Chapter Four #2
The room was gigantic, and empty, with the exception of seating stands surrounding a large cage centered in the room.
She had seen it before. It was what MMA fighters used.
She wasn’t a fan but her dad and brother were.
She had seen enough fights to last her a lifetime.
She never understood the appeal. Getting paid to get the shit kicked out of you?
She raised up on her toes to see past the men milling by. She crinkled her eyebrows. The mat on the cage was stained with darkish brown spots.
“Is that blood?”
Her question went unanswered as her hand was clasped and they walked to the far end of the room. A tight squeeze was the only interaction she had with Taylor. The plan, she just had to remember the plan.
They followed Dante through another door and up a flight of stairs.
A man in a collared black tight fitted shirt stood on the landing.
The hallway wasn’t loud but she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
They were shuffled into what look like an old office that was decorated as if money were no object.
Leather couches covered every square inch of the room, with a bar in the corner.
There were only about twenty people, mostly men, but a few women.
Taylor led her across the room and nudged her to sit.
“Is it your first fight, girls?”
Kenzie jerked her head. A blonde with a plunging neckline to her dress smiled back at her. Her cleavage on display was hard not to look at, even for a heterosexual woman like Kenzie. It took effort not to look down. The woman giggled.
“I’m Callie.” She winked and pointed to her breasts. “They’re fake.”
That’s your introduction? Kenzie’s eyes widened and she glanced down at the not-so- subtle set. No shit, lady. People aren’t usually born with basketball sized breasts. How was she even supposed to respond to that? “I’m Kenzie and mine aren’t.” Taylor leaned over her lap, smiling at the woman.
“I’m Liz, this is Meg, and they’re fabulous.” Fake names, really?
The woman’s smile spread across her face. Taylor had a way of telling people what they wanted to hear, which was obvious from the girl next to them.
Taylor tapped her knee and whispered, “I’ll be right back.”
Kenzie lunged for her hand forcing Taylor to twist back into her.
“You are not leaving me. That’s not part of the plan,” she whispered through gritted teeth.
“Relax. When opportunity strikes, you take it.” A sly smile formed around her lips. “This is gonna be easier than I thought. Just stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.”
She pulled her hand out of Kenzie’s grasp and made her way to the bar tucked in the corner.
“Who you here with?”
Kenzie jerked her head to the woman next to her, losing sight of Taylor. “I’m sorry.”
Callie glanced around the room and her gaze landed back on Kenzie. “Who are you here with? My man’s fighting tonight,” she said proudly.
“Oh, um, I’m not with anyone.”
Callie stared at her. She tilted her head as if confused. “Then how’d you get up here?”
It was Kenzie’s turn to be confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well, they don’t just let anyone come up here. Usually only wives or girlfriends of the fighters. Sometimes, the organizers bring women.”
“Oh, um, Dante invited my friend, I’m just tagging along.”
“How long they been together?”
“They’re not together, together. She doesn’t really know him that well.”
“Well, he knows her.” Callie giggled and sipped her drink.
Kenzie flinched. “What do you mean?”
“They don’t just let anyone up here. This is VIP.
Trust me, if you’re up here, they know you, everything about you.
” She leaned closer and Kenzie immediately followed.
“My man says they have cameras in the front, some kind of high-tech photo image scan. They do a check before you’re allowed into the holding room.
It’s crazy, right?” She giggled. “From one scan of your face, they can pull up everything on you, who you are, where you live.”
She could feel the blood draining from her face, her flesh breaking out into a prickled chill. Cameras. Her body temperature plummeted and she knew the feeling. This was what happened right before she puked.
They knew who they were, where they lived.
If Taylor followed through with this, they’d know exactly who took the money and precisely where to find them.
She licked her lips, batting down the chunks rising from her stomach.
They had to get outta here. Her eyes darted to the bar.
Three men stood around it but no sign of Taylor.
A cool hand rested on her hand. “You alright?”
“Yeah, just looking for my friend.” The room wasn’t huge but more people had come in since they arrived. If she wanted to get out, she’d be skirting her way to the exit.
“There she is?”
She turned back to Callie who was looking down at the room below through the glass.
