Cocky (21 page)

Chapter Forty

A new day dawned, but Colleen refused to leave her bed. Chelsea brought her coffee and toast but her mother was interested in neither.

“I’m a horrible mother,” she said as Chelsea sat on the edge of the bed.

“No you aren’t,” Chelsea said firmly. This felt like the hundredth time she and her mother were having this conversation, but nothing Chelsea said seemed to help. “You were lied to by an expert liar. It’s not your fault that he tricked you and it doesn’t make you a bad mother. It makes you just as much a victim as-”

“Don’t say Jamie,” her mother interrupted. “My poor baby. She’s been gone so long and we can’t do anything to help her.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Chelsea said as she straightened the blankets around her mother’s bed. Then the doorbell rang, “I’ll get it, don’t worry, Mom. Just stay here and get some rest.”

“If it’s Terrance don’t you open that door! Do you understand?” Colleen demanded.

“Yes, I understand,” Chelsea said. She walked to the door and pressed her eye against the peephole. But it wasn’t Terrance; it was Paul and there was a woman with him. “Hi,” Chelsea said opening the door.

“Hi Chelsea,” Paul said, “You remember I mentioned an old friend I went to school with who joined the FBI? Well I called her and she introduced me to Special Agent Morrison with the FBI,” he extended his arm to the tall woman next to him. She had a thick head of curly red hair and a sturdy build.

“Nice to meet you, Chelsea. You can call me Molly,” she said extending her hand. Chelsea reached out and felt Molly’s firm and confident grip as they shook hands over the threshold.

“Please, come in,” Chelsea said as she opened the door wide enough for all of them to pass. “I’m sorry, but my mom isn’t feeling well, so I would appreciate it if we could keep things quiet.”

“Of course,” Paul and Molly agreed at the same time as they sat down next to each other on the couch.

Chelsea took the other chair in the living room and watched as Molly pulled a recording device and a notepad and pen from her bag. “Paul has filled me on what he knows, but I’m hoping you might have some more answers,” Molly said. Her voice was strong and confident and Chelsea couldn’t help but feel a little bit safer with her in the house. It was nice to have someone on her side who could arrest someone and had a gun.

“I don’t know that much, but I do have some evidence,” Chelsea said. “I recorded a conversation on my phone between me and Terrance DeMarco; he talks about the fighting pits and kidnapping my sister.” Chelsea played the recording while Molly recorded it and took notes.

“Have you spoken to your sister during this time?” Molly asked.

“Yes, on the phone. She sounded scared, but all right,” Chelsea answered.

“I don’t like not telling my superiors that a person has been kidnapped, but I agree with Paul that local law enforcement cannot be trusted. I am part of a task force in this area that deals with underground fighting groups. We’ve heard rumors of them in this section of Idaho before, but yours in the first solid lead I’ve come across. I would rather wait until we have the detail of the location to move against Terrance DeMarco.”

“Yes,” Chelsea agreed. “I want to get my sister back before we do anything else. If they find out we’ve contacted the cops they could hurt her.”

“I don’t want to see any harm come to your sister and I promise we will get her out of here. Now Terrance has indicated this most recent fight is a fight to the death, correct?”

“Yeah, and he says a lot of rich out-of-towners want to come and see it, so it’s been pushed back. It’s tomorrow night.”

“Where?” Molly asked leaning forward eagerly.

“I don’t know. He won’t tell me.”

“Do you think you could convince him to tell you?” Molly said.

“What? How?” Chelsea demanded. “Terrance doesn’t like me; he’s not going to do me any favors.”

“Think about it Chelsea,” Paul interjected. “We need to know where the fight is going down if we want to break it up. Out of all of us, you’re closest to the action.”

“Would I just ask him where it is?” Chelsea asked. “Why would he tell me the truth?”

“You would need to convince him,” Molly said. “Think about it, think about what you know about him and how you can use that information to manipulate him. What do you know about him?”

“He’s a no-good, lying, son of a bitch, I know that,” Chelsea spat.

“Good, but more helpful this time,” Paul said.

Chelsea sighed and thought about Terrance. Who was Terrance, what did he want? “He’s a social climber,” Chelsea said, saying the words as they entered her head. “He’s obsessed with status he kept asking me to compare his new mansion with the ones in Beverly Hills and he mentioned that he was very eager to have a pop star as a step daughter,” Chelsea said growing nauseas at the memory.

“He’s status obsessed and you’re the most famous person any in this town has ever seen. I think there’s something there we can use.”

“The thought of it,” Chelsea said shaking her head. The thought of buttering up to Terrance was loathsome and disgusting, but she would do what needed to be done. “What about Blue?” Chelsea asked. “What happens if he fights?”

“If he participates in the fight and kills someone, it’s murder,” Molly said with a shake of her head.

