Chapter 5 - Harlow

I only had two glasses of wine, and I was done. I don’t understand how some people can drink bottles and bottles of the stuff in one sitting. I was still watching this show, and was now halfway through the season, but I felt restless. I needed to do something, get out.

         I looked at the clock. It was twelve in the morning. There wasn’t a lot open now, only Joe’s Gym. I turned off the show, mid-rant, and got up. I stretched my arms over my head and went to my room. I slipped on some workout shorts and an oversized T-shirt. That’s what I normally wear when I work out. I threw my shoulder-length hair into a bun; some strands came loose and framed my face.

I looked in the mirror. I looked rough. But who did I have to impress. I was going to the gym in the middle of the night. There was a zero percent chance that anyone was going to be there, and I was working out and getting gross anyway.

         I pulled on my shoes, grabbed my duffle bag that had my twenty-two and my headphones, and went to my SUV. It was chilly outside, but it felt good. The fresh mountain air was so much cleaner than Seattle’s. I could breathe here. Even though this was technically my prison for the next thirty days, at least it was nice.

         I drove to the gym, only passed a couple cars on the way. Most likely people that were driving from a bar or to one. Jackson was a tourist town, but mostly for skying. This was the off season, so there weren’t as many people, only the locals. Which was good, because I didn’t think I could be surrounded by a bunch of touristy, rich assholes, that complained about their ski resorts.

         The gym was dark. Joe was probably smart enough to install motion sensor lighting. He was saving money on his electric bill when no one was around. I grabbed my bag and key fob that got me into the gym. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the lights sprang on. I threw my bag in the corner and pulled off my shoes. I was going to get some kickboxing in. I needed to punch something.

It’s been a long time since I was in hand-to-hand combat. I preferred distance fighting…or rather, using a gun, taking someone out without them knowing. Close-proximity fighting was where I got injured more. I hated the time it took to recover. I hated hospitals and would avoid them at all costs. The last time I was in a hospital was when my parents died after a fatal car accident.

I shook my head to get the thought of my parents out. I slipped on my headphones and started my music. The beat was good for boxing, I started my boxer’s shuffle I need to warm up my body. I threw a few jabs and crosses. My body was warm, and I started to add kicks in. I made different combinations and got into my workout.

I was not sure how long I was punching and kicking the punching bag when a loud crash came from behind me. I stopped and slowly pulled off my headphones. I turned around quickly to see what made the noise. A group of four men busted through the front door.

“Go to the office.” The man in front said, he was holding a crowbar. No doubt what broke through the front door. All four men wore balaclavas, even though it wasn’t cold enough for them. They were here for nefarious reasons.

They hadn’t spotted me yet. I leaned against the wall and made myself as small as possible.

“We need to find it or else we will be in big trouble.” The second man said. His voice wavered as he finished his sentence. He was already afraid. He didn’t know what fear was, he hadn’t met me yet.

“I know, I know. Give me a second. I don’t want to set off the alarm.” The third guy said as he tried to pick the lock to the office. Jokes on them, Joe wouldn’t lock his office. He wasn’t stupid enough to keep anything of importance in there. If he had something important, he would either carry it on him at all times or hide it and lock it in a safe somewhere secret.

“Hey!” The fourth man yelled and looked in my direction. “What are you doing here?”

Two of the other men looked over to where the fourth man pointed. “Oh shit.” The second man said. Voice was still afraid. “We have a witness.”

“Shut up.” The first one said. “Hey girlie, what are you doing here?”

“Did you just call me girlie?” I walked away from the wall and took a few steps toward them.

“Yeah.” He chuckled and looked to his friends who stood next to him. “What are you going to do about it?”

“First, I’m going to kick your ass for the disrespect and then I’m going to kick your ass again for trying to break into my friend’s office.”

The first guy laughed again. “You’re going to kick our asses?” He motioned to himself and the three other large men around him. “You, a little girl,” he said incredulously.

He was trying to intimidate me. Usually, men with little dicks liked to pull this shit. I wasn’t that small. I was five seven and one hundred and thirty pounds of lean muscle. “Yeah. Do you have a problem with it?”

I knew I was breaking the first rule of a fight. You don’t egg your competitor on. You fought and won; that was it. But if I were being honest, I wouldn’t fight at all, I would just take them out with a gun and would win automatically.

“You finish that. I’ll take care of her.” The first guy told the one who worked on the lock. He stalked over.

“Big man,” I said. I squared off my shoulders and got into a fighting stance. From the looks of it, he has had no formal fighting training. He looked as if he was just going in, hoping to get one good punch in, and that would be the end of it. He didn’t know what he was in for.

“I’m only going to offer this once, but if you leave now, I won’t have to hurt you.”

I laughed. “I’m only going to tell YOU this once, if YOU leave now I won’t have to hurt YOU.” I emphasized each you.

He lunged forward. He was a big man, but slow. That’s usually how it went. The bigger they are, the slower they are…and the harder they fall. I dodged him, he ran through, I stomped on the back of his leg. The force made a pleasant crack, and he howled in pain. I turned and took his head and rammed it against my knee twice; the force broke his nose, and I pushed him aside. He didn’t move.

The other three men came toward me. Man three who worked on picking the lock pulled out a large hunting knife. Man four grabbed the crowbar. And the second man held up his hands in a fighting stance, he looked around unsure.

The man with the knife lunged at me. I pulled his arm toward me and ran my elbow down against his arm, causing the joint to move in the opposite direction. He screamed out. I kicked his legs out from under him and he slammed to the ground.

The man with the crowbar swung at me twice, and I dodged both times. Before he could swing again, I jabbed him in the throat, breaking the windpipe. He dropped the crowbar and grabbed at his throat. He tried to breathe. His face turned red from the lack of oxygen.

The last man looked at his fallen brothers and then looked back at me. He whimpered a little. Before he took action, he bolted through the fire escape in the back. “Whimp!” I yelled after him. The alarms went off, and the light above the door started to flash.

“Bitch.” A voice came from behind me. It was the first man who stood on both of his legs. As if I didn’t snap one of them. He pulled off his mask. The broken nose that I gave him when I kneed him in the face was healed, and blood no longer flowed freely.

I stared at him in shock. I broke his leg...in half. He wouldn’t have been able to stand on it, let alone walk toward me. “What the fuck?”