Tadeo turned. He saw Sloan and the gun in his hand wavered for a few seconds. “You don’t know who I am.”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are, either. You’re under arrest. Drop your weapon.”
“I’m Tadeo Kealoha, your uncle. I used to play with you when you were a baby. Your mama brought you to visit me before she left.”
Sloan held his gun steady in both hands, stepping closer, ready to shoot. He didn’t trust Tadeo one little bit. “Yeah. She left. And you killed my dad. So there’s nothing stopping me from shooting you, is there? In fact, I’m itching to pull the trigger, so maybe you should just do as I say and drop the gu—”
When Tadeo pulled the trigger, Sloan returned fire instinctively. He saw his uncle go down, and the flash of pain he’d expected never came. Quickly, he turned and saw the man sprawled to his left, one of Kroller’s men. The one his uncle had just shot to protect him.
Rushing forward, he skidded to the ground beside Tadeo and lifted him into his arms. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I thought you’d opened fire on me.”
His uncle was bleeding slightly from the mouth, but mostly from the gunshot wound in his chest. “We didn’t ki-kill Tommy. His car crashed. We just wanted him to pu-pull over, kid. He was so stub…”
Tadeo’s head lolled over, and a wash of pain slammed into Sloan. Not understanding if it was truly grief he experienced, he decided rather that it was regret. He should have known this man.
The gunfire had stopped and the night’s silence was welcoming. He could hear the voices of the FBI giving orders to the survivors. Seems like tonight, they’d stopped a gang war. A thump sounded and Sloan instinctively turned to fire, only to realize a coconut had hit the ground from an old tree close by.
Sloan continued to rock the man who’d saved his life. Ignoring the carnage nearby, men calling back and forth, a siren blaring in the distance and screams of the wounded, he paid no attention.
Finally, he looked at the face of the man in his arms. He couldn’t put him down. Instead he studied him and saw the family resemblance. Tears gathered while he fought with the knowledge that he’d done what he had to do.
His phone rang, breaking into the silence. It took him a few moments to retrieve it and take the call. “Yeah?”
Alia screamed. “Sloan. My God. Kean’s gone.”
“Friggin’, shittin’… friggin’…”