The Fighter

by Leslie Georgeson

We had only gotten as far as the back door before the men had surrounded us and ushered us back into the house. I had immediately scooped Hazel up and tried to protect her.

  Jacob was dazed. Confused. Rendered immobile by the Taser gun. He lay on his side with his hands and feet shackled. His gaze locked on mine. Hurt flickered in his eyes. Then disgust. Hatred. He pulled his gaze away, not looking at me again.

  “Jacob?” He thought I’d done this. He thought I’d betrayed him. “I didn’t do this,” I whispered, willing him to look at me again, willing him to believe me. But he kept his gaze focused on something behind me, his eyes hard and unforgiving.

  He didn’t believe me.

  My chest squeezed. I’d hurt him. He believed I’d betrayed him. How could I convince him I hadn’t done this?

  I’d just witnessed Jacob in action. I’d seen what he was capable of doing. As the thugs had ushered me back into the house, I’d seen for myself why he was so dangerous. For a moment, I’d been so stunned, so terrified, I couldn’t move. I recalled the tattoo on his upper arm. A phantom. That’s what Jacob was. A silent, deadly killer. He’d moved so swiftly, so gracefully, it had been just a blur, then bodies falling to the floor. If they hadn’t stunned him with the Taser, he probably would have killed them all. I admitted to being afraid of what I’d just witnessed, but I knew in my gut he would never hurt me. He’d had to become a silent, merciless killer in order to protect himself. In order to try to save us.

  And now he thought I’d betrayed him.

  They hauled Jacob roughly to his feet. He wobbled and nearly fell. They steadied him, keeping him upright. And I noticed his cell phone laying near my thigh. Cuddling Hazel more tightly against my chest, I slowly inched my hand toward the phone, then flicked it underneath the couch where no one would find it. I might need it later. But I didn’t dare take it with me. If they searched me, they would find it. And if they found it, they would have Jacob’s contacts. I might need those contacts later. Assuming, of course, that he had contacts on his phone. The other dregs’ numbers would be on it. Right?

  A man leaned down and hauled me to my feet. Then he pried Hazel out of my arms.

  “No,” I pleaded. “Please don’t take her. Please.”

  The man ignored me, heading for the front door, oblivious to Hazel’s terrified whimpers. I reached for her, trying to take her back, but the man shoved me away.

  “It’s okay, Hazel,” I whispered, trying to calm her. “Be brave. They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them.” She sniffled and nodded, her eyes wide and fearful. “Whenever you get scared, just think of your daddy and me, okay?”

  Kenny smirked. “Bring the woman, too. I’ve taken a fancy to her.” He waggled his brow and leered at me with his one eye, making me cringe.

  The men shoved Jacob out of the house. I stared after him, my heart aching.

  Jacob will never forgive you for this. He’ll blame you. And if something happens to Hazel…

  My heart squeezed so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

  “Don’t worry.” Kenny chuckled. “We won’t hurt the kid. Not as long as he cooperates.”

  “Who are you?” I demanded, glaring at him, anger overtaking my fear. “What do you want with Jacob?”

  Kenny bowed in front of me. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Kenneth Draco. The leader of the Spartans. Certainly you’ve heard of me?”

  Spartans? My blood turned cold. The Spartans were a criminal gang from Augusta known for their brutal, merciless fighting. What were they doing here?

  “I don’t understand. You’re a veteran. How could you be a gang leader?”

  Kenny snickered. “I sure fooled them, didn’t I? I’m not a veteran. My legs were blown off when my meth lab exploded by accident. Two of my guys were killed, but I survived. Since the cops were investigating the explosion of the meth lab and the death of my men, and they suspected I was the one behind it all, they handcuffed me to the hospital bed. They were going to lock me up once I was better. But my guys snuck into the hospital one night and freed me. I posed as a war veteran here in this small town so I could continue to get healthcare and still hide from the cops. The free prosthetics were a nice bonus, too.” He smacked his fake legs. “It was pretty easy to do. And then you showed up, looking all pretty and wanting to volunteer.” He laughed louder. “And then you brought The Fighter right to me.”

