The One That Got Away by Simon Wood

first—attack or defend?” Monica asked.
    “You choose.”
    “I’ll defend. I want to try this move out.”
    Zoë nodded and took up an attacking position, albeit a static one. Just as Karen had demonstrated, Monica followed the steps as Karen called them out. Monica repeated the combination until she’d gotten a handle on Karen’s new combo.
    “OK, let’s try this for real,” Monica said.
    Zoë made a slow-motion lunge at Monica. She followed the three-step move, dropping Zoë to the mat, then made several more attempts with the same result.
    Karen moved from pair to pair, providing assistance. She stopped to survey Zoë and Monica’s progress. She gave Monica a couple of pointers and had Zoë go at Monica with more speed than before. The end result was the same. Zoë ended up on the mat. Zoë knew, as the attacker, she was the fall guy, but she wasn’t making for a worthy opponent. She should have at least made it a challenge for Monica. Her head wasn’t in the game tonight.
    Lara Finz had deceived her so easily. It made a mockery of everything she did in this class. She was supposed to keep her guard up at all times, and at the first true test, she’d failed. And the journalist was nothing compared to a real predator. She needed to get her shit together, especially with that son of a bitch in the city.
    “I think I’ve got this,” Monica said. “Wanna take the reins now?”
    Zoë nodded.
    Monica played statue while Zoë followed the steps. Karen provided adjustments until Zoë had the move down. Then Karen moved on to the next pairing.
    “Let’s try this with some movement,” Zoë said.
    Monica came at Zoë slowly, but moving complicated the action. She missed with a side kick, lost her balance, and fell.
    “Damn it,” Zoë hissed.
    “Don’t sweat it. Let’s try again.”
    The second time around, Zoë didn’t get herself positioned correctly before Monica was on top of her.
    “C’mon, Zoë. You can do this.”
    Zoë nearly told Monica what she could do with her encouragement. Monica didn’t know anything about her.
    “Do you want me to show you the move?”
    “No,” Zoë barked.
    Monica blinked in surprise.
    “No. Sorry. I’ve got this.”
    “OK,” Monica said. “Let’s try it again. On your call.”
    Zoë nodded and Monica came for her. Again, Zoë was too slow with her reaction and clumsy with her delivery, and Monica caught her off balance, sending her crashing to the mat.
    “Shit.”
    “It’s OK,” Monica said and offered a hand.
    Zoë reluctantly took her classmate’s hand. “Let’s go again.”
    “Sure.”
    They went again and Zoë made the move work, but Monica had definitely backed off to make it easier for her to defend herself.
    “One more time, before we review this combination,” Karen said. “So make it count.”
    “You heard the lady,” Monica said.
    “This time, no soft sell.”
    Monica smiled. “Sure thing.”
    She charged Zoë. Zoë saw the opening she needed to pull off the initial side kick and missed it. Monica brought down an imaginary knife slash and clipped Zoë across the jaw. It was an accident. Zoë knew it was an accident. But her reaction was immediate and impulse driven. She backhanded Monica. The slap froze Monica to the spot. It was all the opening Zoë needed. She followed the backhand with a palm drive to Monica’s sternum. The impact sent her crashing to the mat with a scream. Zoë drew back a fist, in case Monica retaliated.
    “Zoë!” Karen screamed.
    Karen’s shout jerked Zoë from her daze. Everyone was staring at her, shock and disgust on their faces. Monica was crying. Two women rushed forward and helped her up.
    Zoë opened her mouth to apologize, but the words didn’t come. She was just as shocked at what she’d done as everyone else.
    Karen pointed at the door. “Get the hell out, Zoë.”
    Zoë nodded. It was the only thing she could do. She stood and turned to see Inspector Ryan Greening standing at the reception