Fire Defender

by Rodney Hartman

  Tess stopped trying to concentrate. She just let the image of the pentagram and its waves of fire flow into her mind. A feeling of warmth arose in her right hand, spreading up her arm and into the center of her being.

  Tess felt the librarian’s hand jerk back.

  “Elizabeth, your eyes.”

  Tess didn’t know what Alec’s great-aunt saw in her eyes. She barely sensed the world as it was. The flickering flame of the lit candle became her entire universe, merging with the image of the pentagram. Tess didn’t so much will the flame from the first candle to move as she did become a part of the flame and move her own spirit to the second candle. She sensed the flame coming with her. A sudden dizziness came over her. The image of the pentagram she’d formed in her mind disappeared. She blinked and slumped forward overcome by weakness. Two wrinkled hands caught her by the shoulders and held her upright. Tess thought that for someone so old, Alec’s aunt was surprisingly strong.

  As her vision cleared, Tess looked at the shoebox. She saw two lit candles flickering in the box. “I did it,” she said hardly believing what she saw.

  Mrs. Walker continued holding Tess upright. “Yes, you did, Elizabeth. You definitely did it. To be honest, I didn’t think… But that doesn’t matter. You did it.”

  Looking at the librarian, Tess said, “I thought I heard you say something about my eyes.”

  “Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Walker. “You like to have given me a heart attack. Your eyes turned yellow and a glow formed around your hand like it was on fire. I’m not sure how else to describe it. All I know is that when your eyes changed, the flame from the first candle stretched out and lit the second. Uh, how do you feel, dear?”

  “Weak,” Tess said. “Very weak.” She glanced around. “Maybe we should wait a few minutes before we try again.”

  Mrs. Walker shook her head. “No more for you today. To be honest, I thought we’d be at it for hours with nothing to show for our efforts. I never expected you to succeed, at least not today. Maybe we can practice more tomorrow after we eat lunch at Myiata’s.”

  Too weak to do anything else, Tess nodded agreement. “I need to get to Kernersville anyway. I’ve got a tournament. I promised Sensei I’d be there.”

  “And you will be, dear, but you’re too weak to drive right now.”

  “Then how—”

  “I’ll drive your cycle, Elizabeth.” The old lady smiled. “Like I told you. I wasn’t always a librarian.”

  * * *

  Mick sat in the driver’s seat of the SUV, lowered his field glasses, and picked up the cellphone from the dash, pressing the speed dial.

  “Do you have something to report?” came Cynthia Jager’s voice sounding perturbed.

  Mick gritted his teeth but succeeded in keeping his temper under control. It had been a long night, and he hadn’t even had a chance to go back to the safe house and shower.

  “You guessed right,” said Mick. “The biker girl’s wearing the Fire Ring now. I heard them say so.”

  “You’d best be sure. What’d you see?”

  “I think the old lady from the library is the trainer. She’s got some kind of book with drawings. I was too far away to make out the details, but whatever’s in the book is important. The biker-girl did something with fire. I saw her right hand glow yellow. When her hand glowed, I saw a ring appear on her finger. She’s definitely the one we want.”

  Only silence came from the phone.

  Mick counted to five. “What are we going to do?”

  “Do?” came the female’s reply. “We continue to monitor the targets; all of the targets. The colors will be here tomorrow with the asset. We will do nothing until then. We lost our chance to get the ring ourselves. This is no time for mistakes.”

  Not wanting to hear the answer but knowing he had to ask, Mick said, “Do you want me to continue following the girl?”

  “No,” replied Cynthia surprising the man. “Get back to the safe house and get cleaned up. Team Charlie will take over surveillance of the girl. Is the tracer on the motorcycle working correctly?”

  “Perfectly,” Mick said. “She can’t get away without us noticing it. Unfortunately, the microphone isn’t as sensitive as we’d hoped. I couldn’t make out what the women said once they got more than a dozen feet from the bike. I think I can adjust the sensitivity to filter out the background noise if I got my hands on the tracer for a few seconds.”

