The Fighter's Block (51 page)

Cole held up both hands and said, “I don’t know these people. I’m just a sounding board.”

Ah, so he was going to play that card, huh? Van shrugged. Just as well.

“Scotty had to drop out of the tournament,” Van informed
his wife
.

“What? What happened?”

“Broke his hand,” he said in between bites. Dani gave him a funny look and he chuckled. “I didn’t do it,” he clarified. “Smashed it in an engine or something.”

“Well that’s too bad. I know he was looking forward to it.”

Van barely glanced at Cole, who got up to rinse his plate in the sink. “There’s an opening now,” he said. “You interested?”

Cole met the challenge with amusement, looking over
Dani’s
head to return Van’s smirk. “Not sure if I’m ready for it yet,” he answered casually. “Thanks for lunch, Dani. I
gotta
get going.”

“Do you want to take some with you?”

He shook his head with a smile, but it was sad. What a shame they could never remain friends. “No thanks. Save some for yourself.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Van said as he stood.

“No need. Finish eating.”

“Not a problem. Mickey said you had some
extra footage on Mendez,” he lied.
“
Care to share it?”

Cole nodded. “Sure. Come grab it.”

So Van entered the hall with Cole and shut the door behind him. He didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “Why are you still here? The charges were dropped.”

“There’s more to do.”

“Like what? Jack did his job and got me out.
Who
are you working for?”

Cole took his time replying as he unlocked his apartment. “Mickey.”

“Mickey? What the fuck is going on?”

“You got a gym full of suspects, Van. I suggest you be careful.
Were you hoping this would all just go away?
”

“So Mickey wants you to find out who set me up?”

“Pretty much. Or at least make sure everyone is who they say they are.”

“Quincy’s gone. That motherfucker is dead to us. Don’t tell me you’re looking into the other guys because I don’t
wanna
believe it.”

“Well you don’t have to believe it, but you should be careful. Quincy’s not the only one fucking people over. He’s the least of your worries.
Jack warned you about the guys living here on The Block.
”

“So tell me what you know. I want to help.”

“It’s better that you don’t.”

“The fuck it is! Do you realize what I’ve been through these last several months? What Dani has been through? I want this to be over. If there’s a possibility that someone is still out to do some damage, I will fuck them up.”

“I know you will, which is why you should just butt out and let us do our job. Look, I’m not here to cause any trouble, Van. In fact, I don’t even
want
to be here. But it is what it is and I’m going to finish this job so I can get the hell out of this
place
.”

“Well you might not care about the people involved in this, but I do,” Van growled. “If anything happens to my wife—”

“Don’t tell me I don’t care about the people I’m trying to help!” Cole retorted. “Why do you think I do this? It’s to keep people like you out of trouble so you can live happily ever after with your beautiful women. Don’t fucking tell me I don’t care!”

“What’s going on?” a voice asked from down the hall.

Paul came from around the corner with a basket of laundry and Cole wanted to punch a wall.
Just what I need
.

“Nothing,” Van told him. “I got this.”

Paul only hesitated for a moment and gave him a nod. He left for his apartment and shut the door. Cole motioned for Van to follow him into his
place
and closed the door behind them.

“More secrets?” Cole asked. “Is that what you want to know? How about that
Dani’s
parents paid Brian thousands of dollars.
First to pose as an adoring boyfriend that could hopefully talk her into modeling again.
He was so convincing, so good to her, that she actually considered marrying him.
Then they paid him to leave her alone. After that they paid him to leave town, and now
Andy
is blackmailing them over the sex tape
that doesn’t exist anymore
.”

Van could only stare at him.

“You didn’t know this? Jack didn’t tell you? Because secrets tear people apart! Does knowing that make it easier?”

“Knowing only helps to understand,” Van retorted. “That is some sick twisted shit, and Dani is going to be crushed if she ever finds out.”

“Well if she finds out it’s because her parents have told her. I talked to her dad myself and uncovered all of that garbage. I told him he needs to come clean before she hears it from someone else.”

“That fucker better not even come near her!”

Cole
sighed
. He didn’t want to be in the middle of this. “You wanted the information, so there you go. I don’t know if he’
s going to tell her or not, but that’s not my business. For now I’m on this piece of shit Andy character. If he
’s involved in Brian’s murder, the guy could be some sort of sociopath
. I don’t fucking know
,
but I’ve got my hands full.
”

“
W
hat about Quincy? He doesn’t have anything to do with the murder?”

Cole sighed. “
He swears it wasn’t him
. Someone from that gym took your shoes from your locker. Someone that was familiar with your truck, and your keys, and your apartment…used it to their advantage. Whether it was for
their
own vengeance
or someone else’s, I don’t know.
Just let me do my job, okay? Mickey doesn’t want this to get out. You
gotta
see that it’s better that way.”

