o aquello es inútil. No la trae de vuelta. Y pensar en ella en el presente no tiene sentido porque no está aquí ahora. Y el futuro porque ella nunca lo será."

(It doesn't matter cause she's gone. No matter what I feel it's irrelevant. This ruca, Dawn, she thinks they do matter but it doesn't She's only a memory now and any thoughts of I did this or that are useless. It doesn't bring her back. And thinking about her in the present is pointless cause she isn't here now. And the future because she never will be.)

"Todavía no has tenido ningún encuentro con los muertos que te visitan, ¿verdad?"

(You haven't had any encounters with the dead visiting you yet, have you?)

"No..." Paul said switching back to English. "But I still dream about it."

"That's still the dead visiting you. They may not have done it in broad daylight. But they will."

"I don't know. I'm pretty left brained. I'm not as sensitive to that kinda shit."

"Doesn't matter. If ghosts wanna talk to you they're gonna talk to you. And if you think your 'frequency' aint good enough to hear them they'll raise their voices."

"How do you live with it?"

"Meth helps. Or maybe it makes it worse. Truth is I've had dreams I can't remember and probably even some visions I can't remember."

He saw the track marks on Neto's right arm. "That rose won't bloom in the springtime..."

"Hey/...no Baptist sermons, all right? I do what I do to get by. But I haven't done that since I got my kid back."

"Well don't do it anymore, man. My dad was like that with heroin. It aint cool."

"Look, I know what not to have around my hijo, entiendes?"

"All right..." Paul said. "So what brings you up here?"

"I can't stay long. I gotta get back to LS but I got a proposition for you. We'd be running together again but some things would be different

Los Santos

3 Days Later

Grizz approached Neto. "I heard about your little...rodeo down in Sinaloa."

"No idea what you're talking about. What are you doing here? Ivan isn't here. We're working together a little against those punks from New Arcadia but that's as far as it goes."

"You ever wonder about that Mexican woman that got shot? Who you think did it?"

"The councilwoman, huh? She's good gente. She might take up for La Raza in New Arcadia and she fights Maria but she doesn't hate yours she's just pro us not anti anybody else. Unlike the other woman."

"Hey I don't feel good about what I done. And as far as what I did...I think you should learn why I did it..."

He broke it down for the ex Sicario. "You are FUCKED. You told Ivan's woman about his sancha?"

"Sancha, doesn't that mean side piece? I been in San Andreas long enough to understand some of the slang."

"Yeah."

"Well then in that case I don't know who the 'sancha' really is. Cause really that girl up in Vinewood is more like Ivan than Sugar is. If anything he acts like Sugar's the side piece while letting her believe she's his and she aint fucked around on him."

"I can't say I share his taste either way but we're gangsters. You're expecting us to play by society's rules on that?"

"I done a lot of things wrong in God's eyes but I wouldn't cheat on a woman. No sir. One is enough for me. Now look...I came to you for one reason and one reason only. I'm most likely gonna have Ivan's people looking for me if not Ivan himself. So I want to know. Can you have some of your people look after me? Keep me hidden but still somewhere that Sugar could find me? The Madrazos are gonna be gunning for you. Maybe I could have some new friends of mine watch you."

"Do I look like I need protecting, 'blood'?"

"Just think about it. When this shit is over you and Ivan are back to being at each other's throats. You don't really need him to take on them fools in the IAA. Yeah..I know what's up on that. I've done jobs for Agent 14 too. But why don't we expedite the shit? You could kill Ivan or I could. He'd never expect you to help somebody like me. And what he don't know is...I reached out to his enemy. Grisha...I can help you use him to take Ivan out. And I didn't just do that. There's a safehouse that the Markovish Family thinks I won't go to cause they think I'm scared to go near anything Bravta."

"And you aren't?"

"Nah. Cause that's where old man Markovish will be after that gunfight same with his daughter. Thing is, I may have texted the Petrovic's the address of that place."

"You know he can go after your son your daughter and your old lady..." Neto warned.

"That's why I want your help. He won't expect it."

"Why don't you get the Ballas to help you out?"

