Page 2 of The Midnight Delivery

My mistake was thinking it was a good deal. I didn't see the big picture, and it cost us. I admit it, the money blinded me. Up to that point, we hadn’t even made a hundred thousand all told with the local fights, let alone five hundred. So, I went with it and ignored the whisper in my mind screamingno.

"Why not?" I'd said. Dustin was making a name for himself, and with mixed martial arts having grown, he would be able to bounce back from one loss, easy. The money would enable us to get him better training, recovery aids, and boost our lifestyle. It was only one fight.

What I failed to see was the fact this fight would generate millions of views online. And of course, Tony failed to mention it. Why would he? Steve, the “Hammer,” Valentine’s final bout against the young and vicious “Vampire”? It was trending worldwide. Still, Dustin agreed to it, so we continued on with the plans. Everything was going fine until Steve hit Dustin a little too hard.

My brother is a hell of a fighter, and Dustin’s ego couldn’t handle dropping the match to a man he thought beneath his skill. Dustin got mad and hammered the “Hammer” into a bloody mess. He won the fight, but lost us the war. After the match, Tony told us we would pay him double the amount he was going to give to us for his wasted time and energy, and for the knock on his and the Hammer’s reputations, or we would be watching our backs until they put bullets in them. Of course, we didn’t have the money, so, of course, they tried to put bullet holes in our backs.

We managed to escape with our lives. Even though I hadn’t anticipated the outcome of our deal with Tony, I had the foresight to scout exit routes. Living in the streets, trying to survive every day, not knowing where your next meal was going to come from, or knowing if your new foster dad was calling you into his room to talk or to put his hand down your pants? These things taught me situational awareness. It saved our lives that night, as Dustin fought us past Tony’s guards and I directed our escape. We’ve been running ever since. We stayed alive, stayed in the fight game, while also trying to stay ahead of Tony and his thugs until we could make enough to pay him double what he was going to give to us, was a monumental task. One million dollars? I had no idea if we were going to last long enough to earn that amount of money when we traveled in the same circles Tony did. We were bound to meet up with him again at some point.

We left Cedoria when presented with a golden opportunity. It wasThe Midnight Prize,a fight with the winner receiving a million. This fight was one of the big ones which only rolled around once a year, and Dirk Leon the promoter wanted us in it. Dirk was a tall, lanky blonde man with not much muscle mass.

“The man that hammered the Hammer, and anyone else in front of him was a huge draw,” he’d said.

Dustin was undefeated, and any objective person who saw my brother fight knew he was ready for the big time. After he demolished the Hammer in front of millions streaming worldwide, everyone saw it was his time to take center stage. The Dirk also knew of our problems with Tony. They'd negotiated a truce with him. If they could get us to guarantee we would win, then Tony would receive the cash prize. All Dustin had to do was beat his opponent, and we would be in the clear.

I wouldn't make the same mistake twice, however. Before I would agree to anything, I needed to know who my brother was going to take on. Dirk told us he’d handpicked our opponent to maximize the intake. It would be none other than Damian Wolf, the Hunter, and we would fight him in The Pit. Damian was also an undefeated fighter in the underground fight game, and highly skilled in the art of beating a man into submission. How did I know this? Simple. He was the man who'd made my panties sopping watching him on grainy black and white film. The man who exuded sex was all that stood between life and death for my brother and me.

#

“IDON’T NEED HELP BEATINGhim,” Dustin declared.

“Don’t be stupid. That’s exactly the kind of thinking that got us in this predicament in the first place,” I answered, as fire rushed up my neck and flooded my face. I love my brother, but his stubborn, hot-headed tendencies would be the end of us if I didn’t get him in check.

We’d arrived in the city of Orias where the fight would be held, the night before. There were only a couple of days remaining before Dustin would face Damian in a winner-take-all match and he needed to train. Orias was a large city on the southern coast with invariably mild weather as it kissed the deep blue ocean. Even though it was known for its beauty and reputation for the arts, the city was best described as a hellhole. It was perfect for the underground fight scene, and had plenty of places for Dustin to put work in to prepare. It was also the home to Alejandro Jiménez, our uncle.

We didn’t call him uncle, or anything even close to the level of respect typically bestowed upon an elder family member. He was either Alejandro or AJ, now and forever. When our parents passed, he passed on the opportunity to take us in and care for us. He claimed his lifestyle was not a suitable one for young children, and I guess he was right. He was a trainer, specializing in world champions, but he spent most of his time whoring and drinking, accumulating gambling debts as long as an interstate highway. Now, in his advancing age, he remained a bachelor but had slowed down considerably. He owned a local gym with which most of his profits from the fighters who came and went as they trained under his somewhat watchful eye went towards paying off his debts. He was our only contact in Orias, and as shifty as he’d proven himself, he was still our best option to ensure Dustin’s success. Still, Dustin wanted no parts of the man, and I couldn’t blame him for his resistance. But what other choice did we have?

I hated playing the guilt card on Dustin, but if I didn’t, he’d go find the closest piece of ass he could find and work out his frustrations that way. Being with a woman so close to a fight was foolhardy, as sex will take a man’s legs right out from under him. It’s the first rule of fighting, and one I couldn’t afford to allow Dustin to break.

Dustin mumbled something under his breath and pushed open the door to Alejandro’s gym. The atmosphere was thick with the overwhelming scent of sweat. It assaulted the senses and carried the sounds of grunts, groans, and fists hitting all manners of hand targets and heavy bags. Fighters of all shapes and sizes were scattered throughout with men and women there pushing to them to their breaking points and beyond. Dustin’s eyes twinkled at the sight. As much as he bitched and moaned, he loved fighting more than anything. This was the perfect place to get him focused on the upcoming task. Compared to anything we had back home in Cedoria, AJ’s gym as it was called was unparalleled, and served as the perfect playground from The Vampire to hunt. It was also the perfect place for me to see if I could obtain more information than what we had on his opponent.

Alejandro was on the far side of the gym when we entered. Even though we hadn’t seen him in a few years, there was no mistaking who he was. He had the same signature height and length as Dustin, and though his features were more ragged from the years etched on his face, he was the spitting image of my father. When Dustin caught sight of him, he clenched the handle on his gym bag so tight, his knuckles turned white.

“I’ll talk to him,” I said and placed a steadying hand on my brother’s shoulder. “You go get changed.”

Dustin nodded and headed towards the exit sign above the locker rooms to the right, and I continued to head straight and across the gym floor. This man owed us a debt, and it was time he paid up.

I strolled as confidently as I could past the various fighters and trainers, feeling every eye in the place on me as I made my way. I was used to turning heads when I entered a room full of males, and this was no different. Yet, with each step closer to Alejandro, the faster my heart pounded till it crashed into my ears, suffocating all of the other noises in my ears and causing my feet to feel as if I was walking through sand. His back was to me as he gave instructions to another fighter who had been obscured from view by his large size when we first entered. I sucked in a silent breath and reached my hand out to tap him on the shoulder and draw his attention.

“Bout time you showed,” he said before I had a chance to touch him.

I felt my mouth fall with my hand as I moved it back to my side. “I’m. I’m sorry,” I stammered.

“I expected you all to show up hours ago,” he responded, his back still to me. He jutted his chin towards another man off to the left. “Derek, take over for me.”

Derek was of a medium build, with dark brown skin and beautiful black hair. He reminded me of the kind of man who used to be portly as a teen, but worked hard to turn fat into muscle. He took the hand targets from my uncle and directed the fighter to throw his blows to him.

“Let’s talk,” Alejandro called over his shoulder.

---