Uncaged Love: Volume 6 (Uncaged Love #6) (9 page)

I drop my hands to my lap, clasping them tightly together. I want to punch this invisible man, the horrible person my mother once knew.

She goes on. “No amount of hurricane can get you through a steel door. He literally tied me down when we were together. I rarely got food. I was just there to serve his needs. When I realized I was pregnant, I felt a lot of despair. How could I possibly bring a child into that world?”

I can’t stay quiet anymore. “What did you do?”

“I turned my fear into determination. I paid attention to the porn he played incessantly. I read his magazines. I really learned him, what made him crazy, what he needed the most. I gave it to him, hardcore, made him crave it. When he finally started freeing me more so I could do all the things he was desperate for, I unleashed.”

She stops. Her eyes are fixed on the table. I know she’s seeing scenes she never wanted to replay in her mind. I wait her out.

Her voice is tremulous. “I killed him.”

The room shifts. I grip the edge of the table. “You…killed him?”

“I strangled him with the ropes he used on me. I didn’t waver for an instant.” She looks up then, and I can see the resolve in her eyes. “I had no choice.”

“What happened? Did you get caught?”

“Yes,” she says. “I was tried for manslaughter. There was no proof of his mistreatment. They found me guilty. I went to jail when I was eight months along with your brother.”

“Your family didn’t know?”

“Not until then. When he was born, I called Tutu and she came for him. I didn’t even want to look at him. I was sentenced to twenty-five years. I wouldn’t know him.”

“But it hasn’t been that long. Hudson is only eighteen.”

“Yes, Tutu raised the money for a new lawyer and we appealed. At the second trial, the verdict was reversed. But his family pushed, so a very convincing lawyer got me tried on other charges.”

“How long did it take to get free?” I ask.

“All told, about four years,” she says.

“So you came back to Hawaii then.”

She nods. “I didn’t pull myself together for a while. By the time I went looking for you, there was no Joanna Barnes to be found anywhere.”

“I was Joanna Mahoney by then,” I say. “But I don’t really know if my stepmother did the paperwork properly.”

Mom looks around the room, eyes resting on the bits of color and art all around. I see her calming herself, gathering peace. “You see now why I work as I do. My criminal history makes employment difficult. But I get by.”

“Why do you think it worked that last time and not before?” I ask.

“It’s so simple,” she says. She meets my eyes. “When your determination outweighs your fear, then you find your hurricane.”

I think on this. It is true. The night of Hudson’s fight, I was determined to get Exterminator off him. But a few hours ago, I was afraid.

I flash through my history, when I was able to fight, and when I would lose. I can see it.

I have to take control. Be determined.

And I have to lose my fear.

Chapter Thirteen

I know what I have to do.

First, I have to figure out where the underground fights are that Officer Su talked about. If she thinks Exterminator will crawl out of whatever gutter he’s hiding in and show up, I want to be there.

I’d like to trust her, to know for sure that these guys will leave Hudson alone after I’m gone on my honeymoon. But I don’t. They have to respect us at the fighter level.

And Hudson has to be involved.

When I tell him my plan, he knows I mean it. He asks around to find out the location of the fights.

Meanwhile, Colt and Zero are arriving and I know Colt will want to interfere. It will be my job to keep him away, to protect his position and his title while I clean up the mess I unintentionally started.

I drive Hudson’s car out to the airport two days later to meet the private plane. I’m so anxious to see Colt that I almost drive out onto the runway. A guy in a yellow vest frantically waves two colored wands to get me to stop.

I’m not used to these private airstrips. I slam on the brakes and turn behind one of the small outbuildings.

The plane arrives about fifteen minutes behind schedule. I tap the steering wheel, anxious about how the conversation about my plan will go. I won’t lie to Colt or hide what I’m doing. But I have to make him understand that he can’t be there. I can’t be worried about what will happen to him or his career.

A couple of the grounds crew roll a stairway over to the plane, and I exit the car. In the distance, commercial airplanes taxi down the larger runways to the main airport.

Zero comes down first, surprising me by wearing one of his old outfits from when he worked at the cafe. Relaxed black jeans, a button-down boy shirt, and spotless sneakers. No dress, no wig, no makeup. I love Zero every way he comes, but seeing him like this is like coming home. It’s how we knew each other the longest.

