After dinner Mary Jo and Edward retrieved the vintage Packard from valet parking. Edward tipped the valet generously, and they began to weave through the deserted streets of downtown St. Louis. They left the central business district, and were in a mixed industrial and residential area just before the ramp on to the Interstate. They stopped at a traffic light, and Mary Jo noticed a young woman in a McDonald’s uniform talking to three men. Before the light changed, one of the men grabbed the young woman and pulled her into an alley between two commercial buildings.

Mary Jo looked at Edward and said,

“Did you see that?”

“Indeed I did, and I fear that we must intervene. Best you get your Shiva on.” replied Edward.

“You bet your ass we’re going to intervene. I’m getting out here, and you take the car and pull into the other end of that alley and leave your lights on. Don’t get out unless you see me signal you.”

“Do be careful, Shiva, I’d hate to have to come to your defense.”

“Don’t worry about me, just block the alley.”

Shiva jumped out of the Packard and disappeared into the night.

The three men were gathered around the young girl, and one grabbed her by the hair and held her, while the other two unfastened their pants. About this time Edward’s car pulled into the far end of the alley and stopped with its lights illuminating the scene like a movie set. The three men stared at the lights and threw the girl to the brick pavers and turned to run out of the other end of the alley. They took about ten steps and stopped dead in their tracks.

Standing at the entrance to the alley was a slim young woman in a black cocktail dress and high heels. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she was glaring brutally at them. She opened her small clutch and removed a small round white ball. She kicked off her shoes and stepped out of her thong panties and resumed her relaxed pose at the end of the alley. Slowly the car started toward the men, and they were faced with a relatively easy choice; wait for the car that might be the cops, or force their way past the small woman watching them.

They turned and ran three abreast like a football flying wedge right for the woman in black. Calmly, Shiva stood her ground until the trio was within range, then she placed the golf ball in the crotch of her panties, swung the panties a couple of times, and delivered a sling shot. The biggest of the three, caught it between his eyes and went down in a motionless heap.

Surprise registered in the eyes of his two companions, but by this time they were coming too fast to make any adjustments. Just before impact, Shiva whirled a full 360 degrees and caught the left hand guy on the bridge of his nose with the heel of her left foot. Blood splattered and his momentum carried him into the side of a large green dumpster, which he hit head on.

This left the shorter, stockier of the three, who caught the side of Shiva’s hand across his Adam’s apple, while her right foot came up hard between his legs. By the time Edward had pulled up in the car, the three men were lying on the bricks, comatose and bleeding. Mary Jo had slipped her panties on and straightened her little black dress. She was wiping her hands on a Kleenex, and Shiva was gone.

“There’s the real reason I took you on as a partner. Nobody does this as well as you.” Edward said.

“Let’s stick these scumbags in that dumpster over there and see if we can help the young lady,” Mary Jo said, as she opened the big green garbage dumpster. She and Edward struggled the three unconscious forms into the tank and slammed the lid shut, and turned to the young girl who was sitting down sobbing.

Mary Jo bent over and lifted the young women’s head and began to wipe her face with her Kleenex. The girl stopped sobbing and looked at Mary Jo and said,

“Who are you, Wonder Woman? You wrecked those three assholes all by yourself.”

“Just a passerby, honey. How’re you feeling?’

“Better since you guys showed up. I usually can catch a ride home, but tonight I waited too long to leave and had to walk. I live about ten blocks from here and I thought I could pull it off. Shoulda known better and called a cab.”

“I think we got here before any real damage was done. Come on, we’ll give you a lift the rest of the way.”

Edward and Mary Jo helped the girl to her feet and led her to the backseat of the Packard. She looked at the car and said,

“Are you guys with a limo service?”

“Yeah,” Mary Jo answered, grinning at Edward. “We’re with Edward’s Vintage Limos; we were just finishing a gig and were heading to the car barn.”

They let the young woman out in front of her house, and as they drove away Edward handed Mary Jo golf ball and said,

“I believe this belongs to you.”

Mary Jo looked at the ball, rolled down the window and threw it out. She smiled at Edward and said,

“No, it’s not mine. That was a Wilson, I was playing a Titleist.”

The golf ball image is licensed under CC By 4.0, on Google Images–https://www.google.com/search , linked to www.onegolf.ga