Torn - Part Four (The Torn Series)
Read Torn - Part Four (The Torn Series) Online
Authors: Ellen Callahan
Ellen Callahan
This is part 4 of 4-part series. They are best read in order to follow the story. Check out the rest of the books today!
Copyright 2015, All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction; any names, places, and/or situations portrayed within are products of the author’s imagination; any similarity to real persons, living or dead, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
This book contains mature content that is suitable for adults only.
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PROLOGUE
December
Riley
. She was in the crowd, waiting for me, watching me. Knowing she was out there made my lips curve with an unsummoned smile. Now was not the time for that. Hard as it was, I forced her from my mind.
Captain
. He was more popular than me. More well-trained. But he wasn’t better-looking, so I had that much on my side, for what it was worth. Probably not much.
Self-doubt is the first step toward failing. Self-doubt is for losers.
It was a paraphrasing of something my father used to say. His version went more like “Only fucking loser pussies think about losing. Are you thinking about losing?”
SLAP
“Get those loser thoughts out of your thick skull and go knock out your fucking brother.”
The man was part monster, but even evil assholes can be right about some things.
I jumped up and down and stretched my arms as I tried to catch glimpses of Surly’s fight. He was on his game tonight - fast, vicious, fucking scary. I was glad I wasn’t in that cage with him.
I didn’t know whether to feel good or bad that he was doing so well without me. We hadn’t worked together since the day he discovered my fling with his sister. I was glad that he was fighting well but bummed out that he did it without needing my help.
Then again, Lockett had been oddly full of questions lately. Perhaps I was just helping by proxy.
Either way, I congratulated him when he won. Surprisingly he didn’t just glare or brush me off when he walked by. He stopped in front of me, damp with sweat, bleeding, and said, “Yeah, thanks, good luck, man.”
What had changed? Maybe living with Jen had given him a glimpse of what a snake she was, and for no damn reason. Riley was her friend, but she’d turned and struck out at her like a viper after they lost that Battle of the Bands, and why? Because she was jealous and wanted me back?
It didn’t matter. The girl was not what she first appeared to be. She was not nice, to put it politely.
Riley was doing just fine without her friendship anyway.
I shook my head. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Riley or anyone else at all - no one but Captain.
I stepped into the cage to face the inked sailor. At least, he was inked like a sailor. Who knew what his deal really was.
I barely got a good look at him before the bell rang. The crowd roared for blood. I’d seen right away that this wasn’t our usual audience. These people were rougher. More dangerous.
Captain was dangerous. He snarled at me, baring a mouth with half its teeth missing, then charged. I charged right back, bracing myself for impact.
He hit me like a train. For just one, fleeting moment, I regretted signing on for this fight. I should have been focusing on the future, on my brother, money be damned. I shouldn’t have been risking injury in a place like this.
There was no room for regret in a grapple, though, and he was twisting me, pushing me hard. Making a gamble, I jumped into him, onto him, like a pouncing cat.
He was more surprised than overwhelmed but that was all I needed to gain the upper hand. We went down, and I pinned his arms to the mat with my knees. I had to move fast, it wouldn’t take him long to get out from under me.
I hit him with a short flurry of jabs to his head, not enough to knock him out, unfortunately for me, but enough to rattle him.
He wrenched one arm free. I expected the blow. I didn’t expect him to have such lucky aim. His punch landed right where Surly had hit me all those weeks ago.
The pain was so severe that I saw red. I lashed out with wild, unrestrained strength that I didn’t even know I had and smashed a fist down on Captain’s collarbone. I heard the snap more than I felt it, and it turned my stomach. I rolled away and onto my feet, staggered, vision blurred.
He circled. The bastard was tough - he’d gotten on his feet as fast as I had.
I’ve still got this
, I told myself. I was hurting but so was he. I lunged forward and landed a kick on his leg, hard enough to make him stumble just a hair. It gave me enough of an opening to get in close and wail on him with my fists.
