by Sam Crescent
Affection and love were things she craved and wished for, even as a little girl. Giving birth to her daughter, it had felt like a lifeline to her. She could give her daughter everything that she, herself, was denied.
Drago.
Staring into his fierce eyes, her heart raced. He covered her hands with his and smiled. “I’m pretty unforgettable,” he said.
“I didn’t want to come back in, you have to believe that. The fighting. The bullshit. I … I wanted out. I’ve been wanting out since I was in it as a kid. This is all wrong. It shouldn’t be happening.” She felt tears close again, and she quickly pulled away. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she took a deep breath.
“Your daughter’s safe,” Drago said, drawing her attention once again.
“What?”
“She’s not with your father, but I know exactly how these assholes think. They’re not going to harm their precious collateral.”
“How do I get to her?” Belle asked. If Ava wasn’t with her grandfather, then that had to mean she could go and get her.
The look on Drago’s face let her know that going to get her daughter was not part of the plan yet.
“I know you love her and that you want her more than anything.” He stood up and paced the room. “I won’t even stop you if you head out that door this second and try to find her. Even if you succeed, you’ll be running for the rest of your life.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You failed the tenth fight, Belle. Your name was on the death list. They were going to kill you, regardless. I think it has to do with your father and that man running for office. We need to get things in the open,” Drago said.
It was all too much.
She felt a migraine coming on. Maybe it was one too many hits to the head, but all she could focus on was getting Ava back.
“I don’t want to hear this right now.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but I need you to think about it. Do you want to finally be free or to constantly be looking over your shoulder?”
She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling panic creep in. Deep down she knew what he wanted her to do, and she hated it. “It’s not our job to figure all this out. I just want Ava and to get away from it all. Can’t you see that? Don’t you get it? No, I guess you don’t. You’ve never had a kid, have you? You don’t know what it’s like to be completely filled with despair at having her torn away from you. I had her, Drago. She was in my arms, and I promised to love her for the rest of my life. To protect her. Now I don’t even know where the fuck she is!” She finished the last part nearly screaming.
Seeing the devastated look on his face, she covered her mouth and felt her emotions bubble up again. This was the second time her control had shattered in such a short time, and she hated it more than anything.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry,” she said. She’d promised herself to be better than this. He was only trying to help, and she’d cut him to shreds.
Drago caught her shoulders, holding her in place. “There’s a reason I don’t have kids. Why I don’t have a family. You think I didn’t want one? You think I didn’t crave to have a child of my own? A wife? I wanted it all. I’ve been in this fucking world for a long time, Belle. I know what they’re like. I know for a fact that there is no out for us. You think I want my son, my daughter, any of my family, anyone to go through what I did? I don’t.”
“So you think I’m selfish?”
“I think you’ve been used, Belle, in more ways than you’ll ever realize. You’ve got no idea what they’re capable of. Ava’s safe for now, but in five years he’ll be training her the same as he did with you. I’ve seen them kill kids who couldn’t take a good beating.” He shook his head. “No one cares about street kids.”
She saw the despair in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I … I think I’ve had one too many punches to the head.”
“You can go and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”
She rubbed her arms, knowing that she couldn’t do that. Taking out her father’s illegal business was a long shot. There were always so many customers who wanted to earn off the blood of young fighters. They had been nothing more than a commodity to them. Running a hand down her face, she thought about Ava.
Belle had imagined her running through fields, collecting daisies, or just being happy. Now she just saw the pain, the blood. The bruises that always coated her body after a fight. That was not the life she wanted for her.
I’ll come for you, Ava. I promise.
First, Mommy’s got to take care of something.
“I want to help,” she said. “I need to find Ava, but I also want to stop my father for good.”
“What?”
“More than anything else right now, I want my daughter. But I know the only way for her to have the kind of life I never had is to make sure my father and that seedy as fuck politician are shut down.” She saw him smile. “I take it you’ve got an idea.”
“I’ve got some ideas. You’re not going to like all of it.”
“I don’t have a doubt.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for going off on you there.”
“You’re a mother. You clearly care about your little girl. I get that.”
This did make her smile. Being a good mother was important to her. “She’s all I have. I’m not an idiot. I know my dad never loved me, and I’m not looking for sympathy or anything. I just, I love her. I want the best for her, and the only way to do that is to make things right.” She took a deep breath.
“You’re a good mom.”
She chuckled. “You haven’t even seen me with my girl.”
“You were willing to fight ten times in a row to get her back.” He shrugged. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
She took a deep breath. “Nothing in life is easy. So, what do you want to do?”
“Come on, let’s head to my office.”
She followed him down the long corridor, admiring his home once again. It had been a week since she’d been here, and no matter how often she tried not to like his place, it didn’t seem to stop her from loving it. Her apartment was nothing compared to this. For one, it didn’t have cockroaches as pets, so that was a plus. She’d lose sleep every single night worried that they were crawling all over her daughter. She’d wake up many times, just watching her, making sure she was safe and nothing was harming her.
