Page 47 of The Deputy's Secret Double

The doors started to close. He wasn’t going to make it.

But his date?

She was an absolute nuisance.

“Fifth floor,” she yelled out.

Then the doors closed.

Lawson managed to move as the woman used the wall to push herself at him like a spring. She ducked as he swung out and got him again in the side. Before he could recover, she swept out with one leg and nearly pulled one of his along with it.

But they were in a small area, and he was a tall man.

He used the walls to his advantage to keep himself upright.

The momentary win let him switch to offense.

When the woman came at him again, he returned the side jab with one of his own.

It landed.

She let out a yell of pain and stopped her onslaught, trying to backpedal.

He wasn’t going to let her.

Lawson struck out again, this time aiming to get her in a chokehold where he would certainly apply more pressure than before.

Yet, the woman surprised him once more.

Instead of the attack landing or her avoiding it all together, she used it.

Catching his wrist with one hand, she used the other to send a hit to the outside of his elbow. The pressure applied the wrong way to the bend of his arm was shockingly painful. Lawson forgot his earlier plan of attack and yelled as his reflexes had him trying to get more to his right to ease the pain.

The move created a perfect opening for the woman.

He heard her heel connect with the metal of the elevator wall while she jumped up and moved around and onto his back. Her hold went from a hand on his wrist to her arm around his neck.

Now he was the one in a chokehold.

It was impressive, objectively speaking.

It might have worked had it been someone else.

But Lawson wasn’t afraid so there was no reason to panic.

He coughed as his air supply was cut off but kept the rest of his body in motion.

He reached back and grabbed the woman’s jacket.

Then he yanked her off and slung her away like a wet shirt.

Skills were nice but his size wasn’t something she could ignore.

The woman made a noise as she hit the floor.

He knew by that sound that it had hurt.

“I don’t think your guy is worth all of this,” he grunted out to her, rubbing at his neck.