Barbarian - Jericho's Boys #3 - ch. 17 (Patreon)

Unbeta'd/Unedited. We're in the home stretch. This book will top out over 100k but I hope its still holding your attention.

Mal

Mal woke with a grunt as a heavy weight landed on him. He would have assumed it was Nico had he not heard him groaning in protest as well. That only left one of two people. He cracked his eyelids open to find his brother wedged between him and Nico, limbs equally distributed across both of them. 

“What are you doing, you psycho?” Nico whined. “How is someone so tiny, so heavy?” 

“I’m not tiny. I’m…dainty. Delicate, even. But not tiny. Ever’s tiny,” Shiloh said. “Now tell me all about your evil crime lord. Was he sexy? Was he like one of those villains in your anime? Did he have face tats and a mean-looking scar?” 

Nico stretched as best he could from beneath Shiloh, then raised his head an inch to look at Mal over their guest. “He was pretty hot. Face tat, yes. Mean scar, no. But he was Thomas Mulvaney levels of old guy sexy. Right, Bunny?” 

Mal blinked a few times, attempting to get his brain back online. Would he call the man hot? Yeah, objectively speaking. But Mal was more concerned with getting to the bottom of their missing persons case than waxing poetic about a man who would have killed them just as easily as looking at them. But that went for many of the people who appeared in their lives. 

“Mm,” Mal agreed. “If Seven wasn’t already torn between his enemies to lovers with Enzo and his unrequited love with Thomas, he probably would have been under the table trying to suck him off. Luckily, he was too busy glowering at his not-boss to cause too much chaos.” 

“Oh, that’s right. Enzo was there too. Did Seven drool all over Thomas or did he rein it in for Enzo’s benefit?” Shiloh asked. 

“Seven was his usual self, making fuck-me eyes at Thomas. Enzo tried to play it cool, but he was gritting his teeth so hard that he started to get a tic in his jaw,” Mal said. 

Nico looked at him with wide eyes. “Really? I totally missed it. Damn.”

“One day the dam is gonna break on all that sexual tension and then we’re all going to be in trouble,” Shiloh said. “Anything else good happen?” 

“Felix came in clutch eavesdropping on Leo and his Dad’s conversation before they realized he spoke Cantonese. That was fun. Leo spent the rest of the time trying to decide if he hated Felix or wanted to date him.” 

“Aw, sounds like fun. I’m bummed I missed it,” Shiloh pouted. 

Nico snorted. “It was all weirdly civilized, like a really boring dinner party.” 

“Except all the guests are armed and mentally unstable,” Mal added. “Why are you in our bed? Where’s your boyfriend?” 

Shiloh sighed. “He went to the garage before class. He’s still pretending to be unbothered about his mom but I think he needs to just be where Jericho is for a while.” 

“Oof,” Nico said, wiggling out from under Shiloh to roll on top of him, starfishing. “Yeah, he’ll do that thing where he says nothing’s wrong then he’ll just lie on Jericho’s office couch while he sits at his desk and does paperwork. And neither of them will say a word.” 

“That sounds about right, yeah.” Shiloh sighed contentedly. “This is what I needed.” 

Mal laughed softly. They’re whole friend group was weird. It was the one place in the world where standing out was the reason he fit in. 

“I don’t know what to do for him,” Shiloh said after a while. “He’s just acting like he doesn’t care.” 

“Is she really dying?” Nico asked hesitantly. “Like there’s no miracle that could save her in her final moments? No last minute secret Mulvaney donation that could buy her a brand new organ or anything?” 

Shiloh winced. “Not unless one of the Mulvaney’s is secretly a wizard. Even if they could get her a liver, she’s not strong enough to handle the surgery. She looks awful. She’s…yellow. Her eyes, her body…She’s severely malnourished. It’s definitely the end. She’s in a coma. They don’t expect her to wake up.” 

