by Lannah Smith
Rohan gave him a glare before he returned his gaze to his work. "That's it. After I'm through with this shit I'm sending your browser history to your grandmother."
Skull laughed nervously. "Do you want something to drink? Or a massage?"
"Fuck, off. You're distracting me."
"A drink, then," Skull announced as he rose to his feet. "I'll get you a—"
"I'm in!" Rohan suddenly shouted, pumping a fist in the air. "I'm finally in!"
"Seriously?" John asked, rushing towards him.
Rohan grinned and pointed at the screen. Ward's contacts, drop-off schedules, payment invoices and other lists were on it. With a grin on his face, John messed Rohan's hair and Rohan, in good spirits, let him without a voice of complaint.
"We got him, guys," Skull crowed. "We fucking got him."
And John's grin grew.
It would be later, when Rohan finished hacking and copying everything from Ward's files to his laptop that John would realize something.
This might be good news, finally having something to impede Ward in his operations and eventually getting him soon, but John would bet a thousand bucks that Leon wouldn't be completely thrilled at this shit.
Chapter 14
I walked in the Student Representative Committee office to see Kirsten and Carol in deep conversation. Kirsten was the senior year rep while Carol was the freshman year rep. Looking around, I didn't see Jack who was the junior year rep. He must be loafing off again.
Slipping my bag off my shoulders, I sat on my chair and picked up bits and pieces of the two girls conversation dimly.
"...isn't here yet?' I heard Carol ask quietly.
"No," Kirsten muttered. "I'm worried. He never missed class before. And why today of all days when we have a presentation in class together after lunch?"
"Did you call him?"
"A dozen of times."
There was a pile of folders on my desk and I frowned. I pulled it to me and my frown deepened. Jack was pushing his work on me again. Gritting my teeth, I rose to my feet and gathered the folders into my arms.
That newly-elected lazy moron had another thing coming if he thought he could make me do all his work.
Kirsten's eyes went to me as I passed them. I gave her a tiny nod. We never did get along. The orange-head liked to do things her way, being the senior, so there were times when we clashed together. But we still treat each other civilly if we could.
"Did you see him anywhere, Terry?" she asked me.
I paused and tilted my head to the side. "Who?"
"Pete Ward."
The name registered and the folders slipped out of my suddenly weak arms.
Carol giggled and went down on her heels to pick them up. "Clumsy Terry."
"Pete Ward isn't here in school?" I directed the question to Kirsten.
She shook her head. "Nobody's seen him since yesterday."
This sent a chill up my spine.
"There." Carol handed me the folders and with a thoughtful expression on her face, she asked, "Are those Jack's? He's really something, isn't he? He actually tried to make me do his budget reports yesterday."
Kirsten narrowed her eyes. "You didn't, did you?"
"Terry told me not to so I didn't."
"Tell me when you see Jack," Kirsten said in an annoyed voice. "Because I'll scold the crap out of him."
Carol laughed. "I bet he's sleeping somewhere again."
"How do you know Ward, Carol?" I interrupted.
She gave me a wide, excited smile. "He invited me to his friend's party. I was surprised he knew me since we never talked before."
That chill slid around to cover my entire torso and locked in.
"When's this party supposed to be?" I said, trying to calm my hammering heart.
"This Saturday," she answered.
I stared at her.
Blue eyes and short, curly blonde hair.
He wasn't... He couldn't possibly be after Carol too, was he?
I swung my head around and pressed my lips together. I moved to Jack's desk and put the folders on top. My mind was racing, my stomach curled sickeningly and the chill in my torso started clawing at my chest.
Kirsten spoke, "By chance, do you know where he is, Terry?"
"No," I told the desk.
It wasn't exactly a lie.
I didn't know where he was. But I knew who he was with right now.
I also knew the party wasn't happening.
And I knew we would never see him ever again.
Sophia's face was still in John's mind as he followed Leon into the warehouse.
He was sorry he had to interrupt their lunch, but not as sorry as he would be when she'd have to go. But that would only happen if he didn't manage to persuade Leon to keep her.
Then his eyes landed on the bastard tied up on the ground.
Pete Ward was on his knees, his hands tied behind his back, a bruise below his left eye. His expression was one of severe boredom, like this situation happened to him everyday. John had no idea of the thoughts racing through his hand. He looked very calm, almost serene, yet John knew his manner would soon change.
"Why is he on the ground?" Leon asked in a curious tone that made John's gaze snap to him in confusion.
"So he could be closer to hell where he belongs?" Skull answered, confused like he was.
Leon frowned and beckoned to the nearest person to him. "Get him a chair. It's not polite to let our guest sit on the floor."
