“Who says we need to do anything?”
Winston turned and gazed at Rosner. “What?”
“What’s it with you always trying to control everything? What’s the cheesy sports cliché? ‘That’s why they play the games.’” He threw a hand towards the room. “Everybody seems to be doing just fine.” He motioned towards the wagering device. “The money is still flowing. Just leave it be.”
The words hung for a moment.
“Seriously?”
“These people came for a good show. We’re giving them that. Quit pretending this is home or the office and you need to micromanage every second.”
Winston leveled another glare at him and pushed himself up from the table. He walked to the front podium and pulled the grid of fighters back to the screen.
“In the biggest surprise of the night...”
With the press of a button, Boucher was crossed off the screen. Around the room, a mixed bag of reactions went up.
Winston pulled the schematic up to the large screen and scanned it. A moment later he determined the next encounter and pulled it up front and center.
In the back of the room, Julia Klauff pulled herself tight to her husband’s ear. “Even you couldn’t have seen that coming.”
“No, no I did not,” he admitted. “I’ll tell you this though. If those boys win, I’m seeing to it they get every last penny they have coming to them.”
Julia pulled away from her husband and rested her head on his shoulder. “There are two of them. I think we should give me them everything we win as well.”
Augy chuckled and patted his wife’s hand. “That's what I meant, sweetheart. That's what I meant."
Eighty-One
The cool air of the third floor danced over Elin Li’s skin. It tugged at the thin wisps of hair extending above her ears and made her nipples stand erect under her sports bra.
The adrenaline of her fight with Katsu was long since gone. For awhile it had been replaced by boredom as she roamed the empty halls trying to decipher the maze.
With each passing minute, a feeling of apprehension rose within her.
Her sole-less shoes made no sound on the heavy grey stone. Turning her body sideways, she moved through the halls, crossing one leg in front of the other. The hall moved forward to a hard right turn as she circled to her left and peered around it.
Nothing but open grey stone stared back at her.
She continued moving until an intersection appeared before her. Slowing even more, she continued to walk one foot at a time.
An iron door slammed shut behind her. Once more, she backed herself against the cold metal grate and waited.
A deep, heavy laugh echoed through the hall. From behind the right corner of the intersection stepped Maake.
Li’s face betrayed no emotion as she exhaled and stared at Maake. She raised her fists in front of her and started to edge forward.
She was stopped by another deep, hearty laugh.
Confusion swept over her face and for a moment her fists sagged downward. From the hallway to the left of the intersection stepped Kekoa.
Li’s eyes bulged as she swept a look from one to the other. Both glanced at each other and folded thick arms across their chests.
In unison they began to laugh.
“What have we got here, eh?” Maake asked.
“I don’t know whether to fight her or fuck her.”
“You want me to wait here while you have some fun with her first?”
Kekoa waved a hand at her. “You mean you don’t want to have a shot with some of that?”
“Naw, I like a big woman. Her skinny little ass wouldn’t be enough to even get me started.”
Together the men threw back their heads and laughed again.
Li remained motionless. Her eyes darted the halls for any form of weapon or even a chance of escape.
There was none. Of either.
She stared from one to the other as they continued to stand and laugh at her. A tiny ember began to glow behind her eyes. In an instant, she raised her hands and did the only thing she could.
She took three hard shuffle steps and shot a right thrust kick at Maake’s head. It was tilted back in laughter and the kick landed square under his chin.
The instant her right foot returned to the ground she shuffled to her left and flung another thrust kick at Kekoa. It landed just to the side of his nose.
Blood began to run from his reopened cut.
She spun and kicked with her left leg at the back of Maake’s leg, catching him just below the hamstring. His leg buckled, sending him down to a knee.
She grabbed the graphite pin from her hair and drew it straight back to her shoulder. Maake raised his head and she shot the pin ahead in a darting punch for his eye.
Just inches before it reached its’ target, a meaty hand slammed into her rib cage. The force of it pitched her forward, her punch tailing off to the side.
Her long black hair swung around her head as she used the moment to throw her body forward into a roll and pop up on to her feet. She raised her hands quickly in defense.
Both men stood and watched her, staying several feet back.
Using the pin she twirled her hair into a bun atop her head. She wouldn’t have another chance for a surprise attack.
“What do you think now?” Kekoa asked.
Maake slapped at his thick chest. “I think we finish her quick and I shove that pin up her ass.”
Both men nodded in unison. They stood shoulder to shoulder and walked forward, blocking the width of the hallway.
Li retreated as far as the iron gate would allow her. When she could go no further, she pulled the pin and let her long dark hair cascade onto her shoulders. She gripped it in her right hand and hurtled herself forward.
Her left shoulder slammed into Kekoa’s chest. She expected him to fall back a few inches so she could plunge the pin into his exposed head.
Instead, he didn’t budge. Her shoulder popped as she was knocked back from the blow. Both hands fell to her side.
Maake was the first to strike, landing the side of a massive fist into the middle of her back. At once she was on her knees.