  Oh God. He’d duped me. Preyed on my weakness for helping others. All I’d wanted to do was be kind and selfless, help those in need. And this jerk had taken advantage of that. He’d used me to kidnap Jacob. What would he do to Jacob now?

  “What do you want with Jacob?”

  “Come.” Kenny motioned me toward the door. “Soon. You will see. Your boyfriend is going to provide some interesting entertainment. The Fighter is going to make me a very rich man.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Jacob

  Kenny’s thugs tossed me into the back of a van and drove into Augusta under cover of darkness. Gunfire broke out all around us. Glass shattered. Several guys grunted and fell back, wounded. Since they held me down in the back of the van, I couldn’t see what was going on. If I had to guess, I would say they’d opened fire on the military personnel stationed at the barricade. Tires screeched as the vehicle jolted forward again, heading into the city. I didn’t know how these bastards had gotten out of the city, but now they were back in.

  With me as their prisoner.

  Ten minutes later the van rocked to a halt. Doors flew open. Rough hands yanked me out of the vehicle and shoved me into a dark warehouse. As soon as I entered the building, I knew why they’d taken me.

  A fenced octagon took up the center of the huge room. There were seats up front, and a roped-off area surrounding the entire octagon. Blood soaked the mat in various places around the octagon, a showcase of battles lost and won.

  I’d just entered the world of illegal underground fighting. Gang style. Which meant there probably weren’t any rules. And people didn’t just fight to win, they fought to live. Because losing meant death.

  Nausea pushed its way up my throat. I swallowed hard, forcing it back. Son-of-a-bitch.

  I’d never killed anyone for sport. I’d only done what I’d been ordered to do, what I’d had to do to survive. I didn’t enjoy killing. Each time I took a life, it left another gaping hole in my soul, a huge, festering wound. Killing fucked a person up in the head. You could tell yourself it didn’t affect you, that you were immune to death, but that would be a lie. No matter how much you denied it, you couldn’t be unaffected by killing. Soldiers who returned from war were damaged inside. It fucked them up in the head. All of them. We struggled to keep our sanity, fought to hang on to what was left of our souls. Many of us lost the battle. I had no doubt that if Kenny forced me to fight, to kill, for him, then it wouldn’t be long before my soul was lost forever. Before I went completely insane. Because a sane person couldn’t kill, and keep killing, and remain sane. Violence had been forced upon me at the age of thirteen when The General had recruited me into The Company. But that innocent boy was long gone. I’d been forced to become a brutal, violent killer. I’d become the Phantom of Death.

  I had been barely clinging to my sanity when The General had killed Celia and forced me to take action. Saving Hazel had come easily to me. I’d done it without hesitation. She was all that was good and pure in this world. If The General hadn’t forced my hand, I don’t know where I’d be right now. Hazel had helped bring light back into my dark, fucked-up world. And then Anna had come into my life, forcing my long-dormant feelings—my heart—back to life inside me. Between the two of them, they’d turned a monster back into a man.

  And now these bastards wanted to destroy all that. Turn me into a beast. Strip me of my soul and take my humanity away.

  “Look familiar?” Kenny cackled as he hobbled up behind me on his prosthetic legs. “You’re going to be fighting in there soon. Are you excited?”

  I sent the full heat of my glare at him,
wishing I could melt him with my gaze.

  He sniggered. “You’re going to make me rich. Very rich. I saw you fight back at your house. I saw you slaughter my men. Dude, that was awesome! I can’t wait to turn you loose in the octagon. It’ll be a hell of a show.”

  I turned away, unable to look at his ugly, burned face any longer.

  “Lock him up!”

  Leaving my hands and feet shackled, Kenny’s men steered me down a dark corridor and shoved me into a barred cell.

  Much like the one I’d been locked in for nearly half my life.

  Except there was no bed. Just a cold, hard concrete floor.

  I went to the far wall and sat. If Kenny expected me to fight for him, then he was a fucking idiot. He might be able to chain me like a beast. Lock me in a cell. But he couldn’t force me to fight.

  Of course he can. He has Hazel. He can make you do whatever he wants.

