FOUR

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Virginia opened her eyes to find Mark lying naked beside her, his face impassive as he studied her. "Hi," she murmured, sleep still clogging her focus.

His lips seemed out of sync when he drawled, "Virginia."

Virginia? She frowned. Something was off. Wait—

He rolled on top of her, spreading her legs wide and pinning her beneath him. Familiar excitement pulsed through her as she felt his arousal pushing into her pelvis, erasing all further questions from her mind.

Mark shifted a fraction and reached between them. "Ready, Virginia?"

"Yes . . ." she breathed, wrapping her legs around his hips.

The room suddenly grew cold. No . . . it was the rigid length pressing into her that had turned cold. He drew his hand back up, holding his knife—the one with the hook. He lifted it high above his shoulder, his other hand moving to encircle her neck.

"No!" she cried out, clawing at his forearm.

Anger flashed in his eyes. "Goodbye, Virginia."

The knife sliced through the air.

Virginia jolted awake, biting down on the scream in her throat. Her stomach heaved, and she rushed to the bathroom and threw up. Leaning on the toilet, she waited until the terror subsided before getting back on her feet. She had thought that whatever bug she had caught over Christmas had run its course. Obviously, it was still hanging on.

And nightmares didn't help.

She made a quick breakfast for herself and Janine before leaving for the gym. It was Saturday—time to face Dominique's deception head on.

Half an hour later they arrived, met by a large group of young men and women milling around the entrance. Caucasian, African American, Asian, Hispanic, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, not divided along racial lines like most of the gangs in the area, and wore the green armbands they were becoming known for. Each had a two-way radio and a set of handcuffs strapped to their belt, but it was the expensive, hand-carved kamagong sticks stowed on their backs that had Virginia's mouth hanging open. Designed to be smooth and heavy, they were the preferred choice in the Filipino martial art of escrima, the dark, dense hardwood able to shatter the cheaper, lighter rattan sticks available on the market. The gym used plastic sticks in its escrima classes.

Foam-padded plastic sticks.

There was definitely no foam on the weapons these students carried.

All chatter stopped as the two of them pushed their way through the knot of bodies. Holy crap, there had to be at least thirty of them.

Disoriented, she searched for Dominique and spotted him heading her way from the ring. She moved toward him, eating up the distance between them with determined strides.

He smiled, looking far too innocent. "Good morning. Oh, hi, Janine, how's my favorite— Hey!"

Giving his arm a hard grab, Virginia spun him around, facing them away from all the scrutiny. "You didn't tell me there were so many," she hissed in his ear. She glanced over her shoulder at the crowd, doing a double take as more of them came in the front door.

He shrugged. "They all want to be part of something."

She glared back at him. "How am I going to teach a group this big?"

"I'll help. Darnell can run my classes."

Well, he had an answer for everything, didn't he? Now for the big question. She narrowed her eyes. "The radios and escrima sticks?"

There was no hesitation on his part. "Spinelli paid for them." When she tensed up, he tried to soften the blow with, "He wasn't that involved. I just had to send him the bill."

Yeah, like that was going to make her feel better.

She chewed on her bottom lip while trying to decide what to do. Dominique's dark eyes were wide and wary, yet there was a defensive edge to his bearing, as though he were bracing himself for the worst but prepared to lobby for the group if needed.

In the end, she had to go with her gut. Dominique deserved her trust and respect, so she needed to at least give it a try. "If I sense that any of these kids don't want to be here, I'm sending them packing. Agreed?"

"Yes, but I don't think you'll find that."

No, she most likely wouldn't, not if they were anything like the man standing in front of her. In many ways he reminded her of Jack, willing to push boundaries, think beyond the box. Jack's idea to put high-ranking police officers back out on the streets had been frowned upon at first, and look how successful it had become. Even so, they still had a long way to go. Maybe it was time for something more, something innovative. "Have them line up," she muttered.

Dominique had them organized in no time.

Virginia grabbed a chair for Janine to sit and watch, out of the way, and then took a long look at the line of volunteers. She had to admit, it said something about their character to have shown up on a Saturday morning rather than lazing around the house or street corner. Some of them seemed serious, others unsure of themselves, and then there were the obvious few who were jumpy and full of beans, pushing at each other in the lineup and causing a disruption.

"Okay," she called out to the group, "let's get started."

All heads turned in her direction.

