Fight for Me

by Jessica Linden

  Knox straddled X and grabbed hold of his shirt with one hand, slamming his fist into X’s face. He continued to pummel X with both fists, heard a crack, and felt his teeth give. His hands were covered in blood.

  X’s one eye rolled back, and Knox’s punches slowed.

  “Fuck.” Knox stood and paced beside X’s unconscious form before slamming his fist into the locker, leaving a dent.

  He grabbed a towel to wipe his hands. He hadn’t fully processed what just went down, but he knew one thing—he had to get out of there. Now.

  He threw the soiled towel on top of X. Was he even alive? Knox watched as his chest moved up and down. He was for now, but Knox didn’t know the extent of the injuries he’d just inflicted. And he didn’t care. X could rot in fucking hell.

  But not with his money. He reached into X’s jacket and pulled out the envelope full of the cash Knox saw him get after his fight. Knox had earned that damn money. It was about fucking time he got his due.

  He quickly changed into his street clothes and stuffed everything into his duffel bag. At the last minute, he knelt next to X to pat him down, coming up with a Glock. A search of X’s pockets found two full clips. He pocketed both and tucked the gun into his waistband at the small of his back.

  Knox picked up his bag and strode out the door, not looking back.

  Natalie’s fingers hovered over the alarm system buttons. Was she actually ready for this? Could she really leave behind everything she’d ever known?

  Yes. It was past time she freed herself of her father’s tyranny. She punched in the five-digit code that turned off the exterior alarm system. Earlier today, she’d unscrewed the faceplates of the units in both her father’s bedroom and office to disable the mini LED bulbs on the off chance that he might notice the lights were blinking red instead of green. She figured the absence would be less noticeable than the change in color.

  She hoped. She only had one shot at this. If the guards found her before she escaped, she doubted she’d ever get another opportunity. Her father would make sure of that.

  Her stockinged feet made little noise as she padded through the tiled kitchen to the pantry. There she pulled her black backpack out from where she’d hidden it. Inside was everything she was taking with her—enough essentials to get her by for a few days, including several thousand dollars and a selection of Farrington jewels she could sell if she needed to. She’d buy whatever else she needed once she was gone.

  She slid her feet into black shoes, then slipped out the side door. The cameras might record her leaving, but there was nothing she could do about that. She’d managed to pick up quite a few skills from trolling the Internet, but scaling the roof to disable the cameras mounted there wasn’t one of them. The decaf coffee she’d so thoughtfully prepped for the control room guard was laced with Benadryl. If that didn’t knock him out, hopefully it would make him sleepy enough that he wouldn’t notice the figure in black exiting the gates.

  In theory, all the security surrounding her house was supposed to keep intruders out, to keep the heiress to the Farrington fortune safe. But none realized it was to keep her prisoner. Even she hadn’t realized it at first. When her mother died, she’d sought her father in her grief, believing he felt as she did, that he was the only one who truly understood her loss.

  But she’d learned her error, and now she finally had the courage to take control of her life.

  She scanned the lawn one final time before starting across it. With every step that took her farther from the house, her heart pounded louder. Thud, thud. THUD, THUD. God, it was all she could hear. It was so loud. How could she be the only one hearing it? Because no one is out here. The lawn is empty—as planned. Still, her heart continued to beat louder and faster, not out of fear, but excitement. Freedom was just a few steps away.

  If only she could’ve taken a car, she’d already be miles away. But she knew she’d made the right decision. It was slower to go on foot, but it was smarter.

  The shiny silver Mercedes parked in the garage would stand out and once her father learned she was gone, the police would surely be on the lookout for it. Plus, her father could have her tracked using the car’s GPS features.

  That was one of the reasons she also left her phone behind. She’d purchase a burner later. The important thing was staying under the radar for the next four years. Then when she turned thirty and could access her trust fund, she’d be set. She’d be damned if she’d let her father get his greedy hands on it. He’d already taken enough from her and her mother.

  And if she had to pretend to be the happy daughter any longer, she might claw his eyes out.

  The perfectly manicured grounds that looked so beautiful in the daylight became creepy in the darkness. When had the lawn gotten so big? She’d been out of the house less than a minute, but it felt like this walk was taking forever.

  Brightness blasted across the lawn from a motion sensor light mounted in a tree, and she jumped, her hand grasping at her throat.

  Stupid. She knew that light was there and could have easily avoided it. Focus. Now was not the time to get careless.

  The side gate the groundskeepers used was locked. Damn. She’d planned for this possibility, but she had hoped it would be open. No matter. She’d have it open soon enough.

  She reached under the edge of the iron fence, feeling for the wire that connected the lock on the gate to the main security system. A quick snip with a pair of pliers and then she’d turn her attention to the lock on the gate. It was a standard lock and wouldn’t take long to pick.

  She pulled her kit out of her pack and set to work, trying out several picks before hitting pay dirt. The lock gave with a slight click, and she pushed the gate open with a smile.

  Thanks, Dad, for the tools. She’d ordered them online from a generic sounding site using her credit card, and they’d arrived in an unlabeled box, complete with locks to practice on. Intercepting the box before the guards inspected it had been tricky, but worth it. How ironic that her father had paid for the tools she used to escape him.

