I only paused briefly at the back door to tell Bambi, "I think there is a mugging going on in the parking lot," before I pushed the door open and raced outside and around the corner of the building to the parking lot across the alley.
At first I could not see anything unusual, but then I heard the crunch of feet on gravel and a voice speaking in hushed but angry tones. I ran toward the sound and when I turned the corner and looked around a parked SUV, I saw a man and a woman backed up against a car by another man who was holding a knife. The man with the knife seemed agitated and was making threatening gestures at both victims. The male victim seemed to be trying to reason with the mugger, who apparently wasn't interested in whatever line of bull he was being handed. I headed for the group at a dead run. Bambi trailed behind. She was having a hard time keeping up on the loose gravel. Her high heels were not very good running shoes. It was just as well. She was only there to watch anyway. Staying back would keep her out of trouble.
The mugger must have heard me coming up behind him, because he turned with one hand holding the man by the throat to look behind him. In the poor light, he must have seen only a small girl in a short dress running at him. I could hardly have been much of a threat, but he still could not ignore me, so he turned enough to put the knife between us. That was all I needed.
I had no intention of giving him a free cut at me. I had learned that lesson the hard way with Bubba and his shiv. When I got close enough, I dropped to my hands on the rocky ground and swung a hard kick at his right knee. The action made my dress fly up around my waist, but modesty was not a consideration at the moment. If the sight of my bare butt distracted the mugger for even an instant, it was still an advantage for me.
When my heel hit his knee, I heard a crunch and felt the joint move in a direction that knees don't usually move. As he fell to the ground, I swung my feet back under me and stood up in a crouch out of his reach. The mugger cried out in pain as he fell face-first into the loose stone. He was down but not out, and he was still moving and therefore still dangerous.
I lost track of the knife in the reflection of the floodlight on the white gravel. Rather than wait to see if the mugger still had it, I danced around behind him as he tried to get up. I took good aim and kicked him in the back about where I thought his left kidney would be. He made an 'oof' sound, dropped back down to the ground like a bag of sand and did not move again.
I took a deep breath to try to calm down. It was only then that I remembered that I should have tranced-out before I fought the mugger. I had done everything completely unaided by my mental enhancement. Then I realized that I had learned a valuable lesson from sparring with Neeka — do it first, do it fast, and do it without thinking about it. A quick aggressive offense is the best tactic in a fight. If they don't know what you're going to do until you've done it, then you have already won. I had definitely won this one.
Bambi arrived just as I turned to check on the couple who were still backed up against the car. They looked stunned and scared, but otherwise unharmed. Since they had already seen me and watched me take down the mugger, there seemed little point to running away or trying to hide.
"Are you guys OK?" I asked them, while I brushed the grit out of my palms. They looked to be in their late 40's or early 50's. The woman was nicely dressed and the man had on a tailored suit. Their car was full-sized, but too much on the plain side for a couple who were that well-dressed. The woman looked shaky, but was pulling herself together. The man just looked stunned, leaning against the car with his tie askew and his shirt pulled out where the mugger had had hold of him.
"Y... yes," the man said, "I think so." He glanced at his wife who nodded. He took a deep breath and straightened his shirt. "Thank you, thank you very much." He squinted down at me. In the low light he couldn't tell I wasn't actually a child. The shadows hid my shape enough so all he had to go on was my dress and my size.
I had just started to back off and leave him to his misapprehension when Bambi spoke up. "Grace? Bob? Are you both all right?"
"Bambi? Bambi Reynolds?" the woman said, "Is that you?"
"Yes, Grace. It's me. I'm very glad you're OK. Let's get you inside so you can sit down. Bob, do you want to handle this or should I call 911?"
"I'll do it," the man said, reaching for his cell phone, "it doesn't look like he's going to be any more trouble. Why don't you go on inside while I wait for a unit to get here?"
Bambi said, "OK, but... Bob? Can we keep her out of this until we have a chance to talk?"
"Sure, but... who is she? She took down this clown like a pro."
"Inside, OK? I have a table. We'll be waiting." Bambi and I escorted Grace inside while Bob made his call. I already had a funny feeling about this. Bob seemed a lot more in command of the situation than I thought your average victim should be after a mugging.