James Patterson - Blindside

For another twenty seconds, all of it spent in frustration, Henry kept dancing just outside the range of my fists. We covered the majority of what was left of the road, and now the East River was not far from me. I was close enough to smell it. I also had sweat trickling into my eyes. This was turning into a regular workout. The only problem was that Henry didn’t look like he was working as hard as me.

Henry planted his feet, and right at that moment I realized the joke was on me. He had purposely led me away from any backup. I realized immediately that Terri Hernandez had shouted for me to keep close just in case.

I was an idiot, and Henry’s smug smile didn’t make me feel any better.

Now he cracked his knuckles and peeked over my shoulder to make sure we were far enough away from Terri. Then Henry said, “I love so many things about America.” He almost shouted it. He was showing me he wasn’t nervous.

Oddly, I felt a flutter of nerves. But I stayed in his game and said, “It’s nice when visitors appreciate the country.” I sucked in a little extra oxygen. This would be a longer fight than I had anticipated.

Henry said, “I love the freedoms and wealth as much as I love the hypocrisy of Americans. You have this vast continent, yet everyone crams onto an insignificant little island like Manhattan. Why is that? It feels like something lemmings would do.”

He slowly circled me as he kept talking. Now it was Henry who was looking for an opening. “I also like how you let lawyers and the threat of lawsuits govern your behavior more than the government. And especially I like how you are all utterly convinced that the world needs you. Like you’ll ride to the rescue if there’s a problem.” He threw a few more punches in the air.

Then he looked right at me and changed his tone. “You know what else I love?”

“What’s that?”

“Your media outlets have to fill time with drivel. Every detail of the lives of celebrities is broadcast at all hours. Every aspect of police investigations is reported. Like the stories of your recent shooting. The one where you gunned down an innocent youth for no reason. You know what that tells me?”

“That you watch too much TV?”

He gave me a polite smile and shook his head. “No, it tells me that no matter what happens between us, you won’t use a gun, even if you grabbed one. It would look too bad for you.”

“The day I need a gun to deal with a little punk like you is the day I retire.”

“If you ever get a chance to retire.”

CHAPTER 101

I HAD LISTENEDto this bullshit long enough. The smart-ass had been asking for a lesson in manners for a long time and had traveled a long way to get it.

I didn’t have thoughts like that often, but this was a fight I had been waiting for. I held my right hand just behind my right leg as I balled it into a fist. I pictured hitting the computer genius so hard I knocked him into the river behind him.

Maybe my expectations were a little high.

Henry feinted with his left hand, then threw a hard, round kick right into my ribs. It knocked the wind out of me and shook my confidence at the same time.

As I sucked in air hard, I realized I hadn’t expected him to be so good with his feet.

Henry gave me a smile and said, “I do a lot to stay in shape. Lift weights, run, and I’ve been studying Tae Kwon Do with a master in Estonia. I finally get to use it. Too bad I couldn’t find a more worthy opponent.” To emphasize his comment, he made a quick turn and caught me in the stomach with a spinning back kick.

I took a few steps back to give me some distance. I had to suck in as much air as possible. This guy was full of surprises. I didn’t want this to be his final one. But it wasn’t like I’d never been in a fight. I was a New York City police detective.

I had a great reach advantage, if I could just keep him from using his feet. I had to think.

Henry charged me and leapt into the air to deliver a kick to my head. I swung hard with my left arm and knocked him onto the asphalt half a dozen feet from me. He didn’t scramble to get up like I thought he might. But he did make it to his feet and faced me again.

I said, “Maybe your time would’ve been better spent studying a Japanese martial art like Shotokan. More practical, lower to the ground. No fancy moves like that. But it might not work with a little short guy like you.”

Again I noticed his face change color. My comment had exactly the effect I wanted it to.

He let out a low growl as he stepped toward me and raised his right fist like he was going to punch me. This time I was ready for the fake. I moved my left arm slightly, but as soon as his foot came off the ground, I shifted my weight and used both of my forearms to block the kick. I didn’t know how a guy that size generated so much power. Maybe it was from his anger. Either way, I was glad the kick hadn’t landed on a rib or my chin.

He danced away from me and we squared off again.

I said, “Aren’t you getting tired yet? I’d like to wrap this up. I have a lot left to do today.”

This time, as he came at me, he kicked low. Very low. It caught me right on the shin. I was shocked how much pain shot through my system. I tried to hop back, but he was on me. An elbow crashed into my temple.

This fight was definitely not unfolding the way I had expected.

CHAPTER 102

AS I BREATHEDhard and did my own dancing to get a little farther away from Henry, I glanced around the street, wondering where the reinforcements were. Then Henry forced me to focus on the fight again.

I managed to parry two hard punches aimed at my face. Now sweat was starting to pour into my eyes, and the pain from the kicks to my ribs and my shin intensified. I felt my breath become labored. My vision blurred.

I needed a change in tactics. I gained a little more distance, backing farther away from Henry.

He had a real swagger about him now. He was enjoying this. Maybe he thought he was putting on a show. Too bad for him there was no one around to see it. I would have gladly led him back to Terri Hernandez if I thought he’d bite on that idea. I also realized that if I went for my gun, with his speed he’d be all over me.

Henry took a big step to his left, then spun and kicked me with his right foot. It hit me high. Just above the solar plexus. At least a blow like that in my chest didn’t knock the wind out of me. I took the kick and stepped back, then slipped to one knee. This was not the position I wanted to be in.

Henry let out a laugh. “This feels about right. You kneeling before me. Now all you need to do is ask for mercy.”

“Does that mean you’ll show me mercy?”

“What do you think?” He swung his left leg high over his head to bring an ax kick down on my shoulders. It was a lot easier to do something like that when your opponent was on his knee. At the last moment, I rolled to one side and avoided the kick. But I could feel the effects of the fight catching up to me. I tried to clear my head.

I was still on the ground, and now my limbs were shaky. Henry jumped to one side so he could attack me from behind. This time, instead of blows, he wrapped his arm around my neck. I felt his other arm brace my head. He had me in a solid choke hold. This was the last place a cop wanted to be.

He leaned in close as he used his arms to slowly cut off my air. He whispered in my ear, “Not what you expected, is it? I don’t know about you, but I don’t like surprises.”

That’s when I reverted to what we like to call nonconventional street tactics. It really wasn’t that hard, either. As he shifted to get a better position on his choke, his groin ended up next to my shoulder. I wasted no time in making a fist and punching him in the balls as hard as I could.