He thought my hair was sexy and he was going to do whatever he could to help Letesha and me. I had no doubt. He’d even mentioned being naked with me later, making plans as if he expected us to survive the craziness of that day and night. That gave me a bump in confidence right there.
Letesha and I had three rounds left and I wasn’t sure I could drag them on much. I had three time outs that would last a minute each.
With the rounds at three minutes and the breaks in between at two and my time outs included, I was looking at sixteen minutes on the outside. I had to do my best to deliver every second that I could. Stryker needed it to do something. I didn’t need to know what yet. He’d fill me in later.
My efforts were no longer focused on winning to save Sara. I had to save her, that wasn’t the question. The problem was the fact that Letesha now had someone or two someones who were in danger as well. Unfortunately, I had to add her loved ones to my list of priorities, too.
Dominick had taken things outside the bounds of even his limitations. Timbercreek students should be off-limits because they weren’t Jameson and hadn’t signed up for the problems that came with being a Jameson student. Most of the kids in the community knew what was expected and what could happen as they did things they weren’t supposed to. Timbercreek was also partially protected by the Russian feud, since it was viewed as a neutral school in Timbercreek, safe enough to send Romanovs and Ivanovs children.
Timbercreek students should be off-limits to the problems created by Dominick, but they weren’t. He’d crossed the line and he had to pay. I just didn’t know how to do that from my precarious position in the ring. I didn’t even have access to my phone to call in some favors.
Rolling my shoulders, I turned back to the fight, painfully aware of every second that passed.
Letesha came at me, her eyes wild as she struggled to gain the upper hand. She had no idea that Stryker was working on saving both of us. She had no idea of all the facets surrounding the situation. How could she? She was supposed to be there for a boxing match, not a life or death situation.
As I allowed myself to turn the stress over to Stryker, my calm overwhelmed me. I could see why she was a messy fighter and I had answers as to why she was acting the way she was.
And I didn’t blame her.
I didn’t blame her for the wild haymakers or the unethical moves like stepping on my feet to hold me in place so she could try to land a solid punch. I couldn’t blame her when it was all stuff I’d tried in the past without something hanging over my fights. Just to win wasn’t a good enough reason to pull the crap I’d tried.
I couldn’t let Letesha chase me around the canvas though either. It was in my instincts to fight back. No matter how much I fought my need to return the punches, I couldn’t stop them.
She cornered me and I couldn’t help it. I let my fist fly and popped her in the eye. She’d dropped her guard and the hit jerked her face back. She shook her head, raising her guard back up, but not before I noticed the bright red bloodshot blooming across the white of her eye.
Concern split across my focus. Had I given her an aneurysm? A flash of Sonya’s expression after I’d punched her made its way across my mind. Had I hurt Letesha when all she was trying to do was save her siblings?
I stepped forward, half-lowering my hands as I peered at Letesha, trying to gauge where she was at. “Are you okay?”
Pure anger twisted her expression and she came at me, her voice shrill and yet still low enough to keep it between us. “What is wrong with you?” She threw a jab, a jab, another jab, backing me up as I tried to fend them off with my forearms. “They’re going to die. You’re going to kill them.”
I licked my lips, ducking when she threw a well-aimed punch that didn’t connect. “Sara is, too. The same asshole set me up like you.” I pleaded with her with my eyes as she continued jabbing at me, getting ready to throw a combination.
Regret flickered in her gaze while her jaw set with determination. “I can’t care about her. They’re my family.”
I got it. I nodded, ducking my head behind the protection of my gloves. That made sense. I couldn’t hold that against her. I wouldn’t.
To be honest, I’d make the same choice. I was close to making the same one as it was. The only thing holding me back from kicking Letesha’s ass to save Sara’s was the fact that Letesha was innocent and her younger brother and sister were just kids.
Weren’t we all just kids? Sara at least had a part in what was going on. She’d been aware of things from the start. Those kids hadn’t.
