Part 39 (2/2)

”Are you talking about Thom?” I asked. ”The sports reporter?”

”That's the one,” Mad Dog said. ”That f.u.c.ker should've kept his nose out of our business. He was f.u.c.kin' around where he didn't belong.”

”He was gonna ruin our f.u.c.kin' lives, is what he was gonna do,” Shaka added, taking a long pull from his beer. ”You should've been there, Killer. d.a.m.n. Sometimes I forget not everybody knows how to fight like we do. Dude went down like a sack of potatoes.”

”Head split open like a f.u.c.kin' watermelon,” Bloodbath laughed. ”Don't worry, though. We called in an anonymous tip to 911. He'll make it. Won't be talkin' no more s.h.i.+t about Vic or the rest of the operation, though.”

”He told you Vic was ripping us off?” I asked. That wasn't the first time I'd heard that claim. Parker had tried to say something about it the other night, and even I had questioned Vic when he'd brought me half of what I was promised. ”Did he say why? Or how?”

”Does it matter?” Shaka replied. ”Guy's a liar. Look, we all know Vic, what kind of guy he is. He took us all in off the streets, or else saved us just before we got thrown to the wolves out there. He pays us well and he takes good G.o.dd.a.m.n care of us, which is more than I can say for a lot of other managers out there. Dude was spreadin' rumors that would've gotten Vic's a.s.s landed in the slammer. No way any of us could let that happen after what the boss has done for us, am I right?”

”Right,” I said, though I didn't mean it. I had to get out of there. I put on a smile. ”Thanks for the drink, guys, but I gotta head out. Got some stuff I need to take care of back at home.”

”Still f.u.c.kin' that blonde b.i.t.c.h?” Mad Dog said. It took everything in me not to reach over Bloodbath and punch Mad Dog right in his stupid face.

”It isn't that,” I said. ”But you don't have to worry about her. After what you guys did to her friend tonight, I think it's safe to say the situation is under control.”

I hated hearing those words come out of my mouth. What I wanted to do was tell them what jacka.s.ses they all were. You couldn't just go around beating up civilians-not when you had the kind of training and power that we did. They could have killed Thom, easily. I wondered if they'd still be laughing about it then. A chill raced down my spine as I realized I didn't know.

”No problem,” Bloodbath said. ”See you around, Killer.”

”Yeah,” I said, throwing down some cash and heading out the door. ”See you around.”

As soon as I got outside, I bent over, hands on my knees, and just breathed for a minute. My world was spinning yet again, all because of the thousand and one f.u.c.king lies I'd been told over the past few days. Everything was spiraling out of control. First with Parker, then with Vic, and now we had fighters going out and beating up reporters-reporters who very well could've been Parker. What would they have done if Vic had sicced them on her, instead? Would they have beaten her to a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp?

Raped her?

The truth was I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore. I stumbled over to the nearest bench and sat down for a minute, closing my eyes to think, to process everything I'd just learned.

So, Parker and Thom thought Vic was skimming a little too much off the top. And they were willing to take down the entire organization to bust Vic for taking advantage of us. Not all of us were vets, but we all came from bad situations. No matter what way you sliced if, if they were right, Vic was conning us.

Meanwhile, Vic's handing me half of what I'm owed claiming some bulls.h.i.+t ”fight fees” took up the largest chunk, and at the same time, he's practically endorsing a dogpile on a reporter he d.a.m.n well knows could get killed if one guy hits him just a little too hard.

What the f.u.c.k is he thinking? Intimidation, I get, but this? This is just plain stupid. Which meant Vic had to be scared. That was what desperate people did, right? Incredibly stupid stuff? s.h.i.+t, I knew that better than anyone.

Which raised another question: why would Vic be scared, unless he was guilty? Sure, even if he wasn't scamming us, Vic would have to shut down his operation if Thom ran with the story. But to risk basically ordering a hit on a reporter just for that? It didn't make any d.a.m.n sense. Not unless everything Thom and Parker believed was true.

s.h.i.+t. They were right. They had to be. I'd been taken for a f.u.c.king fool, and not by Parker or Thom, but by the guy I was supposed to be able to trust-the guy who'd had my back more times than I could count.

Or had he? Had this all been one big, giant scam designed to earn him a fat paycheck every week at my expense? Did he have us all brainwashed to believe that we'd never amount to anything more than this, that he was our rock, that we needed him to survive? Parker had tried to show me another way, and Vic had been poisoning me against her since day one. Come to think of it, he'd never approved of any of my relations.h.i.+ps outside the ring. Whenever I'd wanted to take time off to see Iris and Slade, Vic b.i.t.c.hed about how much money we were going to lose. We, as if we were in this s.h.i.+t together. As if he got hit in the f.u.c.king face every night. As if he ever had to deal with broken noses and ribs and b.l.o.o.d.y f.u.c.king knuckles.

