Savage Bay Read Free Page A

pivoted his body, turning into the Croatian’s momentum, keeping him off balance.
    Tank roared from the sideline, beating his fists against the metal cage.
    Hawkeye cocked his right knee. Then he pulled the Croatian’s head down with his arms, using his opponent’s momentum to draw him forward. Hawkeye brought his knee up hard, slamming it into  the Croatian’s face.
    His knee shattered the Croatian’s nose. Blood poured from his nostrils, spattering red streaks across the white mat. The spectators went wild, drowning out the music in The Fight Club with deafening cheers and cries.  
    And then the fight was over. The Croatian crashed to the mat like a fallen tree trunk, knocked out cold. Hawkeye raised his fists in victory and roared in triumph like a victorious gladiator, playing to the madness of the crowd.
    . . .
     
    Tank and Hawkeye sat alone in the makeshift locker room in the basement of The Fight Club. Hawkeye slowly unwrapped the tape from his hands and wrists. Tank sat opposite his brother on a wooden bench. The thumping bass of house music echoed from the club above. The air reeked of stale beer and sweat.
    “Is this what you’ve been doing for three months?” asked Tank.
    “Some of it,” said Hawkeye. “I’ve also been drinking quite a lot.”
    “You look like hell. I’ll bet you’ve lost twenty pounds.”
    “Doesn’t seem to hurt me in the cage, though, does it?” said Hawkeye as he peeled the last of the tape from his wrists and squeezed it into a ball.
    “You know what your problem is?” asked Tank.
    “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
    “Look, I’m not here to lecture you, or tell you that you’re being a complete ass - ”
    “Well, that certainly is a relief,” interrupted Hawkeye.
    “Look, we have a big problem,” continued Tank, ignoring Hawkeye’s sarcastic comment.
    “We?”
    “Yes, we,” said Tank. “And before you say it, yes, I know you’re on leave. Although I think its been entirely too long already.”
    Hawkeye frowned and shook his head.
    “You were there, Tank,” he said. “You saw what happened. Because of me, Touchdown will never walk again. I was responsible. It was my mistake. I’m not ready to come back. Not yet.”
    “Why not?  So you can punish yourself some more by getting the shit kicked out of you in these cage fights?  Do you think you deserve this?  Is that it?”
    “Maybe I do deserve it. Maybe this is my penance.”
    “Does this make you happy?  Cage fighting?”
    “It doesn’t make me sad.”
    “Listen to me. The story you’re playing back over and over in your head about that night is not reality. You’ve warped your memories with your guilt. I want you to hear me:  when we raided that ship and took it back from those Somali pirates, no one knew it would go bad. What happened to Touchdown was an accident. Just bad luck. It had nothing to do with you.”
    “It was my command,” said Hawkeye. “My responsibility.” 
    “That doesn’t make it your fault. Touchdown doesn’t blame you. No one blames you. But that’s not the point.”
    “What is the point then?”
    “The point is there’s something more important happening. Look, there’s been an incident,” said Tank. “Caine sent me to find you. To bring you back to Titan Six.”
    “You’re fully capable of leading Titan Six while I’m gone,” said Hawkeye. “And if you don’t want to do it, Titan Global employs four thousand of the world’s best ex-military operatives. Hell, it’s the world’s largest private military contractor. I’ll come back eventually, but not now. Not yet. I’m not ready.”
    “I can command Titan Six. I’ve lead the team on three covert ops while you’ve been screwing around here in Ibiza, beating the holy hell out of these amateurs. At least when you’re capable of fighting on the nights you’re not drinking yourself into a stupor.”
    “You were saying something about not lecturing me, I believe?”
    “Fine. But