Net Force - Tom Clancy [121]
The Selkie turned to face her, knife held ready. She would have to hurry. The shots would draw attention.
She had first learned street fighting from her father, who had survived several hand-to-hand encounters. She had trained with half-a-dozen fighters since, including a couple of Filipinos who were experts with a stick or blade. She would cut the woman down, finish the target and run. If she hurried, she could still get free in the confusion.
She moved toward Fiorella-
Michaels felt the bullet hit him-it was a hot ball-peen hammer smashing against the front of his right thigh. He fell. It didnt really hurt, but he couldnt get back to his feet. The shot leg didnt want to work.
In front of him, Toni faced the woman, who had torn off her skirt and pulled a white-bladed knife. The assassin edged toward Toni. It wasnt over. He had to do something-
The gun! She had dropped the gun. Where was it-?
Toni actually felt calmer now. An attacker with a knife-this was something she had dealt with in practice, over and over again. High, low. The most important thing was to control the knife. You couldnt trade a punch for a stab, so you had to take high line and low line, you had to stop the knife arm at two points, high, low, to control it-
The Selkie moved in, keeping her balance. Fiorella stood and watched her, waiting, and she looked as if she knew what she was doing. It didnt matter. She had to finish this and go.
The Selkie feinted with a kick, then lunged-
Back of the arm, back of the arm, where there were fewer vessels to get slashed! Gurus instructions came back, crystal clear, as sharp as the approaching blade: Against an expert, you will get cut. Give him a sparse target.
The kick was a feint, but the slash was also a feint. When Toni threw up her left arm to block, the assassin jerked the knife back. The edge scored a deep line along the outside of Tonis forearm, just above the elbow.
It didnt matter. She wouldnt bleed out from that. Her hand still worked. She shifted her feet, waited-
Fiorella didnt react to the cut, didnt look at it, kept watching the attacker. The Selkie grinned. She was good, but time was running out.
There was a sequence attack, two feints, a shift of the knife to the other hand, then the heart stab between the ribs, followed by the backslash to the throat. It always worked in practice, and she had also killed a man with it in real combat.
The party was over. It was time to do what she did best, then leave.
The Selkie moved-
The attacker came in again, feinted, faked, thrust, then flipped the knife to her other hand as Toni went for the block. Toni would have been impressed watching from elsewhere, but she didnt have time to be impressed now. All the years of practice had to take over, no time to think anymore-!
Toni shifted her stance, passed the fake and did the block and break on the attackers knife arm. Her right arm stopped the thrust at the wrist-low. Blood flew from the cut on her arm as she slammed the back of her left wrist under the womans elbow-high.
The arm broke, the knife fell. Toni moved in, went over the wrecked arm and slammed her elbow into the womans face. Followed her as she stumbled back and hit the lockers, drove a knee into the attackers belly, then did sapu luar and dropped her to the floor. The attacker hit hard, her head bounced, but she rolled, dove for the knife, caught it in her good hand, came up and cocked the blade for a throw. Her nose was broken and bloody, her eyebrow split-
She knew now she couldnt take Fiorella in a one-on-one, even if her arm hadnt just been broken. One chance. The knife wasnt the best for throwing, but it would back the other woman off if it hit, point or butt. Shed lost, but she could still get away-
The Selkie aimed her elbow at the target, knife held by the blade next to her ear-
Michaels found the