Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO SOLD HIMVictor opened the hotel door and saw the photograph in Cole's hand.
He stopped pretending.
Cole walked inside.
"You knew Ethan."
Victor sat down.
"Yes."
"How well?"
"Well enough."
"That's not an answer."
Victor looked at Ray.
"You told him?"
"The locker did."
Victor's shoulders dropped.
Cole placed the photograph on the table.
"You were with Roman."
"I was young."
"You were thirty-two."
"In boxing, that's young."
Cole almost smiled.
He didn't.
"Tell me."
Victor looked toward Maya.
"Is this privileged?"
Maya answered, "I'm Cole's attorney, not yours."
Victor laughed without humor.
"Of course."
Then he began.
Eight years earlier Victor was an assistant manager trying to break into major boxing.
Roman offered access.
Introductions.
Money.
Fighters.
Victor told himself everyone bent rules.
Then Roman asked him to approach Ethan.
"You delivered the offer?"
Victor nodded.
Cole stared at the man who had stood beside his family at Ethan's funeral.
"Seven hundred fifty thousand."
"Yes."
"Sixth round."
"Yes."
"Body shot."
Victor looked surprised.
"You know everything."
"Not yet."
Victor rubbed his hands.
"Ethan accepted."
"And changed his mind."
"He discovered Roman was manipulating more than individual fights."
"Explain."
"Roman would back certain prospects. Their opponents would get paid to underperform. Rankings got massaged. Promotional opportunities appeared. Fighters who cooperated advanced."
"And fighters who didn't?"
"Lost opportunities."
"Or died?"
Victor looked up sharply.
"I did not kill Ethan."
"I didn't ask that."
Maya spoke.
"What happened before the Velez fight?"
Victor stared at the carpet.
"Ethan had records."
"The ledger?"
Victor looked at Ray.
"You told them."
Ray said nothing.
Victor continued.
"Ethan threatened to go public."
"What did you do?"
Victor's eyes filled with shame.
"I told Roman."
Cole stepped toward him.
Victor raised both hands.
"I thought Roman would scare him. That's all."
"You sold my brother."
"I was scared too."
"How much did he pay you?"
"Fifty thousand."
Cole's jaw clenched.
Fifty thousand dollars.
That was what Victor had valued Ethan's safety at.
"Where was the ledger?"
"I don't know. Ethan moved it."
"You're lying."
"No."
"Then why are you still alive?"
Victor's face hardened.
"Because I spent eight years doing whatever Roman told me."
There it was.
The truth.
Victor hadn't merely become compromised recently.
He had been Roman's man for years.
Cole felt something inside him collapse.
Contracts.
Opponent selections.
Training locations.
Everything.
"Did you arrange my career?"
"I helped it."
"For Roman?"
"No."
"Answer carefully."
Victor stood.
"Cole, you were good enough to become champion without anybody."
"That isn't what I asked."
Victor looked away.
"Roman liked having you close."
Cole understood.
Ethan's younger brother.
A useful fighter.
A potential asset.
Maybe Roman had been waiting for tonight for years.
Victor whispered, "There is a ledger."
Maya leaned forward.
"You've seen it?"
"Roman keeps current records differently now. Encrypted accounts, coded names. But I know enough."
"Enough for what?"
"To destroy him."
Cole stared.
"Where?"
Victor hesitated.
"If I give it to you, I'm dead."
Cole stepped closer.
"If you don't, tomorrow I walk into a ring Roman already bought."
Victor looked at him.
Then something like resolve appeared.
"I can get access."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Too late."
"It's the only time Roman's attention will be on the fight."
Maya asked, "Can you copy it?"
Victor nodded.
Cole looked at him.
"Do it."
Victor swallowed.
"There's something else you should know."
Cole waited.
"Darius didn't start with Roman because of gambling."
"What do you mean?"
"His mother got sick six years ago. Cancer. No insurance good enough for the treatment they wanted."
Cole felt the shape of the trap before Victor finished.
"Roman paid."
"Everything."
"And Darius owed him."
Victor nodded.
"Roman doesn't buy people when they're greedy."
May you like
He looked at Cole.
"He buys them when they're desperate."
Related Stories