"I'm all bad in their eyes especially Stone. It aint something I can explain. Some shit I did back in the 90's. Something I had to do.I pissed off some bad people in the pen and that's all I'm gonna speak on, youngster. You gonna help me or not? After this, I'll get outta LS."

"Maybe I'll think about it. IF i was to consider this shit...there's a bfew people who could keep you outta harms way. best you don't know their names. But I know about your son too. Don't worry...I just got my own son and I know family is everything. But you're gonna have to be the one to go convince him to come with you."

"You scared to go to Carson Avenue alone, 'Ese'?"

"I'm just not suicidal. And I know that even if I take some of my soldados there will be a shootout. This racial shit between us and you? It stems from the riots. And I'm not saying civilians didn't riot but I know now that Carson Avenue started the LS Riots. You can get in there easier. You should try and convince your son's mom to convince him if you want outta there. You gotta tell him maybe the cops are after him. That's probably the only way."

"So you'll help me?"

"If it gets you outta Los Santos. But I can't gurantee you';ll live. We'll do what we can on our end. It's not a move Ivan would see coming. And maybe you're lucky and it never comes to that. But El Cucuy..Boogeyman is resourceful. If he finds out even if it comes to me and my compas shooting it out with them, I can keep me alive but you never know what way his bullets will go. He's got more reason to kill you now than he does me. You should go to the south. It doesn't matter where. Sunbelt, Blackwater, Red Stick, New Arcadia..shit go to Vice City. Somewhere the Bravta don't have a strong presence. But the FSB are another story."

"How do I know you won't sell me out? I've heard about your brutal attacks on blacks...regardless of if they were in the game or not your hatred was always there. And that aint right."

"It didn't offend you enough to stop you from asking my help..." Neto said in a tone that weirdly enough sounded lazy to Grizz as if he was a bored God of destruction that found the concerns of a mere mortal tedious. "And as much as I can't stand Bolitas? I don't trust that fucker either/"

Jose looked at Neto with a serious and angry expression. "You sure about helping that fool?"

"For now...yeah."

"And that's another thing, bro...when we gonna hit up the Familes again? They talked some serious disrespect to our cliqua, N. Talking about the big homies in the pen snitch to get one up on the brothers? What kinda of shit is that? You don't hear me lying about their car."

"They're just talking like they always do, carnalito. You go to prison, our car is quiet. Theirs is always the loudest. That makes them the weakest. They might not be weakest in numbers but their mouths make it easier. They'll dry snitch on each other without even realizing it."

Neto then paused and said, "And sure...our carucha ends up kicking out way too many to the SNY yard cause it's more Southsiders and 's not as much of a militant thing with them but they don't gotta kick their pieces of shit to the SNY they'll have pieces of shit running GP."

Culebra had been silent for the most part. "H Bomb..." Began the Mojave and Kumeyaay Native, "Is an older gangster. He's been in the game since what, the late 80's? Early 90's?"

"What's your point?" Asked Neto.

"He's old enough to know better than that. He's been in the pinta ten years in his life and who knows what other bids he did? He's seen how we program on the inside so he should know that's bullshit. He's seen we check paperwork. We're looking to see what people got even just transferred from another prison from. This doesn't have to even go on about our raza against theirs. It's just truth against lies..." Culebra was tossing his combat knife in the air and catching it over and over again.

"I know El Pavo hates that lame too..." Neto stated.

"Helgada has some history with him from the 90's so he might be against killing him. That other homie the one from Rancho? Same shit."

"Yeah well some of these vatos from Jamestown Street are cool with the Ballas and that's gonna end on my watch. I might not be the vato who's turf is there and it aint my varrio but every other Ondero that I know of is locked up besides me when it comes to San Andreas. And maybe that older guy but that's another story. It's not even me stepping on their turf to muscle in on their profits. None of that. It's making sure they know that just cause they hate the Families more doesn't mean they get to be friends with Ballas. That ends today and any of them that don't agree get a luz verde."

Neto then turned to Culebra. "Mirate. In Mexico we're equals. Zapatistas. But if you ever question my calls up here in El Norte while I'm a carnal and you're not...we're gonna have a problem."

