Fifteen minutes later, having sailed through every green light, Jack parked his car in the Dojo lot. He wasn’t the least bit surprised to see how crowded it was. Harry had a brisk business and often had to turn people away or put them on a waiting list.
Jack let himself into the small kitchen area where a huge pot of tea was always on simmer. He helped himself to a cup before he headed out to the reception area to meet Harry and try to figure out what the S.O.S. was all about.
Harry spotted him the minute he walked into the reception area. He was dressed for class in his white gi, his black belt around his waist. He looked so frazzled, Jack had a hard time believing it was Harry. “She’s getting dressed. She’s here. What should I do?”
Jack did his best to appear patient. “What the hell are you talking about, Harry? Who is she? Are you in some kind of trouble? If you want my help, you have to give me a clue here.”
“The girl from the market where I shop. I’m in love with her. She can’t see me for dust, Jack. I want to impress her. She’s really here now but she always canceled previously. She doesn’t return my phone calls. It has to mean something that she’s here, right, Jack?”
Jack gulped at the hot tea. Green tea, he thought. “What makes you think I’m some kind of authority on women?”
Harry looked nonplused for a moment. “You said you were.”
“Oh.” He really needed to stop bragging. “Well, where is she?”
Harry danced from one bare foot to the other. “All the students are in the locker room getting dressed. They don’t come out till I ring the bell.”
Jack looked around the large room. All the walls were mirrored. Blue mats covered the floor. Other than the mats, nothing else was in the classroom. The reception area, however, was different. Two bamboo benches lined the small area. A teakwood desk held a vase of white flowers. White for purity and serenity, Harry had told him once. Sweet incense wafted about. Takes away the smell of sweat, Harry had said the first time he’d visited. A real bamboo tree stood in the corner. It was lush and full.
“You know how tough I am with my students. Should I go easy on her? If I do that, the others will know I’m interested in her. She’s very tiny, fragile. She looks like a beautiful porcelain doll.”
“You are smitten, Harry. Look, ring the damn bell and let’s get this show on the road. I can’t give you an opinion till I see how it’s going. For now, do what you always do. Ignore her. Women hate to be ignored. That’s a given. If you’re thinking about showing off, don’t. She knows you’re good or she wouldn’t be here. Just pretend she’s another student. I’d comb my hair if I were you.”
Harry smoothed down his shiny back hair, straightened his gi, gave his black belt a twist and moved off, his dark eyes miserable. He rang the bell, stepped aside as his students filed into the room and formed four lines. Sixty students. Harry walked to the middle of the room and bowed low. The students bowed low.
Harry straightened up and pointed to a chubby lady in the second row. She moved out of the line to stand in front of Harry. They both bowed. She then stepped to the side and dropped to her knees, her toes and feet flat on the floor for the meditation ritual that had nothing to do with religion. Meditation helped to get a student in the right frame of mind. At the end of the lesson, the meditation ritual would be done again.
Eight minutes later, the ritual over, the warm up exercises began with the chubby lady conducting them.
Jack stretched his neck to see which of the students Harry was interested in. He waited for Harry to make his way back to the reception area while the warm up exercises got under way. “Which one is she?” he whispered.
“Second row, third from the left. You can hardly see her. After the warm up, I’ll…I’ll introduce her as a new student. I do that from time to time so it won’t be unusual.”
“You better calm down first. Get going, buddy, meditation is over and so are the warm ups.”
Harry pranced to the middle of the room and motioned to the chubby lady to get back into line. He pointed to his new student and motioned her forward. “We have a new student this evening. I want you all to offer as much help as you can if she requests it. This, class, is Miss Yoko Akia.”
“Oh shit,” Jack muttered under his breath. He tried to make himself invisible by slouching lower on the slatted bench. He yanked his Redskins cap lower over his eyes.
He watched Nikki’s cohort bow low before the Master before she took a step backward and then turned to the class to acknowledge their greeting. She was about to return to her line when Harry called her back. She bowed again and stepped aside. Ah, shit, Harry was going to show off. He could smell his testosterone. Big mistake, buddy.
