18. The Ugly Truth
18
The Ugly Truth
“He’s late.” Kendrick hissed in impatience. The only sound occupying the Kingston kitchen was the tapping of his foot against the floor. The broad-shouldered fighter stood tall with his arms crossed against his chest.
“He’ll be there soon. Relax,” Haze replied.
“Can we trust him?” Blake asked.
“Devon’s never let me down before.”
“You’re not answering my question, jackass.”
“Listen, trustworthy or not, Devon’s our best option right now, so shut up and deal with it.”
It was the morning of day two. It had been more than twenty-four hours since she had been taken God knew where by God knew who. Day two was usually the day the kidnapper called to either ask for money or something along those lines. But nothing. Just dreadful silence. It was like whoever took Winter only wanted her gone.
A loud thump on the door interrupted the horrible scenarios spinning in Kendrick’s head.
“Finally.” He opened the door.
The fighter took a sudden step back when the weary-looking guy standing on his porch pushed past him and walked inside the house. He looked around twenty-three years old, wore full-rimmed glasses, torn jeans, and a gray T-shirt with nonidentifiable stains on it. Kendrick’s first impression was that he looked like the definition of the video-game addict who spent the majority of his time in his parents’ basement.
“Thanks for coming.” Haze motioned to sit down at the table.
Devon nodded, glancing around the room in an unbothered yet strangely judgmental way.
“Is this your first time doing this?” Kendrick asked.
Devon didn’t reply and looked straight into Kendrick’s eyes as a reply. He then dropped his backpack on the kitchen tiles and unzipped it.
Will mocked, “Okay? That’s not creepy at all.”
“Devon’s a man of little words,” Haze replied.
Kendrick repeated, “Has he ever done this before?”
“Yes. Now, stop talking and let him do his job.”
Devon sat down at the kitchen table and got a computer out of his backpack. Ten minutes later everything was set up, and although Will, Kendrick, Alex, and Blake had no clue what was happening, they tried their best to pretend they did.
One look from Devon was all it took for Haze to understand.
“It’s ready,” Haze said.
Static.
A couple of rings.
Then a voice.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m naked on my bed waiting for you.”
The East Side chuckled immaturely, trading glances.
“Not tonight, Rose. I’m busy.”
“With what?”
“I’ve got this thing. Sorry.”
“Is it another girl? It’s Chloe, isn’t it?”
“No, Rose, just drop it.”
“It’s another fight?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me it’s not what I think it is.”
There was no response.
“Yeah, okay, got it. Don’t call me ever again.”
“Rose, wait—”
The line went dead.
“Really? A booty call? That’s all we get? I thought tapping the phone was supposed to be the answer,” Kendrick critiqued.
“It is.” Haze paused. “The number who sent Winter those text messages will lead us right to the person responsible. It’s the fastest way to track them. All we need is a little clue.”
“Then what?” Will asked.
“We wait. Even if we do find out who’s responsible, we can’t just attack without preparation. We don’t know where they’re keeping her. Or how many of them there are.”
Devon looked at Haze and motioned to get closer to the table, pointing at his computer screen.
“The booty call happened an hour before the fight and Winter’s kidnapping,” Haze read out loud.
Haze locked eyes with Devon, and he didn’t need to speak for him to understand.
“We got another call.”
Crackling noises.
A couple of rings.
Then a voice.
“Hey, man. I just wanted to call and let you know that… well… rumors are spreading.”
“About what?”
“You know what. The girl’s really starting to be a problem.”
A long silence followed.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Thanks, Tanner.”
The line disconnected.
“I—” Haze opened his mouth to speak but ended up closing it.
He immediately pulled himself together like he’d realized that this was not the time to have a “damn it, my brother’s evil” moment.
“How could you not recognize your brother’s number?” Kendrick finally asked.
“I don’t have this one registered in my phone. He’s got two different lines apparently.”
“What do we do now?” Will asked hesitantly.
Kendrick could sense his friends’ fears and doubts from a mile away. He couldn’t help but be afraid that Haze wouldn’t be willing to do what it took now that it involved his own blood.
“The only thing we can do.” He let out a heavy sigh. “We bust his ass and save the girl.”
“Nice place,” William said in awe of the Adams house. It’d been a while since Haze had stopped to look around and feel grateful for the life of luxury his parents had given him. He heard the admiration in Will’s voice and couldn’t help but find a hint of irony in the situation.
Crazy how one’s curse can be somebody else’s blessing, he thought.
Some had the loving parents.
Some had the big house and money.
Haze had yet to meet someone with both.
