Fight for Her#3 (9 page)

“Did Maddie put you on the birth certificate?” Colt asks.

“Well, sure. I pay child support.”

“Then there’s public records.”

We push through the crowd at the water fountains in front of the hotel. They are all so happy, taking pictures, having an easy day. I want to shove them all around, make them realize that shit is going down. That Maddie is threatened.

The elevator up is so slow I almost wish we’d taken the stairs, despite being on the tenth floor. I could stand to work out the soreness of so many fights last night. The real one, then Striker and his pals, then the two dolts he sent. Plus that last group outside the broom closet.

Striker has a good-sized network for an outcast. Assholes flock together. But how could he know about Maddie? Nobody knows. I don’t buy for a second that his delinquent crew went through public records.

We race down the hall to the rooms. I want to smash the door open, and when the stupid door key won’t swipe correctly, I’m about to crash through it when Jo takes the card from me.

With a gentle push, the light turns green and we’re inside.

Nothing has been moved. Maddie’s clothes and suitcase are still right where we left them. I slam my hands into the wall. “Where the hell did she go?”

“Did you put a tracker on her phone?” Colt asks.

Jo whirls around to him. “Did you put one on mine?”

Colt holds up his hands. “I wouldn’t dare. You’d kick my ass.”

She turns back to me. “You better not have either.”

“It’s not on my account,” I say. “Even if it had one, I wouldn’t have access to the data.”

“She’s got to be headed to the airport,” Jo says. “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“She can’t get on a flight right away,” Colt says. “Everything is always booked out of Vegas. She’ll be in a line somewhere, trying to fly standby.”

Jo slips her arm through mine. “Let’s go find her,” she says. “Once we know what’s going on with her, we’ll be able to help.”

“But she didn’t come to me in the first place,” I say. “In her mind, I must be part of the problem.”

“You think she’ll fly home?” Colt asks. “Are you certain enough to get on a plane?”

I’m not. I pull away from Jo and sit on the bed. Maddie has always been impulsive, like a flash fire. She’ll do something drastic, then she’ll realize her mistake and pull back.

But she felt she couldn’t turn to me. Whatever was going on, she needed to move fast and act without me.

Then suddenly, I start to see the bigger picture. Striker couldn’t know who Maddie was. But someone else might.

I look up at Colt. “If you were Striker, who would be pretty much the only person you’d be willing to admit to what happened last night?”

He leans back against the wall. “Not my parents.” He glances at Jo. “His girl already knows.”

I forgot that Colt is an only child.

“I know what you’re saying,” Jo says. “I have a brother.” Her eyes are already going dark with anger. “I see where this is going.”

Colt stands up. “How long have you been friends with that family?”

“Since we were kids. Striker wasn’t around. He got sent to military school. That’s where he took up boxing.” I hesitate. “But not his sister, Lani. We hung around each other all our lives.”

Jo’s body has gone completely tense. Lani befriended her before that betrayal, the one that ended with Colt and Jo shot in an alley. “So Lani knows Maddie,” Jo says.

“She’ll remember those days. I bet Striker called Lani after the van prank. And when Striker described Maddie, Lani knew exactly who she was.”

“Should we call Lani or just go?” Colt asks.

“Back to LA?” Jo asks. “What if Maddie is still here?”

“You stay behind, then,” Colt says. “You can handle yourself.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jo says.

“What if Maddie is headed to New York? What if Lily is in trouble?” I ask. Damn, surely they wouldn’t go so far as to hurt a child.

“You go to New York, then,” Colt says. “And I’ll go to LA.”

“You don’t have to do this for me,” I say.

“You forget,” Colt says, and his hand cutting across his belly reminds me of that night, blood pouring out of his gut from the gunshot wound. “I have a score to settle with these people myself.”

“We have to end this,” I say.

Colt nods grimly. “We definitely have to end this.”

Chapter 18: Maddie

After another fifteen minutes pass, the taxi driver pulls up to a red light and turns around. “You decided where you’re going yet, miss?” He’s got a huge mustache that pushes up into his nose and completely covers his upper lip.

I’ve been fussing with the new phone, trying to learn how to use it while also figuring out where to go. No doubt Colt and Parker are already trying to intercept me at the airport. I can’t go there.

“Is there another airport other than the one in Vegas?”

“I reckon you could go to Flagstaff.”

“How far is that?”

“Three hours.” His fingers smooth the black mustache. “Kinda far for a cab ride.”

“How can I get to Flagstaff?”

“Other than the airport?”

