NOW THAT OWEN is gone and I’m with Grace, I burst into full-blown tears. She keeps asking me to tell her exactly what happened, but I can’t stop crying long enough to get out more than a few words.
The Twins are at football practice and Hawk is consulting with a client in Nashville, so we go back to my uncle’s house.
Once we’re in my room, I finally calm down enough to talk to her.
Grace hands me the box of tissues on the desk.
“Thanks for coming over. You’re a really good friend.”
Grace shrugs a little. “I know. But it’s easy to be a good friend when you only have one.”
I switch from ugly crying to ugly nose blowing, until I use up all the tissues. “I’m not your only friend.”
“Christian and Cameron don’t count. Guys and girls can’t be friends, remember?”
I force a tiny smile, and it makes my face hurt.
“Want to tell me what happened?” she asks.
“Owen is meeting Reed tonight. I told him what underground fights are like, but he wouldn’t listen. I literally begged him not to go.”
“What did he say?”
“That he couldn’t let Reed get away with hurting me. I told Owen that if he actually cared about me, he wouldn’t go. But nothing I said made a difference.” I’m not giving her the whole story.
“I know how he feels. Both times I’ve seen Reed, I wanted to punch him in the face. It’s hard to know that someone hurt my friend, and Owen thinks of you as a lot more than that.”
As much as I don’t want to betray Owen, I have to tell someone about his heart and the real risk he’s taking. Because I have no clue what to do next.
“Owen shared something with me in confidence, and normally I would never repeat it. But if he’s planning to meet Reed tonight, that changes everything. If I tell you, it will stay between us right?”
“Of course. I swear.”
I take a deep breath. “Owen has a heart condition.”
“Like high blood pressure?”
“No. It’s a genetic defect called Brugada syndrome. The type Owen has is super rare. It affects his heartbeat.” My voice cracks. “His heart could just stop beating.”
Grace gasps. “How do they restart it? CPR? Or does someone have to jab him in the chest with a giant needle full of adrenaline, like in the movies?”
A tear runs down my cheek.
“Those aren’t options for Owen. The only way to restart his heart is with a defibrillator. And there’s no guarantee it will work. But if his heart does stop, unless he’s near a hospital or somebody just happens to have a defibrillator in the trunk of their car, he’ll die.” The last word catches in my throat.
“I had no idea. He’s such an amazing athlete. Are people with heart defects supposed to compete in MMA?”
“Owen shouldn’t be involved in any contact sports, but he doesn’t care. He’s convinced that he’s going to die, so it doesn’t matter. It’s like he’s given up.” I wipe my face and blow my nose. My phone rings. “I don’t want to talk to him.”
Grace checks the number. “It’s not Owen. It’s Tess.”
“That’s Reed trying to be stealth.” I can’t believe he’s calling me after everything he did.
I take my phone from Grace. “Stop calling me, stop texting me, and leave me the hell alone,” I say before he has a chance to get a word in.
Someone sniffles on the other end of the line. “Peyton? It’s Tess.” Her voice sounds so small and far away.
“Tess? Is that you? Are you okay?”
She chokes back a sob. “No.”
“Where are you?”
“At a motel.” She takes a shaky breath. “I know you were telling the truth about Reed.”
“You do? Did he admit it?”
“He didn’t have to.” She coughs, half crying.
“Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”
“We’re staying at the Howard Johnson in Bay Creek. Is that too far?”
I check the GPS on my phone. “Bay Creek is about twenty minutes from here.”
“I don’t want you to come here, in case he comes back. There’s a Circle K up the street. Want to pick me up there?” she asks.
“Wherever you want.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”
I slip on Dad’s jacket. “I’m leaving in a minute.”
Tess is quiet for a moment. “I should’ve believed you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She hangs up, and I stare at the phone, stunned.
“What happened?” Grace asks.
“I don’t know. Tess asked if I could come pick her up. She knows I was telling the truth about Reed. Maybe she caught him using. I don’t think he’d admit it.”
“After meeting him, I agree.”
