Cocky (22 page)

Chapter Forty Two

Chelsea slammed her car door shut and then fought the urge to open it and slam it again. She was so angry and frustrated. There was one thing she was supposed to do and she hadn’t managed to do it.

“Fuck!” Chelsea screamed as the van containing Molly and Paul pulled up beside her. They were in the parking at the old, abandoned gorge. There was no one else around for miles; no one could hear her scream. She shook her head and paced the gravel filled parking lot.

Molly and Paul stepped out of the van and hurried towards Chelsea.

“You did great,” Molly said, putting her hand on Chelsea’s arm to try and stop her angered pacing.

“What are you talking about? You told me to find out when and where the fight is and I didn’t do that. We still don’t know anything!” Chelsea yelled back, throwing Molly’s arm off.

“We know the fight is happening; we have confirmation of that. It’s enough for my higher ups. With this information I can put together a SWAT team and have them waiting. The second you get the call, you call me and we ride out. Don’t beat yourself up, Chelsea. You did a really good job.”

“You’re sure you can get a SWAT team ready in time?” Chelsea asked as she pulled the wire from her bra and handed it back to Molly.

“Yes, I’m going to wake up my supervisors right now. The SWAT team will be on stand-bye. We’re still on plan, Chelsea. We can still bring down the fighting pits and Terrance.”

“We’re gonna get Blue out there,” Paul said. “We’re not going to let him kill anyone.”

Chelsea nodded and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. She shook her head and tried to focus on the positive. She would still save her sister and Blue. She was still going to see Terrance put behind bars.

“You should go home and get some sleep,” Paul said. “We’ll be in touch in the morning.”

“All right,” Chelsea said with a nod. She looked up at Molly and Paul they were the only two people in the world who could help her. She needed to remember that they were in this together. They were all the same time and she didn’t have to do all of this on her own.

Paul pulled her into a big bear hug and held her close for just a moment. She closed her eyes and let herself relax. Paul pulled away and looked down at her with a smile. “It’s gonna be okay, Chelsea. We’re not out yet.”

She smiled at him and Molly. In the lonely darkness of the night it was nice to be reminded that she had friends who had her back.

She drove home slowly, taking her time and thinking about what she had just done. She had flirted with Terrance. It felt disgusting and wrong and she hated that she needed to do it. But it would be worth it when his whole fighting pit empire came crumbling down around him. She was glad she was going to the fight; she was ready to watch Terrance’s face as he was led away in handcuffs.

She had just pulled into her driveway when her phone began to ring from somewhere deep in her purse. She sighed and leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. What was it now? She wasn’t sure that she could handle anything else at that moment. But it might be Jamie or Blue and so she reached for her phone.

It was Ryan Baron. She answered the phone. She still needed to think about her career. She wanted to be able to provide for her sister and her mother when this was all over and she could only do that if she still had a career.

“Hey, Ryan,” she said into the phone.

“Hey, Chelsea, I just heard the news from my publicist. What’s the deal? I thought we had a good thing going. Was it something I did?”

“No, you were great,” Chelsea said shaking her head. “It’s just...” She stopped not sure what else she should say. “You really helped me out when I was in a bad time and I thought that I could do this, but I can’t.”

“Why not?” He asked.

“There’s someone else. Someone I think I love and I just can’t do this. I can’t have a fake relationship and hide the real one.”

“Why not? Do you really want your real relationship slapped across the front of those sleazy tabloids? Do you want your real heartbreak to be national news? It’s better this way; we control every aspect of it. Trust me, I’ve been in the business a long time. I know what I’m talking about.”

“I know, and you make a lot of sense. But I just can’t do it.”

“Can’t, or won’t? If this guy is pressuring you to end this then maybe he’s not the guy for you. Does he understand what it takes to be famous? If he’s pressuring you-”

“He’s not pressuring me,” Chelsea interrupted. “I’m saying no. I’m saying I don’t want to do this anymore. Thank you for everything, and we can tell the press it ended amicably, but it is over.”

“All right fine,” Ryan said, his voice short and clipped. “But your career isn’t looking so good. You’ve cancelled a bunch of tour dates and promotional shows. No one’s going to know about your album if you don’t promote it. You keep going the way you’re going and you’re not going to have a career soon and don’t think you can come crying back to me when the whole thing falls apart. Pop stars are a dime a dozen. If you end this, I’m going to find some other pop star to date and her album is going to blow yours away, Chelsea. So I’m giving you one last chance to think about this.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Bye, Ryan,” Chelsea said ending the call.

