Fight (20 page)

32.

(Winter)

I opened the door and Stoney threw
his arms around me.

“
I
’
m so sorry,
”
he whispered.
“
Oh, fuck, Winter. I
’
m just so fucking sorry for
everything. For Rocky. For Endo. For everything. What a goddamn mess.
”

He squeezed me tight. I felt
nothing. Stoney and I never had a thing for each other. Well, maybe he eyed me
after Rocky
’
s death, but no
more. I was Tripp
’
s. No
matter what it took.

“
Is
Tripp okay?
”

“
No,
”
Stoney said.
“
I
’
m
just so sorry.
”

I broke away from Stoney
’
s hug, but he kept his hands on
my shoulders. He looked ready to cry.

“
Stoney,
what is it?
”

“
Everything
…”

“
You
don
’
t have to be upset. It
’
s not like you caused any of
this.
”

33.

(Tripp)

I took one more punch and they let
me go. It felt like someone had thrown a cinderblock into my gut. I collapsed
to the ground and put my hands to the floor. Outside the door people were
cheering.

“
That
’
s enough,
”
Dmitry said.
“
You
three leave now. Go run security.
”

The door opened and shut.

I climbed to my feet and wiped
blood off my mouth. I looked at Dmitry. He was standing there, a smug look on
his face.

“
That
’
s how you do it?
”
I asked.

“
I
take care of things. It
’
s
not always about being fair, Tripp. It
’
s
about winning. My father taught me that as a young kid. So, can we start over?
Find some trust?
”

“
No,
”
I said.
“
I have no interest in trusting you. Or helping you.
I
’
m here for Autumn. Give
me the kid and I
’
ll leave.
”

“
You
have no muscle here,
”
Dmitry said. He stepped from around the desk.
“
Come
on, let
’
s walk. You need to
keep moving. It
’
ll help
blood flow and chase away the pain.
”

I had no idea if that was true or
not.

Dmitry opened the door and we
walked out together. We went to the railing just as the first fight was about
to begin. It was two scrawny guys in the middle of a square. One had his fists
up. The other hand his hands down, loose, dancing around.

“
This
is the warmup,
”
Dmitry
said.
“
We let these fools
knock each other around a little. Gets the crowd excited.
”

“
Why
the low class shit?
”
I
asked.

“
It
makes money.
”

“
Can
’
t be much though.
”

Dmitry looked at me.
“
Brings in the exact clientele I
need for my real business.
”

Real business.

I looked back down at the floor and
realized what that was. In the corners of the warehouse were a few more tables.
Sex, drugs, and fighting. That
’
s
what Skull X did. Seeing women sitting behind the tables, in nothing but
bikinis, waiting to be paid for.

“
Christ,
”
I whispered.

“
I
know what your boss does,
”
Dmitry said.
“
I have my own
way. We control everything. And we have a good working relationship.
”

“
If
you want it to be kept that way, then give me Autumn. You realize who she is,
right?
”

Dmitry nodded.
“
That I do.
”

“
And
you realize that Endo is dead?
”

“
I
heard. What a tragedy. That
’
s
why I put the call in.
”

“
For
what?
”

Dmitry pushed from the railing. He
faced me.
“
To have them
killed. I don
’
t need them
anymore, Tripp. With Endo gone, they
’
re
worthless to me.
”

I stepped at Dmitry. He put a hand
out and stopped me.

Below us, the crowd cheered. I
looked over the railing and saw the guy who had been dangling his arms like an
ass on the ground, out cold. The other guy stood over him, shaking, in shock
that he had won the fight.

“
They
’
re not worthless to me,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m
not leaving here without what I came for.
”

“
What
about what you didn
’
t
realize you
’
ve lost?
”

“
What
the hell does that mean?
”

“
I
bet you wish you were down there,
”
Dmitry said.
“
You want to
fight. I can feel it pouring from you.
”

I gripped the railing and couldn
’
t deny it. It was a strange
feeling to be at a fight and not be the one in the middle of the square ready
to unleash hell on someone.

“
Look,
”
I said.
“
You don
’
t
want Aldo and his guys to come through here.
”

“
If
he wanted it that bad, he
’
d
be here already.
”

“
Trust
me, you don
’
t want him
here,
”
I said.
“
I don
’
t even know if I
’
m
supposed to be here. Name your price. You want me to get down there and throw
some punches? I
’
ll do it.
”

“
What
’
s the kid mean to you?
”
Dmitry asked.

“
Nothing.
I
’
ve never met her. But
those close to me
…
she
’
s everything. I won
’
t leave without her. Unless you
just want to kill me.
”

Dmitry shrugged his shoulders. He
took out a gun and pointed it at my chest. He pushed at me, but I refused to
move.

“
Is
that even loaded?
”
I asked.

Dmitry lifted the gun and pulled
the trigger. The gunshot rang out. My heart instantly began to race. He put the
gun back to my chest.

“
You
don
’
t know what you stepped
into here,
”
Dmitry said.
“
I
’
m
only keeping you alive to see how far I could drag this out.
”

“
Drag
what out?
”

Dmitry grinned.
“
See, it was pretty easy for me
once I figured out what Endo was doing. He was a real piece of shit, Tripp.
Everything was a backdoor deal with him. He fucked everyone possible. Including
Winter.
”

I felt hot jealousy surge through
my veins. I gritted my teeth and told myself to keep my mouth shut. Dmitry
wanted to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to fuck up. He wanted to kill me.
But I knew he couldn
’
t do
it. He didn
’
t want to start
the war with Aldo and the
family
.