“Poor Levi,” Nico said sadly. “He’ll truly be an orphan now. Maybe Jericho and Freckles could legally adopt him? That would probably make him feel better.” 

“He claims he’s always been an orphan. Says that the best thing she could do for him is just die already. But I know he’s just bluffing. I can see it in his face. I can hear it in his voice.” 

Mal rolled onto his side to run his hand over Nico’s naked back, glancing between his boyfriend and his brother. “It's normal to have complicated feelings about shit like that. You know what it’s like to love someone who doesn’t love you.” 

Shiloh nodded. “It sucks when you can’t even trust the people who are supposed to take care of you.” 

Nico’s face fell. “Levi gave her so many chances when he was little. No matter what she did to him, he made excuses for her. It was pitiful.”

Mal glanced down at Shiloh. That’s how his brother had been with Micah. No matter how cruel he’d been when Shiloh was little, he always repeatedly made excuses for him. Something twisted in Mal’s gut. He really should have found a way to better protect Shiloh. Maybe if he had, things might have ended differently. 

“What was Levi like when he was younger? You guys met in, like, middle school, right?” Shiloh asked. 

Nico nodded. “Sixth grade. We’d been in the same schools forever. But mostly we’d just see each other around. We weren’t friends until we all got stuck in homeroom with Mrs. Hinkley. It was weird that three queer kids ended up in the same classroom. I’ll never know how it happened, but thank god we did. We had a target on our backs from day one but we thought there was safety in numbers. We were all scrawny and weird. Also really poor. And in this neighborhood that’s saying something.”

Mal watched Nico smile softly, trying to imagine him at age eleven with his wide blue eyes and pretty ringlets. 

“You probably won’t believe it, but out of the three of us, Levi was the smallest. He was teeny. Even smaller than Felix. Pretty, too.” Nico laughed. “Felix and I were going through our ugly stage. Though if you ask Felix, he never had an ugly stage. But I was there. I had the worst skin and patchy facial hair and my voice was cracking. Felix’s eyebrows had a life of their own back then and he hadn’t gotten his braces so his teeth were…not great. We got our asses kicked pretty much daily, but like…together. Somehow that helped.” 

Mal’s heart ached for Nico. For all of them, really but mostly for his boyfriend. He’d endured just as much as Felix and Levi but he still talked as if they’re suffering had somehow been greater than his. They’d all grown up under similar circumstances. No real parental figures, having to fend for themselves at home and at school. Mal wasn’t sorry that Levi’s mom was dying. He was sorry Levi was suffering, but that woman had almost gotten Shiloh and Nico killed. If Nico’s mom dropped dead tomorrow, Nico would probably be all the better for it. But she seemed like she was in excellent health. 

“I can’t imagine any of you having an ugly stage,” Shiloh said wistfully. “You’re all painfully pretty.” 

“Especially you,” Mal said. 

Shiloh looked at him and laughed. “You’re an even bigger simp than me.” He sighed. “Still, he’s right. You look like a model. I definitely had an awkward phase. But Mal’s was way worse.” 

“What?” Mal gasped. “It was not.” 

“He was obsessed with growing his hair out but didn’t know how to take care of it,” Shiloh said around a giggle. “He looked like he was part of the Bee Gees or an extra on The Brady Bunch.”  

“You little shit. Don’t forget. I have all of your school photos. I will plaster them on every wall of Jericho’s garage. Don’t think I won’t,” Mal threatened. 

“Fine. Fine. You were stunning. Beautiful. A God amongst men.” He looked at Nico. “It’s funny. You’re pretty in the exact opposite way that Levi’s pretty. It’s like you’re Yin and Yang. Still, I can’t picture Levi as small. He was so intimidating the day we met.” 

“Intimidating?” Nico echoed. “You made out with him.” 

Shiloh’s mouth fell open. “I did not!” he protested. “We just…kissed. It just happened.” When Nico arched a brow, Shiloh rolled his eyes. “Whatever, just…what was he like?” 

