I barked out, “I’m going anyway. It would help if you gave me a general direction.”

He let out a sigh. “South on Broadway. She was at the 117th stoplight.”

That was all I needed. I hurried for the lobby, but braked as I saw the doctor heading past me. Grabbing his arm, I asked, “My mom?”

He stared at me for a moment before recognition sparked in his eyes. “Oh. Your mom is stable. She had a miscarriage, and some of the fetus was still attached to her uterus. She passed out because she’s anemic. She’s sleeping now, but they’re taking her to her room. We want to watch her for a day, at least, maybe two to make sure everything’s passed this time.”

She’d be fine. That was all I needed. “My brother’s in there. Can you tell him this same news?” I didn’t wait for a response; I was already jogging back to the lobby. It didn’t take me long to get to the parking lot and into my car. Then I headed for Broadway. Zooming past the 117th stoplight, I kept going straight. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but if Emerson was involved, a party or a fight was my best guess.

It was Kelly’s car that I saw first. Pulling up behind it, I got out, pocketed my phone and keys, and walked up to her driver’s seat. She was still inside; her hands clutched the wheel as she leaned forward. Her eyes were big, almost bulging out, and she was biting down hard on her lip.

I tapped her window.

She let out a scream, jumping back in the seat. When she saw me, she immediately swallowed her cries. Rolling down her window, she cursed at me. “You gave me the biggest heart attack, I swear.” Then she noticed the dried blood still on my clothes. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Hello. Eli and Luke together. That’s not normal. How could I not follow them?”

She had a point. “Where are they?”

She grew wary and pointed ahead. There was a long line of cars parked on the street before her, but all of them led to a run-down house that was brightly lit. Loud music poured from it, and there was a large group of people standing on its front lawn, all of them holding beverages. Some were drinking from big cups and beer cans, while others were drinking from bottles still encased in brown paper bags. I glanced around the neighborhood, taking note of the rest of the houses with doors and windows broken. Some windows even had iron bars on them. This wasn’t a good neighborhood, which made the knots in my stomach tighten even more.

“I don’t know what they’re doing here. I haven’t worked up the courage to go in there,” Kelly said.

I heard the fear in her tone, and I understood.

“And it’s Eli and Luke. I thought I was seeing things, so I followed them, but it was them. They were running inside when I drove past. By the time I circled back to park here, I…” She faltered. “You can understand.”

I did. I wiped my hands over my jeans. “I’m going in.”

“What?” She grabbed my hand through the window. “Don’t. Think, Bri. Be smart.”

I was thinking. I wasn’t sure about being smart. I loosened her hold on my arm and patted her hand twice. “I dated a drug dealer for three years. I didn’t know he was a drug dealer, but still. We went to parties like this. I might even know people in there besides them. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Oh, hell no, it wasn’t going to be fine. As I started forward, my entire body tensed. This was foreign territory. I lied to Kelly. Yes, Eli took me to parties, but they were never this bad. The closer I got, the more I wished I had a steel bat with me instead of my phone and keys.

Nice weapons, Bri. They’ll do a lot of damage.

“Oh, you fucker!” one guy laughed, stumbling backwards until he was right in front of me. “Well, hey there, gorgeous.”

I moved around him. “Excuse me.”

“Come on.” He shifted and wrapped an arm around my waist.

The alcohol on his breath was overwhelming. I was close to gagging, but I didn’t panic. Not yet. “Do you know Elijah Turner?”

The guy released me and stepped back. His entire demeanor changed. Instead of the drunken flirt, he was cold. Raising his head, he asked, “You’re a customer?”

“Maybe.”

Disgust flared in his eyes. “You don’t need Turner. This is Brute’s house. He can get you whatever you need that Turner can, but better quality. Turner sells shit for quality.”

It was his competitor’s place. That realization settled in at the same time we heard shouts from the backyard, “Get ’em!”

I turned and took off at a full sprint, but I wasn’t running away. I was going for the backyard with the leech, along with his buddies from the front yard, hot on my trail. As we circled the house, the sight stopped me dead in my tracks. Elijah and Luke were pinned against the back fence. Both were sweating and bloodied. Elijah’s normal sweatshirt was off, and his undershirt had been ripped. Luke’s shirt was barely on as well. He had blood streaks spread down his chest, and both were sucking in mouthfuls of air.

If I hadn’t been so panicked at the crowd forming around them, I would’ve appreciated the sight. They looked gorgeous, sweaty, and deadly in that moment, but I didn’t stop to salivate. I pulled out my phone and called Kelly. She sounded terrified when I told her the plan, but she had to do it. I glanced back up; they were running out of time. The crowd had tripled, and a lone guy stepped forward. He was enormous. Big shoulders. Big hands. Big everything. He was bald, like Emerson, with a snake tattoo that slithered up the back of his neck and headed to the top of his head, resting above his forehead. He was gripping a bat in one hand, and he pointed to the sidelines with his other. He yelled out, “You come here, Turner? To start shit with me?”