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From: "Wine Maker" <wine_maker@eknifeshop.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} The Lady in Blue Chapter 16 (MF, MFF, Slow, Romantic Mystery, Exhibitionism, Petting, Oral)
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An Erotic Vineyard Thriller. Starts slowly, but the passion builds as
the plot unfolds with romance. A Texas vintner meets a lady in blue at
a private club. Sparks fly and tensions build as they tease each other,
or as his brother would call it, doing the "Do Me" dance.
Then tragedy strikes close and as they explore their relationship, they
also find something new as a sexy cop becomes part of the dance. Has a
real plot and three dimensional characters. It's more than just a
wanker.

Read this story on several sites and vote on each for me. Voting for my
stories encourages me to write more. Remember to vote for each chapter
on Literotica and on the last chapter on Storiesonline.

http://storiesonline.net/auth/Wine_Maker

http://english.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=560253&page=submissions

"The Lady in Blue"

An ongoing saga, (c) 2005 by Wine Maker

Email any comments to: wine_maker@eknifeshop.com with The Lady in Blue
in the subject.


Chapter Sixteen: Fighting back.

Lisa's point of view

After we finished eating and putting the house in order, we stepped out
the back door. Hawk took one of my mom's light jackets to cover her
shoulder holster.

"I think we need to stick together," Hawk said. "The opposition knows
who we are and they've shown no hesitation at trying to kill us -
publicly. Now we have your boss after us, too, Lisa. We have two
threads to pull on. Him and the mysterious bomber. Since we know him, I
think we should start there. The guy that stole the bomb equipment will
fall if we can flip the rest."

"But, Hawk, he's at work," I protested. "We'll never get to him right
now and what about the disk?"

"I didn't see a computer around here, so we'll have to look at it
when we can find one we can use. Is your boss married?" Hawk asked.

I shook my head. "He was, but his wife passed away a few years back. No
kids. He's a young guy for that position. He's in his forties."

"Then let's go make ourselves useful and dig up some dirt on him. He's
not afraid to break the law to get us, so we'll have to break it to
get to him. We need into his house," Hawk said firmly.

I shook my head. "He lives in a secure community. We'd have to get
past the desk. Anything we find will be inadmissible in court, so how
can that help us?"

"We'll figure out a way to do that," Hawk said confidently. "We need a
distraction. Let me look the place over and see what I can come up
with. He's the only member of the conspiracy that we've identified,
so let's take the fight to them." Then she grinned. "Information turned
over to the authorities by an anonymous source is admissible, so
we'll get it and turn it over to someone we trust with no lead back
to us."

I nodded reluctantly. "Okay, I suppose you're right. It's still so hard
to believe. Like a bad dream, you know. In any case, since they're
looking for you, we need to leave the bike here. The police may pick
you out by it. We shouldn't take Ted's car either for the same
reason. Mom's car is in the garage, so we'll switch Ted's for
it."

"I thought she wrecked it," Ted said.

I nodded. "She did. I guess I should have said it's Dad's old
car. It's a sweet ride. I give it a spin every once in a while just
to make sure it keeps working. Come on."

Hawk scowled, but nodded. "Fine. I don't have my jacket anyway."

When I opened the garage, Ted whistled at the bright cherry red,
vintage '68 Mustang. "Yeah, we'll be inconspicuous in that. It
doesn't have dual-exhaust glass-packs does it?" he asked, almost
drooling.

I smiled. "No, silly! Dad wanted it pristine and didn't go for the
noise factor in his muscle car," I chided. "He always said this was
his walk on the wild side. He told me to watch out for mom, because all
the guys would come sniffing around his baby and seduce mom to get
close to it. He was such a card."

Hawk laughed and nodded. "If I can't ride my hog, this will do."

After swapping the cars, and putting Hawk's bike into the garage, we
drove back into Galveston and ducked off the main lanes as quickly as
we could. Best to take as few chances as possible to run across the
police. I drove to the building - a  high-rise of secure condos. No
external fire escapes here and no access to the first floor except the
main entrance.

