The journalist made a mistake. She stepped forward and grabbed Zo?’s wrist. The impertinence of the woman’s action ignited a primal instinct in Zo?. She didn’t think. She reacted. She slammed the heel of her free hand into Lara Finz’s shoulder. The impact sent the reporter tottering back on her heels. Not even her grasp on Zo?’s wrist could keep her on her feet, and she crashed to the floor on her back. The contents of her purse exploded across the concourse. The spectacle forced everyone to turn and stare.
Zo? was frozen in the moment. She didn’t know whether to help the journalist up or run. Shoppers were moving in. Damn the woman for cornering her like this. This was her fault.
Zo? felt the heat of stares on her. She backed away, then bolted for the staff locker room. Once there, she swiped her key card and burst inside. The door, with its pneumatic hinge, slowly wheezed closed and she threw her weight against it to close it just a bit faster. She released a breath when the lock snapped into place.
She staggered over to the bench opposite her locker and dropped down onto it. Her hands trembled. She clasped them together in an attempt to cancel out the shakes. It didn’t work.
“Screw it,” she said to herself.
She shouldn’t have lashed out, no matter how much that woman had deserved it. She focused on one of her breathing exercises. It worked, but it was a couple of minutes before the shaking subsided. She unlatched her locker and pulled out her bag, then changed from her rent-a-cop uniform into sweats and a T-shirt.
Just as she was slipping her hoodie on, the door to the locker room opened. Jared Mills filled the doorway. At six-three and 220 pounds, it was hard for him not to. He was here to take the next shift. He was the one guy who could handle any of the assholes the mall cared to throw their way. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She liked Jared. He was a good guy and fun to be around. He managed to make a shift pass with ease. Sadly, they didn’t get to work alongside each other as much as she would have liked.
“Hey, girl.” He looked her up and down. “You got your self-defense class tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful. There’s some action out there. Some chick fell on her butt or was pushed or something. Jeff’s dealing with it, but you don’t want to get sucked into it on your way out.”
She slung her sports bag over her shoulder and slammed her locker shut. “I’m in stealth mode.”
Jared laughed. “Take it easy.”
Zo? wished she could.
She slipped out of the locker room. There was a small group surrounding Lara Finz, including Jeff. She didn’t think she had too much to worry about since Ms. Finz wouldn’t want to reveal herself, but Zo? wasn’t taking any chances. While everyone focused on Lara, she went in the opposite direction.
In the parking lot, she breathed a sigh of relief. There would no doubt be repercussions from what had just happened, but they’d be tomorrow’s problems. All that mattered to her now was getting to her class.
She jumped on her motorcycle and joined the slow crawl on the freeway back into San Francisco. The traffic was thicker than normal, but she managed to make it to The Female Warrior in time. The studio was in the SoMa district off Howard Street. At night, it was a dark and desolate location, and probably not the best spot for a women’s self-defense studio, but then again, maybe it was if you wanted to put technique into practice. For once, she found parking close to the entrance. She jogged across the street and pressed the buzzer to be let in.
The Female Warrior was a private-members’ studio. A lot of the women who attended the self-defense classes were victims of violence or knew victims of violence. This wasn’t the place for the latest exercise fad. This was a place where women learned to defend themselves, which might just be the difference between life and death.
Classes were limited to twenty, and Zo? was the last to arrive, judging by the number of women in the workout room already. She quickly peeled off her hoodie and stowed it with her sports bag and helmet.
Karen Haldane owned the studio and taught the classes. She walked to the head of the workout room and called everyone to order. “Ladies, we’re going to get started in five minutes, so warm up however you like.”