by Nikki Groom
“I’m heading over to Dev,” I tell JJ.
“Sure. Where’s Ruck?”
“Doing the rounds.” I laugh. “You placed the bet, boss?”
“Ohhhhhh, yeah, baby. Come to daddy!” He rubs his hands together, smiling like the joker.
I push my way through one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen. If there weren’t something tapping on my nerves, it would be an electric atmosphere, but I start to wonder if it’s the possibility of easy money, Dev’s reputation, or something else that’s brought them all here.
“Hey, man.” Tex shakes my hand firmly.
“How’s he doing?” I jerk my head up, glancing over Tex’s shoulder to Dev who’s standing in the corner, head down, mumbling to himself. He’s stripped down to knee-length, baggy shorts and a black tank. His tattooed arms are pumped, and his knuckles wrapped in thin white tape. There are hardly any rules when it comes to underground fighting. No restricted shots, no specific dress code. Just turn up, beat the fuck outta your opponent and get the fuck out of there with a bang tidy pocket of cash.
“He’s doing his usual psyche up. The twinkle in his eye, man, creeps me the fuck out.” Tex shakes his head, his eyes wide. “Don’t know how he doesn’t scare off the women with the darkness in that head of his.” He shivers, and I laugh.
“Well, that darkness is gonna make you a nice few dollars tonight, my man.”
“Yeah, well it fucking better. Turned down good pussy to be here.”
I’m about to reply that I did too, but I stop myself. Talking about Sadie in the same terms as I would one of the hang-arounds doesn’t feel right. I don’t have anything to prove, and it’s not like she’s here watching me, but…it dawns on me for the first time … I respect her.
A voice comes over a really fucking loud megaphone.
It’s time.
Tex steps to the side and Dev walks out of the room, straight past us without acknowledgment, without recognition. He’s focused on only one thing, riding the waves of his weird, twisted excitement.
“Let’s go.” Tex and I follow him as he shoulders his way through the crowds to get to the makeshift ring. As he approaches, someone moves the wooden barrier so he can enter. He prowls back and forth, his jaw tight, his eyes narrowed and his focus that of a skilled predator, now a caged animal.
Whoops and hollers come from the other side of the warehouse as it becomes apparent that a huge portion of the crowd are here with the opponent.
Tex leans down to me. “Is there something we’re not being told?”
“I don’t know, Tex my man, but I don’t fucking like it.” I scan the room for JJ who raises his gaze above the crowd to meet mine. He looks calm, but he always does, and it doesn’t do anything to quell my unease. I continue to assess the room. Prospects are at all the exits and Ruck is now at JJ’s side.
“Either the other guy is really fucking good, or—” A collective cheer goes up as Dev’s opponent enters the ring. He’s fucking huge, ripped to fuck, and really fancies his chances as he ducks and dances around the ring as if he were Mohammed Ali.
“That is one big, black, dude,” Tex mumbles to me.
“Yep.”
Dev turns slowly to see his opponent as he dances about in front of him, taunting, goading, and trying to intimidate Dev who stands at least six inches shorter and a build smaller. But the size difference doesn’t faze him. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. A ref stands between them with his arm outstretched. His only job is to start and end the fight, deciding to call it a day when he thinks one of the opponents has had enough or on the verge of death.
“FIGHT!” he yells, dropping his arm and stepping out of the ring as fast as his dumpy little legs will carry him.
The opponent, who I believe I hear them call out as ‘Tyrone’, darts back and forth, side to side, and throws a few jabs towards Dev to test his reactions. Dev barely moves, only to dodge the punches, but keeps his guard up. He looks up to the sky and blinks slowly. I know this gesture. It’s his signature on every fight. With his guard and concentration seemingly dropped, Tyrone moves in for the first punch. Punters bay for blood as thinly taped knuckles crack down on Dev’s nose, thrusting his head back on his shoulders.
I hiss in a breath. “Fuck.”
