Defensive Instructor - Debra Parmley

  With Chyna, he was proudest of all. She didn’t give up and was pushing herself without him asking her to push on through.

  She was amazing. She didn’t see that yet. But maybe one day she would.

  Chapter 7

  Today, they were working on being grabbed and how to get out of holds, so today Leah was sitting in on the whole class. She’d yell stop the minute she thought anything needed to be stopped, and if any of the women needed immediate counseling, she was there. The goal was for the women to work through an initial grab and break away without freezing or going into panic triggered by PTSD.

  “I can’t handle my wrists being grabbed,” Chyna said. “That was one way he controlled me. That and grabbing my ponytail.”

  “I figured as much,” Barrett said as he noted she wore her hair in a ponytail today, as she had every day after day one. Leah had said that showed Chyna’s trust. And he’d heard Chyna say she felt safe when he was around. He was glad to hear it.

  “He’s stronger than me. My wrists are weak.”

  “We can work on that.”

  “Look at them,” she said, holding them out. “Even if I make them stronger, they’re small because I’m small boned. He’d still be able to overpower me.”

  “I’ll teach you how to break a wrist grip,” he said. “There are lots of things I can teach you.”

  “Oh, okay.” Her words said okay, but her tone told him she wasn’t convinced. She was still thinking of herself as weak. That was a thing only time, training, and experience would change. He’d teach her as much as he could in the month she was with the program.

  Barrett couldn’t wait to see the look on Chyna's face after she learned to break a wrist hold. Teaching her gave him great satisfaction. He was enjoying teaching the others, but this petite woman pulled on him in a way he wouldn’t have admitted to anyone, if asked. He woke up each morning excited to see her again and looking forward to teaching her.

  Barrett was proud of her and how fast she was learning, given her background. Leah had permission to share the stories of the movements that had been done to the women so he could help them move through that and into a confident fighting place. So, he already knew every physical move Chyna’s ex had taken. He knew about the ponytail.

  Maybe she’d forgotten he would already know, or maybe she felt the need to share the info with him again because she wanted to share it. She’d started sharing things with him, little comments here and there. He was getting to know her more and more, yet she wasn’t getting to know him. No wonder Leah cautioned about falling for each other. She didn’t really know him yet.

  He always remained quiet, and any comments were either about how she could defend herself or a quiet word of encouragement like, “That was before you knew how to fight back.” He was doing his best to keep the boundaries up, but he really wished they had met under other circumstances. He wanted to know more about her, really get to know her, but he couldn’t.

  Chyna would grow in confidence, and then one day she’d be ready to fight if she needed to. No one would put this sweet little beauty in the hospital again. Not if he had anything to do about it. She’d move on from here with the skills she needed to stay alive, and he was glad to be a part of it. He very much wished she’d stay in the area so they might get to know each other better, after she was out of the program, and once she got to know him, he could ask her out; once she knew Barrett the man, not just Barrett the self-defense instructor.

  After class, Chyna walked up to him. “Do you like milkshakes?” she asked.

  “Sure do,” he said.

  “Emma is making milkshakes for us tonight for our snack instead of baking something. It’s movie night.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “You do?”

  “One of the movies you’re going to watch is a good example of situational awareness. I recommended it.”

  “Oh. So you’re joining us?” Her voice was hopeful, her eyes lit up, watching him for a yes. No one had said anything about him joining them till now.

  “Sure. I’ll be there.”

  The way his words rumbled did things to her insides. Things she couldn’t have explained. Nice things. She wished he’d talk to her some more. She wished he’d let that guard down and let her get to know him. Really know him.

  “What’s your favorite kind of milkshake?” she asked. Learning a man’s favorite foods was one way to get to know him.

  “Strawberry,” he said.

  “Oh, yes. With fresh strawberries. Those are good. My favorite is chocolate.”

  “I might’ve guessed.” He smiled. “Most women like chocolate.”

  “True. Chocolate shakes are one of my comfort foods. But I don’t have them often.”

  So she doesn’t have her comfort food often. Why? Was she trying to lose weight? She shouldn’t be. She was perfect the way she was.

  Barrett eyed her, wondering what to say then the words were out. “Then you should have them more often.” His eyes softened as he said it. “As often as you want them.”

  He’d done it now. Slipped up. It was hard not to let her know he cared and how much he cared. She’d been dropping comments often, little things about herself. He wondered why Chyna was sharing so much with him. Was she viewing him as her white knight?

  Leah had warned the women might go starry eyed and develop crushes. It would be up to the men to remain professional.

  God knew there was a strong attraction between them.

  But was she attracted to him, or to what he represented? Was she looking for a savior? He was her defensive instructor and needed to keep his head on straight.

  Or maybe this was just about a milkshake and she was only being friendly.

  “Hey. I’ve got to go,” he said. “But I’ll be back tonight. We’ll watch the movie together and then have a group discussion afterward.”

  “Okay. See you tonight!” She beamed up at him, and he couldn’t help smiling. That little ray of sunshine could light up the whole room with her smile.