Kekoa soon matched it, slamming his own into her shoulder blade. The raw power of it smashed her body flat onto the ground.
“Should we end it or have some fun?” Maake asked above her.
“Finish it.”
“She put up more of a fight than I expected, I’ll give her that.”
“She did," Kekoa agreed. "Let’s end it quick.”
“She earned it.”
Li raised her eyes to see four thick feet in front of her become two. She glanced up to see a pair of calloused feet about to stamp on her and in a final act of defiance jammed the pin up through the bottom of Kekoa’s foot.
The last thing she heard was Kekoa howl in pain before Maake’s foot crashed down on the base of her skull.
The blow snapped her neck, killing her instantly.
Eighty-Two
Elin Li earned herself a round of applause. Despite being outnumbered two-to-one and being outweighed nearly six-to-one, she put up a great fight. Even in her last moments, she didn’t go down easy.
The women in the room stood and clapped for her after she almost ended Maake with a well aimed jab. Many of their husbands joined them when she tore a hole through Kekoa’s foot in a final act of defiance.
“I almost hate to make this trip up there,” Winston said.
“Why’s that?”
“The girl never had a chance.”
“Neither did Heath Honeycutt, but he’s here and Boucher isn’t.”
Winston paused and considered Rosner’s words. “Your point?”
“If she had deserved to win, she would have found a way to win.”
Winston pushed himself up and shook his head disdainfully. “Mark, do you think you’ll enjoy hell?”
Rosner waved him off as if the question was absurd.
Winston walked t
o the front podium and pulled the grid of fighters back up to the main screen. He shook his head from side to side for all to see.
With the press of a button, Li was crossed out as well.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Over half of our field is gone, including a couple of our early favorites.”
He pulled up a graphic display showing total amounts bet and the remaining odds for the field. Over one hundred thirty million dollars had been bet. Over half of that total was now split between Maake and Kekoa.
Maake sat atop the odds chart with 7:2 odds, followed closely by Kekoa at 9:2. Some distance back was Aello at 10:1, followed by Honeycutt who had been upgraded, but remained the long shot at 15:1.
Winston left the screen up for a moment for all to see, removed it and placed the schematic back up on the screen. He ran his eyes over it and brought up a new camera angle.
Without a word he returned to his table and retook his seat.
Eighty-Three
Nixon took the lead SUV. He and Heller piled in and sped away into the darkness. They drove without the lights on, a black silhouette moving along the road.
Manus waited a full minute for them to get in position.
“Boss...I never knew that about your father," Briggs said in the darkness. "I had no idea that’s why this was so important to you.”
“We lost a man earlier tonight. This should be important to you too.”
“It is. I just, I...”
Manus cut him off with an icy stare. “Briggs, this is not the time to go Dear Abby on me. I will leave your ass standing alongside the road.”
“Yes sir.”
Manus counted out the last fifteen seconds and dropped the gear shift down into drive. He eased to the corner and made the turn onto Ludwig.
Somewhere ahead in the darkness, Stone and his men were preparing to go over the outer wall.
The moment the SUV hit Ludwig Road, Manus flipped the lights on. He drove to the lone entrance and began laying on the horn, keeping his palm depressed on it as he made the left onto the cobbled brick and idled his way up the driveway.
Using his left hand he flashed his high beams several times at the guard house in front of them. The horn pierced the night air, drowning out the crickets and cicadas of the Oregon night.
The SUV continued up the driveway, past where the wall came to a corner and funneled them towards the gate.
“I’ve got two on the corner. Dressed in black, appear to be armed,” Briggs said.
“Roger that, I’ve got one over here. Looks like a few more up on the gate.”
“You see what else is on the gate there?”
Manus stared at the massive silver emblem of Mjollnir emblazoned before them. The high beams caught the polished metal of the symbol, causing it to seemingly glow before them. “Yeah, I see it.”
Three men spread themselves across the front of the driveway. They stood spaced in front of the gate, each of them carrying a nightstick in hand.
Manus couldn’t make out the models, but was fairly certain they could do the job.
A thick man dressed in black stepped from the guard house and walked to the SUV as it rolled to a stop. Using the end of his nightstick, he tapped on the glass and motioned for Manus to roll down his window.
“Howdy partner!” Manus said, his voice thick with a faux southern accent.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The man had short black hair spiked up and a thin beard lining his face.
“We’re here for the photo shoot!”
“Photo shoot? It’s after four in the morning. You showed up this late, raising hell, for a damn photo shoot?!”
“You mean early! We’ve got us an order from Mr. Eric Winston of Mjollnir Industries to be here for a five o’clock photo shoot this morning.” Manus made a show of digging through the papers between the two front seats. “I’ve got it somewhere here. Hold on a minute, I’ll find it for ya.”
The guard jabbed Manus in the shoulder with his nightstick. “I don’t give a shit about the order. What the hell was all that honking and stuff about?”
