Meredith put her hand on Cade’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Cade. It’s such a huge tragedy, but the police have ruled it a suicide. You need to influence other troubled teens not to do the same.”
Cade pulled away. “Jess was not a troubled teen!”
“I’m sorry, Cade,” Meredith cooed. “I thought Jess had attempted suicide before by driving into a wall.”
“That was just after her best friend, Chloe, died in a car accident with Jess in the car. It was survivor’s guilt. She was over that. She was better.”
Meredith looked at Cade with big, blue eyes. “I wish for Jess’s sake she hadn’t tricked you.”
The show went to an ad break, and Kat turned to Damon. “What a bitch!” She realised what she said to Sensei Damon. “Um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
Damon shook his head. “You’re absolutely right. I’d say a lot worse, just not around girls.”
A man about Damon’s height with dark hair, blue-grey eyes and glasses walked over to them carrying a computer and a bag with a keyboard sticking out of it. “You should hear the way he talks around me. He’s even worse around Alex. Who’s the blitch?”
“Meredith Wright,” Damon answered. “Brent Harding, this is Kat Chase. Brent is my partner Alex’s brother.”
Brent smiled cheekily. “Big brother, thank you. Nice to meet you, Kat. I’ve heard loads of good things about you, unlike Meredith Wright. If beauty were based on being a nice person, you’d never meet an uglier hag. The blitch queen crucifies most of the people she interviews, but is still given interviews. She’s gotta be sleeping...”
Damon interrupted, “Brent.”
“Oops, sorry, fifteen. Let’s change the subject. I have a computer for you.” He looked at Damon. “I also have that other stuff you asked for.” He handed Damon the computer and the bag containing cables, a mouse and a keyboard. “I’ll get the monitor from my car and meet you both downstairs.
Brent walked into the office to find the computer set up except for the monitor. He raised an eyebrow at Damon, who shook his head and pointed to Kat.
He took the monitor out of the box and put it on the desk. “I’ll let you drive, Kat. It’s good to see one of you can use computers. Means he’s human.”
Damon smiled wickedly. “And gay. Most of the gym thinks I’m dating your brother.”
Brent took a step back and raised an eyebrow. “I know the family’s usually the last to know but…”
Damon chuckled. “Actually, Alex will be. There’s a pushy girl with a crush. To spare me, Kat told her I missed my partner, Alex. She didn’t actually say I was gay, but everyone believes it. I thought I should tell you before they find out you’re Alex’s brother.” He turned to Kat. “Brent’s not just Alex’s brother, he’s a good friend in his own right and does a lot of computer work for me.”
Brent smiled. “He has better things to do than play with computers. He’s saved my brother’s life at least three times that they’ll both admit. Personally, I suspect more.” Brent tapped the computer. “This baby’s powerful enough for anything. I’ll try to teach you a few things on it, Damon.”
Kat looked up after plugging the monitor in. “Could you show me too, please, Brent or Mr Harding?”
Brent smiled warmly. “Brent’s good.”
Damon grinned. “Yeah, Brent’s a good guy. And for the record, Alex has saved my life several times. That’s what partners do. We look out for each other.”
Brent smiled and turned on the computer. “Right back at you, Damon. Enter your password, please, Kat. You should be able to go into your work as normal. This computer’s way faster than the dinosaur.” Brent pointed to the older computer on the desk. “I’ll replace that next time I’m here. This one’s mostly for you, Kat. I want to teach Damon a few things on this, but it shouldn’t interfere with your studies.” Brent watched Kat go into her online course. “Nice and smooth. I’d be disappointed if it went any other way. Great grades, Kat.”
Kat blushed and smiled. “Thanks.”
Damon smiled and nodded. “You’re doing really well, Kat. Could you please help Sensei Connor at the front desk? We’re about to get an influx.”
Kat glanced at the clock. “All the Mums who’ve just dropped their kids at school. Will Laura be back for her midday class?”
“I’ll be supervising you then. Thanks, Kat.”
