Chapter 1
The first time Jack saw her was in Sonny McKane’s gym, late on a steamy summer afternoon. He was on his way from the practice ring to the shower when he saw her working on the kick bag in the corner.
She was a short woman, probably no more than five-three. But she worked with a savage intensity, throwing her legs and feet at the bag as if it had said something nasty about her mother. The sharp thwack…thwack…thwack of her feet hitting the bag set it rocking on its base, as steady as a metronome, counting out seconds of barely-controlled violence. Her short, dark hair, damp with sweat, clung in spikes to her forehead and the back of her neck, and her eyes glittered with concentration.
Jack wasn’t sure how long he stood there, mesmerized, until he was finally brought back to hims
