Free The Last Resort (A Kate Jasper Mystery) by Jaqueline Girdner Page A

I would be measuring Craig for the electric chair, too. He was the only one who had known Suzanne previously. I blinked. Or was he? That’s what I had assumed, but…
    What if one of these people had known Suzanne before Spa Santé? And had borne a grudge? I shifted with excitement on the bench, then deflated. Suzanne would have said something, I told myself. I blinked again. That was another ungrounded assumption. It didn’t absolutely follow that she would say something. Not if it would have been worth it to her to keep an earlier relationship a secret. But why?
    An ugly thought seeped into my consciousness. Blackmail. From what I knew of Suzanne, blackmail wouldn’t necessarily have been beneath her moral standards. I doubted that she would have blackmailed anyone for money. But for power, for advantage? It was possible. But who? What? My mind raced. Maybe the socially conscious Terry McPhail was a secret Republican. Or a CIA agent. How many agent provocateurs were left in these days of political indifference? And there was always Avery Haskell. He was hiding some secret. Had Suzanne known what that secret was?
    I got up from my seat impatiently. Tantalizing as it was, none of this conjecture was getting me anywhere. I needed to clear my mind and start over. I walked down a dirt path at random until I found a secluded patch of grass where I could practice my tai chi.
    Tai chi is both a “soft” martial art and a moving meditation, as well as an exercise system. The efficiency of addressing all three needs at once was one of the things that kept me practicing the tai chi form year after year. Not to mention the centered balance and coordination the slow and precise practice had brought to my awkward body, and the clarity I knew it could bring to my cluttered mind. I desperately needed that clarity of mind right now.
    So I began the form, sinking my weight down through my torso, through my legs, and into the ground beneath my feet. Then the unhurried stepping, turning, shifting, pushing, kicking and releasing until I felt the “chi” energy circulating. By the time I had made the 180-degree turn in preparation for the heel kick, most of the tension of the day had drained from my body, and my mind had cleared.
    But that turn brought me face to face with Paul Beaumont. The boy stood staring at me, his eyes oozing hostility. I dropped my leg and arms.
    “You really think you’re something, don’t you?” he said, his voice high and tense. He didn’t give me a chance to answer. “Karate bullshit!” he yelled.
    Mid-yell he raised his arms and leapt at me. His hands landed on my breasts. In the instant it took my mind to register the shock of his assault, my body spontaneously began tai chi again. I didn’t resist Paul’s force but instead sank back, absorbing his energy, then returning it. I turned at the waist and brought up my right arm under his arms. The move lifted his hands from my breasts. He slammed his arms back down, but I swept them away with the momentum of my left hand as I turned back. Then I centered myself fully and pushed from that center with my whole body.
    My hands connected solidly with his chest and he was suddenly backpedaling wildly. Then he was down on the ground, his eyes wide with surprise.
    I was pretty surprised myself. Both by the assault and by my successful defense. Though I shouldn’t have been surprised by the assault. My tai chi teacher had warned against the practice of tai chi in public. It invites challenge. And Paul had thought I was doing karate! Damn.
    The surprise on Paul’s face was gradually turning to fear. Was he afraid of me? Or just now realizing what he had done? Before I could find the words to speak to him, he pulled himself up off the ground and ran. And he ran fast. As I watched him I wondered. Could he have outrun Suzanne Sorenson?
    Upon that thought I sank to the ground myself. I was drenched with sweat. What would have happened without my tai chi training?