“But he’s been blackmailed into doing it. They have my sister!” Chelsea yelled, struggled to keep her voice down. “How could he be punished for this?”

“People will want to know why he didn’t go to the police. They’ll want to know why he took matters into his own hands. Juries don’t like vigilantes; they like people who follow the laws.”

“I can’t believe, after all of this, Blue could go to jail. He’s innocent.”

“I won’t let that happen, Chelsea. I promise,” Paul said. “We’ll find a way to get him out of there without anyone dying.”

“But first you need to find out where the next fight is going to be,” Molly said. “Without that information we can’t move forward.”

“But if I find out where the fight is, can you break it up before Blue has to fight?” Chelsea asked.

“I’ll do the best I can, but one thing at a time. You need to contact Terrance DeMarco and get him to tell you everything you can about the fight. Does he know you recorded this previous conversation with him?” Molly asked.

“Yeah,” Chelsea answered. “I used it to get my mom out of there.”

“So he probably won’t give you this information over the phone. How comfortable would you be going to his house to ask him? I would put a wire on you so I could hear everything. They’re very small and he’ll have no idea you’re wearing it. Paul and I can wait outside for you. I won’t be far away and if anything goes wrong, I can come in and get you.”

“A wire,” Chelsea whispered. She was a pop star, she knew how to play the guitar and write a good hook. Bringing down criminals was not something she felt ready to handle. But she wasn’t going to back down now. Her sister needed her, Blue needed her, and she could do this. She could charm the information out of Terrance. He was a good liar, but he was also desperate for validation and Chelsea was confident she could work with that. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure, Chelsea?” Paul asked. “I want to see Blue saved from this just as much as you do. But I know he would kill me if he found I was sending you to talk with his father. We’d be sending you into the lion’s den alone.”

“I know,” Chelsea said. “But I can handle it. I can do this. I want to do this. Terrance has taken so much from me and this is how I can finally get even and get Blue back.”

Chapter Forty One

“You can do this,” Molly said. She looked Chelsea directly in the eye when she said it. Her voice was confident and firm and it gave Chelsea her own boost of confidence. “All we need is the time and location. What do you say if you need us to come in and get you?”

“It’s really cold in here,” Chelsea said.

“When you say that, I’m out of the van and headed towards you with my gun drawn.”

Chelsea nodded as she buttoned up her shirt. The wire was surprisingly small. It fit into the cup her bra and after a moment her body got used to it and she was almost able to forget she was wearing it.

“Don’t look down at the wire, don’t talk into the wire, don’t worry about your hands hitting the wire, pretend like it isn’t even there. Just try and act as natural as possible,” Paul said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Got it,” Chelsea said. She had sent Terrance a text that she wanted to talk with him about three hours ago. He had responded that he would love to catch up, but she needed to come to him. Now she was sitting inside of a van parked down the street from Terrance’s obnoxious nouveau-rich mansion.

“I can do this,” Chelsea repeated to herself as she jumped out of the van and into Paul’s car, which he had lent to her.
Deep breaths
, she said to herself.
If Blue can go into the fighting pits for you, you can go into the lion’s den for him
. She thought about Blue and the hellhole where she had seen the ring. The horrifying basement of a long abandoned gas station the dirt floor of the ring splattered with blood and broken teeth. If Blue could go back to that for her, then she would absolutely do this for him.

Her resolve strengthened she pulled into Terrance’s house and parked her car in the driveway. Night had fallen and in the cold winter air she could see millions of stars above her. Her fingers were cold in her pockets and her breath came out in large plumes. It was getting colder every day and Chelsea longed for the warm weather of California. She stood up and marched confidently up to his front door and rang the bell. She was surprised when he answered it himself.

“Chelsea, so good to see you,” he said. He wore a rumpled suit and a smug smile, as if this was what he had planned all along.

You have no idea what’s coming for you
, Chelsea thought as she forced a weak smile.

“Terrance, thank you for seeing me,” she said.

“I am, of course, going to have to search you?” Terrance said. “After our last conversation was so deceitfully recorded, we’ve lost a certain amount of trust and I am not a fool who makes mistakes twice.”

“Of course,” Chelsea said. “But, I left my phone and my bag in the car and my pockets are empty.”

“We’ll see,” Terrance said. “Hands against the wall, spread ‘em.”

It was only thanks to movies and TV that Chelsea knew what he was talking about. She had never been patted down before and she didn’t like it. Her hands were pressed against the stone exterior of the house as she spread her feet a shoulder’s width apart. Terrance began at her arms, patting them down as he started at her wrist and moved to her shoulder. Then he did her legs and she forced herself not to shudder at his touch. His hands rose higher and she remained still and solid, like a statue that had no cause for concern from a human’s touch. He checked her pockets and then her torso and finally her breasts. But she was wearing a thick sweater and the small wire missed the notice of his rough hands.

