Chapter 28
28
BLOOD
“C’mon.” Smoke meets me halfway between the bleachers, then jerks his head toward the other brothers. “We got business to handle.”
“I gotta talk to Maxine.”
“Not now.” Smoke slings his arm over my shoulder. “Right now, you gotta be my VP and make nice with Hector.”
I glance back at the gym, then fall in step with Smoke. “It was Hector who murdered Javi.”
Smoke angles me to our seats on the bleachers. “We knew that already.”
“Now I got proof. He’s a fuckin’ sadistic bastard.”
“A sadistic bastard who we gotta?—”
“Very nice setup you have here.” Hector holds out his hand to me.
I glare at him, then return the gesture, shaking hands with the fuckin’ devil.
Hector spreads his arms wide. “I see how you’ve made many improvements since Rico ran it.”
“Blood’s responsible for all of it,” Smoke says.
“Amazing job.”
I hold his gaze. “It’s called hard work.”
Smoke shoots me a side-eye saying “play nice.”
“Ahhh, yes, I never doubt American ingenuity. You have a way of making things happen, much like your neighbors here in Mexico.”
What the hell is this fucker trying to say?
Smoke motions to the front row seats. Hector nods to his two bodyguards, and they stay at the end of the aisle. We put Hector between us, and I shift, putting some distance between us. What was it with these cartel bosses and the heavy cologne?
“I understand Maxine’s one of your best fighters.”
All the shit he’s done to her, and he has the nerve to talk like he doesn’t know her. Fuck, this is gonna be a long-ass night.
“She’s our best fighter.” I glare at Hector. “But you already know that, right?”
“Only what I’ve heard around the city. Although Tijuana is large, it is like a small village when it comes to gossip and information.”
I grind my teeth, and Smoke shoots me a not-so-subtle side-eye, but Hector’s bullshit is jacking me up in a bad way. A way where I want to pull the .35 at the small of my back and shove it in his big mouth.
Diesel heads our way, his strides long and his face set in stone. He leans into my ear. “Gotta talk to you.”
I glance at Smoke, then stand and move closer to the cage, out of earshot. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know. Maxie’s spooked or something. She was fine earlier, and now she’s acting all weird and shit. Says she wants to talk to you.”
I glance over my shoulder, and Smoke is giving me the look again.
“Can’t now.” I angle my body away from Hector and dig into my jeans pocket. “Give this to her.” I press the passport into his palm. “Tell her no matter what happens, I trust her.”
Diesel furrows his brow.
“Just give her the passport and tell her. She’ll understand.”
I break away from Diesel and return to the bleachers.
“Trouble?” Hector asks.
“Nah,” I shoot him a smile, big and fake. “Nothing that concerns you.”
MAXINE
I’ve been focused on the door for the last ten minutes, and when Diesel enters the gym alone, my heart sinks.
The minute Diesel’s in earshot, I pounce. “Where’s Blood?”
“He’s busy, babe, got a lot going on. Hector’s out there with him and the other brothers. We all gotta make sure we play it right.”
“What exactly does . . .” I sigh deeply. He wouldn’t tell me club business, so why bother to ask?
Diesel digs into the front pocket of his jeans. “Blood said to give you this, and that, no matter what happens, he trusts you.” Then he slips the passport into my hand.
I stare at the blue book with the gold lettering, then flip to the first page. The picture Ricky took of me and all my vital information. An amazingly real replica. So perfect, right down to the hologram and the stamp verifying me as a U.S. citizen, which I was until Hector stole my identity.
This document holds my freedom, my escape. The only way I know to save myself while keeping Blood alive.
Diesel’s words echo in my head: “Blood said, no matter what, he trusts you.” Meaning he trusts me to stay and not run. Trust in him to take care of Hector, but trusting anyone, even Blood, seems impossible. All my adult life has centered around lies and deceit. Never hoping, always skeptical. Everyone I’d ever depended on let me down, either willingly or by default. I’d learned to depend on one person and one person only—me.
I couldn’t leave anything to chance. I may not be able to make it back here after the fight, so I slide the passport into the concealed inside pocket of my fight shorts, along with my money.
“Let’s get you taped up.” Diesel winds the tape over my palm, my knuckles, looping it around my thumb, then securing it.
“He say anything else?”
“Nah, but right now he’d want you concentrating on the fight, not worrying about shit he’s got handled.” Diesel wraps my other hand, and I flex both fists.
“Right.” I rock on the balls of my feet, but my brain fast-forwards to after the fight.
“Remember, keep eye contact at all times. Her eyes will tell you her moves. You’re a winner.” He smears Vaseline over my forehead and cheeks. “You got this.”
One of the trainers sticks his head in the door. “Maxie, you’re up in two.”
Adrenaline rockets through my bloodstream, but I force myself to settle. First the fight, then the escape. Blood would hate my plan, but giving me the passport makes it much easier. I secure the fabric flap over the inside pocket, making sure the Velcro is secure and it’s tight to my body.
When Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” pounds over the sound system, Diesel claps his hand on my shoulder. “Showtime.”
BLOOD
The fights before Maxine drag on torturously slow. Keeping up cordial conversation with Hector is a new brand of hell, and after a while, I fall silent and let Smoke throw the bullshit. He is better at it than me anyway.
Finally, the ref announces Maxine’s fight, and my heart jacks up. He introduces her opponent, reads off her stats, and she enters the cage.
Black Sabbath blares through the speakers, and the crowd goes wild. Guys pounding on the bleachers, clapping and high-fiving each other. Women yelling Maxine’s name, saying she’s the best. Fuckin’ crazy.
I shoot a look at Smoke. “I’ll be right back.”
Hector follows me with his eyes, but I don’t give a shit. I have to see Maxine before she goes in the cage. Have to assure her all is good.
“Now, the fighter you’ve all been waiting for,” the ref shouts over the din. “Moves like a panther, hands as fast as a cobra. The fierce, the magnificent—Maxine.”
I cut around the back of the cage where they enter and see her coming toward the cage flanked by Diesel and another bouncer from The Tropics. They literally have to push guys back and away from her as they cut a path to the cage. With all the commotion, she doesn’t see me at first, but when Diesel and I make eye contact, he nods.
The ref announces her stats, but it’s all white noise to me. She draws closer, and when she reaches the stairs, she pauses and stares at me, her face an unreadable mask.
I step in front of the metal stairs, blocking her way, with Diesel and the bouncer at her back. “You know you got this, right?”
“No matter what happens . . .” She bites her lower lip. “I want you to know?—”
“Maxie, c’mon, you’re up,” the ref yells from inside the cage, and the crowd roars louder.
“Comes a time when you gotta stop lyin’ to yourself.” I grab her taped hand. “When you gotta reach past the fear.”
“Maxie, get up here before they tear this place apart,” the ref shouts again.
I step aside, and she jogs up the metal steps, throws open the cage door, then waves her arms over her head. Drinking in their chants and applause like a champion. Wild, untamed passion. A scared little girl wrapped up in a ferocious warrior.
Diesel falls into step with me and nods toward the cage. “She all right?”
“She’s doubting herself.”
“About winning the fight?”
“Nah, about me wanting to protect her.”
Diesel stops short. “Shit, did you straighten her out?”
I shoot a look at Hector, then his muscle. “I sure the fuck hope so.”