You can do this.
Just relax.
“We know for sure that most of the fights are kept within the city and kids were always taken within a mile radius, or were purchased from men and women looking to make a quick buck,” Drago said.
There was a large map of the city spread out across his desk.
“Where did you have fights?” he asked. “If anyone knows about your father, it’ll be you.”
She glanced over the map, and started to point at different locations, recalling the traveling she did as a child. The city could take several hours to get around, and then there were some special ones out of the city.
“What is this going to achieve?”
“How do you feel about doing some detective work?” he asked.
“Whatever it takes.”
****
“So, you and the girl, it’s something?” Carlos asked.
“Why do I keep you around?” Drago looked at his best friend with a pointed look. He wanted to say Belle was like a little sister, but that would be a complete lie.
“Because I’m the one that gets all the ladies. Look at you, chiseled jawline, scars, crooked nose, sexy and buff—that’s not what the ladies are after,” Carlos said.
He adored Carlos. When they were younger, when he’d been on the verge of death or at least felt like he was, Carlos had always been there to bring him from the edge, to help him get from one day to the next.
“What are the ladies after?”
“Dad bods. Guys who keep it real.” He tensed his arm. “Look at that, it
won’t lift any chicks up, not one, but it’s really the glasses that get them going.”
Drago was trying not to burst out laughing. They were sitting in a police precinct about to talk to a cop Drago vaguely remembered from his childhood. He was an older man, late fifties, early sixties. Went by the name David Vent, and was once known on the streets as a guy people could trust. The women that worked the streets could go to him for help and they’d disappear, not dead, but to a safe place. Then a horrible injury took him out, and he’d been behind a desk since.
Something was off about the whole incident, which was why Drago was sitting with Carlos waiting to see this guy. In the meantime, Belle was back home combing through all the files and documentation that Carlos had acquired that could help them to find Ava and finally put her father out of business.
“Drago?”
He turned to see an older man, leaning on a cane.
“Mr. Vent?”
“David, please, come to my office.”
They entered the office, and Drago gave a nod to Carlos, who turned on his little machine that would track if there were any listening devices in his office.
David’s brow rose up, looking a little shocked.
“He’s all clear. Nothing on him,” Carlos said.
The door was already closed.
“Do I even want to know what this is about?” David asked.
Taking a seat, Drago stared at the man. “Do you remember me?”
“I’ve never met you before?”
“Probably thirty years ago, you came down to a gym. You had a warrant to search the premises. I don’t know what for, but you asked me what I was doing there.”
“Fighting,” David said. “That’s all I could get out of you. Then that fucker stopped by and I was kicked off the premises. I had a good hunch what he was into. Was getting the paperwork together for an in-depth search when I was struck down.”
“I was an underground child fighter,” Drago said. “I was used to make money fighting other kids. Sometimes to the death.”
David sat up. “Wait, what?”
“I’m not an idiot. I heard many of the bosses talk about you. I’ve even heard a few things since then. Even with your injury, you wouldn’t have stopped looking.”
They stared at each other, the silence ringing around the room.
David rapped his knuckles on the desk. “I didn’t stop.”
“You can trust us,” Carlos said. “We’re part of that ring.”
“You didn’t come to me.” David looked from one to the other. “You’re not kids now. You’re full grown men.”
“We know what Randal Aiello is capable of. Talking gets you killed. He took your promising career and shafted it with a single blow, forcing you behind a desk, unable to help those that needed it.”
Drago saw that he’d hit a nerve, and he hated it. He didn’t want to hurt this man.
“Why are you here after all these years?” David asked.
“We need information, but it has to be done quietly.” Carlos stepped forward, opening up the file on Belle. It had the picture of her as a child as well as her of an adult, including the latest pictures of her beating. “Her child was stolen from her, and we have reason to believe that someone, a politician, is responsible for nearly ending her life.”
While Carlos showed the paperwork on the crooked official, and Drago filled in the blanks, explaining the timeline and especially with what Belle had told him.
David didn’t look surprised by the accusation.
“What do you know?” Drago asked.
“Look, I need this job. I’m not ready for retirement just yet.”
“I can pay you a salary that is double what you’re on right now. You can walk out of this office, and help me, or I can walk and find someone else who is willing to make a difference.” Drago was done playing games with people and this organization. For a long time, he didn’t for a second think that anyone would ever be able to stop it.
Then he realized, it would only take one person. So far, he had three. Himself, Carlos, and Belle. Three people, determined, and ready to end it all. He didn’t want to hear of another child suffering, of them risking their lives for one greedy bastard.
David picked up the plaque that held his name. “There have been four women who have brought reports of rape, abuse, and physical violence, but each time we’ve tried to get a prosecution, they retract their statement with some crap like they were drunk or it was drugs. None of the charges have ever stuck. Without evidence, without a witness, my hands are tied.”
