Dray (14 page)

Chapter 25

Cassie

I reached up and pulled the hood down over my forehead. The sunset and a flash thunderstorm had produced an amber sky that was fractured by the remaining storm clouds. Even with the short downpour, a perpetual cloud of dust and sand lingered in the dirt lot as every style and shape of car and truck pulled in to park. Rows and rows of vehicles circled the dilapidated building.

Some men lingered near their cars smoking cigarettes and listening to loud music through some less than quality speakers. Most had gone inside to wait for the fight. It had taken me only seconds to decide to fly to Mexico, but it had been a long, hard slog convincing Nix and Clutch that I needed to meet them in Mazatlan. Convincing them to let me attend the fight was even harder. In the end, they knew I would go with or without them. So, with huge reluctance, they gave in.

In high school, I’d been friends with a girl who could speak several dialects of Spanish. After college, she’d landed a job at the United States Embassy in Mexico. She was unable to do anything directly to help secure Dray’s release, but she had hooked us up with a savvy, young lawyer named Fernando, who spoke perfect English and knew the area of Sinaloa well.

Nix stood next to the rental car talking to Fernando. He had heard something significant while talking to some of the men milling around in the lot. It had something to do with the bet and the man who had arrested Dray.

I took a little stroll around some of the cars, keeping my face low and hidden in the hood. I peered back over my shoulder. Even though Nix was still deep in conversation with the lawyer, his eyes did not leave me, and I loved him for it. I’d traveled from New York directly to Mazatlan. I hadn’t even landed in California, and yet I still felt more at home here than I did in New York. It wasn’t the place but the people that made me feel as if I’d come home. I missed my friends terribly. I’d felt it even more acutely several hours earlier at the Mazatlan airport. I’d been standing alone with my backpack and then Nix, Clutch and Barrett walked into the terminal. Every head had turned as they stepped inside, and all I could think was that I’d miss them all so much it hurt just looking at them. They’d barely taken five steps inside the terminal when I raced across the slick tile floor and right into their arms.

It was neither the time nor place but I couldn’t stop myself from pulling out my tiny spy camera, a camera I’d truly grown to love. I snapped a picture of the golden sky. The amount of sunlight was perfect for picture taking, but the intriguing images were few and far between.

Two men hovered in front of a shirtless and heavily tattooed man who was sitting on the open tailgate of a truck. They were busy preparing his hands for a fight. He had to be Dray’s opponent. I accidentally kicked an empty can and one of the men looked up. I’d only seen him for a brief moment but I was certain it was Rico, the man Nix and Clutch had pointed out to me. I stared off into the distance as if I was just waiting for someone, and he returned to his task. It seemed strange that the man who’d brought Dray in to win a fight would be out helping his competitor get ready. I lifted my camera and took a few good shots of them wrapping the man’s hands.

I returned to Nix. Fernando had gone inside.

Chapter 26

Dray

Rico had left me standing in the center of the spectators. I stood in the corner and waited like a man waiting for the executioner. There were no familiar faces, and I was definitely
not
on home turf. Men would walk past me and look me up and down as if they were checking out a horse to buy. After a good twenty minutes of pacing around and trying to loosen up, a murmur started in the crowd and cheers roared through the place. Apparently, my well-loved opponent had arrived.

His fans split apart like the red sea. He pounded his fist against his palm as he strutted toward the mat. He handed off his hooded warm-up jacket to one of the men who had accompanied him. He was big but not massive. He had tattoos covering every inch of his shoulders and arms and even a few on his shaved head. I’d always found that more ink meant less fight. A shit-storm of tattoos could make even the weakest fighter look tough.

Some little old guy with a mound of silver-gray hair and a gold hoop in his ear stepped through to the mat. I could only guess that he was the ref. As often as I’d stepped into a competition, the entire scene felt unfamiliar and unsettling. Nothing and no one were on my side. For the first time ever, I was fighting for something other than money or my standing as a fighter. I was fighting for my freedom, and the whole idea left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The crowd was nearly exploding with the desire to see blood, and since I’d come in as the challenger, it was my blood they wanted to see.

