Four Brothers -2005- -

Victor chuckled. “That’s cute. But this is my city now.”

Victor found him there an hour later. Big man. Gold rings. A smile like a razor. Four Brothers -2005-

“You’re one of Evelyn’s boys,” Victor said, sliding into the booth. “Sorry for your loss. Tragic.” Victor chuckled

The brothers stood outside the courthouse as the snow began to melt. Jeremiah went home to his wife. Angel lit a cigarette and stared at the sky. Bobby put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. Big man

Evelyn’s photo sat on the tool bench. In it, she was laughing, holding a spatula, wearing an apron that said “Kiss the Cook.”

Jack didn’t blink. “My mother had a rule. She said, ‘If someone takes something from you, you don’t call the cops. You call your brothers.’”

—the oldest, sharp suit, sharper tongue—stood by the oil-stained window. He’d made money in places he wouldn’t name, but he’d come home the second he heard her voice on his voicemail, two weeks before she died. “Bobby, something’s wrong. The kids on the corner aren’t selling candy anymore.”