Red Ochre Falls (9 page)

I felt a pang of
guilt and worry about crossing lines and asking Garrett for too many favors. I
stiffened and clicked on my seatbelt. Garrett leaned toward me with the door
still open. “I think a coffee run is a pretty fair trade for you.”

I studied his face,
and was distracted by his lips when he gently moved my chin so my gaze met his.
He had my full attention.

“Unless, you want
to owe me more favors.” He brushed his hand past my cheek and I swallowed hard.
“I’d keep a running total for you, Mattie, but someday I’m gonna come collect,
and you will make good on your debts.” It sounded a heck of a lot like a
proposition. While my body may have been eager, my head was confused. Pursuing
any kind of relationship outside of business seemed dangerous, and he was
probably just being playful, but he sure knew how to tempt a girl. It took a
second, or ten, before I could figure out how to respond.

I leaned toward him
and smiled seductively. “You can collect anytime you think you can handle it big
guy.” It caught him by surprise, so I grabbed for the door. He backed up so I
could close it. The key turned and the engine revved. I flipped my hair, winked
at him and left to get coffee. My heart pounded in my chest, I might want to
avoid caffeine. Pastries. They’d be enough to balance everything out. My smile
widened because the thought of a speechless Garrett pleased me.

CHAPTER 10

A wave of freshly brewed coffee hit me when I walked into the shop.
There’s nothing like that smell. It’d been an interesting night, and this
morning was shaping up to be just as interesting.

One barista took
orders at the register while another made coffee. The grinder sounded above the
low chatter of people. A young couple in the corner looked cozy together, a
businessman worked on his laptop while three older women in spandex stood ahead
of me. The ladies took turns ordering nonfat mochas, scones, and a Soy Chai. I
ordered two large coffees, a regular latte, and three slices of coffee cake.

When I got the
order, I sugared up my drink and hit the road. The barista gave me a cup
carrier, but I was too nervous it might tip over in the car, so I put two
coffees in cup holders and the third between my legs then drove at a snail’s
pace back to the parlor.

Ryder was in the
middle of meeting a family and Garrett had nearly finished his job in the back
room when I returned.

I put one coffee
and a pastry bag on Ryder’s desk and another coffee and pastry bag on
Garrett’s. Curious to try out Garrett’s chair, I sat my latte and coffee cake
on his desk and plopped down. It rotated and rocked and did all sorts of cool
things. When I went to adjust the height, it slammed me to the lowest setting,
just as Garrett walked into the office.

“You don’t do well
with hydraulic things do you?” He laughed. He’d nailed it because the exact
same thing happened the last time I sat in Ryder’s chair.

“I just wanted to
see what it could do.”

Garrett showed me
how to use it correctly. Then he grabbed his stuff and sat across from me at
Hank’s desk. I watched as he inhaled the coffee cake and took a few swigs of
hot coffee. He seemed ready to talk after all that, so I asked him how things
went overnight. We talked a few minutes, he told me everything went fine and tried
to make me feel better by saying he would have been here through the night
anyway. He could have waited to work on the bodies until today, but needed to
get finished early to make it to an important appointment this afternoon.

The thought of him
leaving made me a little sad, but I wasn’t really sure where things stood
between us. There was an attraction, sure, but we had business and families
depending on us not to screw things up. A relationship seemed impossible. I
couldn’t risk getting mom fired and both of us kicked out, and he couldn’t risk
getting fired and kicked out by Grandpa Stanley either.

“How are you doing
today?”

“I slept good, had
a crazy dreams, but I feel pretty good considering yesterday’s surprise
attack.” My brain flashed back to the guy lifting me off the ground and nearly
crushing me. I shuddered.

“That’s what I
wanted to talk to you about.”

“I told you
everything I could remember.”

“I know. It’s time
to get ready.”

“Ready for what?” I
wondered if it was related to working the phones this weekend. Maybe he was
ready to leave and wanted to give me the updates I missed last night.

“Time to hit the
gym. Why don’t you change into something more comfortable and meet me back here
in fifteen.”

