Story Market Day

ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At Veronica’s


“Well, now we need to do some thinking and planning. We have a couple of weeks before we go back west for Thanksgiving. First thing, between the fuel issue and the slush and ice we saw, we take the Ent.” Veronica said while Violet was pouring more coffee.

The two of them were sitting at the table having breakfast the morning after returning from their latest road trip. They didn’t see the Charger or the occupants again on their trip home. Both were glad of it. Neither really wanted to deal with them again.

“Are you going to run the other guns through the system as well?” Violet asked.

The two pistols from the incident in town came back clean. They were in one of Veronica’s safes in the basement. With the ones from last night, they had a total of six pistols and a shotgun completely off the books.

“Yeah, it would be good to know for sure. I don’t know what to do with them though.” Veronica wondered.

Violet had an answer. “Well, Dad always says you can’t have too many weapons unless you’re swimming.”

“We might be able to trade a few for something more useful or at least have someone go through them to make sure they are safe and reliable before we even think about using them.”

“Using them? What are you thinking about using them for?” Violet asked.

“Utah is a Constitutional Carry state. You are stationed here until further notice. I think you need to be carrying at all times except on base and the revolver I had in the car is a bit big and slow.” Veronica explained.

Violet hadn’t thought about it that way. She was gone temporary duty so much she didn’t bother getting a permit or carrying. It was a bit of a blind spot in her self-defense mindset she has noticed a time or two, then promptly forgot.

“So you don’t have a spare more appropriate pistol already? You have two whole safes downstairs and you don’t have one?” Violet was surprised. She knew she saw several pistols when Veronica had the safe open before their trip.

“Almost everything I have is hunting stuff. For my carry pistol, I have mine issued. That’s why I grabbed my ‘oh shit, a bear’ pistol since it had the shortest barrel. I know a guy, though. He’s a gunsmith at a gun shop I use. He’s built me some things. We might be able to work something. We need to get you armed, but we tell no one.”

“Why? I thought you said it was legal here.” Violet was confused now.

She knew Veronica was a bit mono-maniacal about secrecy at times. This time she would like to know why.

“Just a gut feeling I got long ago and never let go of. What you carry concealed should stay between you and me and no one else. I’ve had some things happen. Hell, you and I have had them happen just last night. Talking about it out in public is a bad habit to get into. Talking about among other people can be bad. The wrong people might end up with info they don’t need to know.”

“OK, no one but you and me. So when do we go talk to him?”

“Later today. First we swing by the shop and get the info on that jackass instructor we need to visit.” Veronica said as she began clearing the table.
 
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ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
On the Way from Veronica’s Office

“This guy seems a bit shady from the start. With what Bron pulled, I’m telling you he probably doesn’t know shit and is running the ‘dojo’ as a scheme. If he does know something, he’s giving the rest of us who do a very bad name. Not every person who learns a martial art can or should teach.” Violet was spin up. She hated posers or people who gave the martial arts a bad name.

“Oh, I agree. So what is the plan, oh Sensei?” Veronica was smirking. There wasn’t much that would break though the outward calm Violet tried to project all the time. Asshats were one of them, and Violet seemed to have decided this guy was an asshat.

“First, we go shopping.” Violet was grinning. It wasn’t a friendly grin. It was the kind you would expect from an owl hovering above a mouse.

“OK, what are we shopping for?”

“I need a skirt, blouse and some simple shoes.”

“OK, Violet, you’re going to have to explain. Are you trying a honey trap? What’s the plan?” Veronica was really confused.

“Not honey trap. I’m not going to seduce him, but he is going to underestimate me. Remember high school?” Violet responded.

“You’re going to have to narrow that down. Which high school?” Veronica shot back.

“Senior year, when I was a cheerleader.” Violet prompted.

“Ah, OK, I think I am tracking. The thing with Freddie?”

“Exactly.” Violet replied.

Veronica remembered now. They had a couple of the football players who were giving the cheerleaders some shit, saying they weren’t real athletes and the letter on their jacket was a ‘gimmie’. The biggest loudmouth was a Senior named Freddie.

Freddie was running his mouth one day in the hallway about the female ‘athletes’ at the school in general and the cheerleaders in specific when Violet and Veronica were walking by. Veronica was ignoring him, like always. When she turned to say something to Violet, she noticed she wasn’t there. She had stopped to join the circle around Freddie.