“I’m going to show you some classic moves. Pay attention, Miss Akia. When I finish, we’ll engage. Do you understand?” Yoko smiled, nodded, and bowed.
Jack watched the wiry Wong go through his paces. His students kept nodding and smiling as they hoped that one day they, too, would come somewhere near their master’s expertise.
Jack remembered his own days under Harry’s tutelage. He, like the others in the D. A.’s office, had plotted his death a hundred different ways. It took a full month for the bruises, the aches, the pains and the minute fractures to disappear. He dreaded and hated the two hour mandatory classes because Harry showed no mercy to any of his students. There was nothing worse than having the master single you out, see him sneer and hear him call you a pussy cat. The times he’d wilted in shame were too numerous to recall, but he’d persevered and prevailed. Harry’s training had saved his skin on more than one occasion. For that, he would be forever grateful. His fellow ADA’s felt the same way.
Jack tuned back into Harry and his performance. Even at this distance he could see the wicked glint in Yoko’s eyes. Suddenly, Jack wanted to run out to the floor and drag the master back to the kitchen. Instead, he leaned back and concentrated on the scene being played out in front of him.
“Do what I do,” Harry said. Yoko bowed and followed his instructions. “Don’t be timid because you’re a girl. I won’t hurt you.”
Yoko lowered her head. “What if I make a mistake and hurt you?” she asked quietly.
Jack got a whiff of testosterone again. Harry, you dumb schmuck, she’s setting you up. Backwater. Now.
Harry Wong, grand master, smiled confidently. “That won’t happen, Miss Akia. Now just follow my moves. When we’re finished we will engage. Do you understand?”
Yoko smiled. “Yes, I understand.”
Jack watched as Harry went through the paces he remembered all too well. As an observer, he could only marvel at the man’s agility, his grace, his lightening-like moves. Behind him, Yoko looked clumsy and inept.
Twenty long minutes later, Harry turned back to his new pupil and said, “Now, we will engage.”
Big mistake, Harry, Jack thought as he saw the master’s feet leave the floor. A nanosecond later, Harry was flat on the floor staring at the ceiling.
The class gasped as Yoko pretended horror. “Did I hurt you, Master Wong?”
“Of course not. I’m indestructible. Sometimes a student gets lucky the first time out of the gate.” Yoko nodded shyly.
Master and student bowed to each other. Jack groaned. He’d always thought of Harry Wong as his own personal secret weapon. He wondered if that was going to change now.
It happened so quickly, Jack almost missed Harry’s second landing. His jaw dropped as Yoko leaped high in the air when Harry’s foot and arm shot out. She landed so quickly that the stunned Harry, his eyes wild, took the chop to his neck, a finger jab to his throat, and a violent kick to his side before he landed on his back to stare up at the ceiling a second time.
“Ooooh, I feel your pain, Harry. Ooooh, ooooh, that had to hurt. I can’t believe that little bit of a thing whupped your ass.” It was obvious to Jack that Harry was thinking the same thing. Now, the master was getting angry. Ooooh, look out little Yoko.
Harry stood up as h
e tried to ignore the collective gasp of his class. “Obviously, you have a smattering of knowledge in martial arts, Miss Akia.”
“Smattering?” Yoko said as she rocked back and forth on her bare feet.
Shut UP, Harry, Jack pleaded silently. He watched in horror as the two bowed and squared off. Harry was outright mad. The porcelain doll was pissed. He knew what the outcome would be and he wanted to cry for his secret weapon.
It started out like Miss Pringle’s third grade dance class. Wary now, Harry made the mistake of trying to anticipate Yoko’s moves. She whirled, twirled, leaped and pranced as she jabbed, kicked and chopped. Harry couldn’t keep up with her. He’d whirl, she’d catch him in mid twirl and then she’d chop, her arms like pistons until she had him on the mat and was sitting on his chest. Her tiny hands were like steel claws as she pinned him to the mat. “What does that mean, smattering?”