Cypress Flats

Cherry was tied to the floor, naked, on her back, both feet, both hands, tied to makeshift posts that are connected to boards which are weighted down with metal. The hands are shot full of nails and her legs are spread as wide as possible. A pillow propped her ass up and cheese, Brie, has been smeared across her open cunt, some of it even pushed up into the vaginal cavity. She'd been drugged for days and he'd moved her but now she was awake. "Morning sleepy head! I'm afraid your homegirl lost me in the chase. Not for lack of trying though."

"You sick bitch...you're not a man! You're a coward! You're a bitch!" She screamed at him but to no avail. "Why can't you just shoot me and get it over with?!"

"I would but you killed three of my men. I know you wanted to kill me too, sweetheart. And for me to shoot you wouldn't send enough of a message. You see...after the shit that happened the other day I aint going to Cypress Flats any time soon. We made a stand there but we lost. That's how I see it. Even if I did kill H Bomb's son and get away we've lost what influence we had in the city and that already wasn't much."

He smiled. "That's why Red County was always a better place for MH1."

"More white you mean...more right wing assholes like you..."

"I aint a right winger. I don't care about politics. I haven't been eligible to vote since the Persian Gulf War. And you're right...in LS County Jail guys like me would probably be victims. I can make a stand as opposed to the other woods who would just let the Families or Ballas rob them but we'd still take some lumps. But in Red County those guys wearing purple and green or even ones that don't are in our domain...Your car don't gotta worry too much about that. Especially if you tie yourselves to the Families. But I noticed your car will sometimes put aside gang beefs and you won't run with the mainline Families You'll just roll Others and sometimes that'll mean you'll have Asian and Pac Islanders in opposing gangs because in there culture matters more. That's the men though...I can't speak for women's prisons and if there's politics..."

"You fuckin disgust me! When my homies get a hold of you they're gonna make you wish you never even looked at me..."

"Like that bitch T Mart I tuned up? I hate to break it to ya doll but if he's what your average DNB has to offer you're in a lot of trouble. But you got a lot of friends so this time you got one up on us...what was I saying before? Ah..,.that's right...since I can't go into your neighborhood and take down three of your friends for what you did to mine I'll just have to make your death that much more gruesome...make em think twice. See me? Us?" He showed her his tattoos of the swastikas and the clovers. "We may run the woodpile for all of San Andreas but we've never had numbers. We THRIVE off having less. Even Onda when they started out were small but they had numbers later. That makes us better than them too. We only take in a select few. Guys that look like me and my brothers most don't have prior gang experience like kids from the beach like you do..."

She spat in his face. "Cry me a fuckin river you Nazi bitch!"

He sneered at her. "You got a few individual skinhead gangs up and down the coast and you got some bikers that are with us but the majority of Woods in the San Andreas prison system are just kids that made mistakes and they'll get under the Vanguard or clique up with my brudders in MH1 who DO have street experience but they're still at a disadantage since the black Latino and even Asian gangs got decades further than we do at this shit. But me and my family? We're the cream of the crop. My uncle was the original Vanguard generation. We were all built for this shit."

"I DON'T CARE!"

He slapped her face. "You're missing the point..." He said gritting his teeth. "What we lack in numbers we make up for in being direct. You don't gotta care but you're gonna learn and you WILL care cause you're gonna be the message to your 'homies' about what happens when you cross us."

Eddie tried using the power drill on her, forcing it into her mouth, but she was conscious enough, had strength, to close her teeth, clamping them down, and even though the drill did through the teeth quickly, it fails to interest him and so he held her head up, blood dribbling from her mouth, and make her watch the rest of the tape and while she's looking at the girl on the screen bleed from almost every possible orifice,another one of his victims.

Eddie whispered in the whimpering Filipina gang member's left ear. He did it with the same tone and breath as he would a woman he was trying to seduce. He realized probably one of the many men this whore had fucked had probably whispered just like that in her ears and turned her on and while he wasn't the first man to whisper sweet nothings into her ears he would be last. He licked the side of her face and she made a sound like she wanted to throw up.

"Cherry...I want you to know...that this would have happened to her no matter what. That you would have ended up lying here, on the floor in my apartment, hands nailed to posts, cheese and broken glass pushed up into your cunt..." She whimpered more tears falling from her eyes. He straddled her head and brushed a wisp of black hair from her vision. " Your head cracked and bleeding ...no matter what other choice you might have made...

