Confidential [ON HOLD]

11. Viable Honesty

The best thing about Carson Harvey's house was that there was a standing punching bag in the small back yard. The leather had lost its shine and it was old and worn out. But it still remained C.J's favorite thing in the house.

At least it was, until Benjamin Braxton found it too.

Benjamin had been throwing poorly-aimed punches and sloppy kicks at the bag for about an hour and refused to stop. He had offered to share, but C.J didn't like sharing. Instead, she leaned against a beam with her arms crossed, hoping that he would notice her glare.

"Since you refuse to share," Benjamin started, already alerting C.J by his smug tone. He wiped the sweat off his face with his forearm as he turned to face her. "Why don't you spar with me? I'm sure you were thinking up ways of hitting me anyway."

"Can't you just leave?"

He cracked a grin at her tone, "No, I can't. But this could do you some help. You get to train with a professional after spending almost seven months with newbies—"

"Who's the professional?" she asked dryly, but began to stand upright.

He stared flatly at her as he started moving forward step by step. C.J had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything else. "How about we make this into a game?"

Her gaze narrowed and when his eyes lit up, C.J knew she should have shown no interest at all. Benjamin came closer to where she was standing, put a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the open yard all the while explaining how his 'game' would work. They would spar and whoever would be the first one to tap out—or 'surrender' as Benjamin put it—would have to answer one question the winner asked truthfully.

He was trying to interrogate her through a game. C.J stood corrected on her opinion of Benjamin Braxton. Everything the man did, had an ulterior motive.

"How stupid do you think I am, Braxton?" she asked dryly, stopping as she turned her neck to look at him.

"Come on, C.J," he said, taking a step back. "You're sculpting the future of the FBI. I promise I can show you a few specific Blind Spot maneuvers that would really make an impression on them—"

C.J's heel kicked the back of Benjamin's knee and he lost his balance at the sudden movement. Then, she pulled at the hand he placed on her lower back and twisted it around, so that she was in front of him with his left arm over her left shoulder. Bending her knees only a little, she jerked him forward and above, effectively judo flipping Benjamin Braxton.

With his back on the ground and C.J's foot in the area between his shoulder and neck as she held his hand by the wrist, still pulling at it, Benjamin could only let out a silent curse. She had caught him off guard the first time. But now the element of surprise was a used tactic. After this, he wouldn't go easy on her.

Only a slight twist of his wrist and Benjamin's other hand was hitting the floor. Tapping out. Surrendering. And now C.J got to ask him a question. If this was how he game would go, C.J decided she wasn't as against it as she was before.

She didn't release her grip on his hand. "Yesterday, when we came back, you were talking to Collins—"

His brow furrowed. "How'd you know?"

"—I know you've established him as your inside source. What did he tell you? And remember, truth only. The honorable Braxton said so." C.J knew that Benjamin Braxton was not honorable in the least, but she had to try. Besides, she had a sneaking suspicion on what Collins told him. All she needed now was just a micro-expression confirming her doubts.

"For someone who insists on not having any ties to Colby Simpson and this case, you sure want to know every detail about the investigation."'

She grinned as she jerked his wrist the wrong way, "Honest answers, Benji. Honest answers and nothing more."