Invincible (7 page)

8.

(Wes)

I wore my leather jacket over my wounded shoulder and arm. I drove like fire to get to somewhere, anywhere. The only place I could think of going was the main office. An abandoned office building that Aton used to count money and train fighters. Sometimes he liked to have his own private fights, to see how the guys were doing. He
’
d let us fight until blood and then break it off before anyone was hurt or killed.

Sometimes it was done for training. Sometimes for punishment. Or sometimes just for fun if Aton had a few women he wanted to impress by showing us off.

As I turned into the parking lot I knew that if Aton was here, my life was going to be over. But if I could get ten words in with Aton. Explain that I went to look for Rose. That I got her to safety because someone else was trying to kill her. If she was wanted dead so badly that meant she had to be worth something alive.

I threw open the car door and hurried toward the building. I opened the side door and ran to the middle of the floor. The door shut with an echo and I yelled for Aton.

“
Where are you?
”
I yelled.
“
It
’
s Wes! I
’
m here. I need to talk to you.
”

I walked to the middle of the room and stood there.

I saw Shane on the floor, getting his brains smashed out of his head. That guy in the black mask.
The assassin
. There was a time when I heard Aton was making serious offers to bring
the assassin
on his crew but it never worked out. That made Shane the number one guy for Aton. Once Shane died, I then became the number one guy.

And I still was. I was a guarantee.

A door opened with a squeak and Aton appeared at one of the railings. He took an unlit cigar from his mouth.

“
You smell something, Wes?
”
he called down to me.

“
No.
”

“
I think I smell a rat.
”

“
Aton, it
’
s not what you think. You know me. Let me explain something.
”

“
I
’
m sorry, Wes,
”
Aton said.
“
It
’
s too late. She
’
s gone. You
’
re next.
”

I jumped forward, not sure what I was going to do because of my distance from Aton. I didn
’
t even have the chance to scream before something knocked me in the back of the head. Then something was put over my face.

Hey, it wasn
’
t the worst way to go out
…

~ ~ ~

I felt someone tear the cloth off my head. There were two men in suits, wearing rubber exam gloves. Aton was next to them. He held a wad of cash in his hand. He looked pissed. Rightfully so, I guess. Everything I
’
d dealt with lately involving him had gone really fucking wrong.

“
Aton,
”
I said.

“
Shut him up,
”
Aton said.

One of the guys stuffed some cloth into my mouth. I was tied to a chair and gagged. Like some kind of kidnapped criminal or bad guy.

All I could think about was Rose.

Beautiful Rose.

What the hell had I gotten myself into with this shit?

“
I want you to meet my cousin, Little Petey.
”

In walked a man four times the size of Aton but not much taller. He was a wide and round man. They had the same eyes and eyebrows, thick and furry. Little Petey had greasy, thinning hair.

“
This is your guy?
”
he asked, his Italian accent showing through.

“
He
’
s my best. I
’
m willing to put him up.
”

“
Damn,
”
Little Petey said. He looked at me.
“
You must
’
a really fucked up good.
”

I shook my head.

“
Little dispute on things,
”
Aton said.
“
I
’
m putting five down on it. You matching?
”

“
Of course,
cuz
,
”
Little Petey said.
“
I
’
ll get the gorilla ready.
”

The gorilla?

Little Petey left the room.

“
Give me a minute here,
”
Aton said. The two men in gloves left the room. Aton stepped to me and touched my chin.
“
I don
’
t know what the fuck you
’
re doing, Wes. I got Tommy telling me you
’
re a fucking rat. Why would I believe that? Well, the woman that was supposed to be taken care of is in your apartment. With a fucking bag.
”
He took the cloth from my mouth.
“
So now I need you to do something else for me. And I really hope you don
’
t fuck this up.
”

“
Aton, let me talk,
”
I said.
“
There
’
s something about Rose.
”

“
What
’
s wrong with your jacket?
”
Aton asked.

“
I was shot.
”

“
What?
”

Aton slid my jacket down and peeled up my sleeve. His eyes went wide.
“
I got five thousand on you to win a fight and you have a bullet hole in your arm?
”

“
Fight? I
’
m fighting right now?
”

“
Goddamn straight,
”
Aton said.
“
Little Petey has been breaking my balls about his guy. He calls him
the gorilla
. I was thinking of tossing Tommy out there for fun. Then I thought about Ax. Maybe Henry. But then this fell right into my lap. Because if I lose you in this fight, what do I care? I
’
m going to have to kill you anyway.
”

“
I was shot saving Rose,
”
I said.
“
Someone was after her. That
’
s what I
’
m trying to tell you.
”

Aton stuffed the cloth back into my mouth.
“
Tell you what, Wes. You knock
the gorilla
down and keep him down long enough that I make an easy five off my fat fuck of a cousin, I
’
ll let you say anything you want. But you get a minute.
Because then, Tommy is putting a bullet in the back of your head.
”

~ ~ ~

The gorilla.

Holy fucking shit.

That was my reaction as I stood there.

He was tall, hunched, and had the longest arms I
’
d ever seen. His fists looked like boulders. The guy looked like a deformity, like he belonged in a circus or something. His face was scarred, his head bald, and when he saw me, he lifted his fists ready to fight.

