by Terra Kelly
“We need to find a way to regroup once you get through the back door,” Brooks said and took me out of my thoughts. “We all are stronger together. Alone, it’s easier for someone to drop us with just one shot.”
I patted him on the chest. “Now you’re the uplifting one in the bunch, Hollywood.”
“Tonight isn’t about lifting each other up. It’s about survival of the fittest.”
He was right; we needed to prepare for the worst…but as a team.
Twenty-Eight
“I’ll be right back,” Tyler said and opened the passenger door.
“So this team thing not for you?” I knew my voice sounded clipped.
He stopped before hopping out of the van. “What? No, that’s not it.”
“So maybe instead of doing your own thing, you could share with the rest of us.” I turned away and looked out the side window. “I know that’s not your MO, but this situation is different.”
I watched as Tyler slowly closed the door and turned in his seat to face me. “When did you figure out my MO?” Now he was pissed. I could tell by the way his eyebrows were positioned.
“Why are we fighting?” Brooks interjected.
“Zoe is my friend,” I whispered and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Charlie.” Brooks placed his hand on my forearm. “Not helping.”
The van was silent for several minutes. I think everyone was afraid to speak. With the air in the small space a little too thick, Tyler opened the van door and hopped out. Before he left, I could feel his eyes burrowing into me. “Find out facts before you start spouting off shit you have no clue about.” Then he slammed the door.
“What was that shit?” Brooks looked at me with this pissed-off expression.
“He was leaving without sharing where he was going. Communication is nice once in a while.”
“So is being sensitive.”
I dropped my head. Brooks was right; I was an asshat. This situation was causing my emotions to run in several different directions and yell at someone who just wanted to help.
“Um…” Lily tapped my shoulder. “Tyler’s talking to your sister, I think.”
I leaned over Jackson’s shoulder and stared at the monitor. “Fuck me.” Before saying anything else, I sat back down. “What the hell?”
Tyler was sitting at the bar. The woman behind the counter was Grace. It wasn’t hard to figure out my sister was at the bar full of lies. She had the same long hair and that long skinny face. Plus, she did this flip of her head that made me question everything I knew about her. She fooled us into believing she ran away from the bullshit long ago. I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that she could be working for my dad. The moment she leaned on the counter to probably ask what drink he wanted, I wanted to run into the building and pull Tyler away.
“We can’t read too much into this situation.” Brooks turned my face toward him. “Let’s stay focused.”
“Fine. For now.” I reached down to grab a pair of gloves. “My phone is charged and ready to take pictures.” Everyone else responded by holding up their phones. “Record secret video. Take pictures. Do whatever so we have proof my dad is fucking crazy.” My phone pinged, and the moment I looked at my screen, my body went cold. “Um—”
“What is it, Charlie?” Jackson said and knelt down in front of me.
I handed him my phone. “Dad asked why we were in the van and not inside enjoying dinner.”
The van went quiet again, to the point where you could probably hear a pin drop. Jackson started pressing buttons on a tablet. Julian was scrolling through something on his phone. I’m sure they were just as confused as I felt. We all thought we stayed under the radar. How could he know?
I hit to reply. There was no reason to ignore him at this point. What are you talking about?
Dad: Our cameras were able to see you all in the van.
Me: You have some serious cameras to see through the van.
Dad: Safety first.
Me: I’m glad that’s important to you. Much different than how you treated family.
Dad: I worry about my family’s safety, too.
Me: I find that hard to believe, but whatever you say, Dad.
I sat there, waiting for his shitty reply, but after about five minutes, I lost interest. Before I had a chance to place my phone in my pocket, there was a knock on the side door. We all looked at each other and knew we were screwed. I moved over and slid the door back. My dad was standing in front and four men were behind him. I laughed when I realized Mason was one of the four guys acting like a bodyguard for Dad.
“Why don’t you all come inside. Let’s talk.” My dad held out his hand to help me out of the beast of a vehicle.
Instead, I placed my hands on the metal surface and hopped down. “I don’t know if we’re in the mood to talk.”
“You must be hungry,” he insisted. “You’ve been out here for a while.
“Fine, we’ll eat something.” Under my breath I mumbled, “Try to refrain from poisoning us.”
“No one is getting poisoned tonight,” Dad said and stepped to the side to let everyone pile out.
“Here that?” I threw my hand up in the air. “He said ‘tonight.’ There’s still time.” Brooks stepped up beside me, and I tipped my head closer to him. “Nothing changes.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Make sure to relay that to everyone.”
“Are you sure, sunshine?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything.”
Tyler was still at the bar, sucking down a beer when we shuffled through the front door. The look on his face as he turned our way was priceless. I was in the lead and didn’t know what to say, so I shrugged my shoulders. I thought Dad was leading us to a large table, but instead he took us back to the kitchen. The moment the five of us were through the door, my heart rate increased.
“Charlotte, sweetie.” Dad held out his hand. “Let me introduce you to everyone.
