Page 113 of The Black Trilogy

“Another ransom demand’s gonna come in soon,” I said. “I’m sure of it.”

“Agreed. Are you planning to lead the team at the drop?”

“I was hoping you would. Luke may well have to go too, and it’s not good for me to be around him. This situation’s stressful enough without adding the atmosphere between the pair of us into the mix.”

Nick shrugged. “Guess I’m with you there. I’ll get a team together this morning. What are you planning to do?”

“Get my head back in the game, firstly.” I’d been wandering around in a daze, but at last, the fog was lifting. “I’ll start with a visit to JJ’s.”

JJ’s gym belonged to James James. Yes, his parents really did that to him, but everyone called him Jimmy. Over a beer I wasn’t supposed to be drinking, he’d once confessed the endless taunts he’d received as a child were what drove him to become so good with his fists.

I’d stayed fit while I was living with Luke, but nothing compared to a good fight, and I hadn’t been in one for months. If I wanted to get back in top form, I had to pay Jimmy a visit.

“It’ll be good to have you back at a hundred percent,” Nick said, leaning over to give me a hug. “We’ve all missed you, even Nate, no matter how much he pretends otherwise. You go do your thing.”

Once he’d left, I got dressed in running tights and a sports bra then zipped a hoodie over the top. It was still only six thirty. JJ’s was in East London, just off the Mile End Road, and I’d use the six-mile run as a warm up.

When I arrived forty minutes later, I found Jimmy next to one of the boxing rings, watching a pair of welterweight fighters go at each other. He always had been an early riser.

I crept up behind him. “Boo.”

He spun around, and when he saw it was me, he crushed me to his massive chest. “Amanda! You should have said you were gonna stop by.”

Jimmy had once been a super heavyweight fighter, and to say he was big was like saying the Empire State Building was a little on the tall side. He topped out at six foot six and had the width to match. Beside him, I felt all dainty, like a Barbie doll. Luckily, he let go before he cracked any of my ribs.

“Didn’t really plan this trip, Jimmy. I just woke up and decided I could do with a session. Are you busy?”

“I’ve got a guy in for training at eight thirty, but I’m all yours until then. Come to think of it, you can go in the cage with him. Keep him on his toes.”

Over the past few years, Jimmy had branched out from boxing into the world of MMA. The gym now sported a pair of cages as well as the more traditional boxing rings. He spent the next hour drilling me through kicks, punches, blocks, and grapples. I needed to borrow a towel when we’d finished.

“Not bad, girl, but I can tell you’ve taken a few months off. You need to find a new partner and keep up with the training. Don’t want you going soft again.”

I paused to get my breath back. “Easier said than done.”

My husband had been the only person who’d put up with me apart from Alex, my ex-Spetsnaz trainer back in Virginia, and I didn’t feel up to facing him right now. I may have been depressed, but I wasn’t suicidal.

Jimmy chuckled and looked at his watch. “Too early for beer. Want a protein shake?”

“Why not?”

Jimmy’s shakes always tasted better than Toby’s, and I’d got my breath back by the time eight-thirty guy arrived.

Jimmy introduced us. “Amanda, this is Lee Belmont. Lee, meet Amanda.”

Lee looked me up and down, his eyes pausing a fraction too long on my chest. I put him in the lightweight class, which meant he had about ten kilos on me.

“She the new ring girl?”

Jimmy grinned wide. “Nope. She’s your new sparring partner.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Get on with it.”

For a second, I thought Lee was going to refuse, but then he shrugged and climbed into the ring. I hopped up behind him.

I’d never seen him at the gym before, and his strong northern accent suggested he was new to the area. I’d got a bit out of touch with who was who in the world of MMA, but I trusted Jimmy wouldn’t ask me to fight someone without a few decent matches under his belt.

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