“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, bent her head down low.
In response, Sonia spit on the mat in front of her as she struggled viciously. Grier hadn’t expected an answer. If she’d gotten one, she suspected it would be more of the same answer she’d gotten from Benji.
From under her, Sonia began bucking in earnest now. Grier was sweating. Shaking. Small withdrawals from the drugs, and if they didn’t ring the bell soon . . .
“Knock her out!” a lone voice yelled out, right before Sonia threw her off and the crowd cheered. How did this work? Even Benji hadn’t told her. But now Grier understood. It wasn’t about pinning anyone to the mat. It was about knocking them unconscious.
That was the rule—the person who stayed conscious won the fight.
Grier backed away even as Sonia advanced. She had blood dripping from her lower lip and she sneered, not happy that Grier had gotten the best of her, if only for a few moments.
Remember your training. Dealing with suspects was the same as dealing with this woman who wanted to bash her head in like a melon. She’d have to remain calm, not let her anger or fear get the best of her.
She uncurled her fists and let her stance relax. Sonia stopped for a second as Grier took a step forward, because the confidence, the nonfighting stance confused her. Grier took advantage of that with another step and then another and they were too close to do any real fighting.
“What the hell is your deal, lady?” Sonia hissed.
“I don’t think you want to know.”
“You a cop?” Sonia whispered, and the crowd had gone quiet, like they were trying to hear the words between them.
“Would that stop you?”
“No. I hate cops.” Sonia faked her out with a punch, and when Grier moved, Sonia kicked her twice in rapid succession, slamming the heel of her foot into Grier’s rib cage. She yelled in pain and frustration and went down. She could barely breathe when Sonia jumped on her, bashing her in the cheekbone with a closed fist. Twice.
It was then that Grier stopped feeling pain and started getting mad as hell. And that was exactly what she needed to fight her way out of this. She rolled and slammed her foot into Sonia’s stomach, tossing her back onto the mat.
Both women rolled far enough away from each other to regroup, to stand. But Grier was faster, reached out and slammed Sonia’s shoulder, making her lose her balance and nearly stumble back. Grier yanked her back with her other arm, slammed her to the mat with an arm behind her back to subdue her.
It was just in time. She noted that Sonia had a knife in her palm—small, but it could do enough damage to get ugly. She thought about one of the moves Reid had shown her. It was the only reason she recognized it when it had been used on her last night. That night they’d spent together, they’d gone over pressure points, and although that had been more about touching than fighting, it still came in handy. Grier pushed her fingers along the side of Sonia’s neck, close to her collarbone and pressed hard until she slumped under her. Grier palmed the knife and let her fall to the mat as the crowd semibooed her. She supposed they’d have rather seen some real damage, a kick to the head, anything more violent than what had happened.
She wished she could charge every one of them with accessory to murder.
Chapter Six
Reid couldn’t grab Grier before her fight. Could barely bring himself to watch for fear he’d try to run out and help her.
They’d cut her hair off into a short bob. Had died it auburn but he’d recognize her anywhere.
“She any good?” he pointed to Grier’s opponent.
“League champ. We always pit the newbies against them. Fastest way to weed out the real losers.”
Reid nodded, said a silent prayer to anyone who would listen. Because the drugs made her unbalanced and the street fighter had the advantage to begin with. Watching her, he could barely goddamned breathe. He’d never been nervous to fight in his life, but for her, he was a mess. His shirt was soaked with sweat and he fisted his hands against his sides as he watched her in the ring—vulnerable and alone—and then she’d used some of his best moves and she hadn’t merely survived—she’d fucking won.
The crowd screamed. Reid had to plant his feet to the ground to stop himself from going to her, after Sonia went unconscious.
Move, Grier . . . stand up and get away from her.
Grier crawled a few feet away, grabbed the ropes to help her stand. Her cheek was swollen, her lip bleeding and she managed to walk to the middle of the ring toward the ref by herself. She was limping, a hand on her ribs but she was moving. The ref grabbed her wrist and raised her arm above her head and Grier winced at the movement. Reid breathed a sigh of relief that the fight was over.
“She’s got to be former military too.” Hal was standing next to Reid. “No one here uses those moves. But hell, she was great. No one gets out of the ring with that one alive. Well, conscious, at least.” Giant man turned to Reid and slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t think you’re going to be as lucky.”
“Yeah, I’ll need luck,” Reid mumbled, holding on to the ring in front of him to keep him place. Grier was getting helped out of the ring, because, even though she’d won, it had come at a price. He wanted to go to her, grab her, get her the hell out of here. But there would be no distraction for the crowd, because he was their next distraction.
He just had to hope they weren’t taking her anywhere until all the fights
