The Fighter's Block

by Hadley Quinn

  “Try again,” Cole told him. “I’ve known Mickey almost my entire life. He started training me when I was ten years old, and after getting into some trouble with the law, he bailed me out of it and helped me focus on using my talents for something good instead. Sound a little familiar?” he asked, looking around the room at each fighter.

  Yeah that sounded familiar to every single one of them.

  Even Scott.

  “I would think you’d be grateful for what Mickey’s done for you,” Cole said. “He’s kept a pretty big secret about you all this time and no one was the wiser.”

  Scott immediately glared at Van. Besides Mickey, Van was the only other person that knew.

  “You really think Van had something to do with people finding that out?” Cole asked. “Think again. Brian Thompson was on that fight club like a fly on a piece of shit. He was looking for the right candidate. He could have tried blackmailing any one of these guys but he chose you. The one person with the most to lose, and the one other person besides Quincy he could manipulate. You’d finally found a place where you could hide your identity and someone was going to ruin it all. It could have ruined your career. Personally, I won’t reveal such a secret, but between that and the other shit you’ve been hiding, it’s why Brian chose you.”

  “What the fuck are we talking about here?” Paul scoffed. “Jesus, hiding what?” He looked at Cole for an answer but he wasn’t going to give one, so he looked at Scotty and asked, “What is he talking about, man?”

  He would have denied it until he was dead in his grave before this moment, but Scott decided to come clean. “I’m gay,” he finally announced. “Okay? I’m a fucking homo, or queer, or fag, or whatever loose homophobic term it is you guys always throw around. And before you get all grossed out about me fondling you in the cage or whatever, you can fuck off. It was never like that.”

  The room was silent. Dani felt a little sick where she still stood by the hallway observing all of this. It was morning sickness, but add a mountain slide of new information and she was absolutely overwhelmed.

  “No one cares about your sexual preferences,” Cole stated. “You could have kept that to yourself if you wanted. I’m talking about the information you’ve been selling to opponents and the fights you’ve fixed to make a profit. You’ve been placing bets against your own guys when you know they’re nursing an injury or dealing with a particular weakness. Now, anyone that studies these fighters can gather some of that stuff on their own, but what you’ve been doing is a little low, don’t you think? Taking money to work for the enemy? You’re a mole. A liar. A cheat.”

  Every man in the room felt anger brewing inside.

  “That’s against our code!” Gary snapped. “We don’t do that shit in our club!”

  “Scotty,” Paul said, shaking his head. He was pissed but disappointed at the same time.

  Van was the next to speak. “Did you really do that, Scotty? You were selling us out like that? Did Brian really blackmail you because of it?”

  There was no answer. Scotty wasn’t going to admit to anything.

  “Brian got to Quincy first,” Cole continued. “He got into gambling too, but not against his own guys. Brian knew he owed money, and when Quincy was pretty much no good to him anymore and went into hiding, he moved on to the next person that could help him.”

  Everyone looked at each other again and then settled on Scotty. He wouldn’t look any of them in the eye.

  “But a person can only take so much, right Scott?” Cole asked. “If it got out that you were stabbing your brothers in the back…”

  Again he wouldn’t respond.

  “When the opportunity presented itself, he decided to take care of Brian once and for all. He beat the shit out of him to teach him a lesson, and then he killed him to be done with it all. He framed the one person that looked guilty no matter what, and while the police were busy with Van—”

  “I did you all a favor!” Scott shouted, finally revealing some emotion again. “That fucker is dead and you were off the hook, Van! What was wrong with just leaving it at that!?”

  “You fucking sold us out!” Paul bellowed. “Does it really come that easy to you!? You almost sent Van to prison!”

  “Does it look like he’s behind bars!?” Scotty yelled back. He couldn’t say anymore. He was through. It had all come to an end. The room held an eerie silence, but emotions were felt in the air from hearts pounding with anger, anxiety, and fear.

  Finally Van sighed. “You could have come to me, Scotty. Any of us. We would have helped you out. Brian was an absolute piece of shit. We could have put him away together. You didn’t have to kill him, man. We could have figured it out.”

  Scotty looked him in the eye. “Fuck you, Van! You wanted to do the same thing!”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed. “But I would have taken responsibility for it.”

  “Right!” Scott laughed. “Responsible Van, always doing the noble thing. ‘Oh, I could kill a guy with my bare hands but I’m only man enough because I’d admit to it.’ You know how much of that shit I’ve had to hear over the years? It’s like Mickey had to fucking shove it down my throat! Van this, Van that, I should follow Van’s example. I’m sick of it!”

  “What the hell is your problem?” Cody growled. “Van has loved you like a brother! We all have!”

  Scotty’s anger was at its peak. “My problem? My problem is that I’ve been fucked over by life ten times over! You try being blackmailed and see how you like it!”

  “You were already doing shit you weren’t supposed to!” Gary yelled.

  “That son of a bitch deserved it! Do you know what I’ve been through these past couple of months!?”

