by Day, Laura
“Well, where is it?!” Hayden demanded. Austin’s hands were empty as were the hands of the other men with him.
“I’m not just carrying ten thousand dollars around with me. It’s in the car. Let’s go downstairs where we can talk in private.”
“I kind of thought we could do this in public,” Hayden said, shifting back and forth on his feet.
“You thought wrong.”
Hayden chugged his beer and dropped a ten on the counter. Austin led the way down a steep set of red stairs to the street below. They stepped out and into a waiting limousine. Inside there was a suitcase filled with neatly stacked rows of money. Austin sat down next to Hayden and nodded to Charlie to hand the case over. Hayden’s mouth fell open as he stared at the neatly stacked pile of hundred dollar bills in front of him. He reached out to grab onto of the bundles to make sure it was all actually money. He flipped through and his eyes grew big as saucers as he saw hundred after hundred flicker past him.
Austin slipped the folder out of Hayden’s arm and began to flip through it. He saw Marie’s address in some small town called Harskburg not too far away. There was a picture of her coming out of a huge mansion and several more of her walking down the street.
“She lives in a museum?” Austin demanded.
“She’s the caretaker,” Hayden said. He closed the briefcase and took it from Charlie and made a move from the door. “We never met and this never happened.” He stepped out and into the street and Austin let him go.
He had considered flipping on Hayden, taking the info and keeping the money. But he didn’t have a lot of contacts down here and he was worried about making an unnecessary enemy. Besides, the man had been an enormous help. Austin might never have found Marie without him and Austin believed in paying for good service. They left Austin behind and drove straight to Harksburg.
Austin had planned on grabbing her at the museum and bringing her home. It was supposed to be done quick and easy. She would see him, know her little vacation was over and then they would get into the car and go back to Arizona. He wasn’t interested in starting a manhunt in an unknown town. He would have to bribe the local cops to look the other way, he would have to create contacts, and he didn’t have the time for it. Standing in the street like this was the last thing he wanted to be doing. They were not supposed to be standing guard or setting up traps. It was supposed to be a rush job, in and out no complications.
But she had said no. That bitch had actually said no to him. Who did she think she was? Didn’t she understand she was nothing without him? She was trash and he had made her something better. How dare she think she could ever leave him? She was coming home and he didn’t care what it would take to get her there.
Charlie was trying to call Hayden, but there was no answer. Ten thousand dollars should buy him a lot more than an address and a couple of pictures. Hayden was going to have to help Austin wrangle Marie into some sort of trap. Austin was pacing in front of the entrance to the gym. People walked past him on the street and gave him a strange look, but he ignored them and focused on pacing.
Axel Connelly, the Axel Connelly, she was with him? It was impossible. Austin knew who Axel was. He had followed the same eating plan as Axel. He had read about it GQ. He had idolized Axel Connelly and now that guy was dating Marie. It was impossible. Marie wasn’t good enough for a guy like Axel Connelly. She was barely good enough for Austin. He didn’t know how to deal with this. He couldn’t accept it. How had she even met Axel Connelly?
“He must live here,” Austin said out loud, standing in place. “But why would he live here? He could live anywhere. He must have some attachment to this town. Maybe he was born here. Maybe he has family here?”
“Searching now,” Charlie said as he started tapping his phone.
“We any closer to a phone number?” Austin said to the tech nerd sitting in the back seat of the SUV.
“Working on it,” the tech said.
They were close. Austin could feel it. Marie was nearby. She was like a deer hiding in the forest. But he would find her. He would track her. He would sniff her out.
“His mother still lives in Harksburg. Name is Elizabeth Connelly.”
“Searching,” the tech said. “Got it. Her address is 447 Sycamore Grove. It’s less than five miles from here.”
“Good!” Austin said. His heart began to pound. He was close. They were at the mother’s house. That had to be Marie's only other connection in town. That was where she was. There wouldn’t be anywhere else for her to run.
“Boss,” Charlie said. Austin turned to look at Charlie who had his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, “Maybe we should think about this. It might just be an old woman. We can’t just all descend on her. She could call the local cops and they’ll want to know why we’re here. That leads to a lot of questions we don’t want to answer.”
Austin glared at the other man, but he knew he was right. “Send a car to the house. Check it out but be discrete. Find out if his car is there.”
Charlie nodded and made the call and Austin stared at the tech. “Get me a number,” he spit and the man stared at his computer and typed as fiercely as possible. This was infuriating. Marie was so close. He was tempted to get in the car and go and get her himself. But Connolly was there. Austin was a good fighter, but he might not win against an MMA champion. This was why he had brought his team with him. He wasn’t alone and he was planning on using his numbers to his advantage.
“The car is at the house, but all the lights are out,” Charlie said, holding his phone to his ear.
