Red Hot Obsessions (40 page)

Chapter 27
Truth Unfolds

I take one huge breath before I storm into the building again. I hold up my ticket for the guard to see, in case he doesn’t remember me storming out two minutes ago. He doesn’t even groan this time, and I pass him without an effort. I guess they’re used to fiery types here.

I walk through the crowd again, but instead of going toward the bleachers, I go straight for the cage.

I easily reach the center, and cling onto the bars as I peer inside. No one stops me. Apparently, nobody cares.

I look inside and see the man who tried to rape me lying lifelessly on the floor, his body limp. I swallow away the fear I had of Hunter going down this time. I look up and see him standing there, buckled over, holding his own head. Blood drips from his mouth. He’s still breathing, but barely.

“Hunter,” I yell.

In an instant he turns around and gazes at me with furor. Fear settles in his eyes the moment he realizes it’s me.

He immediately steps toward me and grabs my hand. “Fuck,” is the first thing he says. “I can’t believe you came here.”

“I can’t either. What the hell are you doing? Is this just for the money?”

I jerk my hand loose.

“No, wait, let me explain,” he says. He reaches for my hand, but I step back. I can’t handle his touch right now.

“Why are you doing this? How could you …” I say.

“They found out Jaret and I were looking for the boss. They put me in here as a punishment, so I could regain his trust.”

“Why would you agree to that?” I yell, tears welling up in my eyes. “You just beat people up in here, and you think that’s okay?”

“I need to do this. There’s no other way. Besides, I can’t get out, they locked me in here.”

“Why in the hell would you let them do this to you?”

His face grows dark, full of regret, but also like he just made a pledge or something.

“There’s no other way to save my brother. I need their trust, so I can finish this.” He leans forward, putting his head through the bars. “Listen to me. I never wanted you to see this, but you have to go, right now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s fucking dangerous in here. And now I finally understand why they got you in here. They’re testing me by using you.”

I gasp.

“Where did you get the tickets?” he asks.

I frown. “What does that have to do with any of this?”

“It’s important. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t. C’mon!”

“Jaret gave them to me. He said he got them from Brody.”

“Fuck!” Hunter slams his hand against the bars. “This is really bad.”

“Brody just helped me understand what the hell it is you’re doing here.”

“No! Don’t you see? He gave you those tickets so he could use you against me.”

“What? But he―”

“He’s not who you think he is!” Hunter yells. “He wants to have power over me, and he’s using you to do it. You have to get away from here as fast as you can. You’re in danger. I’m the one they’re after. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jaret and I found out who the courier was.”

Sighing, I close my eyes and cross my arms. All I want is to leave here as fast as I can. I wanted to give him a chance to explain himself, but all he’s done is made it worse. He’s still talking about ‘finding the boss.’

“Listen!” he yells, because I’ve turned my head away from him. “The courier was Scarlet.”

My jaw drops. “What? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. She was diverting our attention every time. Her buying drugs from us was just a diversion to make us think nobody knew who the courier was.”

“But she’s dead!” I scream, unable to hold back the tears now.

“Time for the next round, bud. Stop chatting up your girlfriend,” the guy with the keys says, chewing some gum.

It’s all just a fucking show to them. Hunter is bleeding so they can have some fun. All for the money.

This is sick.

“Yes, she’s dead. That’s exactly why I’m telling you you’re in danger. You have to go. Now,” Hunter whispers, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and the guy with the keys.

“Time’s up,” the guy says, and he opens the cage doors and lets another fighter in.

I gulp.

“Go. Home. Now!” Hunter says, clinging to the bars for as long as he can before he’s dragged back into a fight.

Shaking my head, I back away from the cage slowly. I can’t believe this. This isn’t happening. Scarlet was the courier? She was the one delivering the drugs to the distributors? She was the one in direct contact with the boss?

She died.

“And whatever you do, do not go to Brody. Do you hear me? Don’t go to him!” Hunter yells. “Promise me! Do
not
go to him. I don’t want you to get hurt. I can’t get out of here. Please, don’t put yourself in danger.”

