Page 29 of Knockout Queen

“We know it was up for sale. We don’t know who bought it, or even if Gregory did, we don’t know that that’s where this meeting was being held.” Mag breathes out. “It makes sense though. It’s close enough to the Heights without being in the Heights. Gregory wouldn’t want to stay here unless he has more followers than we think.”

“Even if that is the track the Dragons were talking about, we don’t know if Johnny’s there,” I say, realizing how flimsy this all sounds.

“We can find out who bought it by looking at tax records,” Mag says. “Though, he’d be a fool if he bought it under his real name.”

“Let’s hope he called it Runts Enterprises or something fucking stupid like that.”

“At least it’s something,” Brawler says, finally emerging from his funk. “It’s actually something we can act on. We can drive past the track and look to see if it’s even being occupied.”

“Here’s the real question,” Oscar says. “Do we tell K what we found out?”

Mag shakes his head. “Who are we going to tell him told us? We can’t tell him anything right now. We’ll wait until we verify, and then we’ll make up a story that keeps Cole’s name out of everything.” Mag dribbles his hands over the foosball table, then dusts his fingers off on his pants.

We’re playing a very dangerous game here.

“What did Cole mean when he said this place is where it all started?” Brawler asks.

Mag’s face hardens. His hazel-green eyes shadow over. “He and I were right here when the initiation tasks began. The Crew kidnapped us from this very room, taking us out to the middle of nowhere, and dropping us off. What Cole and I didn’t know was that Manning and Johnny were out there too. We thought we had to find our way back home, but eventually, I met up with Manning in the woods after we heard each other. We saw a light in the sky, so we moved toward it. That light brought us to the cabin in the woods. Trust me, it didn’t look anything like what it does right now. It was a piece of shit. When we all got there, they ran us for twenty-four straight hours learning gun technique.”

“I bet you excelled at that,” I say, wondering if that’s where he got his nickname.

Brawler runs his hand over his chest. “I asked Manning what he had to do to get into the gang. I remember Mom being worried once when he disappeared for like a day, but Manning was always doing shit like that. It just seemed odd because he said he was going to take a nap in his room, but when I went to get him for dinner, he just wasn’t there.”

“Honestly, it could’ve been any number of times,” Mag says. “The Crew was always kidnapping us and making us do shit.”

I peek at the muscled fighter next to me. “Will Brawler have to do that?”

Mag shakes his head. “They got rid of that aspect when Mayhem retired. Shit got harder after that. K’s techniques are a little more ruthless. A little more real world.”

As Brawler knows all too well now. K snapped his fingers, and Brawler had to kick the shit out of a guy.

Mag blows out a breath. “We’re not supposed to talk about what we had to do to get into the Crew.”

Oscar shifts on his feet. “Agreed. Let’s get the fuck out of here and talk about what we’re going to do to figure out if Johnny’s at this race track.”

He’s the first to take the stairs, his back ramrod straight. It makes me wonder what he had to do to get into the Crew. He fast-tracked it out of necessity. Does that mean what he had to do was worse than what others do? I can see K making that a thing. Like, if you really want in, you really need to show him. There’s no telling what he came up with, but I’m absolutely positive that whatever is going through Oscar’s mind about his past isn’t good. It’s something he doesn’t even want to talk about.

We follow him out of the basement, through the side exit, and back to the car. Once we’re there, Magnum brings up the tax records on his phone. The race track sold to a John D. Smith. If that doesn’t shout fake name, I don’t know what does.

“Fuck,” Oscar breathes, rearranging the seat belt over his shoulder. “I say we just do a drive-by. Let’s just see what we can see from the road. If it’s hopping with sketchy people, then we know at least that’s where Gregory is hiding out. We can make up some bullshit story to K, so that he gets all his attention on it. That way, we’re not rolling in there blind and making more of a mess of things than what they need to be.”

“I agree,” Brawler says. “I say we do it tonight. It’s dark. It will give us cover. Plus, if it was me in there, I’d want to be found as soon as possible.”

“I don’t want to sit on this either,” Mag finally says. He starts the car, and we begin the trek out to the race track.

My stomach clenches. If we think Johnny’s there, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to stop myself from just busting in. The video of him replays through my head again and again, and the worst part is, there’s no off button.

12

Johnny

Isee her again. The tilt of her lips. Her long, dark hair. The fierce gaze in her eyes that struck me the first time I saw her and hasn’t left me yet. When I met her, I thought I was strong. It wasn’t until after meeting her that I realized all my strength comes from a false place.Herpower comes from within her soul. Mine has been built up on mudslides and crooked ladders that are two seconds from falling down.

Suddenly, I’m falling through space. Every image of Kyla is erased until I jerk up. I blink, realizing I’d fallen asleep again. Of course, I had. The only time I’ve seen Kyla in the past couple of days is when my body gives in to sleep despite my surroundings. Otherwise, I see her through a hazy gaze, flames licking up her skin and spreading between us. The heat was real, but I don’t know if what my mind is trying to tell me is real, too. Was she on fire? Did Kyla fucking die because of these assholes?

A potent mix of fear and anger barrages me again. I pull at the ties around my wrists, only to find them the same as they were. They’re tight. Too tight. These guys aren’t messing around. Considering some of them are Crew members, they know our tactics. I’m not getting out of these no matter how much I struggle. I might as well gnaw my arm off. If I could reach it, it would become a very real possibility, just so I could learn the truth.

They told me she died.

---