“Scared, Buddy?” Cocky Black Belt Taunts a Single Mom — Unaware She’s a Combat Legend...
Chapter 11
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Frank opened the folder. "This official testing record for Tanner's third stripe is dated a Sunday in November four years ago. I have here a signed statement from Samuel Devo, a certified regional board examiner, confirming no such testing ever took place under his authority. And I was in a hospital waiting room three counties away that entire weekend. I couldn't have administered it either."A stunned silence fell over the room. Gary's face drained of color; council member Ruth Polowski began writing furiously in her notebook.Desperate to regain control, Tanner's eyes swept the room and locked onto Jo sitting in the back row."Maybe we should ask our former student what she thinks about real skill," Tanner announced, stepping off the mat and pointing straight at her, "since she's clearly decided the rules don't apply to her either. You're not even supposed to be here. But come on up. Show everybody what you showed poor Curtis. Unless... you're scared, buddy?"The room went completely still.Jo rose slowly from her chair and walked toward the mat."I'm not scared of you, Tanner," she said, her voice carrying through the quiet. "I never was. I think you've known that for a while now, actually. I think that's what this has really been about."Tanner lunged at her.It happened faster than the room could process. Jo stepped off the line of his attack, redirected his momentum with a small, precise turn of her hip and shoulder, and locked his arm. A half-second later, Tanner was face down on his own mat, completely immobilized."Stay down," Jo said quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I'm also not going to let you get back up until you understand that this is over."From the back of the room, a clear, commanding voice cut through the silence:"Josephine Merrick."Every head turned. Standing near the entrance in full dress uniform was Commander Robert Kessler, flanked by a female naval officer with silver eagles on her shoulders, and behind them, filling the doorway, stood nearly every member of the Mill Haven VFW chapter.Jo released Tanner, who scrambled backward into the crowd, entirely forgotten."Commander Kessler," Jo said, straightening. "What is this?""I told you I'd follow up," Robert said, walking toward the front as the crowd parted. He turned to address the entire assembly:"Four years ago, a fire broke out aboard a vessel during deployment overseas. Nine sailors were trapped in a compartment that was rapidly becoming unsurvivable. One of those sailors, working almost entirely alone, pulled four of her fellow crew members to safety before the compartment fully collapsed, sustaining second-degree burns. She went back in twice.That sailor's nomination for the Navy and Marine Corps Medal was misplaced during a records transition and recovered last spring. Josephine Merrick, on behalf of a grateful Navy, and on behalf of four families who still have their sailors home today because of what you did that night, it is my honor to finally deliver this to you."