I’m not listening anymore. My brain feels like it’s going to explode.

Brody. He was a distributor. He said he was. Jaret said Brody gave him the tickets.

No, this can’t be.

Maybe Brody knew she was going to die. Maybe Brody is something more than he claims to be.

He
will
explain this.

*

I bolt through the dorm, racing up the flight of stairs until I reach Brody’s room. I don’t even bother to knock on his door.

“Brody, we need to talk.”

He’s sitting at his desk, and the moment I storm inside, he casually turns around. On his face is a relaxed smile, and he sways a pen back and forth between his fingers like everything’s normal. Well, this is anything but normal.

“Well, hi to you too. Did you enjoy the show?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

He chuckles. “Wow, you seem happy.”

“Time to talk,” I snap.

“About what?”

I slam the door shut behind me. “I know you’re in the frat house. You told me you’re a distributor.”

“So? That’s nothing new.”

“You knew Scarlet took an overdose. She was the courier.”

His eyes narrow. “How do you know about this?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I pace up and down his room. “The point is, I need to know what the deal is with you and this entire Alpha Psi club. You guys are bad. You forced Hunter to fight.”

“And your point is?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you for thinking this is okay?”

He stands up from his chair, his demeanor suddenly changing into something much, much darker. Something creepily scary.

“He had to be punished,” he says with a strong voice.

“Just like Scarlet? Did she have to be punished, too?”

He prowls forward, the pen dropping to the floor.

I inch back, swallowing. “She was poisoned. Murdered. And you know it.”

Brody stops in his tracks, carefully assessing me from a distance. “Yes.”

I find it hard not to breathe. I was right all along.

He was the one behind it all.

“She was a threat. She wanted to expose me for who I am. Of course I don’t want that to happen. There’s a lot at stake here.” He leans forward and picks up the pen. “Do you know what I’ve been through? Do you know how much I’ve sacrificed to get this business off the ground? How much I’ve suffered to finally be able to afford things?”

“Was it worth it?” I snap.

Brody squints and sighs. “Damn right it was. After our fight, Scarlet probably realized how advanced this whole operation was. She wanted out. I didn’t let her, yada, yada, I killed her. You know the drill.” He flicks his fingers like he just told a simple story.

I’m frozen in place, mortified.

“You killed her … You … You’re the―”

“The boss. Yes.” He balls his fists. “Unfortunately, your fucking boyfriend had to go ruin it all by pursuing me. I still have no idea how he managed to find out she was the courier, but it doesn’t matter. He’s locked up now, and he’ll be dead before the end of the night.”

“No …” I gasp.

“Yes,” he says, chuckling. “I was hoping he’d keep you out of this, but now he’s left me with no choice but to do the same to you.”

He clenches the pen in his fist, pointing it toward me. “You see, I’d do anything to keep my business going. It’s my life. There is nothing more important.”

Oh no. Oh God no. This can’t be happening. I don’t want to die.

I step back as far as I can, but Brody’s right in front of me, blocking the only exit out of this goddamn room. My fingers curl around the edge of a cabinet, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

I should’ve known. Dammit, I should’ve seen this coming!

Hunter was right. He was always right.

“Don’t do this, Brody,” I stammer.

“What? Kill you? Autumn, you’ve left me no choice. You should’ve just stayed out of this. Now it’s too late.”

He lurches forward.

I scream. My body twists in a way I didn’t expect to be possible. The pen barely shoots past my waist. Brody has me by the shoulder, his fingernails digging into my skin. I can feel the blood flowing.

I scream as loud as I can, grabbing a hold of his arm to keep him from stabbing me. It’s my strength against his. His deadly eyes are gazing into mine, almost searing their way into my soul.

He moves his hand toward my neck and starts squeezing, hard.

I’m coughing, choking on my own breath. Burning pain follows. My esophagus is being crushed by his hands. I fight to untangle his fingers from my throat, but he keeps strangling me. I’m trying to gasp for air, but nothing comes in. Life is slipping away from me. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. I don’t want to die.

The door slams open.