  “No,” said Cynthia in no uncertain terms. “Stay away from the girl’s motorcycle. We don’t want to spook her. If she bolts, there’d be hell to pay. Get back to the safe house. I’ll take it from here.”

  Mick closed the connection on the phone, started the SUV’s engine, and headed for the safe house. He was tired. Things were undoubtedly coming to a head. His thoughts turned to a bed and clean sheets. He forgot all about the old woman and the girl. The only thing that mattered now was getting some well-deserved sleep. Everything else could wait.

  Chapter 26 – Tournament

  _____________________

  Tess couldn’t wait to switch places with the octogenarian. It wasn’t that Mrs. Walker was a bad driver—she was very good considering her age. Still, the weight of the cycle combined with the weight of two riders was too much for the old woman’s legs. Despite her initial enthusiasm, the librarian was more than willing after five minutes to pull over to the side of the road and trade spots with Tess.

  “Do you want me to take you back to the library?” Tess asked.

  Mrs. Walker shook her head. “No thank you, dear. I think I’d like to go see you fight, I mean spar. Besides, Alec will be there. He’s begged me often enough the past couple of years to go see him. I used to attend all his events, but that was a long time ago.”

  With that settled, Tess headed for Kernersville. They arrived at the town’s massive brick auditorium in plenty of time. Flashing a pass for two people given to her by her sensei, Tess guided Mrs. Walker inside, past a long line of spectators waiting to enter.

  “My, it’s a bigger tournament than I thought,” said Mrs. Walker gazing at the 10,000-capacity double-floor bleachers and the mats laid out on the auditorium floor forming ten sparing and kata demonstration areas. She waved a hand at the five hundred plus children and adults running around the arena floor wearing martial-arts uniforms and a variety of colored belts. “Look at all the people.”

  Tess laughed. “It’s a multi-state competition. There are competitors from Seattle, Portland, and everywhere in between.” She pointed at a large, dark-haired man with a group of twenty children in white uniforms. “That’s my sensei. I’ve got to help with the smaller children in my dojo. Do you want to go find Alec and Scott?”

  Mrs. Walker shook her head and smiled. “No, I think they’re old enough to get themselves ready. I think I’ll help you if you don’t think your sensei would mind.”

  Looking at the harried look on her sensei’s face as he tried keeping the score of smaller children together, Tess laughed. “I don’t think he’d mind at all.”

  As soon as she walked over with Mrs. Walker, her sensei put both of them to work helping with the youngest of the children. After a few minutes, the children calmed down enough for Tess to look around. She spotted Alec on the far side of the auditorium. When she nodded, he looked surprised but nodded back. He looked even more surprised when he noticed his great-aunt helping adjust the karate gi and belts of the children. To Tess’s surprise, the old librarian seemed to know what she was doing as she adjusted the belts and uniforms just right.

  “I see you’ve done this before,” Tess said.

  Mrs. Walker laughed. “Myiata and I spent enough time helping Alec when he was younger. He’s very good at it, or so I gather from the number of trophies in his room. I guess it helps when your instructor lives next door to you.”

  “You mean Scott’s dad?” Tess asked.

  “That’s right, dear,” said Mrs. Walker giving a final tug to a white-belt’s uniform, straightening out the majority of the wr
inkles. “Scott’s been taking lessons as long as Alec, but I think he relies on his size more than skill. Scott’s a big boy, in case you haven’t noticed.”

  “Oh, I have,” Tess said smiling as she remembered when she’d had to take the boy to the floor.

  After some of the other senior students in her dojo arrived and took control of the young ones, Tess reported in for her kata competition. Her red belt denoted her martial art style’s version of the more popular black belt. Although her heart wasn’t completely in it given the absence of her dad and the ring training that morning, Tess still came out with third place in her belt rank. She did better at sparing, coming out first after a hard-fought match with a black belt from a dojo that had come from Seattle to compete.

  “Alec Johnson report to ring three,” came the voice of the announcer over the loudspeaker.

