We pulled into the parking lot, where a row of vehicles sat. Everything from high-end Benzs to nearly broken-down pickup trucks was there. From the outside, the three-story brick building appeared empty, save for the flickering light coming from somewhere on the first floor.
“I told you to stay in the car,” I snapped at Lena as she opened her door once I turned the car off.
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “And sit out here twiddling my thumbs while a possible homicidal serial killer makes his move?” She glanced around the parking lot and shook her head. “Don’t think so.”
I snorted. While the parking lot was full of cars, there weren’t any people around. It was dark due to the lack of streetlights.
I took Lena’s hand into mine and pulled her in close to me. “You stick close to me.”
“I don’t think I have a choice with this vice hold you have on my hand.” She smirked.
I suppressed the urge to kiss that smile right off of her face. We headed toward the back door of the building. I knocked against the iron door twice, paused, and then knocked once.
The door opened an inch. “Code word,” a gruff voice demanded from behind the door.
“Serpent,” I said.
The door slammed in my face. A second later, it opened wide, making room for Lena and me to enter.
“She’s cleared to be here?” the huge guy asked as he stood from his stool and stared down at Lena.
“She’s not going anywhere, and you better think twice about touching her.” I glared at him, daring him to even think about saying shit to Lena.
His nostrils flared, but he finally sat down.
“Downstairs,” he said.
“Come on,” I said to Lena, wrapping my arm around her waist, ushering her forward.
We moved through the entryway to a door that read stairs. As soon as I pushed the door open, I could hear the cheers of the fights’ onlookers.
“What’s that?” Lena whispered.
“Shit,” I grunted. “That’s a fight.” I hoped Eli wasn’t one of the fighters in the ring.
We reached the bottom level to a room of men cheering around a center of lights overhead. The entire floor was concrete with exposed metal pipes along the walls. There was a clearing in the room, where a set of overhead lights hung, creating a stage for the fight.
“Move,” I grunted as I pushed through some of the onlookers, firmly holding Lena’s hand in mine, ensuring she didn’t get lost in this melee.
“Dammit.” I came to the front of the crowd to find Eli and another guy circling one another.
“Isn’t that Eli?” Lena asked, standing beside me.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Are you going to stop him?” she gasped. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed when Eli landed a nasty kick to the ribs of the guy.
I fought hard to keep a lid on my anger. There were at least a hundred or so onlookers cheering on the fight. At the corners of the room, I noticed a few guys in leather jackets with blank expressions on their faces.
I snorted.Who the fuck wore leather jackets in Texas in the middle of summer?They were meant to stick out.
“Not yet,” I told Lena. I watched Eli as he took his opponent to the ground. He rolled him, and the crowd cheered around us.
“Why is he fighting down here?” Lena asked while grimacing when Eli elbowed the guy’s side.
I didn’t respond as I had my full attention on Eli. If he were smart, he’d end this fight as quickly as possible. But if he had any fucking brains at all, his stupid ass wouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Not even a breath later, Eli got the guy in a rear-naked chokehold from the ground, forcing him to tap out.