Getting supervised by the boss! I can do this. “Nice meeting you, Brent. Thank you both for the computer.” Kat ran up the stairs.
“She’s a sweet kid. You’ve done really well with her, and she seems to have helped you too, Damon.”
Damon nodded. “Yeah, she has. We’ve both had too fucking much to cope with, but working with each other seems to help. I’m doing better, and she seems to be. What’d you find on Swanson? I’ve asked about a bit, old school. He seems to enjoy being rough with women during kumite, but takes it easy on the blokes.”
Brent nodded. “That backs up what I’ve found. Two ex-wives, although one he hadn’t exactly married. A son with the first, a daughter with the second. He likes them young.” Brent went into a hidden directory and brought up photos of a battered woman. “They got together when she was seventeen. After four years and many interventions from the police, she finally left him for their Tae Kwon Do instructor. He stayed away and pursued another young girl who he married three months after she turned eighteen.” Brent brought up photos of her.
Damon’s eyes blazed black fire. “The bastard really did a number on her. There’s no fucking way he’s staying at my gym.”
“Good way to keep an eye on him, though. Maybe you should get your cousin Violet here to beat the crap out of him? His ex had no job, no family and nowhere to go. She stayed with him until he hit their daughter. Happy ending, though. She’s now married to the cop who helped them, and they have three more children together. Swanson won’t go near them.”
Damon rubbed his forehead. “I don’t like him here, but you’re right. Much easier to keep an eye on. Vi runs her own gym in Sydney, and is quite fierce looking for being so small. But maybe, although she’s in her twenties.”
Brent smiled. “There are some things we can do to ensure the safety of girls in his private life.” Brent showed Damon how to get into the hidden directory and a file called backup docs. “If you click here, it will bring up my login to the police network. I have access to everything.”
“Why’s it called backup docs? Shouldn’t that be for documents you’ve backed up?”
Brent smiled. “Exactly. Who wants to look at them? If I called it fun stuff or even games, people might want to check it out. You did say Kat’s dad’s a software engineer. We don’t want her stumbling onto this any time soon.”
“Maybe one day, though. It may help her if she can keep an eye on the scum who attacked her.” Damon’s eyes blazed. “What they fucking did to her.”
“I can find out every move they make, so you or Alex can take them out at the right time.”
Damon shook his head. “She doesn’t want revenge. I fucking do, though.”
Kat stopped herself from giggling as half the class kept staring at Sensei Damon and forgetting what the next move should be. She reminded them and brought them back on track, only to have to do it again. When there was about five minutes to go, Laura stuck her head in the door, almost making Kat forget what she was supposed to be doing. She so hoped Laura was having a boy.
Damon noticed Kat hesitate and gestured to Laura to leave the class. Kat took the class through the cool-down and stretches.
Towards the end of the stretches, Kat went into front splits. “I know there’s a few of you who can do this. If you can, please do so. If you’re not there yet, extend the stretch we were doing by taking your front foot out further.” She looked around the room. “Fantastic. Now keep your back flat and bring your head down. Hold that for ten…Change legs. Bring your head down. Hold that for ten…Roll onto your tummy and stand up. Well done, everyone. See you soon.”
<
br /> Damon walked over first. “Wow, Kat, you were fantastic. Has anyone ever told you you’re a rubber band?”
Kat chuckled and nodded. “Sensei Jacob used to say that a lot. I used to do gymnastics with Courtney. I wasn’t half as good as her. She was hoping to qualify for the Olympics.” Kat’s smile faded as she thought about Courtney.
“Good save today. You almost got distracted when you noticed Laura but brought yourself out of it. Well done. Finish up here, and we’ll go and find out the good news. Don’t worry. If they’re having a baby girl, she’ll grow up around a karate gym. She’ll be a warrior and will have all of us looking out for her.”
Kat smiled, “Thanks,” then bit her bottom lip, “Was I that obvious?”
“Yeah, but I’m observant. See you upstairs.”
Kat ran up the stairs after packing up and speaking with a few members. “What’s your good news?”
