Page 18 of Claiming Veronica

"Speaking of money, you’ve been keeping tabs on the bets, right? We need those whales coming back,” Luther said. The bettors were typically my territory since I had stepped back from fighting myself.

"I’m on it. I got a few big hitters lined up. You just ensure the fighters don’t kill each other before the bell rings." I had already sent some feelers out through our locked channels to get the ball rolling. Getting them set and ready to lay out their dough was critical.

Luther chuckled goodnaturedly. "Man, when have I ever let that happen?”

I didn’t bother answering. Luther knew as well as I did that we had seen plenty of bodiesdragged out of those rings, lifeless or close to it. It came with the territory. Underground fighting wasn’t some glitzy prize-fight bullshit. It was brutal. It was blood, fists, and survival. That’s why I’d stuck with it so long — it was real, unforgiving. And I was good at it.

He cleared his throat, shifting back to logistics. "Alright, so we’ll get the fighters. Set security, and the fight will be scheduled on Friday or Saturday. Yeah? We’ll work with Spato.” He cleared his throat, and I tried to ignore the warning tingle along my spine. “You still want the same crew?”

"For the most part," I said, keeping it vague. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Luther. He was probably the only person I did trust if that were a thing, but I didn’t need to be crazy. At one point in my life, I’d included Victor in that circle of trusted people. I clenched my jaw tightly. Just looked at what happened with that.

Betrayed.

“Alright,” Luther said uncertainly. “That’s good. Jolly is good with the lightning, and Russel has always been our go-to for setup.”

“Yeah. Same old crew.” There wasn’t any reason to change the regulars out, right? “Not Jade, though.” Victor had turned Jade into somewhatof a fanatic, twisting her into someone that I couldn’t stomach. Now that he was gone, I didn’t have to bring her around. Bonus.

“Why?” Luther asked, his voice sharpening with curiosity. "What the hell are you doing, man? You disappear, Victor ends up dead, and now you’re calling me acting weird.”

I tensed, my grip tightening on the phone. “Jade was into that shit with Victor. That’s why.” I waited a minute, thinking things over. “How’d you find out that he was dead?”

“I just got a call. You okay about the whole thing?” Luther asked. That was interesting. I chewed on it a little and wondered who it would have been that could have called him since I knew it certainly wasn’t me and couldn’t have been anyone else involved. The number of people present when Victor died was small. Everyone there had made sure to dispose of Victor’s body quietly. In theory, nobody should know he was dead.

“I guess.” I wasn’t sure if I was okay when I was honest with myself, but probably not for the reasons that Luther was asking.

“Areyouokay?” I felt obligated to ask. What I meant to ask was if he was alright that I killedhis friend. We had already gone over this, but I was second-guessing the conversation now.

“Yeah, like I said — the guy was a scary fucker. You did us a favor.”

“Fair enough,” I answered, dropping it. I exhaled slowly, my eyes flicking to the monitors I had set up. Veronica’s house was still quiet. No movement. Not yet. “I never want to talk about it,” I clarified.

I wasn’t sure it was fair to set the stipulation, but I didn’t feel there would ever come a time when I could think of my first childhood friend without being scraped raw.

"Touchy," he muttered. "Alright, fine. You’ve always had your reasons for being cryptic. Just make sure whatever you’re doing doesn’t blow back. I don’t need any heat."

"It won’t. Keep your focus on the fight."

"Yeah, yeah. So, I’ll call you tomorrow to verify that we’ll be on. If so, I’ll get bets rolling and text you the final numbers."

"Good. And make sure to use secured lines. I don’t want any surprises,” I added, thinking of my little spy.

"Please, Havoc. Do you think I don’t know how to run my own show? I got this."

"I’m just making sure you do."

There was a pause, then Luther chuckled again, a softer, more familiar sound. "It’s good hearing from you, man. Missed this."

"Don’t get sentimental on me now," I said, though a smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.

"Wouldn’t dream of it." He paused for a moment before adding, "Stay out of trouble. And maybe try not to disappear for another two months?"

"No promises."

"Didn’t think so. It should be your tagline. No promises. You got a place for me to stay there?”

“Yeah, bro. I bought a place.” I could practically hear him thinking on that.

“Cool.” The word was full of meaning, and I knew we’d be having it out once he arrived. I’d never done this before — bought some random place in a city. We had always lived in Seattle. “Catch you later, Havoc.”

---