  Since things were momentarily under control with her dojo’s students, Tess got permission from her sensei to watch Alec’s match. With Mrs. Walker at her side, she walked toward ring three located halfway down the arena floor. The duo wove through a large crowd of competitors sitting around ring three until Tess found a clear spot a few feet to the right of Alec. Both Mrs. Walker and she sat crossed legged on the cement floor.

  Pretty limber for an eighty-year-old, Tess thought. I hope I’m in as good a shape when I get to her age.

  Alec was getting last minute instructions from a large blond-headed man Tess assumed was Scott’s dad. Once the man finished speaking, Alec turned to look at Tess.

  “I’m glad you made it,” he said. “I, err, didn’t know you were into martial arts. I guess I should have figured it out based on the way you handled Scott that night at Big Jack’s.”

  “Shoulda, woulda, coulda,” Tess said giving what she hoped was a friendly smile. She regretted her words from the night before but couldn’t quite force herself to apologize. Why do I have to get tongue tied whenever he’s around? she wondered.

  “Well, anyway, I’m glad you’re here,” continued Alec. “I watched your final sparring match. You’re very good. Have you been—”

  Alec’s question was interrupted by a shove from one of Scott’s big hands as he walked up to join them.

  “Enough time to flirt with the pretty lady later,” laughed Scott. “You’ve got a match to win, tiger. Now get out there and show ’em what you’ve got.”

  Slightly red, Alec turned and entered the ring. Scott sat down next to Mrs. Walker as Tess sized up Alec’s opponent—a black belt from the same Seattle dojo as the student she’d sparred in her own final. She guessed the student was a good ten pounds lighter than Alec but wasn’t fooled. The Seattle black belt looked well-proportioned and confident.

  Both Alec and his opponent bowed to the referee before facing each other in a ready position. The referee brought his hand down in a chopping motion and yelled, “Hajime!” Alec went in cautiously avoiding a sweep from his opponent, then countered with a roundhouse kick. The Seattle boy got a hand under Alec’s foot and flipped him off balance. Taking advantage of the situation, he kicked at Alec’s right calf with enough force to trip him to the ground. Before Alec could get up, the Seattle boy dove in, landing a punch to Alec’s chest. The whistle blew. The Seattle boy was awarded one point.

  Once both of the competitors were on their feet and back in position, the referee shouted “Hajime!” again. Alec and his opponent began circling each other warily. Tess noticed a slight limp as Alec stepped forward favoring his right leg. The Seattle boy noticed it as well. Scooting in fast and coming from Alec’s right side, the Seattle boy aimed a hard kick at Alec’s right calf. Alec reacted unexpectedly. He spun fast on his right heel and caught his opponent with a back fist to the side of his head. The whistle blew. One point Alec.

  Scott peeked around Mrs. Walker, tapped Tess on the leg, and laughed. “Old Alec’s tricky. I thought he was hurt for sure. It just goes to show you it’s the quiet ones who you’ve got to watch out for.”

  Tess nodded her head. Like the Seattle boy, she’d assumed Alec’s right leg was hurt. She looked at him with a newfound respect.

  During the next two rounds Alec and the Seattle boy each got a point, making the score two to two. The referee lined the boys up for the final round. They bowed and took up defensive positions. When the referee shouted “Hajime,” the Seattle boy charged forward and jumped into the air for a do or die kick at Alec’s chest. Alec twisted to the side, bending low with his head down as he did a mule kick straight up. He caught his opponent between the legs as the boy passed overhead. The boy hit the ground groaning as he held onto his most sensitive of areas. The referee blew the whistle, awarding the final point to Alec as the Seattle boy’s sensei rushed over to help his student to his feet.

  “Thank God for protective cups,” Scott said leaning around Mrs. Walker. “I felt that one all the way over here.”

  After Alec was awarded the match, he joined his aunt, Scott, and her. Tess was about to congratulate him when she saw a potbellied man in a sheriff deputy’s uniform walking towards them.

  Tess smiled. “Deputy Stewart. I’m glad you made it.” She looked around. “Is your son here?”

  When the deputy didn’t return her smile, Tess became instantly alert. The others around her became silent. Even the background noise from the hundreds of parents and students in the auditorium diminished as Tess concentrated all her senses on the deputy.