“He was funny. He was protective. He was so little but he was always the first one to run his mouth. He was probably responsible for at least half of the ass beatings we got in school. He was really smart, but he always pretended he wasn’t.” 

“He still does that,” Shiloh interjected. 

Nico’s face fell, eyes growing sad. “He was always dirty, always bruised. Sometimes these men fucked him up so bad he could barely walk. But nobody ever did anything about it. The one time we tried to tell a counselor they said they were going to call his mother to come in for a meeting. Like she would just admit she was selling him for money or something.” 

“I fucking hate this woman,” Shiloh said fiercely. 

“I wanted to help him, but it wasn’t like my home life was much better. His mom would drink until she passed out and my mom would either forget to come home or bring home some loser who would throw beer cans at my head and order me around like his slave. It’s a miracle we survived. Without Felix we probably wouldn’t have. He would bring extra food every day so we at least had lunch. Eventually, we just started hiding out at his place. Jericho always made sure we were fed.” 

“I just wish Levi knew his extended family. He must have had aunts and uncles on his dad’s side,” Shiloh said. “They must wonder what happened to him.” 

Nico shook his head. “He doesn’t talk about his dad really. I don’t think he remembers much about him. I told him Calliope could probably help track them down, but he always says no.” 

“I just think he doesn’t want to be disappointed again,” Shiloh said with a sigh. 

“Speaking of Calliope,” Mal said. “We’re supposed to call her and ask her to help us dig up dirt on Jason and Frankie. Do you want me to call her while you guys hang out?” 

Shiloh pushed against Nico’s solid weight. “Uh-uh. I have to shower so I can get to the salon. I have to get my hours in if I ever want to graduate. You guys can work on your investigation. Thanks for crushing me for a few minutes.” 

Nico shifted his weight to Mal carefully, like he was still worried about hurting him. When Shiloh was gone, Nico wiggled until he could bury his face in Mal’s throat. “Morning.” 

“Morning, Fidget.” Mal stared at the door for a long moment before asking, “Does it bother you?” 

“Huh? What?” Nico asked, lifting his head to show his confused face to Mal. “Did you do that thing where you start a conversation in your head again and then just magically think I’ll know what you’re talking about?” 

Mal grinned. “Maybe. I mean, does it bother you that we don’t have our own place? Having to share this small space with two other people?” 

Nico hummed like he was considering it, then said, “I never really thought about it. I’ve always just been happy to have any place. The hostel was great and all. Safe, too. But there were a lot of rules. No overnight guests, stuff like that. By the time Levi and I saved up enough money for this place we were just so happy to have a place to call our own that didn’t have mold on the ceilings or a front door that could have been taken out by a strong breath from the big bad wolf. Before the hostel we mostly couch surfed in Jericho’s garage or at Seven’s mom’s place.” 

Mal nodded. “Would you want us to have our own place?” 

“I don’t know. I kind of like our little family. And if we got our own place, all the cats would stay here. Won’t you miss them?” Nico asked. 

Mal nodded. “Yeah. I would. But we could get our own cat?” 

“Do you want our own place?” Nico asked. 

Mal sighed. Sharing an apartment would have been fine if sex wasn’t a factor. But two active couples and paper thin walls were a really shitty combination. 

“It would be nice not to have to worry about how noisy you are when we fuck.” 

Nico gasped, then slapped his shoulder. “Shut up!” 

Mal grinned at him. “What? No need to be embarrassed. I know this dick is fire.” 

“I’m going to set your dick on fire if you don’t stop talking. Call Calliope. I think we need to get more information on Jason and Frankie. Think they’d answer questions if we asked?” 

Mal shrugged, grabbing his phone and pulling up Calliope’s number. “I’m not sure. But we have permission to question them.” 

He hit the call button then put it on speaker phone. It took three rings before a voice chirped, “What’s up, my adorable dancing dumpling?” 