Brody shifts his hand, holding the pen like a knife. He tries to strike me with it, but I avoid it by arching my back. My eyes can only focus on avoiding the pen. I don’t know what’s happening.

Someone comes in and grabs Brody by the shoulders, dragging him away.

Panting, I buckle over and suck in the air that was pulled from my lungs. I’m gasping for air, trying to get as much in as possible.

And then I see who it is that saved me.

“Don’t you fucking lay a hand on her, you motherfucker!” Hunter yells.

He grabs Brody by the shirt and wraps his other hand around Brody’s wrist. He turns Brody’s arm until he squeals, forcing him to drop the pen he tried to stab Hunter with, too.

“I fucking knew it,” Hunter says. “You were behind it all along.”

“Damn right I was.” Brody spits in his face.

Hunter balls his fist, pulls it back, and then punches Brody in the face so hard he flies through the room. Landing on the floor, he groans, spitting up blood and a couple of teeth.

Hunter picks him up and puts him on his chair.

“Hand me those ties,” he growls, glancing at me.

I clamber up to the bed, open the cabinet, and grasp a few ties. I struggle to get to Hunter.

“Tie them together,” he says, still holding down Brody so he doesn’t move from the chair.

My breath is still faltering, but I somehow manage to tie some knots, and hand the long line over to Hunter. He starts wrapping it around Brody, strapping him to the chair.

When the final knot is tightened, Brody is incapable of moving.

“Are you okay?” Hunter asks me, briefly placing his hand on my upper arm.

I sigh. “Yeah.” And then I smile. He visibly relaxes.

My gaze drifts back to the murderous old friend sitting on the chair. “Why …” I stammer, still catching my breath.

Brody only groans.

“Why did you do all of this?” I say, looking up at him.

He chuckles, coughing up blood. “Growing up in poverty isn’t easy. You should know that. I grabbed a chance at fortune.”

“Money? Is that it?”

Brody shrugs, averting his eyes.

I can’t believe it’s true. Did he do all of this just for the money? Start up a drug gang, a frat club, just for the money? He killed Scarlet just so he could keep his money?

This is so messed up, I can’t even begin to describe it.

Suddenly I hear loud sirens screeching outside.

I look up at Hunter, who immediately walks toward the window and peers outside. “Finally.”

“What? Are those the cops?” I say, rubbing my neck because it still feels sore.

He nods, then turns around and leans against the window. His wounds from the arena are still fresh, and he looks like a complete mess. Blood is all over his face, both his eyes are black, and he has bruises all over his ripped muscles.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I’m glad I came here in time. Lucky I could get ahold of those damned keys to open the cage myself and slip out.”

I gulp. Hunter went through all that trouble to free himself. He came to my rescue. I put myself in danger, knowing what he said about avoiding Brody, and still I came here. Words can’t describe how grateful and lucky I feel to be saved by Hunter.

“Thank you,” I say softly.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

“What do you mean?”

He looks up at me, and then his eyes flick to the door.

A couple of cops storm into the room, and their gazes flick from Hunter, to me, to Brody.

“Agent Williams.” The chief cop holds up his badge. “Is this him?” he asks.

“Yep,” Hunter says. “Like I promised.”

“Where are the goods? I need proof,” Agent Williams says, and he starts untying Brody.

“I’d be careful with that motherfucker if I were you. He just tried to stab us with a pen,” Hunter says.

“Thanks, my partners here will make sure he doesn’t move,” Agent William says, as he cuffs Brody.

“You have nothing on me,” Brody says.

“Oh no?” Hunter lifts an eyebrow, and then directs his attention toward Agent Williams. “Check the bottom of the drawer. Especially the screws.”

Hunter steps forward as I gape in confusion. “How did the cops get here so fast?” I ask.

“I already alerted them back at the arena, once I got hold of a cell phone.”

“You were right,” Agent Williams says, holding up a piece of wood. “There’s a double bottom.” Then he carefully takes out packets of powder, pills, and needles.

Agent Williams instructs the other cops to take Brody away, while another one starts plowing through the room. Williams himself walks up to Hunter. “Well, since you upheld your agreement, I’ll make sure we do the same.”