He hit back, aiming for my side, but I kept my body twisted away. Summoning another wave of strength, I landed a blow on his chin, knocking him back against the metal of the bars. They shook and rattled as he slammed against them, and the crowd went wild.
Time to end it
. I didn’t want to go another round. I didn’t think I had it in me. I had to take him down, fast.
He launched himself off the bars directly at me. If I’d been standing an inch closer I would have been in trouble, but luck was with me. I dodged aside and grabbed him around the shoulders as he passed.
Using all my weight and all the energy I had left, I hurled us down to the mat and tightened my arms around him - around his neck. I squeezed and I pulled back, cutting off his airway.
He flailed uselessly for a moment, pain and panic getting the better of him when he couldn’t take a breath. That was the moment where the fight was won, and I knew it. I adjusted my grip, locking him in. He could tap out or pass out. It was up to him.
He raised one hand, ready to end the match, to give up and hand me the win - when chaos erupted all around the cage.
Bright lights blinded me. I released Captain and backed away quickly in case he retaliated out of dumb animal rage, but he was just as confused as I was. What was going on?
Someone was shouting through a megaphone. More than one. “Line up! Put your hands on your heads!”
“The cops?” I asked, just as Captain said, “The fucking police?”
Two officers entered the cage. I shielded my eyes but I couldn’t see their faces, not with all that light shining in through the open doors and windows.
“We’re amateurs,” I said, as if that would help the situation, “No one’s getting paid.” At least, no one had been paid yet.
“Hands behind your back.”
I obeyed, more out of confusion than fear. What had brought them here? There were always rumors of fights getting busted but that was all they were - rumors.
Maybe it wasn’t the fighters they were after at all. Maybe there was more going on than I was aware of. Gambling, maybe? Drugs? Probably.
I spotted Riley as I was led out. Her eyes glistened. And her hands were on her head. She was being herded into a line with some of the crowd, while others bolted out the door and into the night.
The sight of her hurt more than anything Captain had dished out.
I wanted to call out to her, to make sure that she was okay, but I was outside in the next instant. Someone read me my rights as I was pushed into the backseat of a police car but I barely heard them.
“Do you understand?” one of the officers demanded, standing next to the car, leaning down to speak to me through the open door. I was oddly grateful to be sitting, despite the handcuffs. Adrenaline kept the pain at bay - but it didn’t drive Riley’s face from my mind.
“How many times were you hit in the head, kid?” the officer asked.
“Huh?”
“Do you understand your rights or do we need to repeat them?”
“I understand.”
He slammed the door. The silence was shocking. I couldn’t hear most of the noise outside - the shouting, the megaphones, the sirens - until it was cut off. I blinked at the sudden darkness after being so blinded.
God, I was tired.
And I was in so much trouble.
And where the hell was Riley? Was she okay? I wanted to ask but I was alone in the car for the moment. I doubted they’d be all that interested in answering my questions anyway.
I’m a criminal, now
. I wanted to laugh.
I wanted to laugh and scream and lash out. This was bullshit. I didn’t do anything wrong. And Riley definitely didn’t deserve this.
Just when things were going so well between us, too, this had to happen.
She’d have to be crazy to want anything to do with me after this. And that was probably the worst part of all. Getting hurt, having my fight interrupted, getting arrested and getting fined and even possibly going to jail - all that paled next to the thought of losing her.
Not now. Not after all we’ve been through.
I should have known better. I should have known it was all too good to be true.
The fight didn’t matter. The match with my brother didn’t matter. What good was winning it all in the ring if I lost everything outside of it?
CHAPTER 1
December
I was exhausted and my side was throbbing when I was finally given a court date and released. It sounded like the police were going easy on me, all things considered. They’d barged in just to break up the fight, but had made arrests when they found drugs on some of the fans.
None of the fighters had anything on them. Whatever deals were happening had nothing to do with us or our organizers. So they let me go with trespassing and public fighting charges. My court date was in a month.
I did have one question bothering me - one that I was sure was bothering Lee and Surly and the rest of the guys. How had the cops known we were there and what we were doing? There were so many of them. They had to have advanced warning. But who would do such a thing?