Tap Out (Fight It Out MMA Series Book 2)

by Terra Kelly

  “Or maybe that was the goal. Place it in an obvious location, someplace he wouldn’t look.”

  “True, that is how Dad would think.” I rubbed my hands over the top of the box, trying to get mentally prepared for whatever was inside. The way the duct tape was placed, it was almost impossible to break through the pieces. I ran into the adjoining bathroom and searched through drawers for something sharp. “Bingo. Toe nail clippers will do the job.”

  I tossed the clippers to Jackson and settled in front of him. “Mom managed to make it difficult to open.”

  “Score one for Mom.” As my brother cut the duct tape, I worked to peel off each piece. When we had one piece left, I took in a deep breath. “I love you. You know that, right?”

  “Don’t get all sentimental on me.”

  I shoved at his shoulder and flipped off the lid. There were several envelopes stacked together and a few images hidden underneath everything. “We start reading?”

  “She’s making us work for the answers.”

  “That’s Mom.” I winked and opened the first envelope.

  Thirty-Two

  “We need to go.” Lily ran into the bedroom completely out of breath. I looked up at my best friend. The one person in my life I had trusted since we were in grade school. Well, we did have that argument over crayons once, but it was minor. “Charlie, did you hear me? We need to go and now.”

  Jackson threw everything back in the box and picked it up. “Charlie, you can do this.”

  “Do what?” Lily sounded confused as she stepped closer to the bed. “Is your head injury causing you problems? Are you okay?” She placed her hand on my shoulder, causing me to flinch. “Talk to me, C.”

  Finally, I stood and let go of my thoughts. “What? I’m fine. I promise.” I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Is Dad here?”

  “No,” Lily said and ran to the door. “Your dad left us a trap. I think more of his assholes are on the way. Some could already be here. Brooks is standing guard.”

  “You left him alone?”

  “Well, you both went silent on us. What were we supposed to do?”

  I grabbed Jackson’s hand. “Don’t lose that.”

  “Never.”

  My mind was struggling to process all that we had just read. It didn’t feel real. I was walking behind them. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Before I left the room for the last time, my eyes locked onto a small jewelry box on my mom’s dresser. Without thinking, I grabbed it and continued to follow everyone down the stairs.

  At the bottom step, Brooks yelled, “Stop.”

  His words caught me off guard. “They’re here already?”

  “Yeah, and we’re surrounded.” He stepped closer to the stairs. “Is there a way out of here? A trapdoor? Anything.”

  I thought about when Jackson and I used to get in trouble running all over the house chasing each other. “Jacks, that hiding spot you loved to use.” My words sounded vague.

  He snapped his fingers and motioned for us to follow. “Good memory, Charlie.” When we reached the small bathroom on the main floor, he stopped. “It’s a tight squeeze, but it leads to the basement. There’s a door down there that will take us outside.”

  “Tight squeeze?” I teased as he pulled some paneling off. “You were what, two hundred pounds lighter when you hid in here?”

  “Suck it in.” He pushed me through the hole.

  I had a death grip on the jewelry box I found in Mom’s room. The space was small, but I was able to inch through it and push open a door at the end of the space. Before Jackson shoved me through, he let me know this hide-away space led to a dark room which was beside the basement. It apparently had never been touched from what he discovered. As I carefully stepped down, the place felt damp.

  “Coming through,” Lily warned from behind me.

  “Do you have your phone still?”

  “Yeah, need a light?” A second later, my friend was illuminated in front of me. My heart burst with excitement the moment she came into view. “Charlie, you okay?”

  “Of course,” I lied again and looked around the room. “What was this area supposed to be used for?”

  “I think it was an extra space that was ignored,” Jackson said and jumped down out of the crawl space. “I found a way to get out and enter the basement, but it was never used in all the years I lived here.”

  Lily shined the light on a wall. “But you managed to deface the place.”

  “It was my space. Well, I made it my place.”

  “Cute.” I nudged my brother’s side. “Let’s reminisce later. How about we get the fuck out of here first?”

  We spent the next several minutes wiggling our way through a second crawl space that Jackson had created. It was almost too tight of a fit for Brooks, but we managed to tug him out as a team. “This is the last stop before heading outside. You ready?” Jackson had his hand on a small wooden door, prepared to open it.

  “Will we be walking out in plain sight for everyone to easily aim and fire?” The words fell from my lips before I had a chance to think about what I was about to say. “I mean, do I need to take cover?”

  “You’ll be out of sight. Just sit and wait until we’re all together again.”

  Before I stepped through the door, I looked back at Lily. “I love you so much, Lily Bug.”

  I noticed her scowl at my words. “Um, shouldn’t you be getting all mushy with that guy?” she said and pointed toward Brooks.

  Her words made me smile. I couldn’t wait to tell her my mom’s secret.

  Thirty-Three

  Twenty-four hours later…

  “Well, he thought he had us surrounded,” I teased and looked at the monitor. All six of us were waiting at the police precinct. Dad was being interrogated by two cops. By his words and body language, it was obvious he still thought he was untouchable. The thing was, we found all the answers in that small worn shoebox.

