When Dana got back up, she kept her distance from him. “Bully. I won’t repeat the mistake.”
As he looked at her, he knew she’d be a quick study. Her eyes were focused now and she was watching him carefully. “Before we get to some of the basic moves, I have to teach you how to fall.”
“I’ll get my practice every time I hit the mat. Maybe you should teach me how to keep from falling.”
Ranger didn’t answer. In a dazzlingly fast move, he tried to sweep her legs out from under her again. This time, she jumped nimbly to one side.
“I told you, I don’t repeat mistakes.”
He gave her an approving nod. “That was very good. Now let me teach you a basic but effective defense move. Make your opponent sing.”
He grabbed her from behind in a loose choke hold and pressed her against him. “Sing-first jam your elbow into your opponent’s solar plexus,” he instructed, bending her arm at the elbow and showing her how to aim. “The i is for instep. Stomp down hard on his foot with the heel of your shoe, then when he bends over, use your fist and slam it into the bridge of his nose. That’s the n. The last part-and be careful now-is to take your fist and slam it hard into his groin. Sing. Get it?”
She nodded, then made a fist.
“Wait…let me see how you make a fist,” he said.
She held it out. “A fist is a fist. So what?”
“Ever notice a boxing glove? There’s a place for just your thumb. You only put your thumb on the inside of your fingers if you want to break it in a particularly painful way. Make a fist like this,” he said, showing her how to place her thumb over her coiled fingers.
She imitated the position of his fingers, then went through the Sing exercise in slow motion.
“You need to practice this, because speed and surprise are your greatest allies,” he said.
She loosened up, bending her neck to one side then the other. “Let’s give it another try.”
She went through the routine quickly, pulling her punches so she wouldn’t connect and hurt him.
“The more speed you build up, the better off you’ll be. Practice it in your head when you’re not on the mat.” He was pleased with how quickly she learned. She was fast, but not so much as to make him suspect she might have been taught all that before.
He showed her a few other moves, then grew serious. “There are two kill moves I’d also like to teach you.”
“Kill?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think I could kill anyone. Even under direct threat, I’d hesitate.”
His admiration for her grew. She’d been brutally honest-with herself, and with him.
“You managed to fire that handgun yesterday in self-defense, didn’t you? You’d be surprised what you’re capable of when fear mixes in with the need to survive, or you’re forced to protect an innocent.”
Despite her protests, Ranger taught her how to deliver two fatal blows, one to the chest, and the other delivered to the nose. Although she learned both quickly, he could see she wanted to move on.
They spent the next two hours training in the garage. Though he’d thrown her to the mat several times, she always came back up ready to learn more. He had to hand it to her. Dana didn’t give up, or hesitate to get right back into the fray.
“Okay, that’s enough for now,” he said at last. “Let’s get something to eat. You might want to soak in the tub after lunch, too.”
“I’m just catching on to some of this. Couldn’t we train just a little longer?” she asked.
He shook his head. “You can’t learn it all in one day, and tonight you’ll have to be limber, not sore, in case something happens. I’ll be within reach all night, but the bars I’ve got earmarked are rough places.”
After eating a light lunch, Dana managed to talk him into giving her a few more lessons. This time, they mostly worked on techniques for breaking an opponent’s hold.
Once he saw how tired she was, he moved away. “That’s enough for today. You can think about what you’ve learned, and go over things in your head, but you need to rest.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to access some Web sites and do more research,” he answered. “After that, I may try to get a couple of hours sleep since I’m not sure when we’ll get that chance again.”
The day passed quickly. Around three, while he worked on the computer in the living room, she went into the bedroom and stretched out on the bed. Within minutes she was fast asleep.
When she awoke a few hours later, she found Ranger asleep on an easy chair he’d positioned between her and the door. Her first thought was that he’d been protecting her-putting himself between her and any potential intruder. But then another thought came to her. Maybe he’d just been making sure she didn’t leave the house again without him knowing.
The thought annoyed her and she sat up. As she got off the bed, the mattress creaked slightly. Ranger’s eyes suddenly popped open.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Dana said.
“That’s okay. I’m a just a light sleeper.” He stood, then stretched.
By the time she’d found her shoes and slipped them on, Ranger had slid the chair back into place beside the wall and left the room.
“It’s already eight. When do we leave?” she asked, going to join him in the living room.
“As soon as you get your disguise back on,” he answered. He was gazing out the window toward the road. It was dark, but clear, and with the living room light still off he wasn’t presenting a silhouette to anyone outside. “But there’s a stop I want to make before we hit the bars. It may narrow our search. I’ll tell you about it once we’re on our way.”
Dana freshened her makeup-she was wearing more than she ever would have outside a disguise-and picked out a short, jet-black wig she’d found in the back of the closet. When she looked in the mirror, she barely recognized herself.
