Always For You (Books 1-3) (39 page)

The cogs turned in her head as she
finally agreed. “OK,” she said, “I'll do it, I'll go with him.”

Cain

The phone buzzed on top of the stack of
fighter magazines stacked onto the coffee table in my dank flat. I
picked it up in a flash.

“Grace, what did she say?”

My heart was in my mouth as I heard
Grace's voice crackle down the line. “She said she'd go with you
Cain, she's willing to drop everything for you.”

I let out a heavy
breath.
She did love me enough.

“Thank you Grace, you have no idea
what this means to me. I'm so glad I found you, I'm so glad you're my
sister.”

“Hold up there, let's not say our
goodbyes quite yet. She said she can't leave until next Saturday, not
until after her mom's birthday on Friday night.”

“But that's the day they want me to
fight.”

“I know,” she said, “it's running
things close, but as long as you're gone before the evening, it's
fine, right?”

I thought for a moment, my mind
searching for any problems, any potential holes in the plan. “Yeah,
it should be fine. They won't know I'm not fighting until the evening
when I don't show.”

“Great, we'll work towards then.”

I sat on my sofa after I shut off the
phone, the relief of hearing that Emily was coming with me quickly
being overtaken by the weight of responsibility that was about to
press hard on my shoulders. Not only was I going to be a father, but
I'd have to take care of Emily, support her, find us somewhere to
live, get a job, and hide as far away from here as possible.

I was used to moving from place to
place, living like a nomad, a lone wolf, never having to worry about
anyone but myself. Now, though, I'd have a family to support - my own
family. It was a dramatic change that I hadn't foreseen happening for
a long time, perhaps never happening. It was fast-tracked to my
doorstep now, though, and I needed to deal with it quickly.

October 24
^th
2014

Cain

The last ten days had trickled by
slowly, my impending departure with Emily weighing heavily on her.
She hadn't told her mom about it, who seemed deliriously happy at the
moment, and I hadn't told Trevor. Emily said she'd write her mom a
note, that she couldn't explain properly what was going on face to
face, that it would be too difficult to look her in the eye and tell
her she was leaving. I hadn't told anyone but Grace and Brad - in
reality, there was no on else to tell.

We got everything in order before her
mom's birthday party, making sure we'd be able to leave on time the
next day. I had no loose ends to tie up, nothing to miss. I went once
more to Rex's ex-girlfriend, leaving her a final packet of money.
Perhaps I'd send more once I got set up, but now, now I had to
prioritize myself and Emily.

The one thing the pit had given me was
a decent crust. Because of those few fights I'd had before, I now had
a decent wedge tucked away. I used a small part of it to buy a van, a
decent camper that could store our stuff while we found somewhere
more permanent. I felt awful for Emily, knowing what she was going
through, knowing that she was sacrificing everything for me. It was
all my fault - I was in the process of ruining yet another life.

I had my van packed up
outside my flat, all ready to up and leave when needed. I was so
paranoid that they'd still try to trace me that I even got a new I.D.
set up, creating new bank accounts in a new name. They knew my
surname - Taylor - so I changed it to Burgess, Brad taking care of
all of the admin. I had driven in to West Norton only a few years ago
as Cain Taylor, no family, no girlfriend, no money to my name, and
I'd be driving out with my girlfriend and unborn child in tow,
leaving a newly found family behind, and with a pile of cash stashed
into a new savings account. For better or worse, my life had changed
a hell of a lot over the last few years.

Grace

I didn't tell Chase what was going
down. I didn't tell anyone, not my dad, not Ellen, not Katie, no one.
The fewer people who knew, the safer Cain and Emily would be. It was
sensible to take every precaution, to make sure there were as few
lose ends as possible. For all we knew they'd forget about Cain as
soon as he left, give it up and move on, but we couldn't assume that
was the case. We had to ensure that he disappeared, that he was
untraceable.