“It’s all good, man, you know it’s all good,” Tex reassures with a chuckle, settling into the feel of the fight, knowing that this guy might be big, but he’s still no match for Dev.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Dev looks down at the blood smeared across his tattooed skin, and that’s enough to unleash the beast. He rushes forward, jabbing from one side and catching Tyrone off guard with a fierce hook from the other. As Dev knocks the guy’s head about, back and forth, the dude’s legs start to wobble, and I hear chants and cheers coming from The Souls and echoing around the warehouse. My worry dissipates and knowing Dev’s got this, I settle into the thrill of the sport.
Still keeping my wits about me, I glance to the main entrance. A flash of raven hair instantly catches my attention. Unless there’s a dude in this place with long, black, shiny fucking hair like Sadie’s, or someone has brought their chick, Sadie’s here.
“Fuck.” I elbow Tex as I push past him “Sadie,” I yell over the jeering crowds.
“What?” he calls out behind me. I don’t stop to repeat myself, but he follows me regardless as I wade through the sea of spectators. She’s the only woman in a warehouse full of testosterone and aggression. And that was the exact reason I didn’t bring her with me.
I approach her from behind, tearing away the men standing between her and me. “Go on, Dev, knock him the fuck out!” she yells before I wrap one arm around her waist and one over her mouth. She kicks and screams like she did the first time I ever got my hands on her, and I make sure to keep my head back so she doesn’t bust my nose again. But it seems that is the catalyst for a chain of events none of us could have predicted.
As I glance back at Dev, I see Tyrone stumble backward, landing on the wooden boards, but he launches forward again and something catches the light. As I realize what it is, it’s too late. A broken bottle is plunged into Dev’s face before he can move out of the way. The crowd falls almost silent, and as Tyrone rips the bottle away, blood and shredded skin hangs loosely from Dev’s cheek. Adrenaline has Dev pushing forward with rage and determination not to lose this fight. He’s never lost, and I know he won’t want to lose now. But his power drains fast as his extreme injuries take their toll, and Tex jumps the barrier just in time to catch him.
“Oh fuck,” Sadie whispers.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I seethe. “I told you to stay at HQ. I told you it wasn’t safe.” I shake her by her shoulders—rage and fear pushing through my voice.
“Ramsey,” JJ barks.
“FUCK!” I yell, frustration overtaking my rational thought.
“I’m sorry, Ram. I just wanted to—” Sadie’s words are interrupted by sirens that fill the night’s air and cause chaos to ensue. Everyone is jostled and shoved as a couple of hundred people flee to every imaginable exit and get jammed in the doorways in the process.
Gunshots are fired, and Tex yells for help across the chaotic crowds.
“Ruck, get her out of here. Down the hall, first door on the left, it has a loose window. Just get as far away as possible. Yes?” I shove Sadie into Ruck’s arms. “Go with Ruck,” I order. She doesn’t argue, thank fuck, because I’m about to lose my shit at the next person that gets in my way. They take off, and despite my anxiety levels spiking off the charts, I know the best thing I can do is let Ruck take care of her so I can think straight for the boys. I barge through the few remaining people around the ring and stop at Tex’s side. He’s on his knees and has Dev’s head in his lap. He has taken his t-shirt off and is holding it tightly against Dev’s face to stem the blood. He looks up at me and shakes his head solemnly. It doesn’t look good. It looks a million times worse than not fucking good. I kneel next to him, taki
ng Dev’s shoulders from Tex and laying them across my legs. “Go,” I tell Tex.
“No way, man. I’m here.”
“Get the fuck out of here, Tex.” I grate out. “All of you. Get the fuck OUT!”
“Tex,” JJ says, placing his hand on Tex’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Tex looks between us, torn between his need to stay with Dev and knowing we’re right. The SWAT team that are starting to filter in won’t have enough manpower or resources to arrest everyone here, and I’m hoping they will use some of their men to help Dev and get him out of here and to the hospital.
“I need you both on the other side. Go and find Ruck and Sadie, man. Please,” I plead with Tex. He knows I’m right. He has a criminal record, a long history with the police, and could face harsher punishment than I will if I get arrested, which is pretty much a certainty.