Laura beamed. “Our baby’s healthy and…” she held out a pink jumpsuit with teddy bears all over it.
Kat remembered what Sensei Damon said. “That’s so cute. We need to get her a little gi.”
Damon beamed. Kat handled that way better than he hoped. “My cousin Violet can make her one. She made some for my little sister and brother when they were born. They did look cute. Cadence is hoping to attend the next black belt grading. She’s quite good for eleven. You can meet her then, Kat.” He hugged Laura and shook Dereck’s hand. “Congratulations. It’ll be good having a little monkey around here.”
“It sure will be.” Laura held up a shopping bag. “Come on, Kat. I’ll show you what we got. They’re all so cute.”
7
Adam walked over to Kat and bowed. “Hey, Kat. Can you please take me through Kanku-dai again? I’ve got a long way to go but feel I’m getting better. You’re such an amazing teacher.”
Kat smiled and bowed. “Sure. Let’s go to the corner, so we’re not in anyone’s way.” She glanced at the clock. “We’ve got ten minutes till line up.”
Kat felt someone gaining on them and turned around to see who it was.
Sensei Damon’s eyes were blazing. Kat had only seen him do that a few times, and he was furious each time. What have I done wrong?
“Sempai Kat, please take the white belts through First Kata.”
“Yes, Sensei Damon.” Kat almost ran to the white belts.
Kat waited after class until all the students had left. “Excuse me, Sensei Damon. What did I do wrong?”
Damon smiled warmly. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Kat. It wasn’t you I was angry at. Come into the office. It’ll be easier to show you.” They both walked into the office, and Damon started the computer. He tried to get into the hidden directory and failed.
He clenched his fist and stopped himself from swearing. “I’m useless with these things. I guess it’ll be easier to tell you after all.” He lowered his voice. “Adam Swanson is not a good person. Actually, I’d classify him as bad. I had pictures I was going to show you of his two ex-wives, both battered and broken. They’re okay now, no thanks to him. Both women he met through martial arts before they were eighteen. I’m worried he’s chosen you for his third wife.”
Kat’s eyes widened, and she took a step back with her hands up. “I haven’t done anything to lead him on, I swear.”
“I know, Kat. It’s okay. He is entirely to blame. You have done nothing wrong. You’ve actually done everything right. You have been respectful and helpful in the aerobics room, dojo, gym and reception. I can’t fault you in any way. Adam, on the other hand, I want to rip his head off.”
“I know he only graded to yellow on Sunday and couldn’t spar before then. I’ve noticed you only put him with other men, usually higher belts. I thought that was because you thought he was good.”
Damon shook his head. “He’s been heavy-handed with women in his old clubs, and was pretty much asked to leave all of them because of it. Some men want power over women. He definitely seems to be one of them. Please, do your best to stay away from him. Get Sensei Dereck, Sensei Connor or me to deal with him instead. Warn Chelsea too. We don’t…” He watched the colour drain from Kat’s face as she started to tremble. He put his hands up to help calm her down. “We’re going to keep Chelsea safe. Nothing bad is going to happen to her, okay? We don’t want anything bad to happen to you either. You’re both safe here, okay, Kat?”
Kat nodded. “Why do you still let him come here if you don’t trust him?”
“I thought about banning him from our gyms, but he’d just go somewhere else. At least we can keep an eye on him here.”
“What if he attacks a girl somewhere else?”
Damon put his hand on his forehead. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but we’re making sure that doesn’t happen.”
“How?”
“We’re kinda tracking him.”
“H…Oh. That’s that other stuff Brent wanted to talk with you about. Were you going to show me a hidden file?” Kat sat down at the computer. “I should be able to find it.”
Damon watched in awe as Kat brought up the directory faster than he could bring up a directory that hadn’t been hidden. Luckily, she found the photos that Brent saved in their own file and not his way into the police database. Where did Brent put that again? I’m glad I wrote it down.
“Oh my God! Those poor girls.” Tears filled Kat’s eyes when she saw Adam’s little girl with a purple bruise covering half her face. “We’ve got to protect Laura’s baby girl and Chelsea!”