Mal felt his face heat up as Nico bit his lip to hold back his laughter. “Morning, Calliope.”

“Are you calling to check on Casey?” she asked. 

Guilt lanced through him. He had only called to check on her once since she went with Calliope and Lola. He’d been so caught up in trying to find Amy and trying to navigate Nico’s anxiety, he hadn’t really checked on her at all. He was an asshole. “I know you’re taking good care of her. Is she around?” 

“She’s outback with Lola. She’s having a blast playing with Buffy, Willow, Giles and Xander.” 

“Who?” Nico blurted. 

“Oh, hi, Nico. Those are our goats.” Calliope said. 

Mal and Nico exchanged confused looks. Calliope owning goats was no less confusing than Thomas being friends with the head of a crime family. Mal had met Calliope. She looked much younger than her actual age. She had the same dark hair and light eyes as her son. But Nico said that up until Thomas and Aiden had got together, nobody had any idea what Calliope looked like. They hadn’t even believed Calliope was her real name. Mal supposed it wasn’t weird to find a tech nerd who wanted to live completely off the grid…but goats?

“You…you have goats?” Nico asked, clearly on the same page as Mal. 

“Yes, of course,” she said as if the answer should have been obvious.

Nico blinked several times like he was processing this new data. “Why do you have goats?” 

Calliope scoffed. “The chickens were lonely, obvi.” 

“Oh, right. Of course, how stupid of me,” Nico deadpanned. 

“What are your chicken’s names?” Mal asked, suddenly desperate to know. 

“Bang Chan, Hyunjin, Changbin, Han, LeeKnow, IN, Seungmin and Felix,” she rattled off like these were all perfectly normal names for chickens. 

Those names sounded weirdly familiar. How did he know those names? 

“You named your chickens after Stray Kids?” Nico asked. 

Oh, that made sense. Calliope shared Shiloh and Ever’s love of K-Pop. Shiloh had pictures, posters, trading cards and DVD’s scattered all over their bedroom. Levi said he’d probably be jealous if they weren’t all so hot and so unattainable. 

“Does Ever know?” Nico continued. “He’d go crazy. He’d probably beg Arsen to buy him chickens too.” 

“More importantly,” Mal said. “Does Felix know he shares a name with one of your chickens?” 

Calliope’s responding laugh was borderline diabolical. “No, I’m saving it as a surprise.” 

“So do you live on a…farm?” Nico asked. “I thought you lived in the city.” 

“God no. Just outside it. And it’s not a farm so much as a homestead. Lola and I prefer to be self-sustaining…just in case.” 

Nico shot a startled glance at Mal. “Just in case of what?!” 

“The world is a chaotic and unpredictable place. You never know what could happen. We like to be prepared,” she said, sounding both vague and ominous. 

Nico frowned at the phone. “You’re not like…bunker people, are you?” 

“Bunker people?” Calliope repeated, her amusement obvious. 

“Yeah. Or one of those weird doomsday preppers?” 

Calliope ignored him, promptly changing the subject. “Can I help you two with something since it seems you’re not simply calling to check on Casey?”  

“We need some information, please?” Mal asked. 

“Of course, ask and ye shall receive, my lovelies. How may I assist you?” 

“We need information on Jason and Frankie Zhao, given names Zhao Jun and Zhao Feng,” Mal said. 

There was a squeak like a protesting hinge and then the delicious sound of fingers tapping rapid fire across a creamy keyboard. Finally, she said, “Hmm, let's see. Zhao Jun, born May 6th, 1995 in the Yuen Long District. Arrived in the US approximately seven months ago, lives in a condo in Wellington Heights.” 

“A condo? Really?” Nico asked, face scrunching. 

“Why? Is that weird?” Calliope asked. 

“I don’t know. Just vicious gang members living in condos is…weird,” Nico muttered. 

“BTK lived in a subdivision. People have to live somewhere,” Calliope chirped. 

