Ron has also been distracted. Parker seizes his chance. He runs toward the bigger man. Holding the end of the empty metal fire extinguisher in both hands, he swings it like a club at Ron’s head, on the opposite side of where Amina is. She’s short enough that she is tucked in the other man’s armpit.

Ron raises his left forearm, blocking the blow. It lands with a meaty smack. The nail file flies out of Ron’s hand—but the fire extinguisher also slips from Parker’s grasp. It lands on the floor about ten feet behind the security guard.

Ron swings a left roundhouse at his head. Parker ducks. The blow glances off the top of his head, but is still hard enough that it tugs his hair.

Amina reaches back to claw at Ron’s face. Her fingernails leave red furrows, and he lets out a yell. She squirms out of his grasp and runs away, leaving Ron and Parker facing off against each other.

The security guard stands angled, his hands loose fists held close to his face as he bobs and weaves. It’s clear that he has been in fights before. Ron is taller, so he has more reach. And Parker might be a champion wrestler, but that’s on a mat with rules and a referee and someone in his weight class. With the fire extinguisher now out of reach, he’s lost the only advantage he had.

In a split second, Parker runs through his options. A double-leg takedown? But then what happens once they are on the floor? Or should he change levels, get up under the security guard, lift him, and then try to slam him into the floor, knocking him out? But Ron probably has fifty pounds on him.

Then it comes to Parker. A choke from behind. Like all wrestlers, Parker’s played around with mixed-martial-arts moves. Only now it’s deadly serious and he can’t afford to get it wrong. If it works, he’ll choke Ron into unconsciousness. If it doesn’t, he’ll end up on the floor with the bigger man on top of him.

But it’s the best chance he has.

Faking a right hook, Parker slips to his left, cutting an angle. Then he drags Ron’s right arm across, moving until he’s facing the other man’s back. Parker jumps on Ron’s shoulders like a monkey. His right arm snakes around the bigger man’s neck as he winds his legs around his thighs.