John's confusion grew and he stared at his best friend. Leon was a very edgy guy and he was surprised he hadn't thrown a punch at Ward's stupid face by now. Instead, he was acting cordial, like Ward was a guest, like this wasn't the warehouse they were in but his home. Hell, Leon didn't even treat them like this.
"Okay, what the hell is all this pleasant fuckery?" Skull whispered to John.
John shrugged.
"Where's Rohan?" he asked.
"In the car. He wasn't happy to be left out. But it was Leon's decision."
"So," Leon began as they had taken both their seats on the chairs the guys provided for them, "How are you doing?"
"Could have been better, actually," Ward answered in a polite tone and John found why people were easily captivated by him. It was hard to describe but, put simply, the bastard was magnetic. "Your boys were a little rough on me."
"Sorry about that," Leon replied. "I guess when they saw you they let their personal feelings take over."
"What personal feelings?"
"Disgust, mostly."
Ward cocked his head to the side. "How about you?" he whispered, a weird light John did not like burning in his eyes.
"Oh, my feelings are not important," Leon said, waving dismissively.
John almost snorted.
Not important, his ass.
Didn't he blow up when he got that call from Sophia? Didn't he return home with fury pounding in his veins?
The moron didn't even sleep that night. He was in his basement gym, slamming alternating fists into the sand bag until dawn broke.
"So this is where you take them," Ward muttered, his eyes scanning.
John wanted to say something but at that moment, he caught the killing look Leon was giving Ward when Ward wasn't looking. John clenched his jaw at the sight.
"Then you know why you're here," Leon muttered, smoothing his expression when Ward focused on him again.
"I have an idea. But I thought you were the bad guy."
Leon shrugged. "I'm not a good person, either."
Ward let out a sigh. "Me too."
"Can we kick his ass now?" Skull mumbled. "Please?"
Skull was obviously getting antsy. He wasn't the only one. The guys in the warehouse were tense too. John wasn't, however. He trusted Leon knew what he was doing. But that didn't mean he liked it.
"Leon?" John prompted.
Leon held up a hand. "Patience, John," he said, looking over his shoulder.
"Yeah," Ward agreed with a nod. "Patien
ce, guys."
John didn't know whether to laugh or get pissed.
He hadn't slept well either since Sophia got that call from Ward. None of them did. He was busy planning and making sure none of them would fuck up, Rohan was busy hacking and Skull did all the legwork. Through the data Rohan acquired, Skull, with Alec's help, was going to lure Ward into a trap by pretending to be buyers.
John glanced at Skull. He had visible signs of a scuffle. Ward must have resisted before he surrendered to them. It hadn't been easy, getting him, even with all the data. Ward rarely went out on the field. They'd previously sent him a message, asking for a meet-up, still pretending to be buyers but even with Rohan's ingenious cover-up, Ward wasn't fooled. The sick bastard had a code. Without the code, they wouldn't have gotten him.
Without Rohan's hacking skills, they'd never will.
"Why were you supplying drugs?" Leon suddenly asked and instantly, the air inside the warehouse grew wired.
It was Ward's turn to shrug. "I needed the money."
"What for? You're not destitute. You have a trust fund."
"Ah, you did your homework then?" Ward replied with a smirk. "But I can't touch it until I turn 25. And well, you know my mother. She likes to live large. So Dad's death pension could never cover both our expenses—."
"Like you said, we did our homework," Leon interrupted. "So stop the bullshit, Ward. And how does your mother live large when she's never left your house?"
Ward stared at him.
Then he began to laugh.
Leon didn't laugh with him. "You got your mother, your own mother into drugs," he bluntly stated.
That's when Pete Ward's magnetic, serene aura cracked. His body jerked and his face went red.
"She was annoying me," Ward hissed. "Always in my case. So I got her off my back."
John watched Leon's hands curl into fists so tight, the skin over his knuckles were white. This wasn't a good sign.
"Then why?" John growled and Ward's gaze sliced to him. "Why the drugs?"
Ward's body tensed at his question and his eyes skittered to the side. "It was never about the money," he admitted. "It was power."
"Power?"
Ward grinned. "It's amazing really, what drugs could do to these rich assholes. The same people who threw money at my face just because I wasn't well-off like them, because I wasn't a rich heir or a son of conglomerate." His eyes became thoughtful. "They're still throwing money at me, though. But for a completely different reason. They're letting me ruin their lives, letting me do whatever I want to them because they needed me now. They needed me."
John heard that he was bullied back in grade school. But he wasn't when he reached middle school and they all knew why. He'd already started his operations. Still, being bullied wasn't a good reason to destroy other people's lives like this.
"They won't need you anymore, Ward," Leon said. "Because you're leaving school. In fact, you're leaving the city."