She walked to her house and wondered why she let her team talk her into dating Ryan Baron in the first place. She had been in a desperate position and she never should have done it. Having a fake relationship to increase her album sales wasn’t who she was. She wasn’t some Hollywood phony and she wasn’t some sugary sweet perfect all American girl. She was Chelsea Riley, a girl who liked to go to clubs and have a good time. She liked to play the guitar and she wanted to be with Blue. She wanted everyone to know that she was with Blue; she wanted to make her album title
Chelsea and Blue 4ever
and scream it from the mountaintops.

Colleen was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea as Chelsea entered the house. Without a word her mother stood up and walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. She rested her hand on Chelsea’s head and smoothed her hair like she used to when Chelsea was little.

“You were gone for so long, I was starting to get worried,” Colleen whispered.

“I know, I’m sorry. I was with Paul,” Chelsea explained.

She hadn’t told her mother the plan or that she was working with the FBI. She was sure she would forbid it or would want to go in herself. Colleen had already been through so much; her daughter was missing and she had almost married a monster and Chelsea didn’t want to make her feel worse. Sometimes daughters needed to protect their mothers.

“I miss Blue,” Chelsea whispered into her mother’s shoulders and she fought back tears.

“I know, baby,” her mother whispered, rubbing Chelsea’s back. There was nothing else she could say. She couldn’t promise it would be okay or promise she could make everything better. Colleen was Chelsea’s mother, but she wasn’t a superhero; she was just a woman just like Chelsea. The days when Chelsea could have run to her mother with her problems were long over. She needed to be the adult now; she needed to solve her own problems. If only it wasn’t so hard.

“By this time tomorrow this will all be over,” Colleen said, looking at Chelsea, her face a forlorn frown.

“Yeah,” Chelsea said with a shaky smile.

“Get some sleep, baby,” her mom said. “I had some men pull you and your sister’s beds from storage. I moved all the gym equipment, so it almost looks like your old room now. You should go lie down and remember better times.”

She could spend tonight remembered better days and tomorrow she would spend all day waiting for the phone to ring. Once she knew the time and location she would have to go watch two men kill each other while an audience watched. But she would be strong, no more tears, no more crying she was going to stay strong and focused and she was going to bring Terrance down and get Blue back.

Chapter Forty Three

Lying in her childhood bed didn’t make her feel like a little kid anymore. She felt old and useless and mostly alone. She looked to the right where Jamie’s bed sat empty. Without her sister there to whisper and joke with the bedroom felt cold and lonely. Chelsea tossed and turned and watched the clock next to her as it moved slowly.

She tossed and turned for an hour and then sometime near midnight she realized sleep was not going to happen. She tossed her covers aside and got dressed and then had no idea what to do with herself. She wanted to see Blue, that was the only thing. She wanted to see him or talk to him, anything. It had only been a day, but already she missed him more than she could have imagined.

So why don’t you go see him? You know where he is.
The realization hit Chelsea and for a moment she debated her options. She could see him; she needed to see him. He could die tomorrow, or he could end up in jail. Tonight might be the last night they could ever have together. Was she really going to spend it apart from him?

Chelsea started her car and drove quickly to Terrance’s house. She parked a few blocks away and hurried to his house and then ducked through the shadows and ran across the lawn. She hugged the side of the house and looked up at the windows, searching for one that had a light on. There was one in the basement; she could see where a small, square window peeked over the grass. Chelsea dropped to her hands and knees and peered through it.

The room was small and bare. It was clearly the servant’s quarters. Blue’s room had a single bed and a small table with a chair and nothing else in it. And then she saw him. He must have just come out of the shower. He was walking naked towards the bed, his body still wet from the shower as he dried his hair with a towel.

Chelsea tapped three times on the window. She watched as Blue froze then he dropped the towel and took a fighting stance. He looked up at the window and seemed startled to see her. He grabbed his towel from the floor and wrapped it around his waist. Blue walked over to the small window and pried it open.

“What are you doing here?!” he hissed.

“I wanted to see you,” Chelsea said. “I miss you and I just needed to see you. Let me in, I can crawl through the window.”

“You can’t fit through there,” he said.

“Take the screen out,” Chelsea whispered. Blue shook his head but at the same time he pulled the screen out of the window. Chelsea put her arms through first and began to pull herself through the small opening, shifting her hips in order to fit through. Blue took her arms and pulled her the last of the way catching her in his arms and lowering her to the floor.