  Finn had found his missing Chyna. The hacker he’d paid to watch her email had traced IP addresses and found her general location in a remote area of Montana.

  She’d logged on to a computer and read her email. One from the insurance company she’d worked for, about her IRA she’d needed transferred, and she’d answered that email. Then she’d answered the one from an old high school girlfriend. The fake email address the hacker had set up. Then she’d looked up their old bank accounts, even though they’d been closed. She hadn’t done anything else online, but there it was. He’d found her. Close enough.

  What are you doing out there in Montana, my missing wife? Shacking up with some new guy? Hell of a long way to go without a good reason.

  His cousin Al interrupted his thoughts. “You need me and the boys to go out to Montana with you? Fetch her back?”

  “No.” Finn wasn’t a man to ask for help. He didn’t need any help. He’d grab her himself. “I got this, Al. You got enough going on.”

  His cousin’s wife, Bonnie was popping out twins any day now. Something to be proud of. It wasn’t going to be on him if Al missed seeing his first twin sons being born.

  That’s what Finn needed to do when he got his wife back.

  I’ll plant a couple boys in her. That’ll slow her down considerably. Bonnie was slow as a slug these days, with a belly as big as a watermelon, ready to pop.

  All the way to Montana, Finn thought of ways he’d plant those seeds. He thought of the zip ties and duct tape in the back his truck and how he’d capture Chyna and make her remember just who she belonged to.

  Imagining her tied up, her wide green eyes looking up at him, had begun to turn him on. Surfing porn channels at night for the past week on his smart phone helped the imagery along. He had many new ideas of things he wanted to do to her, and he was going to try them all. There were plenty of ways to punish his wife.

  What could she do about it? Nothing. He’d be in control, and she�
��d learn real quickly who was wearing the pants in this marriage. And he’d be keeping pants of any kind off her. He might allow her a skirt to pull down if anyone came around, but where he was taking her, no one would be coming around. No one had been in that fishing cabin in years.

  First, he’d capture her. Then, he’d punish her. And finally, he’d make sure she had a babe or two in that belly so she wouldn’t even think of leaving him again. They wouldn’t leave that cabin until she was with child.

  All he’d wanted was Chyna, her house, and her popping out baby boys for him. She’d failed as a wife. This time, he was going to have what he wanted and then some. And he wasn’t going to be nice about it.

  Chyna stood on the fence rails, watching the horses in the corral. The women only had two more weeks at the center and then their time there was done.

  “Want to go horseback riding?” Tamara asked. “You ought to join us.” Tamara and Karla went riding every chance they got and Tamara invited her every single time. Today, most of the women were going. But Chyna hadn’t yet built up the nerve to ride a horse and maybe she never would. She’d been putting all her energy into overcoming her fears and learning how to defend herself from an attacker. Between the self-defense lessons and her counseling sessions, she usually wanted to rest afterward, not take on another challenge. Working through a trigger, though exhilarating once you did it, was hard work and could leave you tired. Chyna preferred taking a nap, reading a book, or floating in the pool, and she usually did that by herself.

  She looked up at Red Feather, the big red horse being led over to start setting up the trail ride. The horses would be lined up, and then the women would climb aboard the saddle. Red Feather was a large red horse, and just standing near him, Chyna found him intimidating. Even on a fence, he was just way too much horse for her to be near. Usually she just said no thank you, but today she felt like explaining.

  “Oh, no, I don’t think so. Those horses are awful big, and I’m afraid one would throw me and stomp me.” Chyna shook her head. “I’ll just watch you till you ride out, and then I’m going to go for a swim to cool off.”

  Tamara loved horses and spent every chance she could riding one. She talked about having a horse of her own some day. Most of the women joined her on the trail rides. Except for Red and Chyna who never did.

  Red spent all her spare time either kickboxing or on the firing range. Neither toned down her mouthiness, but it did take her aggression down a notch. Chyna was glad, though she’d started to get used to her sparring partner.

  Barrett must’ve noticed because he said for their last two weeks everyone was going to switch partners so there’d be less awareness of the other person's tells. After the first week, the women had become more used to each other, for they not only had the self-defense classes, they were together for every meal. So even if she didn’t go on trail rides every day, preferring to do more solitary things so she could think, Chyna was getting to know the other women and Tamara now felt like a friend.

  Today the pool was calling to Chyna in the August heat, so after the others rode out, she went back to the lodge, changed into her new blue bikini and then went to enjoy the pool as she usually did. After a few laps, she just floated, enjoying the blue sky and white fluffy clouds. Then she got out to lie down on one of the lounge chairs, with a lounge pillow under her head. Not realizing how tired she was, she dozed off.

  Ellen woke her by shaking her shoulder. “Chyna, wake up. You’re really getting red.”

  “What?” Chyna sat up, disoriented. Her skin felt so hot. “Oh no.” She glanced around. The sun was lower in the sky. “How long have I been out here?”

  “I don’t know, but we just got back from our trail ride,” Ellen said. “So depending on when you laid out, probably a long time. You need to get out of this sun.”

