Page 23 of One Step Sideways

I eyed Ringo. It was like he’d read my mind. “No, but Saunders and his dad didn’t worry when they saw me.”

Ringo kept his gaze on me and shrugged. “In the gym you’re not allowed any woo-woo shit. Strength, speed, sure, but nothing likely to cause a permanent injury.” He paused. “Maybe all you need to be is Kane.”

I didn’t know how to reply to that, so I got out of the truck. What was it about Diesel’s guys and huge trucks? Although, I hadn’t seen what Danny drove.

I followed Ringo to the door and wondered if Danny was okay. We’d left him alone. Okay, so he had the dog, but what if he spiraled again? I surreptitiously pulled the phone out of my bag and glanced at it as we walked inside. Maybe I should send him a quick text? I managed “u ok?” before another voice had me looking up.

“Hey Starr.” An older guy bumped knuckles with Ringo, then looked at me.

“Kane Diaz, meet Ricky Jones. This is his gym.”

“Sir,” I said respectfully and held out my hand, which he shook.

“Well then,” Ricky said. “Can you fight?”

I hesitated.

“Fairly,” he stressed.

“Yes, sir,” because the gym was about the only place I’d been allowed to go. I knew how to hit a bag. Faces, not so much.

“Good. First match starting in a few. They’re always ready for fresh meat.”

Ringo frowned, waited until Ricky had walked away, then leaned in. “Like I said he usually does all the fights on a Friday night. I thought it’d be quiet, sorry.”

Which might work out in our favor, though. I glanced around and watched the few exercise areas. The place was huge. Some treadmills and benches in an area to the side, plenty of weights, rowing machines. Nothing too fancy.Reminded me of jail. Except the free weights, of course. As a possible weapon, they were banned.

The ring was the pride of place, and I watched as Shae Turner came out of the changing rooms and over to a guy sitting at a desk, presumably taking names and money.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the list of matches,” Ringo said. “They take names and details and see if they can match fighters.”

I watched as the guy shook his head at Shae, even as Shae thrust a wad of cash at him. “What’s wrong?”

“He doesn’t have an enhanced available and willing to go up against him,” Ringo said. My feet were moving of their own accord before Ringo had finished talking, and I was standing in front of the guy taking names before I knew it.

“Kane Diaz,” I said. “How much?” I had the last of the cash Rawlings had given me. I didn’t look at Shae, but I heard the sharp inhale, and blindly gave the man what he asked for.

“Okay, you’re on after the next round,” he said, and only then did I look at Shae, who looked like he was going to bolt.

“Stroke of luck,” I rambled. “First time here. My friend told me they took us.” I didn’t need to point to the scar. I knew he would understand the “us” comment. I saw the panic he tried to hide in his sharper breaths. His pupils narrowed by 0.11 of an inch and a flush slightly darkened his skin at the same time as the pressure of his teeth paled his lips. His knuckles also whitened as he clenched them. I kept my gaze steady. Prison had taught me not to react. It was a place where the wrong facial expression might get you killed. It was a skill to learn quickly.

“You want to fight?”

I didn’t blame his suspicion or hesitation. I knew he’d recognized me, but hopefully he thought his mask had covered enough of his face that I didn’t recognize him.

“I need the money.” I shrugged. If he knew who I was, that was believable. Hell, it was probably believable either way.

“Enhanced rules,” the guy that had taken the money said.

Shae nodded, but I wanted a clarification. “Which are?”

“Enhanced can only fight another enhanced, or a triple undefeated champion. You’re only allowed to use strength and speed.”

I opened my mouth to agree, even though my first reaction would be to ask how they were supposed to know, but a voice behind us said, “I’ll fight the kid.”

Both Shae and I turned to see a man. I took in the bulging muscles, the scars, that tattoos that started on his face and just got bigger, and the scars underneath a lot of them.

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