Vicious Rebel (82 Street Vandals #2) - Heather Long Page 0,7

ever. I dropped into one of the bean bags and ran my hands over my face.

And I still had no idea what the hell to do or who to call. Lainey’s face danced across my mind’s eye, and I grimaced. I wanted to talk to her so bad. At the same time, my uncle might have figured out about her. What if he was watching her? What if he went after her?

Right now, my best bet was the people I’d escaped.

How fucked up was that?

Chapter 3

Jasper

No one had seen Freddie. Not since we left him to look after Emersyn. No one could even tell us when he left. Not Emersyn, not the rats. I could go ask her, but Kellan and Vaughn both vouched for her not knowing anything else. Cagey bastards were hiding something. I’d deal with that and them later. After we figured out where the fuck Freddie went. The last thing we needed was someone missing while the 19 Diamonds were nursing their wounds.

A pair of rats met me at the corner of Pike and 60th. If we kept heading south, we’d be in 19 Diamonds territory. “What did you find?”

JD shook his head. “I checked his usual dealers, Hawk. None of them have sold to ’im. They swore they wouldn’t either. Not after the beatdown you and Kestrel delivered the last time.” He checked his phone. “We’ve covered most of our territory. I don’t think he’d try to buy here. They all know better.”

They knew better. They sold here under our protection. The two dealers who wouldn’t play ball and continued to sell to Freddie didn’t sell anything anymore to anyone. As it was, we monitored closely who was selling and who was buying. The rules hadn’t changed, nor had the penalty for breaking them.

“Get Shaun and Ripper,” I said before heading toward my car. The old muscle car looked like a beaten-up piece of shit. But I didn’t care about looking cool. All I cared about was that it was solid steel. Nothing on this car would buckle unless something considerably larger hit it.

I’d long-since scratched the racing itch and left that for Raptor and Kestrel. Fuck… Just the thought of Raptor made my jaw clench. It wasn’t time.

I fired off a text to Vaughn and Kellan to see if they’d found anything, while I debated my next move. The 19 Diamonds would not be welcoming if they caught us in their territory. Not that I needed anyone to invite me in.

But was I really looking to pick a fight?

The simple Nothing they sent in response didn’t bode well.

Engine started, I stared out the front window as JD slid into the seat next to me.

“Shaun and Ripper are on the way. They worked their way all the way up to 115th. They didn’t find him either. Checked at Ms. Thompkins too.”

“He doesn’t go there alone anymore,” I mused aloud, but I got why they checked. I’d said no stone unturned. And the rats were out kicking a lot of stones over. Freddie had burned his bridges with Ronnie. Veronica Thompkins could lay a beatdown on a grown man without breaking a sweat, and Freddie could irritate a saint. She didn’t put up with him, and he didn’t tempt fate.

We’d been looking for hours. It was already midafternoon, and we were no closer to tracking him down than we’d been when we set out. I rubbed my phone against my lower lip.

The one thing about JD I liked was the rat knew how to keep his mouth shut. Most of the time. If he could learn to keep his zipper up, he might make it past his year. He wouldn’t. Almost none of them would. The year was grueling for a reason.

Fuck it. If Freddie was there, I was going to get him. I could kick his ass later, but he had to be alive for me to do that.

“Tell Ripper and Shaun we’re heading toward The Smokestack.”

“That’s—” JD shut up when I glanced at him and just sent a text.

I called Kellan. He wouldn’t like it. He never did.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Smokestack. Fifteen minutes. Don’t be late.”

“Fuck me,” Kellan groaned. “You really do want to start a war.”

“If Freddie went to score, he wouldn’t do it here. He’s nowhere else he should be. That means he’s probably in their territory, and they were already pissed.”

“And whose fucking fault is that?” The complaint rolled right off me. It didn’t matter how irritated he was, he’d be where