by T M Kelly
“Malik,” Lincoln yelled from the other room. “I need you in here.”
I ran into the room. “Did you find her?”
“Not yet.” He held up a cellphone. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” I grabbed the phone. “Yeah, this is Malik.”
“So many acres and not enough time,” a male voice said.
“Who is this?”
“You don’t have much time.” The guy laughed. “You really want to spend this precious time getting to know each other?”
“Ray?”
“She’s waiting for you.”
“Wait—” Ray hung up before I could ask him anything.
“Fuck.” Julian ran into the living room. “I’m here.”
“You may need to do another background check on all your employees,” I said and started to pace the small space.
“Background check.” Julian glanced toward Lincoln. “You missed this on the surveillance cameras?”
“The video feed I had was normal,” Lincoln said.
“Normal? Nothing about this is normal. You missed when the video changed over,” Julian huffed.
“What does that mean?” Lincoln stepped closer to Julian. “Are you trying to imply something?”
“Yeah, you’re a skilled agent. You should be able to notice when the live video has been tampered with.” Julian puffed out his chest and stood his ground.
“You can do this bullshit later in the octagon. Right now, Jenny needs us to find her.” I turned to Julian. “How many acres does this property sit on?”
“Forty. There are more surrounding my land, though.”
I rubbed my hand over my eyes. Thinking she was dead already was not going to help us. I needed to get my fight face on and find her. “Let’s get some flashlights and start the search.”
Julian touched my shoulder. “I’ll get help from the gym. We need more eyes.”
“Thank you.” I made my way to the back door. “We don’t have much time. From what Ray just said, she needs us now.”
“On it,” Julian said and quickly left.
“How should we split up?” I looked over at Lincoln. “If one of the guards is working for the other side, we can’t ask them for help.”
“It’s us three until Julian is able to bring backup.” Kac walked around me and stepped outside. “Link, grab all the flashlights you have. I’ll grab the two I have.”
“I should have batteries somewhere in here.” I turned to go search the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Sparty stepped into the kitchen and let out a small meow. Just the sight of him brought me to my knees. If anything happened to Jenny. I shook my head at the thought. “I’ll find her. I have to.” I bent and scratched behind his ears.
“Jenny,” I yelled and stepped around a large tree limb lying on the ground. It was pitch dark out. I worried we wouldn’t find her in time. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“Malik, wait up,” Charlie yelled from behind me.
“I thought we needed to split up. We can scope more ground that way.”
“Yeah, well, you’re stuck with me no matter what.” Charlie started to walk forward. “You coming?”
Julian’s property was mostly woods. The two houses and the grounds only took up about five acres. “Everyone from Fight It Out showed up to help?”
“Yup, they all just arrived.”
There was a clearing about eight yards ahead. I wondered if Ray would put her in a hidden space or make it easy for us to find her. As I approached the open area, I looked for any sign of Jenny. If she was in the shower when Ray appeared, she most likely didn’t have clothes on. Which also meant she would be injured and cold.
It was Vegas—temperatures usually only fell to about thirty degrees at night in the Winter time. Since it was not winter yet, she was not at risk of hypothermia thankfully.
Charlie was walking the perimeter of the clearing.
“Any sign of her?”
“None.” She stopped and turned in a full circle. “Where could the fucker have taken her? Did he give you any clue?”
“All he said was so many acres and not a lot of time.”
“Yeah, that’s not much to go on.”
I squatted down and rested my arms on my thighs. If Jenny was alive, she would fight to survive. Unless Ray did something so awful… I shook my head of the negative thoughts. “Charlie, I don’t know—”
She bent down beside me. “Stop. We’re going to find her.” She stood and reached for my hand. “Her husband didn’t care about her in the end. We do.”
I grabbed her hand and stood. “I care about her so damn much.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Then she ran forward and flashed her light in several directions.
30
“Jenny.” I heard my name from off in the distance.
I tried to move but my body had other plans. It was hard to see where I was exactly because it was so dark out. The memories of Ray attacking me started to play over and over in my mind. When he did his version of the armbar, I gave up finally.
“Jenny.” I heard the male voice again but this time he was closer.
I lifted my upper body slightly, but the pain in my right arm stopped me in my tracks. I cried out from the pain. “I’m here.” My body fell back against the ground.
There were foot falls getting closer. “Say something, Jenny. I’m trying to find you.”
“Here,” I said and coughed. Even talking hurt.
“Jenny,” the man said and then I felt something warm draped over my body. “She’s over here.” There was a pop and whizzing sound. “I sent off a flare. They’ll be over here in no time.”
“Who…are…you?”
“Tyler,” he said and reached for my hand. “We met during self-defense class.”
“Thank…you.”
“You’re going to be okay. Just hang on, Jenny.”
Why did Ray let me live? Something didn’t feel right. What if it was a trap? “Be—”
Tyler bent down beside me. “What are you trying to say?”
“Be…care-ful.”
“I’m okay. We just need someone to come help get you out of here.”
