Once she was alone in her car, she let out all her sorrow: at the wasted years with Dennis, at the loss of the wonderful months with Slade, and at the hurtful words he’d just spat at her, words that she couldn’t fault him for but which would forever be cemented into her psyche.
She sat there for a long time. Finally, when the sobs had subsided, she looked to see what time it was, knowing she had to leave town at midnight exactly. It was still too early—she had about an hour to kill. She drove to EE’s, and as soon as she walked in, Esther threw her a scathing look. Jesus, gossip traveled fast in Tarpon Springs.
Esther pointed her to a booth and tossed a menu on the table. Not five minutes later, Melinda and the three other women in her knitting group walked in, despite the late hour. They whispered, looked over at Jessica, then whispered some more. She braced herself. There was no fight left in her.
“And to think I was going to remind Miles to call her,” Melinda said loudly. “He is quite the catch, you know. I’m glad he wasn’t interested in her.”
The eldest of the bunch, Shelly, added, “Oh, me too, Mels. I was going to have my Danny call her. Could you imagine? She would have torn his heart right out of his body and stepped all over it, just like she did with that poor Martin boy.”
The poor Martin boy? The tattooed, cussing cage fighter that the town loves to hate? She hadn’t realized how much the town protected their own.
“I’m right here, you know,” Jessica called wearily.
The women turned their heads, looked at her, and scowled. All four began talking at once: “Shameful…duty to testify…better off gone…”
She laid her head on the table. This was harder than she’d thought it would be, and she had known it was going to be hard.
“Get outta the way, you evil, evil women. Y’all could start an argument in an empty house.” A melodic voice with a Texas drawl filled her ears. She looked up to see Jamie Lynn shooing the women out of the way. She slid into the booth across from Jessica.
“Darlin’, you’ve created quite the scandal,” Jamie Lynn said. She then turned to Esther, who was still standing with the knitting posse, and demanded two coffees. Thank God for Jamie Lynn—coffee was exactly what Jessica wanted but hadn’t been able to ask for.
“The entire town hates me.”
Jamie Lynn, never being one to beat around the bush, agreed. “Yes. The entire town’s fit to be tied.”
“Did you come here to try to change my mind or to tell me you hate me too?”
“Jess, look at me.” Jessica lifted her head. “I’ve known you for a few years now. We may not be BFFs, but I think I know you. I’m disappointed with this town for not knowing you better. You are one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. If you think leaving is the best thing, then you must have a good reason. I don’t hate you and I will not try to change your mind. I came by because I know how the people in this town can be. They can be judgmental and harsh. But if they accept you, it’s like a big extended family—a loud and annoying one.”
“I wanted to be part of the big, extended, loud, annoying family.”
“Bless your heart, sugar. I think that ship has sailed.”
“I’ll miss you, JL.” She reached for Jamie’s hand and squeezed.
Jamie placed her other hand on top of Jessica’s. “I’ll miss you too, Jessica. Even though you weren’t even goin’ to say goodbye.” She took a sip of the coffee that Esther had just placed in front of them.
“I’m sorry, JL. I just wanted to make a clean break. I would’ve called you,” Jessica said as Jamie Lynn slid out of the booth.
“I reckon.” Jamie Lynn looked back at Jessica. Then she leaned forward and whispered in Jessica’s ear, “And I reckon you’ll be back.”
Somehow this tattooed pixie seemed to understand something that no one else did. They had reached some sort of silent understanding.
—
“Brother, calm down,” Cain said to Slade. Slade continued to jump rope. He needed to blow off steam or he was going to start throwing punches at anyone within arm’s length.
“We were coming to tell you that Greg just backed out of Saturday’s fight.”
Slade looked up.
“I know that this isn’t a good time for you, Slade, but I think I’m going to take Greg’s place. I’m ready,” Travis said.
“Who’s Greg?” Francesca asked.
“Some heavyweight from another gym,” Travis answered.