  Nausea roiled in my stomach again.

  Fuck.

  Anna did this. She betrayed you.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over me. How had she come to mean so much to me in just two short weeks? I’d never fallen for a woman like this before. From the moment I’d met her, I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head. Why would she do this to me? To Hazel? She’d seemed so genuine. So kind and caring. I couldn’t deny she’d done an amazing job with Hazel. Hazel was attached to her now. My heart pinched as I imagined how hurt Hazel would be, how scared she was right now. What had they done with her? Where was she?

  Please, don’t let them hurt Hazel.

  I closed my eyes and tried to find my connection to her. And then, slowly, I felt her. At first, our connection was tentative, weak. But then it grew stronger. And suddenly, her terror spiraled into me. I gasped, my heart pinching.

  I’m here, Hazel. Daddy’s here. Don’t be scared. Be brave, sweetie. I’ll come for you as soon as I can.

  I don’t know if my thoughts reached her or not. But gradually, her fear lessened. If she could somehow hear me, then I would keep sending her encouraging thoughts through our connection, doing my best to comfort her, to help her not be so afraid.

  Anna would pay for this. I vowed I would punish her for her betrayal. I wanted to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze the very life right out of her.

  She’d led me right into this one, like a goat to slaughter. And I’d fallen for it. I’d allowed myself to be an easy victim.

  Something I would never, ever normally do. For Anna, I’d let down my guard. And now I would pay for that mistake. Probably with my life.

  I groaned. I’d been duped by a fucking woman. Swayed by a soft voice and a pretty face. Manipulated by a sexy, curvy body that I still hadn’t even gotten my hands on yet. So much for the getting-to-know-each-other period. I was such a sucker. I can’t believe I’d fallen for that.

  So here I sat.

  Once again a prisoner.

  In a cold, dark cell.

  My soul screamed in agony, aching for freedom that might never come.

  I’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book, something I’d been taught as a soldier to never do.

  I’d let myself be duped by a woman.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Anna

  Kenny’s men took us to an abandoned warehouse in Augusta. His men handed Hazel off to a tall, strikingly pretty woman with straight, chin-length, sandy blonde hair who was around my age, and told her to “keep the kid alive, unless Kenny says otherwise”. I gasped and tried to follow them, but strong arms held me back.

  “Please, don’t hurt her!” I shouted after the woman. “She’s just a little girl. She already lost her mother. Please, have some compassion.”

  The woman glanced back at me, an unreadable expression in her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.” Then she disappeared around a corner with Hazel. My heart sank. I drew in a ragged breath. Would I ever see Hazel again?

  Please don’t let them hurt her.

  The thugs marched me down a long, dark corridor that was lined with barred cells. Like a jail. There were several burned out light bulbs along the hallway, with just a single bulb still burning about halfway down the corridor. That single bulb cast the entire corridor and all the cells into frightening shadows, making a chill creep down my spine. As I passed directly under the light, I caught a glimpse of a skinny, shirtless man crouched in the corner of one cell. And across from him, another man, larger, less sickly looking, who glared at us as we walked by.

  I tore my gaze away, not wanting to stare. There were other prisoners as well, but I kept my gaze pointed straight ahead, not wanting to see them. Not wanting to make eye contact. The farther away from that single light bulb that we walked, the darker it became, until the prisoners around me became nothing more than dark shadows behind bars.

  They took me to the last cell on the end and unlocked the door. Someone was already in the cell. My heart pounded. No. I couldn’t go in there. What if that person hurt me?

  I balked, trying to step back, not wanting to be at the mercy of a stranger. But the guards shoved me roughly inside and locked the cell. Then they walked away. Leaving me to fend for myself against the other prisoner.

  I shivered, swallowing hard. The other person was sitting in the corner against the wall to the left. A hunched shadow. I kept my gaze averted, not wanting to look directly at him. Not wanting to give him a reason to attack me. Or hurt me.

  You know self-defense now. Jacob taught you how to defend yourself.

  That didn’t reassure me. Not when I was locked in a cell with another prisoner.