“I guess,” Nico said, sounding deflated. 

More typing ensued before Calliope spoke again. “Feng Zhao born November 15th, 1997, born in Yuen Long District as well, also arrived in the US at approximately the same time as his brother. Zhao Feng lives—” She cut herself off to bark out a surprised laugh. “Uh, he lives in the high rise directly across from Freckles and Jericho, not the penthouse though.” 

“Weird coincidence,” Mal said. 

“It looks like they both lived in New York for six years as children while their father ran a factory in the fabric district. The family moved back to Hong Kong as teens.” More typing. “No, wait…this is interesting…” 

She fell silent then. 

“Uh, care to share with the class?” Nico asked after a bit. 

“You’re worse than Atticus,” she clucked. “So impatient. I was reading. Apparently, their father did not go back with them. In fact, he never went back at all. He died in Attica in 2019.” 

“That’s a maximum security prison. What did they convict him of? It clearly wasn’t a white collar crime,” Mal said. 

“Aggravated murder,” Calliope said.

“Is that worse than just plain old murder?” Nico asked, glancing over at Mal. 

Mal nodded. “Aggravated murder is when the crime is particularly heinous.” 

“Like Law & Order SVU heinous?” Nico asked.

“Not always,” Mal said. “If the victim was a police officer or judge or something. Or if it's a kid. Or if they killed someone to intimidate or terrorize a witness into, say, not testifying. Things like that.” 

“Your brain is a vast library of untapped knowledge,” Nico said, shaking his head. 

Mal grinned at him. He wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not but he was choosing to take it as one anyway. Nico wasn’t wrong. His brain just collected anything he’d ever read and allowed him to pull it up as needed. Sometimes it was actually exhausting. Nobody should have access to this much knowledge all the time.

“I’m trying to look for more details,” Calliope said over her typing. 

“I guess if they’re part of the GTB, it wouldn’t be strange if their father was also part of that gang or the Red Lotus Clan. It is kind of a family legacy thing,” Mal said. “Maybe he was some kind of enforcer and killed a witness or a cop or prosecutor? The factory could have just been a cover?” 

“Got it,” Calliope cried, like she was yelling Bingo at the nursing home. Her excitement seemed to die just as quickly. “Oh, Jesus. This is definitely not gang related. He apparently strangled his pregnant teen mistress and then tossed her body on her parent’s porch. He was sentenced to life in prison for extenuating circumstances.” 

“Wow,” Nico said. “He seems nice.” 

Mal’s lip curled at that information. “Guess we know where Frankie gets his psycho tendencies from. Can you shoot us their addresses?”

“Already done,” she said. “Anything else?” 

“Don’t suppose you know how to hack their security so we can snoop around without tripping any alarms?” Mal asked. 

Calliope gasped dramatically. “You doubt me? Of course, I can. But why not just go talk to them? You have the Dai Lo’s permission.” 

“I just want to have a look around their places first and then we talk to them. Maybe we’ll find something that will give us the upper hand?” Mal asked. 

“Suit yourself,” Calliope chirped. “I’ll be on standby should you need me.” 

Nico looked at Mal. “How do we know if they’re home? It's not like we have time to do any recon.” 

“Luckily for you, it seems both Frankie and Jason have phones that are trackable,” Calliope said. “Which probably means they also carry burner phones for their less seemly activities.” 

“That’s helpful,” Nico said. 

“Mm,” Calliope agreed. “Jason is currently at a restaurant in the Pearl River District. Frankie is…at the gym?”

“Can you send us—” Nico started.

“Already done, Pop Tarts. Already done.” 

“Thank you, Calliope,” Nico said in a sing-song voice.

Once they disconnected, Nico burrowed deeper against him. Mal glanced down at the top of his head. “What are you doing?” 

“I don’t wanna go interview gangsters. It’s raining. I want to stay in bed with you and eat junk food and watch anime and have sex.” 