By the time Veronica got back to Violet, the verbal exchange was underway. Violet was pointing out to the crowd how the woman’s soccer team could run rings around his precious football team, all day, every day, the field hockey team as well.

Veronica saw Violet was making headway in her argument. So did Freddie. He had to respond or lose the verbal battle.

Freddie made a claim about how some chick in a skirt didn’t know anything about how tough football was. This set Violet off. She got up in his face.

Violet during this phase in her life was in some ways a girly girl. Skirts and blouses, sometimes dresses when she wasn’t in her cheerleading uniform or at the dojo (whichever martial art it was at the time, Veronica didn’t remember). This day she had on a skirt and a nice blouse.

Violet knew he was severely underestimating her. So be it. She issued a challenge. If he as a ‘big strong football player was so tough, then some chick in a skirt shouldn’t be tougher than him. When she said that, he nodded. She had him now. He couldn’t back down without losing face.

“One punch to see who’s tougher. And you hit me first!” At this, everyone was split into different camps. Some wanted him to put this loudmouth girl in her place. Some thought it was a lose/lose proposition because if he hurts her, what’s the real point, and if she hurts him, he loses as well. The others just were too curious and wanted to see what trick Violet might have up her sleeve.

Freddie knew he was trapped so he decided to go ahead with it and threw a good solid punch, straight to Violet’s face. She ended up with a bloody nose and a busted lip. But she didn’t go down. She didn’t start crying. She didn’t even hold her injured face. She just straightened herself up from where she had to take a step back with one foot for balance after his hit. She was nodding her head as she replied to him.

“Cheerleaders wear skirts because they are easier to move in and they are better to distract the guys on the team. That’s our job. As for the athletics, you would have trouble keeping up with us in our workouts. The football team plays in thirty second bursts. Most of the female sports are continuous efforts. As for toughness,” Violet didn’t blink, wiggle, appear to wind up or anything before her punch sailed in.

The punch or knife hand or whatever was too fast for Veronica or anybody else to see. It went straight to his solar plexus. Freddie went down, hard. He was gasping and sputtering, unable to catch his breath at all for what seemed like forever while Violet just stood next to him waiting for him to be able to pay attention to her again. Finally he looked up at her.

“You really need to rethink your attitude on female ‘athletes’. It's a good thing I’m just a cheerleader. One of the field hockey or soccer girls might have accidentally hurt you.” At that, Violet turned around quick enough for her calf-length skirt to flair out around her legs. She stepped up to Veronica.

“So, what does the cafeteria have for lunch?”


Veronica was remembered all of this, knowing Violet was looking to be underestimated. The guy they are going to meet won’t expect the chick in a skirt to have more martial arts knowledge and skill than he will ever hope to have. This also means he will probably run his mouth more and talk himself into trouble.

“So, Violet. Are we going for Suzi homemaker or hot mom? It makes a difference where we shop.”
 
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ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At The Martial Arts Studio near the Base


The Dojo owner watched two women enter his studio. One was a tall blond in blue jeans and a puffy ski type jacket. The shorter one was in a skirt and a jacket with some sort of native pattern on it. Both came in and right up to him.

The tall one started talking.

“Hi, Jim. Just the person we were looking for.”

“Sure, what can I do for you?” He said, looking them over a little more now they were closer.

Jim figured they were maybe late twenties or early thirties. Probably saw his ad for self-defense classes. He hoped so, he needed the clients and the money.

“We came to talk about the classes you stopped showing up for and teaching our kids.”

Crap! There goes the easy day and pay.

“I think you must be mistaken. I’ve been here for every class. As a matter of fact, I did have one of my classes stop showing up on time or at all when we shifted the schedule a month ago. I pushed it out by mail and email we were moving from Monday, Wednesday, Friday to Tuesday, Thursday and every other Saturday due to a scheduling conflict. They never showed up so I canceled it.” Jim had this answer ready in case this very thing happened.

“And what about your phone, voicemail and email not working to return any of our calls? Here’s what I think happened. You ran off the other two assistant instructors then found actually teaching like you were paid to do took too much time and effort.”