In the chaos of noise and bodies pushing against each other I spotted a tall blond head across the room. Clutch zeroed in on me right away. Just like the day before when he and Nix had walked into the jail, I felt an instant relief.

Clutch had a way of forging a path through a crowd of people like no one else I knew. He was at my corner in seconds. The men standing around me stared up at him in awe and with a good dose of fear.

I sat on the stool to take off my shoes and put on my gloves. Clutch knelt down next to me. “I am damn glad to see you. Thought I was going to go down on that mat and they were just going to roll me up in it like a cigar and throw me into the river. Especially after they lose their money.”

Clutch glanced around and leaned in closer. “That’s just it. Don’t know what the hell is going on, but we came with— we came with someone who understands Spanish and—”

“Pete came with you? Man we really screwed up his surfing vacation.”

“No, he’s not here.”

“You just happened to find a translator?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. Now, shut the hell up and let me talk. I thought Rico was bringing you into this as the long shot so he could make a bundle of money.”

“Yeah, that was the plan. Or at least that’s what I’d figured. We really haven’t had any productive two-way conversations.”

The crowd grew more agitated. The fight was about to begin.

“In the meantime, word got out that you took down three guys in the jail cell, including some gigantic dude.”

“Junior.”

Clutch lifted a brow. “Junior?”

“Yeah, he’s a goddamn beast. Almost makes you look normal in size. So, what’s this about?”

“The rumors have exploded. Everyone knows that you’re not just some sucker who got talked into stepping onto the mat against their local champ. It seems the odds have changed, and most of the money is on you.”

Rico watched Clutch and me from the corner of his eye as he talked to the referee.

“That doesn’t make sense. Rico doesn’t stand to make much if I’m not the long shot.”

The ref motioned for me to come to the center of the mat. I pushed to my feet.

“Just watch yourself,” Clutch called to me as I walked toward my opponent.

Chapter 27

Cassie

“Just make sure you stay hidden in that hood, Cass,” Nix said. “Dray would never forgive me if he knew. Not to mention that you’d throw off his concentration completely.”

My hand flew to my face. “Jeez, it smells awful in here,” I mumbled from behind my fingers.

Nix laughed. Instinctively, he reached to take a protective hold of my arm and then he thought better of it.

My shortness left me at a complete disadvantage as I tried to peer over the heads. “Did Clutch reach him?”

“Yeah, I see his big blond head over there, but I can’t see Dray from here.” The spectators seemed to be closing in on the center of the room. “I think the fight is starting soon.” Nix looked down at me. “Cassie, you have to keep your promise. At the slightest sign of trouble you get your bottom out to the rental car and lock all the doors.”

I patted my pocket with the keys. “Yes sir,” I said with a nod that pushed the hood back off my hair. I grabbed the edge of it and pulled it down again.

“Great, Sherlock, that’s some disguise you put together there.”

“Hey, it’s all I had in my overnight bag. I’ll be fine.” I leaned over to look through a small space between the rows of bodies, but I couldn’t see a thing. The cheering grew to an earsplitting roar that rattled the greasy light fixtures on the walls. “There must be a way to see something.” I looked back at the bar counter. The stools had emptied as everyone had pushed closer to the action. “Follow me. I have a plan.”

Nix and I skirted around the outside of the spectators. We climbed onto two stools. The view wasn’t great, but we could see over the heads to the center. The only head that was easy to recognize was Clutch’s. It made me feel more at ease just knowing he was close to Dray.

I stretched my neck up and leaned from side to side to get a view of the fight. Nix reached over and touched my arm. “Cassie, are you sure you even want to see this? You’ve always hated to see him fight.”

“I want to see, Nix. I want to make sure he’s all right. My stomach has been in knots ever since Scotlyn broke the news to me.” I spoke bravely, but the second I heard the first fist hit flesh, I sat down on the stool and pressed my arm hard against my stomach.

