“M-m-me? B-b-box? Oh, no. I-I-I…” Sound like an idiot. She cleared her throat and proclaimed, “I’d never hit anyone.”
A big, toothy smile lit Zack’s face. “Too bad. I teach self-defense to most TEAM wives and a few of their kids. I could show you a couple moves. Let me know if you’re ever interested.”
“No!” popped out of her mouth like a speeding bullet. “I mean…” I can’t believe I’m going to say this but, “Self-defense? Really? You’d teach m-m-me? But I’m… short.” She really meant to say a woman, but these guys seemed to think anyone could learn to stand up for themselves. Even kids.
“Thought maybe that’s why Tripp sent you down here,” Alex muttered. “Want a tour?”
“Ok-a-a-ay,” Ashley replied, the tremor in her voice hard to tamp down. But this was Tripp’s boss, and he’d just whipped Zack’s butt, and… She was so frazzled she lost her train of thought.
“Women need to be able to defend themselves, Ashley,” Alex said evenly. His voice had changed from clipped and precise to calm and mellow, almost as if he knew she was ready to bolt. Smart man. She was. “Especially these days. We teach handgun safety and conceal carry classes, too. Tell Tripp to get you registered, and my wife will be glad to take you to the range one of these days and—”
“No, thank you. Err…” What’d he say? Ashley cleared her throat again. “Your wife shoots?”
He nodded, those razor-sharp eyeballs quartering her and taking stock. Measuring her. A smile breached through that critical-looking face. “You remind me of her. Kelsey had never touched a pistol before she met me, but she carries now, even at home. She teaches a conceal carry class at her place of business, too. You’d like her.”
“Kelsey’s already back to work?” Zack smoothed his towel over his head, blotting the rivulets of sweat running into his eyes.
“Sure. She takes the baby and Lexie with her. Raymond’s Place runs a daycare, and with all those vets working for her, she’s got it made.”
Draping his towel over the inked sleeve on his massive shoulder, Zack shook his head. “That woman’s unstoppable.”
The laser glint in Alex’s eyes softened even more. “That she is.”
“Who watches your dad while she’s working?”
“I hired a live-in caretaker. Mel seems to like him.”
“Didn’t think he liked anyone these days.”
Alex grunted. “You’ve got that right.”
“Tripp didn’t send me down here,” Ashley murmured. These guys didn’t seem worried she’d overheard them. “He’s still in his meeting, and I didn’t want to be a bother, so I was on my way home. But the elevator brought me down here instead of to ground level where I thought I was going, and…” And I’m rambling.
“Come on, Ashley,” Zack wheedled. “Let us give you at least one good self-defense skill while you’re here. Who do you want to take down the most, me or this big-mouthed boss of mine?”
Taking down either of these behemoths wouldn’t be good business for Tripp. She’d never. Not that she could anyway. Her head shook with hard and fast tremors of denial. “Not me. I can’t—”
“Oh, yes you can!” a familiar voice boomed from the door marked STAIRS to her far right. “I’ll show you.”
“Tripp!” Thank goodness he showed up.
He set a quick pace to her rescue. “Here you are,” he breathed into the side of her head as he gave her a half-hug. “I’ve been looking for you. These old guys bothering you?”
“Hey,” Zack groused. “I resemble that.”
“Oh, no. Not at all. I—”
Tripp reached out and grabbed Zack’s little finger. He dropped to his knees and his towel fell to the floor. “What the fuck?” he yelled.
“Lesson number one,” Tripp told Ashley calmly. With a twist of his wrist, he bent Zack’s finger farther back. “When faced with imminent attack, act fast and decisively. Go in fast, hit hard. Never let them see you coming.”
“Payback’s a bitch, junior agent,” Zack growled up at Tripp.
“You see, even the smallest fighter can leverage a much larger opponent, simply by getting the jump on him or her,” Tripp said without glancing at or answering the man groveling at his feet. “It’s all about knowing where to strike to get the most leverage, and where your opponent’s weakest points are. Fingers are easy targets, but in a close-up fight to the death, they’re not enough. Fight for keeps, Ashley. Fight to kill. Gouge your attacker’s eyes, punch the heel of your palm into his nose, or make a good hard fist and punch his throat. Knee his balls, kick, scream, whatever you have to do to stay alive. Just do something before he lays a hand on you. If nothing else, scream. Second rule: never give up. Even when all hope seems lost, when he thinks he’s got you down, endure to the fuckin’ end.”
“Tripp’s right. Every second counts in death struggles,” Alex added, his blue eyes fixed on Ashley and completely ignoring Zack, who was growing more miserable by the second. “The universe never stops moving or changing. The worst thing anyone can do is to give up when help might be just around the corner.”
“Exactly.” Tripp cranked Zack’s little finger even farther back! The poor man’s sweaty face was wrinkled in agony. He looked like he was about to cry. Ashley wanted to cry for him. “Case in point. Zack Lennox here, a big, tough guy who weighs close to three hundred pounds, didn’t see this coming. Yet here I stand, making him sweat, on his knees, just by tweaking his pinkie. I don’t intend to give up until he does. Want to try?” He offered Zack’s much larger, but still twisted baby finger, for her to take.
“No!” she replied adamantly, her heart in her throat for what Zack was going through. “You’re hurting him.”
“No, I’m not,” Tripp answered even as he looked down at the man on his knees and asked, “Am I hurting poor widdle you?”
“No, damn it, you ass. Let me up.”
Which nearly made Ashley smile.
