I dialed his number and rehearsed in my head while the phone rang.

“What’s up, kid?”

“I need your help. It’s bad.”

The change in his tone was immediate. “What’s going on?”

“My father showed up. It ended badly. How soon can you get here?”

“I can send someone.”

“No. It needs to be you. I can’t have anyone else knowing about this.”

“How messy is it? I’ll at least need to bring a cleanup crew. You know I can’t move without my men.”

“Fine. Just get here quickly.”

“Where?”

I gave him the school’s address and told him to meet me in the gym. A public place would be their better choice. It would make him think I was blindsided by my father, and I could avoid the suspicion that a secluded setting would bring.

Once the call disconnected, I dialed Arthur. This part of the plan would need to be executed perfectly. He would catch on to the smallest slip-up.

“Arthur.”

“This is a surprise. May I ask the reason for your call?”

“Christmas is coming early this year. I have what you want. Meet me at the high school gymnasium. I’m sure you know where it is. We don’t have much time, so you need to come now.”

“Son, the last time I spoke to you about this, you were adamant about waiting until you graduated.”

“I’m still unavailable, but Mario in a body bag is up for grabs.”

“Why the sudden rush?”

“He slept with my woman. I’ll even throw her in the mix, so you coming or not?” I hung up the phone before he could respond or have the chance to question me further. Mario’s history with sleeping with married women provided the perfect cover. A man like Arthur was always suspicious, and it was suspicion that made me sure he would fall into my trap. If he thought he was being set up, he would want to deal with it. His status afforded him the confidence he couldn’t be defeated.

I checked all the doors of the gym, ensuring there was only one way in or out. The last thing I needed was the wrong person walking in at the wrong time.

A quick text from Quentin and Dash let me know they were each in position, and it was clear for me to make the last call.

I waited for the line to connect.

“The school gymnasium. Now.” Dressed in my basketball gear with my gun strapped to my thigh, I had about twenty minutes to work up a sweat, I grabbed the ball I had brought with me and played harder than I ever had before.

When the door behind me opened, I continued to play, seemingly unfazed by the intrusion. After all… I was only here to practice.

“Hey, kid. This is hardly the time for recreational fun. Where’s the body?” I turned to face Mario, who stood confused with two men behind him.

“Is this all the men you brought?”

“I have one more waiting guard outside.”

“Can I trust you?”

He let out a nervous chuckle and subtly looked around. “What’s with the questions?”

“I need to know if I made a mistake trusting you.” I knew he picked up on my meaning when he straightened and flexed his jaw muscles.

“Are you challenging me, kid?” The two men behind him went on alert.

“I’m asking a friend a question.”

“Why the sudden doubt?”

“The last time I trusted you, two people ended up dead, and I was being blamed for it. You’ve yet to give me an answer.”

His face reddened with anger. “He framed you, and the girl was a whore in the making, so does it really matter? You can trust me!”

“Like you trusted me?

“What are you talking about?”

“You killed Trevor Reynolds and Anya Risdell because you were afraid I rolled on you when I disappeared after my brother was shot—so you killed them to frame me, isn’t that right?”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Your daughter didn’t seem to think so.”

“The worthless bitch is only good for one thing and thinking isn’t one of them.” Anger flared to rage hearing him talk of his daughter that way. It confirmed everything I needed to know.

“I want you to leave Six Forks and never return. You can catch Arthur on your own.” I turned to leave, putting the icing on the cake.

“Fine!” he roared at my back. “I killed them. You should be grateful. I did you a favor.”

“Having me set up for murder was a favor?”

“You should blame that girl. She turned you in, didn’t she? They never would have implicated you if it weren’t for her. You should have killed her a long time ago!”

I remained silent, grappling with the need to kill him here and now. Keeping a cool head would keep her safe. It would end all of this.

“When? Long before she turned me in?”

“It would have saved a lot of time.”

“I can see the fear in your eyes, Mario. Why do you want her dead?” I spent so much time learning what fear was to avoid it that I recognized it no matter how well it was hidden or covered.

Anger. Bravery. Indifference. None of them compared to the potency of fear.

“She’s bad news.”

“You don’t even know her. You’ve never even met her.”

“I know you let what’s between her thighs make you forget who you are.”

“If that’s true, why is there fear in your eyes?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, son. You’re a teenager. I’m a man.”

“So what about another man?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“If I were, would you kill me? Isn’t that what happened to your partner?”

“What partner?”

“Thomas Monroe. The real reason you want his daughter dead.”

The reason why I was given a second chance. I realized at some point while I held Monroe and wished upon wish I could take her pain away, that it was her parents who saved me. I had thanked them by hurting their daughter for ten years.

“Who told you about him?”

“It seems that Arthur isn’t the only one after you.”

“You little shit. After everything I’ve done for you?” He signaled to his men and they pointed their weapons. “I should have just killed you or let you die in the streets.”

He watched me. Waiting for me to cower and beg. When I only offered him a smile, his eyes blazed with unrepressed rage. “Kill him.”

“You haven’t changed.” The door to the gymnasium slammed shut as five men, including Arthur, walked in. Mario and his men swung around, but his guards were quickly gunned down by Arthur’s men, leaving only Mario. One of the men shot Mario in the arm where he held the gun.

“Ahhhh!” Mario screamed. When he recognized who had intruded on our meeting, his face paled from more than just pain. “Arthur.”

“Mario… it’s been a long time.”

“Big fucking mistake showing your face,” he threatened even as he clutched his arm. Blood gushed from the wound.

“I believe I was invited.” Arthur smiled and looked past Mario. “I have to say, Keiran, your work is a little sloppy, but with a little training, you’ll be one of my best. Good job.”

Mario looked back at me with accusation in his eyes. “You set me up!”

“You should thank me. I did you a favor.” I threw his words from earlier back in his face with a smirk.

“Speaking of favors… you held up your end, so I’ll hold up mine. Mario’s blood type is O negative. Kill him and his lungs are yours. I have a surgeon waiting on standby as we speak.

Shit. This was not part of the plan. I was planning for at least one death today, but it couldn’t be by my hands. If I refused, Arthur would become suspicious. I wracked my brain until I found the best excuse.

“We don’t know if it’s compatible. Keenan’s body could reject the lungs.”

“I don’t give a shit about your brother. I only said I would get you a lung. Take it or leave it.” There was no way in hell I was putting a piece of this scumbag inside my brother and using his lungs only for them to fail and kill him anyway.

Fuck pretending.

“I am not going to help kill my brother.”

Arthur’s expression became clouded as we stared each other down.

“Maybe with the proper motivation, you’ll see things my way.” He turned to one of his men and said, “Bring her in.”