“Donald Ford has a history of this?”
“Yes.”
Drago sat back. “Then why would he be worried about Belle knowing?”
“These women were later found dead,” David said. “Drugs in their system, OD’d.”
“Convenient,” Carlos said.
“I always knew the fight clubs were bad news, but this goes much bigger. This is a sport to the death.” David stood up and limped toward the window. “I know for a fact there are several officers who are paid to look the other way.”
“I’m under no illusions about what I’m up against.”
David sighed. “What exactly is it you want? You want to blackmail a cop? Burn a politician to the ground? What?”
“I want to end it for good, David. Randal Aiello is huge in the underground. I don’t want to think of another child being taken in, trained, hurt, abused because he didn’t hit hard enough. It sickens me to think of anyone going through it again. I’m willing to give you the credit of breaking the case.”
This had all started with Belle being beaten in the ring by Deadman. He’d wanted to help her get her kid back, but it had unraveled into so much more.
“Why? What do you want?”
“When this is all over, I want a safe place for me, Carlos, Belle, and Belle’s daughter to live. A world without her father and all the crooked strings he’s pulling.”
“What’s happening with the kid?”
Drago told him what happened, and the other man had to sit down. He looked a little shaken.
“They want them young because they think they can train them into the perfect fighters, like machines, blank slates, but it’s the worst way to be raised,” said David. “It has to be stopped.”
“You’re right. It does. Can I count you in?”
“I can’t take on a politician, not from here. But I’ll try and pull up some info to help you.” There wasn’t a single hesitation as they shook hands. “I’ll continue to work from this office, but don’t call the public line.” David pulled out a piece of paper from a notebook in his pocket. “Call this number whenever you want to get through to me. It’s a secure line. I don’t want any heat for my own family.”
“I’m going to need the files you have on Donald Ford. Everything you’ve ever documented. We need it.”
David nodded. “I’ll arrange to meet you tonight. I don’t keep it here. It’s not safe.”
“Don’t mention this to anyone else,” Carlos said.
“How do you think I got this?” David held up the cane. “I’m not stupid. Asking too many questions and I got what was coming to me, or at least that’s what they said.”
Drago pulled out an envelope with over a thousand dollars in cash and placed it on the desk.
“I don’t need your money.”
“If you ever at any point feel you’re being watched, use it, and get out of town quick. I won’t have anyone else’s life in danger for this. It’s not guilt money, David. This is for you, please take it.”
David took the money. “Okay. This is going to get ugly?”
“We don’t know how bad it is,” Carlos said.
“I’ll do as much as I can. I promise you that.”
“Good. We’ll see you later.” He shook David’s hand. Making his way out of the precinct he didn’t give anything away as Carlos followed behind him.
“People were watching,” Carlos said joining him in the
car.
“Of course they were. David has a reputation, and now they’re curious. I need help, but I don’t want him killed because of this.”
“I take it we’re limiting our time with him already,” Carlos said.
“We can’t risk anyone knowing what we’re up to. There’s no way I’d ever risk Belle’s baby like that. She trusts me.”
“Yeah, this is about more than trust,” Carlos said. “You two, did you have a thing or something growing up?”
“Nah, we didn’t have a thing at all. We barely knew of each other. I’m over ten years older than her.”
“She was a fierce fighter from what I saw the other night. Was she always like that?” Carlos asked.
Thinking back all those years ago, seeing her in action, he’d hated every second of it. She’d been a child fighter for long before she became a woman. Part of what made him so good was his ability to read people, and he knew Belle hated every punch she dished out. But, damn, she was good at it.
“She was better than what you saw. Whenever her name came up on the roster, there was always a crowd. She was a girl, deadly, fierce. Many times, she’d take a hit and wouldn’t even show that she was in pain. It was all an act though. I thought she was a robot at one point until I sneaked backstage to see her. Even now she doesn’t know I was there. The fight had ended, and she sat on the bench. I heard her crying, and from where she was, I could see her in the mirror. She had on bandages around her waist to protect her. She was in so much pain, and I saw the blood. Even as she cleaned up, I heard her praying as well.” He’d never told anyone that he caught her that day, begging for a better life. It had always stuck with him though.
Strange, he didn’t think her weak when he’d seen it. Instead, he’d thought she was strong. It was why he was determined to finally end this shit now, to help Belle and her daughter. No one had answered their prayers, but he was going to make sure he made hers come true.
Chapter Six
Their plans were coming together, but they couldn’t be rash and act before they were one hundred percent ready. There would be no second chances. She’d been staying with Drago for almost two weeks. All day, they’d research the paperwork for concrete evidence, and Carlos would buy new information from contacts desperate for cash. They’d even managed to get a tracker on the politician’s car.