“That’s a pretty serious accusation. You aught not say such things!” Now Jim was getting a bit pissed, especially since it was true. Who the hell was this woman and which one of the little brats were hers? He didn’t recognize her, or the shorter one for that matter.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Veronica helped Violet find what she was looking for. At the far end of town was a western wear / military surplus/whatever they could come up with store where they found a proper skirt and a good Pendleton wool jacket. Veronica was a little surprised at the heavily pattered colors of the jacket. That wasn’t normally Violet’s style so she asked her about it.

“It’s ok, I’ve been listening to you. It’s too cold for golf attire and it IS a good quality durable wool jacket. Like you said, you can hide a howitzer under it and with the pattern, no one will see it.”

Veronica and Violet were on guard when they first walked into the Dojo. It was decided to let Veronica do the talking initially so Violet could look at things some more before joining in.

The first thing Veronica did was put him on edge. She needed him off his game so they could get good answers. Veronica was used to this part. She had done thousands of interviews and interrogations. She knew they really had him when he popped off with his comment, temper showing,

“That’s a pretty serious accusation. You aught not say such things!”

“It’s not an accusation if it’s true. You promised to teach these kids and you bailed on them, took their money and then quit. I have copies of the email traffic, the ad from the web and the flyer from the PennySaver mailer. From what we have, that stacks up to grand theft, wire fraud, mail fraud and I’m sure a bunch of other things.” Veronica’s fangs were showing now. The best part, this was the bait on the hook, setting him up for the second part.

He was enraged now. Who were these two to come in here and threaten him in his own Dojo!

“You better reel yourself in with the false accusations and not push me! By law, I’m required to tell you my hands are registered as lethal weapons!”

He wasn’t prepared for the reaction he got from his warning. The little one started laughing! Hard!

“What the **** are you laughing at!” He scowled, drawing himself up into to his most impressive and imposing height.

“I’m laughing at some guy who is believing his own press releases! Do people actually fall for your bullshit! Did you find some old VHS kung fu movies and make some certificates on your computer!” Violet gasped out in between laughter.

At this, Veronica stepped back a step since Violet seemed ready to step in.

“I warned you…” he started, but Violet cut him off.

“What forms do you claim to teach or know? Come on, lie to me some more.”

Violet took off her jacket and tossed it to Veronica. She had a simple white button up shirt on with her skirt.


“I am trained in Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Karate so I know a ton of ways to hurt you. You best leave!” He tried again to impress and intimidate them. Why wasn’t it working?

“Look, ****tard, hold that thought.” Violet said. She turned to look at Veronica, who was giggling at Violet using one of her own favorite insults.

“I think we are fully into plan two, operation moving van.” Violet turned back to the guy.

“You are the sort of poser bullshit artist I hate. You hang a shingle out, pretend to teach stuff, take someone’s money and in reality don’t know shit! You ran off the other instructors for one of a few reasons, money, they found out you were full of shit and they called you on it or they caught you perving either the girl’s or the boy’s locker room.” She ignored his angry growl and continued.

“You need to put a cork in your temper and indignation before you screw up and get hurt bad. You know great ‘sport’ martial arts. You wouldn’t last a minute in mine!” Violet’s tone had changed. Gone was the suzi homemaker. The marine iron was in the voice now.

“Yours? What martial art of yours should I be worried about, little girl?” He sneered.

At the phrase ‘little girl’, Veronica stepped back quickly. She didn’t want to be within the blast radius.
“Little girl? Ha! I’ve trained in a few, just like you claim to have. Difference was, I committed body and soul to learning them and embracing them. They aren’t a plaque on the wall to make money. I’ll give the short list for you to worry about. Systema, Jeet Kune Do, and Krav Maga. You do not want to test me. You should just stand there and listen to her instructions.”

Violet intentionally left out the Marine training. Ideally they didn’t want to be linked back to who they were if things went too far south. Which the appeared to be. He lunged at her.

Veronica wasn’t sure what all went on. The two were a blur of motion for a few brief seconds. There were kicks, punches, blocks all taking place at once. The main difference was he was making a lot of noise and Violet was silent. Before she knew it, he was sitting on the ground howling as he was rocking back and forth holding a leg she knew she had seen bent sideways at the knee in a direction nature never intended.

“I told you, shut up and listen to what she is about to tell you before I have to actually hurt you.”

Veronica looked at Violet. She wasn’t winded, sweating or anything. She was calm as a cucumber, waiting for the next step. She just shook her head and smiled as she started laying out the plan.