“It’s okay, Kat. We will. Laura’s baby isn’t born yet, and you’re going to make sure Chelsea knows what sort of monster he is.”
Kat nodded. “I can do that. What else can I do to help? I want to help. Please?”
“Don’t tell anyone about the files. I’ll talk to Brent and get him to teach you how to help on the computer. You’re much better with computers than I am. Keep an eye on everyone, and let me know if you see anything you shouldn’t. There may be other things we can help with. Hopefully, there aren’t any more men like Adam here, but if there are, we want to know about them.”
“Thanks. I want to make this world safer.”
“We will, Kat.”
Kat stood up and threw her arms around Damon. “Thank you. I’ve always wanted to but didn’t know how.”
Kat almost bounced into work. “Good morning, Sensei Damon and Sensei Connor.”
“Morning, Kat. You’re in a good mood.”
“I really am. I made up a folder of ideas I’d love to talk with you about after class, please, Sensei Damon.”
“I have a few people booked in for programs, but after that, definitely.”
“Great! Thanks.” She watched the four early regulars arrive and promptly signed them in.
Laura arrived with a bag of more baby clothes. Kat was about to run downstairs with her when she felt Sensei Damon’s mood change. It felt as though the clouds had blocked out the sun. She turned to see Adam walk in.
“I’m going to try aerobics today. I’ve heard brilliant things about Kat’s classes.”
“I think karate’s more your thing,” Damon almost growled.
“I like to keep an open mind. I’m trying aerobics today.” Adam started following Kat and Laura.
“Give them a few minutes to set up. The doors of the aerobics room don’t open for another ten minutes.”
Adam tried and failed to meet Damon’s eyes. “Okay. I’ll go down then.”
Kat ran into the office and put the folder in a drawer. She didn’t want someone else seeing it. She joined Laura in the aerobics room.
“Shut the door for a moment, Kat,” Laura said, walking towards her. She lowered her voice. “Sensei Damon called us last night. I knew a little about Adam before that. I hoped he was just being nice to you, but especially with his behaviour today, it seems like he has a crush. He’s a dangerous man in his forties and has beaten up both his ex-wives and his daughter. I know Sensei Damon has told you already, but his behaviour today i
s freaking me out. Please, be careful around him, Kat.”
“I will be. I called Chelsea last night and let her know. She’ll be here soon.”
Chelsea walked in at exactly twenty past six with Adam close behind her. She smiled at Kat, then rolled her eyes, aware that Adam was following her.
Kat hugged Chelsea. “Come and check out the songs for this class. They’re awesome.” Kat and Laura kept Chelsea up the front with them until the class was about to start.
Every time Kat glanced in Adam’s direction, he was staring at her. Kat worried that he was picturing her naked and almost forgot what she was doing. The class couldn’t end fast enough but felt like it went for hours.
Adam approached Kat upstairs the moment after she said goodbye to Chelsea. “I’d like you to give me a new program, Kat. I know it’s part of your course and could help us both.”
Damon stormed over. “Kat, I’ve booked you in to give a new member a program.” Damon pointed at a uni student about nineteen who was quite pretty despite carrying a few extra kilos. She was one of the new members Damon was initially booked in to help. “I’ll take Adam through a new program.”
Adam looked at the clock. “I should probably be getting to work. I work my own hours but just remembered a project that needs my attention. I’ll get Kat to help me later. Like I said, it will be beneficial to both of us.”
Damon watched Adam leave. Kat seemed to be doing a great job with the new member, and Connor had the front desk under control. Damon went downstairs to the dojo and did to the punching bags and boards what he wanted to do to Adam. He walked upstairs after almost an hour, dripping in sweat, but in a much better mood. Connor was helping a member with the pin-loaded weights. Damon glanced at the TV. An interstate reporter stood amid several sand dunes. “If you can help identify the murdered girl or have information that may lead to her killers, please call,” the screen changed to display the phone number.
Our Cause (Let the Monsters Live in Fear Book 1) Page 6