An awful feeling builds inside me. There was something about Tess’ voice that sounded off.
* * *
“There she is,” I tell Grace as she pulls into the Circle K parking lot. Tess is huddled against the wall, her blond hair peeking out from beneath an oversize hoodie. It’s not her look. It’s sloppy and so not Tess.
Grace parks, and I get out. “I’ll wait here,” she says.
The moment I step under the streetlight I know something is wrong.
“Thanks for coming to get me,” Tess says. She’s staring at the ground, her hands in the front pocket of the giant hoodie.
“What happened?” I ask her. “How did you figure out I was telling the truth?”
Tess slowly raises her head and pulls down the hood. One side of her face is black and blue from the top of her cheekbone to the bottom of her jaw. I’ve had enough bruises to know those aren’t fresh. But the cut on her swollen lip is.
“Reed did that?” I almost can’t believe it. It was one thing to hurt me, but I never thought he would hurt Tess.
“Yeah. He’s done it a few times. Just not like this. He’s really bad now, Peyton. He’s taking all kinds of stuff.”
“What set him off?”
“I found some of his pills. It’s his new thing. I said something. I must have picked the wrong day of his cycle—who knows? This is what he’s like now. But that’s not why I called.”
That’s not why she called? Has she seen her face?
“Come on, get in the car.” I don’t want to run the risk of Reed seeing her.
Tess gets in the back seat. “Hi,” she says to Grace. “Thanks for picking me up.”
Grace’s eyes go wide when she sees Tess’ face, and Tess pulls up her hood again. “Are you okay?” Grace asks her.
“No. But I’m not worried about me. Reed is going to hurt your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. But—”
“Reed is going to hurt him. I heard him talking to TJ and Billy about it.”
“Are those losers doping, too?”
“TJ is for sure. I don’t know about Billy. I hate them both. Reed is so pissed off about that guy Owen. He’s so paranoid now. He’s convinced that Owen is the reason you won’t get back together with him. You can’t let Owen go tonight.”
“Yeah, well, that ship has sailed.”
“No, Peyton, I’m serious. Reed is going to fight dirty. And if Owen doesn’t lose, and lose bad, Reed, TJ, and Billy are going to jump him when he leaves the fight.”
My heart plummets. Owen might be able to beat Reed, but he can’t take all three of them. Not after a fight, with a heart condition he ignores.
“Call Owen and tell him not to show up. The last few underground fights Reed has been in…” She takes a deep breath. “One of the guys ended up in the hospital. I heard another guy is all scarred up. Reed dipped his wraps.”
“What?”
“Reed told me stories about guys dipping their hand wraps in crushed glass.”
“Stop.” My stomach threatens to turn inside out. “Oh god. We have to tell Owen.”
I call his cell, and it goes straight to voice mail. Then I text him.
Nothing.
“What are we gonna do? We can’t just show up at the fight,” Grace says. “We can’t stop Reed and his jacked-up friends ourselves.” She’s right.
There’s only one way to save Owen.
It will destroy his future as a fighter, but it will save his life.
“I have to call the cops and report the fight.”
“Tell them there’s gambling,” Grace says. “This is a small town. If you mention gambling, they’ll check it out.”
I look back at Tess. “If I call, you know what’s going to happen.”
“I know.”
“What’s gonna happen?” Grace asks. “Fill me in.”
“If Owen and Reed get arrested at an underground fight, they’ll both be kicked out of the league. They won’t be able to fight anymore. I mean, not on a competitive circuit.” I look at Tess when I say, “And that means no prize money.”
Tess nods. “Someone has to stop him.”
Owen’s future as a competitive fighter will be over. Even though part of me feels like I’m saving him because he shouldn’t be fighting anyway, that’s his decision. But knowing Reed is trying to hurt him and could possibly kill him? I can’t ignore that.
“I’ll call the police. Keep calling Owen’s cell, Grace.”
We’re fifteen or twenty minutes from the mill. The fight is supposed to start in five minutes. It could be over before we even get there. I can’t waste any more time. I dial the number.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”