“Alright, ****tard. Here’s the way it’s going to go down. You have a nice Dojo here. You also have a nice house over next to the old train tracks. You should be able to short-sell them for a nice profit and move away from here. Right now.”

“Why the hell should I move?” He was confused now. What were they talking about?

“You are going to move away. You have about seven days to get it done. If you are still here in seven days, it will become a lot harder for you to do it. You will have to find new places to live and work anyway, as well as having a much smaller clientele, legally.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not moving!” He yelled. God his knee really hurt! He wasn’t even sure how she did what she did to him. She shouldn’t have been able to get through his defenses. She shouldn’t have been able to avoid his attacks!

“We have the interviews and sworn statements being assembled right now. We also have your attempted assault of this poor defenseless woman to add to the charges.” Veronica said with a smile on her face.

“Defenseless!” He roared.

“Shut up! I am talking. As I was saying, we are building a preliminary case of grand theft, wire fraud, mail fraud, assault with what you proclaimed to be a deadly weapon, which then if you believed it, would make it attempted murder. Then there is the issue on you spying on the high school girls and boys in the locker room and shower. Then we subpoena all your other students, some of which are even younger and interview them along the same lines.”

“I didn’t do that!” He bellowed.

“We will let a jury decide, we are just investigating after all. Oh, and while this winds its way through the court system, you will be temporarily placed on the Sex Offenders list with a restriction of no closer than one thousand feet from anywhere with children. You house is within that distance of the elementary and this Dojo is within that of the high school. Or, you simply move away.” Veronica looked like a shark ready to eat a guppy she was smiling so big.

“You can’t do that!” He pleaded now.

“Even the hint of this and no one in this town will ever come to a single class of yours again. You are done here. Period. Either way, you need to leave. One way you can do it under your own activity. The other way is you get driven out legally. Oh, since several of the people in the class are military dependents, it’s the Federal Sex Offenders list so you will run into this issue for forever regardless of how far you run, so be a good little poser and bugger off! Seven days! If I find you here after that, it all goes into play.”

Veronica turned and walked towards the door, tossing Violet her coat as she went. Moments later, they were back in the car and headed for Veronica’s gun hook up.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
‘No rules. No belts. No nonsense. The system – a fighting art without all the needless baggage.’ Black Belt Magazine.

Systema is an ancient Russian martial art adapted for use in modern warfare by the Russian Special Operations and the Soviet spy network. Needing the fastest and most effective training regime for their elite fighters and undercover operatives, the Soviets experimented with many combat arts, only to rediscover the most deadly and sophisticated among their own traditional Slavic hill-fighting roots.

Until recently Systema was hidden by the highest levels of the Soviet classification only to be opened up to the West by Russian Masters Vladimir Vasiliev and Mikhail Ryabko.

Subtle, brutal and uncompromising it covers all aspects of combat training from hand-to-hand to the use of weapons in any and all combat enviroments. With no forms or kata to memorize, no techniques, no belts, no predetermined attitudes to conform to, just natural movement that can be practiced for a lifetime. Resulting in the development of a deep understanding of human nature, Systema is truly a unique and boundless art.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Krav Maga is a military self-defence and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces derived from a combination of techniques sourced from Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Aikido, and Karate. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extreme efficiency.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Jeet Kune Do is less of a “kung fu style” and more of a system of ideas on how kung fu should be used. He taught against the use of styles and patterns and sought instead to devise a system that would be effective in street fighting. That’s really what Jeet Kune Do is all about. Since Lee felt that people shouldn’t be stuck in a certain mindset and that they should be “formless” like water, he encouraged new ideas to be considered. For example, Lee incorporated some of Muhammad Ali’s movements into his fighting style (even though Ali was a boxer, not a kung fu expert).

Jeet Kune Do puts an emphasis on defense and intercepting attacks, hence the name “Intercepting Fist.” Adaptability and being able to properly react to an attack are key. For students of JDK, the best way to do this is to use minimum effort for the purpose of a quick retaliation. Lee referred to JKD as “the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy” [via Black Belt Magazine]. One of the main ideas behind Jeet Kune Do is that in battling an opponent, a martial artist should minimize the number and range of their moves and focusing on delivering the maximum of amount of power at lightning-fast speed. How well Lee was able to put this idea into practice is demonstrated by the effectiveness of his famous one-inch punch. In short, Jeet Kune Do is essentially a reflection of Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy.
 
