Chapter 14

 

Kate had volunteered to swing by and pick Cassie up for the self-defense class on the way to pick up Hadley. Cassie hadn’t thought about how she’d get there, so when Kate offered it was a total relief.

Both Kate and Hadley were easy to get along with, and instantly made Cassie feel like she had known them for years. The three of them walked into the high school gym, laughing at something Kate had said, when Matt’s steely stare caught them from across the way.

Cassie stopped laughing, but Hadley and Kate didn’t even hesitate. If anything, it only made them laugh louder.

Matt approached them, and while he still had a domineering presence, he didn’t seem as uptight in a pair of gym shorts and a black t-shirt.

“Can you try to control yourselves,” he said, his eyes swinging between his two sisters. “I’m going to have enough trouble with Terry, I don’t need you adding to it.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Hadley asked.

“This isn’t meant to be fun. It’s meant to teach women how to defend themselves against an attacker.”

“So serious,” Kate said.

“It is,” he deadpanned. “And I’d appreciate it if you treated it as such.”

Kate let out an exaggerated breath. “Fine.”

“Hey girls,” Shay said from behind them, sitting on the bleachers with a bag of popcorn.

“What are you doing here?” Hadley asked.

“Your brother refuses to let me participate, but he said I could watch as long as I behave myself.”

“Remember that last part,” Matt said.

Shay rolled her eyes and tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. “Yeah, yeah. Go teach something,” she said. Cassie found it funny how Shay never succumbed to Matt’s rigidness. She admired that about her.

Cassie heard Terry before she saw her. She came into the gym dressed like a leopard-print-wearing Jane Fonda, complete with black slouch socks. Her red hair was pushed back with a red sweatband and teased up around it. She was talking loudly to another older woman as she spotted Cassie and waved enthusiastically.

The bangles Cassie remembered clacking together were replaced with matching red wristbands. Terry clapped her hands together. “I’m here and I’m ready to learn how to kick some booty!”

Cassie looked to Matt who pressed his hand to his head. “I think everyone is here, so why don’t we get started.”

All the women moved to stand in front of Matt who pointed to a young guy with a buzzcut to his left. “This is my partner, Scott.”

“Of course we know Scotty,” Terry called out. “How’s your mama?”

“She’s good,” Scott answered.

“You send her my love.”

“Are we done?” Matt asked.

“Sorry, continue,” Terry said.

“Thank you. As I was saying, this is my deputy, Scott. He’s going to pass around a sign in sheet. Please add your name, then pass it to the next person. Once everyone is signed in, we’ll have a short introduction that goes over the basics. Scott and I will demonstrate a few moves, and then we’ll partner you off to give it a shot yourselves. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.” Terry’s hand went up and Matt held his hand up. “Only if they pertain to the lesson.”

Terry’s hand fell back to her side and Cassie stifled a laugh.

Hadley passed the clipboard with the sign-in sheet attached to Cassie. She didn’t like signing things and putting her name out there, just in case someone recognized her and it got back to Dylan. However, the chances of someone knowing Dylan in this small town were slim to none, so for the first time, she wrote her full name—Cassie Alan—and didn’t think twice about it before passing it on to Kate.

Once everyone was signed in and Matt gave an overview, he got Scott into position and began demonstrating different moves that he found would be helpful in case they were ever attacked.

“First is the wrist sweep,” he said. “If anyone grabs you by the wrist, this move is guaranteed to break their grip. You need to bring your elbow into the center line, flatten your hand, come right up, pinky around the wrist joint, and break their hold by snaking around.” Matt demonstrated on Scott and no matter how tight Scott appeared to be holding on, Matt broke his grip every time.

“What if someone goes for your shoulders or your throat?” Terry asked.

“Great question,” Matt said and Cassie was starting to think he was actually enjoying himself. “If someone grabs you from the front, either your neck, your shoulders or both arms, you are going to chop them.”

“I like the sound of that,” Terry called out.

Matt shook his head and turned to Scott. “Scott, put your arms around my neck.” Scott got into position, causing horrible memories to flash in Cassie’s mind.

She took a deep breath, forcing them back, refusing to get lost in the past. There was nothing she could do about what was done, but she’d be damned if she ever let that happen to her again.

Matt lifted both his hands, bringing them down into Scott’s arms. “When you do this, you will divert the attacker’s attention. Take this as your opportunity, and kick or knee him in the groin as hard as you can. Fight dirty.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Terry said with a wink, and Matt let out an exaggerated sigh.

“This is important,” he said, looking at Terry who pretended to zip her lips. “If he has his hands around your neck, that gives you an advantage, because your hands and your legs are free. If the chop doesn’t work, poke his eyes, push into his throat, punch him in the face. Knee and kick as much as you can.” Matt held his hand up and ticked off on his finger. “Your best targets are groin, throat, feet, eyes and stomach. If you have an opening with the eyes, always, and I repeat, always go for the eyes. When you hit someone in the eye, their natural reaction is to reach for it, which will give you the upper hand and the opportunity to run.”

Cassie listened to every word Matt said, committing them to memory. Groin, throat, feet, eyes and stomach, she said over and over in her head until she knew she’d never forget them.

Matt continued, having Scott grab his neck from behind, and showing them all of the best moves they could do to free themselves. It all seemed so easy, and Cassie wondered if it really was. Though she hoped with all that she had that she would never have to find out.

But with Dylan still out there, she wasn’t taking any chances.