Blood Cost Extra
Blood cost extra at Apex Combat Academy.
Pride came free.
The luxury gym occupied the corner of a rapidly changing district where old brick warehouses had been converted into glass apartment towers, where private clinics had replaced hardware stores, and where a cup of coffee could cost more than a construction worker earned in an hour.
Apex belonged there.
It had everything wealthy people wanted when they wanted to feel dangerous.
There was a cryotherapy chamber beside the locker rooms. An espresso bar near reception. Private recovery rooms with massage tables. Imported training equipment. Spotless showers. Climate-controlled locker rooms. Membership plans expensive enough to resemble monthly car payments.
The walls were covered with photographs of fighters.
Some were champions.
Some had never won a professional bout.
It didn't matter.
They all looked powerful in photographs.
Young executives arrived after work in tailored shirts and expensive watches. They changed into designer athletic clothes, wrapped their hands, hit pads for an hour, took photographs of themselves sweating, and returned to their offices or restaurants feeling as though they had conquered something.
Nobody ever photographed Thomas Decker.
Thomas was forty-eight.
He wore faded navy work shirts, gray trousers, and heavy rubber-soled shoes. His hair had turned gray around the temples, though he kept it short.
He spoke when necessary.
He remained silent when silence was easier.
Every afternoon, he pushed the same yellow mop bucket across the same charcoal-colored mats.
He cleaned fingerprints from mirrors.
He emptied trash cans.
He replaced paper towels.
He washed blood from training surfaces.
He carried laundry.
He fixed things when he could and reported them when he could not.
Most members barely noticed him.
Thomas preferred it that way.
There was freedom in being invisible.
People rarely asked questions of men they considered part of the furniture.
Nobody asked what Thomas had done before Apex.
Nobody wondered about the faint limp in his right leg.
Nobody noticed the scars across his hands because they assumed the scars came from years of cleaning, lifting, and repairing equipment.
They did not.
Thomas liked simple problems.
A dirty floor was dirty.
You cleaned it.
A full trash can was full.
You emptied it.
A broken mop handle needed replacing.
You replaced it.
Simple problems had simple answers.
That was the opposite of the life Thomas had once lived.
Six years earlier, he had worn a different kind of uniform.
Six years earlier, people had waited for him to make decisions.
And when he made the wrong decision, people sometimes died.
Thomas had no desire to return to that world.
So he had chosen a mop.
Nobody saluted a mop.
Nobody expected a mop to save them.
That was exactly the point.
At two o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, Thomas was cleaning the training mats while the sharp rhythm of leather against heavy canvas echoed from the elevated cage.
Inside it, Preston Harrington was working a heavy bag.
Preston was twenty-two.
He had money, athletic ability, expensive coaching, and enough insecurity to make all three dangerous.
His father, Richard Harrington, owned Harrington Development Group, one of the largest private real-estate companies in the city.
Richard also financially supported Apex's amateur fight team.
Preston reminded people of that whenever they failed to give him what he wanted.
He was talented.
Thomas could admit that.
Preston had fast hands.
His kicks were technically clean.
His hips were strong.
His footwork was better than average.
With proper discipline, he might eventually have become a serious fighter.
But discipline was the one thing money had never been able to purchase for him.
"Time!" Dmitri Gray called.
Dmitri owned Apex.
He was a retired regional boxer with damaged ears, aching knees, and the permanent expression of a man who spent every month wondering which bill would arrive next.
Preston stopped striking the bag.
He looked around the gym.
He wanted to make sure people had been watching.
His friends Cole and Brett stood near the cage.
"Looking sharp," Cole said.
Preston grinned.
"Bag's too easy."
Dmitri handed him a bottle of water.
"Then work your footwork."
"I want a moving target."
"The pro team isn't here until tonight."
Preston looked around.
His eyes landed on Greg Mason.
Greg was forty, overweight, polite, and had joined Apex after his doctor told him that spending twelve hours a day behind an accounting desk was not technically a healthy lifestyle.
Preston pointed.
"Greg. Gloves."
Greg looked up.
"What?"
"Three rounds."
Greg gave an uncomfortable laugh.
"No. I'm doing cardio at three."
"I'll go light."
Dmitri's expression changed.
"Leave him alone, Preston."
"I said I'll go light."
"He isn't cleared for open sparring."
Preston stared at him.
"I pay for premium access."
Dmitri's shoulders lowered.
Thomas noticed.
Everyone noticed.
Richard Harrington's money paid for coaches.
It helped fund travel.
It bought equipment.
Lately, it had even helped cover part of Apex's rent.
Greg eventually put on gloves.
Thomas kept cleaning.
For a long time, he had promised himself that he was finished solving other people's problems.
The bell rang.
For thirty seconds, Preston behaved.
Then his ego became bored.
His punches grew harder.
Greg backed toward the cage, his arms tight against his body.
"Relax," Preston said.
Greg tried.
Preston changed levels and fired upward.
His glove caught Greg directly across the nose.
The sound was sharp.
Greg stumbled.
Blood immediately ran between his fingers.
"Damn it," Preston muttered.
Not because Greg was hurt.
Because blood had splashed across the clean mat.
Dmitri rushed inside.
"I said light!"
"He walked into it."
Greg sat against the cage.
Thomas quietly rolled his bucket toward them.
He handed Dmitri clean towels.
"Forward," Thomas said. "Don't tilt his head back."
Dmitri nodded.
"Thanks, Tom."
Thomas cleaned the blood.
Tight circles.
Disinfectant.
Paper towels.
Biohazard container.
Preston approached.
"Get all of it, Chief. Don't want anybody slipping."
Thomas said nothing.
He finished cleaning.
As he turned, his shoulder barely brushed Preston's arm.