My face must have fallen, because a knowing smile crosses his.
‘Ahh,’ he cackles. ‘You already know the story?’
Everyone knows the story. Jace, Ryker, Renny and Tyler siphoned the fuel from Empire City’s away bus. They never made it to the game. The Kingsmen had all the time in the world to impress the scouts. Jace and Ryker were ultimately offered places in a national team.
‘If that wasn’t enough,’ he lifts his right hand to examine it, ‘when you fuckers pulled your little prank with the statue, your fucking boyfriend shattered my wrist when he tackled me. Permanent nerve damage in these three fingers.’ Erik pointedly brings his scarred pinkie, ring and middle fingers in front of my face. ‘I can’t move them anymore. I can’t hold a ball.’
‘You’re stealing cars and hustling racers all because you can’t play basketball?’
His eyes bore into mine, even in the darkness I can see the pent-up fury swirling in their depths.
‘That fucker stole what was mine,’ Erik spits through his gritted teeth.
‘It’s so long ago, Erik. Ryker doesn’t have anything to do with basketball anymore. He gave it up …’To follow you.
‘Then that just makes me even madder. He had what I wanted and threw it away.’
Erik leans back, showcasing a bloody bandage wrapped around his forearm. He looks down, following my line of sight.
‘I know you had a kill switch to the relay starter, so hotwiring that Mustang wouldn’t have worked. Your dog did a number on me when I came by your house for the key.’ His pout turns into a reptilian grin. ‘Such a loyalmutt. How is he now, by the way?’
My only answer is ragged breaths.
Everything has always been because of Erik. Jace’s accident. The masks. Chuckie.
And now me. Is this the end?
‘No snarky remarks tonight?’ Erik turns away toward the back seat. I hear the sharp clang of tools as he shuffles some objects around. He examines a socket wrench and sucks his teeth. ‘That won’t do.’ He drops it, picking up a pair of pliers.
What the fuck?
I drop my chin to my chest. I don’t know what his plan is or what he’s doing, but I’d rather not see it coming.
It’s Pa’s face I see when I close my eyes. And Jace’s. Monique’s. Chuckie’s. Ryker’s. Even Ma’s. It’s my family I think about. Everyone I love. I should have told them more often.
‘Here’s the deal …’
A sudden screech tears through the space. Three pairs of headlights shine into the cab as Ryker’s Raptor comes into view, flanked by Tyler’s Nissan Z and Renny’s Evo. I hit the quick release of the racing harness without a second thought. The grip loosens. I’m still stuck to the seatbelt but I think I can get free.
I’m jostled in my seat when Erik keys the ignition and rams through the space between the truck and Evo. I bang on the window as we pass Ryker. A scream bubbles in my throat and everything feels like it’s happening in both slow motion and double time.
Then the cold steel of the muzzle presses against my temple once more, Erik holds the gun to my head while keeping his free hand on the wheel.
‘You’re gonna do exactly as I say,’ Erik sneers.
Chapter 32
Ryker
PRESENT
Rage.
I thought I was well acquainted with it. I thought that staring into my best friend’s eyes as he drew his last breath was the epitome of the feeling.
I was wrong.
The fire that wraps around my spine is attached to a type of fury I have never known. Never have I felt rage bloom so thick within me that it scalds my veins. Every cell in my body is screaming at me to catch, torture and end Erik.
