Follow Me (Caged Hearts Book 3) (6 page)

Chapter 20

Kait ignored the ache behind her eyes and continued to stare at the screen of the laptop which was resting upon her knees. She was back in her own apartment with just hours to go before Jasper’s big fight. She’d told him she wanted to head home to change, but really she wanted a chance to search for more information about Carl Santino and the strange energy drink he kept feeding to Jasper.

She researched tasteless energy drinks and found nothing conclusive. Then she researched banned energy drinks and struggling to find anything that fit the description of what Carl was giving Jasper. It looked and tasted like water, but then why was Carl so against Jasper actually consuming plain old H2O? It made no sense and left Kait feeling baffled.

Her head started to throb from the onslaught of information she was presenting it with. She felt like she was trying to put together a jigsaw with half of the pieces missing. If only she had enough to just get a glimpse of the whole picture, she’d know what to do.

The sound of her phone ringing made her jump. Pulling her gaze away from the brightly lit laptop screen, Kait answered the call.

“Hey.”

“Hey, babe,” Jasper sounded achingly close on the other end of the line.

“Hey, handsome. How are you holding up?”

“I’m feeling good.” She could hear the enthusiasm and determination in Jasper’s voice. He was a man on a mission. She almost pitied the guy who’d be stepping into the ring with him later.

“Are you nearly finished at your place?” Jasper asked hopefully. “I was kind of thinking we could head over to the venue together.”

Smiling Kait stood up, all thoughts of investigating Carl and his mysterious drink now abandoned. Jasper’s words made her feel special. He wanted her there with him, wanted her ringside cheering him on. She was finally in the coveted position of girlfriend, and she loved it. It almost felt like a shame to taint it with all her suspicions about Jasper’s agent.

“I just need to wriggle in to some clean jeans, and I’ll be right over.”

“Mmm,” Jasper murmured on the other end of the line.

“What?”

“Just picturing you wriggling in to your jeans, that’s all!”

“Jasper!” Kait was blushing profusely.

“Hey, it’s a good mental image,” Jasper defended himself with a light laugh.

“I’m not sure it is,” Kait countered, “but I’ll be at your place soon.”

Chapter 21

“Feeling ready, champ?” Carl asked, leaning against the kitchen counter as Jasper hung up the phone.

“You bet,” Jasper was brimming with energy. He had to bounce on the spot just to stop himself from climbing the walls.

“Shall we get going then?” Carl suggested, straightening.

“We’re just waiting on Kait.”

Carl checked his watch and released a sharp intake of breath.

“We’re cutting it pretty fine.”

“We’ve got hours yet,” Jasper waved a dismissive hand in his agent’s direction.

“If you say so,” Carl narrowed his lips in to a tight line.

“Yeah. I want her to head over with us,” Jasper insisted with a nod.

“Well, you’re the boss,” Carl noted with a twinge of sarcasm. “While we wait, help me load some of your energy drinks in to the car.”

With a reluctant sigh, Jasper agreed, and Carl opened up the fridge to pull out the cooled beverages, all in plain plastic sports bottle, the liquid clear.

“Where are these from exactly?” Jasper turned over one of the bottles in his hand, scrutinizing its contents.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Carl brushed off the question as he walked past him towards the front door.

“Just answer the question,” Jasper said tightly, remaining by the refrigerator and not following Carl.

“Jasper, you trust me, don’t you?” Carl’s gaze was level.

“Of course.”

“These drinks are the best money can buy. They keep you hydrated and energized. What more could you want?”

“Kait just seemed suspicious of them; that’s all,” Jasper explained quietly.

“How long have you known her?” Carl asked. “Six months?”

Jasper shrugged. It was around that, but he didn’t want to give Carl the satisfaction of being right. Carl loved being right. It was one of his less admirable qualities of which there were admittedly many.

“And how long have you known me? Over ten years.”

Jasper could only nod in silent agreement.

“Trust me, Jasper,” Carl insisted. “I’ve led you this far and have never steered you astray, have I?”

“I trust you,” Jasper walked towards the door, clapping Carl on the back as he passed him by.

Chapter 22

The drive over to the venue had been tense. Kait hadn’t expected Carl to be there, but he’d suddenly become Jasper’s shadow. Whenever Jasper went, Carl followed. It was starting to get more than a little bit irritating. Kait would have liked to have been alone with Jasper before his big fight, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

The car slid in to the already busy car park of the venue. At the far end, a huge poster had both opponents giving steely stares out towards the spectators as they walked in. Jasper’s muscles glistened and bulged on the poster as he stood with his arms folded. He looked like a Greek God rather than a mere man.

“Urgh, I hate those promotional posters,” Jasper protested as he looked up and clocked his own image staring down at him.

“They bring in the money though,” Carl countered. “Sponsors love a winner, especially if he’s photogenic.”

And Jasper was definitely photogenic. Kait felt a surge of pride as she looked up at the poster and realized that it was her boyfriend staring down at her. How many women would come to the fight and admire him, wishing he was theirs?

“I can’t believe how busy it is,” Jasper commented as the car passed across the car park and headed around the back of the building, away from the gathering masses of fans.

“People are keen to see you get back on top,” Carl explained with a smile. He was almost rubbing his hands together. Kait was starting to see how Carl only saw Jasper as a commodity - a way to make money.