Austin nodded. Now what? He began to pace again. His hands clasped behind his back. What was the right way to play this? He needed to get in touch with Marie. He needed to get her on the phone. He knew how to push her buttons; he knew how to get her to do what he wanted. But he couldn’t do anything until he found her or a way to get in touch with her. It was frustrating.
Soon. He forced himself to count to ten as he paced. Soon, he would have her. Soon she would be back and this could all be in the past.
Chapter Forty
Everything looked secure. As secure as a one-hundred-year old house in the middle of the woods could hope to be. He heard a car come down the driveway and he ducked behind the garage until the car came into view. It was Hayden. Axel walked out to greet him wondering why he was here.
Axel glanced back at the house hoping Marie would stay inside. This was exactly what Hayden had been worried about. Axel was now caught up in Marie’s life in a bad way. He walked quickly towards Hayden and stepped in from of him, blocking his access to the house.
“Axel, glad to see you here,” Hayden said, but he looked a little sick, a little green around the gills.
“What’s up, Hayden, why are you here?” Axel asked.
“I wanted to come and make amends to you,” Hayden said. He was twisting his fingers together nervously; it was an odd gesture Axel had never noticed him make before. “Maybe this thing with this girl will work out for the best. You’ve been training hard. So maybe sometime next week I can meet her and get to know her.”
“You don’t have to wait until next week. She’s right inside.” Axel said gesturing to the dark house behind him.
“What?!” Hayden’s face went white and he took a step back as his eyes flicked wildly around. It was only for a moment, but Axel saw all of it. Hayden recovered quickly he cleared his throat and stammered. “Now might not be a good time, maybe later.”
“What?” Axel demanded. Hayden was backing away from him. Axel followed staying near the other man. “Why would you want to wait? How did you know I was here? What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on. I just don’t think now is a good time. I’m still trying to get used to the idea...you know?”
“Why are you trying to leave?” Axel demanded. Ice poured through his veins. His every moment was spent preparing for moments like this. He remembered to breathe and look around him, but he kept his eyes on Hayden, his oppon
ent. “What is going on with you? I’ve never seen you act like this.”
“It’s nothing,” Hayden reached for the door, but Axel got there right after him and he slammed his hand down and closed the door before Hayden could open it more than an inch. Hayden tried to pull the door open, but Axel was stronger and nothing moved. “This is what I warned you about!” Hayden hissed glancing back and the road from where he had come from. “I told you that girl was trouble and now there’s trouble. I warned you about this.”
“How do you know there’s trouble?” Axel demanded. His voice was low and he felt dangerously close to the edge. It was only too easy to imagine smashing Hayden’s head against the car’s window. But he held himself back. He needed information more than he needed that.
“That girl came between us. A girl. We promised that would never happen. Don’t you remember? We were in the eighth grade and we promised on our fathers’ graves that we would never let a girl come between us.”
“You’re talking about something we said when we were twelve,” Axel said. He couldn't quite believe this was really happening.
“I gave up my life so yours would be better,” Hayden said. He was shaking and it looked like he was on the verge of tears. Axel took a step back. He had no idea what was happening with his own best friend. “I gave up boxing so I could make you better. I gave up on my own life so I could support yours. No wife, no children, I’ve never lived anywhere other than this town and it’s all because of you. I made that sacrifice for you and what have you done for me?”
“I never asked you to do any of that,” Axel yelled. “You could have left at anytime. I’m not the reason you don’t have a life, you are. Did you call Marie’s ex? How did you even find out about him?”
“I did my homework!” Hayden screamed. “I had her followed. I checked her background. These are all things that I do for you.”
“And then you contacted her ex. He used to hit her. He’s dangerous!” How was it possible Hayden had done this? “I love her. I told you that. And you still did this? How could you?”
“She’s bad news. You can do better. She’s going to mess you up! She’s going to ruin everything; can’t you see that?” Hayden’s eyes were wild. He looked like a cornered animal.
Axel stared at his oldest friend and took a step back. He didn’t know Hayden, maybe he never really had. He wasn’t a friend anymore. “You’re crazy,” Axel said. His voice was low, but there was no threat in it. Hayden wasn’t worth the threat. He was a weak man and Axel felt a sudden aversion to him. He wanted nothing to do with him ever again. But he could still use him. “So you’ve been in contact with Austin?” Axel demanded.
Hayden’s eyes shifted and he finally nodded his head.
“Give me your phone.” Axel held out his hand.
“Don’t do this, Axel,” Hayden said. “Think about your career. Think of the time and effort you put into being the best. You’re going to throw it all away for her?”
“Give me the damn phone,” Axel said. He reached forward and grabbed Hayden by the collar and pushed him back up against the car.
“F-f-f-fine,” Hayden stuttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out and pulled up Austin’s number.
