Bullies Choke New Girl — Unaware She's A Deadly MMA Fighter
Chapter 28
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They walked the fairgrounds together—past the diesel demonstration tent, past a table selling raffle tickets for a shotgun nobody in this county needed, but everybody wanted anyway. Dean Whitfield spotted them near the welding booth and crossed the crowd with a tightness in his shoulders that hadn't been there the week before."Mr. Boone," he said. "Ren. Glad you both came.""Wouldn't have missed it," Silas said, studying the man's face; something in it had shifted since their last conversation—less armor, more weight."I need to tell you something," Whitfield said quietly, glancing around to make sure nobody stood close enough to hear. "I watched the footage from the storage room. All of it." Ren's breath caught slightly. "I should have watched it the first day," Whitfield continued. "I didn't. I let a phone call from a councilman decide what I was willing to see. That's on me, and I know it.""What are you going to do about it now?" Silas asked."I brought a copy today," Whitfield said, "on a drive in my jacket. I haven't decided the right moment yet, but I intend to make sure the truth doesn't stay buried in my desk drawer any longer."Silas studied him a long moment, then nodded once—the closest thing to forgiveness the morning had room for yet. "Today's going to give you plenty of moments to choose from," Silas said. "Make sure you pick a good one."Silas found Duke near the raffle table, arms crossed, watching the crowd with the same quiet alertness he'd carried his whole life."You look like a man expecting weather," Duke said."I am," Silas replied. "Voss knows I've been digging. Question is how far he's willing to go to keep it buried.""You think he'd try something here, in front of half the county?""Men like Voss don't get their hands dirty themselves," Silas said. "They send somebody else to do the dirty part, and keep their own hands clean enough to shake at the ribbon cutting after."Duke nodded slowly, scanning the crowd out of old habit—the same watchfulness that had kept both men alive through harder years than this one. "I've got four of the boys posted around the fairgrounds," Duke said. "Nothing obvious. Just eyes.""Appreciate it.""You think Ren's ready for whatever today throws at her?"Silas looked out across the field toward the stage, where Ren stood talking quietly with Odessa, the crowd beginning to gather for the afternoon's events. "She's been ready longer than she knows," Silas said. "Question was never whether she's ready; question was always whether the world was going to give her a fair enough moment to prove it.""And is it?"Silas's jaw tightened slightly, some old instinct stirring under his ribs. "Not yet," he said. "But it's about to."