“But—”
“They’ve got nothing on me. I’ll spend a night in the clink, be hit with a fine, and then I’ll be out. For fuck’s sake, GO!”
They turn and run, making for the rest of the crowd, so it’s less likely they’ll get singled out by the special forces. I drop my head and watch Dev’s eyes flicker. “Stay with me, man.”
He mumbles, and gurgles as blood pours down his throat, and he chokes it up, spitting blood everywhere. “You did good, bro. You hurt the fucker,” I tell him, seeing a smile crease just the corners of his eyes. Still the sick fucker we know and love. He’s lying here, bleeding out, and he forces a smile to his face knowing that he hurt someone good.
Chapter 25
I should never have come. I should have trusted Ramsey and stayed back at The Souls HQ with Lia and the girls. But I snuck off to the toilet, taking a set of keys that were on the sideboard. When I clicked the fob out in the car park, I saw the lights flash on a bright fucking red Toyota Camry. It wasn’t my first choice of car, fucking hell, I’d like my Camaro back any day of the week, but I didn’t have a choice, and after Lia had let slip where the warehouse was, I wanted to watch it all for myself. Fuck being the little woman left at home, I wanted to be in on the action.
Now I wish I was the little woman left at home.
After clambering out of the window, Ruck drags me around the back of the warehouse and through dense scrub. I get tangled and scratched by the thorns in the bushes, but Ruck doesn’t slow or stop. He holds my hand as if his life depends on it, crushing my bones and dragging me as fast as he can away from the chaos ensuing at the warehouse.
As he pushes out of the bushes, we collapse on a road.
“Stop,” I pant. “I have to catch my breath.”
“Get your ass up, and get moving,” Ruck says sharply, tugging on my arms until I stand.
“Do you know where we are?” I ask, and he glances back at me, scowling. Without answering me, he trudges forward with his jaw set hard.
“Hey,” I call out and stop with my hand on my hip, my breaths heaving in my chest, and refusing to follow if he’s going to treat me like a kid. He ignores me and keeps walking. “I said, HEY!”
His boots crunch on the tarmac as he pivots in a flash to face me. “I fucking heard you. Most of Reno fucking heard you.”
“It wasn’t my fault what happened back there,” I yell at him, pointing in the direction of the trouble which we can still hear going on in the background.
“What’s your point?”
“You’re pissed at me like it was my doing?”
“No, I’m pissed at you because you made things complicated. Did you see how torn my brother was? Did you see how hard you made it for him? He had to choose between your safety and helping his friend who had just got smashed in the face with a broken bottle. Not only that, I got fucking stuck with the job of getting you out of there, so the burden is now on me.”
“I am not a fucking burden,” I seethe.
“Yes you fucking are!” he yells back in my face.
For the second time this evening, time stands still, and everything happens in slow motion.
A van.
A screech of tires as it slides to a stop right next to us.
“Sadie, RUN!” Ruck’s words are urgent and full of fear.
The van doors open, and before I can see who it is or what is happening, I’m running. I run as fast as my legs can carry me. Away from the van, away from the boots thundering on the ground behind me, and into a hard body as more tires screech to a halt.
I catch a flash of neon before I’m thrown to the ground, scraping my cheek on the gravel and with a knee pressed hard into my back, my arms are wrenched backward and cuffed. “Miss, you’re under arrest.”
As I’m loaded into the police van, tires screech further down the road. Wheels kick up loose chippings as they get away from the police as fast as they can, and with Ruck in their possession. Sirens fill the air from all directions, and a police radio crackles on the hip of the officer as he slams the doors, and locks me in darkness, alone.
Chapter 26
What an epic fuck up.
I pace back and forth in the cell. Hours feel like minutes, and every second of time passes with a stab to my heart when I think of all the shit that went down last night.
Sadie.
Dev.
I don’t know if either of them are okay. If Dev pulled through the night. If Sadie and Ruck got away safely. I don’t know anything, and no one is telling me shit.
“Get me out of here,” I yell, my voice hoarse from yelling all night and bouncing off the concrete walls as I slam my clenched fists against the door.