Surprise and maybe
even fear crossed my face. I figured he just wanted to talk about Chloe’s case
or grill me some more about what happened yesterday while he did push-ups,
pull-ups, and squats holding thousand pound weights, or whatever guys did at
the gym. I shrugged and left to change.

Once I got upstairs
and locked the door, it didn’t take me long to freak out. What would I wear?
Why was he taking me to the gym? What did he expect me to do? If it involved
pull-ups, I was doomed. I’d missed doing laundry last week, because I hated
going into the basement and traipsing up and down stairs a bunch of times to
switch loads. My closet offered really limited options: no gym-worthy spandex,
and a few other potentials that were either too baggy, or had holes. I found a
pair of pink lounge pants, basically my pjs, but they fit and were flexible. I
put on a sporty tank, layered a t-shirt over it then pulled on socks and tennis
shoes. The look didn’t convey hardcore gym rat, but it should get me through
the front door alongside Mr. Universe. The ponytail was last. I grabbed my keys
and ID case then locked up and ran down the stairs to meet up with Garrett.
Maybe he’s Superman because he was already changed and ready to go.

“Ready for a
workout?”

It really was time
to hit the gym.
Oh boy!

“You’ll see.” We
sped away in the Maserati. We traveled less than ten minutes. Long enough for
my stomach to churn acid thinking about hitting the gym with a guy who looked
like he spent every day working out. I’d worked out before, but something
bugged me about not knowing what to expect at his gym.

Only it was unlike
any gym I’d ever seen. We parked by an unmarked industrial building off of the
main road. There were a few other cars and trucks in the lot, most of them
looked just as nice as Garrett’s—Porsche, Land Rover, even a Ferrari.

Garrett waved a
card across a reader and the door unlocked. We entered a darkly lit nondescript
hallway then turned right to head further inside the building. A neon green and
black snakehead stuck its tongue out at us from behind the reception area. The
main desk was wrapped in black suede-like material, and the glass top was
up-lit with green and yellow neon lights. The receptionist was not there at the
time, maybe because it was lunch, or maybe the snake ate her. I hesitated.
Garrett reached for my hand and pulled me further into the lair.

Garrett stopped at
the second door and opened it for me to enter. As we walked across the gym
there were several guys training. Seriously training.

“Is that guy
holding a gun?” I whispered.

“Yes, but the short
guy standing with him is about to take it away.” Sure enough, the short guy
took the gun in a couple swift moves.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Are these guys
training for anything in particular?”

“Life after service.
I know plenty of guys who served. All of us came back changed. Some are still
wound so tight they can’t find peace unless they remain trained and ready for
anything—prepared to defend themselves and their families against all
enemies. It’s how they cope. Many are still fighting, even though the war is
supposed to be over.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Pros and
mercs come here to train.”

I gulped thinking
of mercenaries running around our town.

“Normally, I go to
a different place, but too many prying eyes there tonight.”

Was he worried
about being seen with me? “Do you think they’d tell your grandpa?”

“I don’t want to
take the chance right now. He might use it to make a point. Not worth the
chance.”

It was polite of
Garrett to be concerned. If his grandpa was trying to give us trouble like he
seemed to do with everyone else, I should be more careful, too.

We wound our way
through the maze until we reached a dark hall. There were no windows on any of
the walls as far as I could tell. It felt very private and I wondered what
happened in rooms with no windows. Just about then I heard a pop and jumped.

“Easy.”

We went further
inside the building. The pop turned to bang and I stopped moving. When he
looked to see why I wasn’t moving, he saw the fear on my face.

“This is a turnkey
training facility,” he said, like it meant something to me.

My feet didn’t
move. I just shrugged.

“This is a
full-service training facility. They have rooms for hand-to-hand, and a few
areas laid out for munitions training.”

I knew he meant guns,
and by the sound of the ‘munitions’ we heard, probably very big ones. His
military training showed in his stance and his word choice. I wondered what he
was trained to do, and what he must have had to do to serve our country. More
loud noises sounded off, and he pushed me to get moving again, this time I
walked faster. I’d ask questions another time, right now we needed to get where
we were going, hopefully far away from here.
 

