Chapter 6 - THE BASEMENT FIGHTS
Police lights appeared at the far end of the alley.
Normally, that would have been reassuring.
Then Detective Kessler stepped from the passenger seat of the first cruiser.
Dustin cursed.
“Get in the truck.”
Rick stared at me.
“You’re running from a cop?”
“I’m avoiding one.”
There was a difference.
We climbed into my truck and pulled away before Kessler reached the alley.
He saw us.
Our eyes met through the windshield.
His expression told me everything.
He wasn’t surprised I was there.
He had expected me.
“Where are we going?” Rick asked.
“Somewhere public.”
“That won’t stop Victor.”
“No.”
“What will?”
I glanced at the recorder.
“Evidence.”
Dustin sat in the back seat, silent.
Finally he said, “Evelyn made the illegal fights sound worse than they were.”
I slammed the brakes at a red light and turned around.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
“They were underground fights.”
“With unwilling people?”
His silence answered.
Rick looked horrified.
“You told me those guys were paid.”
“Some were.”
“Some?”
Dustin rubbed his face.
“Victor used debt.”
“What kind?”
“Gambling. Drugs. Loans.”
I felt sick.
People trapped financially were forced into violent fights while wealthy men bet on them.
“How many were hurt?”
Dustin looked out the window.
“How many?”
“Three badly.”
“And the ones who never came home?”
He swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
I didn’t believe him.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Eleanor.
ONE OF THE MEN IS BACK.
I immediately called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
My chest tightened.
“Something’s wrong.”
I turned toward the hospital.
Then Dustin grabbed the back of my seat.
“Don’t.”
I looked at him.
“If Victor wants the drive, that hospital is exactly where he wants you.”
“My family is there.”
“That’s why he wants you there.”
Rick frowned.
“What are you saying?”
Dustin hesitated.
“My uncle told me something this morning.”
My hands tightened around the wheel.
“What?”
“He said if Evelyn survived…”
He couldn’t finish.
I reached back and grabbed his shirt.
“What did he say?”
Dustin’s eyes filled with something I hadn’t seen before.
Shame.
“He said he’d use her parents to make her talk.”
I released him.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Victor’s voice came through.
“Hello, Frank.”
I said nothing.
He chuckled.
“You’ve caused quite a mess.”
“Where’s my wife?”
“Oh, she’s safe.”
My blood froze.
May you like
“For now.”
Then I heard Eleanor scream in the background.
