Page 3

Magnum speaks up, ignoring Oscar’s question. None of us want to face that head-on right now. “We need to get out of here.” He darts his gaze around the back alley. Like usual, he’s always looking for the next threat. We pull Oscar to his feet, and I hold onto him as people start walking our way, avoiding our gazes and pointedly not looking at the two bodies at our feet.
Everyone in the Heights has come out for this. The call of destruction just too much for them to ignore.
I turn my head, my mouth finding Oscar’s ear as we follow Magnum. “They took him,” I whisper, answering his earlier question and only letting half the words I want to say break free because I still don’t want to believe he’s gone. Was this all a stunt just to get Johnny?
He was shot in The Ring’s box. The last time I saw him, he was half-unconscious. Are his kidnappers going to take care of him? Are they going to use him as leverage? Or are they just going to kill him and be done with it?
My throat catches, and I grip Oscar so tight I know it must hurt. He darts his gaze around the growing crowd. “We need to get out of here,” he echoes.
We come around the back of the building, and Magnum pulls up short. Ahead of us, the police are on the scene, setting up more roadblocks. “Fuck. The car is blocked in.” He hesitates for a moment before he leads us down the next block devoid of people. He stops beside a car before taking his gun and breaking the driver’s side window. With all the surrounding chaos, no one’s here to notice. He unlocks the vehicle, and we all get inside, Oscar gingerly getting into the backseat first before I slide in next to him.
Magnum does something to the car, and it springs to life. We’re a mere few blocks away from the chaos when he explains why we’re sitting in a stolen vehicle, “The cops have The Ring surrounded.” He presses his lips together. “I didn’t want to explain to them what we’re doing at a place that just got shot up and bombed…especially since Kyla is with us. Everyone from the Crew who escaped will be getting their asses out of there as soon as possible.”
Or if you’re Big Daddy K, you’re already gone because you’re a piece of fucking shit who couldn’t care less about his son.
It’s true though. The police are not my biggest fans right now. I can’t be caught at the scene where a bombing, a shootout, and a fire occurred. If the police don’t know about the dead bodies with bullets in them yet, they will. If I’m found near that shit, that sounds like probable cause to take me in given my recent history. With Johnny in a hostage type of situation, the last place I need to be is behind bars. Or back at Greenlawn.
I shiver at the thought. I don’t want to be away from the guys ever again, especially not for something I’m guiltless of.
I lean closer to Oscar for comfort, careful not to jostle him too much. From an outsider’s perspective, I’m sure we look pretty fucked up. Magnum, Brawler, and I look like we’ve been to hell and back. Oscar’s the only one who could pass as human at the moment, except when you look at his face.
Wind whips through the car as Magnum steers us out onto the highway. Oscar takes a moment to shrug his hoodie off, so he can wrap it around me. I know I should be asking what we’re doing and how we’re going to get Johnny back, but I don’t want to admit that I’m in way over my head this time. Whoever took Johnny is the enemy I didn’t even know I was making. The enemy I never could’ve prepared for when I came to the Heights.
After a silent forty minutes, Magnum pulls down a dirt road. The bumps bouncing the car make me look up, and a familiar view greets me. We’re at the cabin. Johnny’s cabin.
“Where are we?” Brawler asks from the front.
Magnum parks. We’re deep in the woods here, so we don’t have to worry about ditching the stolen piece of property yet. As far as I know, no one else knows about this place, so we can be fairly certain the authorities won’t find us or the car here. They’d have to know this place existed to check it out, and the Crew is smarter than that.
“This is...” Magnum peeks over at Brawler, a shadow falling over his face. “This used to be a training area for the Crew, but right now, it’s a safe house.”
I lean forward. “This is where they took me after the tower was bombed.”
Magnum pushes the door open, and the rest of us follow his lead and get out of the car. I help Oscar to his feet and hover close, snaking my arm around his back. His movements aren’t too restrained, but he keeps his arm around his midsection, shielding his ribs.
The porch steps loom in front of me. It doesn’t feel right to be here without Johnny. A brick settles in my gut, and the same slice of determination that first hit me rears its beautiful head again. I have to figure out what happened to him. I have to save him. I can’t think about what they might do to him. I can’t think that they’ll hurt him even more than he already is—or worse…kill him.
I pull my shoulders back and lead Oscar toward the front entrance. Our lives are about to go to shit again. No doubt the police will be all over our asses. Big Daddy K will be on the warpath. No matter what he does to his son, in his head, he still loves him. I bet he could even justify why he left him at The Ring. He’ll probably blame what happened to Johnny on someone else instead of realizing his part in all this.
Magnum opens the front door with a key and then flicks on the lights. “Swanky,” Oscar whistles as the interior is illuminated.
“You should see the hot tub upstairs.”
“There are bathrooms attached to every bedroom,” Magnum says, his security guard persona on already. “Let’s get cleaned up and then report back here, so we can figure out what to do.”
Oscar and Brawler nod and start for the steps, but Magnum’s jaw clenches in an odd way, so I stay where I am.
“Ready, Princess?” Oscar asks.
“I’ll be right up,” I tell him, keeping my eyes on Magnum. The thud of footsteps up the stairs is a steady drum in my ears as Brawler tries to help Oscar, but Oscar only ends up shoving his hands away. “The master bedroom is mine,” I call out just as they hit the top.
As soon as they’re out of earshot, Magnum peeks at me. His hazel-green eyes are dead, drowning in darkness. He swallows. “I was supposed to keep him safe. Johnny’s my responsibility.”
I tilt my head. “I thought I was your responsibility...”
“Before you, I was assigned to Johnny,” Mag explains. “When you guys met, he told me to stick by you because he didn’t want anything to happen. What happened is my fault.”
I take his hand in mine. Magnum and Johnny go way back. “We’re going to find him,” I promise. “We’re going to find him and get him back and—”