Betrayal

But just then, before the light changed, a break in the traffic opened up, and taking her hand, he squeezed it. '?Vamonos!' And they darted out into the street. In the next block, and the one after that, the streetlights weren't working. Even though they were only a few blocks from City Hall, Nolan realized that they were entering the Tenderloin District, one of the city's worst neighborhoods, where services tended to need upkeep. They walked quickly, still holding hands, their footfalls echoing, and, at the next crosswalk-Larkin-had to stop again for traffic and the light. Behind them, a prostitute in a black minidress and fishnet top stepped out from the lee of a building. 'Are you two looking to party?' From the voice, Nolan realized that the woman was a man. 'I've got a place right here behind us.'

'Thanks, but we're good.' Nolan stepped between Tara and the prostitute. 'Just going to our car.'

'Isn't this the street, up to the left?' Tara whispered to him.

'One more.'

They jumped the light again and moved into the next darkened block. Suddenly the glittering city they'd been enjoying all day had disappeared. The breeze carried on it the acrid smells of garbage and urine. In the passing cars' headlights, Nolan could see that nearly every doorway they passed held a person lying down, bundled up in cloth or newspaper. At a break in the traffic, they crossed over in midblock, all but running now with cold and adrenaline. They turned up Leavenworth toward Eddy, into the heart of the Tenderloin. But-the good news-they were now only a bit more than a half block from where they'd parked.

As it turned out, though, that distance wasn't going to be short enough.

The three young african-american men appeared out of nowhere and blocked their way. Tara whispered, 'Oh God,' and moved in a step behind Nolan. All of the men wore heavy, hooded jackets and as they fanned to surround the couple, the one in front of them flashed the blade of a knife. 'Where y'all hurryin' up to?' he asked.

Nolan, following the flow as the men moved into position, one to the side into the street, and the other behind them, let go of Tara 's hand and put an arm protectively around her waist. 'Our car's just up the street there,' he said, pointing.

'The 'Vette, I'm guessing?'

'That's right.'

'Nice ride?'

'Yes, it is. I'm hoping that it's still in good shape.'

The leader spoke to his troops. 'He hopin' it still in good shape. You hear that? Man worried about his wheels.' Coming back to Nolan, he moved the knife to his other hand. 'Thing is, we been watchin' it, make sure nobody mess wid it, you know what I'm saying?'

'I appreciate that,' Nolan said. He turned now, placed the position of his other two assailants clearly in his mind, then moved sideways a bit with Tara so that he could see any movement from the man behind him in case he was getting ready to strike. Looking now directly at the three men, one at a time, he said, 'But my girlfriend's cold and she really needs to get inside the car right away.' He reached behind him, as though reaching for his wallet. 'How much can I pay you gentlemen for watching over my car for me?'

'Ron…' Tara began.

'Just stay cool,' he whispered, tightening his grip on her waist, holding her to him. Somehow he'd taken the keys from his pocket, and now he found one of her hands and pressed them into it. 'When it starts,' he whispered directly into her ear, 'get to the car and get it running.'

'When what starts? Ron, you can't…'

Nolan started to reply when, with no warning beyond a guttural obscenity, the leader suddenly lunged forward, leading with the knife. Nolan pushed Tara back out of the way, then ducked away from the attack, deflecting the knife, and kicked out behind him, hitting the trailing man in the knee. The man screamed and went down. Nolan whirled, kicked again, and caught the leader in the hip, knocking him into the third guy coming in from the street. It was only a temporary holding action, but it gave the couple an instant's reprieve and, for Tara, a clear run to the car. 'Go!' he yelled to her.

She ran.

Nolan saw the shadow looming up in his periphery, and he ducked away and slashed backward as he turned. Seeing the glint of the knife, he came down with a chop on the wrist above it, and it clattered away on the sidewalk. He no longer knew whether he was fighting the leader or the second guy, but it didn't matter. Close enough to smell him now, he lifted a knee into the man's groin and when he doubled over, followed it with a rabbit punch to the man's neck. Knowing that he'd killed him, as much by the way he fell as anything, he saw that there was still another knife in the equation. The other man swung a wide broadside at him and Nolan stepped back, let it pass harmlessly in front of him, then stepped inside and delivered a flat-hand uppercut to the base of man's nose, driving the cartilage back into the brain. The body straightened for an instant before crumpling back to the street.

Looking back at the first man whose knee he'd shattered, Nolan realized that while he was no longer a threat, he was a witness. And witnesses, Nolan firmly believed, were bad luck. A brief scan of his surroundings confirmed that there were no others-none of the homeless were huddling in doorways on this block. The man was still down, moving on the ground, pushing himself in a crablike fashion back and away from the fight. It took Nolan only a few steps, a couple of seconds, to get back next to him.

'Dude,' he said. He was breathing hard, but his voice was almost apologetic, devoid of any emotion. 'This was a bad idea. You got to stop this shit. Your leg okay? Can you get up? You ought to get that looked at. Here, let me help you.'

The young man hesitated for a minute, but then took Nolan's outstretched hand and allowed himself to begin to be lifted. But as soon as he had the leverage he needed, Nolan reached his other hand around the man's neck, found his chin, and gave it a vicious snap back and sideways. Letting this last body fall back to the sidewalk, Nolan looked down at the carnage he'd wreaked. Satisfied, he broke back up the street at a jog, jumped over the fallen leader, and in a couple of dozen steps was where Tara had started the car and already maneuvered it out from the curb, ready to make a getaway. He knocked on the car's trunk as he was going around the back of it and then opened the passenger door and jumped in, breathless. 'Are you okay?' he asked her. 'Can you drive?'

She was holding the wheel, shivering, and managed a nod.

'Hit it, then. Now!'

Tara drove in silence for about six blocks before she pulled over and stopped the car. 'I don't think I can drive anymore,' she said.

'I'll take it.'

She looked over at him for the first time since he'd gotten in with her. 'Are you hurt?'

'No.'

'What happened to them?'

'I don't know. They got tangled up in each other and that must have slowed them down enough to give me a minute to come running.'

After a minute, she said, 'We could have been killed, couldn't we?'

'I don't know about that. I think maybe they were trying to feel us out, that's all. They didn't have guns. They probably would have just taken our money and other stuff if we would have let them.'

She sat still and allowed the silence to gather there in the confined space. Then, letting out a staggered breath, she opened the car door and got out. Nolan took the cue and did the same on his side, waiting for her to get in the passenger seat before he closed the door behind her. Behind the wheel, he belted up and got back into traffic.

'God,' she said after a while. 'You're sure you're all right? I can't believe that just happened. It was so fast. Just suddenly they were there.'

'Yeah. That's how it happens.' He glanced across at her. 'I shouldn't have parked there. I should have known better. I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry.'

'You don't need to be sorry. It wasn't your fault. In fact, if you hadn't been there…'

But he shook his head. 'Then you wouldn't have been there. You would have