“Come on.” I stretched my neck left then right and cracked my knuckles.
“I’m not… I can’t…”
“Say you can’t train with me because I’m a woman and I’ll change my mind about going easy on you because it’s your first day.” I raised my eyebrows at him.
Would he accept my challenge? And if so, would he treat me gently or like I was one of the guys? I was curious to find out.
“Go on.” Sean clapped him on the back. “How much harm can she do you?”
“It’s not that I’m worried about,” Balko muttered as he climbed in.
Aww, sweet, he’s concerned about hurting me.
I mimicked Ricardo, hopping from one foot to the other and making the most of my lighter, swifter stature.
But Balko was nimble too, and tall with it. My forehead was at his chin level. It was plain to see he had a good reach, unlike mine.
So I went straight for a dirty leg sweep, throwing him off with a placebo punch.
He hit the deck with a satisfying thud and I leapt on top of him.
I didn’t have great success in pinning his arms down—he was strong and quick.
So I dropped my weight, digging my thumb into a pressure point in his neck and wriggled to the side. Here I managed to flip him over and crank his left arm up his back at an awkward angle.
“You tapping out?” I asked, staring at two freckles between his shoulder blades.
He banged the floor with his free hand.
“Damn it.” I released him then shoved at his ass with my bare feet. “Don’t go easy on me.”
He sprang up. “I didn’t.”
“Sure you did.” I frowned and rammed my hands on my hips. “Go again, not easy this time. Show me what you’ve got.”
Beep. Beep.
“Hot call.” Ricardo reached into the gym bag at his feet and pulled out his cell. He tapped the screen. “You guys will have to finish this game another day. We have to haul our asses down to the courthouse.”
“Courthouse?” I climbed between the ropes and landed lightly on the gymnasium floor. “You know why?”
“Nothing other than it’s crowd control.”
I groaned. “Great, my favourite.” I pointed at Sean and Balko. “You’ve got your kit, right?”
“Yep.” Balko nodded.
“Good. I’ll see you all at the vehicle in five.”
Chapter Four
Twenty minutes later we were hurtling along Collins Avenue towards the County Court. Jonathan was driving, I was seated next to him and Ricardo, Balko and Sean were in the back. We were all in full gear, weaponed-up and riot shields at the ready.
“What the fuck is going on?” I said as a crowd came into a view. “It’s all women.”
They held placards.
Death Sentence is the Only Sentence