They were in the car and on the highway ten minutes later, driving west toward the city. He looked over to appraise her, then back to the road. “You look sexy,” he said with a quirky half smile.
Her heart did a little dance, but she quickly checked herself. She knew it was all an act. “It must be the new wig. It’s completely black, no lighter highlights anywhere. It changes my whole look.”
“No, it’s the way you fill out those tops…and the jeans, too.”
“The same can be said about you,” she answered.
He burst out laughing. “Thanks, darling. It’s good to know I’m appreciated. Now if you’d let me show you my appreciation in a more…tangible way.”
“Shouldn’t we be concentrating on what we have to do next?” she chided in her best teacher’s voice.
“You’re too wound up,” he said quietly. “Try to relax,” he said, glancing at her lap.
That’s when she suddenly realized that she’d bunched up the bottom hem of her sweater into her fists. “Oops. Stage fright, I guess.”
“Stop worrying. I’ve got your back,” he said, his voice soft as a summer breeze.
As their gazes met, she felt herself drowning in those dark eyes that promised far more than she could accept. “Neither one of us has put all our cards on the table, Ranger. You don’t trust me, and I can’t say I trust you, either. We can’t go beyond that.”
He looked back at the highway, where traffic was starting to pick up as they got closer to Farmington. “You can trust one thing. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he answered.
“That’s because you need me to ID the medicine man’s killers,” she said, determined not to let him see how much that admission hurt.
“That’s one reason. But there are others.” When they stopped at a traffic light, he cupped her chin and made her look at him. “Your own instincts tell you that there’s more between us. Trust yourself.”
She tore her gaze away. Her instincts…They told her that she wanted him and he wanted her, that there was more than just a physical attraction between them. But she’d heard how he was manipulating her to get information.
“We’re about to stick our necks way out tonight. I’ve got to know that I can trust you and you’ve got to believe I’ve got your back. If we aren’t in complete agreement on that much, our chances of success are slim.”
“No problems there,” she said. “Now tell me where we’re going first.”
“About a year ago we hired a guy at Birdsong Enterprises who turned out to be a thief. He was caught stealing tools from the shop. But he and I got along, and though I had to fire him, there were no grudges. I learned later that the guy’s got a bit of a gambling problem and is always looking for a way to make a few quick bucks. If I approach him just right, he may give us a few leads.”
“So we’re going to his home?”
“No. There’s a tough-man competition, in this case an illegal cage fight, that he attends regularly. I’m guessing we’ll find him there. But brace yourself. It’s brutal, with few rules, all for a cash prize.”
Out of all the recreational sports she’d hoped never to see, this one topped the list. “Okay,” she said, managing to keep her voice steady. “Just don’t be surprised if I throw up on somebody.”
“You don’t have to watch. Just stick close to me-no matter what. Got that?”
“Not a problem.” Dana tried to prepare herself. She even hated school fights, pulling boys with bloody noses off each other. But she’d do what had to be done. Somehow, she hoped.
They arrived less than twenty minutes later. The fight was being held in a large metal warehouse located in an industrial section just southeast of downtown. Vehicles lined the curbs on both sides of the street, and Dana could see mostly young men, some with beer bottles in hand, walking toward the structure.
“It’s packed,” she said. “I never thought so many people would be interested.”
“Yeah, it’s popular, and most who come bet heavily on their favorite fighters. The promoters switch locations all the time to avoid getting raided, and there are rumors that officers are being paid to look the other way. I got tonight’s location earlier from a source at my workplace.”
Three big goons with handheld radios stood beside the only entrance, a double door at the side of the structure above a small loading dock. After handing over a forty-dollar admittance fee for the two of them, they walked into the two-story structure. Judging from the signs outside, it had been a former maintenance garage for oil service company vehicles. But whatever oil smell might have lingered was overwhelmed by the odor of dust, beer, stale tobacco and sweat.
Hundreds of people were crowded around a hexagonal, wire-covered framework atop a makeshift stage in the center of the big room. Two slightly overweight men were swinging wildly at each other with bare fists. Between the grunts from the center of the ring, and the ebb and flow of voices from the crowd, the place literally vibrated with the rawness of underground life.
Ranger held her hand tightly, and when he glanced over at her, she was looking down at her feet. He was certain she’d never seen anything even remotely like this.
Dana didn’t say a word, though she would have had to shout to be heard, and he couldn’t think of anything to say that would help her now. Finally she looked up, holding her head high at last, and gave him a stiff-lipped smile.
Ranger switched his gaze to the people around and ahead of them, ignoring the shouts, raised beer bottles and the money being waved around. He was searching for Jimmy Brownhat.
The people were crowded elbow to elbow around the cage. Ranger surveyed the faces slowly and methodically. Then, at long last, he spotted Jimmy across the room, standing on a pallet against a wall, high enough for an unobstructed view. He was shouting encouragement to one of the fighters.