It only took a
couple turns for the bulk of the gunshots to fade into popping noises again.
Garrett stopped at a door, used his key card again, and walked inside. I
followed as he turned on the light and closed the door. It was just the two of
us. He put his hands on my shoulders. A mixture of excitement and fear shot
through me like electricity.

“Relax. You need to
take a few breaths and get ready to learn.”

Right, training.
The problems facing us brought my anxiety back. I tried to shake them off
before we started.

“What exactly are
we doing here?”

He had a serious
look on his face I couldn’t figure out. I had a bad feeling.

“I’m going to teach
you self defense.”
 

My stomach
flip-flopped.
Was he kidding?
Nope. He cocked his head and directed me
to stand opposite him. I didn’t move. My feet wouldn’t budge.

“Mattie, you were
threatened by a lunatic in broad daylight. You have to take this seriously.”

Garrett took it
seriously enough for both of us. But, it was Saturday, and I had nothing better
to do. Speaking of Saturday, I thought he had plans. Were these his plans? When
did he decide to bring me here? I shrugged it off then got into place and
waited for his instructions. I watched as he moved. He wore a black tee with
grey sweatpants and looked prepared. My pink pants and pussycat top made me
look like an amateur.

Garrett got into
place to teach me whatever self-defense moves he thought might help an
uncoordinated wimp like me defeat a crazed lunatic I’d somehow managed to piss
off. This ought to be good.

“What do you know
about self-defense?”

“It can be used to
ward off an attacker?”

“Good.” Next, he
set his legs slightly apart and pulled his arms up as if he was going to launch
into fight mode.

“Are you kidding
about this?” I asked in disbelief. Not exactly what I hoped we’d be doing when
we were alone.

“Look, it’s not a
question of if, but when. He’s coming for you and you need to be prepared. You
need to learn close quarters combat.” Garrett paused. Probably to make sure it
registered.

He is totally
serious.
My thoughts ran wild. We’re
here, together. Just us. And Garrett wanted to teach me close quarters combat
because I went an angered some guy who had no idea hurting people was a bad
thing. My attacker must be crazy and desperate. I managed to get in his way.

Garrett whistled
and waved his arm in from of my face and pulled me out of my trance. “Are you
with me Mattie?”

“I’m…uh…I’m here.”

“I need you to pay
attention because your life depends on it. Are you ready?”

“I’m with you, but
I’m telling you now, you’ve got your work cut out for you.” And he did, because
I hadn’t totally mastered the whole balance thing. I’m a certified klutz. But,
a determined klutz, which is a dangerous combo.

“First, you need to
learn how to stand.”

I looked at my legs
and noted I was already standing.

“You’ve got to work
on your fighting stance. So you’re prepared to defend an attack, or fight.”

I swallowed hard.

“You’re
right-handed, is that correct?”

“Um, yes?” What did
it matter?

“You are right side
dominant. So, stand with your left leg, the non-dominant leg, forward. Let the
heel of your back leg come off the ground a little. This will help keep you
balanced and ready to move. Tuck your chin down, lift up your arms, and bend
your elbows. Hold your hands out about 8-10 inches where you can use them to
grab weapons or fight.”

No way I’d get all
that right.

“You’re not very
big or powerful, so you need to learn to parry a strike.”

“What?”

“Some mercs call it
hand to hand. A few might describe it as fighting in a phone booth—up
close and personal.”

“Mercs? Personal? What’s
happening?” My legs felt wobbly. I started to go down, but Garrett held me up.

“Mattie, get a
grip. You can do this. I’ve seen your determination, and stubbornness
first-hand.”

I stood there dazed
and confused.

“Sorry for the
lingo, sometimes it slips out. Mercs are mercenaries, and with our guy it’s
definitely personal, so he’ll try to catch you off-guard. You need to prepare
to fight this guy one-on-one. Any situation at any time. That’s why I want to
teach you Krav Maga.”

“Krav-ma-what?”

“Krav Maga. It’s a
type of self-defense used by Israeli commandos.”

“Commandos? You
think you can turn this—” I waved my hand across my frame to indicate the
lack of muscles, “into a commando?”