I'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter. At first it was because I was focusing on university and studying this year's finals, and then I was focusing on other projects as well as feeling unmotivated to write this chapter. In short, my personal life took priority and in the end, the chapter is kind of short, especially since I cut out a part that I felt worked better in the next chapter. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy what I wrote.

There are still unfallen tears in Imelda's eyes as she and the Santos couple walk back to the police station's main lobby. It had taken a while for the young widow to calm down after seeing her husband's body and confirming his identity with the news that the bastardo traidor who had murdered Héctor had been apprehended and they needed Imelda to identify him making her compose herself. The trio arrives at the lobby a few minutes later to see a few officers, including Gutierrez, two of them holding a tall, muscular man with a mustache wearing a charro suit… a man that Imelda knows very well.

Upon laying her eyes on the bastard, volcanic fury bubbles within Imelda and faster than anyone could react, the young woman is already in front of Ernesto with her boot in hand.

Everyone just stands there, frozen but Oficial Guitierrez quickly snaps out of his shock and grabs Imelda's arm before the enraged widow could strike a second time.

"Señora, por favor pare! You cannot-"

"MALDITO HIJO DE PUTA!" Imelda roars, as everyone freezes once again, this time at hearing a woman use such language even if she was rightfully angry (except for the Santos couple since Juanita had her fair share of foul language at her disposal even though Chicharrón was more propense to swearing than her). Imelda pays no mind to the shocked looks she is getting from the police as she continues her tirade. "¿Comó pudiste hacerle esto a Héctor? He was your best friend! The two of you were like hermanos!"

Ernesto glares right back and speaks, "Yes, he was like a brother to me, especially since both of us were orphans. He was always at my side and we were going to be the greatest musicians in Mexico… until you came."

Imelda's eyes widen a bit in surprise at his tone as, despite neither getting along well with each other, she has never once heard such venom in Ernesto's voice before. It honestly starts frightening her but doesn't let it show in her face.

"You came and suddenly our dream was no longer important to Héctor. Then esa mocosa was born and Héctor had another shackle to hold him back."

Imelda growls at the insult against her daughter, the Santos' hands on her shoulders keeping her from trying to strike Ernesto again as the man continues to speak.

"Finally, I managed to convince him to take a tour across Mexico to share our music, telling him that he could better provide for his family if we had a bigger audience. But then he started to get homesick and I found myself struggling to get him to continue performing. Until a couple of nights ago when he told me that he had enough with touring and that he was going home. No matter what I said, I could no longer convince him to stay. Héctor was going to take his songs and abandon our dreams, abandon me! I just couldn't let that kind of betrayal stand so, with the pretense that I had no hard feelings and was sending him out with a toast, I added some arsenic to his tequila and the fool never noticed."

By now everyone is staring at the man with wide-eyed and shocked expressions, horrified at how he spoke about murdering his best friend with so little emotion, except quiet anger. But Ernesto was not done speaking and his next words surprise everyone.

"I shouldn't have killed him," he sounds almost remorseful. "I now realize that it was a mistake. He was my best friend and even if he betrayed me, I could have forgiven him. But instead I killed him for his songs, and it was all for nothing! I should of…" Now Ernesto sounds angrier than he was at the beginning. He lifts his head, giving Imelda a cold glare and venomously whispers. "I should have killed you and that brat instead!"

WHACK!

Ernesto's head snaps to the side as Imelda strikes his giant chin with her boot, the large man crashing into the ground as his hands are still cuffed. Gutierrez regains his hold on the enraged widow before she can land another blow as the air once again fills with Imelda's curses and threats towards the traitorous serpiente.

"ENOUGH!" Gutierrez's patience has run out at this point. "Take Señor de la Cruz to a cell and get some to treat his injuries." The other officers heed his orders, picking up the disoriented man (who's bleeding from a cut in his chin) and half-guide him, half-drag to a cell.

Once they are gone, Gutierrez sighs heavily and releases the now quiet Imelda Rivera, trusting that she will not try to chase after Ernesto to continue beating him with her shoe. Her initial attack can be ignored since her anger at de la Cruz's words was understandable but as a law enforcer, he can't allow criminals to be beaten up no matter how much they deserved it. And Gabriel Gutierrez did not want to have to arrest Señora Rivera for assault, the poor woman has already lost her husband and now must provide for her child alone.

But Imelda doesn't seem interested in going after Ernesto, instead, she's just standing there rigidly, her hands clenching into fists at her sides, her face calm but her eyes shifting through many emotions with a sheen of unshed tears coating them. Gutierrez thinks she might be holding herself back from collapsing in grief (again but he didn't know what happened when she identified her husband's body). He feels slightly awkward since he has no idea if she should try to comfort the widow or not since he was a stranger.

Luckily for him, Federico Santos ('Chicharrón!', his mind reminds me, which sounds oddly like the shorter man's gruff voice) catches his attention and with a single look tells Gutierrez that he and his wife will take care of things. The officer gives a brief nod of understanding and takes his leave, relieved that he doesn't have to deal with it as he's certain that he'd make things worse. Compared to that, the paperwork for this case is much easier.

Once Oficial Gutierrez leaves, Juanita turns to the younger woman, impressed by the sheer strength of her willpower as she keeps herself from breaking down again. It was obvious that Imelda Rivera was a very proud woman and collapsing into the ground to cry twice in one day was unacceptable to her, even if it was just in front of people who had already seen her being vulnerable. Juanita is the same and that makes her respect for Imelda grow as she sees the younger woman as a kindred spirit since strong-willed women are a rarity in their society.

Still, Juanita places her hand on Imelda's shoulder and gently asks. "¿Estas bien?"

Imelda takes a deep breath before responding, "Si."

But the three of them know how far from the truth this statement is.

I said that it was short, and I'm uncertain if the characters were well-written or not. I just wanted to finish this stupid chapter so I can focus on something else. Sigh, sorry about the small rant, hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Two chapters left 'till this story is done, one a time skip and the other an epilogue. I don't know when they will come out since classes restart soon but I will do my best to not make you wait long.