Colt hurries down the steps, scanning for me. I know when he sees me, because he pauses and presses his hand to his heart. I flood over with emotion for him. He looks amazing in jeans, a silky black short-sleeved button-down, and the ball cap he had made for me, black with the word HURRICANE in blue letters. My fight colors.

He still believes.

I grip the keys in my hand. The wind blows my ponytail. Zero seems to only have eyes for the ocean, but eventually he spots me too. Colt catches up to him and the two of them head my way.

“Jo, Jo, JO!” Zero calls out. “I’m so glad to see you!” He reaches me and envelops me in a hug. “Damn, you’re strong!” He squeezes my upper arms. “Forget Michelle Obama’s arms, you got it goin’ ON.”

He makes me smile. Colt nudges his shoulder. “My turn,” he says.

Zero steps back with a bow, as though he’s allowing Colt to take the next dance at a ball.

“Hey,” Colt says, pulling me up against him.

The wind blows hot on our faces as he leans down to kiss me. I just thought Zero seemed like home. When Colt draws me to him, I
am
home. His lips are warm and urgent on my mouth. His arms come around my back and lock me against him.

As the kiss goes on, I relax. This is my Colt. The one I’ve fought side by side. Who let me run off with Brittany to get revenge on Lani and Annie. He gets me. He’ll know why I have to go to the fight tomorrow night.

“Um, lovebirds? Our luggage is here,” Zero says.

When I break away from Colt to look at Zero, he rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning from ear to ear. A cart approaches, loaded with boxes and suitcases. I look at the bags in wonder. “How much of this is yours?” I ask Colt.

“One bag,” he says. “One.”

Zero flashes me a big smile. “I’m in Hawaii! I had to bring EVERYTHING!” He does a little hip swish, dancing in short mincing steps across the asphalt as if he’s wearing a grass skirt.

“Come on,” Colt says. “Let’s get out of this airport and hit the beach.” He squeezes my shoulders. “Please tell me you have the tiniest bikini imaginable.”

“I do!” Zero says.

We all burst into laughter.

This is better. Absolutely better.

I decide not to hit any hard topics until we’re where Colt wants to be, spread out on towels on the non-city side of the island. The Cure and Eve have rented an outrageous mansion on the beach to hold the wedding guests.

“This is the life,” Zero says, kicking off his sandals and lying back on a cool gel pillow. “Please tell me we’re moving here permanently.”

“Jo’s got family here,” Colt says. “They could probably help you get settled.”

Zero opens one eye. He’s still boy dressing, wearing neon board shorts and a black cord necklace with a conch shell. He’s given me a ridiculously small hot-pink bikini, which I only agreed to since we were on a private beach with nobody but him and Colt.

Colt hasn’t kept his hands off me since I put it on. He lies next to me, his towel overlapping mine.

“You think there’s any decent-paying shows in Waikiki?” Zero asks. “Tourists love drag.”

“Probably,” Colt says. “You can ask around.”

Zero drops his sunglasses down from his forehead and settles in. The happy grin on his face tells me he’s thinking about it.

“What about Angel?” I ask. I assume his on-again, off-again relationship with one of his drag show costars is still a factor.

“He’ll love it here. Who wouldn’t?” Zero says.

I squirt sunscreen on my palm, but Colt snatches my hand and scrapes it off. “This is my job,” he says, spreading the lotion across my thigh.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Zero says. “Nothing sexier than the beach.”

I try to relax as Colt rubs the sunscreen into my skin. But he knows. As soon as he gets to my shoulders, he asks, “What’s got you so riled? Your brother okay after that fight he got in?”

I roll on my side to face him. His chest is so close, smooth and muscled. I run my finger along the swirly tattoo on his bicep. “There’s something I have to do tomorrow night,” I tell him.

He grasps my hand and kisses my fingers. That’s when he notices their condition. “You been punching bags without gloves?”

I shake my head slowly. He lets go.

“Jo, what’s going on?”

So I tell him about Hudson’s fight, and my hurricane, and the car, the house windows, and my altercation with the three boys at the gym.

He sits up. “They got your pants down?” His breathing comes fast and his neck starts turning red.

