“Aunty Sam! Katy shouted as she burst through Cass’s front door and rushed up to collect a big hug, nearly knocking Sam over in the process. She was ready for their weekly Friday morning outing, all dressed up in her new black fighting pants and white Karate gee, a gift from Sam for her 10th birthday last month.
Cass came out on the porch dressed in her uniform and closed and locked the door behind her. She smiled. “You two have a good time,” she said. “Don’t break anything except a few boards, okay?”
With Cass’s permission, Sam had enrolled Katy in a beginning Taekwondo program. This would be Katy’s seventh class—only three more to go before school started. After that Katy’s classes would be at night.
“Hey, little girl.” Sam laughed as she hugged her gangly, precocious, carrot-topped unofficial niece.
“Watch who you’re calling little,” Katy said in mock dismay. She stepped into a martial arts stance. “I’ll have to hurt you, lady.” She moved her arms about and let loose a “Whaaaaah!” indicating she was ready for battle.
“Oh, you’re far too fearsome for me,” Sam said, trying to look serious.
“You two better not start fighting; I’ll have to arrest you both,” Cass chuckled as she stepped into her SUV.
After dropping Katy off at her class, Sam watched for a few minutes as the Sensei took the young children through their warm-up routine. She couldn’t help but smile. That girl’s going to be a good one, she thought as she watched Katy square her stance and snap kicks and punches.
Sam slipped into the dressing room and changed into her own fighting gear, then ventured into the practice room next door. No sense in letting her skills, acquired by years of hard work and determination, deteriorate.
It felt good to work up a sweat. The sedentary hours spent in the War Room gave her little opportunity to limber up and get her blood pumping. Eight or ten others were in the room, some going through solitary floor exercises while others worked with a sparring partner. After warming up, Sam sought a sparring partner of her own. A high-school-age boy, a blue-belt, was delighted for the chance to work out with a black belt, who also just happened to be a very attractive older woman.
“What’s your name?” Sam asked as the two maneuvered for their first aggressive moves. He was a nice looking kid. Probably a touch over six-feet, thick, medium-length sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He still had the slender body of youth that was just beginning to put on some muscle. Judging by the level of his warm-up exercises, Sam judged that he wasn’t far from becoming a second-level brown belt.
“Lanny Johnson, ma’am,” the boy replied in a heavy West Virginia accent. “I haven’t seen you in here before. You new?” He feigned a leg sweep take down which Sam quickly countered. He drew back and kept circling.
Sam smiled at the boy’s polite reply. Yes, ma’am and Yes, sir were honorifics rarely heard out of the mouths of young men and women in New York City. It was refreshing to realize that kids in this part of the country were still taught manners and respect for their elders.
“I grew up here,” she replied, “but I live in New York now. My name’s Samantha Martin.”
“Glad ta meetcha, Mrs. Martin. We don’t get many black-belt women here. You’re the first I’ve seen.”
The ‘Mrs.’ stung a bit but also confirmed her status in the boy’s eyes as an older woman. “I’d like it if you just called me Sam,” she said. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen, ma’am.” Something about the boy’s name was familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Lanny feigned the same leg sweep move, but this time Sam stepped inside the sweep, shot out one of her own that caught his balance leg, and took it from under him. At the same time, she gave him a flat-hand thrust to the center of his chest, sending him sprawling on his back to the mat. In a flash, she was over the top of him, giving him two lightning-fast closed fist punches that came within millimeters of landing on his throat. Lanny stared up at her; wide-eyed and breathless at the blinding speed with which he’d been defeated. Sam extended a hand to help him up.
“Wow! You’re real good,” he said in awe. “I’ve never seen a woman move that fast.” He brushed himself off, put his hands together, and gave her a respectful martial arts bow.
As Sam returned the bow, it dawned on her where she’d heard his name. She was sparring with the kid who’d found the cars. Suddenly practicing became less important. She dropped her hands and asked, “Lanny, aren’t you the young man who found those cars out at Franklin’s Pit?”
He looked around quickly, suddenly seeming nervous and a little guilty. “Uh, yeah, I guess. Why?”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m working with the sheriff’s office on the murders of the women who owned those cars. I was there the day you kids came in and reported them. Do you mind if we chat for a couple of minutes?”
“You a cop?”
“No, I’m an attorney. You’re not in any trouble or anything. I just want to see if you can help me out.”
“Well, uh—sure, ma’am, why not. What do you want to know?”
“Let’s go sit over there.” Sam indicated a bench that ran all the way around the wall of the practice room. Once they were settled, Sam said, “I don’t necessarily want you to tell me anything specific. Just tell me about what happened out there.”
“It’s weird,” Lanny began hesitantly. “I mean, when I touched that car underwater, I couldn’t believe it. Who in the world would throw away a good car like that?”
“How often do you go out there?”
“That was my first time.”
“Do a lot of kids swim out there?”
“Not a lot. Some kids go necking out there. Not many. Too many good places closer to town. Some go out there to go neckin’ and skinny dippin’ at the same time.”
“Can you tell me who?”
“Oh geez, ma’am—uh, Sam—I don’t want to give names.” Lanny again cast his eyes nervously around the room.
“Could you do me a favor? Would you ask your friends if they’ve ever seen anything suspicious out there, especially at night? If someone has, could you call me? It might help us solve those murders.”
“I reckon I could,” Lanny said nervously, “but I’ll have to be real careful. Don’t want people thinking I’m a snitch or something.”
“I know this kind of puts you on the spot. If you don’t call, I’ll understand. You can reach me at the sheriff’s office. By the way, you’re doing real well with your Taekwondo. How long have you been studying?”
Delighted with the subject change, the Lanny brightened. “This is my third year. I’d have my second-degree brown by now but football takes up a lot of time.”
“Let me guess something about you. I’ll bet you’re a good student. What’s your GPA?”
Lanny turned shy. “3.8. It’d be 4.0, but I biffed English last year cause of the flu. Missed a pop-quiz and ended up with an A minus.”
“For your information, Taekwondo students who continue the art more than two years are generally excellent students. The dedication and discipline you develop shows up in your character and your school work. Would you like to spar with me again sometime?”
“Uh—sure. You’re good. I’ll just have to get used to the idea of a woman beating me.”
Sam gave him a secretive smile. “If you don’t tell, neither will I,” she said. “Shall we get out there and go a couple more rounds?”
“Yes ma’am. I’d like that.”
Lanny and Sam continued their sparring for the better part of an hour before Katy came running up. “Watch this, Aunty Sam,” the little girl said. She took her battle stance and let loose with a sideways waist kick. “Jackie Wooten can’t do that without falling over,” she bubbled. “He says he’s going to get me cause I laughed when he did.”
“Good job, young lady. You ready to go?”
“Yup! The only thing I need now is ice cream. Pleeeease!”
Sam nodded a ‘yes’. “Let me get changed,” she said, “I want you to meet my new friend, Lanny Johnson. He’s been doing Taekwondo for three years.”
“Really?” Katy’s eyes got big as she gave the young man a look just short of hero worship.
“Lanny, meet Katy Rosier. She’s Sheriff Rosier’s daughter.”
Katy precociously stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meetcha,” she said.
Lanny smiled. “And you too, Miss Rosier.” He winked at Sam. “Why don’t you show me what else you learned in class?”
Sam returned in her street clothes ready to go to work and found Katy vigorously demonstrating all her best moves to her new-found friend.