Uppercut

by Terra Kelly

  Dad was a good man. My body slowed, and Julian had to help me the rest of the way out the window. How could I ever have thought my dad was bad?

  He did care.

  24

  “Lily,” Julian whispered. “Come on, we have to move.”

  I was struggling to process everything that had just transpired. There were so many questions left unanswered.

  Why did she get Dad involved?

  Why did she wait for fourteen years to leave?

  Julian reached for my hand. I looked down and then up at his face. “I thought I had my mom back. It feels unfair to feel the emotion of loss again.” He pulled me close to his chest. “For a moment, I thought I could enjoy chicken noodle soup again. Now all I want is to pretend none of this ever happened.”

  “I’m so sorry, Lily.”

  “Why didn’t you pull me from the car? Prevent me from leaving Las Vegas.”

  He softly chuckled. “Do you really think I could stop you?”

  “No.” I stifled a laugh. “Not with my hot head and fighter ways.”

  “Exactly,” he said, pulling me away from his chest. “Maybe what happened was a good thing.”

  “We need to make sure Otto is okay,” I said, suddenly remembering there was another person in the damn house.

  He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Stay put.” I nodded because I didn’t want to move at the moment. “I’ll be right back, Lily.”

  “Promise?”

  “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  I watched him run toward the small house. It was dark out still, so I lost sight of him quickly. Leaning against a tree, I wrapped my arms around my body as a chill ran up my spine. I wasn’t ready to lose Julian. Yet, I had stood silently as he ran back into the belly of the beast.

  Minutes later, Julian’s figure ran toward me, but he wasn’t alone. As he approached, I could see Otto’s frame coming into focus.

  “Is he okay?”

  “His bell was rung.” Julian had to practically carry him.

  “What the—” I said, reaching out to help place Otto on the ground. “Do you remember what happened?”

  “Your mom is crazy,” Otto murmured.

  “Got anything I don’t already know?”

  He actually smiled. “My phone is in my jacket pocket. Call my men.”

  Julian did as he advised. Within minutes, we were surrounded by ten men all with guns at the ready.

  Otto sat up carefully. “They didn’t do this.” He pointed to the house. “She did.”

  It felt like we were in the middle of the octagon during a fight for the next several minutes. Otto was barking off commands. Then his boss pulled up and was barking the demands even louder. Suddenly Julian and I were whisked into an unmarked car. I was waiting for someone to hold my arm up and yell winner.

  “We need you both to stay in San Francisco for a few more days,” Otto said, sitting down on a chair opposite me.

  “That’s fine.” I scowled. “What happens to my mom?”

  “She’ll be going away for a very long time.”

  “But she’ll get a fair trial, right?”

  “She’s already confessed, Lily.”

  I stood and started to pace. “The list.” I turned to face him. “She was the one that killed all those people?”

  “That’s what she claims,” he said, leaning back in the chair. “Your father is not here to defend her, so we have to use that confession.”

  “Because the evidence clearly points in my parents’ direction?”

  “Exactly.” He stood and lightly touched my arm. “You’re not in danger.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  It was hard to switch my brain. I was raised to believe one thing. Now I had to see everything from a different lens. What if I wasn’t ready for the change?

  “Come over and sit back down for a moment.” When I sat down in front of him, he said, “Here’s what we found out. Your mom’s father did work for the mob but not directly for Giano. He was considered an associate.”

  Again, I was confused. Was that news supposed to make me feel better? “And that means what?”

  “Her father was marking off people that were obviously not in favor of Giano.” I probably had my what the fuck face still perfectly in place. “We did a lot of research on the Nesta mob. Giano hated people that thought differently from him or talked bad about him in public.” Otto paused for a moment, probably to let me interject. I didn’t say anything, so he continued. “So anyone under the mob fell in line with his orders and more than likely started to believe everything he demanded.”

  “If my dad was still here, this wouldn’t be happening right now.”

  Otto shrugged his shoulders. “Hard to say. If I had to venture a guess, I would say your mom was plotting to get the list. She probably started devising a plan the moment she left.”

  I rubbed my eyes and dropped my head in my hands.

  This was too much to process.

  “I love you, Lily Bug,” my mom yelled as two federal agents tugged her down a long hall.

  Julian had his arms wrapped tightly around my body. I was struggling to fight back the tears. For two days, I let myself stay on autopilot. Now it felt like a dam cracking and every emotion permeating the wall so perfectly placed.

  “Julian,” I said through my tears.

  “What, baby?”

  “I need Charlie, please.”

  My best friend was not blood, but she was the only family I could fully trust now. She was the one person in the world I knew who would understand what I was feeling.

  He let go long enough to shake Otto’s hand. Then he pulled me close and guided me down to the taxi waiting outside the station that would take us to the airport.

  25

  Three months later…

  “Congratulations on your second win, Lily.” Chuck Anders, owner of the AFC, held his hand out for me to take.