“Why, I didn’t mean to offend you. Eric said I might have to make a little noise to let people know I was here is all.”
“And so you decided to go tearing through the countryside raising hell in the middle of the night?!”
Manus shrank back. “Again, I am very sorry sir. I was just doing what I was told.”
A handful of guards inched closer to the SUV. One of them put his hand to the back windshield and peered in. “They’ve got a shitload of gear back here sir.”
“Open the trunk,” the guard said to Manus.
“Okay,” Manus said and made a show of sliding the gearshift up. Instead of sliding it clear to park, he slid it two slots up to reverse.
Manus bent down to find the trunk release and punched the gas as hard as he could. The SUV surged backward, slamming into the rear guard. The right side of the Expedition lifted high into the air once and then twice as each axle ground his body into the driveway.
In the headlights they could see a half dozen men rushing towards them, waving their arms. A moment later, muzzle flashes dotted the night as bullets began slamming into the side of the SUV.
Manus spun around the back end of the SUV and jammed the gearshift down to drive. He leaned on the gas and sent the SUV hurtling across the grass with a spray of dirt and gravel.
Bullets continued slamming into the back and side of the Expedition, their impact pinging against the metal.
Manus sped across the grass for over two hundred yards before veering back onto the road. As the tires hit the pavement the car jerked back and forth before righting itself.
A few hundred yards later, Manus made the left on to Dunbar and sped out of sight of the guards. A half mile down the road he turned the SUV around and waited alongside the road for Nixon to join them.
In the silence, the sound of both he and Briggs panting filled the car.
“Do you think it worked?” Briggs asked.
“It got them over the outer wall. Let’s just hope there’s not too much waiting for them on the other side.”
Eighty-Four
“Hillsboro Police Department.” The voice sounded tired and subdued.
“Yes, hi, my name is Jenna Honeycutt. I’d like to file a missing person’s report please.”
The man paused for a minute, as if checking his watch. “At four-thirty in the morning?”
“Does it matter what time it is?”
The man sighed. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. Alright Miss Honeycutt, who is the missing person?”
“My husband, Will Honeycutt.”
“And how long has he been missing?”
Jenna added the hours up in her head. “Almost eleven hours.”
On the other end, a sound like a pencil being tossed on a desk was audible. “Ms. Honeycutt, I’m very sorry but a person has to have been missing at least forty-eight hours in order to file a missing persons report.”
“But it’s the middle of the night and I haven’t heard from him. Something is wrong!”
For the first time, Jenna’s voice began to crack.
“Ms. Honeycutt, is it unusual for your husband to be out late at night.”
“Never.”
“Never stops off for one with the boys? Nothing like that?”
“No, of course not! Unless he’s working, he’s home every night in time to bath our daughter and put her to bed.”
“Unless he’s working, huh?”
“Yes...” Jenna cut herself off. “What the hell are you implying?”
She could feel hot tears beginning to well along her bottom eyelids.
“Ms. Honeycutt, would you say you and your husband have a happy marriage?”
“You son of a bitch,” Jenna muttered. “You rotten, low-life son of a bitch! My husband is a firefighter and a hero! Just last night he pulled a half dozen orphans from a burning building!
“He was asked to attend a ben
efit in his honor and I haven’t heard a word from him since! Something is definitely wrong, but I will find him. And when I do we’re both coming to find you, you rotten piece of shit!”
Jenna slammed the phone shut and threw it against the back cushions of the couch. She stood gasping in the middle of the living room, hot tears sliding down her cheeks. Resting her hands on hips, she stared out the front windows into the night.
“Come on Will, where the hell are you?”
Eighty-Five
“So how in the world did you end up on this case?”
Kelly looked up at Will and shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“Well, shouldn’t the Bureau have assigned somebody that knows how to take care of themselves? In case, you know, something like this was to happen?”
“You don’t think I can take care of myself?”
“That’s not what I’m saying," Will said. "I know you guys go through tons of self-defense and weapons training courses to get in. Believe me, I’ve looked into it.”
“Oh yeah? Looking to give up the hero gig?”
“I’ve got a family to provide for and PFD doesn’t quite pay what the Bureau does.” Will stopped short and turned to Kelly. “Wait, how did you know that?”
“Know what?”
“How did you know what I did?”
Kelly paused a split second. “I, uh, saw it on the news last night.”
Will narrowed his eyes a bit and tilted his head to the side.
“Seriously! I was in a cheap hotel room. Couldn’t sleep, was flipping channels. I saw you come out of a burning church with a bunch of kids.”
Will leveled a look at her for a moment, then shook his head. “Sorry. This whole night has me a little edgy.”
Kelly raised her hands to her sides and shook her head. “Understandable.”
Before she could lower them, a ceramic knife flew end over end and slammed into the palm of her hand. The razor sharp blade easily pierced her thin hand, burying itself clear to the handle.
Will stood for a moment and stared at Kelly, unable to move. Kelly stared in horror at her hand.
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