Too bad JJ wasn’t going to let that happen.
The second he was close enough she grabbed his wrist.
Then she pulled him.
The man made a startled noise. It was the only thing he could control. JJ escaped being pinned by his falling body by barely a breath of space. His side connected with the ground and JJ used a childhood filled with gymnastic training to spring to her feet.
It was a spot reversal that clearly gobsmacked the man.
JJ was able to double back and run until she was near the back door before he was on her again. This time, it wasn’t her bad luck that allowed an opening. It was the man’s apparent passion for baseball. He slid like he was going to home in front of a crowded stadium. And he wasn’t concerned about taking the ump with him.
They both hit the ground again. This time, JJ went down without a hope of saving herself. Her adrenaline masked the initial pain, but she knew it hurt. The man’s weight didn’t help matters. She felt his elbow in her back, his knee against her ankle. The rest of him distributed between the two spots.
All of it was an issue.
One that JJ wasn’t going to put up with.
She didn’t hear her godfather’s words of wisdom or any of her trainers barking instructions in her ear. She didn’t think of any manual or video she had studied. She simply moved.
With everything JJ had, she became a whirlwind of movement. She threw her head back until it connected with him. Then the rest of her body followed. Her elbow became a hook; her foot became a pendulum. She wasn’t sure what worked but knew she had done something when the weight against her disappeared.
When she heard the cussing, she knew it was now or never.
JJ used the narrow hallway to her advantage. The wall to her left became a springboard to help her pinball herself up and out of the house. Not even the wayward punch the man threw against her side slowed her down.
The second her feet touched the back porch, she was running with everything she had. The man, however, didn’t know JJ. He didn’t know that, while her fighting skills were good, her ability to escape was better. His yells filled the backyard as he followed her.
But as soon as she cleared the back fence, she knew he didn’t stand a chance.
Poor man. It must have taken him a bit longer to realize that too.
JJ could still hear him yelling as she made her way into the woods.
CHAPTER TWO
Josiah Teller’s backyard became a lot more interesting as the morning turned into afternoon. He had told them until he was blue in the face that nothing in his house was missing or had been disturbed but that hole in the dirt and grass.
That was the thing that he swore had changed.
Price rubbed his jaw and stared down into the small, unassuming thing and felt more grumble in his chest than the storm in the distance could dare create.
Deputy Rose Little, who had only stopped giving him guff about being hit in said jaw before losing it completely half an hour before, stood at his side with such an uninterested expression it almost made Price laugh.
Almost.
His jaw wasn’t the only thing sore about what had happened earlier.
“I’m saying it’s unrelated,” Rose finally decided. “It makes no sense for someone to get that done up and tussle with the lawanddig a hole. Plus, Josiah said there should be nothing buried here. He bought the house from Ken and Clarice Weathers. You remember them?”
Price nodded. He did.
Rose went on.
“Ken hated dogs and Clarice hated being outside. Together they wouldn’t have had a dog, and a dog is about the only thing I can think would be the reason anything is buried out here.” Rose toed at the raised dirt nearest her. “Josiah is always itching for some excitement. I think he made a mountain out of a molehill, and you just got unlucky enough to take the hits when something worth talking about happened.”
She patted Price on the shoulder and turned toward the house.
“I’m going to focus on finding that unlucky thing first,” she added. “Why don’t you use the time to go get some coffee. Looks like you need it. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