Eddie was trying to ease one of the hollow plastic tubes from the dismantled Habitrail system up into her vagina, forcing the vaginal lips around one end of it, and even with most of it greased with olive oil, it's issue was fitting in this, the MP3 played with Frankie Valli singing "The Worst That Could Happen" and Eddie was grimly lip syncing to it while pushing the Habitrail tube up into this her cunt. He finally had to resort to pouring acid around the outside of the pussy so that the flesh can give way to the greased end of the Habitrail and soon enough it slid in, easily. "I hope this hurts you," He said, hardened by the sound of her screams.

The rat hurled itself against the glass cage as Eddie moved it from the kitchen into the living room. It was a toilet rat he'd found at a trailer park in Sandy Shores. It refused to eat what was left of the other rat Eddie had bought it to play with last week, that now lay dead, rotting in a corner of the cage. For the last five days he;d purposefully starved it. Eddie set the glass cage down next to the girl and maybe because of the scent of the cheese the rat seemed to go insane, first running in circles, mewling, then trying to heave its body, weak with hunger, over the side of the cage. The rat didn't need prodding and the bent coat hanger he was going to use remains untouched by his side and with the girl still conscious, the thing moved effortlessly on newfound energy, racing up the tube until half of it body disappears, and then after a minute — its rat body shaking while it fed — all of it vanished except for the tail, and Eddie yanked the Habitrail tube out of the girl, trapping the rodent. Soon even the tail disappeared The noises the girl was making was, for the most part, incomprehensible.

He could already tell that it's going to be a characteristically useless, senseless death, but then he was used to the horror. It seemed distilled, even now it failed to upset or bother him. He was not mourning, and to prove it to himself, after a minute or two of watching the rat move under her lower belly, making sure the girl was still conscious, shaking her head in pain, her eyes wide with terror and confusion, he used a chain saw and in a matter of seconds cut the girl in two with it. The music covered the sound but he was in Blaine County in the middle of nowhere in a cabin and it didn't matter much.

The whirring teeth went through skin and muscle and sinew and bone so fast that she stayed alive long enough to watch him pull her legs away from her body - her actual thighs, was left of her mutilated vagina - and hold them up in front of him , spouting blood, like trophies almost.

Her eyes stayed open for a minute, desperate and unfocused, then close, and finally, before she died ,he forced a hunting knife uselessly up her nose until it slid out of the flesh on her forehead, and then he began to hack the bone off her chin. She had only half a mouth left and he fucked it once, then twice, three times in all. Not caring whether she was still breathing or not he gouged her eyes out, finally using his fingers.

The rat emerged headfirst - somehow it turned itself around inside the cavity - and it was stained with purple blood. He also notice d where the chain saw took off about half of its tail and he fed it extra Brie until he felt he had to stomp it to death which he did. The girl's femur and left jawbone lie in the oven, baking, and tufts of pubic hair fill a Steuben crystal ashtray, and when Eddie light them they burned very quickly.

3 Days Later

Eddie stumbled up out of bed into the living room. The walls were breathing and the stench was everywhere. He lit a cigarette to block out some of the stench, a Redwood.

Her breasts had been chopped off and they looked blue and deflated, the nipples a disconcerting shade of brown. Surrounded by dried black blood, they lay , rather delicately, on a china plate he'd bought at the Pottery Barn.

He'd shaved all the skin and most of the muscle off her face so that it resembles a skull with a long, flowing mane of black hair falling from it, which was connected to a full, cold corpse; its eyes were open, the actual eyeballs hanging out of their sockets by their stalks. Most of her chest was indistinguishable from her neck, which looked like ground-up meat, her stomach resembled the eggplant and goat cheese lasagna at Il Marlibro or some other kind of dog food, the dominant colors red and white and brown.

A few of her intestines were smeared across one wall and others were mashed up into balls that lay strewn across the glasstop coffee table like long blue snakes, mutant worms. The patches of skin left on her body were blue-gray, the color of tinfoil. Her vagina had discharged a brownish syrupy fluid that smells like a sick animal, as if that rat had been forced back up in there, had been digested or something.

