Broken Beautiful Hearts(104)
“After meeting him, I agree.”
An awful feeling builds inside me. There was something about Tess’ voice that sounded off.
*
“There she is,” I tell Grace as she pulls into the Circle K parking lot. Tess is huddled against the wall, her blond hair peeking out from beneath an oversize hoodie. It’s not her look. It’s sloppy and so not Tess.
Grace parks, and I get out. “I’ll wait here,” she says.
The moment I step under the streetlight I know something is wrong.
“Thanks for coming to get me,” Tess says. She’s staring at the ground, her hands in the front pocket of the giant hoodie.
“What happened?” I ask her. “How did you figure out I was telling the truth?”
Tess slowly raises her head and pulls down the hood. One side of her face is black and blue from the top of her cheekbone to the bottom of her jaw. I’ve had enough bruises to know those aren’t fresh. But the cut on her swollen lip is.
“Reed did that?” I almost can’t believe it. It was one thing to hurt me, but I never thought he would hurt Tess.
“Yeah. He’s done it a few times. Just not like this. He’s really bad now, Peyton. He’s taking all kinds of stuff.”
“What set him off?”
“I found some of his pills. It’s his new thing. I said something. I must have picked the wrong day of his cycle—who knows? This is what he’s like now. But that’s not why I called.”
That’s not why she called? Has she seen her face?
“Come on, get in the car.” I don’t want to run the risk of Reed seeing her.
Tess gets in the back seat. “Hi,” she says to Grace. “Thanks for picking me up.”
Grace’s eyes go wide when she sees Tess’ face, and Tess pulls up her hood again. “Are you okay?” Grace asks her.
“No. But I’m not worried about me. Reed is going to hurt your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. But—”
“Reed is going to hurt him. I heard him talking to TJ and Billy about it.”
“Are those losers doping, too?”
“TJ is for sure. I don’t know about Billy. I hate them both. Reed is so pissed off about that guy Owen. He’s so paranoid now. He’s convinced that Owen is the reason you won’t get back together with him. You can’t let Owen go tonight.”
“Yeah, well, that ship has sailed.”
“No, Peyton, I’m serious. Reed is going to fight dirty. And if Owen doesn’t lose, and lose bad, Reed, TJ, and Billy are going to jump him when he leaves the fight.”
My heart plummets. Owen might be able to beat Reed, but he can’t take all three of them. Not after a fight, with a heart condition he ignores.
“Call Owen and tell him not to show up. The last few underground fights Reed has been in…” She takes a deep breath. “One of the guys ended up in the hospital. I heard another guy is all scarred up. Reed dipped his wraps.”
“What?”
“Reed told me stories about guys dipping their hand wraps in crushed glass.”
“Stop.” My stomach threatens to turn inside out. “Oh god. We have to tell Owen.”
I call his cell, and it goes straight to voice mail. Then I text him.
Nothing.
“What are we gonna do? We can’t just show up at the fight,” Grace says. “We can’t stop Reed and his jacked-up friends ourselves.” She’s right.
There’s only one way to save Owen.
It will destroy his future as a fighter, but it will save his life.
“I have to call the cops and report the fight.”
“Tell them there’s gambling,” Grace says. “This is a small town. If you mention gambling, they’ll check it out.”
I look back at Tess. “If I call, you know what’s going to happen.”
“I know.”
“What’s gonna happen?” Grace asks. “Fill me in.”
“If Owen and Reed get arrested at an underground fight, they’ll both be kicked out of the league. They won’t be able to fight anymore. I mean, not on a competitive circuit.” I look at Tess when I say, “And that means no prize money.”
Tess nods. “Someone has to stop him.”
Owen’s future as a competitive fighter will be over. Even though part of me feels like I’m saving him because he shouldn’t be fighting anyway, that’s his decision. But knowing Reed is trying to hurt him and could possibly kill him? I can’t ignore that.
“I’ll call the police. Keep calling Owen’s cell, Grace.”
We’re fifteen or twenty minutes from the mill. The fight is supposed to start in five minutes. It could be over before we even get there. I can’t waste any more time. I dial the number.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
CHAPTER 41
Street Fighter
“YOU CAN’T GO in through the front,” Tucker says. “There are cops everywhere, and they’re not letting anybody inside. So far, every guy who has walked out of there has ended up in cuffs.”
“What about Owen? Have you seen him?”
Tucker shakes his head. “No. And I’ve been looking. Your cousins are around here somewhere, too, but nobody’s seen him.”