Page 42 of Rough Rider (Bad Boy High)
I give her a faint smile. “I just need to speak to Rico.”
The intel I got was that Rico is always here for the opening of the club and then leaves around ten or so with a girl. I figured coming early, before it got busy, was the best time to collect the money. After I really thought over how Andy was acting and needing to collect money, I knew it was Rico that she hit.
“Your funeral.” She nods her head down the hallway that runs perpendicular to the bar.
Besides the bouncer at the door, there are about four security people stationed around the stage. Another one stops me at the start of the hallway. I tell him the same thing I told the waitress. “I’ve got business with Rico.”
He’s stiffer than the waitress and hesitates a little longer but in the end waves me by. The last door in the hallway has a little metal sign that saysOffice. I give a knock.
“Come in,” grunts a man.
I open the door and walk in. The room is dimly lit, but I can make out a man behind a crappy wooden desk and a burly guystanding off to the side. I sigh internally because this probably means I’m going to have to fight. Maybe I should have been the one to bring a recruit. Rico, whom I presume is the guy behind the desk, has short black hair, slicked back against his skull. His face is lined and hard, and he wears a shirt unbuttoned enough that I can make out a necklace and chest hair. He’s old but has an illusion he’s still sexy. What a nightmare for Andy to deal with.
“I’m here to collect Jody Nunn’s stuff and last check.”
Rico laughs, and after a half a beat, so does his bodyguard. “Who are you to ask me for anything, punk? Get the hell out of my office.”
I sigh again, this time audibly, and unzip my windbreaker.
Rico’s eyebrows go up. “Oh, you want to strip for me? I’m not into that, but do your worst.”
“Let’s just get this over with.” I wrap my jacket around my arm and gesture for the guard.
“Now this is a show.” Rico leans back, shoving his hands into his belt.
I let the big guy get in a punch to test his power. He rocks me back on my heels. I shake my head to clear the fogginess and step back. This won’t be easy. I wait for him to attack again so I can see where his weaknesses are, but he seems to be judging me in return. Too late, I hear the door behind me open and realize my opponent maneuvered me into a bad place. I’ve fought too long with a partner watching my six. I curse under my breath and drop down onto one leg, sweeping my other one out to catch the bodyguard’s ankles. He sways, and I lunge forward, driving him into the wall behind him, but the other man catches me on the shoulder with something hard and metallic. I turn my head and see the fat end of a baseball bat swinging right toward my face. I throw up an arm and then—blackness.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ANDY
“Andy,” Josie whispers my name loudly as she drops into the seat next to mine. I check the time because school is almost out.
“Hey,” I respond.
Josie and I have done all of high school together. We don’t talk a ton, but if we share a class, we’ll often sit by the other, and we always pick each other for any group projects. I know she’ll do her share. It can be hard to make and keep close friends when all you do is work and study. I keep my head down for the most part, trying to get out of here as soon as possible.
“Have you seen Cole?” Josie always has random-ass questions that never, to me, feel like they have rhyme or reason to them. She also does the school blog, which I’m not sure anyone really reads, but it allows her to express herself and do her reporter type thing. She is always writing stuff down in her notebook.
“Which one? Basketball team or glasses?”
“Basketball.”
"I don't recall, honestly." I'm not paying attention to who all is around. I’m here to learn, and I have enough going on in myown life. I'm guessing after graduation I won't see most of these people.
"What about Johnny?"
"Didn't he drop out?"
"He just, poof." Josie makes a dramatic explosion with her hand. "Gone."
"So a magician got him?"
Josie snorts a laugh. "Wait, that's not funny." She changes her expression over to serious, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Or he was killed." Josie whispers the last part.
"Dun, dun, duuun!" Josie slips, cracking a partial smile at my teasing sound effect.
"All right, let's be serious."