“You’re in luck, Dalton. Bossman paid your fine, and I don’t wanna listen to your bellyaching any longer.” The officer swings a bunch of keys around on his finger as he stands in front of my cell.
“Are you gonna let me out, or you gonna stand there all day showing me how powerful you are with all your keys and your nylon uniform?” He thinks for a couple of seconds, a grin spreading across his face. He doesn’t want to listen to me any more than I want to be stuck in here, but he wants to make me wait until he decides it’s time to unlock my cell. “Hope your missus likes your big keys, sure makes up for your small dick,” I grumble to myself as I cross my arms and wait. His teeth grind together, and his face turns red with anger at my words. He jabs the key into the lock, twists it and yanks the door open.
“Follow Peterson up the hall. He’ll process you.”
“Yes, sir.” I give him a mock salute and a wink as I pass. “Oh, tell your wife, if she gets bored of your …keys,” I grab my crotch and grin, “I have something she can wrap her lips around.” He lunges at me, teeth bared and totally ready to try and fight. I know I can take him. He knows I can take him, but his pride is the driving force behind his outrage. His colleague shoots out his arm to stop him and shakes his head. I blow him a kiss as we head down the corridor, leaving him pissed at the fact he can’t legally hold me here any longer.
“What the fuck happened, Peterson?” I say as quietly as I can manage through gritted teeth as we get to the processing desk.
“I’m sorry, Ramsey. All the money in the world couldn’t have bought your freedom last night.” His eyes dart around nervously, checking for anyone that might be listening. “When SWAT is involved, I can’t save you.”
“You could have fucking warned me.” I bang my cuffed wrists down on the desk between us.
“I didn’t fucking know,” he grits back. “I’ve saved your ass more times than I can count, Dalton.”
“And I’ve lined your pockets more than this poxy job of yours will ever do. I own you, Peterson, don’t forget that.”
“There are some things that are out of my control,” he says, calmer now.
“What about Dev, any update?”
“I’m sorry. Every bit of information is locked down tight.”
“Well, you had better start digging a little deeper and working a little harder. I want more from you, Peterson. If anything like this happens again, I’m coming for you.”
JJ an
d Tex are waiting for me when I finally get processed and let out.
“Okay?” Tex asks, placing his hand between my shoulders as I meet them at the bottom of the steps.
“Dev?” I ask.
“Touch and go, man. He’s doing better than we could have hoped but it’s still not looking good.”
“Sadie, Ruck? They got back okay?” JJ and Tex exchange a glance, and my stomach suddenly feels like it’s lined with lead. “What the fuck is going on? JJ?”
He scrubs his hand over his face, barely able to look at me. “We can’t find them.” He talks to the ground.
“What do you mean, you can’t find them?”
“They never got back to HQ, bro.” Tex indicates for us to walk towards the truck and away from the station. “We’ve been out all night, but …”
“But what? Tex?” I look back to JJ, who hasn’t moved. “Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” I raise my voice, frustration burning through me like hot molten lava.
“Ruck’s bike was still at the warehouse this morning, and …” he closes his eyes, breathing in deep through his nose before returning his focus to me. “The Wolves had left their mark on it. Sadie must have taken Marnie’s Camry as that was there, too. Marked up. Clear for all to see. They’re nowhere to be found, Ram. I’m sorry, but it looks like The Wolves got to them before we could.”
I stare at Tex, looking for any hint that this isn’t real. That my life right now isn’t happening, and I’m going to wake up at any moment, and it’s going to be the worst fucking nightmare I’ve ever experienced.
“What the fuck are we doing here? Let’s go and get them. I’ll burn down the fucker’s den and put a bullet in every one of their heads if they hurt either of them.” I storm toward the truck, flinging open the door and waiting for the others to catch up. They will hurt them because they’re The Wolves and they’ve been waiting for the opportunity for retribution. They’re going to make them pay for everything we did to Dago and Spice. Bile starts to rise in my throat, burning up my airway. “JJ, did you fucking hear me? I said, let’s go.”