The din of the crowd nearly drowned out the sounds of the fight, but Nix’s face said it all. And none of it was good. He flinched twice as if he was the one getting punched. His forehead creased with worry as he peered up over the bobbing sea of heads. His shoulders relaxed for a second and then he jumped up off the stool. “Fuck,” he said quietly and then looked at me, almost as if he’d forgotten I was sitting right next to him gauging the fight by his reactions. “It’s nothing,” he said quickly.

“Oh no, that doesn’t look like
nothing
.” Before Nix could stop me and before I could stop myself, I climbed up on the stool and looked toward the center of the room. I nearly lost my footing as my gaze landed directly on Dray. He dragged the back of his arm across his mouth, but it did nothing to stop the river of blood. He leaned over and spit and then he turned around kicked his opponent on the side of his head. The guy stumbled a few steps and then lunged forward and threw his fist into Dray’s stomach. He doubled over and more blood shot from his mouth. I cried out and slipped off the stool. Nix caught me. He wrapped his arm around me to keep me from running toward the fight.

“Cassie, it’s the worst thing you can do right now. Clutch is right there. He’s not going to let anything happen to Dray.” He plopped me somewhat angrily onto the stool. “Stay right here, and don’t even think about climbing up on that stool again.”

I wiped my tears with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. Nix looked up over the crowd again. The spectators grew more and more restless. No one seemed happy about the fight. Nix’s face drew tight, and his expression made my tears flow faster. My hood had fallen off my head, but I didn’t care anymore.

I grabbed his arm. “Do something, Nix,” I sobbed. “Why doesn’t Clutch pull him out?”

A loud chorus of booing thundered through the room, and the walls shook with the sound of it. Then, in a split second, chaos broke out. A beer bottle flew into the center of the ring and then another. Nix grabbed my arm. “Get to the car now!”

I jumped off the stool, but the exit was quickly blocked. I found myself swept up in a sweaty jumble of angry men. I was pushed along closer to the center of the room. “Nix!” I screamed, but there was no way he could hear me.

I pushed through the suffocating wall of bodies and shot through an opening. Clutch was fighting off half a dozen men as they tried to stop him from reaching the mat. A massive, horrid looking man had hold of Dray’s arms, and he was dragging him up off the floor. Dray’s face and chest were covered in blood.

“Dray!” I screamed.

His face lifted, but his lids were heavy. He tried to focus, but he was completely out of it. “Dray!” I screamed again.

His pales eyes opened. He looked at me across the room and then his head dropped again. An elbow hit me square on the side of the head, and I fell to the ground. A large boot stomped on my thigh. I screamed out in pain. I tried to push to my feet but was knocked down to my knees. My head spun and I felt close to suffocating. Then two giant hands grabbed my arms and yanked me to my feet. Clutch threw me over his shoulder and barreled through the hurricane of swinging fists and flying beer cans.

Clutch moved like a raging bull through the melee. He dropped me to my feet at the car. I hated the look on his face. Clutch was always in control. He was never scared, but he looked as if he’d just seen his best friend get torn to shreds by lions. “Where are the keys?”

It took me a second to decipher his simple question. I slid my hand into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the keys. Clutch opened the car door and I slid inside. Then he shut the door and locked it. His long blond mane of hair flew behind him as he lumbered back toward the building.

Through blurry, tear-stained eyes I watched as people finished brawling out in the parking lot. Many had had enough excitement and they stumbled back to their cars and sped off. I looked through every window to catch a glimpse of one of the guys, but I’d lost sight of them completely. Dray had been dragged away from the fight, and I was sure they had gone after the man who’d taken him.

Fernando had left his lawyer’s business suit behind for a denim shirt and jeans. He was the first familiar face to appear at the car. Blood dripped down the front of his shirt from a cut on his chin. I reached up and unlocked the door. He slid inside.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. A beer bottle got me on the way out.” He looked down at his shirt. “I guess this shirt is history.” Then he grew quiet.

“What is it, Fernando? Where’s Dray?”

He shook his head. “Rico’s men dragged him out of there so fast we couldn’t get to him.”