Axel let Hayden go and watched as he dialed the number. He then grabbed the phone and took a step away and listened as the other end of the line rang.
“Finally, I’ve been trying to call you. Don’t you ever miss so many calls from me again.”
“Is this Austin St. Clare,” Axel said into the phone.
There was a long pause and the voice said, “Yes. This is Austin St. Clare. Who am I speaking with?”
“You know who I am,” Axel growled into the phone.
“I also know where you are: 447 Sycamore Grove.”
Axel’s heart stopped in chest, but he stayed calm and waited a moment to speak. “Marie isn’t coming with you. So why don’t you just turn around and go home.”
“All right. I’ll go home. But I’m taking my daughter with me. It’s Marie’s choice whether or not she comes with Cate.”
“You’re really going to threaten a little girl? What kind of man are you?”
“I’m the kind of man who wins. I run a very powerful business. I am tired of looking for Marie. She needs to come to me, now, and there doesn’t need to be any violence. Let me talk to her. I can make her see my view.” His voice was oily and repulsive.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you. You need to leave town.”
“I am getting very impatient here. I’m spending a lot of money bringing all my men up here plus I had to bribe your coach for Marie’s address. It’s frustrating because I know in the end she’ll come home. This is just a very long and expensive diversion. So why don’t we do this: you tell Marie to meet me at your gym by nine o’clock. And don’t even think of coming in her place, Connelly. I’m far from alone and while you are a great fighter, I have an entire team here that knows how to fight. When Marie asks you what I said, tell her to meet me at your gym.”
The call ended and Axel looked down at the phone in his hand. He would have to go. That was his first and only thought. He obviously wasn’t sending Marie and he didn’t want Austin coming here, so Axel would have to go to him.
“It would be nice to know a friend had my back right now.” Axel snarled at Hayden. “But I’ll have to do without this time.” He reached into the garage and pulled out a roll of duct tape. Hayden saw what he was about to do and he tried to scrambled back, but Axel grabbed his hands and quickly unrolled the duct tape, taping his hands together.
“What are you doing?” Hayden demanded.
“You’re coming with me,” Axel said. He took one look back at the house. He could see Marie and his mother looking at him through the window. They were waiting for him to come back in. They would have a thousand questions. If he went back in there the jig would be up. They would never let him go. They would want to call the police and this would get drawn out. It might never end. Axel had once chance to free Marie from Austin’s clutches forever. He wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. He loved Marie. He would do anything to protect her. Axel turned away and shoved Hayden into the passenger seat and then got into the driver’s seat and put the car into drive.
“Axel, please-” Hayden started.
“No,” Axel interrupted. “Don’t bother trying to change my mind. If you’re still my friend then you will use this time to help me. What do you know about Austin? What are his weak points?”
“I don’t know,” Hayden admitted. “I only just met him today. I tried to warn her, Axel. I tried to get her out of town. I didn’t want any of this-”
“Stop! How many men does he have with him?”
“About ten.”
“Ten men? Just to go get his ex-girlfriend. Was he going to kidnap her?”
“I don’t know. We never discussed to details.” Hayden said shaking his head. His hands were duct tape together and he was trying to twist them through the restraints.
“How many weapons does he have?”
“A lot,” Hayden admitted. “He has machine guns, glock nines, pistols...”
“How did he get them on a plane?” Austin demanded. But Hayden just shook his head. Axel sped up the car spinning out around corners as he raced to the gym. He was on Main Street. The sun was low on the horizon and it would be dark soon. He pulled the car around back and parked in the lot.
“Axel are you really going to do this?” Hayden demanded. “There are ten men in there.”
Axel said nothing. He stepped out of the car and closed the door. He took the keys leaving a cuffed Hayden sitting in the car. There were three large, empty, black SUVs in the parking lot. Axel searched the roof trying to see if anyone was watching him from above as he made his way to the back door. They must have set a lookout and a watch. But Axel didn’t see one.
At the back door Axel pulled out his keys and as quietly as possible he turned his key in the lock and pushed the l
arge, heavy door open. Inside the gym was dark. It was wrong. They were supposed to be open. Normally this would be there rush hour and the gym would have been filled with people pumping iron and running on treadmills. But now it was dark and silent. Axel took a step inside and closed the door quietly behind him. The emergency lights were the only ones on and the gym was covered in shadows that hid stray weights and machines. A different man would have tripped over a dozen different things, but Axel knew his way around his own gym. He slipped silently over the floor and made his way towards the stairs. He was halfway there when the lights suddenly came on.
Axel shielded his eyes from the blinding light. He saw sparks and he blinked until his eyes finally adjusted. Once everything became clear Axel saw he wasn’t alone. He looked around the gym. There were ten men around him. Three were in the ring and the others were lounging on the machines. Austin stood at the top of stairs with his arms crossed.
