Page 16 of Two Favors Repaid

“To remind you how strong you are.”

“I can’t do it. I haven’t been back there since ...” Emma looked down and blinked tears away. She wanted to be strong but could feel herself shrinking in her seat.

“I understand,” he said. “It’s your choice. I still think it’s the right place to put this behind you once and for all. To put Ford behind you once and for all.”

They sat in the car quietly for what seemed like forever.

“You’re not going to try and convince me?” she asked, finally.

“I promise I’ll keep you safe, Emma. Nothing is going to hurt you while you’re with me. But the choice has to be yours.”

Her eyes filled with tears once again. She wanted to, needed to feel normal again.

“Ok. I’m willing to try.”

He nodded and started the car. They drove in silence until they were almost at the same spot where she supposed Hunter and Natalie had stood a year earlier. The spot from which they’d watched her be thrown into the water and from which Hunter had jumped a hundred feet to reach her.

She walked out of the car. It was windy. It was always windy at the cliffside.

“I can’t remember much, you know? Certainly not of what happened here. It’s all just an impression of fear and cold. And then the drowning. I didn’t know Hunter had jumped in after me. I thought I was going to die alone.”

Rob nodded, not stopping her reminiscence. A muscle clicked behind his jaw.

She took a deep breath.

“Okay. Let’s suppose I’m ready for this. How do we do it?”

“First rule of self-defense is don’t get caught in a situation where you need to use it.”

“Ah, Rob, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a woman. We walk in pairs and go to the bathroom together. My best friend was raped when we were young. Don’t you think I know that already? I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid trouble, and it still found me.”

He raised a strong, calloused hand.

“I wish that wasn’t the case, Emma. I wish that more than anything. But what I’m saying applies to everyone. It applies to me too.”

She looked at his tall, broad frame, unconvinced.

“The best way to win a fight is not to engage,” he insisted.

“But suppose I have to engage.”

“Then I’m going to teach you how to win.” Rob’s T-shirt, the same impossible green as his eyes, went taut around his arms as he flexed his arm muscles. “If you do what I say, it won’t matter how much taller or stronger your opponent is. You’ll still have a chance to take him down.”

“Even if he’s a head taller than me?” she asked, eyeing the height difference between them.

He nodded.

“And you think you can teach me that?” she asked doubtfully, looking down at herself. She kind of regretted her outfit now. Despite the bold colors, it was too soft.

“I can teach you that. But it’s not going to be pretty. This isn’t Tae Kwon Do. You can take a class at the gym if you feel so inclined. What I’m going to teach you is the kind of fighting you’ll need to put a guy down. Ok?”

She nodded eagerly.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

“That’s the second rule of self-defense, for when the first doesn’t work out: there’s no such thing as dirty fighting. It’s all just fighting. So if you have to fight, you will bite, you will knee your opponent in the balls, you will gouge his eyes with your nails. You will do whatever you need to do to put him down.”

Emma felt a shiver run down her back. She was a peaceful person. She didn’t want to imagine herself doing that to another human being. Then she thought of Ford. His victims had probably felt the same way, and now they were all dead.