“Is your knee feeling better?” Kait asked Jasper with concern.

“Of course it is,” Carl quickly answered for him. “He’s Jasper Duboix, he’s more machine than man, and he’s going to own it tonight!”

With the car parked, Jasper and Kait climbed out and headed straight for the dressing room, leaving Carl to collect up items from the car.

“Is your knee really okay?” Kait whispered anxiously as they walked hand in hand, finally having a moment alone.

“Yeah,” Jasper nodded. “It’s feeling much better.”

“Good,” Kait gave his hand a squeeze. “All I care about is that you’re okay, remember that?”

“I know, sweetheart,” Jasper softly kissed her lips as they reached his dressing room door. A laminated piece of card bearing his name had been crudely tacked to the door.

Jasper was busy stretching when Carl walked in, laden down by numerous bottles of his infamous sports drink. Kait leapt off the sofa and hurried over to him.

“I bought Jasper some water,” she gestured to the branded bottles lined up on the side which she’d discreetly shoved in to her handbag before leaving her apartment. “He doesn’t need the sports drink.”

“Of course he needs the sports drink,” Carl said tersely as he pushed past her.

“But I read online that the electrolytes can interfere with his pain medication,” Kait stated factually. It was a lie, but Carl hopefully wouldn’t know that. He frowned as he placed down the sports drinks.

“Is that true?” Jasper ceased stretching and looked up expectantly at his agent. “I don’t want to take anything that could interfere with my pain meds.”

“It’s not true.”

“It is,” Kait quickly insisted, grabbing a bottle of water and passing it to Jasper. “You should only drink water with the medication you’re on. It said so online.”

Satisfied with this response, Jasper popped the top of the bottle and began drinking from it.

“I’ve never heard that,” Carl scoffed.

“Better to be safe than sorry though, right?” Kait gave him a sickly sweet smile as he glared at her hatefully.

Chapter 23

Kait’s seat for the big fight was on the front row but on the opposite side of the ring of Jasper’s corner. Around her, people were already taking their seats. The air buzzed with excited energy.

The parting kiss Jasper had given her still tingled on Kait’s lips. Her heart hammered nervously in her chest as she thought about him preparing for the fight just a few feet away from her and the gathering crowd. With the lights still up, she could take in how large the venue truly was. Normally she was up in the higher seats, away from the action. Here on the front row, she risked being splashed by any sweat and blood that was spilled.

Looking around, she spotted a nervous looking woman who was presumably the girlfriend of Jasper’s opponent placed on the other side of the ring. She had dyed blonde hair and kept glancing around anxiously. She appeared to be just as worried as Kait was. The thought of potentially seeing your other half get beaten up was a most unsettling one. Kait doubted she’d ever get used to it.

As she sat waiting for the fight to start, she glanced at the flyer she was now holding which had been on her chair. It was a smaller image of the poster outside. She smiled at it briefly before tucking it inside her handbag. It was something she knew she’d ultimately cherish. She was proud of Jasper. He worked so hard to be on top. His enthusiasm was definitely contagious. Kait wanted him to win his fight more than anything – she knew how important it was to him. She’d never had a clear dream like Jasper had. She wanted to do well, own a nice home, and have a strong career, but those were aspirations, not dreams. Jasper’s was a dream, and he’d had the strength and conviction to go after it. In Kait’s eyes, that already made him a winner, no matter what happened out there in the ring that night.

Almost all of the seats were filled when the distant doors to the backstage area opened and Carl came out, wearing his crisp white shirt and suit trousers. But he was holding something neon colored. Kait felt her stomach sink when she realized he was gripping the sports bottles containing his mystery drink. He headed straight for Jasper’s corner of the ring and removed the waiting bottles of water that were there and replaced them with the sports drinks. No one questioned what he was doing. Of course they wouldn’t – he was Jasper’s agent. But Kait wanted to question him. She got on her feet and shouted out his name. But her voice was drowned out by the drone of noise all around her.

Kait shouted as loudly as she could. “Carl! Stop! What are you doing?” But her efforts were in vain. She thought of running around to the other side, but the burly guards placed at the four corners of the ring made her realize that it wouldn’t be so easy. With her lungs burning, she sat down and quickly fumbled for her phone. She’d have to call Jasper. There was clearly something about those drinks, something she couldn’t trust. Carl was willing to risk challenging Kait’s claim over the damage they could cause when mixed with Jasper’s pain meds – but why? Why was it so imperative that Jasper drank them?

Jasper’s phone rang out and eventually went to his voice machine.

“Damn it!” Kait grumbled in anger. She was too late; he was probably already heading for the ring. As if to confirm her fears the lights in the arena dimmed and the crowd roared with excitement.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a loud voice boomed over the loudspeaker, but Kait couldn’t focus on what they were saying. She could only think of the sports bottles and what they might contain. What pained her was that she could see no feasible way of getting to them before Jasper did. Might he also suspect something and refuse to drink them? She could only hope so.

As the announcer welcomed Jasper’s opponent to the stage, Kait knew without a shadow of a doubt that Carl Santino couldn’t be trusted and worse, that he was probably looking to ruin Jasper just like he had with all his other clients and his strange sports drinks were somehow a part of that.