It was difficult during Penny's party.
Dad had been fully involved in the planning of it and enlisted me to
help. I should have said no, I don't know why I didn't with all I had
going on in my head, but I couldn't with my need to please. I could
tell that Emily was trying to stay upbeat, that she was trying to put
on a brace face, but I could see her eyes droop in sadness whenever
she had a moment to herself. It was heartbreaking watching her,
unable to tell her mother that she was leaving, unable to say goodbye
properly.

I didn't blame Cain for any of it
though, all I wanted was for him to be safe, to get into the clear.
It would be easier for him to leave, it was in his character to move
from place to place. But he was settled here now, he'd managed to
build a life here, something he could finally cling to, and now it
was being torn away. As long as they were together, though, they'd be
OK.

Cain

Grace was a fucking trooper. She had
changed a lot since I'd met her, I guess what she'd been through
would change anyone. But she was changed for the better - she was
strong, tough, loyal, understanding, and completely devoted to her
family. She had been a massive help to me as I planned my escape with
Emily, and I knew it would be harder not having her around when we
were gone.

Penny's party was uncomfortable, but it
was something we needed to get through. I didn't stay the entire
evening - I wanted to let Emily have some time alone with her once
all of the guests left. Grace said she'd make sure that she'd take
Trevor off at the end of the evening so that Penny and Em could be
alone. I felt awful that I was putting her through this.

She was quiet all night, and a feeling
grew in me that I should leave without her, escape during the night,
let her carry on with her life. I loved her so much but I couldn't
bare to see her go through this.
Maybe it would be better if I
just left.

I thought about it
further as I went home that night, thought about leaving right now.
This was my problem, my fate, so why should Emily have to suffer
alongside me? I could send her money, support our child from afar and
maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to return soon, return to what was
left of my life.
I think that would be
best for everyone.

I stepped off my
bike back at my flat, seeing my van parked at the side of the road,
ready to go.
All I'd need to do it fix
my bike to the back and head off. So simple, so easy - leave this
life behind and stop fucking up everyone else's.

The thought continued to build in my
head, gaining traction as I walked up the stairs to my flat, the
place down to its bare bones, reduced to a shell. I stepped into the
kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and drank it down.

“Going somewhere?”

The voice came from behind me, causing
me to the drop the glass which shattered to the floor. I spun round
quickly to see the announcer standing in the middle of the living
room, a gun pointed at me.

He pulled the trigger and a dart shot
from the end into my chest, sending an instant sensation of warmth
and fatigue through my body. My legs went heavy as I slowly crumpled
to the floor, my vision blurring as two large bouncers appeared from
nowhere, their hands grabbing at my limp body.

“Oh no Spartan,” I could hear as my
mind turned in on itself, “you're not going anywhere yet.”

October 25
^th
2014

Cain

My eyes opened slowly, flickering and
squinting as I tried to filter in the bright light. My wrists were
tied behind me as I sat on a chair, my ankles also bound together. I
saw the shape of a man in front of me as my vision returned to
normal, and then I saw him - the announcer - standing there with a
sly smile written on his face.

“Wakey wakey Spartan,” he said with
false lightness, “now where do you think we are?”

My eyes squinted once more, this time
narrowing in anger, as I looked around the room. I hadn't been in
here before, but I could tell from the cold stone walls exactly where
we were.

“I think you know, don't you,” he
continued, “and I think you know what you're going to do this
evening.”

“I won't fucking kill for sport,” I
said, my words firm.

“Ha,” he said, pacing around the
room, “you arrogant bastard. Who says you're going to be the one
doing the killing. Oh I've lined up someone very special for you
tonight Spartan. A real test of your warrior credentials.”

I shook my head. “I don't care what
you say, I won't fucking do it.”

He laughed again, a callous laugh, full
of menace. “Ohhh, I think you probably will,” he said. He smiled
at me, leaning in towards my face. “You see, if you don't fight, if
you don't kill, well, someone's going to have to die, aren't they?”