I never backed down from a fight. And this was no different. Well, a little different. I had to win to talk to Aton. I had to fight this big fuck of a guy and then convince Aton not to kill me.

I wasn
’
t sure which one was going to be harder.

The gorilla
lumbered at me. He had thick black hair damn near everywhere. He was sweaty, his white sleeveless shirt almost had a yellow tint to it.

“
Take it to him!
”
Little Petey yelled.

“
Let
’
s go, Wes,
”
Aton said. No emotion behind his words.

Story of my life - fighting to survive. Literally fighting to survive. All the time.

“
What
’
s your real name?
”
I asked as
the gorilla
closed in on me.

“
Gary,
”
he growled.

I put my fists up.
“
Ready?
”

“
Always.
”

I gave a nod and stepped back.

Gary quickly threw a right fist. His arm swung like a tree trunk at me. I moved out of the way and swatted at his arm. I threw a right and smashed him in the gut. He groaned and started to lean forward. But then he quickly backhanded my bad shoulder. It sent me backward and to the ground. The pain was white hot and I saw stars for a second.

Stomping right at me, Gary was quick to start throwing more punches. I had no choice but to put my arms to my face and go with the punches. They hurt like hell and I thought
the gorilla
was going to shatter my arm bones into pieces.

The worst part was the sweat splashing from him. He smelled really fucking bad.

Dealing with big guys wasn
’
t easy, but you had to keep your mind straight and remember that the old cliche about them falling hard was very true.

Not that I wanted to kick my way out of it, but I really had no choice.

Gary
’
s eyes were wide and locked to my face. His teeth showed like a hungry animal. But his stance was all wrong. He had power but not all the power he could have. He stood with his feet together. So all I needed to do was get one good shot on one of his knees. Two kicks and I got him. The heel of my foot hit his right knee and that ended the punches long enough for me to make a move. I climbed up to my feet and went in on him. A left, a right, gut and then chin. Gary swung back a little, opening his arms. Another right to his mouth and I had him stumbling.

“
Fuck this!
”
Little Petey yelled.
“
Shake it off, you hairy fuck!
”

Little Petey and Aton were like two kids watching scripted wrestling. They loved it. The raw violence. Death always lingering in the air. Money on the line. It was like a drug for them. They could never fight. They could use their power to control the fights.

It pissed me off.

Gary looked at me and suddenly he didn
’
t seem so tough. Or strong. He was just some lanky guy with hairy arms and a hairy chest. But I knew if I held back, even for a second, he
’
d come at me.

I went after
the gorilla
full force. Now he was the one protecting himself. His long arms were bent, covering his face, but that left his body exposed. Each punch hit his sweaty shirt, splashing dirty sweat, but my strength and knuckles were doing their job as he kept stumbling, groaning, trying to absorb the punches without getting hurt.

I had to hand it to
the gorilla.
He had guts and balls. He swung his right hand at me, smacking me across the chest. It stung and surprised me. I couldn
’
t remember getting smacked before during a fight. Gary then threw a left, connecting with my jaw. I spun all the way around and instinctively kept my fists up to protect my face. Gary threw another left and I punched it away. I threw an uppercut with a right, hitting him in the jaw. His head snapped back.

“
Not again!
”
Little Petey yelled.
“
Fuck!
”

I punched Gary in the gut a couple times and then went for his face. Left, right, his jaw cranking side to side. His feet were shaky and not in a good stance. I swung my right foot to his right foot, forcing Gary to trip and fall. He put his large hands out to catch himself. I heard a breaking
pop
sound when he hit the ground. I came down at him with two punches and then a knee to the face.
The gorilla
went down to the ground for good, his head on the concrete floor, his eyes dazed and spinning as he stared straight up.

Truthfully, I could have kept going. If this were a real fight, I would have until the fight was called off. Instead, I turned and looked at Little Petey and Aton. Little Petey was red faced, his hair literally standing straight up from tearing at it.

Aton was calm, cool.
“
I think I just won,
cuz
.
”

“
Fuck,
”
Little Petey said. He stepped toward me and breezed by. He looked down at
the gorilla
.
“
What the hell happened?
”

I let the conversation fade out and walked to Aton.
“
Did you kill her?
”

“
What?
”

“
Did you kill Rose?
”

Aton grinned.
“
No. Not yet. Still trying to process this situation.
”

“
Aton, you have to listen to me.
”

Aton opened his suit jacket. He put his hands to his waist. He did it to show me his gun.
“
I
’
m a man of my word, Wes. You took down
the gorilla
. You won me some cash. So I
’
ll give you one minute. You better make it worth my while.
”

I stared at Aton. My face throbbed where
the gorilla
had hit me. My shoulder hurt and burned. What a fucking mess of a day. There was no bullshitting Aton out of this. I had to come up with something legit. Something that would hit home for Aton and make him ease off the situation until I could figure out what to do. Rose needed to be alive. I needed to know about her family. I needed to know why she had people after her. For some damn reason I wanted to keep my word that I
’
d keep her safe.

“
Don
’
t know what to say?
”
Aton asked.