Kenzie stood and peered down through the masses of people.
It was easy to spot her as there weren’t many women.
Taylor stood close to the back wall and was talking with a guy she’d never seen.
The lump in her throat got larger constricting her breathing.
Why would Taylor leave her up here? The only exit was on the main floor.
She was trapped and her best friend had abandoned her. What the hell?
“I’m gonna go check on her, make sure she’s good.”
Callie smiled oblivious to what was going on in Kenzie’s head. “Okay, I’ll save your seats.”
Kenzie mustered a smile. Her lips tightened almost making it impossible. She slowly weaved through the throngs of men, bumping into one.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, just a few feet away from the door.
The man looked down at her and her stomach plummeted. She knew this guy. The scar and the green eyes, she remembered him. Stone. He was one of the guys looking for Taylor. He stared down at her. His scowl locked in place.
We’re so screwed.
She turned quickly, rushing to the door and threw it open almost knocking the man guarding the door.
She gripped the banister and ran down the stairs, tripping on the last one and falling to the ground. Her knees slammed into the hard floor and she yelped. The pain shot up through her calves. She was pretty sure she just busted her knee caps. Oh fuck!
She dropped her head and took a breath. Suddenly, large hands grasped her waist and she was being pulled up. The second her feet touched the ground she spun around, face to face with the man with the scar.
“Need to get you the fuck out of here.”
What? She inched away as he stepped forward. Her adrenaline hiked up and all thoughts of her aching knees were gone. She had to get out and away from this guy. Her dad’s voice played in her head. He’d been reciting the same line since she was a little girl.
You ever feel cornered, kick em’ in the balls.
She blocked the pain from her swing. The man’s eyes widened as if he knew what was coming and for the first time in her life, she was quicker than an assailant.
Her sneaker made contact with his crotch before his hands could stop her.
He immediately cowered over gripping his groin, emitting a loud grunt.
“You fucking bitch.”
She spun around and ran through the door, pushing people out of her way.
Taylor was in the same spot she had been in earlier and Kenzie raced to her.
She pushed a body out of her way, shoulder checking some poor guy who got in her way.
Taylor turned a second before she reached her.
She seemed to be able to read Kenzie’s face.
Her feet pounded on the concrete and Kenzie blurted the first thing that popped in her head.
Not, “they’re after us”. She didn’t say, “they know who we are”. Through her hitched breath, she muttered, “You left me.”
In this crazy, dangerous, scene, all she could say was she left her. She had been the most loyal friend to Taylor and she just left her.
Taylor shook her head, scrunching her brows. “No, I didn’t leave you. I just needed…” Her gaze shifted over her shoulder and her bottom lip fell open as her face paled. Taylor, who rarely showed fear, was giving her a look, she’d never seen before. She heaved a breath and said, “Run.”
“What?”
Taylor’s face twitched and her eyes darkened in a dreaded stare. “Run.”
Kenzie whipped her head over her shoulder to see three men, one being Dante heading in their direction.
If there was a foreboding look of death, they were giving it, and it was aimed directly at them.
Taylor grabbed her arm and pushed through the crowd.
She felt like a pinball, bouncing against the throngs of men.
Taylor hooked a left at the same time, a guy fell into her breaking their connection.
Her heart raced. She searched for Taylor.
A hand gripped her shoulder and she shot forward, wiggling her way from the hold.
Kenzie pounded through the mass of people, seeing the exit only a few feet away.
The phrase “run for your life” had never rang truer than at this moment.
****
Bogs stared at the empty alley. Twenty-seven minutes. They had been in there far too long. He glanced down at his phone. Twenty-eight minutes.
When Trent asked them to meet them at the address, even Bogs was shocked.
There were two places the fights usually took place.
This was not the one he expected to be at tonight.
Being a resident of Houston since he was eight, he was well aware there were certain sections you stayed away from.
This was one of them. The east end of downtown had taken a turn a while ago and continued to deteriorate.
There were only a few reasons people came here, none of them good.
Knowing Kenzie was inside had him on edge. What the fuck was she thinking?
“What the hell is taking so long?”
T turned from the window. His eyes had been trained on the alley, same as Bogs.