Free HARD CASE (A John Harding Novel - Special Ops, Cage Fighter, CIA Agent) by Bernard L. DeLeo, RJ Parker

gloves and he puts them on awkwardly. He impresses me with his quickness. You can’t teach quickness. With a few adjustments to how he pivots and delivers, Jafar delivers punches and knees with rapidly improving style. I nod at him appreciably when he stops. The kid’s a natural.
    “I…I feel like… I’m dying,” he gasps, bent over with gloves on knees.
    “You’re in good enough shape to go a lot longer. Rest and go again to build your stamina. You just have to train your mind to believe it. I don’t weight train on days I’m fighting but let me show you the weight exercises I want you to start with.”
    After thirty minutes of taking Jafar through a tough but doable routine I call it quits for him. “No use in screwing you up so you can’t work out again tomorrow. Remember, when you work the bag technique means everything. Rolling into your punches and knees with snap has to come like second nature. They have to feel as familiar as breathing.”
    “When will you need me to help you with your job?”
    “I’ll probably find out tonight.”
    “From Ms. Connagher?”
    “Yeah, Tess is a prospective piece of a puzzle I’m working on for business purposes. I’m trying to put together an agency of sorts. I plan on making a good deal of money on this new escorting venture and it might be time to cut back on my street fighting gig.”
    “Just cut back?”
    “It’s in my blood, kid. Pain is a weird thing. Sometimes controlling the pain replaces good sense. I guess that’s where I’m at.”
    “I would like to learn how to fight back.” Jafar grinned. “I don’t think I wish to control pain.”
    Too bad. Jafar’s got skills. “I’ll teach you to protect yourself. You move well. You’ve got the instincts so with a little practice, self defense won’t be a problem.”
    Jafar nodded his understanding. “Have you ever been arrested for fighting? It must be illegal.”
    “There are so many bigwigs in the audience I doubt getting arrested is a problem. If someone gets killed though you can bet the elite will hit the road and someone will have to take the fall. My guess is it will blow over real quick. Without the side bets, the matches would go nowhere. You have to have money to make money on our little circuit.”
    “You must have seen the movie ‘Hard Times’, right?”
    The kid’s got me. That backstreet depression era fight movie with Charles Bronson as a bare knuckle brawler is one of my favorites. “Yeah, that’s a favorite of mine. I take it you’ve seen it, so you know the main premise – it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.”
    “I’ve watched it seven times.”
    I really like this kid. I’ve seen it twenty times. “Is that what made you want to learn how to fight?”
    “Partly. Watching you in the cell take on the scariest dudes I’ve ever seen has a lot to do with it.”
    “I’ll tell you something. If you’re not lookin’ for trouble most of the time it doesn’t find you. I’m a magnet for trouble… always have been, so I roll with it. It won’t hurt you any to know how to fight but I want to make sure you don’t go out looking for trouble once you have a little knowledge. I don’t figure you will.”
    “Have you ever lost a fight?”
    “No, but neither has the guy I’m fighting tonight. One of us won’t be able to answer no to your question tomorrow. Rankin’s been shooting his mouth off about me. Win or lose I’m plannin’ on getting me a piece.”
    “I hope you win. I don’t want to lose my job before I’ve even worked a day.”
    Good. The kid’s not sentimental. “That’s the way to think about it. This ain’t no Rocky movie. Rankin probably has as much right to win as I do. Tonight’s a little more than business for me and that’s not good, but I’ll get over it. Getting a little mad-on can work for you. Too much and you make stupid mistakes. One mistake can be too much when I’m mixing it up with a guy like Rankin. The betting will be