  The heat of the man’s gaze bored into me as I slowly moved to the opposite side of the cell and sat in the corner, as far away from him as I could. I still didn’t look at him. I didn’t dare.

  Chains dangled and clanged as the man rose and came toward me. I tried not to cringe, my heart leaping into my throat, as he settled on the hard floor right beside me, so close that he caged me against the wall on the other side.

  “Was it worth it?” The voice was soft. Raspy. Deadly.

  I gasped and jerk my head toward him.

  Jacob’s light blue eyes glittered back at me, barely visible in the darkness, yet as unmistakable as his familiar scent that suddenly engulfed my nostrils.

  The breath lodged in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

  They’d locked me in with Jacob.

  The man who believed I’d betrayed him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Anna

  “Was it?” Jacob demanded. “Tell me. Was it fucking worth it? What did he promise you for turning me in?”

  I hitched in a breath, my heart pounding so wildly I felt sure I would pass out. Or die of a heart attack.

  “Answer me, damn you.” His voice was a low growl, a terrifying threat in the dark.

  I swallowed hard. I still couldn’t find my voice. Couldn’t look away from the cold look in his eyes. A few hours ago, I had believed Jacob would never hurt me. But since then I’d seen how dangerous he was. I’d witnessed with my own eyes the lethal killing machine he’d turned into.

  And now he believed I’d betrayed him. Would he unleash that beast on me now?

  I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? If Jacob wanted to kill me, there was nothing I could do to stop him. And he wouldn’t believe me no matter how much I professed my innocence. In his eyes, I was guilty. In his eyes, I’d led him right into a trap. And I honestly didn’t blame him for believing that, because that was exactly what it looked like I’d done.

  The chains rattled as he lifted a hand toward me. To choke me?

  I cringed back, squeezing my eyes shut and gulping in a breath.

  His fingers gently brushed my cheek.

  “Why?”

  His voice was right by my ear, rough, but still a soft caress that made my pulse jump to life and awareness arc through me. Oh God. Even when I was scared shitless, my body still reacted to his
close proximity. I still wanted him.

  I swallowed hard. Opening my eyes, I turned my head to meet his gaze. “It doesn’t matter what I say. You won’t believe me, anyway. You’ve already convicted me, decided I’m guilty.”

  He moved closer, if that were possible, his thigh brushing against mine, his torso pressing into me. It was an obvious show of power. Even in chains, he could hurt me. Of course he could. He was a lot bigger than me. A lot stronger than me. A million times more dangerous than me. I tried to shift away, but there was nowhere to go. The wall on the other side of me prevented me from going anywhere. If I was fast, I might be able to leap forward away from him, but I knew he would catch me. So I didn’t even try.

  “Guilty,” he whispered in my ear. “Nothing but a cold-hearted bitch underneath the sweet exterior. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”

  Pain skewered my chest. That hurt. I hadn’t done anything wrong, damn him. A surge of anger swept through me, pushing the pain aside. Why wouldn’t he believe in me? I sent him my fiercest glare. “I’m innocent, damn you! I would never betray you, never!” My voice cracked and I turned away, swallowing hard to keep the tears at bay. “I didn’t betray you,” I said again in a soft whisper. “Kenny fooled me, too.”

  A long, tense silence fell. Then the chains dangled as he got up and moved away, going back to his corner at the opposite end of the cell.

  The breath I’d been holding whooshed out in a rush.

  “If they harm Hazel, I will hold you personally responsible.” The threat floated across the cell from where he sat. Loud and clear.

  I turned toward him. My eyes filled with tears, thinking of sweet, adorable Hazel. Was she okay? Was that woman being kind to her? “You’re not the only one,” I whispered. “If anything happens to her, I’ll blame myself.” I paused. “There’s a woman taking care of her. She promised me she wouldn’t hurt her.”

  He let out a snort of disgust. “And you believed her?”

  I nodded. “I have to. I have to believe we will escape and that we will save Hazel.”

  He let out a bitter laugh. The chains clanged again as he rubbed a hand over his face. “You’re a fool, Anna. You can’t escape. Whatever agreement you made with Kenny, he obviously isn’t going to honor it, or you wouldn’t be in this cell.”