Page 17 of Hawk

“Thanks.”

He played it off like it was just the parking garage, but I wasn’t buying it. Something other than me had spooked my little mouse, and I wanted to know what.

I kept an eye on him as we started class, and even without the interaction in the garage, I would’ve been able to tell something was up.

Normally, he was easygoing and friendly with the other students, but tonight, he seemed hesitant and withdrawn. He even moved differently—like he was braced for something to happen at any moment. His shoulders were tight, his eyes scanning the room in quick, darting movements, and when his usual partner, Marcy, came up behind him and tapped his shoulder in greeting, he flinched before forcing a tight smile.

I watched him for a few minutes as I went through my usual warm-up routine with the class. He fumbled a few of the basic drills—nothing egregious, but enough to tell me his focus was shot. And when I paired the students up to work on breakaway techniques, I noticed his hands shook when he squared up with his partner.

That was enough for me.

I stepped in, nodding to Marcy. “I need to borrow Mika for a second.” I gestured for him to follow me toward the edge of the mats. “You all right?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

He swallowed hard, his gaze flicking toward the exit before settling back on me.

“Yeah. Just a long day,” he said quickly, forcing a small smile. “I’m good.”

I studied him, waiting. He wasn’t telling me everything—that much was clear. But if he wasn’t ready to talk, I wasn’t going to push.

Still, I didn’t like the way he kept glancing toward the door.

“All right,” I said after a moment. “Go ahead and join Marcy.”

As the class continued, he seemed to loosen up, but I still wanted to know what had him so out of sorts earlier. I didn’t like the idea that someone was giving him trouble, but I couldn’t think of anything else that would cause him to be so jumpy and nervous.

Luckily, we weren’t introducing any new techniques this week. We were reviewing everything we’d learned so far and making sure they had those moves down solid. That meant I could focus more on observing than instructing.

When class ended, I called him over.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but if you need to talk, you can always call me.” I pulled out one of my business cards and flipped it over, writing my personal cell number on the back. “That’s my direct number. You can use it anytime, day or night.”

He flipped the card over and studied it like it was written in a foreign language.

“I mean it, Mika. If you need to talk, or if you’re in trouble, you call me.”

“I bet you say that to all your students?” he asked in what I was sure was meant to be a teasing tone, but I wasn’t in a joking mood.

“No, I don’t. Seriously, Mika.” I reached out and tapped the card he still held in his hands. “Whatever’s going on, you’re not alone.”

Chapter seven

Mika

I’d spent Saturday morning grocery shopping and dog-proofing everything so Seph would be okay here. When it was time for me to go pick her up so Andy and Jesse could get on the road, I was ready to spend the rest of the day doing nothing but chilling with my fur buddy.

Not that my job was hard—I enjoyed spending time with Mary Ellen—but I was exhausted. Most likely, it was a stress response from finding that stupid note. It had obviously been a prank because nothing else had happened since. But I was living on high alert anyway, and I knew from experience that could be exhausting.

I pulled up in front of their house to find a couple of men I’d never seen before working on the front window. Andy had told me they were having the windows in the house replaced while they were gone—that was why I was taking Seph with me—but I hadn’t expected them to get such an early start.

I waved at them as I made my way up to the front door and knocked. Jesse pulled it open and stepped back.

“Hey, Mika. You’re just in time. We’re almost ready to get on the road.” He smiled at me, then turned to yell over his shoulder. “Or at least we would be if Andy would hurry up.”

“Where’s Seph?”

“She’s in her crate. All the banging and hammering was driving her insane.”

“I was surprised you weren’t taking her with you.”

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