When he saw Tanner’s cars parked in the driveway, he mentally battled himself on whether or not he was ready to face him.
“We need a cue. A word I’ll say to let you know I need backup,” Haze reminded them as he set up the microphone he planned to hide under his jacket. It was directly connected to the East Side.
“Okay, huh… what about ‘do you think my ass looks fat in these jeans’?” William cracked up.
“I’m not saying that.”
“Fine, then just say…” Kendrick was interrupted by a Destiny’s Child song on the radio. “Bootylicious. Fit the word ‘bootylicious’ in a sentence, any sentence, and we’ll come to the rescue.”
“Really?” Haze fought the urge to face-palm himself.
“Really.” Kendrick smirked.
Haze made a face and got out of the car, walking toward the house he used to call home. He felt his heart tightening in his chest. The lame humor really was a family thing. That’s something Winter would’ve said.
He walked through the front door, feeling like a pure stranger in this place he knew so well, and fixed the microphone under his leather jacket one last time.
“Tanner, you home?” he shouted.
“In here,” Tanner called from the living room. “Hey,” he said at the sight of his younger brother walking in and sunk deeper into the couch.
“It’s been a while.” Haze forced a smile.
“Yeah, well, it’s not my fault you’re constantly running around with the East Side chick,” Tanner said, getting a cigarette out of a pack.
“I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. Haven’t you heard? She’s been taken.”
Tanner shrugged. “Really? Good news.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Haze tried to repress the burning anger building up inside of him.
“Nah.”
He quickly knew he was going to have to do this the hard way.
“You know, I didn’t expect you to understand. You nevertruly cared about anyone.”
Tanner frowned.
“I mean, until Rose.”
The reaction was immediate.
He got up, his jaw clenched. “How the hell do you know about Rose?”
“The same way I know you took Winter.”
Tanner put up a fist, which Haze easily dodged. He took a swing at him, and Tanner crashed against the wall, his mouth bleeding. Tanner could never get used to his little brother surpassing him over the years.
“So you know, since you’ve taken my girl—which isn’t really nice, by the way—I’ve thought about it and… it’s only fair that I take yours. What do you think?”
Holding his brother up by the grasp he had on his clothes, Haze found himself wondering why he’d been so unlucky in the sibling department.
“I’m going to make a deal with you. Return Winter to me and I’ll leave Rose alone, how about that?”
“You wouldn’t dare touch her. You’re the nice one, brother.” Tanner said, revealing his bloodstained teeth.
“Am I? Because I have people in front of her place right now waiting for my orders.”
Tanner smiled as an answer. Haze groaned, his remaining self-control rapidly leaving him.
“Rose and I are done. I don’t care anymore.”
Haze grunted. “Why the hell are you doing this, Tanner? What do you expect to get out of this?”
“I want my brother back. Not some mushy, whipped, weak version of him.”
“You want your brother back? If you touch as much as a hair on her head, you’ll lose him forever, you hear me? Just return her to me safe and unharmed.”
“Unharmed, huh? I’m afraid it’s a little too late for that.”
Haze’s breath caught in his throat.
“What did you do?”
“Well, she was a problem. And you know what I do with problems…”
He paused.
“I get rid of them.”
The punches Haze had taken at his brother in the past while training had always been somehow restrained. It wasn’t the real thing. But now, as he punched the heartless monster he had the misfortune of calling family, he wasn’t holding back. Not anymore.
The only thing they had in common was blood.
Tanner had made that clear.
“She’s not dead. You’re lying,” he shouted, bombarding Tanner’s face with strikes. “Where is she?”
“I told you, she’s dead. Not before I had something from her of course. She was a piece of work, but the sex was worth it.” Tanner smirked. “You should’ve heard her scream. She just wouldn’t stop, and it turned me on even more.”
Haze felt sick to his stomach. The East Side could hear every hateful word escaping his brother’s mouth.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Haze muttered under his breath. “Bootylicious!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
The East Side would probably kick the door in at any moment. They’d help him restrain Tanner and force him into revealing Winter’s whereabouts. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.
“You fucking psycho.” Haze rammed his fist into Tanner’s jaw one last time.
When the door was kicked in, a feeling of relief settled over Haze. Will, Kendrick, Blake, and Alex were coming to help him handle Tanner.
“I’m sorry. I can’t let you do this,” a familiar voice said from behind him. Before Haze could turn around to identify the person who’d come bursting through the door, he collapsed heavily onto the hardwood floor with a thunk.
He thought it was the end.
But the needle entering his skin told him otherwise.
There was no blood, no pain.
Just darkness.