I tried to glance around again but realized there was just no point. Tyler had a hold of my hand and I thought about Ray and how he always got what he wanted. What if it wasn’t me he wanted dead? Malik popped into my mind. Fear coursed through my veins. I couldn’t lose him now; I had just met him.
“Malik.”
“He’s on his way.”
“No.” I squeezed his hand. “Listen…to me.”
Tyler bent down. “What it is?”
“He’s—” There was a shot off in the distance. “I—think—he’s in—danger.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ray.”
Tyler stood up. “Jenny, do you think Ray’s after Malik?” I nodded. “Fuck.”
“Trap.”
I heard the beep beep as he dialed a number on his phone. “Yeah, you need to find Malik now.” I could hear the crunch of leaves beneath Tyler’s feet as he paced. “Shut up and listen to me. Malik could’ve been the target all along.” He paused. “Yeah, I’ll get her out of here now.” He squatted down beside me. “Do you think I can move you, Jenny?”
I had my doubts but at this point we had no choice. “Yes,” I ground out. “My—right—arm is out—”
“You think it’s dislocated?”
“I know.”
He didn’t hesitate. “This is going to suck. I’m so sorry.” He placed his arm underneath my body avoiding my right arm.
“No,” I said and touched his forearm. “Put it—back.”
“Jenny,” he said and knelt down beside me.
“Do it.”
“Why do I have a feeling you’ve done this before?”
“Once.”
Several months ago when Ray had thrown me up against the wall, my shoulder dislocated. I didn’t realize it was disloca
ted at the time, the doctors showed me on the x-ray. The pain was unbearable until the doctor put it back in the socket. The moment it was back in place my pain decreased immediately.
I knew this was not going to be easy, but if anyone could do it, it would be a fighter. He grabbed a hold of my arm and rested it on his thigh. Then he placed his other hand on my shoulder. “You sure about this?”
“Yes.” Before I could say another word he pulled hard, and I felt my shoulder pop back into place. I screamed so loud and then felt myself start to black out. Tyler was yelling for me, but I was unable to respond.
“She’s coming around.” I heard Tyler’s voice beside me.
“Did you?”
“Yes,” he said and touched his hand to the side of my face. “I’m sorry I made you pass out.”
“I feel—better.”
“Hey, sweetie,” Charlie said from the other side of my body. “Tyler said you’re fearless. I guess you really are the Lioness.”
I lightly laughed, which caused me to cough. “Malik.” They both glanced at each other and then back at me. “What?”
“I was with him, but something happened and we got split up.” Charlie rubbed her hand over mine. “Lincoln and Kac are on it. They’ll find him.”
I closed my eyes. Ray showed up at the house to use me as bait. I was never his target. Although, he did seem to have fun using me as a punching bag for a little while. My mind started to think of the worst possible scenarios. For some reason the Nesta Den popped into my mind. What if Ray took him there? Could he force Malik to fight until the death?
Over the last several weeks, Journey had reported back to us on the Nesta Den. The information she shared was eerie. One thing we knew: there was no such thing as playing fair when it came to underground street fighting. They didn’t have weight classes or worry about size with each fighter. Everything we found out—they loved the brutality of fighting. The bloodier the better.
“Where’s Julian?” I said and attempted to lift my head up slightly.
“Here,” he yelled and ran toward me. “Jenny.” He grabbed my hand.
I pulled him closer. “Malik. Nesta Den.” His eyes went wide. “Tell Lincoln—and—Kac.” He didn’t say another word to me. Instead Julian just turned and ran toward the main house.
“Time to take a ride in the ambulance, Jen,” Charlie said and brushed her hand down the side of my face. “Malik would be pissed if we didn’t get you looked over.” I felt a tear fall down the side of my cheek. “Sweetie, Ray won’t win. Malik won in three different weight classes. He still holds that record, too.” She used her thumb and wiped the tears away. “They’re messing with the wrong fighter, Jenny.”
“Do you want to ride with her, ma’am?” The EMT was talking to Charlie.
“Yeah, we both will.” That’s when Lily appeared on the other side of me.
“Hey.” Lily squeezed my hand. “Looks like I missed all the excitement.” She bent and kissed my cheek.
I closed my eyes. I felt tired.
“Is she okay?” Charlie said.
“Jenny, I need you to stay awake for me.” I felt the EMT patting the side of my face. “Drive fast. We need to get her to emergency stat.” The guy sounded so worried. My body felt light as if I were floating.
“Jenny.” I tried to respond but was unable to get any words out.
I couldn’t stay awake.
31
Malik
“Get up.” Someone kicked my side. “We don’t have all damn day.”
I managed to open my eyes finally. My head felt like someone threw an anvil directly on top. I lifted up onto my elbows. There was a roar from a crowd. What crowd, though? Where the fuck was I?
“I thought you said he could fight?” another guy said from behind me. “He looks like he’s already fought someone.”
“No, let him wake up.” I looked up at who was talking. It was Jenny’s husband, Ray. Where did he bring me, though? “I had to knock him out with a little chloroform. He’ll be fine.”
