Page 48 of Givin' Me Fitz!
“What happened between you and Garza that he ended up in the hospital and you were behind bars?” I kept my gaze steadied on TJ, which only seemed to make him more nervous.
“I don’t… It’s compli—”
Sawyer reached over and put a hand on the guy’s knee. “TJ, unless your selling drugs out of this house and that guy is your dealer, there’s nothing we can’t work through together.”
“This is… I can’t… It’s serious, Bones. If I tell you what’s going on…” The kid chewed his nails.
I shoved my hand through my hair. “Let’s take baby steps, TJ. Jimmy Germaine asked you to meet him at the Blue Diamond. What did he say you were to do there?” I sat back in the chair and tried to relax.
“Jimmy wanted me to show Garza the sparring video we made the Monday before. I’d worked out that day with a guy named Chris Charlotte who trains at the gym. I hadn’t ever worked with him before, but it was a good match. Jimmy shot it on his phone.”
I nodded, remembering something Hardy had mentioned. “Do you know a trainer named Voss Graham?” He was the guy Hardy mentioned speaking to at the gym when he inquired about self-defense classes.
TJ scowled at me. “That asshole. He doesn’t like me because I turned him down for a fuck when I first started going to Boxed In. He talks trash about me to the other fighters. He’s a perv, always hitting on the young guys and volunteering to give them pointers when they’re working out.”
I’d have to talk to Hardy about the guy in case TJ was telling the truth. If anything happened to Hardy and I could have prevented it, I’d hate myself.
“Okay. So, you take the video with you and you go—did Jimmy give you Garza’s room number, or did you guys meet at one of the bars and then go to Garza’s room?”
TJ glanced at Sawyer, who chuckled. “Go ahead. He’s not really a cop anymore, regardless of what Bess said.”
“I’m a bail recovery agent. He’s right, I’m not a cop, but I want to help you out of this mess because I think you might be in over your head, TJ. If you want help, then talk to me.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my badge, handing it to the kid to examine.
TJ gave it a looky-loo and handed it back. He glanced at Sawyer. “You’re friends with a bounty hunter?” Even I chuckled at the incredulity in his voice.
Sawyer turned to me and winked. “Yeah. If I have my way, it’ll be more than friends, but we’ll see. Anyway, tell us what happened, TJ. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Sawyer reached for my hand, holding it to his mouth and grazing his lips over my knuckles. I was absolutely speechless. I wanted to fucking jump the man in the chair.
“A-hem.” I dragged my gaze from Sawyer’s clover-green eyes and turned to TJ, seeing a smirk.
“Uh, yeah, let’s uh, let’s get back to the subject at hand. Tell me where you met Garza.” I gently pulled my hand from Sawyers and focused back on TJ.
“We met in the lobby bar and had a beer so I could explain to him what I was looking for—a chance to get ranked in the MMA world. If I could win a fight, I could get sponsors and travel. I could get out of sex work, and I could take care of my grandpa.” TJ looked down at his hands twisting in his lap before he lifted his right one to his mouth, chewing his nails again.
I glanced at Sawyer and motioned my head for him to say something. I couldn’t be the good copandthe bad cop.
Sawyer gave a subtle nod. “TJ, tell us about your grandfather.”
TJ’s eyes began to shimmer before he sniffled, so I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to him. He took it, wiped his eyes, and twisted it between his fingers as he tried to pull himself together.
“My grandfather is my dad’s dad. When I was thirteen, my parents died in an explosion. My father worked for the Scorpions cooking meth, and my mom helped him. I’d been at school that day, and when I got off the bus, my house was gone and there was still a fire. Cops and fire trucks were there.
“After the house blew up, my grandparents took me in. My grandfather made a deal with the Scorpions that if I wouldn’t tell the cops who my parents cooked for, they’d leave us alone. My grandpa was a carpenter and my grandmother was a seamstress, and they could work anywhere, so we moved to Mesquite.” TJ lifted his right hand and wiped under his eyes with my handkerchief again.
I glanced at Sawyer, and he raised his eyebrows, tilting his head for me to continue. I sighed and cleared my throat.
“I’m sorry for your loss, TJ. Your grandmother—is she still alive?”
“No. She died from cancer. Grandpa Jim has shown signs of early dementia and depression, according to his doctor, and I pay for his care. I need this money, Bones. I can’t take care of him without it. He needs a facility where they’ll look after him because he’s isolated himself. I don’t want that for him.”
I sat forward in the chair. “What money? TJ. Tell us what’s going on.”
TJ stared at the ceiling before he finally exhaled. “Romero said we needed to go to his room so he could get his wallet. I paid for our drinks at the lobby bar and followed him to his room. When we were inside, he brought out a tablet and he said I should watch a video.
“‘This is your grandpa,’ Romero said before he showed me a video of an old man who looked a lot like my grandfather. He was being beaten, stabbed in his arms and legs, and then they poured gasoline and lit him on fire. I puked in the floor of Romero’s hotel room.”
Sawyer started to sit forward, but I put my hand on his shoulder. When he glanced at me, I gave him a shake of my head.