  “What is it?” she asked unable to keep the concern out of her voice. “Have you found Dad?”

  “Tess,” said the big deputy, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but…” He looked at the others standing around her.

  “Maybe we should go,” said Alec.

  “No,” Tess said. “Stay.” Having Alec leave her at that moment was the last thing she wanted. She looked at Deputy Stewart. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my friends.”

  “Very well,” said the deputy. “One of our patrol cars found your dad’s truck. It had crashed into a tree. We found your dad inside. I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it.”

  The room swirled around Tess. Strong hands held her up.

  “What…what are you saying?” she asked knowing full well what the deputy was saying but needing time to think. “Are you saying Dad’s dead? I don’t believe it. He… How?”

  The deputy glanced around again before looking back at Tess. “He’d been drinking. We found a couple of half-empty bottles of whiskey in the cab. The doors were locked. We had to break in. The crash really wasn’t that bad, but your dad wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and apparently hit his head on the dash hard enough to knock him out. The engine continued to run. The investigating officer thinks a hole in the muffler leaked into the cab. We won’t know for sure until the toxicology report comes back on Monday, but I’m told the consensus on cause of death is carbon monoxide poisoning. I’m sorry.”

  Tess didn’t know what to say. She looked down to see an arm around her waist propping her up. The arm belonged to Alec.

  “What do you need Tess to do?” asked Mrs. Walker taking the lead.

  Deputy Stewart looked at the librarian. “She needs to go with me to the Covington hospital to identify the body, Mamie.”

  “I, uh…” Tess muttered unable to think. “My bike. I, uh…”

  “Don’t worry about your motorcycle,” said Mrs. Walker. “We’ll get it home for you. You go with the deputy. We’ll come pick you up at the hospital.”

  Stunned, Tess looked around unsure what to do. Taking charge again, Mrs. Walker had Scott and Alec gather her things and accompany her to the patrol car. After giving Alec the keys to her cycle, Tess got in the patrol car with Deputy Stewart. Without another word, the deputy pulled away and headed for Covington.

  It started to rain. Tess rolled the window down enough to allow drops of mist to spray on her face. A liquid trickled down her checks. It’s the rain, she thought. I’m not crying. It’s only the rain.

  Chapter 27 – Dark Times

 
; _______________________

  Without goggles, Alec had to squint to see the speedometer.

  A hundred and five? Are you kidding me? On this road?

  As much as he wanted to say something, Alec held tightly to Tess’s waist and kept his mouth shut. He was determined to let her do whatever she needed to do in order to deal with her grief. He concentrated on letting his body move with hers as she leaned into turns or sped up for straightaways. After another ten minutes of wild riding, he sensed the force of the air hitting his face slow down significantly. Glancing at the speedometer, he noted the needle at seventy.

  Within another two minutes, the speed was further cut in half as Tess turned onto one of the many dirt trails leading to the river. Parking at a small picnic area, she shut the engine off. The picnic area was out of the way, so they had it all to themselves. She just sat there saying nothing.

  Alec remained quiet as well, trying to keep even his breathing to a minimum. I don’t know what to say anyway, he thought. What can you say to someone who’s just lost a loved one? He’d been young when his own parents had died. His memory of the time was blurred, but one thing he did remember was not liking how everyone tried to tell him how sorry they were and that things would get better. He swore he wasn’t going to do the same to Tess, so he remained on the back of the motorcycle for another five minutes without saying a word.

  As the time passed, the sound of rushing water and birds chirping slowly worked its magic. Alec sensed Tess’s shoulders relax. She hadn’t cried, which worried him, but the pent-up anger he’d sensed inside her seemed to be gone or at least well hidden.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Tess said staring straight ahead. “Dad seemed happy when he left. I believe he wanted to turn his life around. I’m sure of it.”

  Alec hardly dared to breathe. He well knew the potential for him saying something stupid was high. He sensed Tess was at a crossroad and didn’t want to say anything that would cause her to go down the wrong path. Not that I know what the right path is, he thought.