“No!” Slade threw the rope to the side. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to fight.”
Chrissy, who’d just come in with Jack, said, “Absolutely not!”
“Leave me alone. I’m doing it. Why are you even here?”
“We were across the street at my new clinic taking some measurements and heard the commotion,” Chrissy said.
Chrissy looked over at Travis, Cain, and Jack with pleading eyes.
“Slade, bro, you’ve been out of the game for months. You haven’t trained. That’s only five days away,” Jack said.
“You can’t. Your head. Another concussion and you might die. You made me a promise,” Chrissy cried.
“Brother.” Jack’s voice was serious. “You need to stop and think. Don’t fight.”
“He’s right. Bad idea, man,” Cain said.
“Fuck off, all of you. I’m fighting.”
Travis reached for his shoulder, but Slade pushed his friend’s hand away and walked out the door to his truck.
Slade stood with his palms on the hood of the truck, his head down, eyes closed.
Click-clock click-clock.
He knew who it was before she spoke. Why the hell was Francesca here too? Was the entire town there to witness his meltdown?
“Hey.”
Slade said nothing.
“I signed up for this partnership assuming there’d be a partner,” Francesca said. She placed her hands on his shoulders from behind him. “This place goes to shit without you. We need you here, Slade. You are the Academy. I know you’re mad. I get it. But fighting and possibly getting hurt isn’t going to fix anything. She’s not worth it. You’re just hurting yourself and all of us who love you, especially Chrissy, who’s inside crying hysterically.”
He sighed.
“I need you, Slade. I can’t do this alone.” She gave him one last squeeze on the shoulder before walking away.
—
At twelve on the dot Jessica stepped outside, turned off all the lights, and locked the door of her house. She noticed a car parked about a half block away. She wasn’t sure if that was Jack, Dennis, Dennis’s people, or just some random parked car.
She began to drive. There was definitely a car following her. But it was dark and there were a lot of cars on the highway. Maybe there was a second car, but she wasn’t sure.
She drove for three hours, at some point losing track of which car was behind her. Then a car sped up, pulled to her left, and got closer and closer. As it drew even with hers she saw the driver open the passenger-side window and motion for her to pull over. She was beyond relieved when she saw it was Jack.
When they’d stopped their cars he got out and walked over to her. “They tailed you for almost two hours, but I’m sure they’re gone now. They must’ve been convinced you were really leaving town. Now I’ll escort you back to the motel. Follow me.”
When they arrived back at the motel, Jack helped her unload the things she’d need for the week ahead. Then he parked her car behind the motel so that anyone driving by wouldn’t see it. Finally he gave her some money and a burner phone. “It can’t be traced, but even so, try not to use this unless you need it. Do not leave the room under any circumstances. I’ll be back tomorrow with some groceries.”
She nodded.
“Hey.”
She slowly looked up.
“You did good,” he told her. “I know that was hard, but you did real good. If anyone was around, you gave them quite the show.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure whe
ther it was a show or not.”
Jack seemed to understand. “You’re okay now. You’re safe. They’ll understand when this is all over and done with.”
“I hope so. Otherwise I really will have to move back home.”
“Tarpon Springs is home, sweetie.”
She sighed. Jack was quite a man. Chrissy was one lucky woman.
—
Jessica spent all night tossing and turning. Visions of Slade’s angry eyes haunted her. Coward… The word reverberated over and over again. Coward.
Even if Jack’s plan worked and Dennis went to jail, she still thought she might have to move to Charlotte. She had thought Slade would break her one day with his womanizing, but it looked like she had broken him. Broken bones could be repaired, and that was the extent of the damage Dennis had left. But a broken heart…well, that was another story altogether.
—
“Tomorrow’s the trial, Slade. You’re the only one left to testify now that Jessica’s gone. Please don’t do this. It’s not too late to walk away,” Chrissy begged her brother. It had been five days since Jessica left.
