“Go back!” I shouted at Ronnie again. She just stood there in shock, shaking her head. Great. Now I’d have a witness.
Dekker delivered a roundhouse kick-to my good shoulder, thank God. He’d switched from tackling to kickboxing. I took the blow and landed a side kick to his solar plexus. He stepped backward, regained his balance, then tried a front kick to my right shin. I managed to dodge, hooking his extended leg with mine and twisting him off balance.
Even though I studied it, I’d never really gotten into kickboxing. The idea of fighting on one leg seemed too risky. Now, boxing, there was a sport, I thought, as I landed two jabs with my left and an uppercut with my right to his jaw. Dad was a boxer. It was all about the footwork.
Dekker punched at me, missing my nose but hitting my cheek below my left eye. That was going to look like hell later. I went for a counterblow, but he blocked it. I took advantage of his somewhat doubledover stance by grabbing the back of his head and bringing my knee up hard into his abdomen. I followed this by bringing my elbow down on the back of his head. He toppled and fell.
“Stop it!” Veronica had found her voice and decided this was a good time to let us know.
It distracted me just enough for Dekker to pull me to the ground. He climbed on top of me and began swinging at my head. Bastard managed to land a few blows. That was what I got for being distracted by a woman.
I punched him in the throat and knocked him off me. I was just about to get to my feet when he kicked me in the side of the knee, bringing me back down. Great. This was going to take all day.
Why wasn’t Veronica running? Didn’t it occur to the woman that she could get help? She sure as hell wasn’t trying to help me, not that I could blame her with fists and feet flying all over. Still, she needed to go-at the very least so I could kill this bastard once and for all!
I hit the ground hard on my bad shoulder and, in spite of myself, couldn’t keep from wincing. Dekker saw that and began a rapid burst of punches to that very same shoulder. How sporting of him.
“Stop hitting him! He’s injured!” Ronnie screamed.
Dekker paused long enough for me to see a look of comprehension come over his face. He grinned and drove his elbow into my head. As the stars faded to an inky smear I thought, At least that solves that mystery.
Chapter Twenty-two
A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.
– GUY FAWKES
“Where’s Ronnie!” were the first words out of my mouth as I came to. I wasn’t even sure whether I was still in the grass or in a ger. Opening my eyes was an exercise in practical pain.
“Quiet, Cy,” Odgerel soothed. Other faces swam into view, including my newest BFF, Dr. Baatar.
“Where is she?” I pressed weakly. This time I knew better than to try to get up.
I could see Sansar-Huu look at Chudruk, who looked back at him. That didn’t seem good.
“Just be still,” Dr. Baatar said quietly.
In spite of the pain, I struggled to move. Why wasn’t anyone answering me?
“You have had a second impact to your concussion. You could have brain damage.” That caught me up short. The doctor handed me some pills, which I took without question. He spoke in Mongolian to my friends and I gave up even trying to understand them. Instead, I looked around the room. Everyone was there. Well, almost everyone.
“You have to rest. The doctor did not see any signs of damage, but you can’t leave here tonight,” Sansar-Huu said once Dr. Baatar had gone. “He will be back in the morning. You may need to go to the hospital for a CT scan.”
“All right. Fine. Just tell me where Ronnie is and I promise I will rest.”
“She came and told us where you were, and then she left,” Zerleg said.
“We haven’t seen her since,” Zolbin added.
I struggled to get up. “I have to find her…”
“Cy!” Odgerel shouted. “You cannot go anywhere. Ronnie will be fine. Just tell us what happened.”
I hated to admit it, but I wouldn’t be of help to anyone in this condition. I slowly lowered myself back down and filled everyone in on the fight.
“I’m afraid Ronnie’s gone after Dekker,” I finished.
“Why?” Chudruk asked.
“I don’t know. To chew him out. To ask him why.” My words were starting to spin around in my mouth and they tasted sour.
Sansar-Huu, Chudruk, Zerleg and Zolbin took off immediately to search the campground. Odgerel and Yalta insisted on staying with me. I watched as my zazul took a chair outside to sit and keep watch. I felt sorry for Dekker if he came back to finish me off.
“She has feelings for you, you know,” Odgerel said as she put a cold cloth on my head.
“Does she?” Deep down I knew she was right. I just had a hard time believing it.
“Yes. And you have feelings for her.”
I didn’t say anything. I was too worried about Ronnie. Why did she run off like that? What could she have been thinking?
“Veronica was very upset when she came here to tell us you were hurt,” Odgerel continued.
“It wasn’t her fault,” I said.
She looked at me, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
So I explained my jealousy over Dekker’s flirting with her and how Ronnie knew all about it.
“I was an ass,” I concluded.
My friend laughed. “Yes! You were!” She went off to admonish the kids, who were laughing at something. A second later she placed Sartre on my chest. As I started to stroke her fur, she purred. And it seemed I was back to where I’d started.
It was kind of soothing lying on the cot, petting my pig while the kids played on the floor. Odgerel sang songs that made the children giggle as she went about the preparations for dinner. I tried to think about what I needed to do to kill Dekker, but my head hurt too much. The pills the doctor gave me helped a little, but did nothing for the fear I had for Ronnie.
Sartre slid down into my armpit, snuggled up and went to sleep. That was soothing. A couple of times the kids tried to snatch her up, but their mother was always there to step in. I tried not to think of what Dekker might do to Veronica. So I tried to imagine that I was in my own ger with Veronica. What would our children be like?
That may have been the first time I ever thought about having kids with anyone. Oh, I loved kids. My cousins had some really funny children. I just never wanted any of my own. Most of the women I messed around with already had families. It just never came up. Part of the reason was that once the kids turned five, they had to start school. My life wasn’t meant for settling down and joining the PTA. And at five, Bombay kids had to start their training.
I supposed with our combined educations Veronica and I could homeschool as we traveled. Although I didn’t think my wife would like me training our children to become hired killers. What strange thoughts went through your head when you’d been clubbed by a Dutch mercenary at a Mongolian wrestling festival.
Zerleg and Zolbin burst through the door, rudely awakening Sartre. She let them know her displeasure with a loud, “Wheek,” then set about chewing on my T-shirt.
“We can’t find her!” Zerleg said, out of breath.
“We looked everywhere!” Zolbin panted.
Within the hour, Sansar-Huu and Chudruk returned with similar information.
“Two men I know saw her leave the grounds with Dekker,” Chudruk added.
It was silent in the ger for a few moments. I handed the guinea pig off to the children and they immediately fattened her up with grass.
“Why would she go with him?” Zolbin asked. His uncle shot him a look. It occurred to me that everyone here thought Veronica had chosen Dekker over me. They didn’t know what kind of man he was, what kind of danger Ronnie was in.