Mal thought that sounded like a great idea. But they needed to find Amy. The sooner they reunited Casey and her mother, the sooner Mal and Nico could get their lives back. 

“Once we settle this case, I promise we can do all three. I’m sure Casey wants to go home and see her mom,” Mal said, poking Nico’s ribs. “Come on, I’ll buy you lunch after.” 

“Ugh,” Nico groaned. “Low blow. But fine, let's go solve a mystery or whatever.” 

###

They didn’t even need Calliope’s help breaking into Jason’s place. He left the back door unlocked and his alarm deactivated. They slipped off their shoes so as not to track any muddy shoe prints onto his tile, then entered through the sliding glass door. Inside was silent. Not so much as a squeaky ceiling fan. Mal’s heart sank. That killed his hope of breaking in and finding Amy just waiting to be rescued. Jason might be careless, but Mal doubted even he would leave Amy to her own devices in his house if he’d had any kind of nefarious intent. 

“This almost feels insulting,” Nico said in a stage whisper. “Like, imagine being a career criminal and still being cocky enough to leave your door open and your alarm off. It’s like you want someone to break into your house. You know?” 

Mal huffed out a laugh. 

They split at the door, Nico heading upstairs and Mal sticking with the lower floor. There was a stack of bills on the counter and several suspiciously old takeout containers in the fridge, but other than that, it was clean. Like hotel-room levels of cleanliness. Maybe he had a housekeeper? The whole place was…beige. There was no personality to the place at all. No pictures, no paintings, not even a magazine on the coffee table. Maybe Jason spent too much time chasing after his brother to bother making a home there? 

Mal checked every closet and cabinet, half-hoping he’d find something to give them any indication of what happened to Amy and half-afraid whatever he found might confirm some grim outcome. He had no reason to suspect Jason of anything other than enabling his brother, but the overwhelming quiet of the place set his teeth on edge. 

He thought about their apartment. It was hard to fit a lot of personality into a shoebox size place, but Shiloh had tried. They had throw pillows on the couch and their kitchen canisters matched. They had scented candles and pictures of themselves and their friends strewn about the place. Mal and Nico’s rooms were filled with shelves full of anime and manga while Shiloh and Levi’s was full of K-pop and vintage video games. It looked like someone lived there. 

This just looked like a boring AirBnB. 

Mal returned to the stack of bills. Water bill. Electric bill. Junk mail. Election stuff. 

Nico bounded down the stairs two at a time. “This guy is a dud. Not so much as a sex toy. Minimal products in his bathroom, only the essentials in his closet. Major snoozefest. Maybe we should have started with the murdery brother? He’s way more likely to be our bad guy anyway.” 

“Maybe he just didn’t want to get too comfortable?” Mal posited. “The Dai Lo did say that they weren’t supposed to stay long. And Lisa said Jason and Frankie only came for Leo’s sake. It’s not that weird that he might pack light.” 

“Did you find anything?” Nico asked, opening cabinets in the kitchen. 

He was about to say no when he saw it. A Visa bill. “Uh, he has a credit card statement. Should I open it?” 

“Yeah, maybe he charged something that could help.” Nico moved closer. “It’s kind of fucked that he can get a credit card after being here for six months, but I can’t get one living here my entire life.” 

Mal huffed a laugh. “That’s because credit card companies only care about dollar signs. Being a gangster pays better than being a full-time student.” 

Nico nodded begrudgingly. 

Mal tore open the envelope, pulling it free and unfolding it, scanning page after page of charges. Nico read over his shoulder. 

“Damn, either this guy is into wearing women’s lingerie or he has a stable full of girlfriends. Expensive ones. Five grand at Agent Provocateur. Three grand at Kiki de Montparnasse. Holy shit. Nine grand at La Perla!?” Nico cried. “Is he really blowing through this kind of money? Look at this shit. Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton. Kiton. Berluti. How much does this guy get paid?”

