Chapter 3 - The Morning Reckoning
Dawn cracked through the high industrial windows of the dojo, casting long, pale shadows across the mats. Eight men stood in formation, dressed in dark utility pants and compression shirts. They were members of the regional SWAT auxiliary, men built like stone pillars with hardened expressions.
Marcus was already stretched and taped, warming up in the corner with aggressive kicks that whipped through the air like gunshots. When Maya walked through the side door carrying a set of training pads and blunt rubber training blades, the officers exchanged quiet glances.
""Is this the outside consultant?"" a burly officer named Hayes muttered, looking over at Marcus. ""We were told we’d be running live counter-grappling with your senior staff.""
""She’s leading today, officer,"" Marcus said, unable to hide the sneer in his tone. ""Orders from Vance. Let's see how her civilian theory holds up.""
Maya tossed the duffel bag into the equipment rack and stepped into the center of the ring. ""Gentlemen, tactical gear adds twenty-five pounds to your frame and limits your hip mobility by thirty percent. If you get dragged to the floor in a narrow stairwell with your vest on, half the jiujitsu you learned in the academy is completely useless.""
Hayes snorted softly. ""Try me, ma'am. I weigh two-thirty without gear.""
""Take a training knife,"" Maya commanded, pointing to the blade on the mat. ""Try to pin me against that support pillar. Use full force.""
Hayes looked at Marcus, who nodded with a grim satisfaction. Hayes picked up the blade, settled into a tight forward rush, and charged. He didn't pull back. He came at her with the full force of a charging bull, targeting her chest.
Maya didn't try to block. She sidestepped into his blind angle, her palm smashing upward into the nerve cluster under his armpit while her elbow cracked down hard on his forearm. The rubber knife bounced across the floor. In the exact same breath, she caught Hayes by his collar and drove him knee-first into the floor, pinning his neck under her shin.
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The squad stared in stunned disbelief. Hayes couldn't move an inch without suffocating.
""Lesson one: don't charge like an idiot,"" Maya whispered. But as she stood up, she caught sight of Marcus slipping out the back exit, clutching his phone to his ear.
