Page 18 of Absent Remorse

There was a young woman behind the reception desk, short, blonde haired and wearing workout gear.

“Hi, I’m Candice,” she said. “Are you members of the gym?”

Simon shook his head, setting his badge down on the counter so that Candice could see it. “We’re here looking for George Parfitis. Is he here?”

Simon saw the young woman look around towards the main body of the gym.

“He’s teaching a private group session, though,” Candice said. “He wouldn’t want to be disturbed.”

“This can’t wait,” Simon said and stepped past her, into the main area of the gym. Amber followed him.

“What do we do when we find him?” she asked. “Arrest him?”

“We’re just here to talk to him,” Simon reminded her. “Parfitis might be our best suspect at the moment, but that doesn’t mean we have enough to bring him in.”

He saw Amber nod and hoped that she got that part. He didn’t want her trying anything here that she shouldn’t. Palliser would not look kindly on a trainee trying to arrest someone, or even going too far in accusing him while they questioned him.

Simon took in the gym as they passed through it. There were workout machines and weights benches around the walls, a couple of boxing rings off to one side, and even an MMA cage. A broad, matted area took up most of the space, though, and on it a small group of women were hitting and kicking heavy bags, supervised by a coach Simon guessed was Parfitis.

He was in his late twenties, maybe six-four, heavily muscled, with handsome features and a short, dark beard. He was currently standing behind one of the women there, correcting her posture while standing, Simon thought, far too close.

“George Parfitis?” he called out. He didn’t want to have to wait until the end of the session when the killer was still out there somewhere, possibly already stalking another victim.

The big man looked up. “Who’s asking?”

“FBI,” Simon said, flashing his badge. “We want to ask you some questions about—”

That was as far as he got before Parfitis ran, heading deeper into the gym. Simon sprinted after him and wasn’t entirely surprised to find Amber doing the same, running after him, her training obviously kicking in.

Parfitis dodged around the heavy bags, setting them swinging as he passed so that Simon had to take a second to avoid them. That let Parfitis open the gap, running in between a set of cardio machines, using them as obstacles as he headed towards the rear of the gym. There was a door there marked “staff only”.

Simon guessed that there had to be some kind of back entrance to the gym that way, and he knew that he couldn’t let Parfitis get to the door before him. At the very least, the big man might be able to lock the door behind him, shutting Simon and Amber out.

Amber seemed to see the same danger, cutting around in front of their suspect, obviously trying to get to the door before him. She stood there with a hand outstretched as if her mere presence would bring Parfitis to a halt.

“Get out of my way,” he snarled, and hauled back as if he were about to throw a punch Amber’s way. For a moment, Simon was terrified that it would land. Given how much smaller than Parfitis Amber was, there was a good chance of a punch like that causing real damage.

Amber ducked, though, dodging the blow, if only barely. Parfitis’s fist slammed into the door and punched through the cheap wood of it, leaving a splinter edged hole.

Simon was there then, grabbing for Parfitis, and pulling him away. The big man shoved Simon off then brought his hands up into what looked like a muay Thai stance.

“You want to fight, Fed?” he snarled.

“Give it up, Parfitis. There’s nowhere to run.” Simon readied himself for what he knew would likely be a vicious attack. This was a man who taught the kickboxing classes here, after all. He would undoubtedly be able to fight well.

Parfitis came forward with a flurry of blows, leading with a kick then trying to follow up with punches. Simon covered up and moved aside from them, making sure that none connected except on his arms. There was a speed and force to them that might have put an unwary opponent away.

Parfitis worked his jab along with low, chopping kicks, obviously probing for any weakness. Simon waited for the next flurry, trying to pick his moment. He knew that if he misjudged this, he might take a knee to the face that would at least stun him, possibly put him out of action completely.

Parfitis feinted once, then threw a looping hook. Simon saw his moment. He ducked under the punch and shot in, hitting the other man with a double leg takedown that he didn’t have a chance to sprawl on in time. Simon drove in hard, lifting his opponent’s legs to the side and dropping him to the gym mats hard.

Parfitis was still trying to fight, turning his back, and attempting to scramble back to his feet. He’d obviously done at least a little training on the ground, but Simon was ready for it. He rode the movement, tripped Parfitis back to the ground, and kept his weight on the other man while he got his handcuffs out. Amber was there then, obviously trying to help, but Simon found himself worrying then about whether a stray punch would catch her as Parfitis flailed, trying to get free. To his surprise, Amber managed to get a two-handed grip on one of Parfitis’s arms, starting to wrench it around behind his back.

That gave Simon all he needed to be able to cuff the other man. He stood him up then took him back in the direction of the reception area.

“Listen to me,” Simon said. “We were just here to ask you some questions, but now that you’ve run and tried to attack us, I’m seriously considering just dragging you back to an FBI interrogation room.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Fed,” Parfitis snapped.

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