"Axel, glad to see you here," Hayden said, but he looked a little sick, a little green around the gills.
"What's up, Hayden, why are you here?" Axel asked.
"I wanted to come and make amends to you," Hayden said. He was twisting his fingers together nervously; it was an odd gesture Axel had never noticed him make before. "Maybe this thing with this girl will work out for the best. You've been training hard. So maybe sometime next week I can meet her and get to know her."
"You don't have to wait until next week. She's right inside." Axel said gesturing to the dark house behind him.
"What?!" Hayden's face went white and he took a step back as his eyes flicked wildly around. It was only for a moment, but Axel saw all of it. Hayden recovered quickly he cleared his throat and stammered. "Now might not be a good time, maybe later."
"What?" Axel demanded. Hayden was backing away from him. Axel followed staying near the other man. "Why would you want to wait? How did you know I was here? What's going on?"
"Nothing is going on. I just don't think now is a good time. I'm still trying to get used to the idea...you know?"
"Why are you trying to leave?" Axel demanded. Ice poured through his veins. His every moment was spent preparing for moments like this. He remembered to breathe and look around him, but he kept his eyes on Hayden, his opponent. "What is going on with you? I've never seen you act like this."
"It's nothing," Hayden reached for the door, but Axel got there right after him and he slammed his hand down and closed the door before Hayden could open it more than an inch. Hayden tried to pull the door open, but Axel was stronger and nothing moved. "This is what I warned you about!" Hayden hissed glancing back and the road from where he had come from. "I told you that girl was trouble and now there's trouble. I warned you about this."
"How do you know there's trouble?" Axel demanded. His voice was low and he felt dangerously close to the edge. It was only too easy to imagine smashing Hayden's head against the car's window. But he held himself back. He needed information more than he needed that.
"That girl came between us. A girl. We promised that would never happen. Don't you remember? We were in the eighth grade and we promised on our fathers' graves that we would never let a girl come between us."
"You're talking about something we said when we were twelve," Axel said. He couldn't quite believe this was really happening.
"I gave up my life so yours would be better," Hayden said. He was shaking and it looked like he was on the verge of tears. Axel took a step back. He had no idea what was happening with his own best friend. "I gave up boxing so I could make you better. I gave up on my own life so I could support yours. No wife, no children, I've never lived anywhere other than this town and it's all because of you. I made that sacrifice for you and what have you done for me?"
"I never asked you to do any of that," Axel yelled. "You could have left at anytime. I'm not the reason you don't have a life, you are. Did you call Marie's ex? How did you even find out about him?"
"I did my homework!" Hayden screamed. "I had her followed. I checked her background. These are all things that I do for you."
"And then you contacted her ex. He used to hit her. He's dangerous!" How was it possible Hayden had done this? "I love her. I told you that. And you still did this? How could you?"
"She's bad news. You can do better. She's going to mess you up! She's going to ruin everything; can't you see that?" Hayden's eyes were wild. He looked like a cornered animal.
Axel stared at his oldest friend and took a step back. He didn't know Hayden, maybe he never really had. He wasn't a friend anymore. "You're crazy," Axel said. His voice was low, but there was no threat in it. Hayden wasn't worth the threat. He was a weak man and Axel felt a sudden aversion to him. He wanted nothing to do with him ever again. But he could still use him. "So you've been in contact with Austin?" Axel demanded.
Hayden's eyes shifted and he finally nodded his head.
"Give me your phone." Axel held out his hand.
"Don't do this, Axel," Hayden said. "Think about your career. Think of the time and effort you put into being the best. You're going to throw it all away for her?"
"Give me the damn phone," Axel said. He reached forward and grabbed Hayden by the collar and pushed him back up against the car.
"F-f-f-fine," Hayden stuttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out and pulled up Austin's number.
Axel let Hayden go and watched as he dialed the number. He then grabbed the phone and took a step away and listened as the other end of the line rang.
"Finally, I've been trying to call you. Don't you ever miss so many calls from me again."
"Is this Austin St. Clare," Axel said into the phone.
There was a long pause and the voice said, "Yes. This is Austin St. Clare. Who am I speaking with?"
"You know who I am," Axel growled into the phone.
"I also know where you are: 447 Sycamore Grove."
Axel's heart stopped in chest, but he stayed calm and waited a moment to speak. "Marie isn't coming with you. So why don't you just turn around and go home."
"All right. I'll go home. But I'm taking my daughter with me. It's Marie's choice whether or not she comes with Cate."
"You're really going to threaten a little girl? What kind of man are you?"
"I'm the kind of man who wins. I run a very powerful business. I am tired of looking for Marie. She needs to come to me, now, and there doesn't need to be any violence. Let me talk to her. I can make her see my view." His voice was oily and repulsive.
"She doesn't want to talk to you. You need to leave town."
"I am getting very impatient here. I'm spending a lot of money bringing all my men up here plus I had to bribe your coach for Marie's address. It's frustrating because I know in the end she'll come home. This is just a very long and expensive diversion. So why don't we do this: you tell Marie to meet me at your gym by nine o'clock. And don't even think of coming in her place, Connelly. I'm far from alone and while you are a great fighter, I have an entire team here that knows how to fight. When Marie asks you what I said, tell her to meet me at your gym."
The call ended and Axel looked down at the phone in his hand. He would have to go. That was his first and only thought. He obviously wasn't sending Marie and he didn't want Austin coming here, so Axel would have to go to him.
"It would be nice to know a friend had my back right now." Axel snarled at Hayden. "But I'll have to do without this time." He reached into the garage and pulled out a roll of duct tape. Hayden saw what he was about to do and he tried to scrambled back, but Axel grabbed his hands and quickly unrolled the duct tape, taping his hands together.
"What are you doing?" Hayden demanded.
"You're coming with me," Axel said. He took one look back at the house. He could see Marie and his mother looking at him through the window. They were waiting for him to come back in. They would have a thousand questions. If he went back in there the jig would be up. They would never let him go. They would want to call the police and this would get drawn out. It might never end. Axel had once chance to free Marie from Austin's clutches forever. He wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. He loved Marie. He would do anything to protect her. Axel turned away and shoved Hayden into the passenger seat and then got into the driver's seat and put the car into drive.
"Axel, please-" Hayden started.
"No," Axel interrupted. "Don't bother trying to change my mind. If you're still my friend then you will use this time to help me. What do you know about Austin? What are his weak points?"
"I don't know," Hayden admitted. "I only just met him today. I tried to warn her, Axel. I tried to get her out of town. I didn't want any of this-"
"Stop! How many men does he have with him?"
"About ten."
"Ten men? Just to go get his ex-girlfriend. Was he going to kidnap her?"
"I don't know. We never discussed to details." Hayden said shaking his head. His hands were duct tape together and he was trying to twist them through the restraints.
"How many weapons does he have?"
"A lot," Hayden admitted. "He has machine guns, glock nines, pistols..."
"How did he get them on a plane?" Austin demanded. But Hayden just shook his head. Axel sped up the car spinning out around corners as he raced to the gym. He was on Main Street. The sun was low on the horizon and it would be dark soon. He pulled the car around back and parked in the lot.