The crowd had long ago faded for me. They weren’t why I was there and I didn’t care if they were entertained or not. I was there to last out the rest of the time we had left without losing to Letesha and without winning at the same time.
We both had to survive.
I just wasn’t sure any of us would be left by the end of the night to relish the sweet reward of victory. Or life.
Chapter 16
Stryker
Sixteen minutes. I had sixteen minutes. Turning to Gunner and Brock, I set my jaw. “We have sixteen minutes, guys, but I’m not sure what we need to do.” I couldn’t stop thinking about grabbing Gray by the arms and running with her out of town. Forget everyone else. Forget all the possible consequences. I just wanted her safe. Was that too much to ask?
Brock was the resident puzzle master of the family. Crosswords, mysteries, riddles, or a standard whodunit and Brock was the guy we went to for the answers.
Surprisingly, Gunner spoke up. “We need to find Dominick, but I’m not sure where to start.”
Dominick. Everything seemed to come back to our uncle and it was fast pissing me off.
I scanned the interior of the gym, trying to pick out a specific familiar face from a crowd of potentially familiar faces. “This is just the gym. We’re never going to find him, if he’s not in here. Not in sixteen minutes.” We moved quickly to the side of the gym to see as much of the interior as possible.
Alex Asher – I still couldn’t think of him completely as Coach – glanced up as the vice principal stood in front of him, moving her mouth rapidly and then pointing toward the back of the school. He ducked his head, his cheeks a bright red and his nose veiny. I’d never noticed how much his skin was affected by his drinking choices.
I couldn’t look away from the fighting couple and then it dawned on me. “Guys, we want to find Dominick, we need to stick to Danielle.”
They honed their gazes in on Gray’s aunt, narrowing their eyes as they realized I was right.
We all nodded in unison and seemed to tense with expectation. We had to be ready as she fumed at Asher. After another minute of her tirade that we couldn’t quite make out from where we were and through the din of the crowd cheering for Gray and Letesha, she spun on her heel and stormed in the direction of the boys’ locker room.
Why was a woman heading toward a boys’ locker room?
Asher stared at the ring and I had to agree with his reluctance to leave the fight. Gray had a natural grace about her even as she fumbled through the first fight since the last traumatizing one. Both fighters had something to lose that had nothing to do with points and their desperation had their limbs shaking and their eyes shifting side to side as they looked for an answer – any answer that wasn’t right in front of them.
“Gunner, you follow Asher. He’s not up to anything good. Brock, come on. We need to follow our trustworthy vice principal.” Sarcasm dripped from my lips. I tossed one last glance of longing toward the ring. She had no one to corner for her. At least she was more than aware that we were trying to help both her and Letesha keep their loved ones.
Still, it was hard to walk away when she was going to be all alone, except the crowd chanting her fighter name.
As we made our way through the gym and followed Danielle, I couldn’t help wondering if that was disconcerting to Alex to hear his name being chanted over and over by an overzealous crowd. Honestly, I didn’t care. But i
f the things Gray had mentioned about him were true, he’d fallen short of being great as a fighter and the chanting would spur on some lifelong lost dreams and what-ifs. They would only make any existing jealousy for his daughter that much more enhanced.
Ducking between fans who stood and yelled when a hit connected or leaned back as something was missed, Brock and I followed Danielle’s straight path to the locker rooms. I kept expecting her to veer off under the bleachers or take a different route through the crowd for a different destination altogether, but she kept true to the course.
At the door, she pulled it open without looking around her, confident in her role there. As VP, she must have some kind of right to walk into a bathroom for the opposite sex. I wasn’t aware of anything that allowed that, but Jameson ran on its own ideals and agendas. Wasn’t I proof of that?
Brock held the door from closing completely and we both glanced back to make sure Gunner had followed Alex. He reached the other side of the gym, peeking over his shoulder to flash the “okay” sign before ducking outside.