Once she was on her feet Chelsea put her arms around Blue and kissed him deeply. He was still warm from the shower and he smelled like ivory soap and tasted like toothpaste. His warm hands made their way up Chelsea’s back and she sighed as she leaned into him.

“I missed you,” she whispered into his ear as she kissed his neck and felt the scratch of his stubble against her cheek.

“I missed you, too,” he said squeezing her tightly and then letting her go. “But you should go,” he said glancing back at the closed door. “If Terrance finds out you’re here, I don’t know what might happen. I don’t want you to get hurt, Chelsea. It’s the one thing I can’t handle.”

“I got it,” Chelsea said. She ran to the desk and grabbed the chair and stuck it under the door to keep it closed. She turned around smiled at Blue as he crossed his arms and shook his head.

“It’s works,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. She looked around at the sparse room. There was no carpet on the floor and the room was chilly and there was one lone light on the desk. “Why are you down here? There are like ten empty bedrooms upstairs, why are you here?”

“Terrance thinks easy environments make men weak. A hard environment makes men strong. It toughens them up. He thinks you can get too used to comfort and then you forget what it is you’re capable of handling.”

“I think that sounds dumb,” Chelsea said shaking her head.

“Yeah, it’s not my favorite thing,” Blue said as he rifled through his bag and pulled out a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt and dressed quickly.

“So, I have to tell you something, but you can’t be mad,” Chelsea said.

Blue looked over at her in concern and she told him everything. She told him about her and Paul contacting the FBI and the SWAT team that was on the ready for Terrance’s call.

“Chelsea, you shouldn’t have done that,” Blue hissed.

“I knew you were going to say that,” Chelsea said shaking her head. “But I don’t need you to protect me and I’m not going to sit back and do nothing while you do this fight. But this means you can’t kill your opponent. If you do you could go to jail for a long time, Blue. You have to stall as best you can.”

“Stall, in a fight? That’s not how it works, Chelsea. It’s a fight to the death. I can’t not fight; if I don’t, he wins. This isn’t like a movie. I have to give it my all or I will be the one who dies.”

He sat down on the bed and motioned for Chelsea to join him. She sat down next to him and together they laid back as she rested her head against his chest.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Chelsea asked.

“I don’t really get nervous the night before a fight. I only get nervous right before I’m about to walk into the ring. Just the walk to the ring, that’s the only time. When all these strangers are cheering me on and patting me on the back...” he looked away, unable to continue.

“So what are you feeling right now? Because I’m nervous as hell. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t do anything but worry about tomorrow.”

“I feel ready,” Blue answered. “I feel like I’ve never stopped training. The Army isn’t exactly easy, you know? I went from one fight to another and it’s never really stopped. But I’ve never gone soft in all these years, so I feel ready. I was training today and it all just came right back to me. I never really had the chance to forget.”

“But this fight is different,” Chelsea whispered.

“Yeah, I’m trying not to think about that.”

Chelsea turned over and snuggled into Blue’s chest as his hand came up and massaged her back.

“So, what are you thinking about?” Chelsea asked.

“You mostly. I feel like everything reminds me of you. There’s that pizza place on Main Street that we used to go to, remember? We had our favorite booth in the corner where we used to play cards.”

“Life in a small town,” Chelsea said shaking her head. “My mom used to complain about me coming home smelling like pizza and garlic bread; she said the smell was bad for her diet.”

“Then there was that crappy diner on Ninth Street. You were smoking cigarettes and hiding it from your mom. We used to sit and drink coffee and you would smoke and write my English papers for me.”

“I’ve never known anyone to hate Shakespeare as much as you did.”

“As much as I
do
. I still think he’s an overrated hack.”

“That’s because you were reading it. Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed, not read in a classroom.”

“Please tell me this isn’t going to lead to that rant about you not getting the part of Juliet in the school play, is it?”

“That was a disgrace. They chose Harper Madison over me? She had the most stilted line readings I’ve ever heard! They only gave to her because she had perfect attendance and straight As and because I was suspended during the auditions. Stupid Coach Carson caught me smoking in the bathroom. She was such a bitch.”

“I know and I agree with you,” Blue said nodding. “We’ve been over this so many times. Harper Madison has nothing on you.”

“Thank you,” Chelsea said.

She propped herself up on her elbow and gave him a kiss on his cheek and then she kissed him again on his lips, his hand coming around her body and pulling her closer.