Got A Hold On You (Ringside Romance) (24 page)

“You memorize your lines?” he said.

When she didn’t answer he glanced up. Compassion
filled her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“For what?”

“Just…I’m sorry. That’s all.” She pulled him close and
kissed his cheek.

And something broke inside.

“Come on, we’re ready!” Billings called.

Jack helped her off the table and they walked,
side-by-side to the curtain. He noticed a few cameramen buzzing in the hallway.
He glanced at Frankie, wondering what she was thinking, if she was horrified
that he had no family, no ties to anyone.

But her.

Something snapped around his neck, whipping him to the
cement floor.

“Jack!” she screamed.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins. What the hell?
Camera lights blinded him as he edged his fingers between his skin and the rope
that was pressing down on his windpipe. He loosened the suffocating grip but
was pinned to the floor, helpless.

“Jack!”

He thrashed and kicked, but it was no use. There were
at least three sets of hands holding him down. He caught sight of Frankie being
led by a noose down the hall.

He was going to kill Sully. Strangle him with his bare
hands. This had to be the part of the angle that the bastard hadn’t bothered to
share with Jack or Frankie, his own flesh and blood.

“Let me go!” she cried, trying to break away from two
hooded men. The look in her eyes set off an inferno in Jack’s gut. Damn, she
didn’t get what was happening.

“It’s okay! It’s part of the—”

One of his assailants shoved a rag in Jack’s mouth.
His eyes watered, his gut split into a million pieces. Camera lights blinded
him.

This time Sully had gone too far.

***

“Let me out of here, you overgrown ape!” Frankie
demanded from her six-by-six-foot steel cage. “This wasn’t in the script.”

“I wrote a new script,” the four-hundred-pound
creature said, adjusting a leather strap across his chest.

“Do you know who I am?” she threatened.

“Shut up and let me think.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

He leaped from his chair with such force it flew
across the dressing room in the opposite direction. Storming to the cage he
glared at her, two sharpened incisors sparkling like fangs.

“Do you know who I am?” he said.

She swallowed and shook her head.

“I’m Tiger Man. Previously known as the Hawk. Last
year alone I put seven guys in the hospital. Imagine what I could do to a
little thing like you.”

With a gleam in his eye, he snapped his teeth and she
jumped back. This was no act. This guy was psycho, a complete whack job.

But he was still the hired help.

“You’d better let me out of here before security
comes,” she said.

“They’re not coming. I’ve improved the angle, upped
the stakes. Sully’s gonna be real pleased with me.”

Her temper flared. “Sully knew about this?”

“The fans are ripe for a good show, and after tonight
they’ll be all mine. I’ll be the hero.”

Slinging the rope over his shoulder, he wheeled the
cage down the empty hallway.

“You’re wrong. Black Jack will rescue me and ruin your
angle.”

The cage jerked to a stop and she tumbled back onto
her fanny. Tiger Man closed in, hair covering his chest, his shoulders, his
face. The man was a walking commercial for a laser hair removal.

He grabbed the bars with grimy hands and gave them a
shake. She could use her whip right about now. Unfortunately she’d lost it
during the abduction.

“I wouldn’t count on that husband of yours saving you.
He’ll be lucky to walk after I get through with him.”

Her heart slammed against her chest. “Jack’s not
fighting tonight.”

“Sure he is. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

His maniacal grin widened to reveal a black abyss
where there used to be a couple of teeth. “I’ve been waiting a long time to
take a run at Black Jack Hudson. A very long time.”

“You’re supposed to fight him at Summer Suplex in two
weeks. That’s the plan.” She gripped the bars, panic coursing through her body.

“I changed the plan.”

He laughed, a low, menacing sound. A shiver wracked
her body from head to toe and back up again to settle in her throat.

“Jack,” she croaked. He wasn’t supposed to fight for
at least another week. If anything happened to him tonight…

She closed her eyes. He wasn’t healthy enough to step
into the ring. She knew that as sure as she knew she was going to fire Tiger
Man the minute she got back home, right after she let Uncle Joe have a generous
piece of her mind. She couldn’t believe he’d set up Jack. Then she remembered
Maxine’s rant when she bolted out of the elevator:
He’s gone too far this time
.