  “Your father really was the head of what most would call a mob organization.” Lily grabbed a cup and filled it with stale coffee. I watched when she took a sip and then immediately gagged. “How is it possible that a police station has shitty coffee?”

  Before we could respond, the lead cop on the case walked into the break room. I sat up a little taller in my seat, prepared for anything. We predicted they would let my dad off because we didn’t have enough evidence against him. “We just got a warrant to search your father’s house and business.”

  “He’s not walking?”

  “No, you had enough proof to show he needed to be locked up for the time being while we go through all the evidence. Plus, your father made the call to shoot your mom. He forgot to turn off the cameras in the bar.” The detective stepped forward. “All of your statements match.”

  “So that’s it?” I knew my voice sounded relieved.

  “Well, his defense team will try to say there is not enough evidence to show he was the one that directly killed your mom.”

  “But?”

  “You and Brooks were almost killed in the U.K. Your mom and sister are gone.” The cop paused for a moment. “Plus, what you found in that box has all the evidence to lock him up for a very long time.”

  Jackson reached over and squeezed my hand.

  “This is really our life. How is it possible?”

  “You did always love mystery and thriller shows,” he teased.

  “Officer, what happens to my brother Mason?”

  “He is showing signs of flipping his loyalty from your father over to his family.”

  I burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. I know laughing is not appropriate, but if you went through the hell I did—”

  “I can’t even imagine,” the officer said and turned to leave. “Listen, we need to keep most of the contents in that box. We did make some copies for you like you asked.”

  When we arrived at the station earlier, I found a way to talk to the cop privately. So what he was sharing at the moment was directed at me perso
nally. “Thank you, that means a lot.”

  He just nodded and left the room.

  “Charlie, you have held onto that jewelry box like it lives and breathes. Want to share?” Lily said.

  The jewelry box was not the thing on my mind, but since I was not ready to share my mom’s secret just yet, this was a good distraction. I set the small wooden box in the center of the table. “My mom used to store all her special jewelry in the small little space. She would tell me we didn’t need a lot of treasures in our lives and if you have too many, then they weren’t treasures anymore. That confused me at first, and then she showed me what was in the box.” As I slid the lid open, my heart started to beat faster. Inside was her wedding band—because she admitted to me once how much she hated wearing it—and a small brooch that was passed down over several generations. Coiled up in the corner was a necklace with a heart charm attached. I reached in and grabbed the gold chain. She had placed the gift I had given to her several years ago in her treasure box. The fact that my mom valued the small piece of jewelry meant the world to me. “I knew Mom had special valuables in here. What I didn’t know”—I held up the necklace so it dangled in front of my face—“was that she considered this a treasure.”

  “You bought that for her one Christmas.” Lily reached forward and ran her hand over the gold surface.

  “I did.” My friend had such a good memory.

  “I remember why you bought it, too.”

  “Why?” I honestly didn’t know this answer. “Was there a ‘why’ to this story?”

  Lily reached forward and placed the necklace in the palm of her hand. “Your mom was admitted to the hospital for two broken ribs. It was never revealed that your Dad attacked her, but after today, I would bet my life on that fact.”

  “That’s right.” The memory caused several emotions to run through me. I remembered how I couldn’t go see Mom personally, so I sent her a special gift.

  “You bitch!” I jumped up from my chair the moment I heard the words and spun around. My dad was fighting with two cops as he stood in the doorway. “You won’t get away with this,” Dad yelled as the men dragged him down a long hallway.

  “I’m sorry about that,” the detective who was head of our case said as he ran back into the room. “Are you all okay?”

  “Did you tell Lily the truth?” Dad yelled from down the hallway. I walked over and peeked around the door frame and saw him struggling with the two cops. “Did you? Your mom was a whore. She deserved to die.”

  “Get him the fuck out of here,” the detective yelled.

  I stood there, staring at the spot where my father had just been standing. When I turned, Lily was standing just inches from my face. “What didn’t you tell me?”

  How was I supposed to drop this bomb shell? I thought about just blurting out the words, but that seemed wrong. The slow explanation would be annoying.

  “Charlie.” Lily grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. “Whatever it is, we will attack it like we always do: together.”

  I had a copy of the paperwork from the shoebox folded up and stuffed in my back pocket. Instead of saying anything, I decided to let Lily read the words on her own. She took the papers from my outstretched hand and looked completely confused.

  My friend was reading the papers and never made a peep. The suspense was killing me.

  “What?” Lily blurted out. “No.” She glanced up at me. “Is this for real?”

  “Mom told me Dad couldn’t get past the secrets. Then she told me to find the shoebox.”

  “But, Charlie—”

  “I know, but think about it, Lils. It all makes sense now.”

  “Dad was unhappy for a period of time in his marriage,” Lily said and reached for my hands. “How did they know each other?”

  “I’m not sure. That’s what Jackson and I are unsure about.”

  Lily spun around to face Jackson. “Oh, my shit.”

  “Hey, sis,” Jackson said and stood up. Lily reached for his hand and threw her body against me, causing my feet to shake and stumble backward. “You,” she said between tears. “You’re really my sister?”

  “Half-sister,” I teased and kissed her cheek.

