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“Chill’s been taken; we don’t know who by. King is unconscious and in surgery; it appears they were hit head-on.”
Tiny fell silent. “Got any other enemies apart from this underground fighting ring that we’re unaware of?”
I snorted, and not in amusement. “We’ve probably got a shitload out there. Can I give you the name of one right now? No, I think it’s likely the ring.”
Tiny fell quiet. “I haven’t left with Meadow yet. Locke is still here. I’ll pick his brain, see if he’s got a lead.”
“Get back to me ASAP, Tiny,” I ordered.
“Will do, Inglorious,” Tiny promised and hung up.
Nanci’s arms tightened around my stomach again, and I reached down to hold her clasped hands. She threaded her fingers through mine and squeezed hard. Sometimes words weren’t needed.
Chill
Minutes ticked by as I sat in the cage, staring at the four walls and formulating a plan. There wasn’t much of one. Just escape. Weren’t even interested in who was involved right now. Survival was the priority. The other guy had gone quiet and refused to talk to me anymore. Even trying to get him to work with me didn’t elicit a response.
I sat there for several hours, waiting, and then the door finally opened. Four guards came in and threw cuffs at me with chains on.
“Put them on,” I was ordered.
“What you gonna do if I don’t?”
The asshole who used the cattle prod on me earlier grinned. “I don’t give a fuck what condition you enter the ring in. But if you want a shot at surviving, I’d suggest you don’t want me electrocuting you again. No skin off my nose either way.”
I put the shackles on, and they opened the cage door. It was such a tiny entrance; I had to crawl out on my hands and knees. It was another way to undermine my confidence. Didn’t work.
I glanced around for my opponent, but there was no sign of him. I was horrified at how many cages there were—more than two dozen. They’d all been empty apart from the one other guy and me. That didn’t smack of a Fight Night to me. There was something else happening here. A power play.
I let them lead me away in shackles; the chains were so short I could barely manage a shuffle. Keeping my balance proved difficult, as I kept going to stride and then nearly falling flat on my face. The four surrounding arseholes found it highly amusing.
They wouldn’t when I got free.
They guided me into a makeshift arena, and there, facing a wall, kneeling, was my opponent. He was a big man like me, with longish hair, and apart from a pair of jeans, he wore nothing else.
There were scars on his back, clearly from fighting. He didn’t turn and face me, just mentally prepared himself to kill me. I glanced around; we were in a rodeo arena. Casually, sitting in the stands was the man who claimed to be Pickman’s cousin, with approximately twenty other men. Three of whom I recognised as businessmen. Got it, these were the ones wavering, and I was their warning. Behave or end up where I was.
They looked worried when they saw me, and several of them spoke to Pickman’s cousin. He waved off their concerns. One of them got very irate and rose above Pickman’s cousin.
“Pick, that fucker is from the Unwanted Bastards MC. If you think they won’t come looking and hunt everyone here down, you are mistaken. I won’t be a part of this.” He turned and began walking away.
“You’re aware of the price of leaving,” Pick said.
“Are you seriously telling me you’re going to kill a member of the UBMC? The allies are fucking legendary, and you’re putting everybody in their crosshairs. If you have a personal vendetta with this guy, take it up with him; don’t put the rest of us in danger.”
Pick leaned forward and locked eyes with the guy. “Sit. Your. Ass. Down,” he ordered.
The businessman hesitated and then obeyed. He watched me and shook his head; he knew what we were capable of. His eyes held awareness, while the others played dumb and thought this was one of their normal matches. The guards undid my shackles and left the ring. They took their places with others outside it.
I counted them in silence; there were about fifteen in total.
Finally, my opponent turned around, and I froze in shock.
“Ain’t fighting you,” I stated.
“That’s your choice,” he replied.
For a moment, I wondered if he’d recognised me. Several years had passed, but even if he didn’t, he knew the cut. Chap’s nephew stood in front of me, and nothing would make me raise a hand against this kid.