  Van could only imagine because of what Dani had been through. He looked at her, standing by the hall with anguish written all over her face. She’d been abused by that bastard piece of shit and Van had been there to step in. It was just the way things had worked out, and he didn’t know what he could have done differently. Van knew how hard Dani had taken all of this, even trying to spare him the pain by removing herself from his life. He wouldn’t let her, though. Dani wasn’t responsible for another person’s choices.

  His heart broke, not just for her but also for everything else. He couldn’t even explain it. But he could hardly feel sorry for Scotty and the betrayal he’d chosen. That wasn’t something Van could understand. Thinking back, some strange shit had happened and it seemed to make sense. Men had lost fights they shouldn’t have lost; some had injuries that were made worse, like Paul. If Scotty really had been selling them out, it would explain a lot of unusual circumstances that had occurred over the past year.

  As Van’s livid emotions built just from thinking about it, he glanced at Dani again and reminded himself that there were better things in life to focus on. He felt it was time to just leave everything else in the past. But at that moment, Scotty pointed to Dani and said, “Yeah, this is all her fault. You fucking deserved it, Van! She brought all of this shit—”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Van shouted, shoving him so hard he hit the brick wall. “This goes beyond her. She’s a victim too, you asshole!”

  “Don’t fucking touch me!” Scotty shouted back.

  Both Cody and Paul tried to step between them, even though it was a stupid idea to stop either one of them if it came down to a fight. But it was too late when Scotty clocked Van in the face with his casted hand, and then the two of them went full-out takedown mode onto the floor.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Paul and Cody backed off at this point. This was Van’s fight and they both knew he wanted it. Unfortunately the apartment was going to take on some damage, being that two raging bulls were charging through it. Dani could only watch from the sidelines with Marnie as the two men crashed over the coffee table, and then over the couch. She knew pleading with the other guys to stop it was not going to do any good.

  Even Cole waited it out. He was thankful he didn’t have to dea
l with the usual weapons that could be pulled on someone in a confrontation like this, and the danger to others in the vicinity that came with it, but two ultimate fighters was trickier to deal with. He had to decide when to step in.

  Finally Van’s chokehold on Scotty worried him a bit. He had him in submission with no hopes of escape, and Cole came over to end it.

  “Van. Hey. It’s over, okay?”

  He didn’t think Van would let the guy go until Dani came near and said, “Van? Let him go, okay?”

  Van released his hold and hopped to his feet, working to catch his breath as he glared at the heap of betrayal on the floor. At Cole’s request, Gary and Cody came over to make sure Scotty was all right. Van left them to join Dani and she wrapped her arms around him.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, burying her face against him.

  “Nothing you should be sorry for, sweetheart. It’s over. We move on.”

  She nodded her head and continued to hold him, but this whole entire mess made her sick. Two of her husband’s friends had been duped and manipulated by her ex, all because he was a greedy, despicable asshole. How was she ever going to get over this? What did this mean for Van and his remaining brothers?

  Cole opened the apartment door a minute after making a phone call; Doug Buchanan and three other police officers were coming down the hall. Mickey was also amongst them and the man looked twenty years older than he was. This entire heartbreaking mess had happened from his fight club and he was devastated. He watched Scotty be cuffed and hauled out of the room, but Scotty wouldn’t look at him.

  Doug approached Cole and said, “We got it all.”

  Cole nodded and handed him the listening device.

  Dani was observing this by now. She was finally beginning to understand when she caught sight of the gun at his waist when his clothing moved. “You’re a cop?” she asked Cole softly.

  Cole glanced at Van and then finally at Dani. “I’m a private investigator. Jack sent me here to snoop and collect information to prove Van innocent.”

  “You’re a cop?” Paul spat. No one could tell if he was pissed or just surprised.

  “I’m an investigator,” Cole repeated. “And for the record, I’m sorry for breaking into all of your apartments. Repeatedly.” He added a tiny little smirk that only Van caught.

  Paul did look surprised that time. “Excuse me?”

  “I couldn’t tell you who he was,” Van told him. “My future depended on it.”

  Once the information sank in, Paul seemed to dismiss it. Cody waved it off too and said, “Yeah, man. No worries. I’m just glad this is all over with. Sad about it, but glad.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Paul nodded.

  “You were in my apartment?” Marnie narrowed her eyes at Cole. “Jesus, now I gotta worry about being blackmailed.”

  Everyone chuckled and Cole shook his head. “Trust me, I’ve come across worse.”

  “Which makes me wonder,” Dani said. “How did you get my jewelry?”

  Cole took a deep breath. “Well, if you can keep up… Turns out that Andy is a thief. He took the jewelry thinking it was just yours and Brian would never know. He’d actually taken other things of yours and sold them online. When Brian was pissed that he couldn’t find the jewelry, Andy put them back in his apartment like they’d just been misplaced. And then when Scotty killed Brian, he took them.”

  “What?”

  “I came across some things on Andy’s computer that I didn’t quite understand at first, but once you told me about your missing diamonds, it all made sense. He’d been trying to pin down a value for them and find a buyer. He was planning to skip town to escape his brother once and for all. After Brian was killed, he just needed to let the dust clear before he left.”

  “Andy finally found the guts to defy his brother?”

  “Don’t think too much of the guy, Dani. He’s who set Van up.”

