Brawn and Brazen (KO Ink Book 3), page 12
We heard a door open and I turned to Harm to check my tape again, he didn’t move his lips but whispered. “Live feed, no one here,” he said for his wire, so the guys would know that busting in here would do nothing, they would only scare them off and drive them deeper undercover. They needed to trace the signal, Mace and Reese were both back at the shop doing that, in case this happened. I wasn’t big enough yet, I needed to make fans, I needed a win, that was all it boiled down to. Winning.
I nodded and rolled my neck, moving my shoulders and bouncing. The light flashed and I walked into the ring. The other fighter did too, that is when I could see him clearly. His face was already bruised a little, this wasn’t his first fight, but it would be his last, I was going to beat him. I needed to find a weakness. The ref stepped in the ring as well, I didn’t look at him, he wasn’t on my radar right now, I needed to focus. Harm would be making sure everyone could see the players in the room.
The man grinned at me and I wanted to cringe, shit, he was missing teeth and looked like he was proud of that fact. I just stared, and wondered how many times this dude had fought. Damn, he looked a little rough up close. He held out his hand and I hit them, yep, fucker has something on them, he winked at me and I glared. Yeah, bring that shit.
I stretched my hands out, open, close, the tape began to roll a little and peel. I would lose the top layer, good. We stepped back and I shook my arms, relaxed. Then a loud buzzer sounded. The little fire plug charged me, no shit, he charged me like a fucking bull. It didn’t take much to avoid him, he knew it wouldn’t be, because he swung out his arm and it grazed my side, he had just wanted to cut me. I felt the scrape and the sting, I rolled my eyes, fucker, like that was gonna stop me.
I moved and then swung, clipping him in the jaw, the man didn’t even flinch, shit he was on something. He moved, swung, I blocked and dinged, we went in a circle, moving and punching, none of them really connecting, we were still feeling each other out. I could see his eyes, they were glazed, he must have taken something close to the start, they hadn’t really looked like this when they started. Fuck, he was swinging, hard and fast, I moved and countered, finally landing a shot in his stomach but once again he gazed my torso, across the chest. I knew I was bleeding, he didn’t have just rock salt on his tape, there was metal of some kind on there, I felt it tear my skin. Finally, the tape fell off my hand after a few punches and then I grabbed him by the back of the neck and rabbit punched him five times, then released and turned kicking with my leg right in the cheek and knocking him back.
He roared loudly at whatever the fuck was on my tape. I grimaced and kept going. Harm was yelling something but I was focused. The other dude was yelling as well, but the fire plug just growled and shook his head. Then he charged, wrapping me up before I could dodge, we went down on the ground.
Fuck, I thought as the wind was knocked out of me briefly, using my legs I wrapped them around his waist as he tried to get close to me, I arched my back and pushed him back, it was the laws of gravity that helped me, the man had no choice but to fall over. I moved again and grinned, fuck yeah, I had him for a second.
I flipped up, keeping my legs around his torso so we were at an odd angle, but it worked for me. I struck out with my fist and hit him in the temple, he flinched, and I hit him again. Fire plug tried to get away, fucker, he scrapped his knuckled down my thighs, I grimaced but didn’t let go, I punched him again, hitting him in the same spot, finally I drew blood, it trickled down his temple and I grinned.
He bucked and my leg let go and I pushed back, kicking him in the face with my foot, he was dazed but he got up. I stood, refusing to wipe myself with my hand, I didn’t know what the fuck was on the tape, but I knew it had to be something good, the fire plug looked like he was having an allergic reaction, he had red welts everywhere my fist landed.
We circled each other, I leaned back and kicked out with my foot, hit him in the other temple and once again I broke skin. We traded a few punches, and finally what Harm was yelling at me penetrated. “Hit low, hit low.”