"He lives on the fifth floor, condo 502," I said. "That means getting
past the front desk. The doorman will see us as soon as we come in and
he's not in the habit of letting people in without the go ahead of
the residents."

Hawk climbed out of the car, giving the building a good look. Then she
smiled. "There's our ticket in. Come on."

Hawk jogged across the parking lot to a car that had just pulled up. A
little old lady had just climbed out stiffly and was digging at the
several grocery bags in the back seat. "Ma'am, let us help you carry
those in."

The woman peered at Hawk. "I really shouldn't let strangers help me
into my apartment."

I pulled out my District Attorney's ID and badge. "I'm an officer of
the court, ma'am. Does that help?"

The old woman nodded and smiled. "That's so sweet. It's good to see
nice young people again."

"We're happy to help you, ma'am," Ted assured her. "Let us carry these
up and then we can go visit our friends."

As a group, we carried the woman's groceries in. The uniformed guard at
the desk chatted with her as she walked past. Her name was Mrs. Lanier.
He didn't give us a second look.

Her condo was on the third floor. It was nice and neat. Very orderly,
with pictures and flowers everywhere. We set her bags on the table and
declined her offer of tea with thanks.

Hawk grinned smugly on the elevator ride up. "It's about time we had
some luck swing our way. Remind me to send her some flowers."

The fifth floor looked exactly like the third, pale walls and light
blue carpet. Hawk stopped at Zed's door and knocked. I about came out
of my skin.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "There could be someone in there!"

Hawk nodded. "Wouldn't you rather know is someone's home before you
broke in?"

It's hard to argue with that logic. When no one answered, Hawk slid
what looked like a small kit of screwdrivers from a hidden pouch on her
shoulder holster. She opened the kit and I saw an assortment of oddly
shaped hooks and picks. She knelt and inserted two into the lock.

"Lock picks? Where did you learn to pick locks?" Ted asked. "Isn't that
kind of an odd skill for a cop?"

"Oh," Hawk said airily, "someone owed me a favor and gave me some
lessons. You never know when you might need to go through a locked
door."

"Uh, huh," I muttered. "What if there's is an alarm inside?"

Hawk looked up from where she was working. "Then we have four minutes
to search before we scram. I doubt there will be, though. This is a
*secure community*."

Thirty seconds of work and the lock clicked. "Whose your Daddy?" Hawk
exclaimed. She opened the door and there was no alarm. "Told you! Now,
don't touch anything and leave things where they are. We *don't* want
him knowing we were here."

"Wipe the doorknob down," I said, digging the last three pairs of
gloves out from my purse. "Put these on."

"Ooooo!" Hawk exclaimed. "Now we're talking! We could have another
career ahead of us!"

We all put on gloves and split up. Ted took the front room, I took the
bedroom, and Hawk took the office.

This condo was decorated much more expensively than Mrs. Lanier's.
Zed had to have sunk some serious money into this place for such cushy
digs. The living room furniture was a light cream leather over a
deep-pile white carpet. Tasteful art decorated the walls and nooks. He
was doing pretty well for himself.

The bedroom was done in dark blue. A neatly made king sized bed
anchored the room. The closet was filled with expensive suits - a lot
of them. Also, a fair amount of hunting gear and clothes in camouflage.


The dresser had more clothes and no major revelations. The bookcase was
a treasure trove, though. On top was a group picture of about a dozen
men and one woman in camouflage gear with rifles. Automatic rifles. I
looked closely and spotted Zed. I also spotted the man that had tried
to kill us.

The bookshelf was stuffed with books. Catchy titles like Defrauding
America, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, Liberty
Under Siege, The Waco Whitewash, It Did Happen Here: Recollections of
Political Repression in America, Microwave Harassment & Mind-Control
Experimentation, Votescam: the Stealing of America, America's Secret
Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones,
Conspirators' Hierarchy: The Committee of Three Hundred, Secret Team :
The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World,
Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country, The
Militia in 20th Century America: A Symposium, Safeguarding Liberty: The
Constitution and Citizens Militias, A Call for Revolution and The
Citizen's Guide to Fighting Government. There were plenty more in that
theme.

