Read Online Girl Takes The Oath (An Emily Kane Adventure Book 5) by Jacques Antoine - Free Book Online
Authors: Jacques Antoine
Ads: Link
sounds harsh,” Zaki said.
“My dad used to say: You’re not training to defend yourself against women.”
“I suppose he’s got a point,” CJ said, “but still…”
“How’d you do against the men?” Stacie asked.
“Second place the first time, which showed me that I could take a punch.”
“Was it full contact?” Zaki asked, horrified.
“No, but boys will be boys… or men, in this case.”
“What about the next time?” Stacie asked.
“At the Norfolk invitational…”
“You mean the Leatherneck Brawl?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” she said, her mind racing back to the scene three years earlier, and especially to the much more violent confrontation with Tang and his operatives in the hotel parking lot, later that night.
“I hope you didn’t get too roughed up,” Zaki said.
“No, and more importantly, I didn’t have to hurt anyone else,” she added, with a wistful smile.
“Is that the tournament Coach Parker’s always talking about?” Stacie asked. “Because according to him, you totally dominated.”
“You know, I’m not the same person I was in high school. Back then, I could spar, and kid around with my friends afterwards. Now, I don’t spar, because I hate fighting. It’s too nasty, and I’ve just been there too many times. I never want to fight again.”
“Have you ever been in a fight with someone as good as you?” CJ asked.
The expression in her eyes made the girls cringe, until Emily caught herself and made an effort to compose her face. She had fought against several people as good as she was, and had even wished at moments that they would take her life away, granting her the serenity she craved. But some tie to the world, to a friend or a loved one, always brought her back to the restless self-assertion necessary to prevail.
“There’s no one as good as me,” she muttered darkly, “because no one is as evil as I am.” She thought, but did not say, “And because I am prepared for death.”
Her lonely, mysterious admission hung in the still, humid air, like a soap bubble, drifting tremulously, ready for the lightning to burst it open and consign its meaning to dim memory. No one dared speak for a long moment, but no lightning came.
“Now can we get back to work?” Emily finally said, looking directly at CJ. “It’s closing in on oh-six-hundred.”
Back to top
Chapter Six
A Mysterious Message
Tateishi Park was empty at that hour of the morning, warm and humid even in November. Mount Fuji glistened in the distance, its white cap shimmering in the haze over Sagami Bay, the crater of the volcano still sleeping after three centuries, a restless image of eternity. Perry shuffled along the edge of a tidal pool, looking for a skipping rock, when he heard Cho’s voice calling to him.
“I appreciate the view of the mountain,” Perry said, “but did we really have to come all the way out here?”
“That’s for you to decide,” Cho said, “once you’ve heard what I have to say.”
“This seems a bit too ‘deep throat’ for a line officer, if you ask me.”
“All I know is I got a message from a sub-driver accompanying Carrier Strike Group Nine, when they were in Guam. Very clear instructions, if you know what I mean, to give you this in private.”
Perry glanced at the slip of paper in his hand. “It means nothing to me.”
“I swear, if this isn’t righteous, and I get hung out to dry over it, I’ll be coming for you.”
“Me? What the hell have you gotten us into?”
“All he said was I owed it to her, you know, your girl, and it could be a matter of life or death.”
“All who said?”
“Leone, you know, the sub captain.”
“Holy crap. Do you think it has anything to do with the hi-jinks you and Kuragin got her mixed up in at Chinhae?”
“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. You know what a blustering idiot Kuragin can be when he’s had a few.”
“So then it was just a bar brawl? Nothing more sinister?”
“I didn’t say
“My dad used to say: You’re not training to defend yourself against women.”
“I suppose he’s got a point,” CJ said, “but still…”
“How’d you do against the men?” Stacie asked.
“Second place the first time, which showed me that I could take a punch.”
“Was it full contact?” Zaki asked, horrified.
“No, but boys will be boys… or men, in this case.”
“What about the next time?” Stacie asked.
“At the Norfolk invitational…”
“You mean the Leatherneck Brawl?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” she said, her mind racing back to the scene three years earlier, and especially to the much more violent confrontation with Tang and his operatives in the hotel parking lot, later that night.
“I hope you didn’t get too roughed up,” Zaki said.
“No, and more importantly, I didn’t have to hurt anyone else,” she added, with a wistful smile.
“Is that the tournament Coach Parker’s always talking about?” Stacie asked. “Because according to him, you totally dominated.”
“You know, I’m not the same person I was in high school. Back then, I could spar, and kid around with my friends afterwards. Now, I don’t spar, because I hate fighting. It’s too nasty, and I’ve just been there too many times. I never want to fight again.”
“Have you ever been in a fight with someone as good as you?” CJ asked.
The expression in her eyes made the girls cringe, until Emily caught herself and made an effort to compose her face. She had fought against several people as good as she was, and had even wished at moments that they would take her life away, granting her the serenity she craved. But some tie to the world, to a friend or a loved one, always brought her back to the restless self-assertion necessary to prevail.
“There’s no one as good as me,” she muttered darkly, “because no one is as evil as I am.” She thought, but did not say, “And because I am prepared for death.”
Her lonely, mysterious admission hung in the still, humid air, like a soap bubble, drifting tremulously, ready for the lightning to burst it open and consign its meaning to dim memory. No one dared speak for a long moment, but no lightning came.
“Now can we get back to work?” Emily finally said, looking directly at CJ. “It’s closing in on oh-six-hundred.”
Back to top
Chapter Six
A Mysterious Message
Tateishi Park was empty at that hour of the morning, warm and humid even in November. Mount Fuji glistened in the distance, its white cap shimmering in the haze over Sagami Bay, the crater of the volcano still sleeping after three centuries, a restless image of eternity. Perry shuffled along the edge of a tidal pool, looking for a skipping rock, when he heard Cho’s voice calling to him.
“I appreciate the view of the mountain,” Perry said, “but did we really have to come all the way out here?”
“That’s for you to decide,” Cho said, “once you’ve heard what I have to say.”
“This seems a bit too ‘deep throat’ for a line officer, if you ask me.”
“All I know is I got a message from a sub-driver accompanying Carrier Strike Group Nine, when they were in Guam. Very clear instructions, if you know what I mean, to give you this in private.”
Perry glanced at the slip of paper in his hand. “It means nothing to me.”
“I swear, if this isn’t righteous, and I get hung out to dry over it, I’ll be coming for you.”
“Me? What the hell have you gotten us into?”
“All he said was I owed it to her, you know, your girl, and it could be a matter of life or death.”
“All who said?”
“Leone, you know, the sub captain.”
“Holy crap. Do you think it has anything to do with the hi-jinks you and Kuragin got her mixed up in at Chinhae?”
“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. You know what a blustering idiot Kuragin can be when he’s had a few.”
“So then it was just a bar brawl? Nothing more sinister?”
“I didn’t say
Similar Books
