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“Fucking awesome.”
I go over the story Alina told me as I walk back out to the street and start looking around for obvious meeting spots. The little restaurants and bars in the area don’t seem ideal, so I walk a couple of blocks further down to the bus stop where Alina last saw Teto and the blond guy.
That creepy being-watched feeling crawls through my skin. I look all around me, trying to decide if the feeling is based on instinct or paranoia. If Teto and Taylor are looking for me, they are more likely to be heading for my apartment, but why get off the bus here? There is a much closer stop to my building.
They must be meeting someone else, but who? Junko? Omarie? Is Landon Stark going to suddenly appear out of the woodwork after his post-tournament disappearance?
I pull out my phone and call Bastian.
“What’s up, bro?” he says with a laugh.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I tell him. “Do you have any contact with Landon Stark?”
He’s quiet for a moment.
“Not for some time,” he finally says. “I’ve seen him once since the tournament, and it wasn’t a very pleasant encounter. As far as I know, he moved out of the country. I don’t think he even speaks with anyone in Seattle anymore.”
“Any chance he’s here in Chicago?”
“None,” Bastian says. “He cut his losses and got out of the business. Why?”
“One of his former associates is stalking me.”
“Which one?”
“Joshua Taylor.”
“Oh, yeah? I know him.”
“What do you know?”
“He used to train with me,” Bastian tells me. “If you ask me, he wasn’t all that great at it or anything, but he tried. Landon kept him around as a backup, but he didn’t like him much. Thought he was too cocky. Josh always wanted a bigger cut, but he just wasn’t worth it, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know the type.”
“He had a brother, too, but I think he got killed or something.”
“I heard that as well.” I grin to myself but don’t say anything more about it.
“If you’re thinking Landon is working with Josh Taylor, I’d say no. I didn’t like the guy.”
“Thanks a lot for the intel,” I say. “I gotta run.”
“So, you only going to call when you need fucking information?” Bastian asks.
“You’ve never called me at all.”
“Touché,” he says with a laugh.
“So, how’s the fam?”
“Ha! Nah, you don’t get off that easy. Next time we talk, it better be personal.”
“It’s always personal.”
“Later, bro.”
“Later.” I hang up and fit his information into what I already know about Taylor.