A little part of me found it odd that Dad was here. If this was a drop off point for something illegal, having the head of the supposed crime family present seemed off. Any of his employees would take care of the dirty work. Well, at least that was my understanding. Maybe the movies had it all wrong.
Then it hit me: Dad had bugged the gym, too. We took care of my rental but never thought to check the gym. What if he had Brooks’s house also wired? If that was the case, we all were fucked. I looked around, trying to find my sister, but she was nowhere.
“Charlotte,” Dad said again. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
I shook my head, trying to remove the negative thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Before I accepted his outstretched hand, I noticed in my peripheral vision Lily was holding her phone in her hands. Thank fuck. She had the phone in a way where it looked like she was just holding it with both hands by her body. I knew my best friend, though. She was recording this shit show about to go down.
“Maybe you’re hungry.” He touched the side of my face. I flinched the moment his hand made contact with my skin. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I mumbled.
“If you still play in the ring with other women, you have to be starving. Then in a stern voice, he said, “Sit.” I didn’t protest; there were too many people surrounding us that I felt unsure about. “Do you still enjoy chicken Alfredo?” I nodded. “Good, let’s get a plate of that stat.” He barked the orders and actually clapped his hands for them to move quickly. “You four, don’t just stand there.” I have never seen Lily move so quickly to sit down. “You’ll get the same meal.” Dad seemed disinterested by my friends but obligated to serve them. Then his eyes locked onto Jackson. “Correction, he hates Alfredo sauce. Get him the special.” He didn’t say my brother’s name, which felt odd.
“Is this a new family restaurant?” I realized now was a good time to dig for details.
“Not a family place, although it is starting to feel that way lately.”
&nb
sp; “Did I see Grace?”
“My my, you were spying on us, eh?”
“Like father like daughter.”
He burst out laughing and bent to kiss my cheek. “It’s good to see you, Charlotte.”
Dad left the room, but every one of his men stayed in position. I lifted my eyes to Brooks and Lily who were sitting in front of me. We started this silent conversation with our expressions and slight nods of our heads. I felt a foot hit mine and knew it was Jackson who was sitting next to me.
“Jacks, thoughts?”
“Something is very wrong, C.”
Two more men pushed through the kitchen doors. They were holding Tyler in a death grip. It was obvious they knew the power he had, and they were trying to stop him from fighting back.
“What now?” I whispered to Jackson.
“Dad left.”
“How do you know that?”
“Think about it. He just happened to be here tonight at this time.”
My brother had a point. Our plan was foiled from the get-go because they knew we were coming. This also meant the gym office was being bugged. Fuck me.
Instead of plates being carried to the table, we noticed each one of the employees carrying a gun. The fear I was holding inside wanted to show its ugly face. I didn’t have time to be afraid. Instead, we needed to get out of this place alive.
I stood up and looked at everyone sitting at the table. “You know what to do.”
Twenty-Nine
As Julian rose from his seat, all the men surrounding our table stepped their feet back a few inches and raised their guns. Julian was a beast these days and could intimidate just about anyone. Since he stopped fighting several years ago, he became more yoked. His bulk was in our favor, or so I thought. A door opened to the right of us, and a man larger than Julian stepped through the space. The mystery man’s shoulders touched the door frame.
“Looks like they brought back up,” I said and kicked my chair away.
“Fine by me,” Brooks said and stood up.
My eyes locked onto Mason. “Seems unfair when you bring guns to the party. Are you too weak to fight on your own?”
My older brother burst out laughing. “We can give you a fight if that’s really what you want. You won’t win, though. Just remember, you’re out numbered, Charlotte.” Mason really was becoming my dad with how he enjoyed calling me Charlotte. I knew he said it to piss me off, and I had no plans to show it worked.”
The five of us pushed the table away and stood with our backs touching. “Treat this like a championship fight,” I said and squeezed Brooks’s hand. “We all want the belt tonight. Hell, I’ll make you each a belt if that’ll help.”
“I’ve never fought for a title before, but I will tonight.” Jackson entwined his hand with mine.
The two men holding Tyler finally released their grip. He stumbled forward and stopped just inches from my body. “Your sister is a bitch.”
“Yeah? I look forward to kicking her ass now, too.” I smiled and stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about that now,” he said and nudged my shoulder. “You have every right to be pissed off. Just channel it in the right place.”
His words took me by surprise. All this time I had Tyler pegged as an outsider with an attitude problem. It was obvious there was more than meets the eye. Which made me curious.
One of my dad’s men leaped forward and surprised me by wrapping his arm around my neck. He was grabbing me from the front, which meant I had a better advantage. I dropped my head to make it more difficult to choke me and managed to grab his arm to pull it away. It was funny because he seemed surprised by my move. “You’re an idiot for trying to take me down in that position. Didn’t anyone tell you that’s a rookie move?”
“We’ll see about rookie.” Then he dropped his gun and attempted to push forward. I think he thought he could grab my neck again. The man was obviously a complete moron.