F

Freebirde

Senior Member
I like knowing different styles. I am good at knowing but suck at teaching. At least I know that and help others when I can. Was told as a teen "Learn MA, it will help you control your temper." If being afraid of losing your temper a form of control, then it did.
 
kyrsyan

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Freebirde said:
I like knowing different styles. I am good at knowing but suck at teaching. At least I know that and help others when I can. Was told as a teen "Learn MA, it will help you control your temper." If being afraid of losing your temper a form of control, then it did.
Click to expand...
Redhead here. The "control your temper" started so young that most people think I don't have one. Until it rears its head. And then they don't forget, no matter how many years pass. (And no one currently in my life has seen my temper go violent.)
Interesting info on the MA methods. I only knew, in the most general manner, about Krav Maga.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At the Gunsmith’s


“Well, this is an interesting mix you brought me. What do you have in mind?”

The man behind the small counter was looking at the four pistols Veronica laid on the counter. She had some soft rifle cases slung on one shoulder, but she didn’t set them down yet.

“My co-worker just PCS’ed in and needs some hardware built like the one you made me, plus we are looking at an off the DoD books carry as well for when she shouldn’t carry her work pistol.”

He was nodding as she was talking. Violet wasn’t quite sure what Veronica was asking for, but she wasn’t going to butt in right now. She trusted Veronica and it was her friend or contact and she didn’t want to disrupt things.

“I think I have the parts for another Godfrey. If not, I might still be able to get a hold of them, if I hurry. So, for a pistol, what were you thinking? Mimic your duty pistol?”

“No, and I think I need a non-duty carry as well. How is your milling coming?”

“It depends, what are you thinking?”

“Glock-based Roland Special, 9mm, Trijicon green dot, or Holosun Green, plus compensator and night sights. Maybe a pistol light as well if you have them. One rig for me and one for her.”

Veronica was tossing various ideas around in her head when she was pulling stuff out of the safe to trade in. She didn’t fully decide what she was going to get made until she was standing in front of Mark. She still had several redundant hunting guns since she got rid of Tim. Might as well clear out some of the excess to get stuff she and Violet might need with the way things are going.

“Hell, Veronica, going all in. So, what else do you want? Guide rod lasers? Trigger package? Extended controls? Tiffany blue color?”

Mark was smiling now. Veronica always had great projects. She also didn’t skimp. She never really questioned when he had to do something to make her vision to come to fruition.

“No Tiffany blue. If you can scrounge up a pair of 19Xs to use as the base, that would be great.” Veronica grinned, batting her eyelashes like a 20’s movie star.

Veronica wanted the particular model of pistol since it’s full-size grip would hold more rounds and be more controllable. The whole “Roland Special” set up was a package designed as a full-fledged race gun useable as a combat gun. The red dot makes the barrel length not as critical for accuracy. The red dot makes target acquisition quick, the compensator helps the follow-on shots be fast, the mag well speeds reloading and so on and so forth. Everything is designed for shooting efficiency. It is a gun designed for gunfighting.

With the direction everything seemed to be headed, Veronica knew they needed tools they could count on in the long run. She wasn’t fooling around. It would be easier to spend now than trying to make this happen later. She also knew an ounce of prevention was better than a pound of cure.

“I also want to wipe out your stash of magazines for them. Pistols first, then the Godfrey. Now my friend Violet wants to talk to you about blades.”
 
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Griz3752

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
2T2-Crash said:
:gaah:That looks fun… if only I didn't dislike Glocks.
Click to expand...
I was never a fan until my wife gave me a G21. Not exciting in appearance but oh so functionally on point. Eats anything, as idiot-user proof a device as I've ever seen (some morons still have NDs), durable and simple to maintain.
Soul less? Yes but easy to see why its now the goto sidearm for LEAs in NA & replacing other sidearms in many militaries.
 
ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Violet was looking in the glass cases. There were several high end knives, much to her surprise. Where most stores considered having some Benchmade as being Their high end, this place had local custom makers, Reeves, Micro-tech, Randall, Strider, ZT and many more. It was almost a knife store with a gun counter rather than a gun store with a knife counter.

Violet was happy to see some longer blades as well. Even the display katana and such seemed to be higher quality. While not usually practical to walk around with, she had a huge appreciation of larger blades. Something about all those years of martial arts ingraining it into her.