“Right.”

“There’s a bus.”

“Head that way,” I say.

He turns back around. I frantically search for the bus schedule out of Vegas. I don’t want to arrive too early and sit around. If anyone thinks to go there, they’ll find me. I won’t be able to decide what to do with Parker pressuring me. Nothing he and Colt and those other people did last night did any good.
 

As long as Striker feels he hasn’t evened the score, he isn’t going to stop.

But I can’t exactly tell them to kill them all.

I have no answers for this situation. I just want to be with Lily. I have to get her moved, hidden, safe.

Finally the bus schedule comes up. I can book a ticket from my phone. Perfect. Once I’m out of Vegas, I can worry less. No one will think to look for me in Flagstaff.

The bus doesn’t leave for an hour.

I lean forward. “Sir? How long will it take to get to the station?”

“About ten minutes.”

“Can you drive around a while? I don’t want to get to the station for another 45 minutes.”

“Your dime,” he says.

I find a flight schedule out of Flagstaff. There’s nothing available into New York, but I can get to Newark, New Jersey, by midnight. Close enough.

I sit back and look out the window. This part of Vegas looks like any other city. Houses. Strip malls. Parking lots full of cars. Beyond the businesses are normal neighborhoods with houses and kids and probably parks. There’s definitely less green here. No bodies of water. And certainly the dizzying lights of the Strip in the distance set it apart at night.

But everyday life happens here. At least outside this car.

I have to say something to Delores that will make her understand this is urgent, but not make her panic so that she calls the police. I don’t know if involving them will help. I doubt it.

I pull up messages and reply to one of hers.

There’s been a hiccup in my schedule. I have to fly into Newark. Can you guys get a hotel near there? The Marriott? I’m dying to see Lily.

That sounds normal.

After a minute, she replies.

Parker said your schedule was fine. That you got a new phone.

So he’s already written her.

It just happened when I checked in. I didn’t get to do it early due to the new phone.

God, lightning is going to strike me for these lies.

Are you sure that’s what you want us to do? Lily will miss school tomorrow. And don’t you have to work?

Like any of that is important now.

Took the day off. Lily can miss a day.

I look out the window as I wait for Delores to reply. We’ve left the city. The desert stretches out as far as I can see on any side. I feel utterly alone, me and my mustached driver. I don’t know what I’ll do next. Obviously Striker and his buddies have found me. How long until they discover Lily?

Come on, Delores. Agree to get out of the house.

Finally the message comes.

Okay, I’ll pack our things. I’ll leave a key at the desk so you can come in.

I hold the phone to my chest. They will be safe, at least for now.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe it’s just a silly unsubstantiated worry.

After a minute, Lily sends a picture of her wearing her princess crown. Below it is a message she can do herself.

Hi, Mama.

I work hard to hold back a sob. This is why I stayed away from Parker all this time. This is why I couldn’t face the life he led. These crazy people. This lifestyle. This being okay with living with such violence, in the cage and out.

My hands shake as I type.

You look pretty. I love you.

Delores will have to read her that. I type one more, a word I know she knows because it’s on so many of her shirts.

Princess.

Outside the car there’s nothing but rolling desert, a highway bisecting the landscape.

“Thought you might want to see a little,” the driver says. “I’ll head back now.”

The taxi slows down and he turns around.

We head back the way we came. Toward the city. The bus station. Back to reality and whatever is going to happen next.

Parker messages me again, but I don’t read it. I know he just wants me to come back. I’ll deal with him eventually, when I’m home, when I have Lily in my arms.

The phone buzzes one more time. I figure it is Parker, or maybe Lily is still writing me.

But it’s not. It’s the hidden number, same as before.

Even as hot shock flows through me at this message, I knew it was coming. If I were these people, and I had failed at intimidating the fighters, it would be what I would do. What I would say.

If what Jo and I laughed about in the bathroom were true, that our lives were a movie, this would be the logical next step. The new, more terrifying threat.

And they have done it.

I try to tear my eyes away from the words, but I read them anyway.

Dump Power Play on his ass or we will come for you.

And your little black-haired girl.

This is the end of
Fight for Her
#3.

Find #4 on
Amazon
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FIGHT FOR HER is a four-book series about Parker and Maddie.

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Thank you for reading!

Love, JJ
 

Fight for Her
is part of JJ Knight’s the
Uncaged Love
books about MMA fighters. If you missed Colt and Jo’s story, you might enjoy going back to read their love affair in
Uncaged Love
, Volumes 1-5.

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