Chapter 6

Two weeks later as I was heading to the Dojo I spotted Christa outside, apparently waiting on me.

“Hey Christa, what’s up?”

She was wearing a mid-thigh, pleated skirt and a spaghetti string tank top with knee high socks and white tennis shoes. Yowzah!

“David, it’s been a while since you stopped by. Is something wrong,” she asked?

The whole time she was looking down at her shoes and had the saddest look on her face.

“Nothing’s wrong beautiful, I’ve just been super busy. I’m taking gymnastics now twice a week and Dad and I have been hanging out a lot lately.” I didn’t want to tell her I’d been shooting guns. I’m not sure why but I wanted her to believe that I was a nice guy, not a dangerous one.

“So, when are you gonna to be free? I thought maybe we could go see a movie sometime soon.”

Wow, is she asking me out? I thought about what I had going on this week and figured we could do something Friday after the dojo or Saturday night. “Well, if you think you could stand to be in the company of a dull and lowly male I would love it if you would accompany me to one of those new-fangled moving picture shows. Would Friday or Saturday evening be good?”

Yeah, I’m hamming it up a bit, but it always gets a smile from her so it’s worth looking like a goof.

“Hang on and I’ll ask mom.”

I noticed she didn’t involve her Dad. Thank god. I wasn’t ready to face him yet as the guy his little girl was interested in. That adds a whole new level to a relationship.

She came running back out with a huge smile on her face. “Well, it might be difficult, and I was planning on cleaning my closet that day, but I guess I could see my way to spend a few hours with you.”

Man can she dish it back out.

With a look of utter bliss on my face I said, “Oh thank you. You have caused my heart to beat once more.”

She giggled and said, “So Casanova, what time are you picking me up?” Ok, maybe I should have asked mom or Dad first. “Can I get back to you on that? I need to see if my chauffeurs are available. Worst case it’s only a few minutes’ walk from here. How bout I come over about five p.m. Friday? We can walk over and get a bite to eat before the movie?”

“OOOHHH, dinner and a movie, I can’t wait!”

“Well, okay then green eyes. I’ll see you at five. I’d love to stay longer but sadly, duty calls.”

“Alright. Wear some nice jeans. I’m going to get mom to take me shopping for a new dress for Friday night.”

Wow, all this for a date?

“Will do pretty lady. See you!” and off I went headed for the dojo.

“Ohayogozaimasu Sensei!”

“And good morning to you David. Are you ready for a long day?” Today was the day we were going to walk around again and discuss situational awareness and counter-surveillance.

“Yes Sensei. I wore my walking shoes today,” I said. Last time we did this I didn’t know we were going to be walking all over downtown, so I was wearing flip flops. Never again. After that I never wore anything open toed again.

“Good. Since it’s going to be a little cool today I want you to wear this jacket. This jacket will serve a couple different purposes. If you’ll notice it has a few inside pockets. In these pockets we’re going to store a few things.” With that he handed me two, pint sized paper bags full of stuff. One had what looked like jumping jacks in them and one had round silver balls. “Place one bag on each side of your jacket and please, make sure you remember what you put there. The bag of silver balls are small flashbang/smoke bombs. All you have to do is throw them on the ground hard at the feet of whoever is in front of you. They will cause a loud bang, a bright flash and lots of smoke. These are tools used to mask your movement or to stun your opponent. The other bag contains tetsubishi or caltrops. These are like jacks but have very long sharp spikes instead of short rounded spokes. These will disable tires or people. Simply throw them on the ground in front of a person or car. They cause extreme pain and will almost assuredly force someone to stop chasing you.”

Wow. “Are these legal Sensei?”

“Absolutely. Just be aware that using them does constitute assault so only use them for defense. The other purpose of this jacket is to make you appear larger around the waist than you really are. Illusion and misdirection are strong tools that are almost always at our disposal. By wearing a bigger jacket or limping when we walk, even stuttering frequently we change people perceptions of us. When necessary you can make yourself seem injured or weaker than you are but using a cane or crutches. A walking stick and sun glasses can give the appearance of being blind. These are just a few examples of how we can mask ourselves, and others. Also, if you feel along the length of the forearm you’ll notice there are long slats running from elbow to wrist. These allow you to use your arms as blocking tools against long or bladed weapons. Where before a stick, knife or sword would cut or severely injure you, now you can protect yourself against these types of attacks. They won’t stop stabbing attacks, but any slashing attack should be greatly reduced. These slats, as well as the tetsubishi are also made of the same ceramic material as your other weapons and are safe for air travel, as long as you don’t get physically searched.”

After thinking about this I wondered, how many people have I seen that appeared weak or injured but weren’t?

“Today, I would like you to begin carrying all of your composite weapons. On the inside of the jacket you will see a fitted pocket that will allow you to carry your Tanto along with several sleeves designed to hold throwing knives. Please get your tools and bring them here and we will get you ready.”

Twenty minutes later and three pounds heavier I was ready to go. As we settled into Sensei’s SUV we talked more about using windows and mirrors to watch for tails as well as methods of tailing others. It’s amazing just ow many tools, and methods there were for hiding in plain site as well as for checking your ‘six’ as he put it.

