Page 7 of One Little Spark

When Phoenix turned and stared at him, Aiden grimaced. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Phoenix. He just didn’t want his—what the hell should he call it, “gift?”—to become well-known. This wasn’t the first time Phoenix heard about it, and he’d kept his mouth shut so far. There wasn’t much point in worrying about it at the moment.

“What’s your gut saying?” Phoenix asked.

“Not sure. There’s just some bad shit coming.” Aiden didn’t know how else to describe it.

“I think you’re right about that,” Phoenix agreed. “The whole town seems to be on edge these days.” He glanced around the parking lot as they walked. “I’m not so sure this game is a good idea.”

They came to a stop behind the concession stand, and Hazel opened the back door. “Hey, Phoenix. How are you? Ready for the big game?”

He shot her a smile. “Hey, Hazel. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

She smiled back. “I’m sure you’ll kick ass.”

Aiden frowned. He did not like that smile. Since when had Hazel and Phoenix become so friendly?

There was a loud yell in the parking lot. They all looked over to find a crowd gathering. It looked like there might be a fight in the middle of it.

“Shit,” Phoenix said and put down the boxes of soda. He moved in the direction of the circle.

Aiden’s gut knotted. He glanced at Jory and then gestured with his chin at the crowd. The bad feeling dominated every nerve in his body, and there was no way he was leaving Phoenix on his own. It didn’t matter that Phoenix was a detective and acouple of years older than either one of them. He was part of their circle of friends. They put down their loads and headed out behind him.

“Where are you going?” Hazel called out.

Aiden glanced back and pointed.

“Oh,” she said and stepped out of the enclosed stand. When he shook his head, she frowned at him, but just then her mother called her name. Aiden turned back around and breathed a sigh of relief. Hazel didn’t need to be anywhere near whatever this was.

As they approached the circle, the jeering got louder. There were about twenty kids surrounding two rough-looking boys in the middle who were going at it.

“Break it up!” Phoenix demanded. He pushed his way into the circle.

“Fuck off, man! Let them fight,” someone called from the back of the circle, close to a parked pickup truck.

The crowd started chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Phoenix was trying to separate the two boys when a third broke off from the circle and came at him. Phoenix side-stepped the swing and had the kid with one hand behind his back pushed up against the pickup in seconds. “Knock it off!” he yelled.

“What are you gonna do about it, asshole?” yelled another kid wearing a gray hoodie. The crowd started making catcalls at Phoenix.

Aiden broke through the teens and came to a stop in front of the mouthy kid. Aiden was pretty sure the kid was Tommy Vincent. He’d garnered a reputation as a troublemaker around town. “Tommy, you’re gonna shut up and back away or Detective Halston over there is gonna arrest you.”

The kid glanced at Phoenix and then back at Aiden. He threw a wild punch, which Aiden ducked, but then all hell broke loose. The next thing he knew, Aiden was fighting off a bunch ofhigh schoolers. He tried not to hurt anyone too badly but there were a few broken noses, he was sure. Someone landed a hell of a punch, and he staggered back, bumping into Jory. The two of them looked at each other and grinned. It had been a long time since they’d been in a brawl, and it was kind of fun.

Two minutes later, sirens wailing, all of Cherry Valley’s police department showed up along with a couple of ambulances. The kids tried to run, but Aiden grabbed the little shit who’d thrown the first punch and held him. Phoenix had two, and Jory grabbed one as well. The other police officers rounded up the few that tried to escape. It wasn’t hard to tell who the fighters were since they were all bloody.

Chief Bowers stepped over and stood next to Phoenix as two patrol officers took the kids he was holding and cuffed them. “What happened here?” the chief demanded.

“I wish I could tell you, Chief,” Phoenix said. “One minute, I was trying to break up a fight, and the next it was a free-for-all. I have no idea what started it or why it happened. I was too busy trying to defend myself without pummeling these little assholes into the ground.”

“What about these two?” He pointed at Aiden and Jory.

“They were helping break up the fight. Everything turned so fast. There was no time to call for backup.”

“Yeah. Eileen called me direct and told me what was going on.”

Aiden tried not to smile. Maybe Hazel was right.

“What the hell is wrong with people?” The chief asked the nearest EMT, “Anyone badly hurt?”

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