“I know what I’m doing, Chris. Leave me alone.” Slade had a blue hoodie on and looked menacing. “Get her outta here, Jack,” he said to his friend. He put on some headphones and began jumping rope. He was too in his head. He’d never gone into a fight so angry. He needed to calm down.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been jumping rope before he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Cain.
“You’re up,” Cain said.
Slade nodded. He took off his headphones.
“You sure?” Cain asked.
“Don’t do this, boss. Not worth it,” Travis said.
Slade was tired of hearing everyone’s concerns. He wasn’t made of glass. He’d fought hundreds of times before. One more wasn’t going to kill him.
“Get outta my way,” he hissed at his friends. In the last few months he’d lost two things he loved: his ability to fight and Jessica. He was going to get one of them back tonight. And since Jessica wasn’t there…well, that left only fighting.
Chrissy and Jack stood in the front next to Francesca and Tony as Slade walked in, followed by Travis and Cain. Before going into the cage, Slade unzipped his hoodie and threw it toward Travis. He walked into the cage in black shorts emblazoned with the WtF logo. He jumped up and down a few times, snapping his neck side to side. This was not like him—he usually did nothing to warm up—but tonight he had too much nervous energy. The ref said a few things, but it was all a blur.
He heard the bell and then his body moved as it was trained to do. His opponent threw the first punch, and Slade ducked. They rounded each other, and his opponent again threw a punch, an uppercut this time. Again Slade danced away, causing his opponent to miss. This happened throughout the entire first round. By the time the bell rang, the guy was winded and sweat dripped down his temples, unlike Slade, who had not even broken a sweat.
Even without training appropriately, this was Slade’s fight to lose. He was more seasoned and stronger. The second round began, and this time the man didn’t come out throwing punches. His corner was yelling at him to throw a punch. Slade’s corner was mostly quiet. No one dared say much with the mood Slade was in.
He still couldn’t believe Jessica had left. After all they’d been through. After the mind-altering sex inside the cage. After he’d told her he loved her. She’d said she didn’t love him. Had he been so blinded by his own intense feelings that it didn’t occur to him that she might not love him back? How was he supposed to get on with his life when he was so completely in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way? How did one fall out of love? Because that was exactly what he needed to do in order to move on with his life.
All this was going through Slade’s head when his opponent finally swung. The right hook grazed his temple as Slade simultaneously threw a punch square to his opponent’s jaw, knocking him out. A great knockout and not a scratch on him—Slade felt invincible.
—
One hundred fifty-two, one hundred fifty-three, one hundred fifty-four…The icemaker in the hallway outside Jessica’s room shot some ice out. She’d been playing the counting game for the last week. Every one hundred and fifty-four seconds the icemaker dropped more ice into the bin. Every seventy-eight seconds the light bulb in the lamp flickered. There were sixty-five petals on the large watercolor floral painting above her bed. She’d lost count of how many books she’d read. She couldn’t look at the bright screen of her e-reader or iPad one more second. Thankfully, today she was finally going to leave the small motel room.
It was just before seven o’clock in the morning, when Jack was supposed to pick her up to take her to the courthouse. She had been dressed and ready to go by five. She was pacing the old green carpet when a knock on the door startled her. She looked through the peephole to confirm it was Jack before opening the door. She flung open the door and launched herself at him in a hug. After a few seconds, Jack hesitantly hugged her back.
“Sorry. Sorry,” she said, pulling back.
“You’re going stir-crazy. I get it.”
“Yes. I’m just so glad to see you. I want all this to be over already.”
Jack nodded. “We’ll come back later for your things. You ready?”
“Yes.” And she was.
Jack parked in the back of the courthouse and led her in through some sort of back entrance. “I just informed the state’s attorney you were here. They weren’t expecting you, but they’re very happy you decided to testify. I explained what happened.”
Jessica nodded, fidgeting with a loose thread on her blouse. She couldn’t contain her nerves.
“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. She nodded again and tried to swallow, but the lump in the back of her throat didn’t allow for it.