  No, that wasn’t exactly true. He paid that bill with her monthly allowance, the money that was hers.

  She shoved her tools back into her backpack and stepped out onto the sidewalk, a satisfied smile stretched across her face. The hardest part was done, and it had gone perfectly.

  The April air was cool, and the moonlight shone down as she quickly walked through the multimillion-dollar neighborhood. She scanned her surroundings, looking for any signs of movement, not to mention security cameras.

  It hit her just how alone she really was. Exhilaration shot through her as adrenaline ramped up her heart rate. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out in public without her bodyguard, Hugo, her silent shadow. She wasn’t even sure if Hugo was his first or last name.

  There in the distance, she could see the line of towering luxury hotels. Once she crossed through them, she’d head to the bus station on the south side of town to hop on a five A.M. departure. She’d managed to trace her mother’s estranged and disowned aunt as far as Orlando, so that’s where she was heading.

  As she approached the first hotel, Natalie tucked her long blond hair into her ball cap and pulled the brim down low over her eyes, hoping the employees wouldn’t recognize her from the events she’d attended there over the years.

  The hair on her arms and the back of her neck came to attention, and she instinctively looked over her shoulder.

  No, no, no, no, no!

  A black Escalade, license plate reading KENT 3, barreled down the street.

  How had they found her so quickly?

  Panic, along with a side of anger, flooded her.

  She had not gotten this far only to be returned right back to her father.

  She would have to run for it. She tightened the straps on her backpack and ducked inside the revolving door of the hotel. There was another exit to the hotel that would put her out on a side street.

  She walked quickly through
the lobby, keeping her eyes down, but also watching for figures in black suits. She hung a left to go down a side hallway, but it led to a dead end.

  Shit, shit, shit! She didn’t have time to make stupid mistakes like that.

  She backtracked and went down a different hallway, this one leading toward the rear of the building. Her heart raced, and she welcomed the rush of adrenaline.

  She burst through a door marked with a red glowing exit sign, hoping to God this wasn’t one of those exits that set off an alarm. She looked left and then right, trying to decide which way to go.

  The decision was easy—left was the way that took her away from her father’s guard in the black suit at the end of the alley.

  She walked quietly, trying to keep her steps soundless. Every instinct told her to run, but her feet pounding on the pavement would surely draw attention.

  A door several feet ahead of her swung open, and a teenager launched a black bag into the Dumpster across the alley before letting the door close behind him. It rattled before landing with a loud thud. What was in that bag—cans and rocks? Natalie closed her eyes for a brief moment, praying the guard hadn’t heard the racket.

  “Stop! Miss Kent!”

  She grabbed at the door handle the kid with the garbage had just closed, trying to pull it open, but it was locked. No! She took off at a sprint, angry at herself for wasting several precious seconds. The guard’s feet pounded on the pavement behind her. He was closing in on her.

  She came to a side alley and briefly slowed, whipping her head back and forth. No time! No time! Just go!

  She hung a right and realized too late it was a dead end. She spun on her heel and nearly collided with the guard, who was breathing heavily. He grabbed her wrist.

  She’d never met this particular guard, which surprised her because she thought she knew them all. She tried to jerk her arm away, but he only squeezed harder.

  “Ow, you’re hurting me!” she screamed, hoping to play on his sympathies.

  He merely chuckled. “You should have thought of that before you went running.”

  She tried another tack. “My father is not going to be happy if you hurt me.”

  “Your father gave orders to return you at all costs. As long as you’re alive, he doesn’t care what it takes to bring you home.”

  The guard started to twist her arm behind her back, and she quickly stepped in and brought her knee up, connecting with his groin. A look of surprise crossed his face and his grip on her wrist loosened, though he didn’t give up her arm completely. She brought her knee up again, this time twisting her wrist free as the guard tried to dodge the blow.

  She wasted no time and took off running again. The thought flitted through her mind that he might not be alone. Then what? She had to get away.

  “You’re going to regret that!” The guard must have recovered enough to continue his pursuit.

  She panted, frantically looking for a way out of the alley. Maybe if she got to a main street, she could dart across traffic. Or blend in with the crowds. That always worked in the movies. Too bad it was after midnight and there were no crowds.

  God, this wasn’t part of the plan! This wasn’t supposed to happen! She needed time to think.

  Away, away, away. Just get away.

  She pumped her arms and legs, willing them to go faster. Her lungs burned and felt like they would burst.

  Oh, no . . . She was coming to the end of the alley, and there was a chain-link fence that blocked her way. On the other side of it, she could see the main road. But she wasn’t going to make it. No way she’d be able to climb it in time.

  She could hear the guard closing in on her. His fingers glanced through her hair in his attempt to grab her, and she tried to go faster. She tried, but she didn’t have anything left.

  The guard’s hand clasped her shoulder.

  Knox cut right into the alley, setting his pace at a jog. He needed to get as far away from the ring as fast as he could.

  X’s words echoed in his mind. I made you. You’re nothing without me.

  What if he was right?

  No. He pushed the revolting thought down. He might not ever become rich, but he . . .

