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Instead of answering him, I change the subject. We talk for a few more minutes about what we’ve been doing. I make up a few more lies about training and school and then he tells me he’s heading to bed because he has an early morning meeting.
I stay on my bed, my phone clutched in my hands after I end the call. Guilt hits me full force in the chest, but I close my eyes, reminding myself that these are small prices to pay to execute my plan.
My phone rings again, and I’m surprised until I bring it up and realize it’s Brawler on the other end. My fingers shake as I answer. “What’s going on?” I ask right away.
“Hey,” he says. “I got Oscar. We’re at his place.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s…” A cracking sound reverberates through the phone. “He’s mad.”
“Can you put him on the phone?”
“I’ll try,” he says. “He’s in the middle of destroying the place though.” They talk in the background. Brawler has to tell him a few times that I want to talk to him before he actually hears what he’s saying.
The line goes dead for a moment, but then Oscar comes on. His breathing fills the connection, so I know he’s there. He’s just not saying anything. “Hey,” I say.
“My mom,” he says, like he’s explaining who the woman was.
“I know.”
“Did she hurt you?”
“A few scratches.” If Johnny comes home before they’re healed, I’ll shrug them off as training injuries.
“She didn’t mean it.”
“I know. She was high.”
“That fucker, Gregory,” Oscar growls.
My stomach pitches. “You know him?”
“Easy on the phone,” Brawler warns in the background.
Oscar ignores him. “Yeah, I know him. K won’t be fucking happy when I tell him what’s going on in that fucking place.”
Dread forms a knot in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
Oscar fills me in on his suspicions, including Dunnegan’s right-hand man—the one his mom was with—plying women with drugs for sex. In their place of business.
My throat goes dry. “She wasn’t the only woman I saw like that there, Oscar. Not even tonight. When Johnny and I went before, he had to speak to Dunnegan about a few girls who were high. He didn’t want them working when they were like that.”
Oscar laughs like he’s going insane. “This fucker thought he could do this while they were gone. I’m going to nail his ass.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I say. “You don’t think any of this is sanctioned by the Crew?”
“No,” he huffs. “Gregory should have been scared shitless that I found him, but one, he was toasted. Two, he probably thinks I’m going to be his little bitch. I’m not. Fuck him. He probably didn’t even realize that was my mom he was with, but I’m going to make him pay.”
My mind starts to whirl. Johnny keeps a good eye on these businesses. If what Oscar is saying is true, he’ll want to know about this, but we can’t just bring him something so small. What if it’s a one-off? I bite my lip. I know what I want to say to Oscar, but I don’t want him to think I don’t care either. “I need to talk to you about this. Meet tomorrow? Don’t do anything about it until I’ve spoken to you. Okay?”
“What’s going on, Princess?” he asks, more alert now.
“Just trust me, okay? Can you do that?”
“You know I do. I’m so fucking sorry you had to see that today.”
“I know, but hey, remember, the objective is to get the fuck out of here, right?” I ask, giving him something happy to focus on. My goals have changed, I realize. I’m taking Big Daddy K out. That plan hasn’t gone anywhere. In addition to that, though, we’re all leaving the Heights, so we can get out of this hellhole.