My stomach did a slow roll. Jesus, Zed was a separatist. How could I
have missed it? Did he know Arthur? My blood ran cold. Was my brother
part of this? Oh, shit!

I took the picture and went into the office. Hawk was sitting at the
desk, rifling through the drawers, looking at papers.

"I found the link," I said. "They're members of a militia."

Hawk took the picture, pulled it close and stared at it. "Shit! I don't
believe this! That's Jordan!" She looked up at my face, paling. "Just
how fucking deep does this go? Why him? Hell, this guy is a county
judge and this woman on the left is the Harris County Auditor. Shit!
How the fuck do we unravel this? It's like a takeover from within!"

I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I had to ask. "Hawk, is the bomber
in this picture?"

Hawk looked closely and shook her head. "No. No one that young. These
folks are all forty or over. Why?"

I sat on the edge of the desk with a sigh. "Because my idiot brother is
into the same crap and I'm praying it wasn't him. I should have showed
you his picture at Mom's house, but I didn't think about it."

Her eyes narrowed. "So, killing Calvin was the primary objective and
you were just a bonus? That seems a little - I don't know, convenient."

"He'd be the perfect recruit for this," I muttered. "The bastard
doesn't give a rat's ass for anyone but himself and his *cause*.
Killing me would also give him the money he thinks my mother has. I
wouldn't be at all surprised if she was next on his kill list. That
could have been him with the gun at the vineyard, too."

"We need to find out who the old man is," Hawk said. "He's the leader.
We don't have any proof of anything illegal with these people, yet, but
we have some leads to go on. Help me look through the desk and let's
get some dirt on them."

Ted came in after about ten more minutes. "Nothing out there that makes
me suspicious. How're we doing in here?"

"The papers are just normal business crap. No computer, though
there's a cable for one here. I'd bet there's a laptop around
somewhere," Hawk said. "He may've cleaned up because we're close
and he's worried. We can't get to the DA, but I bet we can turn up
your brother, if he's part of this."

"Arthur? You think he's part of this?" Ted asked. "He called your
cell phone, so that gives us a number for him," Ted said. "Why don't we
make him come to us? We've been dancing to their tune. Let's get one of
them to do a jig for us."

Hawk thought about that and slowly nodded. "That's not bad, but what's
to keep him from bringing friends? Or just not coming?"

I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. "It would have to appeal to his
greed," I said. "He won't want to share. Arthur doesn't share nicely. I
could tell him that I was tired of fighting and wanted to pay him off.
I don't think he'd bring someone who might take money from him."

"Where would be a good place to catch him and what'll we do when we
have him?" Ted asked.

Hawk shrugged. "Sweat the truth out of him. Get names and what
they're doing, that kind of stuff. If he won't talk, or just
doesn't know, I'll just have to improvise, but I bet I can squeeze
the juicy details he has from him. As for a place, why not your
mother's, Lisa? It's a place he'll be familiar with and won't feel
scared to come to."

I nodded. "That's fine, but we really should check out the disk first.
It may save us all a headache."

Hawk stood up. "I know a place that's out of the way that has a
computer we can use." She sighed. "That, and I'd rather take my
medicine now rather than later."

"What does that mean?" Ted asked.

"The Cat's Paw is a lesbian bar in the Montrose area," Hawk said. "I
know the owner and she'll let me use her computer. The trick will be
getting in and out without me getting into a fist fight with one of the
regular's, if they've already heard the rumors. I don't think some of
them will appreciate my diversity, if you know what I mean."

"You know what? Fuck them," I said, hugging her. "If they're so
narrow-minded, I'll kick their ass. Let's get out of here. Take the
picture or leave it?"

Hawk frowned. "I'd rather not let him know we were here, but we should
take it. Hide the frame and just take the picture. He may not notice
it's missing for quite a bit that way."