“No idea,” Mal said, shaking his head. “What do we do now?” 

“Fuck it,” Nico said. “Let's go talk to him. It's not like he can say no.” 

“You’re just saying that cause you want me to feed you and Calliope said he’s at a restaurant in the Pearl River District,” Mal said, narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend. 

Nico batted his lashes at him. “You said you would,” he reminded. “Might as well kill two birds with one stone.” 

Mal sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to win this—or any other—argument for the rest of his life. “Okay, sure. Let's go.” 

The trip took longer than expected by bus, but forty minutes later, they stood outside the restaurant where Jason’s phone had pinged. The name was in Chinese which only seemed to excite Nico more. He was wiggling beside him like an excited puppy. 

It was a small hole-in-the-wall establishment within walking distance to the market. Inside was clean but a little shoddy, like it hadn’t gotten an update since it opened. The tables were worn and the chairs appeared a bit wobbly, but it smelled incredible. Even Mal’s stomach growled. The moment they entered, Nico immediately began whining and held his stomach like he hadn’t eaten in years. 

Mal rolled his eyes. “Go order something,” he said, handing over his wallet. 

While Nico was at the counter, Mal wandered over to a woman in the corner who was folding tiny little pieces of dough into crescent shapes. “We need to speak to Jason. Is he around?” 

The woman stopped what she was doing, looking Mal up and down like she was sizing him up. “Who are you?” she asked, her accent thick. 

“I’m Mal,” he pointed over his shoulder. “That’s Nico. We’ve been sent by the Dai Lo to discuss something with him.” 

It wasn’t exactly the truth, but at the mention of the Dai Lo the woman jerked to her feet and bolted into the back. Mal wasn’t sure if she was going to find Jason or if she was making a run for it so he just went to stand in line with Nico hoping for the best. Once Nico had ordered, Mal led him to a four person table near the window. 

Nico’s food arrived just as a man emerged from the back. While the Dai Lo looked like he belonged on the cover of Vanity Fair, Jason very much looked like the villain in one of Mal’s web comics. He wore black trousers and an ugly yellow shirt with a garish black pattern on it. He had his hair pulled back in a ponytail and lots of ink on all visible skin. He looked…slimy, like he was trying to look intimidating. 

“Jason?” Mal asked as he approached. 

“Who’s asking?” Before Mal could answer, he narrowed his eyes. “Oh, you must be that mechanic’s kids.” He pointed at the numerous bruises on Mal’s face. “I see you got my message.” 

Mal snorted. “You’re lucky my boss didn’t want me to send a reply.” 

Jason gave him a baleful stare. “It was just a misunderstanding. We thought you had information on Amy.” 

“We?” Mal countered. 

“Mm,” he said, noncommittal. “I’m assuming you’re here to ask me about her?” 

“Yeah,” Nico said, stuffing rice and vegetables into his mouth, chewing aggressively. After a moment, he moaned, rolling his eyes like he was experiencing something transcendent. He jabbed the chopsticks in Jason’s direction. “This food is amazing,” he said, his tone accusatory.

Jason snorted, but seemed to relax a bit. “What did you want to ask that was so important you had to get Leo’s daddy involved?”

“We wanted to ask some questions about Amy,” Mal said. 

“Yeah, we established that. If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t have sent my men to…ask you, would I?” he said, his tone implying they were both clearly idiots. 

“That’s not what we wanted to ask about,” Mal assured him. “We heard a rumor that someone was harassing Amy a few months ago, bad enough that Leo had to step in.” 

“Harassing?” Jason asked, tongue darting out to lick over his lower lip. “What do you mean?” 

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Nico said around another mouthful. “Someone was bothering her. Trying to hook up with her. She wasn’t interested.” 

Jason shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything about that.” 

He was lying. His carefully calculated veneer was already starting to crack. He was trying to look relaxed but he was sweating and shifting in his seat just a little too much. 