The memory was coming back. One-minute Charlie and I were making our way over to Tyler. Then without warning, something was wrapped around my mouth. The stuff smelled and tasted awful. I could still feel the effects of the substance. My brain felt foggy and I didn’t know if I could stand up.
“Ray,” a female voice said from just a few feet away. “Darling, why do we care about this man?” The woman bent in front of my face. “I mean, he is built. It would be a delicious fight.”
“He’s fucking my wife,” Ray yelled. Everyone in earshot started to laugh. “Why is that so funny?”
“Darling, it’s not funny. Not even a little.” I watched as she pointed to someone and then glanced down at me. The look on her face was hard to read. She showed no empathy. “Take him away. We have other fights that need to be completed tonight. This man can’t even keep his eyes open.”
“But,” Ray said and grabbed my arm. “You’ll fight him tonight, right?”
“Oh yes, and you’ll be gloved up, too,” the woman said and patted his shoulder.
“Me?”
“This is your fight. You need to finish it.”
I watched how Ray’s face went as white as a ghost. He knew what was coming. If I had time to rest up, that fucker would be mine.
Two men helped carry me off the mat and sat me down in a chair. I was trying to get my footing. As the fog slowly lifted from my mind, I took the time to scan the area. Immediately, my eyes latched onto Journey. She was watching me from the other side of the room. Then another figure caught my attention. Devon. Wait. Was that really Devon from Fight It Out? Why was he here?
From where I was sitting, I noticed a fight starting in the octagon. They fought bare knuckled and without any type of head gear or mouthpiece. I had a feeling if you went down first, your chances of survival were slim to none.
I sat there and watched as both opponents advanced on each other. It was eerie to watch. That’s what Ray and I had to do? Ray was easily forty pounds lighter than me, so I had a strong advantage against him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I heard Journey say from behind me.
“Hey, fighting bare-knuckle sounded like a fun pastime for the night.”
“Funny. What’s going on?”
I knew I couldn’t turn around. We were talking under our breaths. “Jenny was jumped by Ray. He left her in the woods. When we were looking for her, I was grabbed from behind.”
“So the finance guy is out for revenge.”
“Looks that way.”
“These fights are no joke. If you do survive the loss, you will be messed up for life.”
“We need to get out of here.” I was watching Devon as he picked up a conversation with a woman. She didn’t seem interested, though.
“Link and Kac?”
“I don’t know if anyone figured out what happened.”
“Then we’re on our own,” Journey said. “We need to act now while the fight is still going on.”
“I thought I retired from this shit.”
“Yeah, once in deep, always in deep.”
I carefully stood up and felt wobbly on my feet. “This is going to be interesting.”
“Just don’t look back at me.” I heard a chair screech like it was being pushed back. “When I say, turn toward the entrance—at three o’clock. We need to go there.”
“Meet you there,” I said.
I waited until the one fighter did a high kick against the opponent’s jaw. The crowd stood and roared. I did exactly as Journey had instructed. When I reached the entrance, I expected Ray to be waiting.
Journey waved me down the hallway. “Let’s get you out of here.” She kept her body in the shadows in case someone popped out of nowhere. We needed to ensure her cover wasn’t blown.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I knew by the voice it was Ray behind me.
“Home.”
“Not if I have a say in it.”
“You do
n’t.” I watched Journey step farther back in the shadows. “This is all bullshit fighting. Plus, do you even know how to punch a man?” I was hoping to get him riled up.
“Fuck you,” Ray said and ran toward me.
“That’s all you got? Fuck you?” I repeated and stepped my foot back and raised my arms. “Maybe I did leave too soon. I guess we should work out our differences before I leave.”
“Yeah, like fucking my wife.”
“You stopped being her husband the day you tried to kill her.”
“She should’ve respected me more.”
I was looking forward to beating the shit out of the asshole. There was a crowd of people making their way down the hallway. The woman from earlier stepped in front of everyone. “What’s this? I thought we postponed this little fight?”
“He tried to escape.”
“Leave,” I corrected.
“What?” Ray glanced over at me.
“Leave. You never indicated I was being held prisoner.”
The woman laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh, we have a comedian here, everyone.” She pointed at me. “There are three more fights scheduled. Let’s hurry this up.”
Ray looked nervous. He was glancing around and then back at the woman. “Here?”
She rolled her eyes. “Here and make sure you finish him.”
I went back into position. It had been years since I’d fought bare-knuckled. This was going to get messy. Ray started to hop back and forth on the balls of his feet. That’s when I realized it would be messy for Ray, because he obviously was in over his head.
“Come on. Let’s do this,” Ray yelled.
I wanted to leave. This fight meant nothing to me. If I had to finish this man, I would feel no mercy. All I wanted was to get my ass to the hospital and check on Jenny. If she was still alive. The thought of Jenny dead lit a fire inside my body and caused me to lunge forward and take him down. I was looming over the asshole when I saw fear in his eyes. “Why are you doing this?”