I pulled the picture out and stashed the frame in the top of his
closet. We made a walkthrough to be sure we left nothing out of place
and left with Hawk locking the door behind us. The guard didn't even
look up as we left.

Having made our getaway, we drove back into Houston to the Montrose
area. That was the haven of the artistic types, and the gay and lesbian
community. A good number of buildings had murals and wall art. Very
trendy, I'm sure. There was one wall in particular that caught my eye.
The classic gay men's bar scene with all the fixings. Even a few
woodies in the pants and one 'gentleman' in chaps clutching his.

The Cat's Paw looked like any other club on the outside. We parked and
walked in. The sun was still over the yardarm, but there were already
some regulars there. The place looked normal enough with small tables
scattered all around the floor and bar almost in the middle. The
jukebox was back by the restrooms.  The music playing had a fast beat
and I recognized it from the radio without knowing its name or the
artist.

The bartender's blonde hair cut short and spiked. A nice ear stud and
some kind of tattoo on her left arm running under the sleeve of her tee
shirt with the bar's logo completed her look. I expected only women,
but there was one gay male couple and two hetero couples.

The barkeep waved and smiled. "Hawk! A bit early for you, isn't it?"

Hawk walked up to the bar and smiled. "Charlie! I'm here on business.
Mind if I use the computer for a few minutes? It's important."

She nodded and pointed back towards the bathrooms. "You know the way.
Who're your friends?"

Hawk pulled Ted and me forward. "This is Ted and Lisa. Good people.
Guys, this is Charlie."

Charlie smiled at us. "Pleasure. Welcome to the Kitty."

The office in back was cluttered and the desk was messy. I felt right
at home. Charlie's wasn't quite as messy as mine, but it was close.
The framed pictures on the wall were all of patrons having a good time.


Hawk parked herself in the chair and leaned forward with a creak of
wood. The computer wasn't new, but it served its purpose. No need to
have a high-end computer for basic accounting, I suppose. Hawk slid the
disk in and began accessing the contents.

"Looks like bank records," Hawk muttered. "Monthly statements for some
offshore accounts. Balances run to the millions. Big deposits, all in
the last year. The accounts are numbered, so that's no help in getting
names, but a forensic accountant can probably trace them back to the
owners. This is really damning evidence. Enough to kill for." Hawk
smiled. "It won't be quick, but this will probably unravel the plot and
those involved. This is more important than the tape they took. You two
really brought home the bacon."

Ted leaned over the desk. "Who can we trust giving it to?"

"Kruger," Hawk said immediately. "They don't come straighter than him.
With the implication that asshole Jordan is involved, he'll make sure
this gets done right. All we need to do is get the information into his
hands. We'll make copies, of course, and then drop the other into his
mail drop. He'll have it in his hands when he gets home tonight."

Hawk typed up a brief note and printed it. Straight and to the point.
Samson bombing. She then snagged a blank CD from the spindle and burned
a copy, wiping it clean before putting it into a case. She made a color
copy of the photo and slid it and the CD into a manila envelope. The
originals, she put in the back of one of the drawers of the filing
cabinet in another manila envelope she marked with her name.

"Lets go drop this off before we give junior a call." Hawk said.

Ted held up his hand. "Why are we doing that, if your man can crack
this?"

"Because," I said, "you never count on one line of investigation."

"And," Hawk added, "that *scum* is still after us. They won't take a
vacation just because we have the bank statements under investigation.
We'll see if we can roll your brother in front of witnesses. Every
piece of the pie we can get our hands on will make the case stronger.
Arthur may or may not have done the deed, but I want the people behind
it. That, and I can't just sit back and let someone else do my job."

"I'm not sure..." Ted started, before a woman in a faded leather jacket
burst in. She had short black hair and her dark eyes were flashing with
anger.

"You did not! Tell me that it's bullshit, Hawk!" she shouted.

Hawk closed her eyes and sighed. "Why does life have to be so hard?"

