Armie stepped forward. “Armie Jacobson, friend of Leese. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I told him you’d bring her to us, but he didn’t want to wait,” Stack explained. He held out a hand. “Stack Hannigan. Also Leese’s friend.”
She tried a silly smile. “Hello.” And then to Leese, she said, “You fighters sure are big and buff.”
Leese looped an arm around her shoulders, and with his other hand he pointed out each friend, giving Cat their names and allowing each man to make some outrageous remark to her.
Cannon said, “Good catch, Leese.”
“I agree with Miles—she’s too cute for you,” Stack said.
Denver looked her over and announced, “No similarities. That’s a good thing.”
Confused, Cat blinked. “Um...similarities?”
“To my wife.” Denver smiled. “Total opposite, in fact.”
Cat looked to Leese for an explanation.
Put on the spot, he rubbed the back of his neck. “You remember that situation I told you about? The girl who had some trouble? Denver is her husband.”
Cat’s eyes widened with understanding. “Ah,” she said, looking at Denver again, this time with a sly smile. “The foot-dragger.”
Armie choked on a laugh. “Nailed it! In fact, he dragged those big feet so damn long, he almost lost her.”
Cannon slowly pivoted to stare at Armie. “Seriously, you are going to accuse anyone of being slow? That’s a laugh.”
“Brand would have been here,” Armie said, doing his utmost to change the topic. “But he’s fighting soon and caught up in promo.”
“Lucky for you,” Stack said to Leese, “since Brand is still single.” While bobbing his eyebrows, he grinned at Cat.
And on and on it went with the good-natured heckling.
The upside was that Cat couldn’t dwell on problems when the guys kept teasing her, giving her extravagant compliments and doing a hell of a job distracting her.
While Denver entertained her with stories of his wife, Leese got drawn aside by Miles and Justice.
“When you leave,” Miles said, “we’re going to follow. Justice already gave us the address and it can’t hurt to have a little backup just to ensure you get there without being hijacked.”
With Cat’s safety at stake, Leese didn’t object. “Thanks. Appreciate it. Just be sure to be invisible, okay?”
“Definitely. I don’t think a parade would help to keep you off the radar.”
Justice explained how to get to Sahara’s using an alternate route that was a little out of the way, which made it a better, less risky choice.
After half an hour, Leese checked the time. “I want to visit with Enoch before we go.”
As far as hints went, it failed, because everyone decided to join him.
“We’ll just peek in,” Cannon said. “I want to thank the guy who tried to save your hide.”
Leaving Cat with the group just outside Enoch’s room, Leese tapped softly on the door and stepped in. Enoch was awake, and yeah, someone had bludgeoned him pretty badly. One side of his face was a mess, swollen and discolored. That eye was completely closed.
Leese had seen plenty of shiners before, cuts from a perfectly placed elbow, bruises from a hard kick, but this was something altogether different.
Through one barely opened eye, Enoch looked at him. He tried to smile, but the swelling in his face and mouth didn’t make it possible.
“Damn,” Leese said softly, turbulent with a mix of rage and pity.
Sahara stood from her bedside vigil. “I owe him a year’s pay for this.”
Enoch protested with a small shake of his head and somehow, even with the abuse making expressions nearly impossible, he looked ashamed.
Leese saw it, and it killed him. He’d been there, felt shame for what he hadn’t done, what he hadn’t been able to do.
Enoch had no reason to feel that way.
“He’s too proud,” Sahara said, handing Leese another paper. “And he blames himself when he absolutely shouldn’t.”
Leese glanced at the scratchy, nearly illegible writing that partially explained Enoch’s ordeal.
Wanted to know if Cat was inside. Didn’t tell him but he found her picture in my case. Sorry. So sorry.
Approaching the bed, Leese looked down at Enoch. “I don’t have Sahara’s cash flow, but I know there’s not enough money in the world for me to repay you.”
Again, Enoch tried to shake his head.
Sahara whispered, “He thinks he failed.”
“No,” Leese insisted. “You stalled them and that gave us the edge we needed. Cat was there, by the door, and heard them coming in, so she was able to get me from the shower. If they’d come even a minute sooner, she’d have been washing dishes and wouldn’t have known what was happening until it was too late. They might have killed me in the shower, or else I would have come out with no idea where they’d taken her.”
Enoch slowly closed his least injured eye, then gave a small, accepting nod of gratitude.
Leese put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re alive because you’re a badass, Enoch. You have my respect for life.” Then, grinning, Leese said, “And I hope you don’t mind, but a few of my friends, MMA fighters, want to thank you too. Are you up for that? I promise they won’t stay long.”
Enoch’s eye managed to widen, and he gave a single, uncertain nod.
One by one they filed in. Leese noticed that Denver had tucked Cat under one massive arm, while Justice flanked her on the other side.
They were all big men, but those two were behemoths. Between them, Cat looked even more petite.
She also looked a little shell-shocked.
“I like her,” Armie told him. “She’s funny as hell.”
Yeah, Cat did have a sharp wit, usually carved from honesty. He could only imagine what she might have said.
Enoch went stock-still, very watchful, as the guys took turns assessing his injuries. Surrounding his bed, their voices low with concern, firm with appreciation, they shared fight stories and compared injuries.
“I thought I had the biggest of all goose eggs when I got kicked in the forehead,” Stack said, “but damn, Enoch, you have me beat with that beauty.”
“If it swells another inch,” Denver added, “he could pass for a beat-up unicorn.”
“Remember in Rocky, when his eye was like that?” Miles asked.
“Cut me, Mick,” Cannon said in his best Stallone voice. “Enoch’s is better than Rocky’s though.”
“The ladies are going to be so sympathetic,” Armie added. “I almost envy you, dude. I bet you get smothered in the best kind of TLC.”
They continued with the congenial joking until Enoch relaxed, and damn, he even managed a half-baked, crooked smile every so often. When he reached for the paper, Sahara quickly brought it to him.
Feel like a star, he wrote. Thanks.
They all laughed.
Minutes later he was given his pain meds and quietly faded to sleep.
With everyone crowded into the private hospital room, Sahara preened, flirted and did impromptu interviews in case she could sway any of them away from fighting.
To Leese’s surprise, Miles had questions for her. He didn’t commit to anything, but he definitely showed keen interest.