The next day he woke up with his lips still tingling from the kiss. 

It wasn’t just a kiss, it was The Kiss. The mother of all kisses. The kissing bully that shoved all of the weaker kisses down on the playground. 

But that feeling was going to be fleeting. He’d caught a late ferry back to New York and he knew right away that spending the previous evening sipping wine and eating carbs may not have been the best way to prepare for. Calem had texted him about a week ago looking for a Jiu Jitsu partner. The only thing was, Riley didn’t do Jiu Jitsu. Not at all, not even once. He was a fan of the UFC, and he knew what Jiu Jitsu was, but he’d never been on the mats a day in his life, although he really wanted to try it out.

Enter Calem. Now Riley had made the mistake of telling his colleague about his little grappling fantasy over pizza and beer when they’d been working together on their last case. Jesse had looked at Riley sideways when he’d said something to Calem because he knew that it wasn’t just a passing comment among friends to the former detective, it was a challenge. Calem was a teacher at heart, and he’d earned his black belt a little while back after retirement from the force. A black belt in Jiu Jitsu made you a teacher, and he had a mostly willing pupil on his hands.

Riley regretted his decision the minute he got to the Manhattan dojo. He didn’t have a Gi, so Calem brought an old one of his since they were about the same size. Riley got there on time, and brought his stuff so that he could head right over to Staten Island to be on time to meet Emily when their little grappling session was over. On his way to the dojo his mind went back to being occupied with the case, and the weight of knowing that he had almost no time to solve a serial crime, that some people didn’t even believe was a serial crime, started to creep into his shoulders. He felt tense, and he felt his sense of duty kick in, full force. Maybe the grappling will distract me, he thought.

He remembered that thought ten minutes later as he felt himself about to pass out. He tapped his hand as hard as he could against Calem’s leg, and it felt like he was slamming his hand into a tree stump, signaling that he was giving up on trying to fight back. “Tapping is the only way to learn,” Calem said. “Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Embarrassed,” Riley said. “Now why should I be embarrassed that a guy who’s older than me and my size taking less than twenty seconds to almost kill me? Nothing embarrassing in that, is there?”

“No, there isn’t,” Calem said. “I’ve been doing this a long time. If I couldn’t do that to you then there would be something wrong with me.”

“So how do you get better?”

“Basically you experience what you just did a few thousand times until you learn how to at least delay it. Then eventually that delay becomes an ability to actually stop the submission. Then, if you ascend past that, you get to do it to other people.”

“And how long does that whole process take?”

“Not that long, chronologically, but it feels like an eternity.”

Riley nodded. “I see why this is such a humbling experience.”

“Yeah, this is not the place for ego. This will choke the ego right out of you, literally.” 

They rolled a little more, and Calem showed Riley a few basic moves: how to mount someone, a basic rear naked choke, how to control distance with an opponent. Basically he showed him all the introductory, self-defense stuff. Riley was a sponge and found the whole thing really cool, despite the humbling roll with Calem. 

When they were done, Riley was sore but he still felt alive. Working out felt good, and he decided that he was going to do it more often. Before he left to run off to Staten Island, he decided to pick Calem’s brain a little bit. Even though he was a polymath, Calem’s true calling was as a detective, and during his time on the force he’d been one of the most decorated cops. If anyone could relate to this case it was him.

“Can I ask you a question? Cop stuff.”

“Always. What’s up?”

“With all your time on the force, did you ever work any serial cases?”

“A serial rape case was my last major one before retiring, yeah. It kept me up at night. But then again, a lot of cases kept me up at night.”

“I’m consulting on one now. Staten Island, of all places.”

“It’s a misunderstood borough. It has a bad reputation but some great people over there. Great cops.”

“I’m actually headed there right after this. This case is insane.”

“How so?” Calem asked.

“Some crazy fuck is replicating the Ripper murders.”

“Ripper?” Calem asked. “As in, Jack the Ripper?”

“The one and only.”

“Fuck, not only is he the most famous serial killer in history, he might also be the one with the most copycats.”

“Really?” Riley asked. 

“Yeah, there was one guy in London, but there have been others. It’s insane what people will emulate. Why doesn’t anyone ever copycat Mother Theresa or Gandhi? Why is it always the crazies?”

“Wish I knew, man. But it’s not just that. He’s following the Ripper’s timeline exactly, and if that M.O. holds up, then we have less than 2 days before he kills again.”

“Then you need to get out of here and go help. How did you even get involved?”

“Long story. You know how these things go. Loser case, zealous cop who won’t let it go. I got called in.”

“Zealous or prudent?”

“Potato, Poh-tot-toe. Regardless, she’s a good cop and I want to help her out.”

“Then help her out. Use the tools you have at your disposal. Use what makes you the cop that you are.”

“Have you ever thought of being a motivational speaker?”

“Everyone asks me that,” Calem joked. “I’m just telling the truth. Think of what you can bring to the case and use it. And do it quickly.”

Riley thought about Calem’s words and suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. “Thanks, man.” He extended a hand to Calem and said goodbye, with a promise to train again as soon as this horror show of a case was over. He got changed, grabbed his stuff, and caught a cab to the Staten Island ferry to meet Emily. Think of what you bring to the case. He heard Calem’s words over and over again in his head as the ferry pulled away from the harbor, leaving Manhattan in the distance.