Read Punching and Kissing Online
Authors: Helena Newbury
Punching and Kissing (32 page)
I nodded again. “I want to do it right, this time. I’ll have to start at the bottom all over again, but it’ll be official. Legit.”
Sylvie frowned at me. “There’s something else, isn’t there? Lots of big cities have ports and colleges. Why Chicago?”
She could read me too well.
“Okay,” I said. “The other reason is...the last brother I lost contact with is there. Carrick, the silver-tongued bastard. At least, last I heard, he was there. I don’t know how we’ll find him, but maybe we could give it a go.” I looked her right in the eye. “I reckon maybe it’s time.” It was exactly what I’d avoided for years. But facing up to death had snapped things into focus. I felt like I had a second chance, now, and I wasn’t going to waste it. And if I could find my brother—if I could find
all
my brothers—maybe I’d finally share the horror of what happened to us with Sylvie.
Sylvie grabbed me and pulled me close. “That sounds like a
great
idea. Alec?”
Alec nodded. “Sounds as good a place as anywhere. Fuck it, let’s go.”
I started scouring the internet for a car that would hold together long enough to get us and our meager possessions to Chicago. But, before we left, there was one last thing we had to set in motion.
Sylvie
We couldn’t be around for it. It had been over a month since the fight, long enough that Rick wouldn’t suspect Aedan of being the rat. But all that would be for nothing if Rick saw him hanging around while the police raided The Pit. And if he ever saw
me
again, he’d know he’d been duped.
So we got our road trip underway. We got the call when we were passing through Cleveland. We pulled into a gas station and the three of us leaned against our battered SUV, peering at my phone’s screen.
It was a video of the bust, shot by a local news crew. We saw police flashlights light up the gloom of The Pit. The audience turning in horror and trying to run, only to be held back by a small army of police officers.
When they found Rick, he was as smug as usual. He knew there was no hard evidence proving that he’d organized the fights. He could just claim to be another member of the audience. None of the fighters would dare to testify against him.
Except he wasn’t going to be arrested for the fights.
Aedan pointed to a police officer. “That’s Charlie,” he told us.
Charlie pushed to the front and snatched Rick’s cane from him.
“You can’t do that!” Rick yelled. “That’s mine! It’s a medical device!”
Charlie grinned. And twisted the crystal top, just as Aedan had told him to. He drew out the plastic vial. “I’m glad you confirmed it’s yours,” he said. “Because that’s a
lot
of cocaine. More than just possession. That’s intent to supply, right there.”
Rick went pale. I knew what he was thinking—even if his lawyers got the charges to slide, it was enough for the police to get a search warrant for his yacht. God knows how much coke they’d find there, as well as computer records and paper trails that might prove he was the fight organizer. The last view I had of him was his fearful glance at the camera as Charlie slapped the cuffs on him.
No one would ever have to fight at The Pit again.
Aedan shoved the phone back into his pocket. It felt like the end of a chapter. The road, stretching out into the distance, felt like the beginning of a new one.
“I call shotgun,” said Alec, slipping into the passenger seat. He was still a little weak in one leg, but he was getting stronger every day. As I watched, Aedan’s pet gull flapped lazily down and settled on the roof of the car. It had so far followed us all the way from New York and showed no sign of turning back, as long as we kept tossing crackers out of the window for it to catch.
I stayed outside for a moment, enjoying the sunshine. “Winters in Chicago are meant to be even colder than in New York,” I grumbled, pressing myself against Aedan’s chest.
“I’ll keep you warm,” Aedan said, pulling me hard against him. His breath was hot on my neck. “‘Long as we get a place where the bedrooms aren’t right next to each other. I don’t want to be banging you with your brother next door.”
I punched him in the arm to shut him up and he tapped me playfully back, and then we were wrestling, giggling and punching and kissing, with a clear road ahead.
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