  “Wait a minute.” Brooks waived his hands in the air. “Who plans on filling in the pieces? Listening to this conversation is making my acid reflux act up.”

  I walked over and sat down on his lap. “My mom had an affair with Lily’s father.”

  “Wait, your dad knocked up two women in the same year?”

  I burst out laughing at the thought. “It would seem so.”

  “Holy shit. Go Punisher!” I swatted at Brooks’s arm. “What, you have to give credit where it’s due.”

  “So your father found out at some point?” Julian asked from the other side of the room. He had stayed silent up until now.

  “Yeah, and that was why he wanted my money. The twins were never really his, so he hated paying for our care.”

  Lily threw her hand up to her mouth. “How did he find out?”

  “When I needed blood in grade school, and both parents were not a match.”

  “Oh shit, but I bet The Punisher would’ve been a perfect match.”

  “I bet you’re right.”

  Lily and I stared at each other for the longest time. We had done pretty much everything in our lives together, and here we were sisters all along. We got annoyed with one another, finished each other’s sentences, and swore to protect each other.

  I grabbed both her hands and brought them close to my face. “My Lily Bug. How did we not figure this one out on our own?”

  “We are the best at figuring everyone else’s problems—”

  “But suck when it comes to our own.”

  “So what now?” I wrapped my arms around my best friend’s waist. “Sissy.”

  “I will never get tired of hearing that,” Lily said and rested her head on my shoulder.

  “We’ll see about that.” Brooks winked.

  “Ignore him, he has no idea what he’s talking about.” I stepped back and stared some more at Lily. “You’re not alone anymore, Lils.”

  “I wasn’t alone.”

  “But you have family now. You’re not alone.”

  “I always had family. You’re my heart and soul, Charlie.”

  “Always and forever.”

  Thirty-Four

  Three months later…

  “Charlie,” Lily said and ran into my house. “Look what I found.” She held out a small box.

  “What’s this?”

  “Open it.” She sounded a little too anxious.

  “Okay.” I turned and walked over to the front room where there was a small cafe-style table and two chairs. “Were you going through Dad’s stuff again?” This time, when I called The Punisher Dad, it was the truth.

  “Maybe.” She smiled and encouraged me to open the box.

  It was hard to believe that several months had passed since being held captive in the United Kingdom. I still couldn’t believe Lily was my sister. My life had changed forever. Lily had made the decision that we would all go back to the Jurassic Coast and enjoy a vacation the way it was meant to be enjoyed. I had some reservations about the trip. Plus, there was a fight I had to win first.

  As I lifted the lid, my heart started to race. My eyes moved up to Lily who was already crying. “I don’t understand?”

  “C, that was in Dad’s personal belongings.”

  “Did my mom send it to him?”

  “Lift that cardboard piece.”

  In the box were two charms. One was a boy and one was a girl. When I lifted the little piece of cardboard, there was a small note. “Thank you for your gift. We’ll always have September.” I wiped a tear away as more continued to fall. “I know we found out a while ago, but this all still blows my mind.” Right as Lily was about to say something, my phone rang. “Hello.”

  “Charlie. It’s good to hear your voice.” It was Chuck Anders, the owner of AFC.

&
nbsp; “Hi, Chuck.”

  “Are you feeling better?”

  “I am. You ready to put me back in the ring?”

  I heard him chuckle. “You’re persistent.”

  “Just itching to be in an octagon again. It’s been too long.”

  “We have a main fight card I was thinking of adding you to.”

  “If it’s not for a championship belt, I’m not interested.”

  “Charlie,” Lily said and kicked me under the table.

  “Tell Lily hello for me,” Chuck said and continued. “Are you sure you’re ready for a title shot?”

  “I was ready in Liverpool.”

  “Fair enough. Let me get back to you in a couple days.”

  I hit end on my phone and sat it down on the table. “Do you think Chuck is not a fan of my persistence?”

  Lily stood up. “Honestly, I think he loves it.” I followed behind as she made her way into the kitchen. “I’m the same way.”

  “So it’s a sister thing?” I pulled a bottle of wine out of the fridge. “Did you start drinking wine yet? Or am I alone on this one?”

  “If she’s out, I’ll share.” Brooks walked in from outside. He stepped up beside me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “Is this my cue to leave?” Lily made a gagging sound.

  “Yup,” I said and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Lily wait.” She had her eyes covered. “Let’s wait to tell Jackson about the charms. Maybe we can convince him to make another trip this way.”

  “Or he could join us when we go to Durdle Door.” She lifted her hand and waved. “Love you both.”

  Brooks pushed me up against the counter. “What’s this about charms?”

  “I’ll show you later.” I felt his erection pressing against my belly and rubbed my hand over him. He lifted me up onto the counter, causing me to yelp. “Are we too far away from the bedroom?”

  “This countertop has never been christened.”

  I moved my hands to the hem of his T-shirt and lifted it up over his head. “How did I get so lucky?” I stared into his eyes and slowly rubbed my hands down the side of his face. As I brushed my thumb lightly across his bottom lip, he lunged forward and took my finger in his mouth. The moment he sucked hard, my body ignited. I reached down to unbutton and unzip his jeans.