  Rich. That’s where he needed to go—the north side of town. He rarely set foot in the swanky neighborhoods and upscale plazas just several miles away from the slum he called home. He wouldn’t know his way around, but no one would ever think to look for him there. He’d hole up somewhere for a day or two while he figured out a plan.

  There was nothing keeping him in this city now, but he felt a light tug holding him back. It was all he’d ever known.

  It didn’t take long for the roads to start looking better maintained and the bars to be absent from business windows. This area was where the city’s revenue came from, so the mayor and the police actually gave a fuck.

  Suddenly a woman with long blond hair flew down the alley with a hulking man dressed in black in hot pursuit. She screamed as the guy roughly grabbed her shoulder and flung her around. She raked her nails across his face, and he pushed her to the ground.

  “You fucking bitch!” The guy touched his hand to his face and his fingers came away bloody.

  The woman backed away with her hands out to protect herself, looking up at him with determined wide blue eyes.

  Knox stopped in his tracks as something stirred within him, something he’d never felt before. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that no one was going to hurt her unless it was over his dead body. He dropped his bag and closed the distance between him and the attacker.

  The man raised his hand, aiming for the blond, but before he could bring it down in a backhanded slap, Knox tackled him.

  He punched the guy in the face and his nose started bubbling blood. Before he could get another hit in, the man threw his forearm up to block it and lifted his hips, bucking Knox off to the side. Knox easily jumped to his feet.

  “Go. Run!” he yelled to the woman, who was now on her knees next to the chain-link fence. He wanted to go to her, make sure she was all right, but taking this guy out so he couldn’t attack her again took priority.

  The man pulled out a gun, and immediately Knox shifted so that he was in front of the woman, who now held a fragment of a brick in her hand to use as a weapon.

  “Go!” he yelled again, not turning around to see if she followed his instructions. She wouldn’t have to use her makeshift weapon if he had anything to do with it.

  “This doesn’t involve you,” the attacker said. “Leave now, and I’ll forget about you.”

  “If it involves her, then it involves me,” Knox said.

  “Suit yourself,” he said, pulling the trigger. Knox twisted out of the way a second too late, and felt a fire ignite in his shoulder. He thought it only felt like a graze, but he wasn’t sure. Luckily—or maybe not—it hit his right arm instead of the left that was already sporting X’s knife wound. But damn, it fucking hurt.

  Before the guy could take another shot, Knox charged him again, slamming him against the building. In a move reminiscent of his earlier fight with X, he slammed the guy’s wrist into the wall until he dropped the gun.

  “He’s got a knife!” the woman screamed.

  Knox instinctively slipped under the swipe of the blade. He would have taken a slash across the throat if she hadn’t warned him, but even still, she needed to get the fuck out of here.

  “I got this!” Knox yelled to the woman. “Go!”

  The fight with X had been easy. This one wasn’t going to be. The guy was huge—taller than Knox by a few inches and easily a hundred pounds heavier. He was pudgy and definitely not as muscular as Knox, but fuck, this was his third fight in the last two hours. His body was protesting the abuse.

  Knox curled his lip and bent his knees slightly, preparing to dodge the next swing of the knife.

  The guy came at him and Knox spun away, then quickly kicked out as the hulk charged at him again, knocking him on his back. As Knox went down, he heard a cla
tter, and out of the corner of his eye he saw X’s gun fall to the ground.

  Fuck me. He’d forgotten he even had the gun on him. He was so used to fighting with his fists it hadn’t occurred to him to reach for the gun.

  He slipped his knee between himself and the brute, then centered his hips and locked his legs around the guy, assuming a guarded position on the ground. Seeing an opportunity to finish it, the guy wrapped both hands around the knife to drive it down into Knox’s throat. Knox grabbed his wrist and pushed away with his legs. He was completely off the ground except for his shoulder blades as the point of the knife inched closer to his windpipe.

  “Stop! You’ll kill him! Don’t make me shoot!” The woman’s voice was frantic.

  “Go,” Knox ground out between clenched teeth. “Leave me.” Why wasn’t she running? There would be no one to protect her if he went down.

  “Stop! Or I swear I’ll shoot. I’ll do it.” She came in closer, holding X’s gun in her outstretched hands.

  The guard sneered. “Too bad for you she doesn’t have it in her,” he grunted out to Knox.

  The gun fired. He didn’t know what she was aiming at, but the shot went high, hitting the wall above them.

  Knox used the distraction of the gunfire as an opening to pivot his hips and sweep the guy off his knees. In the sweep, the guy’s arms flung out, knocking the woman to the ground. Knox rolled in the opposite direction and scrambled to his feet just as the guy wrapped his hand around her neck.

  “No!” he yelled. Fuck. He was too far. He wouldn’t get there in time. The guy was going to crush her windpipe.

  Knox lunged forward as her eyes began to flutter. Her arms drew in, and her eyes closed.

  Then the back of the man’s head erupted.

  Chapter 2

  Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

  The guard’s body was heavy and limp on top of her, so heavy Natalie’s lungs hurt from trying to breathe.

  Is he dead?

  That was when she felt the blood running from his head onto her face. The wet warm liquid was all over her.