I punched his jaw, causing him to take a few steps back. He gave me the perfect distance needed to position myself for a high kick. Hitting him above his knee would not take this asshole down. I needed to give this move everything I had in me. Well, not everything. There were several other men that needed to drop to the floor soon. Before the asshole had a chance to register what was happening, I stepped my foot back and spun and threw the perfect high kick against the side of his face. He fell to the floor and was out cold.
I didn’t have time to take a breath because I noticed Tyler struggling next to me. I wrapped my arms around the guy’s throat and didn’t hesitate. The moment I was in position for the rear-naked choke, Tyler was able to squeeze out of the hold. Within seconds, the asshole dropped to the floor.
When we all discussed coming to this place, one thing we agreed on was: no one dies.
Tyler slapped my hand. “I would fight in a ring with you anytime.”
“Except I’m a girl.”
“They need to fix those rules.”
I patted my hand against his cheek and turned to go help Brooks who was currently grappling with asshole number three. As I took one step forward, just past Brooks, I noticed my long-lost sister step around the doorframe.
Grace had this shit-eating grin. “Hey, sis.”
Her voice sounded so full of hate. I felt confused by her emotions. When she left all those years ago, she seemed okay. I thought we both got along. “I’m surprised to see you here?”
“Why? He’s my dad.”
“You disappeared. No note, no nothing.”
“Did you miss me?”
I glanced over to where Jackson was straddling asshole number four and punching him non-stop. “Jackson, he’s out.” My brother lifted his hands up and looked over at me. I repeated my words. “He’s out. You’re good.”
“What a nice sister you are to your twin.” Grace stepped forward, causing me to go into position. I lifted my hands, prepared to fight. This was not in the plans. I never wanted to hurt my sister, but if I had to, I would. “Glad I prepared for this fight.” She stepped one leg back and lifted her arms with fists clenched. “You ready, Charlotte?”
Something was wrong. My alarm bells were flashing danger. “What are you not telling me, Grace?” We were in this situation for a reason, but why?
“Telling you?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.” I noticed how she slowly moved her head in Mason’s direction. “What are we not sharing, big bro?” Mason was pinned down by Brooks and unable to speak. He ground out a laugh, and Brooks pushed his arm harder against his throat.
My mind replayed the day I left home. “I will make my own millions. I don’t need your help.” My father’s last words shook me. “We’ll see about that.” I hadn’t known what to make of his anger or what he had in store for me. What I did know at that moment: he hated me. Now, as the room was full of fighters pushing to win that imaginary belt, I knew some of my siblings felt the same way.
Then I remembered that surprise visit a few months ago. Dear old Dad didn’t make sense at the time, but things were starting to click into place. “After raising you and paying for everything. It’s time to pay me back.” If I was his daughter, then of course he pays for everything.
My sister lunged forward and surprised me by tugging my head back. “You don’t get it do you?” Grace raked her nails along my scalp and tightened her hold on my hair.
“No, I really don’t.”
Jackson jumped forward. “Charlie.”
“The twin here to save the day?” Grace said sarcastically. “Don’t you get tired of rescuing people?”
Jackson must have had a hold on her; I couldn’t see because of the position of my head. Grace made a sound like the air was knocked out of her lungs. “It’s my job. Oh, and I love my job.” Grace’s voice squeaked, and my head lulled forward, free from her grasp. “That may be hard to comprehend, sis. You know, working for a crook and all.”
Grace didn’t say anything. When I turned around, it wa
s obvious why. Jackson had performed a perfect knockout on our sister. I placed my hands over his. “Hey, it’s okay. Just let go.” The moment he lifted his hands, her body fell to the floor. “Something’s wrong.”
“You think,” Jackson said and turned to watch everyone else fighting.
“No, not that. Jacks, there’s something Dad is not telling us. Something Grace and Mason know.”
“Like?”
“I don’t have a damn clue,” I said and grabbed his hand. “Did Dad ever demand money from you?”
“He did pay me a surprise visit once.”
“And you’re telling me this now?”
“He said something about money I owed him. It seemed weird, especially because I don’t have much to give.”
“And?”
“Well, somehow he found a way to take a portion of my check every two weeks.”
I rubbed my hands over my forehead, feeling the effects of a headache surfacing. “Jackson, did you give him consent to remove money from your bank account?”
“No,” he said and placed his hands into his pants pockets.
“Um, you do realize what he’s doing is illegal, right?”
“I don’t know how to stop him, C.”
“Have you talked to Kennedy and Ethan lately?” They were our other siblings. Ethan had always tried to stay on the good side of his father but secretly hated him. Kennedy just wanted everyone happy; she never fought with anyone.
“No, it’s been several months.”
Just as I was about to say something, a body landed against my back and plowed me forward. “Can’t keep me down for long, Charlotte.”
“Guess we just need to hit a little harder next time.” I bent my body forward and touched my hands to the floor. Grace’s body lifted up and then I fell to the side, causing her body to hit the floor with a loud thud. “Who taught you mixed martial arts?”
“Does it matter?” I could hear Grace struggle below me.
“They forgot to share some key moves.”
“And I bet you’re just dying to show me.”