"I want you all to know I think it's admirable you want to be part of this patrol. However, I want each and every one of you to think seriously about the commitment involved. This means hours and hours of time spent walking the streets, and there will be days—lots of them, believe me—when nothing of significance happens. Any delusions of grandeur or desires to be superheroes need to be checked at the door before we start."

They sized each other up as if expecting a few to beat feet.

"That is not to say that you can't make a difference. This is not just about good versus evil. Appearances at special events, crowd control, maybe some appearances at local schools to influence the younger kids, there are endless possibilities. The fact that you are out there making the effort sends a very powerful message to the entire community. It's a big responsibility. This is not the place to be if you're looking to just kill time."

She glanced at Dominique, who smiled and nodded.

"Any questions?" When there were none, she said, "Spread out and form a circle. And let's keep it clean please." Virginia pointed over to Janine. "Her name is Janine, and for today, she is the language police."

Janine sat a little taller in her chair, clearly thrilled to have been given a job.

Virginia moved to the middle of the circle and did a complete three-sixty while inspecting their faces. Ignoring all the what-the-hell-am-I-doing going on in her head, she took a deep breath and began.

"The most important thing to practice is good verbal skills. If you can calm a subject down by talking to them, you're way ahead of the game. Removing the individual from a group is the first step. Try to get the person outside or find a quiet corner. You'll get a much better reaction telling the subject one-on-one what you expect. Any request made in front of others can force a confrontation. Remember, peer pressure exists everywhere, not just in school. Separation tactics are often very successful.

"Now, if that is not working and the subject is being disruptive or physical, the use of force may become necessary. When I say force, I don't mean punishment. There is a difference. We are not out there to be judge and jury. You need to use the skills that you have to restrain the subject until the police arrive. Does everybody understand that?"

Heads nodded all around like a garden of flowers on a gusty day.

"Okay." She pulled Dominique into the circle, positioning him to her right and slightly forward. "When you find the need to restrain someone, you have to come in hard and then ease up, depending on their reaction." She lifted Dominique's arm up in front of her. "If he's not cooperating, he needs to know I mean business. Otherwise, he's going to think I'm a joke and he'll muscle out of everything I attempt to do." She squeezed down on the wrist held in her left hand. "The goal is to get the subject flat on the ground, what we call 'takedown to cuffing.' The most important thing to remember is to keep the movement flowing. If he's busy trying to stay on his feet, he won't be concentrating on twisting out of my grip."

She patted Dominique on the back. "You ready?"

The grin he tossed over his shoulder said it all. He had three inches of height on her, outweighed her by about sixty pounds, and seriously doubted she could get him down to the ground.

Using her forearm to hit into the underside of his tricep, she forced his arm up before rolling it downward. Dominique ended up hunched over beside her. "As you can see"—she ran her hand along the dark skin of the heavily muscled limb stretched out across her waistline—"wherever the arm goes, the body must tag along. Keep the subject close. Standing too far back reduces your leverage."

Without warning him, she rotated on one foot, twisted, and took a quarter turn step to the left, all while putting a solid pressure on his upper arm. The series of unexpected moves in quick succession had him tripping facedown to the mats with an ample flop. 

Before he could react, she had jammed one knee and most of her weight into the sweet spot between collarbone and neck while jacking that same arm up behind him, testing the range of motion in his rotator cuff. To the max. "Notice I have his wrist bent back and I can push down, sending pain into his shoulder if he's still resisting." She demonstrated her point.

Dominique grunted and slapped his free hand on the blue vinyl. Twice.

Point taken.

She released her hold and stood, offering him a hand up. He took it, making his way up from the ground with a hard glare.

"You said you wanted to help," she muttered as she brushed past him.

Turning to the group, she instructed, "Pair up and try it. Dominique and I will come around to each of you."

Moving through the room, she checked form and improved positioning. An occasional curse would be uttered from one of the bodies slamming into the mats, but it was always followed by a remorseful, "Sorry, Janine."

Once they seemed to have mastered the first technique, she moved on to the next.

And then a third.

By noon they had earned a lunch break.  

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

I'm back! Thank you for your patience over my vacation. A little fun in the sun was exactly what I needed.

So, what do you think of Virginia's tactics? Smart? Dangerous? Is she building an army? Do you think this is a wise move for her and Dominique?

Don't forget to vote, comment and share. The Silent Ones is brand new and needs whatever support you can give! As always, thank you all for joining me on this little adventure!

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