“That you know a little bit about martial arts. How long are you going to sit on my chest?”
“A little bit? I will accept your apology if it is sincere. I will get off when I am ready.”
“All right, you know more than a little. Probably pretty much. You came here under false pretenses,” Harry squawked as he tried to shake her loose.
“You tricked the girl at the Asian market to get my phone number. Why?”
“Why? I wanted a date.”
“Okay. Pick me up tomorrow night at seven.” Yoko leaped to her feet, turned, bowed to the master and then to the class before she strode off.
Harry stood up and winced. “Class dismissed. Two free classes next week.”
Jack watched his friend limp over to where he was sitting. “What a pussy cat you are, Master Wong,” Jack guffawed. “What’s she weigh, ninety pounds? Man, she had you on the ropes. I can’t believe you did all this to get a date.”
“I never said I was a ladies’ man like you. I’m shy. Hey, it worked.”
“Yeah, but she beat the shit out of you in front of your class. She humiliated you, hot shot!”
“Nah, nah, I let her win. I’m not that stupid.”
“Yeah, yeah, you are. Guess it’s your turn to hit the hot tub and rub that smelly liniment all over your skinny body. Don’t even think about asking me to do it,” Jack guffawed again as he made his way back to the kitchen, Harry limping along behind him.
In the kitchen, Harry poured himself a cup of tea. “Where do you suppose she learned the art? She’s not that old.”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “This is just a guess but it would be my opinion that she learned this early on, probably as soon as she started to walk. I watched her, Harry. She was in that place you always told us to go to before an event. I could never do that. She tuned everything out. She was in that place, physically and mentally, and she made it work for her. No matter what you say, you were thinking with your dick. Just as a matter of curiosity, when was the last time someone pinned you?”
Harry grimaced as he gulped at the hot tea. “Believe it or not, Jack, no one has ever pinned me. She did it fair and square, too. That, I have to respect. I pretty much feel like a fool. How do I cover that tomorrow if I get the guts to pick her up?”
“Ignore it. Pretend it never happened. It’s a wise man who knows when to be humble.”
“That’s your advice! It sucks, Jack!”
“Yeah, I know. See ya, Harry.”
Chapter 11
The cell phone was in Jack’s hand even before he fit the key in the ignition. He could hardly wait to tell Nikki about seeing her secret weapon take down his secret weapon. If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget the stunned look on Harry Wong’s face when the ninety pound dynamo pinned him to the mat. Harry would probably never forget it either.
A smile settled on Jack’s face when he pulled out of Harry’s parking lot. He always smiled when he heard Nikki say, “Jack!” in that breathless voice of hers that he so loved.
“It’s me. Boy, do I have a story to tell you!”
“I have one to tell you, too. Where are you?”
“On my way home. Where are you?”
“I’m at the house. Waiting for you. We can swap stories when you get here.”
Well, all RIGHT. “Do you want me to pick up anything?”
“A pizza with pepperoni, green peppers and garlic would be nice. I just got here or I would have cooked something. I’m starving. Better buy two. I’ll call Bella’s now to order them. Go through the drive-through. Wine or beer?”
“Beer! You aren’t going to believe where I’ve been and you sure as hell aren’t going to believe what went down. Don’t even try to coax it out of me.”
“I bet I can top whatever it is you’re going to tell me,” Nikki teased.
“We’ll see about that,” Jack said. “See you in a few minutes. Hey, this is really a nice surprise. I didn’t expect to see you this week.” He broke the connection, the smile still on his face.
Jack looked into the rear view mirror. He knew he had a tail two cars back. So, what else was new? He was so used to it now, it no longer bothered him. What did bother him was the waste of money someone was paying those goons. He wished he knew if it came out of the president’s pocket or if Charles Martin subsidized that payroll in some way. He accepted the fact that he might never know the answer to that particular question.
