Chapter 2
The place reeked of sweat, disinfectant, and old leather. Dustin stood beside the cage with his coach and three friends, laughing until he saw me.
“Well, well,” he sneered. “Daddy finally came to visit.”
His coach looked at my gray beard, work boots, carpenter’s clothes, and softened middle.
“What are you gonna do, Grandpa? Give us a stern lecture?”
“You put your hands on my daughter.”
Dustin stepped closer, smiling.
“Your daughter’s clumsy. She didn’t think an old man like you could protect her, so I taught her some respect.”
His friends began surrounding me.
One left.
Two behind.
The coach blocked the door.
“You leave now,” he said, “or my boys make sure you leave on a stretcher.”
I smiled.
“I was a Marine Corps hand-to-hand combat instructor for fifteen years. I trained Force Recon operators, MARSOC Raiders, and more than three thousand combat Marines.”
Nobody moved.
I rolled my shoulders and stared straight at Dustin.
“You’re going to need more than three guys.”
Dustin laughed.
His coach didn’t.
He was staring at me now, the color draining from his face.
Then he whispered my name.
And Dustin’s smile disappeared.
Eddie stepped away from the door.
“Everybody else, clear out.”
One of Dustin’s friends laughed uncertainly. “Coach?”
“I said clear out.”
They obeyed.
Not because of me.
Because Eddie had said it in the voice of a man accustomed to being heard.
Within thirty seconds, the gym felt strangely large. Heavy bags swayed slightly beneath the ceiling fans. Somewhere in the back, a washing machine rattled through its spin cycle.
Dustin remained near the cage.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “He came here threatening me.”
“I haven’t threatened anybody,” I said.
“You walked into my gym talking about your Marine record.”
“You started surrounding me before I mentioned it.”
His mouth tightened.
Eddie looked at me.
“What happened?”
“My daughter is in the emergency room.”
Something moved across his expression.
Not surprise.
Concern.
“Marcy?”
I nodded.
“You know her?”
May you like
“She’s been here plenty of times.”
That was news to me.
