Page 111 of Strange Lad

I link our hands together. “This isn’t on you, Michael. But you deserve to know.”

Michael is silent and visibly shaking, so Kelly takes her turn to speak. Through hiccups, she approaches us. “I know you don’t know me well, but I’m here for you. By extension, you’re my family, too. Alright? And I will do whatever I can to make sure he fucking pays for hurting my family.”

“Thanks,” Oli rasps, but it’s weak. Something is wrong.

“We believe you, beautiful,” I tell him. “We all believe you. Right, Michael?”

The man in question straightens. “Of course. Morgan is a fucking creep. Always has been. I just…I never thought. Fuck.” Another face scrub. “It happened underourroof. We were there. We should’ve…”

“You couldn’t have,” Oli finally lifts his head, “I made sure no one knew. I…I didn’t make any noise.”

“Fuck,” Phoenix growls. “We need to do something. Fuck him up. Kill him.”

“Prison is not a fun place to be, Fe,” Kelly scolds him and crosses her arms. “Although…” She cocks her head in thought. “I bet a guy like that hasa lotof enemies.”

“We could wear masks,” I offer.

“And gloves.” That’s Devon.

Michael grimaces. “You can’t. Especially because people saw Oli and him fighting.”

Fuck. I completely forgot about the incident at Oli’s work. “That could lead back to Oli. Can’t have that happen. Especially since we’re going to report that skidmark.”

“Look,” Michael starts, glancing around the room to each of us, “I may not like him, but I know Morgan. If he’s done this to Oli, he’s done it to others. We need to expose him. Show the truth. Maybe even record him somehow. Without hard evidence or admitting it, he’s going to walk. My dad will make sure of it.”

“How the hell will we get him to admit it?” I ask.

“Could beat him until he does,” Phoenix says and shrugs.

“I…I could get him to,” Oli whispers.

My muscles spasm. “Absolutely not.” We’re going to squash that terrible idea effective immediately. “You’re not going anywhere near that fucker unless it’s for a trial.”

“He admitted it before…at the shop.”

“No,” I growl.

“Oli might be right,” Phoenix says begrudgingly. “Don’t look at me like that, Jorge. I know. Iknow, alright? But if we are there…if. Help me out, Kel, you’re the evil mastermind.”

Kelly taps her chin with her fingers. “Does he go out? Like to bars ‘n shit?”

Michael nods. “Yeah. He and his coworkers go out for drinks on the weekends.”

“In theory, we could have Oli go in, get him riled, and lure him outside so the audio can actually be heard on a recording. All we need is a few sentences of him admitting to it. Might not be good enough for court, but it’ll be good enough to get the ball rolling.”

“Let’s just fucking kick his ass. We can break his legs, give him a head injury, and dump him in a ditch. The justice system is corrupt. All of the fucking government is,” Devon almost yells. “What? It’s true.”

“Okay, Mr. Anarchy,” Kelly drawls with an eye roll. “Anyway.”

“Fuck you, Kel.”

“I’m not putting Oli in danger. I will murder every single one of you.” I point a menacing finger at my friends.

I’m about to keep firing off threats when Oli hooks his finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We need him to admit it. I can do this.”

My lips purse in defiance. “No.”

“Yes,” he urges, using his touch to butter me up. Swiping that warm thumb over my chin and turning me into jelly.Cheater.

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