The Song of David

Before Georgia had stepped onto that elevator eighteen months before and stepped back into my life, I’d lived in an apartment over the gym and worked out there with Tag almost every day. It was comfortable for me—the people, the atmosphere, all of it—and when I walked in the front doors, I was greeted on all sides with enthusiasm and obvious curiosity, which was fairly normal for me.

I spotted Axel working with a group of fighters and saw that Andy was padded up, taking punches in the octagon. As I debated who I should interrupt first, my name rippled through the gym, and they were both excusing themselves and approaching me without me having to make a move. Mikey followed on Axel’s heels, grabbing up his crutch and bearing down on me like he wanted answers too. Mikey rarely worked out with his prosthetic, and he was a one-legged wonder in more ways than one. A kid named Cory who’d been new to the team when I’d married Georgia wasn’t too far behind them.

The question in their eyes and the worry in their expressions had the tension I’d been trying to tamp down flaring once more. I didn’t have any answers. That’s why I was here.

“Any word?” Mikey asked, foregoing a greeting altogether. I noticed the people around us were waiting to hear what I had to say, and I didn’t want to discuss Millie and Tag in the middle of the gym. Axel caught my wary side glances and led the way to the little office I’d plundered two days before in an attempt to find Tag. Mikey, Cory, and Andy didn’t ask permission to come along, and I didn’t deny them. Maybe together we could figure something out. Axel didn’t wait for me to start the impromptu meeting. He pointed at the wall, at a schedule for the next month that was all filled out.

“That’s Tag’s writing. He must have come in here at some point last week and filled it in. Nobody saw him, and I didn’t think anything of it when we first talked, Moses. The schedule’s always updated, always written out a month in advance. It didn’t occur to me that he would have had to come in.” Axel shrugged. “It made me feel a little better. At least he’s not lying on the side of the road somewhere, you know?”

I nodded.

“Tell him about the papers, Axel,” Andy insisted.

Axel went to the filing cabinet, the cabinet where Millie and I had found the tapes. He pulled out a sheaf of papers and handed them to me.

“I got these this morning. Certified. They’re from Tag’s attorney.”

I scanned it as quickly as I could, and then looked at Tag’s team in horror.

“Did everyone get a copy?” I asked.

“I got a copy,” Cory said.

“Me too,” Mikey and Andy volunteered.

The papers were legal documents detailing the transfer of ownership of the gym to Axel Karlsson, with Andrew Gorman, Michael Slade and Cory Mangum listed as Tag Team co-owners and shareholders with merchandising and licensing rights.

“Has this already gone into effect?” I gasped, searching the legal jargon for dates and details.

“No. It’s a process. And I have to agree to the terms. We all do. But the groundwork is done,” Axel answered, and his expression said it all. He wasn’t euphoric about his windfall, if that’s what it was. He was devastated.

“What the feck is goin’ on?” Andy growled, his Irish so thick it changed the words but not the sentiment.

“Nobody’s seen or heard from Tag?” I had to get that out of the way again.

“Leo saw him last, but that was almost three weeks ago now,” Axel said. He’d told me as much already, but a recap wouldn’t hurt.

“Leo took him to the hospital to get some stitches after he ousted a rowdy at the bar,” I summarized. Leo also took him back home. Millie saw him after that. He spent the night there.”

The guys exchanged looks.

“What?” I demanded.

“Nothin’,” Andy said. “We just like Millie. We’re happy for him.”

I nodded. I liked her too. I was happy for him too. I bit back a curse and plunged back in.

“He spent the next night there too, according to Millie. She said he was in a good mood and seemed to feel fine. He wasn’t overly bothered by the blow to the head, apparently.”

“Not surprised. Nobody takes a punch like Tag,” Cory spoke up, admiring. Wistful.

“He was gone before she woke up,” I continued. “There was a text waiting for her. Told her not to worry about him, that he was heading out of town to see his folks. Said it’d been too long.”

“You called his family?” Mikey asked.

“I did. He never showed up there, and he never told them he was coming in the first place, so they weren’t expecting him.”

“He was gonna drive to Dallas? That’s a long drive. Two day trip, each way. At least. Lots of miles to cover. Have you called the highway patrol?” Mikey asked.

I shook my head. “I did. But I don’t think he ever intended to go to Dallas. I think he was just buying himself time. That paperwork is dated six days ago.”

“Buying some time to do what?” Axel asked no one in particular.

“Buying some time to get his shit organized. To make sure things were covered,” I said grimly.