  She stared at him. “What? I thought you said Scotty did.”

  “Andy was the mastermind behind it. A set up that almost worked? It was pretty good; the two conspired together. Andy told him about the jewelry that was in Brian’s possession. When Scotty was there to do the deed, he stole that as payment. It was premeditated. They planned it together.”

  “Oh my God,” Dani whispered, shaking her head.

  “Last night we set up a meeting to exchange the jewelry. Scotty was told there was a buyer willing to pay two hundred grand for it. We had someone that he trusted make the deal and the exchange, and then the informant met up with me to hand them over. Scott was given marked bills and they’re most likely being removed from his apartment right now,” he nodded his head to next door. “Andy’s already in custody. He’s been singing like a jailbird for a deal.”

  Dani shook her head at how much criminal activity had actually been going on. She would have never suspected Scotty. He’d always been so nice to her, and he’d been over for meals with everyone else. He was always polite, always helpful… He’d even washed dishes for her.

  And even Andy… She never would have thought he was that devious on his own. Maybe he had more of his brother in him than she thought. No wonder Cole had warned her not to trust people so easily. She felt like she’d learned her lesson with Brian, but she was heartbroken that one of Van’s fight brothers had gone down in flames. She’d forgiven Quincy. She truly believed that he didn’t know what Brian had in mind the night he’d led her to him. But Scotty’s actions had almost put Van in prison for life. That was a different story.

  “There are a couple other details we came across.” Cole looked at Dani and asked, “Remember who you talked to about Van’s sister?”

  Dani was hesitant but eventually nodded.

  “Brian had been following you that day. He tracked that guy down—the social worker—got everything out of him and then made him give up your phone number. That’s how you got the text that one night.”

  Dani swallowed. She thought she’d always have to wonder about that, and even though she had suspected as much, it felt horrible to hear. And why did an effort to do something good have to backfire on her?

  She tried to shake the thought. “So which of them planted the evidence in Van’s truck?”

  “Andy,” Cole answered. “He used a key that Scotty had copied for him. Scotty stole the shoes out of his gym locker, as well. The gun was apparently Brian’s. Go figure.”

  Dani had never been aware that Brian owned a gun. Just the idea of it gave her a chill.

  “What about the caller?” Van finally spoke.

  “Scotty.”

  The room was silent as everyone let the information sink in. It would probably never settle with any of them, but at least everything made sense.

  “So you really started rumors at the Divehouse?” Cody asked Cole, just to be sure.

  Cole barely shrugged. “I had to. And spending time with Dani… I just had to see where everyone’s loyalties were. You’d be surprised how much you observe from people because you’re an outsider.”

  Paul scoffed, but it was because he felt played. But questions were answered and things could go back to the way they were, so he wasn’t going to fuss over it. “Well no harm done, I guess. Now that I know you were just in it to solve Van’s case.”

  Yes, it started out as a paying job, but Cole would keep the rest of it to himself…

  “Well,” Van said with a sigh. “I want all of you out of my apartment. Now. I was in the middle of something with my wife before we were so rudely interrupted.” He scooped Dani up in his arms and she squealed with surprise. He headed down the hall for the bedroom as he said, “Lock the door behind you.”

  “My God, Van, you’re subtle,” Marnie scowled playfully. But when Van only offered a big fat grin as a reply, she just laughed along with everyone else.

  “You are a caveman, you know that?” Dani teased him as he shut the bedroom door with his foot.

  He gently set her on the bed and laid her down to kiss her. Then he drop
ped onto his back next to her and groaned. “Actually I was hoping you’d ice my face. It fucking hurts.”

  She stared at him for a moment with surprise, and then laughed out loud. “You had to act all macho in front of your friends?”

  He chuckled good-naturedly. “No, it didn’t hurt this bad until now. The adrenaline has diminished.”

  Dani rolled onto her side and propped herself up on an elbow. “Ooh, it looks terrible.” There were other marks on his face from his fight the night before, but she lightly brushed her fingers over the cheek that Scotty had struck with his cast. It was very red and swollen, but she could see that it was also starting to bruise. She leaned forward and softly placed her lips against his face. “I’m sorry, baby. Lemme go get you some ice.”

  Van took her wrist and wouldn’t let her leave him. Dani smiled when he pulled her closer to him, positioning her on top of his bare chest. “I can think of something else that would make me feel even better.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”

  With a nod he gave her a wicked smile. “Yeah. It’s warm…and it feels really good when I’m in it…and I love how it’s always wet for me…”

  “You think so, huh?” she smirked.

  “Well yeah. A shower is usually wet when I—”

  She slugged him in the shoulder and he laughed out loud.

  “Van!”

  But his laughter was contagious and she couldn’t help but join in. Then he scooped her up in his arms and lovingly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  He kissed her on the lips, savoring every emotion that flowed through him.

  “Lady, I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

  Epilogue

  “I really gotta go,” Van said for the third time. “Seriously—”

  “No, please, let me pay you for your help. Really—”

  “I don’t want your money, man,” Van lightly laughed. “Just get home to your family, okay? There’s nothing more important than that. Take care.”