I looked and I finally saw what he was talking about, I must have broken one of his ribs, it was literally poking out of his side, kinda gross yes, but a weakness nonetheless. I moved, waiting for my shot, I knew in the short time, we both looked bloody and had bruises, but mine would fade, I had broken nothing, I could tell. I swung, hit him in the cheek and I heard a crack, the fire plug screamed in rage. He tried to swing but my leg was already there, hitting him right in the side and I heard another crack. “Again!” Harm yelled and I repeated it, the man stayed on his feet, it had to be the drugs, it looked like he was about ready to keel over.
I kicked, punched, moved, got close, hit, he tried but he never hit me, none of his swings ever landing, I could block him easily. Finally, with a kick to the other cheek when I saw it cave a little and then I hit him in an uppercut and he fell back. I knew he was done.
The ref yelled something, but I could only hear the blood roaring in my ears, I heaved trying to suck in a breath, fuck yeah, it hurt, but I was only bruised, the fire plug was hurt bad. He rolled and didn’t move. The ref raised his hand and pointed to me. Harm grabbed me by the shoulder and then I stepped back. I felt weird, like I was about ready to pass out, shit had I gotten hit harder than what I thought?
I allowed him to pull me to the door, we waited while the ref checked over the man and nodded to his trainer who shook his head and then walked to the door. When it opened, there were four guys, they walked in and grabbed the fire plug, one at each arm, one at each leg, and carried him out. Fuck.
The door finally opened and Harm pulled me through, shit, I hurt, I didn’t even remember the fucking room we went into and changed, the adrenaline moving too fast through me, I was hyped, Harm tried to calm me, be he couldn’t. We went to the SUV, the passenger didn’t get into the car, he dropped an envelope on my lap and then closed the door and hit the roof. Harm grabbed it, and the driver took off. We drove to the garage, and he dropped us off. I really wasn’t focusing much, even though I blinked a million times.
Once he was gone, even though I figured there was still eyes on us somehow but I didn’t give a shit. I leaned against the wall, took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, trying to think, shaking my head, fuck the bastard had been strong, even if he was on drugs, I looked down, the shirt Harm had thrown over me was light blue and now was stained with blood.
Leaning over, I threw up on the pavement, dizzy, shit was swirling. Shit, I knew I had fucked that guy up. I needed to find out what the fuck happened to him. Surely they would keep him around, he was strong, a contender. Harm put a hand on the back of my neck and held me down as I puked and tried to catch my breath.
I thought I was prepared for this, fuck I seriously thought I was prepared, but I had hurt someone I had no beef with, beat him bad, he probably needed the money, that was why he was fighting. Shit, I needed…and my stomach heaved again, and again…the thoughts making me ill.
Bry
I had watched the fight along with everyone else, shit, I knew when Reed got in the zone he was focused, the fight seemed to last forever while we were watching it, afterward I looked it had last forty-five minutes. Damn, Reed had fought with the man for three quarters of an hour, and at the end, he looked like shit.
“Follow the other fighter’s SUV,” Fin said stoically.
He was talking to Jet, I knew it but until the screen went blank, I kept my eyes glued there. “Reed is gonna need medical attention.”
“I called Dad already, he knows we are coming in, he was monitoring the fight with Mace and Reese,” Fin said and I nodded. “He knew he was going to be needed. Thank goodness he was a medic in the military.”
I swung my gaze to watch for Reed and Harm to come out the side door where the SUV was still parked. We had planned to take the driver and bust in. But no one was in the warehouse, it was only used to show the fight, apparently on the site a message had come across that Reed was new blood, he needed to earn his way up to a live fight, then and only then, we would find the leader of this ring. Shit, it was gonna take a while, and we were going to have to watch Reed and Jet in several fights before all was said and done. This sucked.
“Bastards are smart,” I muttered.
“They would be,” Tony said and leaned back. “Broadcasting live on the dark web, keeping everything under wraps, no one knows who the fuck these people are, and yet they just made thousands off this shit. And the young kids, that was still going on, we know it, kids turning up bruised and shit. Yet they won’t talk. They don’t know us yet; they don’t know we will protect them. This whole thing fucked stinks to high heaven.”
Tony took off his ear phone and threw them on the console in front of him. He was frustrated, we all were, right when we figured out it was a live stream we knew it was going to suck. Fin answered his phone the second it rang.