Frankie’s heart raced. God help her if anything
happened to Jack.

She focused on her breathing, in through the nose, out
through the mouth. She’d be no help to Jack if she passed out from a case of
nerves. That hadn’t happened since she was a kid and Mama was rushed to the
hospital in an ambulance. Fear had strangled Frankie’s throat that night. Fear
that she’d lose her mom.

Like she could lose Jack if he tangled with this
lunatic.

Tiger Man hoisted the rope over his shoulder and
wheeled her toward the screams and cheers of the awaiting fans. Her mind spun
as the rolled through the Monkey Tunnel and up the aisle. She had to do
something, but what? They approached the ring, the crowd booing and hissing
with renewed vehemence. She glared at Tiger Man, panic surging through her
veins. Jack would never know what hit him.
 
He’d be out for the count, and then some.

With stiff fingers she squeezed the cage bars and let
out a blood-curdling scream. The crowd roared back, fully enjoying the show.
No. This wasn’t right. She had to get Jack’s attention, had to—

Jack sprang from beneath the ring and tackled Tiger
Man. They rolled and punched, and Jack landed on top, nailing his opponent with
five quick jabs. He pushed off the momentarily dazed wrestler, grabbed the keys
and raced to free Frankie.

“Jack, it’s real. This is real.” She started sobbing
and he cocked his head in question.

“Frankie?”

“He’s going to—”

Tiger Man nailed him in the shoulders with a
two-by-four. The keys flew out of Jack’s hand and he hit the floor.

“Somebody stop this!” she cried, her protest swallowed
by the roar of excited fans.

“Black Jack Attack! Black Jack Attack!”

Tiger Man swung Jack into the metal ring steps with a
crash.

She had to stop this.

“You!” She flagged a photographer. “Let me out and
I’ll give you a picture.” She gripped the lining of her bikini top as if
offering to expose her breasts.

“Luscious Leeza flashed hers last week.” He turned his
attention back to the fight.

Tiger Man rammed Jack, shoulder first, into the ring
post. The crowd screamed in horror.

Jack collapsed and gripped his shoulder in pain.

“I’ll take off the mask!” she cried to the
photographer.

His eyes lit up. “Deal!”

She glanced through the bars. Tiger Man picked up Jack
and applied some kind of painful hold, yanking one arm behind his back while
pulling his neck in the opposite direction. Jack gritted his teeth, completely
helpless against the unexpected, genuine assault.

“Let me out!” she ordered the photographer.

“Take off the mask first.”

“You won’t get a good shot through the bars.”

He nodded and released her.

She whipped open the door and raced for Mulligan,
WHAK’s head of security. He knew who she was; he’d listen to her. The
photographer gripped her arm and spun her around.

“A deal’s a deal!”

“Hands off me, you stupid ingrate!” She kicked him in
the shin and he stumbled backward. More flashes nearly blinded her.

Out of the corner of her eye she spied Tiger Man toss
Jack into the ring, then whip a steel door under the bottom rope. Jack got to
his knees, clinging to the ropes, unable to stand.

“Mulligan!” she cried, running up to the security
expert. “Stop the match.”

He eyed her and snorted. “Yeah right.”

“Tiger Man’s wants to hurt Jack, for real. You’ve
gotta stop it.”

“The only person who can stop the match is Sully.”

“Sully isn’t here, but I am.”

“Yeah, so?”

She ripped off the mask, squinting against the
onslaught of flashing bulbs.

“Holy crap, Miss McGee. I had no idea.”

“Stop this match or you’re fired.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He sprinted toward the ring, barking
orders into his walkie-talkie.

Jeers suddenly punctured her eardrums. She spun around
and her heart stopped cold.

With great pomp and circumstance, Tiger Man swung Jack
head first, dropping him on the steel door.

A collective gasp echoed in the arena.

Jack was lying motionless in the center of the ring.

Tiger Man grinned and beat his chest then went back to
work, stomping on Jack’s chest.

Jack didn’t move, not even to defend himself.

