Stand Of Honor (18 page)

They finally opened the door to go inside,
and Zane looked at his watch.

An hour later, Zane
glanced around to see if anyone was out. He wasn't going to sit here all night. He looked back towards the window and could no longer see a light on. He put his baseball cap on and stepped out of the car, then casually walked towards the room, pulled the hotel key his boss had provided, and quietly opened the door.

In the dim light the bathroom provided, he could see them both lying on the bed.
It looked like they had just passed out. He breathed a quick sigh of relief.

He quietly closed the door behind him
, locking it silently, not wanting to alert them to his presence until he was ready.

He looked at the couple lying on the bed, both breathing heavily in their sleep.

The room had a strong stench of smoke and alcohol.
He looked at the desk and saw what was left of the heroin before doing a quick search for the money, but it wasn't in the room. He was really hoping this was going to be an easy job, but he was going to have to wake her up for the money.

He pulled out the rope and quickly tied the man's arms behind his back.
The man was lying on his stomach, so it made it easy to restrain him. The guy started to wake, but Zane quickly gagged him to prevent him from making any noise. By now, the man was awake and trying to kick Zane. Zane grabbed his ankles and quickly tied them together as well. All the man could do was wiggle on the bed and try to yell through the gag. Zane pulled his knife out and held it to the man's throat.

"Shut the fuck up," Zane snarled in his ear.
He slid the blade across his throat to silence him. He drew just enough blood to scare the man into staying quiet, and the man quickly stilled.

Once Zane had the man under control, he put the knife back in his boot and pulled the pistol out.
Clarissa was lying on her back with only a shirt on, naked from the waist down. It was an ugly sight.

The man started to make sounds again when he saw Zane point the gun at Clarissa's head,
yet Zane's look silenced him once again.

He straddled Clarissa
’s chest, pointed the gun in her face, and gripped her neck, shaking her awake. She groggily opened her eyes to the pistol pointed at her face and immediately started struggling and tried to scream, but when she opened her mouth, Zane put the gun inside. She stopped struggling immediately.

"Where's the money
, Clarissa?" He saw her eyes widen when he said her name.

Zane pulled the gun out to let her speak.

"What money?" she gasped.

Zane put the gun back in her mouth.
They always tried to play dumb; it was the same lie every fucking time.

"Tell me where the fucking money is or I kill you now.
I'll find the money eventually. It's your choice if you'd rather live or die." Zane’s voice sounded sinister in the dim bedroom.

He pulled the gun out of her mouth once again
as he watched the tears fill her eyes, however he had no sympathy for a drug addict and thief. If she had just done her job, none of this would have happened. He pointed the gun back in her face.

"I...I," she started crying harder.
"I don't have it all. Please don't kill me. I'll give them back what I have," she begged.

"That's not the way it works
, Clarissa. You know the rules." Zane's voice was deadly.

"Pl
... please don't do this. I'll get the money. I swear, I'll get the money!" She was hysterical.

"Where's the money now?"
Zane asked again.

"In the trunk of my car," she blurted out.

All of sudden, Zane felt the man try to kick at his head with his bound feet. The fool actually thought he could knock Zane out. Zane dodged the kick and then, reaching over, he pressed his hand on the pressure point on his neck, knocking him out, which is what he should have done in the first place. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to get himself killed trying to be a nice guy.

Zane had no fear that they would run to the cops
. They were stuck with no recourse, just as he was.

Zane turned back to Clarissa.
"How much do you have?"

Clarissa was panting
. She couldn't take her eyes off the gun.

"How much do you have?"
Zane grabbed her throat again.

"A...
about forty thousand," she gasped.

"Where's the rest?"
Zane was tired of this shit. He should have been in and out. This was taking too long.

"I spent it.
But I can make it up. I can get it by the end of the month," she spoke quickly. "Please don't kill me. I'll make it up." She started crying again.

"You have one week to get the rest of the money.
Otherwise, we start with your sister. She's a pretty little thing, isn't she? Be a shame if she came up missing," Zane spoke casually, as if taking her family was nothing to him.

"No!
Leave her alone!" Clarissa started fighting him again, but he kept his weight on her and tightened his grip on her throat.

"There is nothing you can do to stop us if you don't get the money.
Your sister's life is in your hands now." Zane let go.

U
sually, threatening a close family member helped straighten them up.

"Get dressed and give me what you have."
Zane kept the gun pointed at her as he lifted himself off her.

The man next to her was starting to come to
. Zane kept his eyes on Clarissa, but shoved the man onto the floor. Going around the bed, he took the man’s bound hands, lifting him to his feet. Pointing the gun at the disoriented man’s head, Clarissa’s horrified eyes understood his silent message to hurry. Zane shoved the man into the bathroom, closing the door and placing a chair under the doorknob to lock him inside. He then turned away, satisfied that at least the stupid fucker had enough sense to remain quiet.

Clarissa was putting on her shoes
. When she finished, she picked up the keys and walked him to the car where Zane put his gun in his jacket pocket, but Clarissa knew he still had it trained on her back. She opened the trunk of her car and started to reach in for the bag. He stopped her, leaned in, and opened the bag in the trunk to make sure there was actually money in it. She was telling the truth. He zipped the bag and pulled it out of the trunk.

"One week."
He turned and walked back to his car, leaving the terrified woman shivering in the dark parking lot.

