Page 77 of Brick

He swayed on his feet. The noise got further and further away. Swinging wide, he missed his target completely. Before he could regroup, Reyes delivered a one-two punch, making him stagger back.

Would this fucking fight ever end?

Finally, Sucre gave him the signal. But he had nothing left. He struggled to stay on his feet. Thank God, Reyes was in the same boat. He was listing like a drunken sailor.

This had to end now.

Ignoring the pain, he curled his hand into the tightest fist he could make and punched Reyes square in the jaw. He followed the hit with a strike to the nose, and the man dropped like a bag of concrete.

He only waited long enough for the ref to call out his name before he lurched toward the door. Two steps out into the street and the world went black.

***

Liv

Liv curled herself around her pillow, the bed a warm cocoon, as she held the phone to her ear. Though they’d texted, it was the first time she’d spoken to her sister in days, and Izzy’s voice relieved some of the anxiety that came with her absence. With Carol gone, she’d had no one to tell about her date with Jonathan, and she was busting at the seams.

“It was actually really amazing.” She wanted to share every perfect detail, but a tiny part of her wanted to hoard it all in a little secret place inside her heart.

Iz didn’t push, one of the reasons it was so easy to talk to her. “We drove go-karts, then we went to the falls. It was so beautiful with all the trees and the trails. We laughed, and he sang. He held my hand, and he kissed me.”

“Sounds like a Disney movie, Nugget. Any birds flying around with ribbon or dwarves marching past?” Iz snickered.

“No, but there was pecan pie.”

A beep announced she had a call on another line. She squinted at the clock on her nightstand.

Twelve-forty-five. Normally she’d already have been asleep two hours. Jonathan’s picture she’d taken on their nature date filled the screen. He never called this late.

Saying goodnight to her sister, she clicked over. “H’lo?”

An unfamiliar voice answered. “Is this Olivia?”

She sat straight up in the bed. A thousand possibilities surrounded the identity of the person on the other end of the line. None of them were good. “Who is this?” she asked sharply.

“My name is Kane. I work with Brick and your brother. You probably saw me at the bar for Will’s birthday. Long hair. Brick’s in trouble and yours was the only number in his call log.”

Her stomach fell, and her self-protective instincts warred with concern for her man. “What’s wrong? Is he okay?” He said he had a fight tonight, but he’d sworn they were all fixed, and he always won.

Kane paused. “He’s in pretty bad shape. He probably needs a trip to the hospital, but something tells me he wouldn’t want to go.”

“Bring him here.” She rattled off her address. “But Kane? Make sure no one follows you.”

“I promise. I’ll be there in ten.”

They made it in eight. Enough time for her to dig out her first aid kit. She opened the front door as soon as a car pulled up outside.

In the shadows, she spotted the big frame of the biker-looking guy she remembered seeing at Will’s work site. He practically dragged an even larger man who had one arm crooked behind his neck for support.

Jonathan.

She ran out and met them three feet in front of the doorway. As they moved together into the apartment, the light gave her a first look at Jonathan’s face. Her attempts to prepare herself failed, and her eyes filled with tears.

His entire face was swollen and misshapen, but his left cheekbone looked the worst. She guessed it was the cheekbone, but it could have been his eye; it was hard to tell because it was swollen shut. A cut above his eyebrow was bleeding and it appeared it had been for a while. Wet and dried blood trailed down his cheek and smeared on his neck and bare chest. He only wore a pair of knee-length shorts.

He was clearly out of it. The one eye she could see appeared tired and unfocused. She didn’t think he even knew where he was because he didn’t so much as glance at her when Kane settled him down on the sofa.

“How do I help him?” she murmured.

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