I hated sending him out on his own, but he was level-headed enough to make logical decisions while Brock was cool-headed enough to keep me in check but not himself when he was alone.
We ducked through the door and softened our footsteps, following through the cavernous sounding area, checking for Danielle in every aisle and cubicle.
The door across the way shut softly, the sound almost indiscernible over my breathing. I jerked my finger toward the door leading to the hallway and Brock and I followed quickly.
Once in the hall, we caught sight of the VP as she walked with a swinging gait toward the cafeteria. She’d gone through the locker room as if trying to shake anyone from her tail. Did she expect girls to follow her or something? Did she suspect that we followed her?
Brock and I slowed down enough we could hide if she glanced back, but not enough to lose her if she moved ahead too quickly.
The cafeteria door swung shut behind her.
“She went to the kitchen.” There was no other exit from that area. The loading docks were in the back and while that was a possibility for her to escape to, Dominick had said he’d be on the premises to monitor the situation from up close.
Did that mean I trusted Dominick? Not in the least, but there had to be some semblance of truth to something he said. Otherwise, I was shooting in the dark and I couldn’t accept that. I had to at least try. Try for Gray. Try for Letesha. Try for my cousins.
We stepped into the door well of the double-doors to the science hall, slinking into the shadows and keeping ourselves from view from anyone who might pass by.
Thirty seconds passed and I was painfully aware of every breath, every heart beat that Gray was having to fight not to win and not to lose. She didn’t have a lot of time left and I’d begged her for every millisecond she could give me.
Another thirty seconds passed and Danielle pushed out of the swinging doors again, this time her heels beating a pissed off staccato down the linoleum hallway back toward the locker rooms. I couldn’t tell if she headed toward the boys or the girls, but that wasn’t my concern. After she disappeared, we followed her steps toward the cafeteria doors, pausing outside them while holding the door open an inch or so.
I recognized Dominick’s laugh and a taunting call carrying from the cafeteria. “Come out, Maria. I know you’re there. You can’t hide from me.” With a lower tone, he chastised someone else in the room. “You’re supposed to be watching the door. If Danielle had seen Maria, I would have had to kill you. That doesn’t work in my plans, Demetri. Stop being a dumbass, and think next time.” The derision in his tone reminded me of the times he’d chastised us. I hated him a little more for being the tyrant he was.
“Master, I’m here.” Maria’s voice lacked the playfulness she’d had in the van, replaced by the dulcet tones of someone subservient to another.
“Where have you been, pet? I want to show you something.” Dominick sounded like a cat with a mouse.
The sudden crack of flesh on flesh was so sudden, it even made me wince. I jerked my head toward the interior of the cafeteria doors and Brock and I pushed slowly, silently through, crouching as we did, so not to catch any attention.
Dropping slowly to our hands and knees once we were through the doors, Brock and I moved over the chilly linoleum floor in a synchronized crawl, speaking to each other with hand movements perfected over the years.
We made our way across the floor, under the tables with the chairs stacked upside down on top of the round surfaces.
The lights were off in the main cafeteria but the kitchen lights glowed brightly, spilling from the open service area and bouncing off the stainless-steel counters.
In the far corner, we paused in our crawl and turned to take measure of what we were dealing with. We had to be down to only ten minutes left and I would give anything to know how Gray was doing.
“Do you know what I found this morning before we headed over here?” Dominick’s voice had softened and he moved into view, pacing into the service window and then back out.
“No, Master.” Out of sight, Maria’s voice carried solidly as she spoke in flat tones.
How could a girl like Gray come from someone like Maria? Gray would never tolerate being broken by anyone. She’d most likely die first.
Dominick moved back into view, yanking Maria forward with a hand clutched around her upper bicep. He pointed at something on the service counter out of our view.
“A phone?” Maria glanced at Dominick, confusion in her eyes, her expression neutral.
