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TEN
TREVOR
The fight against Zander left me a little sore, which was to be expected. We both put on a good show for the crowd. I’m glad I won though. Would rather not have to fight in the loser's bracket and try to get out of it. That was the weird thing about this event, Delcoure had set up. There was the winner and losers bracket, but you could switch between the two. By the end of the seventh fight whoever had the most points would be the two fighting for Emma’s hand. I’ve never had a fight bracket set up like this; it was definitely interesting. I just knew that I really couldn’t lose. I wouldn’t risk Emma like that.
Two days have gone by now, and we are back to our regular work just waiting for the next fight to take place. The schedule is set up for one fight every Friday night. I’m glad because it gives us time to heal between fights and gives my company and me more time to find out who the little girl attached to Emma is.
Ever since I saw her in that red dress of hers sitting in the box, I’ve been a goner. My thoughts constantly go back to her and how I can find a way to get her alone to talk to me. So far, none of my team has seen her out and about. I expected she would at least go out on the weekend to do something, but the team I have on surveillance for her house says her car never leaves the premises. That alone concerns me because I know what her family is like. I’m terrified that they hurt her over the weekend for Friday or they punished her because they recognized me. I really hope that isn’t the case, but I can’t stop those thoughts from filling my mind.
“Sky!” I practically shout, rounding the corner into her office space. I watch as she jumps from behind her desk before she rolls her eyes and sits back down.
“That was unnecessary, Boss,” she groans and goes back to typing at her desk.
There are only four people in the office right now with it being a Sunday. My two best friends and Sky joined me for the day. Knox and Steel had shown up at my house three hours ago telling me to get in and brought us here. They knew I would be going stir-crazy if I just sat at home. At least here in the office, there is always some kind of work to be done, even if it is just paperwork.
“I can feel you standing there staring at me. You also gave me a heart attack so out with it or go away,” Sky grumbles, not bothering to look at me.
“Do you have any new information on the little girl? And have you gone over the footage from the event?” Sure, it’s only been two days, but I’m hoping we have something to help us.
“I’m one person, Trevor,” she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and removing her blue light glasses. “Whoever the little girl is, the information on her has been hidden extremely well. I'm still trying to get through all the red tape surrounding her. As for the footage of the fight, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. Delcoure just spoke to several shady people we already knew he had dealings with.”
“Fuck,” I roar, running my hand through my hair. It probably looks like a disaster, but I could care less today. “Any chance we can find a way to get Emma alone? I need to talk to her.”
“She follows the same routine. Finding a spot to meet her in it isn’t going to be easy. Especially with everything you’ve already told me about her family and how they track her movements. Maybe if a special event at the school would require her to be there, it would be your best opportunity.”
Sky’s idea has merit. If we could get her to be at the school for an extended period and I can get her to herself in a classroom so I can talk to her, then just maybe I can get some sort of answers and also tell her I didn’t abandon her even if that’s what she may think. Now, the question becomes what type of event wouldn’t seem too suspicious to be scheduled last minute and wouldn’t attract Robert Delcoure’s attention.
“Do that. Just make sure it’s something that wouldn’t attract too much attention except for the parents at the school.” I answer, dropping into one of the open seats across from her desk.
“Done. I’ll see if I can get the teacher to schedule a career day so there will be several parents coming in. There’s no guarantee Emma will be there, but since she tends to do the drop-off and pick-up, there may be a chance.” Sky furiously starts typing away at one of the computers briefly. “There, done. It’s scheduled for Thursday. An email was sent from the principal apologizing for the last-minute scheduling.”
“Thanks, Sky,” I mumble, staring at a TV set up behind her. On the screen is footage of the fight Friday night. Most of it is just focused on both fighters but every once in a while it pans off to show some of the excitement of the crowd. Just sucks that it's not showing Emma at all. She looked gorgeous in that dress.
“Need anything else or are you just going to sit here and bother me?” She smirks, lifting her gaze off the computer screens to glare at me.
“You know, sometimes I liked you better when you were this scared little thing that was afraid to even talk back to me.” I see a little smile appear on my face knowing I at least did my job with that. “Nah, I’ll leave you alone.”
Rising from the seat, I exit her office and head towards Steels down the hall. I’m betting Knox is probably with him since they mentioned wanting to get some planning done for security at the fight next week and one of the contracts that we have coming up on Tuesday needs a couple of guys for a basic transport.
Sometimes I hate being one of the bosses. We don’t get our hands dirty nearly as often as we used to. Most of the time we’re here in the office just monitoring and scheduling contracts while our teams go out to handle the jobs. Only on the really big jobs do we still get our hands dirty. The larger clients like seeing the bosses involved in their details.
Just as I suspected both of them are in the office pouring over maps and paperwork. Both Steel’s desk and table are covered with papers, and the TV monitor behind his desk has a large venue map showing. Based on that map they are working on the concert detail we have arranged for Saturday. I didn’t even know they were working on that yet. Guess they must have finished the other projects for the week already.
“Did Sky kick you out already?” Knox chuckles when he sees me enter the room.
“Shove it.” I kick the leg of the chair he’s sitting in before taking another near the table. “Where are we at?”
“Currently working on security for the concert. That stack of papers beside you,” Knox points to the ones by my elbow. “Those are the protocols the venue has in place. We have to find where there are holes and what we can do to enhance them.”
“Got it.”
For the next two hours, the three of us went over every security protocol in place and added a bunch for our team. The concert was to be for one of the country's top rock bands who hired us to do security for several of their events on the tour. Many even had us traveling far out of our normal work area. The money was good, and the guys were actually pretty great so we had no issues helping them out. Sky also helped us secure that contract when several others were vying for the job. She happened to have grown up with one of the members so she reached out even when she wasn’t comfortable doing so to put in a good word for us. We all tried to get that story out of her, but she clammed up and shut down so we dropped the topic. None of us have braved bringing it up since.
The distraction from work is good. It lets my mind focus on something it is good at doing and puts aside the questions and worries surrounding Emma. Clearly, nothing is going to get accomplished today when it comes to her. Unless I want to risk giving myself away and showing up at her house, there isn’t anything I can even do.
By the time we finish wrapping up all the details for the jobs this coming week, night has fallen outside. Knox and Steel call it quits and say they are dragging my ass for dinner before they drop me home.
While we eat, I tell them about the plan Sky and I came up with. I can tell they want to persuade me from going, but they also know I will either way, so instead, Steel volunteers to come with me and will wait in the car while I speak to her. That’s if Emma is the one to show up for career day.