Ward groaned. "You're hurting me, Gage. I've just began expanding, you know."
Expand to what? Date-rape drugs?
"He's fucking insane," Skull muttered lethally and John quietly agreed.
Leon gave Ward a tight smile. "I'm not even sorry. So tell me," he leaned into him, elbows on the knees, hands clasped together. "Who are the others with you in your operation?"
"You mean you didn't know?" Ward asked, raising a brow up.
"You know they were coded."
Ward stared at him for awhile. "Fine," he acquiesced. "If I'm going down, might as well bring them with me. After all," he grinned challengingly at Leon, "what can a bunch of teenagers with a jacked sense of justice do against them?"
John wanted to tell him he forgot the words fucking rich and powerful before teenagers but he kept his silence. Leon nodded at Alec and Alec gave him the printed copies of Ward's files. One after one, Ward put a name to each code name and Alec recorded them into his phone.
At one point, Leon looked surprised when he heard a familiar name. He and John exchanged looks and they knew what each other was thinking.
This was bigger than they had anticipated.
And they weren't going to be able to do this alone.
The interrogation went on. Ward was actually cooperating. But what surprised John was the control Leon put up. It was strong and he actually admired him for it. Because the effort to hold back was clearly costing Leon so much yet he didn't let himself run amok.
Then Pete Ward blew it to smithereens.
"Well," Ward started and Leon, who was whispering something to Alec, focused on him again. "I guess this means I can't have Sophia anymore."
Now the air in the warehouse went thick and hostile.
"We should have been on the same side, Gage. We are so alike, you know. We both lost a parent."
"He is nothing like you, you sick bastard," Skull interjected angrily.
But Ward acted like he didn't hear him, "We even like the same girl."
Leon's eyes flared and he was anything but controlled anymore. He looked about ready to blow. Quickly, John put a hand on Leon's shoulder, muttering, "Let Skull take care of him. We got what we want."
"Yes," Skull agreed, cracking his knuckles. "I'll take care of him real good."
"I was going to take good care of Sophia too," Ward said, vehemence in his tone. "If you hadn't interfered."
John leaned into him and snarled, "Seriously, shut your fucking mouth, Ward."
"Why should I?" he snapped, his face now distorted in rage. "You're taking everything from me. Everything I worked so hard for. Even Sophia-"
He didn't finish. Quick as flash, Leon pulled back an arm and let it fly. When he connected, the blood splattered to the ground from Ward's nose.
"You don't say her name with your filthy mouth," Leon muttered in a low, rumbling, pissed off voice.
Ward spat out a mouthful of blood and laughed. "I was going to kiss her with this filthy mouth."
A change came over Leon. A change that was terrifying to witness.
His body rigid, his face filled with fury, Leon landed another blow on him, this time to his kidneys, and Ward's painful grunt filled the room. But the pain did not stop him from continuing to shoot his mouth off.
"She was going to be my prize, my prize for all my hard work. I was going to treat her like a queen. She's mine. Mine. I saw her first. I helped her get to her class on her first day. She smiled at me and that innocent smile... Fuck!"
"You jerked yourself off to her voice," Skull barked. "Is that how you're going to treat her like a queen?"
Ward laughed, his head shaking. John braced at the crazed look in the bastard's eyes.
He was really fucking insane.
"But she forgot me. Me, of all people." Ward's gaze locked on Leon's and he went on with a tone laced with so much hatred, "Then you took her from me."
It was the wrong thing to say.
Ward knew it.
He knew it.
Everyone else in the room knew it.
Leon's arm flashed out and he caught the side of Ward's mouth with his fist. When Ward's head swung back Leon delivered a flurry of blows to his face.
"You don't know how long I waited to get you," Leon said deadly soft, stepping back to survey the damage he caused. "You don't know how hard I tried to keep my head cool because I may not stop from killing you."
"There's the Leon Gage everyone knows," Ward whispered, his mouth dripping blood. "You know I'll get you for this right?"
With a vicious pull, Leon jerked him to him with his fingers wrapped around his throat.
"Motherfucker, bring it on," he whispered.
John's blood turned into ice when he saw the murderous intent on Leon's face as he finally unleashed hell on Ward. He wanted to stop him but he knew that if he did, Leon would never forgive him. So he stood there, hands clenched, and waited for Leon to finish letting it all out on Ward.
He watched Leon drive a series of blows into Ward's face. Ward was bleeding profus
ely from his nose, several cuts in his lips and his entire face was swelling. Leon was localizing the damage and it looked like it hurt like a bitch.
Suddenly, Ward heaved up and drove his shoulder at Leon. But John caught him with a powerful punch to his face. Ward staggered back and John didn't waste time following through with another punch.