But a hand shot out, catching Keys’ fist. Scar didn’t blink, didn’t even move, as Tally stepped out from behind her fiancé.
“Lesson one,” she said, driving Keys back by his arm. “Never be so focused on your opponent that you don’t see what else is around you.” Then she swept her leg out, knocking Keys’ out from under him. The Tech landed hard on the mat with an audibleslap. “Lesson two,” Tally continued, “keep your balance. You’re half defeated the moment you get on the ground.”
Keys worked to catch his breath. Tally didn’t advance, waiting patiently as Keys got to his feet. “I thought,” he gulped. “I thought I was supposed to be fighting Scar.”
“You are,” she answered. She was wearing workout leggings and a sports bra with some sort of long sleeves on. It showed off her toned belly and her cleavage. Her mass of curly hair was in a single braid atop her head that went down to her mid-back. Her feet, Steel noted, were bare. “But Scar is injured, so I wouldn’t let him fight. Now,” her voice darkened, “you get me.”
Keys’ eyes went impossibly wide. Clearly, the ol’ ladies knew the plan all along, because the men in the room were shocked while the women were now the ones reaching for the popcorn.
“But… But… If I hityou, he really will kill me.” Keys’ voice was little more than a squeak.
“That’s cute that you really think you can hit me,” Tally mocked, her voice sickly sweet. “Now, get your hands up. As the great GNR saying goes, ‘get in the ring, motherfucker, and I’ll kick your bitchy little ass, punk’.”
The next hour consisted of Keys getting his ass handed to him. Tally never broke anything. Despite being blind, she was an exceptional fighter, and the club had given her the road name of ‘Daredevil’ after the comic book character. She often trained out in the garage with the guys, and occasionally dueled them.
Every time she knocked Keys down or blocked his advance or swiveled out of his way, she explained how or why she’d done what she’d done. At times, she even slowed down and had Keys repeat what he’d just tried to do and showed him why it failed.
By the time Ghost called Keys’ hour up, the Tech was huffing and puffing like a chain smoker and had sweated so much his hair was soaked, his shirt was drenched, and his headband was proven effectively useless. He could barely stand as blood dripped from various cuts and his split lip. His right eye was swelling closed, and what visible skin he had was turning black and blue. In contrast, Tally stood tall, strong, and without a scratch on her. The closest Keys had come to landing a hit waswhen he’d aimed at her jaw and Tally had been nearly too slow to get out of his way.
It was the only time Scar had moved the entire hour.
As soon as the timer went off, Scar was across the mat throwing Tally over his shoulder and was marching them out the door. Tally put a hand on his back to hold herself upright as she waved goodbye.
Keys barely lifted his hand up in reply before he collapsed down on the mat. Steel had no idea if he was conscious or not, but Bear and Tessa were immediately by his side. He’d survive, and probably fared better than if Scar had actually fought him.
Jenna turned to Steel with a massive smile on her face. “Nowthatwas entertaining.”
CHAPTER 7
ONE MONTH LATER
Keys had updated their security system so well a squirrel couldn’t fart in the woods without him knowing about it. Even Scar, whose head wound was healing nicely, wasn’t able to pass through without being detected.
The system alerted the club three times to an intruder in the woods. The number of motion detectors, heat sensors, and cameras Keys had installed proved effective, and he was even able to capture a clear image of present-day Griffin Shaw. Then Ghost had Keys expand the grid into Mount Grove proper. They upped the security on all the businesses, but also added discreet cameras to the street lamp posts to see if Shaw was hanging around town.
He was. More than one camera showed him stationed outside Little Shoes, either on the street or on the rooftop across the way.
There was no doubt Shaw blamed Steel for his initial incarceration, which then led to his life as the CIA’s weapon and then a dozen years being subjected to who knew what with Primis. Keys was still going through those records, andeventually petitioned Ghost to get him more help. If Jigsaw wasn’t at work at the high school, he was in Keys’ apartment helping the Tech sort through mountains of data files and information. Finding out what Primis had done to him wouldn’t solve the threat of his presence in Mount Grove, but it might give them a clue on his current psyche.
Steel didn’t give a shit about his psyche.
The club had been at odds over Brendon’s, the former night janitor, fate. While his actions seemed small and inconsequential, their impact was massive. If he could be paid once to help someone infiltrate the club, he could be paid again. But the man was still a civilian, a father and a husband. He could have come to the club, told them he was approached and handed over the drive. The club would have done anything to protect him and his family if they’d known.
What he’d done was cause for termination from his job, but not jail in the eyes of the justice system. There was no punishment if they turned him over to Carlos. The club wasn’t worried about him telling about the cellar or them imprisoning him. They’d learned their lesson after kidnapping Billy Merrick, Yelizaveta’s husband, before they had determined his fate. Brendon was kept blindfolded, so while he might have suspicions about where he was and who they were, he had no proof.
But in the end, it didn’t matter. The club chose to execute him. No one, even those who voted for his death, felt good about it. But life wasn’t fair, and they all knew it better than most. Ghost gave him the most humane death they could by having Bear slip a strong sedative into Brendon’s last meal before Ghost pulled the trigger himself. He wouldn’t have felt a thing or known it was coming.
January faded into February. Sightings of Shaw were becoming fewer and fewer. The man had lost his treasure mapthrough the club’s security grid, and without it, was learning it would not be so easy to stalk his prey. The first time he tripped Keys’ sensors after the pond incident, the club nearly had him. They chased him through the woods like a pack of hunting dogs, but Shaw was able to reach the vehicle he had stashed outside Keys’ security grid. They’d been right on his heels, and if it hadn’t been for the thick snow on the ground, they would have had him.
When they discovered his hiding places outside Little Shoes, the club had stationed Viktor and Darrin in those exact places.
Steel could sense his adversary’s growing frustration. Good. Shaw was more likely to make a mistake when his patience was tested. Then, suddenly, all sightings had stopped. No one believed Shaw was giving up his crusade, but the fact that he couldn’t be found in Mount Grove was cause for concern. Keys expanded his radius outside of town, hacking into traffic cameras, ATM machines, security cameras, and even police cameras to use his FRS to locate Shaw, but was coming up blank.
Unfortunately, in the first week of February, Ghost delivered bad news to Steel: Trip Orrin and James Hagerty were dead. While they had no proof it was Shaw, the coincidence was too great to ignore. Hagerty was stabbed by an unknown assailant in what poor camera resolution portrayed as a bar fight in a back alley. Orrin, who despite his battle injuries was an avid skier, had an accident on the slopes, which resulted in him breaking his neck when his body collided with a tree trunk.
The club was stunned by this news. Hagerty’s visit had been weeks ago, and it was unlikely that Shaw would have recognized him if he’d seen him visiting. Shaw did not go after either of their families, which was a small relief in the otherwise shitshow of reality.
Ghost wasn’t happy about it, but couldn’t stop Steel from attending the funerals. He sent Bulldog and Ranger with him.Steel didnotallow Jenna to accompany him, even though she argued and stated she was going anyway. He wasn’t proud of it, but Steel literally walked out of the house without assisting her attempts to follow and drove away without her.