Eddie spent the next fifteen minutes beside himself , pulling out a bluish rope of intestine, most of it still connected to the body, and shoving it into his mouth, choking on it, and it felt moist in his mouth and was filled with some kind of paste which smelled bad. After an hour of digging, he detached her spinal cord and decided to Federal Express the thing to New Arcadia without cleaning it, wrapped in tissue, under a different name, to the men he'd sent to New Arcadia and he would also be sending a recording of what he had done to Cherry including what he was doing now.

He wanted to drink this girl's blood as if it were champagne and he plunged his mouth into what was left of her stomach , scratching his chomping jaw on a broken rib.

He had made attempts to make meat loaf with the girl, but became frustrated and just ended up smearing the meat all over his walls and chewing on a piece of skin he'd ripped from the corpse. He went on trying to cook as if he were a gourmet chef, humming the theme song to a show from his childhood, before giving up and sobbing to himself "I just want to be loved," while maggots began to crawl across the human flesh on his kitchen counter. Tears streamed down his face.

He then abruptly stopped crying, looked directly into the camera with a blood smeared face. "Is that understood? They that love me will be loved...those that hate me will be punished...those that oppose me and my brothers will be destroyed...you can run but you can't hide, Baby Face. You missed a good fight...and I tasted your girl.."

Neto

Ana arrived finally with his child. She had taken longer to get there. "Do you believe me now?" He looked just like him. By some miracle she'd gotten him to sleep. "You'll have some explaining to do when he wakes up but I've done my part."

"Gracias..." He said. She handed the sleeping child to him and the kid continued in his slumber. He had a look in his eyes and a smile that Ana never expected to see. She doubted any enemy had seen it. Neto smiled when he was torturing people but this was him at his true light.

"And after that job you did with us rescuing Marcus I trust you understand that moving against us would be a bad move. We have control of Merryweather."

"Yeah. I know. I told Ernesto not to either. So I won't move against the BSU or you. Or Alison."

"I'm sensing there's a 'but' in there."

"I never made any promises about Mai."

"I'm gonna have to insist that you leave her alone too."

"Felix was Mark's traitor to deal with originally. Maybe Los Aztecas thought he was their trait for the longest time in Sunbelt but he did swear alliegiance to Mark first. I tried to help him but no matter what I did to your boy toy I couldn't keep him from disciplining Felix. The same is true for me. Maybe me and Ivan were just an assignment. I stil don';t know what Mai or the Agency gained by ever infiltrating Paul though. He's no insurgent."

The sunglasses wearing Asian American had a slight smirk. "Guilt by association. It tends to happen to criminals. Mai did what she could for him. For all of you."

"God, I hope that kid never meets you. It's one thing he's working for your husband but it's another if he has to deal with you."

She feigned false hurt. "And here I thought we were starting to become friends. I don't suppose you know where Tanaka is?"

"No. I don't. Ivan might but good luck getting a word outta him. Us Zapatistas we hold out but we're still human. KGB though and the FSB...they're robots."

"I meant what I said. Nothing happens to Mai."

"It's true you said it. Doesn't make the rest true. If I don't kill her anyway, Ivan will. And unlike Ivan I'm not interested in whatever information she has on us. I can pretty much guess it's the same shit you know. I already know what secrets I've told her anyway. Ivan would want to break her so when it happens just be glad it's me and not him."

"I'm warning you, Neto. It may not bring the same level of shit you'd think but Mai is part of our inner circle and an IAA agent."

"She's still part of Karen's camp last I checked. And asfor you what do you care? So you used to fuck. So what? She fucked other IAA agents too they're not in love. And you already have a love triangle going on. Adding another woman would complicate things more wouldn't it? Then again who knows."

"Don't act like you've never had more than one woman. Your macho ego and your cholo style tells me that's not true."

"You're right but I only like one flavor. And it's because of your girlfriend that one of my homegirls is dead. Count yourself lucky I'm not killing Lee like he deserves. But Mai is fair game."

"You know that we have the ability to send Merryweather after your gang right?"

"But you won't. That shit in Rancho your boys pulled still has the white boys out here catching hate crime cases and getting indicted on federal terrorism charges."