Van couldn’t disagree with that. If Mickey felt it necessary to keep it a secret, he must have been pretty worried.
Van
was alr
eady dealing with the hard part:

Pretending like he didn’t believe everyone at the gym was out to get him.

Quincy felt like a deer on the open range in this damn city. He couldn’t go anywhere without feeling like someone was watching him.

He pulled his hood over his forehead and started jogging. He didn’t drive his car anymore—it was too
risky
. It took twenty minutes to get to the
back
side
of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. This was the last trip he was going to make out
here
.

He was done with this
mess
.

“I don’t
wanna
fucking see your face again,” he told the guy in the car.

“I don’t
wanna
see you again either.” He tossed a package at him and said, “
Gimme
mine.”

Quincy pulled out a large envelope of cash and handed it to him.

“
This is done,” the driver said.
“
The
heat’s getting
too hot.”

Quincy glanced into the bag
he’d been given
. “Holy shit, who wears this stuff
?
”

“
Who fucking
cares. I got what I wanted; j
ust get it out of my sight.”

“
W
hat about Van?”

“What about Van?” he sneered. “Van doesn’t have a clue. He’ll bounce back. He always fucking does.”

Quincy slowly shook his head. “Don’t underestimate Van. That’s all I’m
gonna
say…”

The driver waved off the warning and drove away.

Quincy took a deep breath and shook his head. One desperate moment led him to this. He fucked up big time and Van would never forgive him. At least now he could say he did everything he could to make amends.

He waited until he was for sure alone and walked towards the river. He waited for a
nother
few minutes, getting antsy. Where the hell was he?

Finally
the guy
appeared from the
direction of the
park.

“Why are you late?” Quincy asked.

“Sorry, just taking precautions.”
The man
glanced at
Quincy’s
hands and
saw
they were empty. “Well?”

Quincy reached into his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a brown bag. “What, you think I’m
gonna
be wearing that shit out here?”

He chuckled, thoroughly amused. “Hell, might improve your ugly face.”

“Ha. Well here, take ‘
em
. Stay the hell away from me, okay?”

“What’s got you so spooked, Quincy?” he smirked.

“Are you fucking kidding me?
I shouldn’t be doing this. I should just count my losses and leave town.”

“You regretting your choice
to right your wrongs
?”

Quincy sighed. “No. But I’m done, okay?
I did this because I needed to, not because you asked
.”

“
Fine
.”

“Look, I hope she’s happy, okay? I feel like
the
biggest piece of shit because of what happened to her. If that’s a tiny step to making up for it, then so be it.”

“You still don’t want her to know what you did for her?”

“No, so shut the fuck up about it.”

He only shrugged and started
to walk
away. A few seconds later he heard Quincy call his name so he turned around.

“When the shit hits the fan…”
Quincy
sighed and shook his head. “Just make sure they’re okay. Please?” He didn’t want to wait for an answer so he turned the opposite direction and never looked back.

“They have each other, they’ll be fine,” he heard in the dark.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dani asked again.

Van playfully scoffed. “Will you stop?” he chuckled. “It’ll be fine, baby.”

She sighed. “I know you’ll do great, I just get nervous.”

“I know you do. But I’ve been preparing for this fight for a while now. I’m ready, and I’m ready to win us some money. There’s no point questioning it. I need to start my kid’s college fund.”

“We’ll worry about the college fund later,” she smiled. “Right now we need to afford diapers.”

“Fighting for diapers. Got it.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, Van. Kick some ass.”

“Damn right,” he grinned. He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, too. Let me hear you scream out there, ‘
kay
?”

She gave him a sultry expression. “What kind of scream you looking for?”

“Oh God,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re totally derailing my focus now.”

“No, no, no,” she laughed worriedly. “I’m kidding. I was kidding. I’ll be yelling, ‘Make him
bleeeeeed
!’” she growled in a gruff voice. “And
,
‘Give him the chair!’ ”

He
double
d
up
with laughter on that one and he pulled her close to him again. “Oh man, you make my life complete.
That drama is fake
, sweetheart. ‘Make him bleed’ was about right, though.”

She smiled as she relished the moment with him. There were a lot of jokes she made about Van’s
career, but it was all in fun.
A
nd
because she worried
.
She did it to ease her own
apprehension
. If this really was Van’s last fight like he claime
d, she wasn’t going to object. But i
f he decided that he missed the sport and wanted to go back later on, she would accept that, too.

Their private moment came to an end when Mickey entered, ready for Van to get down to business. She kissed him
goodbye, but it ended up lasting a while and Mickey had to clear his throat to remind them of his presence. She gave them both a smile and then blew Van a kiss from the door as she left.

“Use that to strengthen you, not weaken you,” Mickey advised.