Full Bloom

slot, switched off the ignition and climbed out. He went around to the trunk to get his overnight bag.
    Jacob had his bag in one hand and his other hand on the trunk lid when he realized he was not alone in the garage. He swung around, instinctively dropping into a slight crouch.
    There were two of them. Young, male and vicious. They were wearing jeans, black jackets and dirty sport shoes. They came from between a pair of parked cars on the opposite side of the garage, moving fast. One of them carried a length of metal pipe and the other wielded a knife.
    It could have been worse, Jacob had time to reflect. They might have had guns.
    Then there wasn't any more time to think about it. There was only time to react and barely enough at that.
    The one with the metal pipe reached him first, moving in low and bringing the pipe down in a short, violent arc. Jacob blocked the blow with his overnight bag and then crowded in behind it before the attacker could raise the pipe again. He used his foot to aim a crippling blow at the man's kneecap. His assailant yelled, dropped the pipe and clutched wildly at his injured knee.
    "Get him, for Christ's sake!
Get him
!" the man screamed at his partner.
    Jacob twisted as the other man launched himself forward, knife in hand. He dodged the first quick rush and managed to bring the heel of his palm down across the back of the assailant's neck. The man gasped and sprawled forward into the trunk. Jacob slammed the lid and held it down, pinning the knife-wielding arm in the metal jaws of the trunk until the knife fell to the concrete floor.
    Jacob turned to check the status of the other punk and caught the full impact of a fist on the side of his jaw. The attacker followed it up with a body blow and a kick in the ribs.
    Pain exploded, almost immediately swamped by cold fury. Jacob reeled back, releasing the trunk. When the younger man closed in on him, Jacob let him get very close before he made his move.
    "You bastard," the punk hissed. "I'll teach you a lesson you won't ever forget. You hear me, jerk? I'm going to take you apart."
    Jacob rolled sideways across the rear fender of the car and came up from a low, fierce crouch. He caught hold of the man's foot and yanked hard. As the attacker lost his balance, Jacob came down on top of him, aiming a slicing karate blow at the vulnerable point where the neck met the shoulder. The assailant crumpled and fell. The one in the trunk stirred and tried to rise.
    Jacob gasped for air and glanced around for the knife. It had gotten kicked under the car. He didn't feel like crawling around on his hands and knees to get it, so he sprinted painfully across the concrete to grab the length of metal pipe that had been dropped earlier.
    Just as his fist closed around it he heard the gate of the parking garage grate open. A pair of headlights speared the shadows. For an instant the tableau of violence was illuminated beneath the twin spotlights. Then the car pulled forward, effectively creating a barrier between Jacob and his assailants.
    "Come on, Link, let's get out of here!" The man in the trunk staggered to his feet and grabbed his friend by the arm. "Move it, man, we got to get out of here!"
    Jacob made a halfhearted effort to get around the newly arrived car, but he knew he wasn't going to make it. The two men, obviously strongly motivated in spite of their injuries, staggered to the still-open garage door and scrambled beneath it as it started to descend. By the time Jacob reached the wall switch that opened the door from the inside, the two had disappeared into the night.
    Jacob swore, his body vibrating with the tension produced by the aftereffects of physical combat. He was vaguely aware of a warm, salty trickle down his chin and he absently wiped the blood off on his cuff. Then, realizing what he had just done, he glared in disgust at the ruined shirt. He had wanted to look his best this evening. He had wasted endless moments back in Portland choosing the right tie to go with this shirt and now both were a mess, thanks to those two punks.
    "Dammit to hell," he muttered, swinging around to glower at the innocent driver of the car that had unwittingly provided getaway protection for the two jerks.
    "What's going on here?" the man inside the car asked nervously as he eyed the blood and dirt on Jacob's clothing.
    "Typical parking garage accident," Jacob explained.

EIGHT
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    E mily drove into the parking garage feeling depressed in spite of the