"Funny how you didn't for what you did in New Arcadia. That can change."

"That's another thing. If you or Mark..even Lee REALLY need to visit Rancho...come through. You'll be my guests..." He smiled wickedly but then got a serious look on his face. "I'll even temporarily put a red light on the green for fuckers like Mark. The big homies in San Andreas don't fight the BGA that much anymore they're not much of a factor. But any gavachos from BSU or anywhere else come south of downtown they're getting lit up."

"How progressive of you..." She said with sarcasm. "But you can't hurt us. And you rememb er what was done with the cell phones. You think we can't do that again and worse?"

"Ana...you can do whatever. You'll swing your big government dick at me..." He then cocked an eyebrow at the bisexual. "Maybe a strap on in your case...but we both know you'd still take losses you can't afford. Agent Trueblood still has a greenlight on her. I'm not enforcing it right now and I can even make sure it doesn't get carried out...for now..." He looked at his son and grinned.

"You know you Chinese and we Mexicans...we have something in common. Pork gets eaten more in our countries than beef. The beef is more for tourists either way. We give them burritos and don't really eat them ourselves. You do the same with fortune cookies. I can't speak for Chinos but us? It started with originated with the Aztecs and other indigenous tribes in Mexico. Historical texts show that the pozole of the Natives was made with sacrificed human flesh, and it was eaten on special occasions. ... After the Spanish arrived and cannibalism was banned, the human flesh was replaced with pork."

"Your point?"

"You can swing your government strap on at me and mi comaradas all you want but you or those faggots in the BSU ever try involving my kid in this shit? I'll treat it as a special occasion...and get back to my roots. I always loved pozole..."

---

That's it for this chapter i hope you enjoyed. Anyway we say goodbye to Cherry and yeah it was dark and very disturbing but it just makes you hate Eddie all that much more.

It is true Cherry could have had a better plan but she is still a gangster in her 20's she does have some experience and it was somewhat right to get Gina but it backfired and as for Eddie well she thought the two of them could take him and a few of his guys but Eddie's not your average thug. Even though they were able to find out where he was and two of them should have been enough for four of them it wasn't. She even technically did the right thing by not getting too close when he fell but he's more formidable than he looks and she only grazed him in the cheek but he used that false death to set her up.

And I'll admit that gorey rape scene was from American Psycho the book. I didn't come up with that sick shit but I wanted to show how evil Eddie is.

Some of what Neto referenced as far as rescuing Mark you have to read chapter 61 of New Arcadia and i know both stories have been tied to each other a while but it's not like the majority of it has to do with each other. It still has its own independent shit going on.

And as for Madrazo's death yeah it was anti climactic but it was unexpected Neto did want to flay him and all that but for the sake of time and saving a friend he couldn't. Yesenia's actress btw was in that movie Triple Frontier and her role was pretty much the same.

As far as the amount of money burned in Madrazo's home IDK and I honestly don't care that much. It's not like anyone gets to spend it anyway. And if you're wondering if Alfonso Vasquez will be loyal or not to Neto's deal he actually will.

But Neto still has enemies in the Zeroes so he's not short on enemies. The Grizz situation is unexpected but Neto's playing 4d chess at this point.

What did you think of his reunion with Paul? Though they're not the type to hug dudes the shit they went through in 2013 probably warranted it. Next chapter we will likely see a time skip to June of 2016. Neto will be trying to connect with his son and he knows it'll take time. And Neto can see through his facade of not caring about Aila but he';s just speaking from a place of pain obviously.

And that heist as well as the killing of Madrazo was based off the Netflix movie Triple Frontier with Ben Affleck and Charlie Hunham where they rob the Colombian cartel and then have to carry 250 million dollars on a helicopter with the weight limit and get them across the Andes mountains. I didn't show the part where the chopper got grounded for the sake of time and not wanting to do it. Neto will main and torture others but Madrazo's death was quick because it's not what you'd expect especially from Neto and trust me he's not happy about it either. He sees it as a goal only partly accomplished.

Adria Arjona is the visual basis for Yesenia before I forget. Should I feature her in future chapters or no?

Anyway hope you enjoyed