Erica Orloff - Knockout

“What about Terry, though? All those brothers and sisters looking for a handout. They call here with their problems—can I borrow a thousand for a down payment on a new car, my kid needs braces. Whatever. One even called begging for money so he could start this ‘sure thing’ business selling water filters or something. Multilevel marketing. A scam.”

“Yeah, but remember when Terry came back? He wanted to win so badly he could taste it.”

Terry had swallowed a lot of pride to come back and train with Deacon and me. As it was, a lot of people in the fight biz assumed once my father got sent to prison, the Rooney fighters would leave in droves. After all, they were used to training with two champions. Not one champion and one girl. Terry had walked out just at the sight of me. But when he came back to the Rooney camp, he was willing to train with a girl, willing to do anything to win.

“Maybe you’re right, Deacon. I don’t know. Since Miguel lost so badly, since Crystal, I’m paranoid as hell.”

“Me, too,” he said quietly. “How’s Baby Girl?” He had taken to calling Destiny that.

I shrugged. “How could she be doing? Her mother was murdered, she’s sent out to the desert to a camp with a bunch of virtual strangers. She’s suffering, the poor thing.”

“You know sooner or later Rob’s going to come out here with an order to take her. If we’re lucky, he’ll be able to do it without all of us getting arrested.”

I looked on the wall at a picture of me when I was Destiny’s age. Maybe I had grown up in gyms that reeked of sweat, watching men try to beat each other up, but it was an idyllic childhood in many ways. I had always known I was loved.

“I’m going to check on her.” I kissed Deacon on the cheek and left the office and walked down the long hall to the bedroom Destiny and I shared. We had decided after her trauma, it would be best if she could look over and see me there next to her at night.

The light was on. She insisted on it, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to argue with her after all she had been through. The TV was on, too, “for company.” She was watching the Wiggles video, which was her favorite. She watched it over and over and over again. I was getting rather sick of The Wiggles. Five men in asexual turtlenecks singing songs and prancing about with an octopus. Kind of weird.

She was still awake.

“Hey there, sweetie pie. Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head.

I sat next to her and stroked her cheek. “I know things are really scary right now. Really confusing. But I promise you I’m going to take care of you. Do you know that, at least?”

She nodded. “My mommy said you were her best friend. You and Big Jimmy were her two favorite people in the world—except for me. I was her favoritest favorite.”

I smiled. “What about Tony? Wasn’t he one of her favorites?”

She scrunched up her face. “She said it was complicated.”

“Yeah, well, with grown-ups, sometimes life is pretty complicated.”

“I saw him, you know.”

“Who, honey?”

“That bad man. Tonight. I heard the crash, and then I looked out the window. I saw him and hid under the bed.”

“Benny Bonita?”

She nodded, wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry, he’s gone.”

“I know,” she whispered. “He scared my mommy.”

“How do you know that?”

“She said so.”

I slid down so that I was lying next to her on the king-size bed. “You know, let’s not think about all this right now. Let’s get some sleep, okay?”

“Can we say prayers?”

My father was steadfastly agnostic. Deacon filled my head with the Lord this and the Lord that. And as for me, praying wasn’t my strong suit. “Sure kid. You have one in mind?”

“No. I just say God bless Mommy. And God bless Big Jimmy. And God bless Auntie Jack. And God bless Uncle Deacon. Amen. Oh, yeah. And, God? Please make Mr. Bonita stay far, far away.”

“I’ll say amen to that,” I whispered, and held her hand until she fell asleep.

The next morning, early, Destiny woke me up. I groaned. “Kid…it’s way too early to get up. Why don’t you watch those wiggle-worm guys.”

She giggled. “The Wiggles.”

“Yeah. Them.” I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head.

“I’m hungry.”

“Go get yourself something to eat,” I said from under the covers.

“Like what?”

“Deacon will make you a smoothie.”

“He makes gross ones.”

“There’s leftover jambalaya in the fridge.”

“Yuck. For breakfast?”

“I’ve been eating cold leftovers for breakfast since before you were born. They’re good for you.”

“Breakfast is s’posed to be something like cereal or pancakes.”

“That’s a conspiracy dreamed up by Mr. Kellogg and Mr. Post.”

“You’re not very good at baby-sitting,” she said.

So the little pip-squeak guilted me into getting up. I pulled on a robe and shuffled out to the kitchen where Deacon—who always rises before dawn—was sipping a smoothie the color of what the devil spewed in The Exorcist. It was enough to make me gag.

“Hello, Baby Girl.” Deacon smiled at Destiny. “Hello, not-so-baby girl.” He looked up at me.

“Don’t press your luck,” I snapped. “The kid here wants breakfast food. Pancakes or cereal.”

“How about eggs?” Deacon smiled at her again. I remembered that smile. He was always smiling at me when I was little, seemingly delighted just to be around me.

“I don’t like eggs.”

“Pancakes it is, then.”

Deacon rose from his chair and started opening up cabinets, looking for Bisquick and syrup. As he puttered, the doorbell rang. Deacon and I exchanged glances.

“I’ll get it,” Deacon said grimly. The ranch was far enough off the beaten path that no one showed up there unless he or she was really looking for us—good or bad.

I immediately pulled Destiny over on my lap and eyed the butcher block full of knives that was two feet from us on the counter. I’d never let anyone take her without a fight.

I listened for sounds of a scuffle, but didn’t hear any.

“Look who,” Deacon said, coming back a minute or so later with Rob in tow.

“Rob!” I gave Destiny a hug, then slid her off my lap and jumped up to give Rob a bear hug. “God, is it good to see you.”

“This beats the ‘No, I’m not going to marry you yet’ greeting.” He hugged me back, and as usual, I could feel his chest against mine, solid and absolutely rock hard.

“Well, I can tell you we’re not getting married in the midst of all this chaos.”

“Believe it or not, I’m with you on that. This case gets weirder and weirder.” He looked over at Destiny and then walked over to the table where she sat. I don’t even know if she recognized him from the night her mother was killed. I was amazed at her resilience so far, but that night, she had to have been in shock. Deacon said her teeth had chattered for four straight hours after he got her to the ranch. Then she’d passed out, exhausted.

Rob knelt in front of her, I assumed to make himself less imposing. “Hi, Destiny. I’m Jack’s friend, Rob. I’m a policeman, and I catch bad guys. And I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you or Jack, okay?”

She nodded. Rob tousled her hair.

Deacon opened a cabinet door. “I was just getting ready to make Baby Girl pancakes. It’s good to have a child around this old ranch again.”

“Pancakes? You like pancakes?” Rob looked at Destiny. She nodded again. “You sure you wouldn’t rather have toasted spider legs?”

I watched Destiny stifle a giggle. She shook her head.

“What about fried cactus?”