  “Yeah, I, I’m hot. I’m gonna get in the pool again to cool off.” She smacked her lips. Her mouth was dry. She needed to drink water, too.

  “I can’t believe no one woke you before this.” Ellen shook her head. “Leah should’ve woke you.”

  “Leah had a dentist appointment today and went into town. She’s probably not back yet.”

  “Well, you need to cool down, drink water and put something on that sunburn,” Ellen said. “If I had anything, I’d give it to you, but I don’t.”

  “It’s okay, Ellen. I’ll bet someone here has after sun lotion. Thank you for waking me.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m just glad I saw you when I did,” Ellen said, “before it got worse.”

  “Me too.”

  China got into the pool and ducked under, feeling the water cool against her skin. Yes, definitely sunburn. She needed to go inside after this. She popped her head up and down out of the water several times as she felt her body temperature coming down.

  When she got back out of the pool, she thought Ellen had left, but there she was, coming back with a cold bottle of water for Chyna.

  “Here you need to drink this, right away,” Ellen said.

  Chyna smiled. The schoolteacher in Ellen was coming out. She was looking after someone. Today, she was mothering Chyna.

  “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.” Chyna climbed out and took the bottle, opening it and taking a drink.

  Ellen just gave her a look at the ‘didn’t have to’. “I asked Emma, but she doesn’t have anything for sunburn. She’s in the middle of cooking dinner but says she’ll bake your apple pies tonight. Is that your favorite?”

  “Yes. I used to go apple picking with my grandmother, then she’d bake the most delicious pies.”

  “You really need to get inside out of this sun,” Ellen fussed at her. “And drink that water all down.”

  “I’m ready to go in.” Chyna took a towel and rubbed it on her hair and then patted her tender body down. “Maybe this will feel better after I shower and get the chlorine off.”

  “Well, you go on and do that, and I’ll see if I can rustle up something to put on that. You're going to be sore tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Ellen. Yeah, I probably will be.”

  They headed inside, and Chyna went off to shower.

  At dinner, everyone expressed concern over her sunburn, but not one of them had thought to pack after sun lotion for sunburn. A few hadn’t even brought swimsuits and had bought new ones on their Saturday outing in town. Chyna was one of them. The pale blue bikini she’d bought had gone well with her blonde hair and pale skin but didn’t go so well with the red in her sunburn. When she’d seen herself in the mirror, it had emphasized just how red she was.

  “If you want to take my truck into town to pick up some sunscreen, you can borrow it tonight,” George said. “It’s gassed up and ready to go.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Ives, I appreciate that,” she said. “I think I will. Does anyone else want to go?” She looked around the dinner table. Everyone shook their heads no.

  Emma brought more rolls in from the kitchen and took the empty basket. “Pies will be out and ready by the time you get back,” she said. “And if you’d like ice cream with that, I’ll have you pick some up in town.”

  “Oh, I’d love that,” Chyna said. “But how will I keep it from melting in this heat?”

  “Oh, I got me a special cooler for that, Hun,” Emma said. “I’ll have George put it in the trunk before you go.”

  The trip to town was uneventful. Chyna sang to the country songs coming over the radio and enjoyed the drive. She was really looking forward to that pie when she got back.

  She was just leaving the grocery, heading to the truck with a family-sized tub of ice cream, some stronger sunscreen, and an aloe jell to put on her sunburn, humming along to one of the songs that had gotten stuck in her head, when she froze.

  Finn! Where had he come from?

  Chapter 8

  He came toward her.

  She almost stayed as frozen as the ice cream she’d dropped the moment she startled. But then Finn reached for her and C
hyna’s self-defense training kicked in.

  Making two fists, she struck, first with her right and then her left, fast, one right after the other into his chest, driven by fear and adrenaline, and followed the one-two punches with her right elbow to the side of his head onto his ear, following that with her knee to his groin.

  Then he was bent over, down, and she was off, running as fast as should could, adrenalin pumping as her heart pumped. Leaving him behind in the parking lot along with her melting ice cream, she took out her phone as she ran and dialed the center's emergency number.

  Cecelia answered right away. “Hello? Chyna, is that you?”

  “Yes,” Chyna panted as she ran. “Finn. He’s here. He tried to grab me, but I hit him, got away.”

  “Where are you now, dear?”

  “I don’t know. Hang on.”

  She ran into the corner drug store, noting the number as she ran in, and then she stopped inside, panting. “I’m in the drug store. Five three six, on the corner. I don’t know which street.”

  “You’re doing great, Chyna. Stay inside and call the police. Or I’ll call for you, if you don’t want to hang up. I just sent a message to Brotherhood Protectors, and it won’t be minutes before one of them will call back.”

  “I can hang up. Call the police.”

  “That’s fine, dear. Find an employee to stand near. If the manager is there, that would be a good choice.”

  “Okay, I got to go call them now.”

  Chyna hung up the phone and dialed the police right away. Her heart was racing as she waited for the dispatcher to answer. They’d barely answered when she began to talk fast. Her heart was still racing.