“So nothing?” Fin said and I sighed. Mace or Reese, they were telling them they couldn’t do a damn thing. “Yeah. We are on our way as soon as Reed comes out.”
Tony ran a hand down his face and said, “I need more guys; this shit cannot fly anymore. I want to know everything there is to know about the other fighter, the other trainer, and any kind of ID we can get on the dudes here, I need immediately.”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, and we also need to make sure Jet has a trainer they will not recognize, look.”
I motioned with my head, an SUV pulled out of the other side of the warehouse, then minutes later another SUV pulled out, obviously following them. Finally, I saw Jet and Ranger pull out in the work van we were using, hiding in plain sight, at least I hoped so. But we had made sure we had people following us, checking to see if we had a tail, the vans we were in was registered to the City Sanitation Office, well, at least they would look like that if anyone checked.
“Are you calling Petal?” Fin asked when he disconnected the phone and I sighed and nodded.
“No, she is already waiting at the gym I am sure. She is going to make sure that we make it back in one piece or she threatened to call Maxi.”
“Hell, all we need to do is call Ma, she can zap his ass,” Tony muttered and we chuckled.
Petal
“Come on, baby, kick his ass,” I muttered as we watched the fight, hell yeah I had been there. No one was going to keep me away.
Reilly was behind me setting up the med kit, Reed looked like crap but he wasn’t too injured I could tell, I had seen enough injuries over the last few years, hell one of the bikers were always in a scrape.
“How many people are watching?” Reese muttered.
“Over two hundred, the odds on Reed winning were low, apparently this dude is pretty good according to what the people who were placing bets said. Called him Knight. Some of these dudes have twenty large on him, some more, some less, but damn, they are cleaning up on this shit,” Mace said.
“Punch him in the nuts!” I yelled and Reese turned around and smiled at me.
“Uh, not sure that would make him look like a pussy, Petal.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, you all know he should do it, come on, the dude is hyped on coke, I am pretty sure he wouldn’t even feel it.”
“Coke? You sure?” Reese said and Mace leaned in close to the monitor.
“Uh yeah, see the manager? He is chewing on a cigar right. Well coke, you ingest takes a while longer to get into the blood stream, if you add it to a drink or something, anyway, it takes about thirty minutes to an hour, before it hits peak and sustains if you keep ingesting slowly, so it will last longer than snorting. That cigar has never been lit, but he is chewing on it like it is gum, watch him. Plus, when they walked in, the fighter had it in his mouth which is gross as shit I might add, but what-the-fuck-ever. I would guess, from the fidgeting the manager is doing, and the glazed eyes of the fighter, they were stocked with coke. The dude is totally hyped and not feeling a thing, but if Reed kneed him in the nards, well, it would take a while, but let me tell you it would eventually hurt like a fucking bitch. Saw one of the guys fight some dude who was tweaking. Yeah, it was not pretty on the dude’s side,” I said and then looked back at the screen and yelled, “Damn it, get your arm up, baby, arm up!”
And like he heard me, Reed raised his arm. I nodded and then looked back at the guys who were looking at the screen and shaking their head. “Fuck, missed that,” Reese said and I shrugged.
“Why wouldn’t you? I mean most fighters are like health freaks, but this guy, he roided, and then hyped himself up on coke, surprised his heart didn’t explode. Too much of that shit, which he obviously took, would do some damage over time,” I said.
I watched the screen and when the fight was over, I walked to Reilly and looked down at his supplies and nodded. “Yeah, he might need stiches, the guy tore up his skin, can’t tell how deep it was, and I am pretty sure he also took a shot to the head with his foot. May have a concussion.”
“You know what to do?” Reilly asked with a smirk.
“Yep, wake up every hour on the hour and keep the stiches dry.”
“Heck, they may not need me.” He laughed and I shook my head.
“I said I knew what to do, I didn’t say I could get him to that point, I can’t.”
Reilly laughed and hugged me. Damn that felt good. I sighed and just stuck my head in his chest and I just let him take my weight.