  I was rubbing a towel over my face when he approached, so he took me by surprise. I’m sure my eyes were the size of saucers. “Mr. Anders,” I said, wrapping the towel around my neck.

  “Please, call me, Chuck.”

  “Okay, Chuck. You decided to see how the other team plays?” Of course, I was referring to him being at a Spartacus fight. “Wasn’t there an AFC fight in St. Louis this weekend?”

  “A little birdie told me you were on the main card. I had to see what all the fuss was about.”

  His words made me laugh. I liked his sense of humor. “And?”

  “And I want to talk with you soon.”

  “I’m sure Julian told you the last time I stepped foot into the AFC business office, it didn’t go as planned?”

  He nodded. “He did. That’s been taken care of.”

  I couldn’t tell him to choose his words wisely. After all I experienced over the last several months with my parents and the supposed ties with organized crime, taken care of seemed a bit harsh. “I hope she’s okay,” I teased.

  “What? Oh yeah, she’s just looking for another job now.”

  “That’s good,” I said, pulling the towel from my neck and sitting down on a chair. We were in the back area of the arena. I was on the way to my locker room when Chuck stopped me. “Since you know Julian personally, should he call you directly to set up a time?”

  “Lily,” he said, touching my shoulder. “I’m not here because of Julian. It’s an outlying factor, but it’s all you. That fight tonight was amazing.”

  “Sure, I get it. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

  “Sometimes it helps.” Right as Chuck was about to say something else, a man walked up and stood next to my chair. “Listen.” He smiled. “Just have Julian call me and we will talk soon.”

  “Sounds good.” I waited until Chuck was out of sight. Then I stood to face the mystery guy. “Can I help you?”

  “I have a message,” the guy said in a deep baritone voice.

  It took me a moment to regi
ster, and then I realized I knew him. The guy had a baseball cap on, but I could tell he was bald. It was the man from the storage unit. The one walking out of the main office with a briefcase. I felt a little worried and glanced around. Julian, Charlie, and Brooks were standing about ten feet away, laughing about something. At least I wasn’t alone.

  “Message?”

  “From your mother.”

  “You do realize my mother is in jail, right?”

  “Well, things may be different now.” His eyes darted side to side like he was checking to see who was around before continuing. “She’s safe.”

  My lawyer had called after my mom was sentenced to life in prison and no chance of parole. That was two months and ten days ago to be exact. Since Mom confessed, the sentencing took place quicker than expected. Once a week, I was given a report on my mom and how she was doing in jail. The last report I received was six days ago.

  Wait, if it was six days ago, that means I was due to receive a phone call tomorrow. My body went ridged, and I glanced back over toward Julian. He had a smile on his face as he looked over. We devised a signal so we knew when the other was in trouble or needed help. I gave the signal.

  The guy cleared his throat. “She said the list is complete.”

  “What? Um—”

  “Hey, babe.” Julian wrapped his arms about my waist. “Is this a fan of yours?”

  The guy looked at Julian and then back at me. “Great fight.” He held out his hand.

  I hesitated but decided to take it. “Thank you.” I watched the mystery guy walk away. He didn’t have on a tailored suit this time. Instead, to fit in at the event, he wore khaki slacks, a dark blue polo shirt, and brown loafers. His baseball cap didn’t fit into the equation at all.

  “Did you know him?” Julian pulled my body closer.

  “No, he just wanted to randomly chat about the fight.”

  I felt bad lying to Julian. Yet, I needed to find out if what the guy was telling me was true. Did my mom really escape from prison?

  And what the fuck, the list was complete. So that meant there were five bodies somewhere. Why would my mom feel the need to finish the list? It just didn’t make sense.

  My hope was I could stay far away from the fray.

  All I wanted to do was fight, and she knew that.

  My phone connected and I heard my lawyers voice on the other end. “I was going to check in with you tomorrow?” Matt said, lightly chuckling. “Everything okay?”

  “Well, I should be asking that question?” I said, leaning against the brick wall outside Julian’s house. “How is Mom doing this week?”

  “The report hasn’t arrived yet from the warden.”

  “Wait, do you go weekly and see her or not?”

  He paused for a beat. “Lily, did someone talk to you.”

  “Should they?”

  “Listen, I go see your mom once a month and then get a report the rest of the month from the warden.”

  I pushed off the side of the house. “What is the date of your last visit?”

  “What is this about?”

  “Just give me a fucking date?”

  “The twentieth.”

  It had been three weeks since he last talked to my mom. I needed to find out when she escaped. Either way, she had more than enough time to escape and kill five people. I was so stupid to entrust my lawyer with weekly check-ins. Running my hand through my hair, I let my body fall to the ground. “You’re fired, Matt.” I hit end on my phone and threw it toward the rose garden.

  “Not a fan of roses anymore?” Charlie teased stepping around the side of the house.

  “What? Oh. Right now, I’m not a fan of much.”

  She sat down beside me. “Yeah, want to talk about it?”

  “Can you keep a secret?”

  Charlie rolled her eyes. “Really?”