Chapter 21

Melanie swished the water around in her mouth and spit it out in the bucket Zane was holding for her.
She could see the blood swirling around in the water and wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. Leah had gotten a jab in to the side of her face and bloodied her mouth. She took another swish and saw a little less blood this time when she spit.

They were going into the third round
, and she had no idea who was winning. Every time she got a few moves in, Leah came back with just as many of her own. Control had gone back and forth between the two of them for the entire fight so far. This would be the deciding round.

She was exhausted and was trying to think of what she could do to end the fight.
She was breathing too heavily to say anything, however Zane seemed to read her mind.

“You’ve stayed on your feet the whole fight
. Do you think you can get her to the ground?” Zane asked.

She nodded her head yes.
They had turned this into a boxing match and Melanie knew she was better on the mat. If she could get Leah down and keep her down, she might be able to pull it off.

“
Thatta girl. Go get her,” Zane said confidently.

Melanie stood up when the bell rang.
She looked at Leah, glad to see she looked as tired as she felt. This was going to be a long five minutes.

Melanie took a deep breath and looked for an opening
as they started off circling each other, Melanie waiting for Leah to move in on her. Leah was tired, yet she moved in with a jab. Melanie jerked back to avoid the punch, which was quickly followed with a kick. Instead of trying to avoid the kick, Melanie took a page from Zane’s book and grabbed her ankle, not letting go. Leah tried to fall back and take Melanie with her, but Melanie was able to twist Leah’s leg around and get her to fall on her side.

Melanie didn’t waste any time
. She dropped down and was able to turn Leah face down into the mat. Leah pushed back hard, but Melanie put all her weight on her. She wasn’t letting her up. Melanie leaned over to grab her ankle again and pulled it back. She knew Leah was going to have to tap, otherwise, Melanie was going to rip one of Leah’s muscles.

When Melanie
heard the ref yell to stop the match, she rolled off Leah to catch her breath. She heard boos and cheers in the audience and looked up to see Zane smiling down at her. He reached his hands out to help her up and she wrapped her arms around him.

“Thanks for that lesson,” she tried to tease, but she was still trying to catch her breath.
She looked into his eyes and could see he was remembering that moment in the gym when she’d tried to kick him.

“I knew it would come in handy one day,” he teased back.

She heard the ref call her name and went back to stand next to him as they announced her the winner. Afterwards, some members of the press asked her a few questions. She took a sip of water out of a cup someone handed her and saw the blood on the rim of the cup. She knew she looked a mess and was glad no one was taking pictures of her at the moment. When she finished answering questions, she walked towards Nick, Zane, and Trish, who were waiting for her.

“Great job
, Mel!” Trish exclaimed then grimaced when Melanie came closer. “Oh, my God, I didn’t realize how bloody you would be.” Trish made a face that had them all laughing.

“Nice move
, Melanie,” Nick said proudly.

“Thanks.”
Melanie was feeling a little light-headed and just wanted to get her things and soak in a hot bath.

“Thank you for being here,” Melanie said to both of them.

They all seemed to sense that she was worn out and told her congratulations again. Trish walked with her to the locker room to get her things, leaving Nick and Zane waiting for them. Melanie was too tired to think much, but she didn’t notice any awkwardness between Nick and Zane. She had to remind herself that she was the one worked up over it, not them.

As they approached the locker room, she saw one of the officials with the league standing outside the door.
She thought he might be there to congratulate her on her win. It wasn’t often someone just out of the amateur league won such a big fight so quickly. However, as they came closer, she saw the seriousness on his face.

“Ms. Brooks, we need you to take a drug test."

Melanie shook her head. What the hell was he talking about?

“A custodian cleaning the locker room knocked your bag over.
A bag of unidentified pills fell out. Can you tell me what they are?” the official asked her sternly.

“I don’t know what pills you’re talking about.
I don’t have any pills in my bag. He must have my bag confused with someone else’s,” Melanie answered, certain there had been a mix up of some kind.

Trish spoke up
, coming to her defense, “She’s my roommate. I've never seen her take more than two ibuprofen at a time. There’s been a mistake.”

The man’s face softened slightly
; he seemed to believe them. Melanie sighed an internal breath of relief. She didn’t need this right now.

“I need you to show me your bag then.”

They went inside the locker room. There was no one else in the room. Trish called back to him to tell him he could enter as Melanie went to the area she had left her bag in and saw it on the ground. It had been knocked off the counter.

She turned to the official and pointed to her bag.

“That’s it
.” She reached down to pick it up, feeling dizzy when she stood back up.

She watched his
face harden. “Ms. Brooks, that’s the bag the pills were in.”

“What pills
? Where are they?” Melanie was getting angry.

He pulled the bag from his pocket.
“Here.”

“Those are not mine,” Melanie
said steadily. “What proof do you have that those pills were found in my bag?”

“Two eye witnesses, the custodian and another fighter in the room when the bag fell out
.”  The official continued, “Does that mean you consent to taking a drug test?”

“Absolutely,” she said.

She watched him make a phone call, and in no time, the on-call nurse was there with a cup and a needle. While she was taking the tests, Trish went out to tell Zane and Nick what was going on.

After the tests were completed, the nurse said she would contact Melanie on Monday with the results.
Melanie wasn’t concerned about the test results; she knew she hadn’t taken anything. It was who was trying to set her up that worried her.