“Really? They said it was your brother who was all over her,” Mal countered.

“They?” Jason asked. 

His nonchalance was making Mal homicidal. 

“Yeah, our informant,” Nico said. 

“They said Frankie was hitting on her?” Jason asked, as if that was completely new information. 

“Yeah,” Nico said, exasperation leaking into his tone. 

Jason gave another lazy shrug. “Maybe. He does love women. But I guess you two wouldn’t know anything about that, huh?” 

Mal snorted at what he was sure Jason thought was a witty dig at them. 

The guy was a douchebag. If he was the sane brother, Frankie must be a fucking lunatic. Mal considered dragging Jason into the back and beating him senseless. It might not get them the answers they wanted but it would make Mal feel much better. Whoever said violence never solved anything, had never experienced the happiness and fulfillment one could only achieve by beating the brakes off someone who absolutely deserved it. 

“They also say your brother has a temper,” Mal said, trying to keep them on task. 

Jason grinned. “Do they?” he asked. “They sure do talk a lot. They might want to find a new line of work before they lose their tongue.” 

“Psychopath was the word they used, actually,” Nico said, words dripping with sarcasm. “If that helps.” 

“Frankie is just misunderstood. He…likes things done a certain way—” He waved a hand in the air. “—and when they’re not, he can sometimes react poorly. Sometimes even…violently,” Jason said. 

The excuses rolled off Jason’s tongue so easily. It was clear he was used to covering for his brother. Mal understood that on some level. While he’d never made excuses for Micah, Shiloh had. And while Mal hadn’t cleaned up Micah’s messes, he’d hidden more than one of Shiloh’s misdeeds. The circumstances were different but Mal understood wanting to protect family. 

But that only went so far. 

“Does he have those same exacting standards for the women he dates?” Mal asked. 

Jason’s smile was smug. “Perhaps. But none of them have ever complained.” 

“Because they didn’t want to or because they were too afraid to?” Nico countered. 

“Most women think my brother is a real catch, even with his nasty temper. He takes very good care of his girls.” 

Nico rolled his eyes. “You mean hush money?” 

Jason snorted. “Not at all. He just likes to spoil them. If my brother really was after Amy, she fumbled the bag.” 

“Are you saying Amy never had an issue with Frankie?” Nico asked, his expression letting Jason know he already  thought whatever he was about to say was a lie. 

“Frankie doesn’t actually have to intimidate women into dating him. If Amy had rejected him, there were a dozen other women waiting to take her place.” 

Mal believed it. Money and power made people overlook many, many red flags, including violence. Including manipulation. Gaslighting. Narcissism. Money dulled people's senses, anesthetizing them to the pain. 

“Did you hear of anyone else being harassed at the market? Anyone who complained about someone other than Frankie?” Nico asked. 

Jason snorted. “I don’t have time to listen to a bunch of gossip. Maybe you should talk to the two men who beat you up. They’re in the trenches far more than my brother and I. There’s really not much else to say.” 

Mal and Nico exchanged looks, Mal shrugging. It was clear they weren’t going to get anything else out of Jason. 

“Fine,” Nico said. “Thanks, I guess.” 

Jason smiled benevolently as he stood. “My pleasure. Make sure you tell the Dai Lo I cooperated fully,” he said. 

“Yeah, sure,” Nico said. 

Jason was almost to the back door of the restaurant when Nico called out, “Oh, and if you ever touch my boyfriend again, I’ll carve out your eyes and make you fucking eat them.” 

The woman behind the counter gasped. Jason stared blankly at Nico for a solid thirty seconds before throwing his head back and laughing. 

Mal bit back a smile as he heard Nico mutter, “Fucking asshole.” 

“So what now? Check out Frankie’s place then question him?” Mal asked. 

Nico sighed. “It’s not like we have any better leads. At all. Its like she’s just vanished into thin air.”