Jack waited till the last minute before he turned on his signal light to turn into Bella’s parking lot and then on to the drive-through window. He swiped his credit card through the machine that came through the window on an electronic arm. Within seconds he had two hot pizza boxes in his hand. He whizzed through the parking lot and out to the main road that would lead him to Nikki’s house.
Tonight, he was lucky. He found a parking spot two doors down from Nikki’s house. Pizza in hand, he climbed out of the car, locked it and started down the walk. A dark sedan was double parked directly in front of the house. He pretended not to see it.
“Good evening, Mr. Emery.”
Jack’s response was to flip the bird to the special agent. Well, now they knew about Harry Wong. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Harry and his merry band of ninjas were responsible for some of the serious injuries the agents suffered at their hands. Jack made a mental note to call Harry and warn him. He worried about Harry. Men in love did stupid things and they tended to get sloppy at their workplace. He should know since he was the perfect example. Still, if he had to make a bet, he’d put his money down on Harry as long as guns didn’t enter into the equation.
Jack slammed the door extra loud for the agents’ benefit.
Nikki reached for the pizza boxes as she leaned forward to kiss Jack soundly. They ended up laughing before Jack headed off for the upstairs bathroom where he called Harry’s cell phone. He wasn’t surprised to get the “please leave a message at the sound of the tone” message. Jack left a detailed message, ending with, “This is your fault, Harry. You wanted me to come to the dojo. Stay alert, buddy. These guys play with guns and they have a few scores to settle. Let me know how the big date goes. This is Jack Emery, and I approve this message.” Jack laughed to himself all the way back to the living room where Nikki had everything ready and waiting.
Ah, the perfect end to a long day.
A long time later, the pizza boxes and napkins burning in the fireplace along with a fire log, the couple retired to the deep comfortable couch. They cuddled and snuggled. “Who goes first?” Nikki asked.
Jack sighed. “Ladies first. I know you can’t top my news, so go ahead, shoot your load.”
“Okay, here goes. We’re talking pure dumb luck here but guess which one of my sisters has a date with a good friend of yours? Yoko, that’s who! She met this guy in the Asian market where she shops and he came on to her but she’s shy. This guy, your good friend, Harry Wong, bribed the sales clerk for her phone number and he called her. Go ahead, Mr. District Attorney, try and top that!”
“Oh, I can top that,” Jack drawled. “Guess who watched a
competition between my secret weapon and your secret weapon? Me, that’s who! Your secret weapon wiped up the floor with my secret weapon but Harry was off his feed; he’s in love. That little gal pinned him. I couldn’t believe someone so small could be so powerful. Harry isn’t a big guy but he’s all muscle. When you watch him you think he’s made of rubber the way he can bend and do all that stuff. Yoko was the same way.”
“Damn,” Nikki said, propping herself up on one elbow to stare down at Jack who was propped up on a stack of pillows. “I thought I had you that time because they met by accident. This is too weird.”
“Weird covers it. They have a date tomorrow. I hate to admit this but your little gal has Harry wrapped. How come you never told me about her?”
“Jack, I didn’t know. None of us knew. From time to time she’d do some quirky little thing but I had no idea she was as proficient as she is. Until just recently, Yoko has been a bit of a mystery. She split with her husband. It was one of those arranged marriages. Isabelle kind of mothers her. I think it all started when Julia had one of her assistants give her breast implants. After that, Yoko started to blossom. I have to tell you, she was pretty excited about Harry. God, Jack, what kind of union will that be if it works out between the two of them?”
“An interesting one, that’s for sure.” Nikki gave him a good swat.
“Listen, Jack, we’re all leaving over the weekend for Manassas so I won’t be stopping by. We’re starting Alexis’s mission. It’s not like Manassas is a continent away, it’s literally just down the road but I won’t be able to leave until it’s over.”
Jack groaned. “I miss you already.”
Nikki kissed him lightly as she murmured, “Then maybe we should make some memories to carry us through the next few weeks.”
Jack was off the sofa in a flash. He reached down to grab Nikki and slung her over his shoulder, caveman style. She squealed to his delight as he bounded up the steps, stumbling only once.
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