Chapter 15
Pepper ducked, Chin's fist whistling past his ear. He darted forward, aiming a punch at her midsection, but she twisted her body in time, spinning away from him but throwing out her leg, the kick connecting solidly with his upper arm and knocking him off balance.
With the sun still over an hour away from rising, they'd met at the police gym at their usual time, once again having the place to themselves at this early hour. They'd gone through their stretches and Chin had given him instruction for over half an hour, and now, as usual, they were closing out their lesson with a sparring session.
Pepper could tell by the subtle smile on Chin's face that she was pleased with the progress he was showing today-it wasn't the usual cakewalk that she was used to-he could even see the sweat on her brow this time.
Chin moved in close as Pepper righted himself and brought his gloved hands back into position. She feinted to one side and then quickly moved to the other, throwing out a jab. Pepper dropped his arm quickly across his body, sweeping away her punch with one of the blocking moves she'd taught him. The move caught her off guard, and she stagger-stepped to the side as she brought her hands back up into position. Pepper noticed his opening as her feet shuffled momentarily. He lunged forward and swung his trailing leg around, catching her in the back of her calf and sweeping her feet out from under her-judo-style.
Chin seemed to hang in the air for a second, as if somebody had taken a remote and hit pause on the action, and then she dropped to the mat with a resounding "smack", her hands reaching out instinctively to break her fall.
"Elizabeth, are you okay?" Pepper asked as he stepped over, wondering if he'd hurt her.
"It's going to take more than that for you to win, Pepper, but I think that's a good place to stop for today." Pepper was happy to see that she was fine, and he silently took pleasure in the fact that it was him reaching forward to give her a hand up today.
"You know, Tee," Chin said, "I think you're starting to get the hang of it. That was a lot better today-a lot better."
"Does that mean you're going to stop calling me Grasshopper?"
"Fat chance, Tinkerbell. You did really well today, and that leg sweep was a nice move, but don't give up your day job just yet. Let's just see how you do in the next lesson."
"Are you sure you want to give me another lesson? Think you can handle a little more Pepper up in your grill?"
"Hey, I know," Chin said as she pulled off her sparring gloves. "How about we have our next lesson in an elevator? How would you like that?"
"Very funny," Pepper responded as she gave him a playful elbow in the ribs. Pepper's phobia about elevators was common knowledge around the department. McTavish had even put fake "UP" and "DOWN" buttons on his desk chair one time. The rest of them had teased him mercilessly, asking if he felt it was safe to use his chair. Pepper had gotten them back though-that day he took the last cup of coffee from the office coffee maker-and never made a new pot, a breach of office protocol considered an offense worthy of the electric chair, according to some. When Chin went for her morning caffeine fix and tried to find the culprit, Pepper had simply sipped his coffee and pointed to McTavish, who was sitting at his desk, totally oblivious to the office hijinx going on around him. The squad room often exhibited the subtle dynamics worthy of a nursery school recess.
"So what do you make of this Professor Drummond guy," Pepper asked as the two of them slowly made their way towards the locker rooms.
"The guy gives me the creeps," Chin responded. "He's an attractive-looking guy-I can't deny that-so I can see how these young girls are attracted to him. But he was so smug about everything when Ian and I were talking to him-as if he knew something we didn't."
"Maybe he does."
"I'd have to say right now he's got to be at the top of our list. He was at the party, and then Yvonne Redmond was seen talking to him. He left early and then shortly after that your guy Bartolucci admitted to ushering her out of the party-nobody saw Drummond there any time after she left. And then he said he was home alone for the rest of the night, with no alibi other than his word."
"What did Ian think after you interviewed him?"
"Pretty much the same as me-he even called him a cocky little bastard after we got back to the car. Ian asked him about this statue thing he had on his desk with an arrow in it, and when he talked about it, he had this sick smile on his face as if he was screwing with us-like I said, as if he knew exactly what Ian was doing when he asked about the statue."
Pepper nodded as he looked up at the wall clock. "We'd better shower and get upstairs-the Inspector'll be looking for us soon."
"Okay. When I'm done, should I hold the elevator for you?"
"Screw you, Chin." She'd just talked about Professor Drummond's smug smile-right now, Pepper wanted to wipe off the one she had on her face.
Every Breath You Take Page 20