“With what money, Princess?”
I snuggle into Oscar carefully, hating the way these guys grew up. Brawler, at least, looks as if he’d miss Christmas if he didn’t get it.
Car lights filter through the windows and light up the wall. Each of us sit up. Oscar stands from the couch and heads toward the window to peer outside, still with a protective hand over his midsection. “It’s Mag. He’s got someone with him.”
My heart leaps in my throat. All three of us funnel outside. I ignore the biting of the pebbles under my feet as I wish with everything in me that Magnum somehow found Johnny. Instead, Magnum shoves a blindfolded guy forward. He presses his finger to his lips, so we all step aside as Magnum drags him up the steps and into the house.
One thing is clear, it’s not Johnny. Every hope I’d conjured in the last fifteen seconds drops in an instant, leaving me whiplashed and cold.
We follow the strange pair, and Magnum forces the guy to sit on the coffee table. He ties the guy’s hands behind his back with zip ties that he pulls from his pocket. “Shit,” the guy growls. “That fucking hurts.”
I try to place the voice, but I don’t have much time to figure it out before Magnum unmasks him.
It’s Cole.
Magnum sits casually on the couch opposite him and crosses his legs, glaring at his cousin. “This is where you start fucking talking. Where is Johnny Rocket?”
4
Cole pulls at his wrists, scowling at the way he’s tied up. “Is this any way to treat family? I’ve done nothing but try to help you, brother.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Magnum asks casually. “Because the way I see it, every time something bad happens, you’re around. You show up at the murder scene of one of our guys and then you call me right before The Ring gets shot up.” I chew on my lip. I’d forgotten he’d received a call right before shit went down.
Cole’s gaze travels to Brawler, Oscar, and I, lingering on my messed up face for a blip. “Jesus. What happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” I snarl. I can feel Brawler’s heated, apologetic gaze on me, but I ignore it. “Answer his fucking question.”
“I don’t know. It sounds like I’m helping to me. I told you about Gregory. I warned you about the shootout.”
“It sounds like you know about the trouble, which is why you’re going to tell me where Johnny Rocket is.”
The cousins match each other gaze for gaze, a challenge in each of them. There aren’t any outward similarities between the two of them that I can see. Magnum has a head of copper hair while Cole’s is a brown fauxhawk. Cole is smaller than Jacob, too. His frame on the slim side, kind of lanky. Then again, I prefer my guys with a bit of muscle.
After the stare off to end all stare offs, Cole eventually gets bored and looks around. He inspects the cabin first, gazing at the finishes, craning his neck to see as much as he can. Magnum seems as if he’s content to wait this out. He knows his cousin better than I do, so whatever. Eventually, the guys and I take seats around the living room. It would be almost peaceful with the fireplace still going if it wasn’t for the guy tied up, blocking the view. I have a sneaking suspicion this isn’t how Magnum usually interrogates, but he’s most likely giving his cousin the benefit of the doubt.
“I know what you’re thinking, Jacob,” Cole finally says. “But I’m on your side. You don’t have to tie me up and disorient me before bringing me here. I would never hurt you. Or your friends.”
“Who are you associated with now? What gang?”
Cole swallows.
“See?” Mag asks. “This is why I don’t trust you. It’s a simple question. You know I’m still part of the Crew. You also know I should’ve killed you when I saw you, and I didn’t. I’m asking you one simple thing. You say we’re family and that you’re trying to help? I’m actually asking you for help right now. Who are you associated with?”
“It’s not that simple,” Cole growls.
My stomach squeezes. “Hey,” I say, waiting until Cole looks at me. “I really need to find Johnny, so if you know anything, anything,” I plead. “I would be forever grateful.”
Cole sighs. “It’s not that easy.” He turns his gaze to Jacob. “You know it’s not easy.” He pauses for a moment before he looks at all of us. “I’ve been trying to help you guys from the beginning. I told you I wanted to help, but you know what happens to people who snitch, Jacob.”
Mag leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees and cupping his scruff in his palm. “Who is it you’re working for now? Let’s just start there. It won’t go outside this room. You can trust these guys.”
Cole gives us all one last lingering look and then hangs his head. “The Dragons.”
Well, at least we guessed his affiliation correctly. “How did you end up with them?”
“I had to get the hell out of the Heights, and quick. I’m not good for anything else. Mag knows that. I finally met up with these guys who were more than eager to take an ex-Crew member in. They thought I could give them info about how the Crew is run, but that didn’t happen.”
“Did the Dragons take Johnny?”
Cole drops his head back. “Fuck, Jacob. You’re killing me, man. You’re fucking actually killing me. You know that, right?”
Mag scoots forward on the couch cushion. “You must care because you came to me in the first place, man.”
“You know how much I care about family,” his cousin says through clenched teeth. “It killed me to leave everyone here. You, Mom, Dad, Colleen. Christ.”
“Maybe you could come back...” I offer.
Jacob places his hand on my leg, giving me a short squeeze that silences me.
Cole focuses on that spot while Oscar laughs. “Yeah. No. He defected, so he’ll never be welcome back into the Crew or the Heights. Unless he wants to die.”
Whatever the reasoning was for Cole defecting, he lost everything. That’s what the four of them are in for when we finally leave. Mag doesn’t speak to his mom, a relationship he might be able to salvage only if he isn’t involved in the Crew. But the others? Unless they’re coming with us, Oscar and Brawler will have to leave their moms. Oscar might not be able to control what his mother does, but I don’t see Brawler leaving his mom, ever.
I place my hand on Mag’s, which is stretched over my knee. “Is there a secure phone Brawler can use? He has to check in at home.”
Cole perks up. “How’s your mom doing, Mack?”
Brawler rubs the back of his neck. His skin is blotchy red, embarrassment creeping up. His mom is a sore spot for him, but also a sense of responsibility and love. “Living off depression medication.”
Cole slumps forward a little, a different light in his eyes as he stares at nothing. It sounds as if Brawler’s brother, Manning and Cole were pretty close friends once upon a time. So much so that Brawler remembers Cole.
“That phone in the kitchen is safe,” Mag says, looking past me to Brawler. “Let me know if she needs anything.”
Without Johnny, Mag flows easily into the leadership position. It’s as if we’re our own Crew here, and he’s the one getting shit done.