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The bell rang again, and both men sprang back into action. The next three minutes were filled with grunts and groans, with the sound of leather gloves connecting with hard flesh, and the forced expulsion of hot air. Watching their kickboxing ringside, I see how cathartic it could actually be. The intensity in their eyes was incredible. The physical release of pent-up energy reminded me sharply of sex.
The bout ended in a flurry of punches, punctuated by one final bell. Both men were sweat-soaked and winded, but still in control. They touched gloves in a symbol of mutual respect, then began unwrapping the tape from their wrists.
“Look,” Santiago said finally. “No more running. No more hiding. As far as I’m concerned, let them come.”
My eyes went wide in alarm. The others didn’t seem pleased.
“And then what?” Silas ventured.
“We sit down with them and have a talk,” Santiago replied coolly.
“Talk,” Cody scoffed.
“Yes.”
“With the Ancellas.”
“You think they’re up here just for mayhem?” Santiago asked. “You don’t think they’ll want to know what’s really going on?”
“And whatisreally going on?” I jumped in. “I mean, you said they had Evan.”
All three men nodded in affirmation. “They do.”
The news had sent my heart soaring, even as it twisted my stomach in knots. Evan was alive, this time for certain! But he’d been ‘traded’ down to Mexico in a personnel swap between a vicious Mexican cartel and one of the premiere crime families in SoCal. What he was doing down there, and how long he might last — none of these questions had answers. But the important part was my brother was okay. For now. Sort of.
“So when do we go get him?”
That part, of course, was tricky. The guys had been working on it already, mulling a few plans in their heads.
“I might have a better solution,” said Santiago. “The Ancellas are already coming. So instead of going down there, into the unknown, maybe we get them to bring your brother up here when they come.”
“You’ll think they’ll do that?” I gasped sharply. “Bring him back from Mexico?”
My voice echoed a little too loudly through the empty gym, prompting a silencing motion from Cody. Maya — on the other side of the building — let out a shrill whistle of warning. It was an indication she’d opened the place officially and people were showing up, so we were no longer alone.
“Come on,” Silas declared. “Let’s not be reckless about this.”
Together we hopped down from the ring, then crossed into the main office. The boys were still unwrapping their wrists as they went, tape trailing behind them.
Finally we were inside, and the door was closed. Before I could ask anything else, Santiago spoke.
“Look, I know we said we’d go down there,” he announced carefully. “But I may have reached out to my contacts—”
“You’re saying you already set things in motion.”
Cody’s sigh was one of abject frustration. More powerlessness than disappointment.
“Well I’m waiting to hear back,” Santiago agreed, after a measure of silence. “But yes.”
Silas definitely wasn’t happy. He shook his head and swore.
“You really made a deal with the cartel?” he grunted.
“No. Not a deal.”
“Without evenconsultingus?”
Santiago scratched at the back of his head. “As I said, I made no deals at all,” he countered. “But the Ancellas want answers, and I hinted we might help get them. But only if they brought Evan, because like it or not he was wrapped up in this whole thing.”
