Chasing Thunder

Chapter fourteen

Me and Chipper sat in silence for a minute, the voices in the next room growing louder.

"Stay where you are." I told him.

I stood up and headed towards the door, needing to know what was going on. I had to protect him. No matter what. He was family, and always would be.

"He's just a kid." I heard Jake say. "What do you want with him?"

"He'll be a useful asset to our team. He'll help keep Junior in line and in turn, will help keep you in line." His blunt answer surprised me, I had expected the lies and excuses to come pouring out, but the truth was oddly refreshing.

Why did he want to keep me in line? Did he view me as a threat? Why?

"He's twelve." Jake argued.

"You were younger. So was Junior." Nick said, calmly. "He shouldn't have gotten mixed up in stuff he didn't understand. I'm protecting him."

"How? By exposing him to the dangers of the world?"

"Come on, Santiago. You know as well as I do that when someone gets mixed up in this life they can fall into all kinds of traps. I can offer him protection this way. He can learn to defend himself."

Jake was quiet. I considered his words. It was true that he offered a certain kind of protection against the other dangers of the city. Murderers, kidnappers, they all seemed to run in the same circle and by identifying as one of his men, no one touched me.

"What do you want from them? From me?" He whispered eventually.

"Santiago, I need help. I can't protect people by myself. I need to protect my family. That always has been and always will be my first priority. You know I would do anything to protect the ones I love." He said, softly.

Jake was silent and I heard a sigh then nothing.

I guess Jake walked away and so did I.

I walked back to Chip, who watched me expectantly.

"You better not cause any trouble here." I said, sternly. "We get enough of that around here without you stirring stuff up. If you want Auntie Pam and Uncle John and your siblings to be safe, you will do exactly as you're told. No questions asked."

He nodded. Silent and serious for once and I watched him so he knew I wasn't kidding around. I couldn't afford for him to mess up. Not when I had spent so many years carefully protecting my family from all this. I wasn't going to let him take all my hard work and throw it all away.

Friends close. Enemies closer.

If he was going to survive this with me, he would need to learn these tricks fast. I needed him to do as he was told.

I didn't have the people to spare if either of us made a wrong move. I wasn't going to risk it. Not for him. Not for anyone.

~*~

Nick grinned at me.

"Ah, Junior, how nice it is to finally meet some of your family." He spoke in the tone of an old friend, cheerful and chirpy. The bastard.

I scowled, copying Jake. His son wasn't even attempting to hide his contempt, his fury bubbled under him, simmering away, waiting.

"What do you want with them, Papá?" He asked.

He frowned. "Can't I just learn more about my colleagues without there being an ultimate reason?"

"No." Jake said bluntly. "With you, there is always a deeper reason."