We arrived downtown and pulled into a parking deck. I have to admit this area didn’t look entirely safe. Before we walked out of the parking deck elevator Sensei stopped me and said, “David, in order to teach you counter surveillance I have asked a few associates to follow us from time to time. Your goal here is to first identify the individual and second, evade them by any means necessary. We will do this for two hours. After that we will pick an individual and attempt to follow them. If at any time you lose them before our time is up, then you have to start over with a new person.”

Ok, no pressure there...

We finally stepped out of the elevator and turned right onto the sidewalk. After 5 minutes sensei said, “David, you need to act more casual when looking around. Take a moment and look at the people around you. Notice how they are not even paying attention to their surroundings? That is how you must appear. Also, notice how anyone you see walking in groups is actively carrying on a conversation. Since we are walking together, talk. This serves many purposes as well. If you see something and need to tell me it will not look out of place since we are already talking. Another thing. Window shop. Windows are excellent for looking around without having to face your subject.”

We turned left and entered a shopping district so as we walked I would stop and look behind and around me using the windows reflection to see if I was being followed. After the third window I noticed a young lady wearing a blue hoodie and faded jeans. This was the second time I had seen her and each time I stopped so did she. I mentioned to Sensei that I would like to move ahead of him several yards, so I could check something. At our next stop after seeing the girl again I moved on while he stayed and looked some more. I turned the corner and jogged up a few yards and tapped someone on the shoulder. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, “I thought you were someone else,’ knowing that he was a complete stranger.

“No worries,” he said and moved on.

As I turned to continue I looked in the mirror of a car and again saw he young lady. I looked ahead and saw an area where I could slip in rather quickly so as I came up to a group of people I hunched down and slipped away. As I made it to a spot where I would not be seen from the street I went in and tucked myself into an alley doorway. While waiting for her to pass by I looked around to check for ways out if I needed one. After spying several possible exits I looked out the doorway to see if it was clear and inched out. While in the alley I spotted a walking stick that someone had thrown in the trash because it was chipped and grabbed it. Using it like a crutch in my left hand and changing my walking gate I began walking down the street in the same direction I was before and spotted the woman looking everywhere ahead of her, trying to locate me. Noting what she was wearing and that she never bothered to look behind her I got within a few yards of her and followed her for several blocks before she stopped and called someone on her phone. I casually walked up behind her and, using one of my knife points poked her in the back slightly to get her attention.

“Step into the alley ahead and please, don’t make a scene. It would be a truly epic tragedy if I had to harm your beautiful body.”

She tensed up suddenly and I figured she was about to run so I reached down and grabbed the back of her pants at the waistline to prevent her from fleeing. Seeing she had no way of escaping she walked into the alley and I directed her to stand behind a dumpster. We had just made it there when Sensei came walking by. He looked around and saw me in the alley and began heading my way. By the time he got to me I had looked in her purse for ID and said, “Sensei, I’m sure you already know her, but may I introduce Jade Danielles. Jade, would you care to tell us why you were following me, and who you called when you lost me?”

Looking intently at me Sensei said,” David, while I applaud your skills, I don’t know this young lady.”

Really. Well that’s interesting.

“Jade?”

Now facing two people and knowing that she was caught she looked up and said, “I was told to follow you and find out when you were home alone.”

“Go on...”

“My ex-boyfriend just got out of jail and said it was your fault. When I said I didn’t want to have anything to do with him he said he’d tell my parents I’m sleeping with everyone if I didn’t help him. I’m not but I don’t think my parents would believe me.”

Why would anyone want me followed? I’m a no one. Wait, he just got out of jail?

“Why was he in jail Jade?”

Broken down and crying she said, “He tried to rob some kids at the mall and got caught. Said you hurt his arm really bad and he wanted to mess you up for it.”

You’re kidding me! That punk from the mall was behind this?

“Please, I don’t want to go to jail! I wish I’d never hooked up with the asshole!”

Looking at Sensei I said, “options?”

He thought for a minute and said, “Well, there’s the police, we could take her to her parents and explain what’s going on or we can go pay this person a visit and clear the air, so to speak. I’d suggest both the second and last together. Take her home to clear her and then visit this guy, whoever he is.”

“Jade, what is your ex’s name and where does he live?”

“His name is Frank. I don’t know the address, but I can show you.”

I didn’t like taking her with us, but it didn’t look like we had a choice. Since there were three of us I waited with Jade while Sensei went and got his SUV, then we rode to her parents’ house.

Knocking on the door we waited several minutes until a woman came and opened it. “Mrs. Danielles? My name is Jeff, and this is my friend Matt. May we come in for a minute with Jade and speak with you and your husband?” Since this was a strange situation no way was I going to use our real names.

“Well, Ok I guess,” she said after looking at us for a minute.

We sat down in the living room and explained the situation to them, starting with the attempted robbery at the mall. After getting Jade to tell her side of it I said,” Ma’am, Sir, I wanted to come here and let you know that your daughter was being forced to do this, but that she wasn’t doing what he would have told you she was. She seems like a very nice girl who just made a bad choice in boyfriends. Clearly, I can’t tell you what to do here, but could I ask you to go easy on her? She’s had quite a scare today and after we take care of Frank I think she’ll be free to be the amazing person we all know she can be.” I was laying it on a little thick, but I did believe what I said. We all make bad choices occasionally. Hopefully she would learn from this and be a better person.