“Hey, man,” Splint said quietly as he entered the room. “Your shift is over.”
“I was expecting Coal,” I blurted.
“Yeah, well, I can’t be involved in the activities this evening, so I volunteered for guard duty.”
“What activities?” I asked.
“You’ll have to ask Prez about that. He wants you to head to the clubhouse as soon as you leave here,” he said.
“Will do.”
With that, I left Grant’s room and forced myself to walk past Avery’s door without looking inside. I knew she was still in the hospital because I’d seen her mother walk down the hallway a few times, but I never called any attention to myself. I knew she needed some time, and I did, too. I’d give it a few days and then check in with her mother if I hadn’t heard anything from her.
When I arrived at the clubhouse, the whole crew was already on their bikes in the forecourt ready to roll. Copper waved his hand, and I fell into formation as we rolled through the gate. Once we hit the main street in downtown Devil Springs, I knew exactly where we were going.
I pulled into a parking space and glanced around, only then noticing that Bronze, Batta, and Coal were pulling up in a cage. “What’s going on?” I asked Judge.
Judge smirked. “Prez agreed to a fight.”
“He what?”
“Relax. He knows what he’s doing,” he said.
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I kept my opinion to myself and followed the rest of the club into the gym.
“You know what’s going on?” I asked Coal.
He shrugged. “Just that Copper agreed to a fight between a club member and one of the gym’s fighters.”
“Why would he do that?” I wondered out loud.
“Guess we’ll find out in a few minutes.”
We were escorted to the basement and led to a dingy locker room. “We’ll come get you five minutes before the fight starts. Stay in here until then,” some guy said before he disappeared.
Copper turned to me and Coal. “You two go with Tiny and scope out the setup. Text Spazz if you see anything we need to know about. I have no doubt they’ll try to pull some bullshit, and I want to be ready for it.”
“Prez, if this is because they tried to get me to fight, I can’t let you do whatever you’re about to do,” I blurted.
Copper turned to me with an unreadable expression on his face. “You don’tletme do anything. But, I understand where you’re coming from, and it’s not on you. Now, go with Tiny and Coal.”
“Yes, Prez.”
I didn’t agree with him; it was on me. If I’d had my shit together, I wouldn’t have needed to find a gym to deal with my fucked-up life, and none of us would be in the mess we were in. I shook my head and tried to focus on the task at hand.
The setup was exactly what you’d expect for a place that held illegal fights—dark, musty, and overran with cheap everything. Even the ring looked like it would fall apart with one good kick. I continued to scan the area when something caught my eye.
“Tiny, two o’clock,” I mumbled low enough for only him to hear.
Tiny brought his hand up to his face and mumbled something before he started coughing. He finally stopped and cleared his throat. “Thanks, man.”
I furrowed my brows in confusion and started to ask what in the hell was wrong with him when I caught the ever so subtle shake of his head. And then I noticed the watch he was wearing, and everything started to make more sense. I guess Copper did know what he was doing after all.
The lights flashed on and off, and the announcer instructed the crowd to find their seats. We claimed the first two rows directly behind what we assumed was our corner.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we have a treat in store for you. Our reigning champion, Dez De Santis, will be defending his title against newcomer, Bronze Black.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure as shit wasn’t for the crowd to laugh.