She handled several from the case. A few she set aside for more consideration. If things were really turning bad, these could become beyond valuable. She knew a knife never ran out of ammo, just arm. These tools would last a lifetime and could mean the difference in eating or not eating, living or not living. It’s not like she was spending her money anyway.

Mark noticed the trends in what Violet was looking at and keeping out and what she was putting back.

“So, what are you really looking for?” he finally asked.

“Something long enough to be effective, fast enough to win, strong enough to last and not too big to carry.” Violet said, a hint of frustration peeking through now.

So, I might have a thing or two around here.” Mark looked at the stuff on the wall, sizing several up.

Finally he picked up a wakizashi from one of the triple sets. Turning around, he held it out to Violet.

“I know, not this one, but I am wanting to know blade length and how it fits. I have a couple items on consignment in the back I haven’t put out yet.” He said to forestall her objections.

Violet took the offered blade. It fit like most such wall hangers did, but Mark asked her about the blade length. She moved it around some, trying to feel if it was too long or too short, was it thick enough and a host of other parameters. She looked up at Mark.

“Yeah, this length, as long as it doesn’t get too heavy or slow. About this length should work, but it needs to be strong.” Violet thought about what more to describe. Mark started talking before she could come up with more words.

“You aren’t looking for a wall hanger. You are looking for a real work piece. My Dad, when he deployed to Desert Storm, they were anticipating a ton of hand to hand when they were going to do the big urban fight to liberate Kuwait. They were buying the biggest, strongest blades they thought they could get away with. Everything medium to cheap sold out fast. He paid more but got a great, modern iteration of a combat grade wakizashi. I think I know what you are after and I might have just the ticket. I’m clearing out a friend of my father’s blade collection. You can’t have my father’s wakizashi, but I might have the next best thing.”.

Mark went into the back. Violet was now intrigued. What would Mark bring out? While she was waiting, she went over to where Veronica was browsing at some bows.

“So, how good is his pricing here?”

“Mark will cut us a good deal, especially since I just put in an order for some serious custom pistolwork. He is fair most of the time and won’t gouge us. He also won’t cut his own throat to give us a deal though.” Veronica said as she looked at some nice recurve bows.

“Good, because I think I might end up spending some serious money today.” Violet said with a little waiver to her voice.

Veronica knew Violet didn’t spend much money often. It was that ‘few possessions stoic lifestyle thing she had going on. If Violet was feeling the need to spend, then she better reassess her own purchasing needs.
 
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ComCamGuy

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Mark came out several minutes later, after a lot of banging and swearing. He was holding an old school nylon gym bag and a small box. He set it on the counter and unzipped it. Inside was a bundle of nylon webbing and Kydex. When he spread it out on the counter, Violet watched intently.

Soon she could make out it was some sort of shoulder rig for a large knife.
“Go ahead, pick it up.” Mark said to the unasked question.

The handle was larger than she expected, and fit amazingly well for as large as it was. The Kydex scabbard was in great condition and a bit thicker than she was used to. It held tight to the blade. A dimple in the Kydex indexed in a hollow grommet holding the scales onto the knife. Everywhere she looked, the fit and finish was impeccable. She released the blade from the scabbard with her thumb. Out slid a beautiful piece of steel.

The blade was a tanto profile, at least twelve or more inches long. The bevels were clean, the spine thick and the edge razor sharp. She looked around her making sure no one would get skewered with her movements. Tentatively she began moving it. The balance was wonderful. The blade seemed to float in her hand and point exactly where she wanted it to. Mark broke her train of thought.

“I take it by the huge grin on your face, you like?” Mark said as he stood smirking.

“Yes, I like. I hate to ask, but how much?”

“First, let me tell you some about it. The maker is a guy by the name of Maringer. He made knives back in the late seventies through the mid-nineties. He also was one of the first pioneers of using Kydex for blades and holsters. He later licensed the designs to a few others, but this is one of his. Somewhere in the back is a second, slightly longer one with the same blade profile. I was looking for it, but this one gives you the idea”

“Tell you what, Mark. If I don’t have to give up a kidney, I will take them both, plus the couple I set on the counter over there.” Violet pointed to the knives on the other counter.

“Let me go dig in the back.”
 
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