  She was known as the best secret keeper on the planet. “That was a dumb question.”

  “Clearly,” she said, nudging my shoulder.

  I let out a deep sigh. “Mom’s free.”

  She jumped up. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  “Shhhhh,” I said, grabbing her wrist to pull her back down. “Way to keep a secret, C.”

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know.” I proceeded to share all that transpired all the way up to firing Matt. “If she is smart, she’s long gone by now.” A part of me worried she would show up and try to be a part of my life still. Then I realized that was crazy since she was wanted by the law.

  “Jesus,” she breathed. “Could this story get anymore crazy?” I gave her a look, and we both started to laugh. We weren’t laughing because we thought this was all funny. We were laughing because we both truly thought it was completely ridiculous. “So what now?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You need to tell Julian.”

  “I will.”

  “When?”

  “Soon.”

  26

  “Lily,” Candace said, waving me into her office. “This is a lovely surprise.”

  It took everything in me to not roll my eyes. “Hi, Candace.” I walked over to the chair directly in front of her desk and sat down. “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”

  “Of course. It sounded important.”

  “Can we cut the pleasantries?”

  She sat back in her chair. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

  “Candace, you approached me for an exclusive several months back. Why?”

  After talking to Charlie about my mom and having no clue what to do, I started thinking about Candace and her involvement. It had been three months since everything went down, and I still had not made a point to go see her. Let’s be real, I was avoiding the conversation.

  “Why?” She reached for a pen and started to flip it pack and forth in her fingers. “Well—”

  Before she had the chance to continue, I stopped her. “Don’t say it’s because of my family’s last name.”

  Candace glanced out the window and sat there for several minutes. She let out a deep sigh and leaned her elbows on the desk. “Your dad said something to me once while we were still dating.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. “Something that concerned you?”

  “Not at first. Then when I moved to Las Vegas, and I saw he was friends with Julian, things started clicking into place.”

  I stood up and walked over to the big bay window. “Was it about my mom?”

  Maybe this visit was going to be exactly what I needed. Candace surprised me by standing and walking over beside me. She placed her hand on my arm. “I read you wrong didn’t I, Lily?”

  “Well, if you thought I had anything to do with whatever you know. You’re wrong.” I turned my body to face her. “Candace, can I ask you a question off the record?”

  “This whole conversation will be off the record.”

  “Why did you get suspicious when you saw my dad with Julian? I mean, they’re fighters. They work at the same place and would have to interact sometimes.”

  She smiled. “Because it’s known that Julian helps with some stories. He’s an anonymous source for our reporters. Off the record of course.” She winked.

  I pretended to zip my lips shut while struggling to stifle a laugh. “I’m sorry. This is all so weird for me.”

  “No, it’s okay,” she said, pointing to the small couch. “Let’s sit.”

  “So you see Julian who is with my dad and think Julian has switched alliances?”

  “Pretty much.”

  It all made sense now. Candace thought Fight It Out could be dirty. Which in turn makes me look dirty, especially because of my family history. Wow. Could this life I was dealt get any crazier?

  “I just found out by accident about my family. Well, my mom.”

  “And your dad,” she said with a look of confusion in her voice.

  “Got mixed up with the wrong crowd.”

  There was a knock
at the door, and a young woman poked her head inside. “Candace. There’s a woman on line two who insists she needs to talk to you immediately.”

  “I’m sorry, Lily. Thank you,” she said and stood to go answer the call. “This is Candace.”

  She didn’t say anything for the longest time. Her head was bent, and her shoulders were slumped. I watched as her body fell back into the chair. Still silent, she finally glanced toward me with fear etched on every corner of her face.

  I jumped up and ran over. Bending my head down to listen to the person on the other end, I could hear it was a woman’s voice coming through.

  My mom.

  Not thinking, I grabbed the phone from her hand. “Really, Mom.”

  The woman went silent for a beat and then cleared her throat. “Is that my Lily Bug?”

  I looked down to find the speaker button and hit it. Candace didn’t deserve to be in the dark. She already knew enough of the story. “Where are you?”

  “Well, I can’t mention that, sweetie.”

  “But you can call and harass the editor-in-chief at MMA Journal?”

  “When she starts to bother my girl, yes.”

  I looked around the office. Then my mind went to that damn scrambler Julian used. Was this office bugged? Holy shit, did Mom realize how deep Candace was in this story?

  Candace was holding a pen. I snatched it from her hand and wrote down, Don’t say anything out loud. I think they can hear us. Her eyes went wide and she nodded.

  “You still there, sweetie?”

  “Yup.”

  “I wish I could’ve had more time with you.”

  I leaned against the desk. Where was this conversation going? “Mom, why did you escape?”

  “Baby, being locked up is so awful.”

  “Yeah, well killing people is worse.”

  “That was harsh.”

  Candace quietly stood and went to her door. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I knew she was getting her assistant. She motioned for me to keep talking.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, sitting down in the overstuffed office chair. “Did you leave the country?”