We walked back to the others to find that Zolbin had lost his match too. But Yalta was grinning ear-to-ear. For us, this competition was over. And everyone was happy.

I checked in with the others before heading back to my ger. I still had one thing left to do. Dekker would be getting ready to leave. And it was my job to make sure he didn’t.

I still didn’t have a plan for the hit. Before I formulated one, I’d need to know where Dekker was staying. I really didn’t want Veronica to have the answer, but she was the best lead I had at the moment.

“Have you seen Ronnie?” I asked one of Sansar-Huu’s children. They were playing in the grass with Sartre.

The girl nodded, then in Mongolian told me that she had gone east, toward the steppes. I winked and left them to their play.

The campground faded into a large, grassy meadow on the edge of the city. For a moment I wondered if I had misunderstood the kid. I couldn’t see anyone. I decided to keep walking for a while before turning back. The grasses were tall, and if Ronnie was sitting on the ground, I’d have a hard time seeing her.

It was the giggling that kept me from turning around and going back. She was here, all right.

“I can’t believe you did that! Did you really blow up a plane by accident?” I heard her say.

My blood turned to stone. There was only one person she could be with.

I saw her hair rising above the sea of grass. Then I saw him. Veronica was sitting on a blanket, holding a pen and notebook, while Arje was stretched out on his side next to her. My hands formed fists. I was going to kill him right in front of her.

“Cy!” Veronica jumped a little. That was somewhat satisfying. “What are you doing here?”

Dekker didn’t bother getting up. “ Bombay,” he said gruffly.

“I was told to find you for our interview,” I said grimly.

“Oh.” Ronnie stared at me, her mind trying to work out when she had said this and to whom.

I sat down and joined them. “Sounds like you’ve started without me.”

“How did Zerleg and Zolbin do?” Ronnie asked, her voice quavering a little. Did she feel guilty? I wondered how she was going to feel when she watched me rip Dekker’s throat out in front of her.

“They both lost.” I wasn’t interested in making her feel better about playing hooky.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said quietly, avoiding my eyes.

“I was just telling Ronnie about my work.” Dekker’s voice had a strange edge. He was challenging me. But for what? Ronnie? Or just that need men had to best an opponent who had taken them down?

I took a deep breath. If I was going to kill him, it had to look like it wasn’t premeditated. I replaced my naked fury with a relaxed smile.

“I bet you have some good stories,” I said.

Dekker did not relax. You couldn’t cut the tension with a Ginsu knife. Ronnie’s skin flushed red. It was clear she had never been in a situation like this before.

“Really, guys, this is no big deal. Maybe we can meet up for dinner or something?” She tried to smile but was too nervous. For a moment I allowed myself the luxury of wondering what she was thinking about.

“I don’t think Bombay is interested in talking.” Dekker’s voice was rough…ugly with intent. He rose to his feet, fists clenched.

I remained seated but slowly took off my deel. It was a gift, after all, and I didn’t want it ruined by what was about to happen. I’d been fighting men all of my life. I could spot a gauntlet being thrown down a mile off.

“And why is that?” I asked, feigning innocence.

“I think you know why.” He spit the words. There was no mistaking his intent. But where did this come from? Was he fighting because he wanted Ronnie? Or did he know why I was here?

Fighting men have a sixth sense. It is something that has kept them alive on many occasions. The failure to develop this ability means certain death. The sixth sense is one of self-preservation under dangerous circumstances you set in motion yourself. If I survived this, I made a mental note to tell Ronnie so she could use it in her thesis.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to think about it, because Dekker charged while I was still on the ground. I would’ve rolled neatly to the side, but Ronnie was behind me and would bear the brunt of his weight. I lay back, and, using my right arm to shove her away, I brought my feet up and lifted Dekker up and over to the ground behind me.

I was on my feet before he could recover. Ronnie wisely ran off to a safe distance.

“Go back!” I shouted before Dekker charged again. He came at me like a linebacker, his shoulder lowered. Apparently he was going for a “ground and pound” play. I stepped to the left, swiveled and kicked him in the ass.

“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.