Chapter 2 - Four Men Won't Be Enough
Dustin moved before anyone else.
Not toward me.
Toward the woman.
I stepped sideways and blocked his path.
"Don't."
He stopped.
The confidence he'd worn thirty seconds earlier had disappeared.
"That's mine."
The woman clutched the drive.
"No," she said. "It's Evelyn's."
I recognized her now.
Maya Torres.
She lived two doors down from Evelyn.
I'd met her once.
Dustin pointed toward the exit.
"Get out."
Maya didn't move.
Ray did.
He stepped toward her.
I put a hand against his chest.
Nothing dramatic.
Just enough.
Ray looked down at my hand.
Then at me.
"Take it off."
"Stay where you are."
His expression hardened.
The four fighters had stopped smiling.
Dustin stared at the flash drive.
"What did she put on there?"
Maya's face gave him his answer.
Enough.
"Give it to me."
"No."
Dustin lunged.
I caught his wrist.
He froze.
So did everyone else.
I didn't twist it.
Didn't strike him.
I simply held it.
Dustin pulled.
Nothing happened.
For the first time, he looked directly into my eyes and understood something.
Age and weakness were not synonyms.
"Let go."
"Step back."
He tried jerking free.
I released him suddenly.
His own momentum sent him stumbling two steps.
The fighters laughed instinctively.
Dustin turned on them.
"Shut up!"
That told me almost everything I needed to know about him.
His greatest fear wasn't pain.
It was humiliation.
I looked at Maya.
"Come here."
She crossed the gym.
Dustin started toward her again.
Ray grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't."
Interesting.
Ray had realized something Dustin hadn't.
Whatever was on that drive had changed the situation.
Maya handed it to me.
"Evelyn gave me that three weeks ago."
"Why?"
"She was scared."
Dustin shouted, "She's lying!"
Maya flinched.
I didn't.
"Keep talking."
Maya swallowed.
"She started recording him."
Dustin went still.
"Arguments. Threats. Anything she could save."
I looked down at the drive.
"Why didn't she go to the police?"
"She wanted to."
Maya glanced at Dustin.
"But she thought Victor would find out."
There was that name again.
Victor.
Ray turned toward Dustin.
"What exactly did you tell her?"
"Nothing."
"Dustin."
"I said nothing."
Maya shook her head.
"That's not true."
Dustin's face reddened.
"You need to shut your mouth."
I stepped between them.
"No. She doesn't."
Ray suddenly seemed less interested in intimidating me than in understanding what kind of disaster his fighter had created.
"You told me the girl fell," he said.
"She did."
"Three broken ribs?"
Dustin said nothing.
Ray stared at him.
I realized then that Ray might be an arrogant bully, but perhaps not an accomplice.
There was a difference.
One I wasn't willing to ignore.
"Where can I open this?" I asked.
Maya pointed toward the office.
Dustin blocked the hallway.
"No."
I looked at him.
"Move."
"That's private property."
"So is my daughter's body."
Silence.
Ray exhaled.
"Dustin. Move."
Dustin stared at his coach.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"You're taking his side?"
"I'm taking the side that keeps my gym from becoming part of whatever stupidity you've been doing."
Dustin laughed bitterly.
"You think my uncle's going to like hearing that?"
Ray's face tightened.
There it was.
Victor again.
Not just an uncle.
Leverage.
Dustin had apparently spent years borrowing another man's reputation.
I walked toward the office.
Dustin didn't stop me.
Maya followed.
Ray came behind us.
The fighters stayed outside.
The office contained a desk, two chairs, filing cabinets, and an old laptop.
Maya plugged in the drive.
Folders appeared.
Audio.
Photos.
Messages.
Documents.
My stomach tightened.
Maya clicked the first audio file.
Evelyn's voice filled the room.
"You can't keep doing this."
Then Dustin.
"I can do whatever I want."
A crash.
Evelyn gasped.
My hands curled into fists.
Maya stopped the recording.
I stared at the screen.
"Keep going."
The next file was a photograph.
Bruises around Evelyn's wrist.
Another.
A damaged bedroom door.
Another.
Messages.
DON'T MAKE ME COME LOOKING FOR YOU.
YOU BELONG HERE.
IF YOU TALK TO YOUR FATHER, HE'LL REGRET IT.
I read every one.
Slowly.
Dustin stood in the doorway.
His face had changed from arrogance to calculation.
"Those are out of context."
I turned.
"What context makes that acceptable?"
"Couples fight."
"That's your explanation?"
"She pushed me too."
Maya whispered, "No, she didn't."
Dustin glared at her.
I rose.
He instinctively stepped back.
That was when my phone rang.
Eleanor.
I answered immediately.
"How is she?"
"Awake."
Relief moved through me.
Then Eleanor said, "Jack, someone came asking about her."
I straightened.
"Who?"
"A man I don't recognize."
"Security?"
"They're with him now."
"Did he give a name?"
"No."
I looked at Dustin.
He was watching me.
Too closely.
"Eleanor, stay with Evelyn."
"Jack, where are you?"
"At the gym."
"Of course you are."
"I'll explain later."
"No, you'll explain now."
"Someone may be going after Evelyn."
Eleanor went silent.
Then her professional voice returned.
"I'll handle this end."
"Call the police."
"Already did."
I ended the call.
Dustin smiled faintly.
That smile told me more than words.
"Who did you call?" I asked.
"No one."
I walked toward him.
"Who did you call?"
He backed into the hallway.
"I said nobody."
Maya suddenly pointed at the laptop.
"Mr. Mercer."
A folder sat at the bottom of the drive.
VICTOR.
Inside were photographs.
Invoices.
Names.
Dates.
Evelyn had collected far more than evidence against her boyfriend.
She had been documenting something connected to his uncle.
I clicked one document.
Payments.
Large ones.
To shell companies.
Another contained photographs of Dustin meeting men outside a warehouse.
Ray leaned closer.
"What the hell is this?"
Dustin bolted.
He ran through the gym toward the rear exit.
I didn't chase him.
I didn't need to.
One of the heavyweight fighters instinctively blocked the door.
Dustin stopped.
"Move!"
The fighter shook his head.
"Dude, no."
Dustin shoved him.
Ray shouted, "Enough!"
Everyone froze.
Then headlights swept across the gym windows.
Three black SUVs entered the parking lot.
Ray stared outside.
His face drained of color.
Maya whispered, "Who are they?"
Dustin stopped struggling.
A strange relief appeared on his face.
"My uncle."
The SUV doors opened.
Men in dark suits stepped out.
Then the rear door of the center vehicle opened.
A silver-haired man emerged.
Dustin smiled at me.
"You wanted to know who Victor was?"
He leaned closer.
"Now you're going to meet him."
May you like
The gym's front door handle began to turn.
And Victor Hale walked inside.