“I was all right, Colt. I still think if it had gotten any further, I would have snapped. I don’t know why I didn’t.”
 

Well, I do, I think to myself, but I’m not going to admit my fear aloud. Now that I know how weak it makes me, I won’t let it happen again.

“I’m going to kill them,” he says. “I’m going to pop their punk-ass heads from their skinny pathetic bodies.”

I press my palm into his chest. “You won’t. I will leave this island before I let you do that.”

He presses his hand over mine. “Jo, I’m not going to let this stand.”

“Neither am I. That’s why I’m going to an underground fight tomorrow night. Officer Su was sure they would show up despite knowing they’re facing charges.”

He sits up. “Good. So am I. We’re going to make them wish they’d never been born.”

I kneel next to him. “No, that’s my job. Mine. Your job is to keep your title and your position. I won’t let you throw it away on a few bad fighters.”

His eyes bore into mine, almost entirely green right now, like a churning sea. “Jo, you have to understand something.” His voice is bitter and hard. “I don’t give a shit about my title or my position. I give a shit about you.”

I grab his fist and tighten my hands around it. “I know this,” I say. “But Officer Su is going to be there.”

“She did a shit job of protecting you up until now,” he says.

“If I might interject,” Zero says, “I will remind all present parties that I am a master of costume and disguise. If Colt wants to go incognito, I’m ready, willing, and able to assist.”

“Keep talking,” Colt says.

And so the three of us make a plan.

Chapter Fourteen

These fights are at a much bigger venue. It’s an old roller-skating rink that still appears to be abandoned, surrounded with a sagging chain-link fence.

Hudson points out the window of his car. He and Colt are in front. Zero and I sit in the back. “There’s a gap on the southeast corner,” Hudson says. “You’re not allowed to park on the premises, but there’s a strip mall a couple blocks down that people use.”

Colt nods. I have to suppress a giggle every time I look at him. He absolutely refused to let Zero dress him as a woman, since being recognized that way would go viral in a heartbeat. They’ve gone the tawdry Vegas gambler route. His short blond hair is covered in a black shaggy wig and topped with a straw fedora.

His gold and black striped shirt is three times too big for him. His six-pack abs are padded with a belly pillow Zero snagged from a maternity shop. His silky pants are just a touch too short, showing white socks with expensive black sandals.

I can’t look at him without wanting to crack up. A giggle finally escapes, and he turns around to look at me. I had forgotten the pencil-thin mustache and the fake goatee. That’s it. I can’t take any more. I bust out laughing.

“I’m so making you pay for that,” he growls, but I can tell it’s in good fun.

“My work is unparalleled,” Zero says. He has decided to go as Colt’s cheap date, decked in Hawaii cliché. His floral sundress is skin tight. Three stacked fake-flower leis cover the neckline. His wig is black as night, curled at his shoulders, and held partially back with an enormous rose. I marvel at how he can walk in the stacked wedges that make him almost as tall as Colt.

Hudson and I are in fight gear. I make no effort to look different, since I want the boys to recognize me. If the fight ends up in a crowd, Colt has agreed to stay out of range of cell-phone cameras unless absolutely necessary.

We park among the crazy disorganized chaos of cars mashed together behind the strip mall. Zero and Colt get out first and walk ahead. They will go in and place big bets, ensuring that they are more than welcome at the fights.

Hudson and I hang back. We follow another group as they walk the block to the rink. Someone has shot out the streetlights, so it’s quiet and dark, easy to skulk through.

I wonder why the police let the fights go on if they know about them. Maybe it’s a way to catch people who don’t come out any other way, like Exterminator.

We squeeze through the opening in the fence. The half moon glows overhead, giving us a small amount of light. The other spectators are quiet, seeming to know not to draw attention to themselves. They don’t pay much attention to us walking a short distance behind.

When we get to the back door, two burly guys stand on either side. “Who do you know?” one asks.

“The Gunny Sack,” one says. “I train with him at Roscoe’s. These are my friends.” He deliberately points at the other four, but not us.

The man looks them over. “You betting?” he asks the others.

They all hold up cash. One of the men opens the door.

It’s clear we can’t follow them in. He holds out his arm for us to stop.