| |
Amanda Rawlings blocked the hook with her left forearm and stepped into her opponent. Her right fist drove the wind out of the large man, and he struggled to breathe, bent over.
With a half-spin, she pivoted inside his guard and bent her knees. When she pulled down on his right arm, her left hand snaked around his back. Amanda’s hip shot out to the side as she straightened her legs. It all came down to physics, and within a second-and-a-half, the man had lost.
Her opponent groaned as he was lifted, spun in a tight arc, and landed on the ground at her feet. The two-hundred-and-ten-pound man was stunned after being thrown by a woman five inches shorter and sixty pounds lighter.
Amanda placed two thumbs on the back of his right hand and turned him fully onto his stomach with a wrist-lock. Before he could roll, a handcuff encircled his wrist, and the blond woman used the links to hold him steady. A knee to the back drove the remaining air from his lungs as his left wrist was secured.
“You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent—”
Her remaining words were drowned out as the class applauded and the instructor stepped in.
“Well done, Miss. Rawlings.” Ernie Hammond waved his clipboard and gestured to the eighteen students lining the mats. “Reminder, tomorrow morning we have a test on accident scene management, zero-nine-hundred, sharp.”
There were a few groans as they were dismissed. Amanda helped Brian stand and grinned. “Sorry if you landed too hard. I tried to pull up at the last second.”
The large man resembled a boxer, with a nose flattened too many times and a heavy brow. But he smiled and turned so she could unlock the cuffs. “All good. How did you flip me so easily?”
Amanda laughed. “Judo. I had too much energy when I was young, and my parents enrolled me in classes.”
Brian rubbed his wrists as she placed the cuffs back in the leather pouch. They both wore dark gray tracksuits and blue T-shirts with the Police Foundations across the back in white letters. Their utility belts had everything a real police officer would carry, except the pistol made of red rubber.
St. Petersburg College was a public college in Pinellas, Florida. There wasn’t a student residence, but Amanda didn’t mind. It was only a twenty-minute walk home. A few months into her second year for police foundations, she still loved it.
“Are you ready for the co-op placement in December?” Brian walked with her to the lockers. They had to stow their gear before leaving. Two second-year students were removed from the course when pictures were discovered online of them “playing” cop for friends at a party. Those who remained on course took that lesson to heart.
“I’m still waiting on the background check, but I hope to get into Orange County Sheriff’s office.”
Brian let out a deep baritone laugh which echoed off the walls. “You just want to work at Disney Land.”
Amanda flicked her blond hair back over one shoulder and grinned at her friend. “Maybe.”
“Good luck.”
“Local is fine for me. My car isn’t that great, and I don’t want to push it.” Once they reached the change rooms, he added. “However, it’s running good now, if you want a ride home?”
Amanda raised her eyebrows. “That’s the second offer this week, and it’s only Tuesday.”
“Just being friendly.” His flushed cheeks said otherwise, and she thought it was cute.
“Can you give me five minutes?”
“Not a problem. I’ll wait out front.” Brian grinned and rushed off. She watched him until he turned the corner and found her own cheeks were warm.
Six minutes later, Amanda walked out the front door and found Brian not only had locked his things away but had run to the car and drove over. He was slightly out of breath as he held the passenger door to the green VW Beetle and gestured for her to enter.
“Your chariot, my lady.”
“You’re an idiot.” Amanda laughed. “Thanks.”
As they drove through the parking lot, neither noticed a brown minivan pull off the shoulder of the road and follow.