Chapter 116: The Challenge
The second vehicle rolled to a stop inside the compound just after midnight.
Ben was still unconscious in the back, zip-tied and slumped against the door. The product, the cash, and the ledger had already been transferred to Dexter’s people.
Vargas’s team moved with quiet efficiency as they pulled Ben out and dragged him into a low concrete building near the rear of the property. Liam followed without a word.
Inside, the room was bare. A single bulb hung from the ceiling. A metal chair sat in the center of the stained floor.
They dropped Ben into it and secured his arms behind the backrest. One of the men filled a bucket from a nearby tap and set it down near Liam’s feet.
Dexter stood near the far wall, sleeves rolled up, expression unreadable. He looked at Ben for a long moment, then at Liam.
"I’ll be outside," he said. "Need a smoke."
He walked out. The door closed behind him with a heavy click. Most of the men followed, leaving only Vargas and two others near the entrance.
Liam picked up the bucket.
The cold water hit Ben full in the face. He jerked hard against the restraints, choking and gasping as he came awake.
Water streamed down his collar and soaked his shirt. For several seconds he only stared around the room in disoriented panic. Then his eyes locked on Liam.
Recognition and terror hit him at the same time.
"No... no, wait" His voice was raw. "Please. Please don’t."Liam set the empty bucket down and said nothing.
Ben’s breathing turned rapid and shallow. "I don’t know who you are. I swear I don’t. Whatever this is about, we can fix it. I have money. I can get more. Just just don’t kill me."
Still nothing from Liam.
Ben swallowed hard. His voice cracked as he continued, the words spilling out in a desperate rush.
"I didn’t want any of this. You have to believe me. I was drowning in debt. Bad people. They don’t accept payment plans. They were going to hurt my sister if I didn’t find a way.
So when the opportunity came... the shipment... I took it. I thought I could sell enough to clear everything and disappear. I never wanted to drag her into it. I swear on my life I didn’t."
Tears mixed with the water still dripping from his hair."I’ve been running ever since. Sleeping in different places every night. Looking over my shoulder. I just wanted to fix it and get out. That’s all."
Liam remained silent, watching him.Ben’s eyes suddenly widened as the full realization settled in. His face went pale.
"It’s him, isn’t it?" His voice dropped to a terrified whisper. "Dexter. He’s the one who wants me. Oh god. He’s going to kill me. Please." He leaned forward as far as the restraints allowed, voice breaking.
"Please, you have to help me. You’re not like them. I can see it. Please don’t let him kill me. I’ll do anything. I’ll disappear. You’ll never hear from me again. Just don’t leave me here with him."
Liam looked at him for a long moment."Not my business," he said quietly.Ben’s face crumpled.
The door opened.
Dexter stepped back inside, the smell of cigarette smoke clinging to him. He took one look at Ben’s wet, terrified face and smiled without any humor.
"Good. You’re awake."
He walked straight over and drove a heavy fist into Ben’s stomach. The air left Ben in a violent rush. Before he could recover, Dexter hit him again, this time across the jaw. Blood sprayed from his lip. The chair rocked hard but stayed upright.
Dexter didn’t stop.
He worked with methodical cruelty body shots that made Ben fold and choke, open-handed strikes across the face that split skin, knees driven into his thighs and ribs.
Ben’s pleas turned into wet, broken sounds. Blood ran freely down his chin and dripped onto his soaked shirt. One eye began to swell shut. A cut opened above the other.
Vargas and the remaining men watched without expression.
When Ben’s head slumped forward and his breathing turned ragged and shallow, Dexter grabbed a fistful of his hair and forced his face up.
"You took from me," Dexter said, voice flat. "You don’t get to run."He raised his fist again.
Liam’s hand closed around Dexter’s wrist.
The room went dead still.
Dexter turned his head slowly and looked at Liam. Around them, metal clicked as multiple guns were drawn and leveled. Every barrel pointed at Liam’s center mass.
Dexter’s voice was dangerously quiet."What the fuck do you think you’re doing?"Liam didn’t release his wrist.
"We never agreed on killing him," he said. "You said you wanted your goods back. They’re here. Cash too. Ledger’s in your people’s hands. You don’t have to kill him."
Dexter stared at him. Then he laughed a short, sharp sound with no real amusement in it.
"You don’t get to set rules in my place. You don’t get to tell me what happens to the man who stole from me. I’m the boss here."
Liam’s mouth curved slightly."I don’t give a fuck who’s boss."The guns remained steady. No one spoke.Liam continued, voice calm.
"We settle it the old way. You and me. Hand to hand. Winner decides what happens to him."
For several seconds the only sound in the room was Ben’s wet, labored breathing.
Dexter’s expression changed. The faint humor drained out of it, replaced by something colder and more focused. He pulled his wrist free of Liam’s grip and took a step back.
"Clear the center," he ordered.
His men hesitated.
"Now."
They lowered their weapons and began moving. Someone dragged Ben’s chair to the wall. Others pushed the few pieces of furniture aside until a wide, open space remained under the single hanging bulb.
Vargas watched Liam with a tight expression. A few of the more experienced fighters exchanged glances. They had seen what Liam did in the warehouse. They knew this would not be simple.
The door at the far end of the room opened hard enough to hit the wall.
A large man stepped through.
He was taller than everyone else present, heavily muscled, and covered in dark tattoos that ran from his hands up under the sleeves of his shirt and along the side of his neck.
His presence alone made several of the younger men step aside without being told. He moved like someone who had never learned to walk quietly because he had never needed to.
Jack.
He took in the cleared space, the two men facing each other, and the tension in the room. A wide, eager grin spread across his face.
"Well," he said, voice deep and rough with excitement. "Looks like I showed up at the right time."
He pushed a couple of men aside without effort and found a place along the wall where he could see everything. Vargas and three of the top fighters shifted slightly, ready to intervene if he tried to join. Jack only cracked his neck and kept grinning, eyes locked on Liam and Dexter.
Dexter rolled his shoulders and stepped into the open space.
Liam did the same.
The room had gone completely silent except for Ben’s weak, rattling breaths against the wall and the low sound of Jack’s knuckles cracking one after another in anticipation.
Dexter raised his hands.
Liam mirrored him.
The single bulb swung gently overhead, casting moving shadows across the concrete floor as the two men faced each other and the real fight prepared to begin.