“It is if we say it is. And I’m saying it is.” He swings.
“Not in the face,” Niki shouts a reminder.
I duck as his previous words of caution spin through my head. Hard to hide a fist to the face. A hard, round object strikes me in the middle of my spine. I fall to one knee and twist around, sliding my hand down the pipe of the attacker and then jerking hard. He stumbles. I keep pulling on the pipe until his face is close to mine. I bring my knee up into his chest and then drive the guy backward until his back is on the cement and my knee is on his neck. At the same time, I swing out the pipe and feel it connect. A cry of pain echoes a second later. I swing again without looking toward that sound and a second shriek confirms another hit. I keep pressing on the windpipe of the Pipefitter under my knee until the guy’s body grows lax.
Then I spring to my feet, swinging the pole around. It catches one in his gut, but a second guy meets my pole with his own pipe. The reverberation sends a shockwave up to my teeth. I grind them together and give my head a shake. The two converge on me. I drop to my knees again and swing out a leg, catching the pipe holder in the shins. He swings wildly as he goes to theground. I spring backward, just out of reach of the pipe, only to be struck in the back again.
I spin around and see Niki take my attacker down. I turn back to the last of the gang members, who is just starting to rise.
I swipe an abandoned pipe off the ground and start toward him, slapping the metal against my palm. “You know about this kid?” I take my phone, surprisingly undamaged, out of my front pocket.
The guy nods, wiping blood away from his. mouth. “Cole Patton. Plays ball at Central Academy. Owes the Pipefitters about five hundred.”
“He’s missing.”
“Probably trying to avoid us.”
“You have anything to do with his disappearance?”
“No. Why would we?”
That’s the eternal question. More footsteps, this time light ones, come to a stop a few yards away. Josie and Andy have arrived. They take one look at the scene of littered bodies and shake their heads.
“The cops are coming. We better get going.” Josie gestures for us to hurry. The one word has even the wounded Pipefitters springing to their feet, and in a blur, they’re gone. The sirens are getting closer. Niki and I boost Josie and Andy over the back wall and climb after them, ending with no more answers tonight than when we started.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
JOSIE
“HIYAA!” I turn, doing a karate chop, and pretend to hit Bam in his stomach. “Bam!” I add. “Get it? Because you’re Bam.” He shakes his head at me as though I’m exasperating. His eyes say differently.
“All right, rebel, keep walking.” He gives my ass a small smack. Andy laughs.
“That was so cool,” I tell them. “I have never witnessed anything quite like that. It was movie style.” Bam’s hand cups the back of my neck, tugging me close to his side. “Is it okay to say that was hot? Because it totally was.”
“I don’t tend to get turned on when Niki is bashing someone’s face in,” Bam says, making me snort a laugh.
“I got all this energy now. What’s next?” The adrenaline running through my body has me feeling like I could do anything.
“You tell us.” Niki sends a glance my way.
“I really don’t know.” That took some of the air out of me. “This is all a mess. It makes my head spin.” We all fall in step together. I don’t hear the sirens any longer.
“Whenever I have an issue with anything I’m working on for school or what not, I go back to the beginning if I’m lost,” Andy offers. Not a bad idea. It’s better than stalling out.
“So Cole. We need to figure out who killed him.” I’m pretty sure it was Cole that disappeared first, but it felt like they happened close together, so who really knows at this point?
“Back to Cole.” Bam nods.
“We at least know he’s dead for sure.” I laid eyes on his body. “But who wants him dead if not the Pipe people?” I think it might be safe to cross them off the suspect list. Normally the most logical answer is the correct one, but it might not be this time. Every time I think we’re making some headway, we end up at a dead end.
“Did he date anyone?” Andy asks. “I never paid attention to that stuff.”
“Not that I know of.” I click my tongue. “You know, I think I zeroed in on the pippers?—”
“Pippers?” Niki shakes his head, but I can tell he’s slightly amused. I keep going.
“Because they are just logical. I mean, of course people will just assume it’s a local gang thing. What if that’s what they want people to think?”
