Chapter 19 - Carter
CARTER
It didn’t seem real; pointing at the door and having him walk straight through it. At exactly the moment I was talking about him, too.
Cole ‘the Hammer’ Kane made the bar in three long strides. His eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse, but insistent.
“WHERE IS SHE?”
I continued sorting the mail, as casually as I could. All while keeping an eye on him.
“Where’s who?”
His face twisted angrily, as he pounded a ham-sized fist onto bar. Glasses rattled. Coasters jumped.
Grizz however, remained perfectly still and unfazed.
“You know damn well who!” Cole shouted. “I’m looking for my girlfriend! I’m looking for Hayden!”
He reached down, grabbed the closest stool, and flung it backwards. I watched it sail across the room as if it were made of Styrofoam, hit the wall, and come to rest right beside the front door.
Casually I picked up my phone and started punching buttons.
“What are you doing?” Cole growled.
“Calling the police,” I replied calmly. “Having you trespassed.”
“Trespassed!?”
“Sure. You just vandalized my bar.”
For a moment he looked ready to grab me and pull me over the bar, or at least attempt to, anyway. But then his face contorted in mocking laughter.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” he spat.
“You destroyed that jukebox,” I pointed.
Cole turned his head in that direction and snarled. “I’ve never seen that thing in my life.”
“Tell that to the cameras,” I pointed again, this time upward.
The big asshole paused, as uncertainty settled over him. Could his Neanderthal brain register that those cameras were the size of car batteries, and probably hadn’t worked since the first Bush administration? Probably not. But the amount of dust on them might’ve told him otherwise.
“Where’s my girlfriend?” Cole spat again.
“You mean the woman you chased in here?” I shrugged. “No idea. Haven’t seen her since Halloween, when you trashed the place.”
“You mean when your whole bar attacked me?”
“I’m not sure she was ever your girl to begin with,” I said, ignoring him. “She stuck around just long enough to tell us what an asshole you were, and how she regretted ever talking to you again.”
Cole stiffened and curled his hands into fists. We were walking a tightrope now. The unchecked rage boiling just behind those crimson eyes made it obvious he could snap at any moment.
“Maybe you should just leave her alone.”
Bodie spoke the words so nonchalantly, I almost laughed. That would’ve been it, though. If I had laughed, we’d be on the floor already, rolling around.
Instead, Cole whirled on him. His eyes narrowed furiously, in non-recognition.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?”
Bodie rattled the ice in his glass a little, before setting it down. Then he stood up. At his full, impressive height of six-foot-five, he was almost as tall as Cole.
“I said, maybe you should forget about Hayden,” Bodie replied, clearly and plainly. “If you’re in here looking for her three days later, it’s obvious she doesn’t want to see you.”
Cole was shaking now. His fists were clenched so tight, his fingers were stark white.
“In fact, she told us so,” Bodie went on.
Cole inched forward, but Bodie stood his ground. In direct contrast to the giant fighter, there was nothing but calm in his eyes.
“And how’s that?” Cole grunted through clenched teeth.
Before my friend could answer, I hopped over the bar and landed beside him. Cole took a defense step back, situating the two of us on what seemed to be a legitimate fighting angle. It was something he’d probably done a million times before. The movement was fluid and practiced.
“‘Your girl’ stuck around here Halloween night, after you rage-quit the bar,” Bodie said evenly.
“She told us she was through with you, and that she never wanted to see you again. She also told us you might not take no for an answer.” He dropped his gaze momentarily, to Cole’s tremblings fists. “Seems she was right.”
Cole’s red-rimmed eyes shifted back and forth between us. His expression was lethal.
“Maybe I’ll just take the two of you apart, then,” he threatened.
“You could try,” Bodie shrugged.
Cole let out a laugh. “Try? Are you kidding? Do you know how easily I’d—”
“Look,” I cut him off sharply. “This whole thing is lose-lose for you. You know that, right?”
The skin around the fighter’s jaw was so tight I thought his mandible might pop out. He glared at Bodie for an extra long second or two, before his gaze shifted to me.
“Oh yeah? Why?’
“Because this can only go one of two ways,” I said. “If you manage to beat us, it’s all caught on camera. You’ll go to jail. Imagine the headline: ‘ex-MMA fighter beats up bar owners.’ Doesn’t sound very appealing, does it?”
Cole thought for a second. His lip curled in disgust.
“You’d get arrested for sure,” I went on. “On top of that, you’ll be mocked and ridiculed. Your whole legacy would be reduced to one thing: a rage-fueled asshole who couldn’t stop hitting people, outside the ring.”
“Octagon,” Cole grunted.
“What?”
“It’s an octagon, not a ring.”
“Whatever,” I waved him off. “The point here is, any shot at your redemption arc would be over, instantly. You already ruined your career, pounding on some unconscious opponent after the referee tried pulling you off. That’s also why someone took out your knee later on. Revenge.”
His look of utter disbelief was worth whatever might’ve happened next. The last thing he’d expected was for me to have done my homework. I’d gone back, and watched the videos. I’d seen the interviews.
“The other outcome is that we kick your ass,” I continued, smoothly. “That’s even worse, for you. Just picture that headline: Ex-MMA fighter gets his ass kicked in local bar. The video would be hilarious, too. It would get millions of hits.”
“Video?” he growled again.
I pointed upward; at the dusty camera. Cole frowned, and I saw the fight go out of him.
“I guess it’s your move,” Bodie shrugged. “But make it fast. I have places to be, and this is all very boring.”
He sat back down. He even turned his back to our adversary, which set my nerves on edge.
Luckily, it was already over.
“This isn’t over,” Cole spat, in an almost comical defiance of my last thought.
He paced the bar, left to right, looking in every direction at once.
I didn’t particularly like the way his eyes lingered on certain things; the certificate of occupancy, our liquor license, and various other framed items that hung on The Refuge’s walls.
Eventually he smiled — evilly, I might add — and stormed through the door without another word.
“Heh…” Grizz grunted, from his corner seat. “Those cameras went up thirty-something years ago! Your father helped his uncle set them up, after a couple of break-ins.”
I looked at Grizz. There were so many things I didn’t know. So many unknowns my father had left me with, when the cancer abruptly took him. My grand uncle had left just as many, not long before.
“That big brick has to know that, right?” Grizz cackled, hoisting his empty glass.
I shrugged, took his glass behind the bar, and began refilling it.
“Who knows?” I sighed wearily. “But he’s definitely not splitting the atom anytime soon.”