Slowly she began to talk, and she told me the most improbably story I had ever heard in my life.
Madison used to work for Ultimate Fighter Championship, or UFC, the most famous MMA league in the United States. She lived in Las Vegas back then and was working her way up in the company as a member of the public relations group.
As a PR person, she worked with the fighters constantly. That was how she met Trent. At first, she said, she hated Trent, but slowly she fell in love with him. Apparently he was persistent, and although I wasn’t interested in the details of their courtship, she decided to tell me way too many anyway.
Finally, though, she and Trent got together. Back then, she had no clue who I was or who Cole was, and she had no plans to ever bother us. But things had changed when she had applied for an internship at Cindy’s company a few months ago.
“I never thought I’d get it,” Madison said. “But I did, and Trent agreed to move to the Bay area with me. I guess Cindy liked me, because after a month of the internship, she fired her old personal assistant and hired me.”
I listened as she talked about the nightmares of that job and how stressful it had been when the companies had merged. She said she wasn’t really that ambitious, but Cindy was teaching her a lot.
The blackmail happened by accident. Madison had hired Marla to take some pictures of the event, mostly of Cindy’s family just in case any gossip magazines wanted a scoop about the scandalous company marriage. She said she was in the habit of doing that just to make some cash on the side, another one of Trent’s ideas. She said she never expected to find what she found.
“Actually,” she said, “it wasn’t me that figured it out. When Marla gave me the pictures, I didn’t think anything of them at first. Trent found them buried in a pile of a bunch of boring other shots.”
“And that was when it happened?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Trent knew what it was right away. He recognized Cole and he knew all about the drama, of course. He actually is a good listener.”
“Okay, Madison,” I said, annoyed. “I don’t care if Trent is a good listener.”
“Sorry. After that, he took the pictures and said he knew what to do with them. I thought he was going to sell them to some magazine, not blackmail you. Anyway, he made me go back to Marla and get more.”
“So you didn’t know we were being blackmailed.”
She shook her head. “No! No, I swear.”
I stared at her for a long time. The story seemed incredibly improbable, but it made a kind of sense. She was lying, of course, at least according to Marla’s story, but it was amazing that Trent and Cole would end up so closely linked. It was a near miracle, but it had happened.
“Madison,” I said, “I need you to get the pictures back for me.”
She looked at me for a second and then burst out crying again. “I can’t!” she wailed.
“Okay, okay,” I said, patting her back. “Why not?”
“Trent dumped me!”
I almost laughed out loud. The poor, pathetic girl. She clearly had been used by Trent, and the second he got what he needed, he had moved on.
It was disappointing. I had been so close, but apparently I was still too far away. The real blackmailer, the final piece of the puzzle, was Trent himself.
As Madison slowly stopped sobbing, I knew that my part in the whole thing was coming to a close. I knew that once I told Cole about Trent, he would lose his shit and probably try to kill the guy.
But once I convinced him not to do something stupid, I knew he’d take care of it. Even though it seemed so insane and impossible, I knew Cole would come out on top.
As I comforted Madison, I knew it was almost finished.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Madison got herself together. She told me that she was sorry and never meant for any of it to happen, but it didn’t matter. I felt bad enough for the pathetic girl to forgive her anyway.
I walked her to the elevator and watched her get in.
“I’m sorry again,” she said.
“Forget it. I’ll take care of Trent.”
“Tell him I said he’s a fucking piece of human shit.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
The elevator doors shut.
I turned and walked back toward downtown. My heart was racing in my chest. I didn’t want to tell Cole, but I knew I had to.
I was afraid, but I was excited. It was finally coming to an end.
16
Cole
As the fight drew nearer, my life became more and more focused. That was how it always happened. The things that swirled around my life and caused me stress, and even the things that I enjoyed, they all were swept aside as I prepared myself.