He might be dealing with a few of those things now, I thought darkly, fis.h.i.+ng my cell phone from my jacket pocket. Drunk dialing be d.a.m.ned, I was going to get Vic on the phone, and I was going to do it now.

He picked up after the second ring. ”Hey, Killer. What's-”

”That could've been Parker,” I snarled, squeezing my phone so hard I was sure the screen would crack. ”You know that, don't you?”

”I dunno what you mean,” Vic began again. I just shook my head and laughed.

”Christ, Vic. You think I'm stupid, huh? You think we're all real f.u.c.king stupid?”

”Is this about money, Killer? Look, I told you, the fight fees-”

”Are bulls.h.i.+t!” I snapped. ”It's all bulls.h.i.+t, Vic. It's all been bulls.h.i.+t for a very long time. You've got yourself a nice little scam set up here, but you know who the stupid one is, Vic? It's you. You're the one who's stupid enough to think manipulating a bunch of desperate, hand-to-hand combat specialists is a pretty good f.u.c.king idea. You're the one who thinks stealing money from people whose fists might as well be registered as lethal weapons is a smart move. And I guess that was a risk you were willing to take, 'cause you thought none of us would ever find out. But I found out, Vic. Me. Killer f.u.c.king Kellan. I want you to think about that name for a minute, Vic, because I didn't get it just for s.h.i.+ts and giggles. That's what my squad mates called me back in Afghanistan. And they had a good f.u.c.king reason, too.”

”C'mon, kid,” Vic said. His voice was thinning, growing shriller. He was nervous. I bet his fat, bald head was sweating. ”Whatever you think you know, you've got it all wrong. You know how these reporter types are. Always trying to stir up s.h.i.+t, you know? And for what? Their own gain, that's what. That's how they make their money. It's all based on stirrin' s.h.i.+t up, even if it ain't true.”

I shook my head in wonder. He was really going to stick with this lie, even when he'd been found out. What a f.u.c.king weasel.

”I'm done, Vic. Done with your lies. Done with fighting for you. I want out, and I want out now.”

”You can't just quit, kid,” he snorted. ”You're gonna leave me high and dry? Really? After all the s.h.i.+t I've done for you? After I dragged your a.s.s outta that s.h.i.+tty bar and gave your life meaning? Purpose?”

”Don't overestimate how much you changed my life,” I snarled back. ”I've had people stick their necks out for me before. h.e.l.l, I've had people save my f.u.c.king life. Pull me out of the line of fire. Get me the help I needed when I OD'd. People have fought tooth and claw for me before, and unlike you, they didn't f.u.c.k me over in the process! What you saw that night wasn't a sad, drunk kid at the end of his rope. You saw an opportunity to make yourself a lot of money at no risk. Well f.u.c.k you, Vic. You're at f.u.c.king risk now.”

”You want more money, Killer-is that it? You want what you think you're owed, and you're willin' to throw away our friends.h.i.+p over it?” When I didn't reply, Vic snorted again. I could almost hear him shaking his head. ”Fine. But I need one more fight outta you, kid, or it's no deal.”

”f.u.c.k you. I'm not doing s.h.i.+t for you anymore. You withhold my money, I'll go to the cops.”

”Yeah, and I'll disappear just like I've done a million times before. You really haven't thought this through, have you?”

He was right. I hadn't. Not all the way, anyway. I pinched the bridge of my nose. f.u.c.k, I should have waited until I was sober.

”One more fight, Vic,” I said, looking up at the stars. ”One more fight, and then I'm done. And I'm getting what I earned, one way or another. What I'm owed. And if that just so happens to involve beating you until you stop moving, that's just a bonus for me.”

”Killer-”

”Yeah. Killer. That's me. A f.u.c.king killer. So if I were you, Vic, I'd shut the f.u.c.k up and just say 'yes, sir' and get ready to write me a big, fat check next time we meet, 'cause if you don't, I swear on my father's grave I will show you exactly why so many people call me that.”

Vic didn't answer me. He just stammered a little, starting sentences and then stopping them before they ever came anything close to English. I hung up the phone. Good enough.

But it wasn't good enough. Not really. Because I'd made a big G.o.dd.a.m.n mistake. One I wasn't sure I could rectify. One that, like all the others, might haunt me for the rest of my life if I didn't do something about it right now.

I had to try. I would never have been able to forgive myself if I didn't.

I pulled Parker's number up on my screen and sent her a text. I just hoped she wouldn't ask too many questions before I got there. I knew I had a lot of explaining to do, but I wanted to do it face to face. I wanted to give her the same courtesy she'd tried to give me.

Tried, and failed. Dear G.o.d. Why was I such an a.s.shole?

I sat back on the bench, staring at my phone and waiting for a reply. I wouldn't have blamed her if I never got one. But I was hoping against all hope that I would, because G.o.dd.a.m.n, I really needed to see Parker Jones again.

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