Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“The colonel took Sherry out of the country on a trip and Veronica died. I buried her without her sister ever telling her good-bye.” There was the first note of bitterness in Reese’s voice. “I had no idea, but the colonel had gotten his teeth into the franchise I was fighting in. I was making them so much money, and I was making it every fight. At that time, there wasn’t a fighter they could put in the ring with me that I couldn’t defeat.” He tapped Tyra’s hand on his chest. “I guess there comes a time when you can make a lot more money betting against your best fighter if you know he’s going to lose.”
Master went still. There it was. Reese had been told to take a dive.
“My manager told me I was to wait until the third round and then take a kick to my head and go down and stay down. I was shocked. I just stared at him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We’d been together for years, and all of a sudden he wanted me to cheat. All I had was my name. My integrity. Once you start down that road, you don’t go back. They’d own me. I didn’t know, at that time, it was the colonel calling the shots. I didn’t say a word to my manager, I just walked out. When the fight came, I knocked out my opponent with a roundhouse kick to the head in the third round.” He snickered. “I pretended I’d gotten the instructions wrong, and I’d been shocked that he wanted me to wait if I could take the guy sooner.”
“It isn’t like they could beat the crap out of you in retaliation, Reese,” Ink pointed out.
Reese nodded. “Yeah, I thought the same thing. They didn’t. But the colonel sent my mother to threaten me. She said if I didn’t do everything they told me to do, he would punish her and he would ruin my reputation and see me in prison. So I quit fighting. That’s when I started drinking and getting in bar fights.”
“Which helped you so much,” Tyra said.
“Yeah, babe, but it dulled the pain. The colonel was so pissed, he had that girl make up all that shit. The only problem was, I’d met Tyra by that time, and we were together that night, all night. I was told not to refute the woman’s testimony or Mom was going to be hurt. So I just gave up and took the prison sentence.”
“Were you contacted in prison?” Ink asked.
Reese shook his head. “Nope. Never heard a word from anybody, not even my former manager. When I got out, the only person waiting for me was Tyra.” He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her palm, smiling at her. “She’s the one I can count on.”
“Best you remember that,” Master said. “When your parole officer called you, did you say anything to him? Did you agree to go and meet this crew, or did you just hang up?”
“I didn’t say a damn word,” Reese said. “I wasn’t going to agree to anything that stupid. I know a setup when I hear one.”
“Good for you,” Master said. “That gives us a lot of room. What set them off? What did you do recently that you hadn’t done before?”
“You have the gym for all of us, and I’ve been using it every day since we moved here. I hired a good trainer, and I’ve been looking at the contenders in my weight division for the MMA. I believe I’m still competitive. I wanted to give it another try. I started actively looking for a manager.”
Master exchanged a look with Ink. They waited, but the silence continued. Finally, Master shook his head. “This is bullshit, Reese. I told you, you want help, you tell us everything. That’s not everything. You stood up to this fucker before, even though it cost you. What the hell happened?”
Reese looked at the floor and shook his head.
“Damn it,” Master exploded. “Your mother contacted you, didn’t she? After not hearing from her all those years after Veronica died, and while you were in prison, even after you got out and were struggling, you suddenly got a call from her, didn’t you?”
Reese looked up. “Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?” Master demanded. He knew what. Suspicion was in every word. Not just suspicion. Condemnation. The woman was so guilty Master wanted to strangle her with his bare hands, and he didn’t hurt women. He left that to others whenever possible. He might make an exception in Reese’s mother’s case. “She called you, didn’t she?”
“Yes.” There was genuine grief in Reese’s voice.
Master should have felt bad, but damn it all, Reese was a grown man with a family to protect.