Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (12 page)

~*M*~

Alex sat in his tent in a camp
chair with a bottle of water and a remote control. He fast-forwarded through
the sleeping camp revealed on the disk he was currently scanning. He was
looking at the feed from the third camera when he finally saw something that
caused him to
pause
the disk. He blinked several times
and pressed the play button once again. In the scene that played out, he
watched Roman Alcazar and a woman… a woman not his wife, leave the campsite
into the darkness beyond his camera range. The woman was the only other woman
on the team, Sara Daniels.

Alex
pressed the remote to his lips as he contemplated what he’d seen. It was
apparent Alcazar and the lovely, young Ms. Daniels had continued their affair.
What kind of arrangement did those people have? Did Devon know her husband was
stepping out? More importantly, did what he saw have anything to do with the
missing missiles? Finding no leads was beginning to take its toll on him. He’d
never gone this long in a case without any results.

Before
turning off his equipment, he checked the time on the disk and made a note for
himself. Tonight, he’d be on the lookout for these two. Alex rose from his seat
and as with every day, he prepared his backpack for his trek out into the
jungle. He stepped out of his tent and was zipping up his utility vest when he
realized Devon was out of her tent and seated next to the now non-existent
fire, a cup of something in her hand. He hesitated before making his way toward
her.

She
flinched when she became aware of his presence. Her eyes stayed locked on his
until he sat down in the seat next to her. Being this close to her, he could
now see the deep bruising under her eye and the swelling of her cheek and nose.
His gaze drifted down to her wrists and he wasn’t surprised to see
fingerprinted bruises there. Anger swelled in him. While he didn’t like some of
her actions, he never thought it was okay to manhandle a woman.

She
glanced away embarrassed when he allowed his gaze to wander back to her eyes.
Clearing his throat, he spoke, feeling odd using her first name for the first
time. It felt wrong in some way. “Devon…” he began.

Her
tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips. “Please don’t,” she begged.

“I was
just going to say…” he began again.

Rising
quickly to her feet, she wrapped her arms around herself, and turned to face
away from him.
“…that I deserve what I got.
I know
what you were going to say.”

Alex
sat back heavily in his seat stunned. He would never have thought that, much
less said it. He inhaled deeply before rising slowly from his chair. She
flinched away from his touch when he laid his hand on her arm. “No, I wasn’t
going to say that.”

“But it
is
what you think,” she said.

“I
don’t think any man has the right to raise a hand to a woman. Violence is never
the answer.”

She
trembled underneath his hand and drew in a breath sharply. With lips that
trembled along with her body, she said, “Well, it was my fault. I just need to
be more careful.”

He
swore sharply. “That’s bullshit!”

She
jumped at his harsh tone and swallowed hard to stay the stupid tears which
seemed to be ever present recently. “I need… I have to…” she fumbled.

Alex
watched her struggle to hold herself together. He found he didn’t like her
floundering and wanted to help restore some of her control. Without thinking it
through, he said quietly, “I can teach you things.”

She
turned her head to give him a perplexed look.
“Things?”

“Ways
to protect yourself,” he said simply.

She
furrowed her brows. “Like self-defense?”

He
pursed his lips and rocked his head side to side as he contemplated his answer.
“Yeah, let’s call it self-defense.”

She
blinked up at him for several long moments. “Why would you do that?” she asked
softly.

He shrugged
slightly. “I don’t know exactly. You’ve just
sorta
seemed…” he hesitated over his choice of word, before finally saying, “
vulnerable
since I’ve met you. It
couldn’t hurt.”

He
watched a bloom of color blossom on her skin and he knew she was thinking of
their night at the motel… she’d not been vulnerable then. A picture of them in
the mirror rose in his mind and he felt himself harden instantly. He shook his
head and clenched his jaw. “But on the other hand, it probably is a bad idea.”

She
wrung her hands together as she thought about his offer. “I… I could use your
help,” she said anxiously, afraid he’d rescind his offer.

Calling
himself every kind of fool, he nodded. “Okay. I have to go out in the field
this morning.
How about when I get back?”

She shifted
from foot to foot. “Can I… would you mind if I… maybe tag along with you?”

He
sighed heavily.
No good deed goes
unpunished
, he thought. “I’m afraid you’ll find it extremely boring.”

Realizing
he was brushing her off and was probably regretting his offer to help. She
nodded, “You’re right, I’m sorry. You’re working… if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let
you get to it.”

She
turned to escape back into the security of her tent when he stopped her with a
hand on her arm. “Put on your hiking boots and bring a couple bottles of
water.”

She
lifted unsure eyes up to his. “Are you sure I won’t be a bother?”

He
shook his head and twisted his lips wryly. “Oh, I’m positive you’ll be a
bother, but get your gear anyway.”

She
smiled, the first genuine smile he’d seen from her the entire trip. “I was
right… you are a nice man.”

“Don’t
spread that around.”

“Okay,
I won’t,” she promised with a grin. “I’ll just go change. I won’t be a minute.”

Alex
ran his hand through his hair as he waited for her
. This was really a bad idea
, he thought,
a really bad idea
.

~*M*~

“Your
elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you get close enough, use it. If
you end up on the ground, use your legs to kick free.”
Slap… slap… slap.

“Go for
the four weakest points: eyes, throat, groin and knees – use quick, jabbing
motions if possible. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch
your attacker under the arm, in between the elbow and armpit or in the upper
inner thigh… as hard as you can.”
Slap…
slap
…
slap
.

“You
can literally pull the muscle away from the bone in these areas. If you are
forced to comply before you can fight, grab for the balls, then pull, twist, or
yank – do anything you can do.”
Slap…
slap
…
slap
.