Slade would be there as well. He would also be testifying, but without her testimony, Dennis would have walked. She was the victim and the only eyewitness to what had occurred at her house on the day of the beating.
Once Slade sees why I did it, everything will be okay. Everything will be okay, because I did it for him. I did it for him and everything will be okay.
The trial had already started when Jack escorted Jessica into the courtroom. One of the lawyers was talking, but stopped when the spectators saw Jessica and a murmur filled the courtroom. She kept her head down. She hadn’t expected to see so many cameras but since it was a high-profile case, being that this was the mayor’s nephew, crews from the local stations were set up all around the room. She sat down in the place Jack indicated for her, next to a police officer who was a friend of Slade’s, and then Jack sat down on her other side. She bent her head slightly forward so that her hair partially covered her face.
When she looked up, the first thing she noticed was Dennis staring at her. His eyes were crazy-looking, almost unseeing. His nostrils flared. His jaw twitched. How had she been with this man for so many years? What did that say about her? she wondered. He was getting worse and worse as time went on. This was the face of a deranged man, and when their eyes locked she couldn’t help but flinch and lean back a little.
She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. Jessica turned and was surprised to see that the comforting gesture and kind smile were coming from Chrissy. She wasn’t sure if Chrissy would ever forgive her for hurting her brother. She wondered if Jack had told her the plan and if she knew all along that it had been for show.
The prosecutor spoke first, then the defense. Witnesses were called, and finally it was her turn. Her palms were clammy and her throat felt tight. She felt like she was on the verge of passing out. But then she looked over at the abusive nut job who had made her into this frail, weak woman, someone she hardly recognized, and she dug down deep inside for the strength to somehow stand up straighter, her head held high. She would have to walk right past him to get to the witness stand.
As she crossed the front of the courtroom toward the
witness stand, everything seemed to happen all at once.
First she heard Dennis shout, “I warned you, bitch!” Then he stood up so fast, the chair he had been sitting in screeched across the floor and fell back with a loud thump. His hand grabbed for her, but she instinctively ducked out of the way, so that only his nails scratched her wrist.
She looked up, terrified but prepared to defend herself. Then she noticed a hand with long red fingernails wrapped around Dennis’s neck and his arm bent back in an unnatural way. When she was able to focus on who was restraining him, her mouth opened in a big O. Francesca, whom she had not noticed sitting in the row directly behind Dennis, had him in some sort of hold. In her beautiful gray suit, perfectly arranged hair, and flawless makeup, she didn’t even look as if she’d broken a sweat.
A big strong arm wrapped around Jessica’s waist and pulled her to the other side of the courtroom, away from Dennis. She assumed it was Jack, but all she could do was watch as the bailiffs converged to take hold of Dennis, handcuff him, and drag him away. Francesca brushed off her skirt, smoothed her hair, and then gave Jessica a wink. Jessica almost couldn’t believe her eyes.
The lights from the cameras were blinding. The noise from the spectators was making her dizzy. And the banging of the gavel as the judge shouted, “Order in the court!” echoed in her head, making her feel as if she was about to lose her senses.
Jack was talking to her and Chrissy was standing in front of her with a concerned look on her face, but Jessica was trembling and couldn’t hear a thing. It was as if she were in a tunnel of sound and light. The only thought in her mind was, Where the hell is Slade?
“Jess? Jessica?” It was Chrissy. “Go get her some water. Someone bring her water!” Chrissy was ordering. “And get her a blanket or sweater or something. She’s shaking.”
As if a mute button had suddenly been released, the vortex disappeared and the jumbled noises slowly began to make sense again. “Move away. Give her room. Jack! Get everyone to move away. Get the cameras out of her face!” Chrissy continued to bark out orders, and Jack and the other officers assisted in clearing out as many people as possible. The judge was also giving orders to the attorneys for both sides. It was complete and utter pandemonium.
Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) Page 23
