by JJ Knight
What I don’t tell Mike and Josh is that I want out there to look for Chloe more than I want to look for The General. But he’s a good enough excuse.
I really don’t expect to be recognized by almost everyone I pass. All the spectators turn to me, slapping my shoulders and wishing me luck against Face Wrecker. It’s a little unreal.
It’s not easy to make my way through the crowd, getting stopped every three steps. But I cut a swath through it, looking for a familiar blond head.
I don’t spot it. Maybe she really isn’t here. I resist the urge to text her and ask. There’s an unspoken rule between us that we will not talk of this.
But I can’t help but feel that she would somehow try to warn me that she’s going to get us arrested. I can’t imagine she really wants to see me in jail again. But I don’t know. I sense that her feelings about fighting run way deeper than just her job. That part of Chloe is unknowable to me right now.
I manage to make it to the betting tables, and I spot the oversized man in all black. His squinty eyes survey the people putting down money on the fight.
When I approach, he gives me a curt nod. “Reckless,” he says. “Fair amount of green being put down on your name tonight.”
“Glad I could be of service,” I say. “I hear you have me slated for the end.”
“That’s the perk of being the top dog at the table.”
“So what sort of precautions have you taken to avoid another bust like two weeks ago?” I ask. “Being at the end of the agenda means you’re the most likely to end up in handcuffs.”
“I’ve hired five new guys to watch the crowd. Real pros. If someone so much as breathes on their cell phone, I will know.”
“They could have called it in a week ago,” I say. “God and everybody knows where you moved to.”
His squinty eyes fix on me. He’s not used to being challenged.
“If you don’t like the way I run my business, you can take your fists elsewhere.”
“That doesn’t seem to be very good for business,” I say. “Given that there’s so much green on me.”
His face doesn’t move, and he becomes so still that he could be a big rock sitting amongst all the people placing bets.
One of the girls closest to us glances our way nervously, but continues to accept money and type the names and denominations into her iPad. This part of the operation is pretty slick.
“So what’s your play?” The General asks.
“Move up my fight. I want to take on Face Wrecker four fights from now.”
“Is he even here?” The General asks. “He might not show up for hours.”
“I’ll make sure he’s here,” I say. “You just agree to move up my fight.”
The General sits back in his chair, his hands folded across his ample belly. “This is interesting. One would almost think that maybe you have some inside information about the busts,” he says.
The man is sharp. “Let’s just say, I’ve got family who won’t appreciate having to bail me out twice in one month. They have a reputation to uphold.”
The General chortles. “I’m familiar with your lineage. Why do you think you’re such a hot commodity? You tell Gunner and Power Play they’re welcome to stop by anytime.”
“Then you know what I’m talking about,” I say. “And I seriously would not irritate The Cure if I were you.”
He sniffs and casts his eyes down for a moment. Even someone like The General knows that The Cure is not a man to anger.
“Four fights from now,” he says. “I’ll have my men contact Face Wrecker.”
I give him a slight nod and turn away.
And that’s when I see her.
Chloe.
I have a feeling four fights isn’t going to be enough.
Chapter 21: Chloe
When I see Hudson again, I have to catch my breath. He’s so tall and strong and perfect.
Our eyes meet, and disappointment crosses his face. No, Hudson would never win a poker game.
There doesn’t seem to be anything to do but to walk up to him.
“Hey.”
He glances around and takes my arm. “You can’t talk anywhere around any of these people,” he says.
“I know. I’m not stupid.”
He leads me to the opposite back corner, away from the betting tables. It’s where the bathrooms should be, but aren’t.
He leans down close. “Have you called the cops yet?” he asks.
“No.” My heart falls. This is all he cares about. His precious fights.
“Soon?”
I cross my arms and refuse to answer. I don’t owe him that. My being here is warning enough for him.
“I’m supposed to rematch with Face Wrecker. He’s been talking smack about me for two weeks. It’s not good for my career.”
This gets to me. “Poor little fighter. Your pride is more important than the safety of hundreds of people.”
His jaw gets tight. This is why we couldn’t talk about these things when we were together. It’s poison.
“I asked them to move up my fight from the end to four fights away.” He stares into my eyes, and the softness of his expression brings my anger down a notch. “All I’m asking is if I should bother to hang around or if my fight will even happen.”
“I haven’t called it in yet,” I say. “They’re watching me, and I don’t know if I have the evidence I need.”
He releases my arm.
“This fight is important to me,” he says. “I would appreciate it if you would let me have it before you end the night.”
“My convictions are important to me,” I shoot back. “And I would appreciate it if you would stop being an asshole who bashes people’s faces in. If you get arrested, then you deserve it for doing something illegal.”
“Who’s doing something illegal?” a voice asks.
I whip around. It’s Fade, one of the three guys who got me in the first fight.
“This is our conversation, not yours,” Hudson says.
They do not let it go. “What do you know about people getting arrested?” Fade asks. He turns to his friends. “What do you think, boys? You think we have our snitch right here?”
My heart hammers. I have to play this cool. “I’m no snitch,” I say.
They ignore me.
“She lied about her name,” Fade says. “Charlotte.”
His friend stares me down. “Or should we call you Chloe?”
My fear rises but I push it down. Working at Action for Action means you have to be able to handle the heat. “Why would you care about my name?”
“You had a SpeedRide sticker on your car,” Fade says. He gestures to the guy who sat in front with me on the ride after getting out of jail. “Arthur here thinks he’s in love, so he did some digging to figure out who you were. And it turns out, there aren’t many yellow Bugs in the SpeedRide fleet. And the one that exists belongs to Chloe S.”
“We don’t use real names on that app,” I say, even though it’s a lie. “That would be stupid.”
The boys look at each other, seeming less certain now.
“She sure was asking a lot of questions,” Arthur says. “I don’t buy it.”
Fade scratches his head. “We let her in here. If it’s her, we’re in a hell of a mess with Mama Bertie and The General.”
“Not if we’re the ones who bust her,” Arthur says.
Hudson steps forward, closing down the distance between them. “Don’t worry about her,” he says. “She’s my girlfriend.”
“Funny you would mention that,” Fade says. “Because your girl here said she didn’t have a boyfriend. She was all cozied up to us to help her get into the fight.”
Hudson looks at me like he doesn’t know me at all. “Is this true?”
I don’t know what to say. This is all happening too fast. It was a simple job. Get in. Prove that there was a fight. And get out.
Now I’m in over my head.
“She’s a two-bit lia
r,” Fade says. “I smell a rat.” He turns and gestures to one of the men wearing the black shirts.
“Found our snitch,” Fade says.
He grabs me by the arms. The one who caught me with my phone arrives instantly and takes the other.
“This is your girl,” Fade says. “Check her phone. I bet she’s got footage on it.”
“Let go of her,” Hudson says. “Nobody’s doing anything to her.”
“Oh, yes, we are,” Fade says. “What we’ve got here is a Grade-A snitch.” He leans in close to me. “I hope you liked your face before, because somebody’s going to wreck it.” He laughs and punches Arthur. “Get it?”
“Shouldn’t have lied to me,” Arthur says. “It was true love.”
The men try to drag me away, but Hudson steps in their way.
“I said, let go of her.”
I fight and kick, trying to break free, but their hands are like a vise.
“Last warning,” Hudson says.
I go still, panic threatening to take me over. What is he going to do? These are huge, strong men! They’ll kill him!
When one of them tries to take another step forward, Hudson lets the first punch fly.
~*´`*~
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