He lifted up his hand and clipped his
finger, still staring at me as he did. I looked over to the right to
see a large guard opening a door, my eyes straining to see into the
next room. Then, I caught sight of her, tied to a chair, her mouth
gagged, her head blindfolded. It was Emily. They had Emily.

“No,” I said, my voice growing
frantic, “let her go, she's got nothing to do with this.”

The announcer clipped his fingers again
and the guard shut the door, closing Emily back into the room, her
muffled cries suddenly cut off.

“Oh she's got something to do with
all of this Cain. Or, at least, she will do if you don't do what I
want. If you don't fight tonight, she dies. Now what do you say? Will
you fight, or do you want to watch as Grant here slits her soft
throat?”

Any anger I was feeling, any fear I
had, was overridden by my concern for Emily. “I'll do it,” I said
quickly, “as long as you let her go.”

He was loving this, loving seeing me
squirm. “Oh I'll let her go....after the fight.”

“And if I win?” I asked, “is that
it?”

He smiled at me again, his
eyes narrow like a snakes, his words cold as ice, and nodded. “But
you won't be winning tonight Cain....not tonight.”

Grace

I waited outside Emily's house but she
wasn't there. I was there to take her over to Cain's to send her off
on her way and to say goodbye to them both. We told Penny that we'd
be spending the day together shopping, but she wasn't anywhere to be
seen.

I walked to the front door and rang the
doorbell. It opened quickly and Penny stood there, a quizzical look
on her face.

“Grace, aren't you with Emily today?”
she asked.

“Um, yeah, I was meant to meet her
here,” I said, “is she not in then?”

“No, I don't think so. I thought she
must have gone earlier to meet you, I haven't seen her all morning.”

Shit, maybe she'd already gone with
Cain, maybe their plans changed?

“OK,” I said, stepping back away
from the door, “I must have got things muddled up. I'll give her a
call, see if she's already in town.”

“Are you sure everything's all
right,” Penny called as I returned to my car.

“Of course, it's all good Penny. I'll
catch you later.”

About 20 minutes
later I was even more confused. I found myself sat parked outside
Cain's place, his van and motorbike still parked up on the side of
the road. I went to the door but there was no answer.
What
the fuck is going on.

I called the only other person who
might be able to shed some light on things, the only person who knew
about the plan.

“Brad, it's Grace, have you seen
Cain...or Emily?”

It was clearly a little early in the
morning for him by the sounds of his throaty voice. “Err, no, I
thought they'd gone by now? Is something up?”

“Well, yeah, I've just been to Em's
house and she's not there, and now I'm at Cain's and his van and bike
are still parked outside. Something feels wrong to me Brad.”

“Look, you stick it out there and
wait for me, I'll be there in 5.”

My mind searched for an answer over the
next few minutes as Brad made his way to where I was, shooting round
the corner on his bike in what seemed like moments. “So you've
tried the doorbell?” he asked as he stepped off the bike.

What did he think I was, dumb or
something.

“Sure.”

“And Tag, the guy below him, have you
tried him?”

“No, why would I?”

He stepped straight forward and pressed
on the buzzer to the flat below Cain. It clicked quickly to life and
a lazy voice came down the other end. “Who is it?”

“Tag, it's Brad, can you buzz me in,
I need to get up to Cain's place.”

“Sure bro, no worries.”

The buzzer clicked to life and Brad
shot up into the building, me trailing behind him. We passed by Tag,
who wandered out into the stairwell to greet us as we passed, but
Brad seemed little interested in sticking around for a chat.

When we got to Cain's place Brad
knocked on the door and shouted his name. No answer. He turned the
door handle and it opened, the empty space inside coming into view.
He walked in and went straight for the bedroom. “Not here,” he
shouted from the other room.

A looked towards the kitchen and saw
glass shattered on the floor, the fragments trailing forward into the
living area. There were some light smears of blood among the pieces,
as though someone had been dragged through it, cutting their hands or
legs. I called for Brad who came rushing through, examining the scene
like someone out of CSI.