The silence of the late evening was usually a comfort to Carol Peterson. It meant her work was almost done. At 48, Carol moved with a quiet efficiency that made her almost invisible.
For the past six months, she had been the dojo’s cleaner. She arrived just as the last class was finishing, her gray uniform blending in with the shadows. She would wait patiently for the students to leave before she began her work, transforming the space from a theater of controlled violence back into a pristine sanctuary.
She took pride in her work. The floors had never been cleaner, the mirrors never so free of smudges. But tonight was different.
The advanced class, led by the dojo’s owner and head instructor, Todd Vance, was running late. Carol tried to stay out of the way, starting her work in the locker rooms. She could hear Todd’s voice booming from the main floor, sharp and commanding.
He was a man who enjoyed the sound of his own authority. Carol finished the locker rooms and moved to the entrance hall, pushing her wheeled bucket of soapy water.
She just had to mop the main floor, and then she could go home to her daughter, Abigail. She peeked around the corner. Todd was demonstrating a complex kick to a small group of his most dedicated students, all of them wearing black belts.
They hung on his every word. Todd Vance was in his late thirties, with a build that was solid and powerful. His black belt was tied with practiced perfection, its ends hanging at just the right length.
He carried himself with an air of supreme confidence, the kind that often tipped over into arrogance. He believed the dojo was his kingdom, and everyone in it was one of his subjects.
Carol waited, staying near the edge of the large training mat. She dipped her mop into the bucket, wrung it out, and began cleaning the hardwood floor surrounding the padded area. She moved backward slowly, her eyes on her work, trying to remain a ghost.
One of the students, a young man with a cocky smile, missed a step in the sequence Todd was teaching. He stumbled slightly. Todd stopped instantly.