“But we can follow them to the jail, right? We can go get him right now.”

Fernando reached up and rubbed his forehead. “We’ll get him, Cassie. I need to get in there and talk to Rico. Hopefully, he’ll be willing to negotiate. The whole evening played out in a way I wasn’t expecting.”

I sat back and crossed my arms around myself. “That makes two of us.”

Minutes later, Clutch and Nix got into the car. Fernando took the wheel, and Nix and I climbed into the backseat. He put his arm around me. I pressed my face into his shirt and cried. “We’ll find him, Cassie,” he said with shaky confidence.

“What’s next?” Clutch asked.

Fernando turned the car out onto the long stretch of highway that would take us back to Mazatlan.

I sat forward. “We can’t go back to Mazatlan. We have to go to the jail. We have to get to Dray. He’s hurt.” I sobbed. “He needs us.”

“Yeah,” Nix said, “is there some place closer we could stay? I don’t feel comfortable driving so far away from here knowing that Dray is in trouble.”

“There’s a little dive of a motel about fifteen miles up the highway. I know the owner, and I’m sure he’ll give us a couple of rooms. Then we can figure out what we’re going to do next.” Fernando’s tone was not the sharp, confident lawyer tone he’d used when we first went to his office. “I’m not completely sure what went on in that bar tonight, but Rico has always been a greedy schemer. When he thinks he can make money, he goes for it. It all seems to have to do with the fact that his stupid, thick-skulled lackeys decided to let the town know that Dray was great fighter. The tables got turned on Rico. Your friend really took a beating.”

“That wasn’t like Dray,” Nix said. “I didn’t get to see much from where I stood. What did you see, Clutch? Why did the other guy have such an advantage?”

“Not sure. It seemed that once the fight started, Dray couldn’t keep up. The guy hit him hard once, and Dray looked as if he’d been hit by a bag of bricks. The guy must have had a lethal jab.”

A knot hardened in my throat. “It seems that with those big metal rings around their fingers, anyone would be hurt badly by a punch. I had no idea that they wore those under their gloves.”

The car fell silent. Fernando’s eyes popped up into the rearview mirror, and Clutch twisted around and looked back at me.

“What metal rings?” Clutch asked.

“That silver bar that looks like a bunch of rings hooked together. I’ve seen it in movies, brass knuckles is what they call them, I think.”

Nix turned to me. “When did you see that?”

“While you were talking to Fernando. I wandered around, and I saw Rico helping the fighter get his hands wrapped. They slid the brass knuckles on his fingers before they put on the wraps and gloves.” From the looks on their faces, I’d just exposed Rico’s big secret. “So, they don’t usually wear those?”

Clutch smiled. “You’re a good little spy, Cass.”

Nix put his arm around me again. “No, they don’t wear them, and I’m sure Dray wasn’t given a pair to fight with. That’s why he was so outmatched.”

“Rico must have decided to switch his bet after he discovered that everyone else was betting on Dray,” Fernando said.

“But he needed to make sure that Dray lost,” Nix added.

Fernando shook his head. “Man, if the people knew that Rico had rigged the fight and the odds like that, they’d run him out town for good.” Fernando and Clutch exchanged grave looks as if they’d both come to the same thought at once.

“Sonavabitch,” Nix muttered. “We’ve got to get Dray out of there.”

“You’ve lost me and you guys are freaking me out. What’s wrong?” I asked.

Nix’s arm tightened around me. “Dray is proof that Rico cheated. Dray knows he was getting slammed by a pair of brass knuckles. That’s why Rico’s men dragged him out of there so fast. Dray’s the only proof that he cheated.”

I bit my lip, refusing to cry again. I was here to help, not fade into a sobbing mess at every piece of horrifying news. I swallowed and felt in my pocket to make sure my camera was still there. “Fernando, keep driving on to Mazatlan.”

He looked up at me in the rearview. Clutch turned around again.

I looked at all of them. “I need to get to a computer and printer. Dray is not the only proof that Rico cheated.”