Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN FROM THE COMMISSIONMaya Bennett answered Cole's call on the third ring.
"You understand it's almost midnight?"
"I need a lawyer."
"Then call your lawyer."
"I called you."
Silence.
Eight years ago, that silence would have meant something different.
Before law school.
Before Ethan died.
Before Cole decided grief could be outrun if he trained hard enough.
He and Maya had been together for almost two years.
Then Ethan died, and Cole transformed every emotion he possessed into boxing.
Maya eventually stopped waiting for him to come back.
"What happened?" she asked.
Cole told her enough to get her attention.
Not everything.
Thirty minutes later she arrived at Ray's house wearing jeans, boots and a black blazer over a white T-shirt.
At thirty-three, Maya had the composed confidence of someone used to entering rooms where older men assumed she could be ignored.
They usually learned otherwise.
She listened without interrupting.
Roman.
The money.
The threat.
Ethan.
When Cole finished, Maya looked at Ray.
"You knew Ethan had been approached to fix a fight?"
"Yes."
"And didn't report it?"
Ray looked ashamed.
"Ethan begged me not to."
"That isn't an answer."
"It's the one I've got."
Maya turned to Cole.
"You cannot publicly accuse Roman Drake of murdering your brother."
"I didn't say I would."
"Your face says you might do something worse."
Cole leaned against the kitchen counter.
"What do you know about him?"
"Enough to tell you he's careful."
"That's not an answer either."
Maya sighed.
"My consulting work brings me into contact with commission investigators and sports integrity people. Roman's name has surfaced around unusual betting activity before."
"Surfaced how?"
"Never where someone could prove anything."
"Fixed fights?"
"Suspected. Rumored. Nothing that survived scrutiny."
Ray spoke.
"Because people get scared."
Maya looked at him.
"Or because rumors aren't evidence."
Cole handed her his phone.
She examined the texts and photograph.
"Don't delete anything."
"I know."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Maya looked at him.
"This isn't the nineteen-nineties. If you think somebody is trying to manipulate a sanctioned championship fight, there are people who can investigate it."
"Before tomorrow?"
"Maybe not the entire network. But enough to increase security and preserve evidence."
"No."
Maya stared at him.
"No?"
"If we make noise now, Roman knows I'm talking."
"He already threatened you."
"He threatened me because I wouldn't lose. He doesn't know I know about Ethan."
Ray shook his head.
"He sent Ethan's photo."
"He knows Cole knows something," Maya said.
Cole looked between them.
"Who benefits if I cancel?"
Maya understood immediately.
"Roman."
"Exactly."
"If the fix depends on you fighting, canceling ruins his plan."
"Or he puts another one together in six months."
Maya folded her arms.
"Cole, this isn't about proving you're brave."
"I'm not trying to prove anything."
"Good. Because bravery without information is stupidity."
For a moment they looked at each other exactly as they had years earlier.
She had always been the one person capable of telling him he was being an idiot without making him angry.
Almost.
Maya walked to the kitchen table.
"Who's your opponent's promoter?"
"Leonard Shaw."
"Who financed his last three major events?"
Cole frowned.
"No idea."
"I do."
She opened her phone.
"Drake Capital Entertainment."
Cole stared.
"Roman."
"Through two subsidiaries."
Ray swore quietly.
Maya continued.
"Darius Kane's team has received substantial promotional support from companies connected to Roman."
"That doesn't prove Darius is involved."
"No."
Cole remembered Roman's confidence.
Tomorrow, you lose.
Not try to lose.
Not make it close.
Lose.
"You think Darius knows?"
Maya looked at him.
"I think tomorrow night's fight is connected to Roman somehow."
The next afternoon the official weigh-in answered part of the question.
Darius Kane stepped onto the stage beneath a wall of lights and camera flashes.
Six feet four.
Two hundred forty pounds.
Undefeated.
A gifted boxer with explosive power and the polished arrogance expected from an athlete whose face appeared on billboards across Las Vegas.
Cole stepped forward for the staredown.
The crowd roared.
Darius smirked for the cameras.
Cole didn't.
Then Cole noticed someone beside the stage.
Roman Drake.
Their eyes met.
Roman smiled.
Darius followed Cole's gaze.
For the first time, the undefeated champion's expression changed.
Fear.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But Cole saw it.
When they leaned closer for the cameras, Darius barely moved his lips.
"You should've taken the money."
Cole's eyes narrowed.
Darius kept smiling for the photographers.
"Why?"
The champion's smile never moved.
"Because now he thinks he has to teach you."
May you like
Then the photographers shouted for them to face forward.
And Darius Kane stepped away.
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