She scanned the area. Security men huddled in a
corner, planning their approach. They weren’t fast enough. Grabbing a metal
folding chair, she flew under the bottom rope and stalked Tiger Man from
behind. She closed in, wound up and let him have it, hitting him across the
shoulders with the chair. Once. Twice. Three times. He wobbled, but didn’t go
down. His eyes were blazing fire when he turned on her.

Roaring, he pounded closed fists against his chest and
marched toward Frankie. A team of security guards flooded the ring and tackled
him to the mat. She raced to Jack’s side. Sweat covered his still-closed eyes.

“Jack? Open your eyes.”

She brushed her fingertips across his cheek. He didn’t
move. Her heart ached.

“Ambulance!” she cried over her shoulder.

“What...what are you doing?”

She snapped her gaze to Jack. His eyelids cracked open
and blood dripped down the side of his mouth. She dabbed at it with her finger.
He was okay. Everything was going to be okay. Her chest lightened with relief.

“Jack.” She kissed him on the cheek, the eyebrow, the
forehead.

“Your mask?” He looked at her with such wonder in his
eyes.

“I was so scared. Tiger Man is crazy. He wanted to
hurt you, to prove something. I tried to tell you what was going on. I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry.”

“But they’ll know who you are...without the mask.”

“How do you feel? Can you tell me how many fingers I
have up?” She shoved three fingers in his face. He closed his hand around them
and pressed her palm to his chest, above his heart.

“Why did you take it off?” he said.

“I had to stop the match. No one would listen.
Mulligan didn’t recognize me with the mask on.”

“I know the feeling.” He smiled and squeezed her hand.
She closed her eyes, reveling in his gentle touch, the powerful connection that
shot straight to her heart.

“Let’s go, Jack. I want to go home.”

“Okay. Get the stretcher.”

Her eyes shot open. “Dammit, this isn’t about the
angle, about building up drama by going out in an ambulance. This is about you
being okay. About us walking out of here, together.”

“Us? You said ‘us,’” he whispered.

“Come on.” She started to get up, but he wouldn’t let
go of her hand. “Jack, please—”

“I’d love to, darlin’. But I can’t feel my legs.”

“Get your best orthopedic specialist down here, now!”
Frankie ordered the emergency room intern.

Jack tried telling her he was fine, that he could feel
his legs again, but she would listen. When the doctor said he couldn’t keep
Jack against his will, Frankie shot Jack a death glare. He’d never seen that
one before and he didn’t want to find out what was behind her fiery eyes.

“Are you listening to me?” She got in the doctor’s
face as he tried to escape the examining area.

Jack had to give her credit. When Frankie took charge,
she really took charge. There was simply no talking to her.

“I want your orthopedic man down here now or I’ll fly
in one of my own!”

She whipped the curtain closed and turned her
attention to Jack. “Why do I get the feeling they’re not taking me seriously?”

Her hair stuck out in twenty-seven directions, her eye
make-up streaked down her face, and she still sported her Tatianna feathers.

“Gee, I wonder,” he teased, eyeing her from head to
toe.

“At least you’ve got your sense of humor back.” She
rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a hospital gown.

“I told you, I’m fine. Look, Mom, I can even walk.” He
started to get up, but she jumped to his side and pushed him back on the
stretcher.

“Forget it, mister. You’re not going anywhere until
you’re checked out by a real doctor.”

She slipped her arms through a cotton gown and tied it
in front.

“You’d better watch it or they’ll admit you.”

“I’m fine.”

“For being mentally disturbed.”

“I’m glad you can joke about this.”

“It’s all part of the life, sweetheart.”

“It’s a stupid life if you ask me.” She scooted a
chair beside the bed and leaned way too close. Her cleavage peeked out from
where her hospital gown gapped in front.

“You risk your body, your ability to walk. What is
that about?” she said.

“That part wasn’t my idea, remember?”

She paled and folded her hands in her lap. “If it’s
the last thing I do, I’m going to fire that lunatic Tiger Man.”

“He was just doing his job.”

“No!” She sprang to her feet and paced the cramped
examining area. “He wanted to hurt you, to prove to everyone he was the best. I
can’t believe my uncle knew about this. I just can’t.”

Jack glanced at the ceiling, her pain hurting him,
too. She loved her uncle and couldn’t accept that he’d set Jack up to be
intentionally hurt.