“Happy?” Chelsea asked turning around.

Terrance looked her up and down and then said, “Come inside.”

She had been specifically told not to worry about the wire. She wasn’t supposed to think about it, talk to it, or try and look at it. She wasn’t supposed to think about it at all. But it had moved, she could feel the thin plastic wire pressing against her chest it way it hadn’t before. What if Terrance had messed it up with his creepy search? But there was no way to know or tell and she couldn’t quit. She needed the details of the fight and she wasn’t leaving this house without them.

“Blue isn’t here,” Terrance said as he walked into the kitchen with Chelsea following just a few steps behind. “He’s been training for the big fight. But there’s no need to worry, I’ve been watching him and he looks good. He’ll spend the night here, but you should give him his peace. He needs to focus before the fight. A man should never see his woman before a fight; it’s too much of a distraction. He needs all his focus and all of his strength for tomorrow.

“I’m glad to hear he’s okay,” Chelsea said. They walked into the kitchen and Terrance leaned against the island in the kitchen. Chelsea stood on the other side and she was grateful for the two feet of counter space that was between them. “But honestly I wasn’t really that worried about it.” She looked up at Terrance through her lashes, giving him a look that had no hatred or anger in it. She gave him a flirty half smile and continued. “You sent that guy Jimmy to the house the other day to kidnap me, remember?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Terrance said looking right into Chelsea’s eyes.

“Well, when Jimmy tried to grab me, Blue was in the house and he came running over to rescue me. He beat the crap out of Jimmy. Just laid him out with a few punches. I can’t lie to you, Terrance. It was pretty hot. A big strong guy protecting me with just his fists. I had never seen that side of Blue before.”

“He’s a good fighter,” Terrance agreed. “He always has been. I don’t know why he resists it; it’s his one natural talent. Hell, if I could fight like him it’s the only thing I would ever do.”

“When he fought Jimmy, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. He was so focused and tough and strong. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Terrance smiled, “Of course you can’t. All women are the same. They talk about feminism and rights, but all they really want is a real man to boss them around.”

Chelsea swallowed her revulsion and her many arguments to Terrance’s sentence. She needed to stay on his good side no matter how hard it would be. She bit her lip and looked up at Terrance and in a breathy voice she said, “I want to go to the fight. I want to see Blue pummel another man. I want to be there when he does it.”

“Really?” Terrance asked, leaning towards her.

Chelsea refused to back away; instead she leaned towards Terrance until they were only a few inches apart. “Really,” she answered, letting her mouth hang open just a little bit and then licking her lips. “I really want to see it. I would never admit it to Blue or Jamie, but I want to see him hit someone else. I want to see him decimate his opponent in the ring. Whatever the buy-in is, I can pay it.”

Terrance looked her up and down, his eyes moving lasciviously over her body. “Women don’t have to pay to get in, Chelsea. Women get in free, because men like to have them there, but mostly they want them for when the fight is over. When adrenaline is high and they need some outlet for their urges. But there’s only a certain type of girl who comes to the fight, and they don’t pay me, I pay them. If I were to extend and invitation to you, you would need to dress...appropriately.” He raised his eyebrows and Chelsea nodded.

“Don’t worry, Terrance,” Chelsea answered. “I can dress for the part. I won’t stand out. I just want to watch.”

“All right, consider yourself invited.”

“It still at the abandoned mall, tomorrow night right? When does it start?”

“It’s not at the mall anymore. A fight of this size with the type of wealthy clientele I’m expecting can’t be held in an abandoned mall. No, it’s somewhere much nicer.”

“Where?” Chelsea asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. She focused on sounding breathy and just a little sexy.

Terrance shook his head and crossed his arms. “It’s a shame you recorded that call, Chelsea. It ruined any trust you and I might have had. I could have been a very good stepfather to you, you know?”

“You kidnapped my sister,” Chelsea countered. “But let’s not dwell on the past. I want to go to the fight. You’re the only person I’ll admit that to Terrance. Colleen doesn’t know I’m here and you can never tell Blue I came. I’m asking you to keep a secret for me, a shameful secret. A girl like me isn’t supposed to go to illegal bare-knuckle fights. But I do want to do that. I want to go; I want to see it. I thought we could be two people who understood each other. It’s not every day you get the chance to see a man like Blue fight. I wouldn’t miss that for the world. So, please, Terrance, I’m asking you for the details of the fight.”

“Okay,” Terrance said. “I’ll let you know when and where the fight is, but not tonight. I’ll text you the start time tomorrow. If you’re in town it won’t take you more than an hour to get there. So stay close, Chelsea, because you don’t want to miss this.”