Free Sinners and Saints by Ambear Shellea Page B

like I will have everyone's attention. Back of the room? More like front of the class.
    Snatching up her water bottle and towel she walked over to the mat and waited for the i nstructor who was walking through the crowd giving last minute instructions and answering questions. Dropping her bottle and towel, she took her place in the middle of the mat and prepared for what she knew would turn into a show for the rest of recruits. Who could blame them? A one on one with the instructor. That is always worth watching.
    It took only a few more minutes before she was face to face with him.
    “Okay, let's see what you know. Get ready.”
    Vylette stood with her feet apart concentrating on th e core of his body, trying to gauge what move he would do. A second later, she dodged his punch, dropped to the ground and tapped his knee cap with the heel of her shoe.
    “ Nice job. We call that move the Knee Crusher. Glad to see you already know that move. Take your place and get ready.”
    Back on her feet, she took her defensive stance once more. She side stepped his elbow, slid behind him and knocked him off his feet. He was smiling when he rolled onto his back.
    “Have you had training before or are you just lucky?”
    Now it was her turn to smile.
    “Yeah, I have had training before.”
    Giving him a hand, she helped to pull him from the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, her suspicion was confirmed. They had everyone's attention. She turned her gaze to the crowd in the room. No one was training. All the recruits had stopped what they were doing and were watching them battle it out on the spongy piece of plastic. The Instructor must have noticed too.
    “ Alright, show’s over, back to training.”
    Vylette turned back. “ So, Instructor, do you have a name? What do I call you or do you prefer 'instructor'?”
    He had a sweet , deepish laugh. “All the recruits call me, Hardass Haiden, but my name is Haiden Harlow. I go by Haiden.”
    She plastered a wicked smile across her face. “ Hardass, it is. Nice to meet you, Hardass.”
    She was surprised to see him smile back at her.
    “You know, Echo, I think I’m going to like you. I love a good sense of humor. Even if it is a smartassed one. Makes things...fun.”
    “ I try. So, now what do we do?”
    Be fore he could answer, the entrance of Mrs. Travine caught the room's attention. Her expression and presence was sweet as always.
    “ Excuse me, Haiden, but can I please borrow Vylette? I have to get her picture and prints for her I.D. Cards and such. She just joined the team last night, so we are still getting her into the system.”
    “ No Problem, Mrs. Travine.”
    As she was heading toward Mrs. Travine, Hiaden's comment caught her before she went too far. “ Nice work. I'll see you tomorrow, but it may be at a different time. Mrs. Travine will know. This class is for beginners and clearly you’ve had training, so I want to put you in a more advanced class.”
    “ Alright. Until then, Hardass.”
    Her eyes caught Mrs. Travine's face, her eyes going from her to the Haiden. No o ne spoke, but she noticed Mrs. Travine and Haiden share a smile. Shrugging it off as a private joke of sorts, she crossed the room and followed the woman into the elevator.

Chapter 15
     
    Vylette stood in the slowly rising metal box with Mrs. Travine at her side, in silence. So to break the endless white noise in the air, she turned to the woman next her.
    “ Where are we going?”
    “ We are going to the set up room, located on the ground floor of the main building. You have passed it before. It is the third door in Mr. Buchanan's wing. You know the one with the window you jumped out of.”
    She heard Mrs. Travine stifle a small snicker.
    “Yes, well, I was in a hurry you see, so you may need to point it out to me. In my haste, I wasn't really paying attention to what was in the room at the time.”
    “ Fair enough, I suppose I can show you.”
    She turned and placed her hand on her chest, and a