As the crowd roared almost in unison, Jimmy looked away, shaking his head. Judging from the groans among the cheers, one of the fighters had either just delivered a knockout punch, or his opponent had thrown in the towel. Jimmy jumped off the pallet, and started walking in the direction of the entrance.
“He’s leaving. We need to catch up to him before he disappears,” Ranger said, elbowing his way through the mass of people.
The press of the crowd forced Ranger to switch directions quickly, but as they went through a maze of angry losers, he felt Dana’s hand slip away from his. Ranger turned around, but before he’d even taken a step, three people pushed in between them.
Looking around, Dana waved him on. “Go! I’ll catch up.”
Dana changed directions, heading for the closest open area. Just as the mass of people around her began to thin, someone grabbed her arm.
“Hey!” she yelled, turning around. A tall, dark-haired man with a tattoo on his arm held her in a painful, viselike grip.
“Come on, baby,” the man said, yanking her so close she could smell the beer and tobacco on his breath. “If you’re looking for company, you’re in luck. Let’s meet my brother over by the door, then take a walk to my van. The three of us can rock the night away.”
Terror gripped her. Hastiin Sani had died trying to keep the others from hurting her. Now Ranger would be forced to take on two drunks. She was certain it would happen once he spotted her being strong-armed outside. Anger swelled inside her. No one she cared about would ever again be harmed because of her.
She looked up into the man’s eyes and smiled. “Sounds like fun!”
He eased up on his grip, and she kicked him hard in the knee. He howled in pain, and as he bent over, she chopped down on the side of his neck with the heel of her right hand. Her aim was off and she mostly struck him on the back, but the force of the blow sent him down to one knee-the injured one.
With a scream of pure rage, the man hurled himself at her. She sidestepped the tackle and stuck out her foot, tripping him. His momentum dropped him facedown on the floor.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” she said, backing away. But it was too late. Without a fight in the center ring, everyone’s attention had suddenly shifted to the rear of the room-to her and the man she’d just knocked down.
“Fight, fight, fight,” the chant started up, like kids in the schoolyard during recess.
“Twenty dollars on the babe,” someone yelled from behind her, followed by a chorus of laughter.
The drunken, wannabe rapist outweighed her by at least one hundred pounds. He wasn’t going to back away, not with all eyes on them. She looked around for Ranger, but three men were struggling to hold him back. He’d get away eventually, but for the next minute or two she was on her own.
The man howled with rage and charged at her like a bull. She tried to step aside at the last minute and trip him again, but this time he was ready. He grabbed her arm as he went by, spinning her around. They nearly fell together, but somehow he kept them on their feet, yanking her back against him by the hair.
Pinned to a man with biceps the size of a side of beef, she panicked. She struggled wildly to break free, scratching him on the face but that only made him angrier.
“Got you now, witch!”
Then she remembered her lessons with Ranger. His arm had been in the same place. Dana sagged as if giving up. Then, as his hold eased somewhat, she rammed her elbow right into the man’s midsection as hard as she could and stomped on his instep with the heel of her boot, putting everything she had into it. The man yelped in pain, letting go as he stumbled back.
“I’m not done yet,” she yelled, arms up in a defensive stance. The drunk staggered away, then disappeared into the crowd.
“Hey!” Someone behind her called out.
Remembering that her opponent had a brother, she spun to face the new threat. That’s when she saw that Ranger had managed to break free.
“Give it up for the lady,” a tall, thin man shouted from the edge of the crowd.
As the people laughed and cheered, Ranger scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder and hurried out the side door. The novelty over, the crowd’s attention quickly shifted to the next two combatants climbing into the elevated cage.
Once they were outside in the parking lot, Ranger quickly did as she asked by setting her back down, and they hurried back to the car.
Ranger finally spoke as they were racing down the street in the Ringer. “So much for staying low-key.”
“Hey, at least my wig stayed on. Good thing I pinned it in place.”
He stared at her. “That’s all you have to say?”
Dana opened and closed her fist. It hurt like crazy, but she was pretty sure she hadn’t broken anything. “What else could I do with my bodyguard AWOL? And, just for the record, I didn’t appreciate that caveman routine when we left. It’s not a comfortable method of travel.”
“But effective. Nobody wanted to have ‘the babe’ thrown at them. We got a wide berth.” He looked at her, and then burst out laughing.
She glared at him for a moment, then finally started laughing, too.
“I can’t believe I lived through that,” she said at last, tears of laughter running down her face.
“Crazy Louie’s one mean drunk. But you ate him alive,” he said, admiration in his gaze. “But why didn’t you just pretend to go with him? I’d have seen what was going on before you ever reached the door. Didn’t you think I could handle him?”
“It wasn’t that, or even that he’d said his brother was going to join him and you would have been outnumbered. I made up my mind right then that no one else would ever be hurt on my account,” she said, then added, “even if my hand is black and blue in the morning.”