“I
promise, if you do that, he will no longer be thinking about attacking you in
any way,” he said.

The
entire time Ben Allred was giving her instruction, Devon was crouched as he
circled her. Every so often, he would lunge toward her and slap at a part of
her body – sharp, biting slaps which fell against her legs or her arms. She
struggled to concentrate on his words as she focused on his actions.

“It’s
not about the strength, it’s about the speed.”
Slap… slap
…
slap
.

“If you
react quickly, sharp movements can distract an attacker long enough for you to
get away. Face strikes cause pain and take away an attacker’s breathing,
hearing, or eyesight capabilities.”
Slap…
slap
…
slap
.

“Poke
the person’s eyes and throat, taking aim at fleshy and bony parts. Thrusting
your palm heel to an attacker’s nose, swatting the ears, striking below the
waist, and focusing on what’s free, not what’s
grabbed,
can help as well.”
Slap… slap… slap.

“If
they use their hands, use your feet to kick or stomp. Surprise and what’s
unexpected are your friends.”
Slap… slap…
slap.

“
Owww
!” she exclaimed when a slap was excessively biting.
“That hurt!”

“I’m
sure your attacker will take your discomfort into account when HE IS ATTACKING
YOU!”
Slap… slap … slap.

“Pay
attention. This isn’t about fun and games. This is important. If you don’t want
to be hit, move out of the way… pay attention and move OUT…
OF…
THE…
WAY!”
Slap…
slap… miss
.

He
stood up right and grinned. “Good girl!” he said when she evaded his hands.

She
grinned up at him as she stood and stretched muscles that were becoming tense
from being posed to react to his strikes. “So, tell me, how does a man who
searches out oil reserves for a living know so much about self-defense?”

He
blinked at her question. “Well, I took the usual classes as a kid: karate; tae
kwon do; and later I studied
Krav
Maga
,
which is what I’m showing you now. Plus, I learned a few things when I was in
the Marines. I visit a lot of trouble spots all over the world. It never hurts
to know how to protect
yourself
.

She
flinched at his words as some memory seemed to float through her mind. She
swallowed and the haunted look he hated returned to her eyes. She didn’t
comment only nodded.

His
lips thinned before he couched back down, circling once more as his instruction
began again.

“If
your attacker attempts to choke you, it is a life threatening situation. You
can go without food and water for at least a while, but not without air. You
must respond quickly!”
Slap… slap… miss
.

Another grin.
“The first
thing
you need to do is try and prevent a full-on choke. You need to make your throat
as rigid as you can and tuck your chin down.”
Slap… miss… miss
. “Much better!” he said proudly.

Laughing
and happy in her small accomplishment, she stood with sweat pouring into her
eyes, and raised her hands in surrender.
“No mas… no mas –
no more, no more
.”

His
grin faded as he recalled her using those same words during their one night
together. He straightened and dropped his arms. “You’re right. That’s enough
for one day. We’ll start again tomorrow. Good job,” he said a little stiffly.

Her
sincere smile faded into one of the insincere ones he’d seen her give since
he’d known her. She gave him a nod before gathering up her water bottle and
towel and headed toward her tent.

Darkness
surrounded the camp and wrapped it in a blanket of humid insulation and from
inside his tent, Alex heard the now familiar buzzing of insects and cries of
the nocturnal animals breaking through the quiet. He moved his gaze from the
screened opening of his tent’s window to his wristwatch. He was hoping to catch
the lovebirds flying from their nests again.

As much
as he didn’t want it to, his mind kept slipping back to his day with Devon
Alcazar. She spoke to him on so many levels. That she was incredibly beautiful
was obvious. But there were others things, deeper things which sucked him in.
That damned vulnerability pulled at him in ways he was unable to resist. It’d
been that way with Addison as well. He’d thought he’d have learned from that
mistake. But in ways he couldn’t identify, he knew she had strength in her that
had yet been untapped. She was a puzzle to him, a total enigma. As many
questions as were answered, more questions seemed to appear. He admired the
fact that instead of running to others to help her with a problem, she’d been
willing to solve the problem herself.

He
smiled at her frustration during their self-defense training earlier in the
day. He’d not pulled any punches and she’d taken it with few complaints. But
more than that, she’d taken it seriously… seemed to take in his instruction as
if it were life and death – maybe for her it was.

The low
murmur of voices broke him out of his revere. He sat up quietly and watched as
Roman and the blonde-haired Sara made their way out of the camp. He allowed
them to disappear before he emerged from his tent. They were easy to follow the
further they got from the camp as their need to lower their voices became
unneeded. While Alex couldn’t make out what they said to each other, he could
still follow their sounds.

The
moon was about three-quarters full and while a full-moon would have been
preferable, it was ample enough to see the couple as they skirted the
waterfall. Alex watched as Roman took Sara’s hand and led her toward the rock
wall next to the falls. Confusion marred Alex’s features when they seemed to
just disappear… as if into thin air. He blinked to clear his vision. He stepped
a little closer and it was then he spotted the small crevice in the rock’s
wall. Moving back a little ways, Alex sat and waited to see what happened next.

After
nearly an hour and a half, Roman and the very rumpled Sara Daniels emerged from
the crevice in the rocks. The talkative couple from before were now silent.
There appeared to be some sort of rift between the young lovers. Maybe he
wouldn’t leave his wife and she didn’t like that. Alex stayed behind, giving
them plenty of time to return to the camp-site. He’d gotten to the outsides of
the site when he saw Sara Daniels walk quickly back into the darkness. She was
alone this time however. Slowly, he followed her.