“
Endo
needed help to keep everything nice and quiet. He
’
d
been a client of mine for a long time. It was actually very interesting, you
know? To have this high profile guy wanting to slum around here. Wanting to pay
fifty bucks to fuck some woman. Dropping a couple hundred on some blow. I knew
he must have had a way to get better stuff. But he didn
’
t. He liked it here. Then he fucked up and got
Winter pregnant. So I helped him. In return? I got money and power, Tripp.
”

“
That
’
s why you have her?
”
I asked.

“
Exactly,
”
Dmitry said.
“
Exactly. See, having Autumn and
Andrea gave me more power than I could have imagined. If I needed something
done, I called Endo. If he dared to resist
…”

“
You
threatened to kill his kid?
”

“
No,
”
Dmitry said.
“
Endo wanted them dead. I
refused. They were worth more alive. Bargaining chips for me. Get it?
”

I was shaking now. I knew Endo was
a bad guy, but this was something different. He wanted his own child murdered.
And that was after he forced Winter to give that child up.

“
I
promise you,
”
Dmitry said.
“
I
’
ve
taken care of Andrea and Autumn. In fact, if Andrea could have lost about ten
pounds, gotten better tits, I might have made a run at her.
”

“
You
’
re an asshole,
”
I said.
“
If you
’
re
not going to fucking shoot me, then get out of my way. I don
’
t care who you are. Or what you
do. I
’
ll find Autumn and I
’
ll save her.
”

I grabbed the gun and twisted it
out of Dmitry
’
s hand. I
tucked it behind me. I put my hand out and shoved Dmitry out of the way.

Autumn had to be close. If she wasn
’
t, then maybe it was time for Aldo
to actually take a stand. I could only do so much right now. My mind cared
about finding Autumn, yeah, but my heart and soul focused on Winter.

“
Oh,
Tripp?
”

I stopped and looked back.
“
What?
”

“
Don
’
t go too far. I have a fight for
you.
”

“
Fuck
off.
”

“
You
’
re going to want to see the
prize.
”

“
The
prize?
”

Dmitry grinned.

I had enough. I spun and charged at
him. As I ran, I saw two more bodyguards appear. We were in a mad dash to see
who could get to Dmitry first.

I won and had him by the shirt. I
put him against the railing and had him dangling over it a second later. Below us,
another fight had started, two thicker guys without shirts on. They had beards,
beer bellies, and were throwing wild punches at each other.

“
Try
me,
”
I growled.
“
I
’
m
not afraid of you. Or Skull X. I
’
m
not even afraid of dying.
”

“
Your
prize is Winter,
”
Dmitry
said.

“
What
the fuck are you talking about?
”

Dmitry turned his head. I looked
where he was looking.

And there was Winter, wrists taped
together, in front of her body.

I put Dmitry back to his feet.

Winter looked up at me.

I was too distracted to hear
anything Dmitry was saying.

And I was too distracted to realize
the two bodyguards each had a set of knuckles on
…
at least not until they swung at me
…

~ ~ ~

“
We
have something really special for you motherfuckers out there!
”
a voice boomed.

I sat against a wall, touching my
ribs. There was definitely at least one rib broken, probably more. At least the
bodyguards spared my face this time.

It was a narrow corridor out to the
square. The people were cheering, ready to see some bloodshed.

And I was the one who had to do it.
I now had to fight to save Winter. If I didn
’
t,
Dmitry was going to keep her and offer her to his guys as a reward. My mind
suddenly thought about all the shit Stoney had said.
All the shit Skull X
would do to her
…
keep her alive
…
keep using her
…

I had to pull myself to my feet. I
had to do this.

I
’
d
fight for Winter. I
’
d fight
for anything to do with her.

Yeah, there was a good chance Skull
X were nothing but pieces of shit and they weren
’
t
going to keep their word. Which meant I
’
d
have to do something crazy. I
’
d
have to win this fight, get to Winter, and then start the hell over again. To
find Autumn. To make Aldo happy. But most of all
…
to protect Winter.

One question burned in my mind -
how
in the hell did she get here?

“
I
need everyone to throw their money at me. Right now! This is a
five-buck-free-for-all!
”

I stood with my back to the wall,
trying to stretch my side. Pain shot through my ribs. I
’
d have to mask that pain though. I had no idea who
I was fighting, but if he saw it, and he was a half smart fighter, he
’
d go after that spot over and
over until one of my ribs punctured my lungs and took me down for good.

The circle was filled with money.
Five dollar bills and ones everywhere. The guy who had been yelling quickly
picked up all the money. He sniffed it and smiled. Christ, he was missing half
his teeth. Probably a burned out user just trying to do Dmitry a favor to get a
fix for free.

“
This
works,
”
the guy said.
“
Oh, this works. You
motherfuckers are going to love this one! There
’
s
no bets on this. This is pure entertainment. This is a bonus fight. Because
this one
…
this one doesn
’
t go until someone goes down
…
no, no, no
…
this one goes until someone
doesn
’
t get back up!
”