“Not just any phone, my sweet. That’s my nephew’s phone.” Dominick let go of her arm and smoothed his hand down her long thick hair. Hair that resembled Gray’s so much except for the wave that gave it an almost curly look at the ends and a soft bend in the length.
“Is that a good thing?” Maria glanced from the phone to Dominick and then back to the phone. I could almost taste her fear as it curdled in the air around her.
Digging my fingers into my palms, I took a deep breath. What was I supposed to do? I could keep Dominick there, but that didn’t mean I had Sara or Letesha’s family. Danielle could be the one killing people or another one of Dominick’s henchmen, like the one we’d heard but hadn’t seen yet.
“Has the girl won yet? Demetri, go find out.” Dominick didn’t look away from Maria as he continued petting her, the silence between the two as Demetri pushed out of the kitchen and walked through the cafeteria had taken on an almost eerie feel.
Dominick’s voice softened and became almost tender as he continued stroking Maria’s hair and studying her. “Haven’t I given you everything? Haven’t I done exactly what you asked me to do? All I’ve tried to do is make you happy.” He tilted his head toward her, leaning his forehead against hers.
Maria closed her eyes, her lips in a thin line as she pressed them together. She didn’t move, as if there were more and she waited for him to finish his tirade.
“Haven’t I given you everything!” Dominick’s sudden yell reverberated off the walls. He didn’t put any distance between them before he yelled, just let it spew forth in anger.
Maria didn’t flinch as she kept her eyes closed.
Dominick reached out, his eyes open again, and took what he claimed to be my phone in his hand. He turned it over and over and then tapped it on the counter. “I thought there had to be a mistake. If we’d had his phone, you would have told me. Or maybe Demetri would have told me. Someone, surely, would have told me we had Stryker’s phone.” He shook his head. “No. I was surprised to find it in the corner of your room, under the rug. The rug, Maria. As if you hid it from me.”
She jerked her gaze to his face and shook her head. “I’m not allowed phones, Master.” I had to give her credit. She seemed to have no fear in the face of a man who had obviously lost it.
“I know this, Maria. I know you know this as well. That’s why I’m not sure what’s going on. Maybe… Maybe I need to call the
last number and speak to whoever answers.” He tilted his face closer to hers. “Unless of course, the last person it called just happens to be in the ring trying to save a friend’s life.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I think you underestimate me and the things I can do. No, the things I’m willing to do. You don’t know even half the things I’ve done.” He sighed, reaching up and trailing his knuckles down Maria’s cheek, his eyes taking on a look as if he were lost in a faraway place.
Maria shifted her gaze out into the cafeteria, looking anywhere but at Dominick. Her expression gained the sudden hopelessness of someone who was close to giving up.
I glanced at Brock. We were running out of time. I could feel it. If my instincts were right, Maria wasn’t the one we needed to worry about. If anything, maybe we could get her efforts to shift toward our side and saving Gray.
I stood, letting some of the light hit me.
My movement caught her attention and she shifted her gaze my way, careful not to move and disrupt Dominick’s focus. Her eyes widened and our gazes met. I didn’t need to say anything and she dropped her chin in a short unassuming nod that Dominick couldn’t see.
I dropped back down to the ground, nodding at Brock. I couldn’t speak to explain myself and judging by the slack-jawed expression on my cousin’s face, I’d just gone way out of bounds on what he considered smart.
Maria licked her lips and turned back to Dominick. She placed her hand on his chest, jarring him from his memories. Tilting her head back, she cuddled against him and all but purred as she spoke. “You know I love when you tell me things. Tell me more. What have you done that I don’t know about? What makes you worthy to be my master?”
And that’s where I saw it. Dominick didn’t need someone else to hold power over. He had plenty of those people. Maria’s value came in that she could read him. She could coax things out of him, let him talk and brag and build himself up with a narcissistic demand to be seen as great and to hear himself talk about how great he was.
Her Champions: A high school bully romance (Bad Boys of Jameson High Book 3) Page 14