“When they get back here, we will patch him up and send you guys home. Tomorrow will be soon enough to deal with this. Reed is gonna be hurting,” Reilly said and I nodded into his chest.
“I figured.”
We stood there for a while, and I heard thumping on the stairs, someone was back. I held my breath and my eyes were glued on the stairs when Bry’s head appeared. I waited until he was fully up the stairs before I walked to him and just put my arms around his middle. He looked like shit because of the stress. Tonight, we were totally taking the phone off the hook and decompressing.
I heard Tony and Fin begin barking orders but it wasn’t anything I cared about right now. I needed to make sure that everyone was back safe. It was part of the deal, I knew that, especially since these guys were all into this shit. I didn’t blame them, knowing the O’Malleys and the Macaroys already, I was all in, but add the Roarks and all of the shit made me want to be a part of this as well. They were doing something real here, totally cleaning up neighborhoods and making sure things were safe for families. It was an awesome thing these men were doing.
I heard more rustling and finally Reed appeared at the top of the stairs, obviously in pain as he moved slowly, Harm was right behind him. I stood back and waited as he made his way over to Reilly, I knew he was hurting, he saw me and Bry and grimaced a smile, he was trying to hide how stiff he was.
“We couldn’t trace it, the signal was bouncing too fast, maybe if it were longer we could have done something,” Mace said.
“But we are following the money. We put down ten on Reed, so we will wait for the deposit to be paid into account. They are running it through a real poker game online, so it is harder to trace, but we are still trying,” Reese said.
“Money laundering,” Mace said. “They use the online poker game, create accounts, load it with a credit card that is reloadable, and it goes from there. Once it is all said and done, the money is laundered. Tracing it is hard, it goes into the games account which is held online, if you lose obviously they keep the money. If they created the game, they own the money, they get it cleaned already.”
Ranger walked into the room and said, “We lost the SUV with the other fighter in it. Jet had to avoid the SUV that was following them. Fuck, I have no idea if he is gonna turn up dead or not. If he does, I am gonna need to come clean with my commander.”
Tony looked at Ranger and said, “I am sorry, man; I know we put you in a bad spot.”
Ranger shook his head. “I knew what I was getting into, man, it’s cool, my commander knows I have something going down with the fighting ring anyway.”
Bry turned to join that conversation and I went to Reed who was now sitting on the table with Reilly cleaning him up. “Hey,” I said and looked at him closely. Shit, his eyes.
“Reilly,” I said quietly.
He had been getting ready to stich the cut on his side, the deepest one. I could see he had cleaned it, but it was already seeping. “Yeah, hun,” he replied absently.
“Look at his eyes,” I said calmly. I knew what I was looking at and right now, it scared the shit out of me. I had seen it before, one other time, unfortunately a brother who had been using. They had gotten him clean, but it had sucked, meth made people nervous, and was highly addictive, this was not meth. However, if I had to guess, whatever cut Reed was laced with heroin or coke. To someone who had probably never taken the drug before, it would make them uncoordinated, fuzzy, and their eyes would look just like Reed’s did. I raised my hand and put it against Reed’s cheek.
“Baby?” I said softly and his eyes snapped to mine, he hadn’t said a word when he walked in.
Reilly moved and went to Harm I heard him ask, “He been talking?”
“No, he was sick in the garage, leaned his head back on the way here. Why?” Harm asked and suddenly Bry was at my side.
“Reed?” Bry said and he tried to turn his head, but it kinda flopped back a little before he caught himself, barely. He just stared at Bry.
“Fuck,” I said and turned around. “Drugged heroin or coke, we need something to counteract it, fast, it can slow down his breathing so much he could just stop, we don’t know how much he has had.”
The room went static, that was the only word I could use to describe it. Literally, everyone fucking moved. Tony was on the phone calling 911, Mace and Reese went to the table because Bry had yelled and Reed started puking again. They were holding him so he didn’t fall. I felt so helpless, Reilly put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed tight. But it was Ranger who left the room. I didn’t notice he was gone until I heard the thumping of him coming back, I was focused on Reed who was moaning.