"Oh, my god! You did! What the fuck got into your head? You were happy,
satisfied." The woman's eyes narrowed. "Is this him?"

"Kate, let it be," Hawk said wearily. "I'm still me, and it's not his
fault I experimented."

Kate rounded back to Hawk. "You're not the same. Before you were real,
now you're a player. How could you betray all of us and take something
disgusting like him into bed?" She gestured at Ted.

That riled me up. "Hold on, sister. That is my man and you better back
off before this gets ugly."

"I can say whatever the fuck I want. You must not be much of a woman if
you can't make up your mind between this pig and a breeder like Hawk,"
she sneered.

Hawk's eyes flashed. "You bitch," she said, shoving Kate back. "I don't
give a rat's ass what your narrow mind thinks, but if you insult my
friends I'll kick your fat ass. Get going before I bust up your face so
bad not even your dildo can stand you."

"Ladies," Charlie yelled as she rushed in and grabbed Kate by the
collar before the snarling woman could charge Hawk. "I will *not* have
this in my bar. If you want to fight, take it outside."

Kate fumed, but backed off. "This ain't over," she growled and pushed
her way past Charlie.

Charlie shook her head and looked at Hawk. "What in the blue blazes was
that all about? She came in, talked with Jean and came right back here
to fight. Did you hit on her woman?"

Hawk laughed a bit hollowly. "I might be forgiven for that. No, I can't
believe you haven't heard yet. I had sex with a man and liked it."

Charlie gave Ted a calculating glance. "Really? Well, if you had a good
time, I'm happy for you."

Hawk opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Charlie shook her head and laughed. "You're such an innocent about
some things. Look, Hawk, most people don't really care who you sleep
with. Ever since you started coming here, you've been with the hardcore
lesbians like Kate. As far as she and her little clique are concerned,
you're a traitor."

Hawk nodded. "Most of the people I know will feel that way."

"Bullshit," Charlie said. "That's total bullshit. Most of us would be
happy with anything that made you happy." She put a hand on Hawk's
shoulder. "When Sharon left, we felt your pain, but the signs were
there that you were growing apart."

Hawk yanked her shoulder back. "What the hell does that have to do with
this," she growled, her voice a mixture of pain and confusion.

"Because, dear one, I still see her sometimes. She's still my friend.
Most of us don't reject her for wanting a man. I saw it coming. The
hints, the drawing back from you. Being with a man doesn't make you a
pariah any more than it did her."

"Dammit, Charlie, if you saw it happening why didn't you tell me?" Now
there was fury in Hawk's voice.

"You were like Kate, Hawk, living in a black and white world. Us versus
Them. Our community is filled with shades of gray, just like your
friends' hetero world. Humans are complex. Leaving you hurt Sharon,
too, but she had to do what was right for her. She still regrets that
she hurt you; wishes she hadn't lost you as a friend. I think you
should call her and go out for coffee someday. The bottom line, is that
probably three in ten of us have occasionally crossed over. I have. It
doesn't mean I'm not a lesbian."

"You?" Hawk asked, her voice choked. "I had *no* idea. Aren't you
afraid of that getting out?"

"No. Some people know, but Kate and her friends don't, yet. Sooner or
later they'll find out. So what? The people whose opinions matter
already know and accept me regardless, and they will for you, too.
Don't let Kate be our spokeswoman. Welcome to the real world." Charlie
hugged Hawk.

"This is all happening so fast, Charlie. This isn't what I expected
and things are looking a little tilted right now," Hawk said. "We have
some stuff we need to do. I left an envelope in the file cabinet with
my name on it. If something happens to me, take it to the press. Don't
mention it to people otherwise. Someone's already been killed for
it."

Charlie let Hawk go. "I'll take care of it. Ya'll be careful. I'm sorry
that I didn't have time to meet your new friends properly. Bring them
back soon, Hawk."

I pulled Ted along and we smiled at Charlie in passing. "We'll be back
soon. I promise."

Charlie escorted us back out into the main bar area. It looked like
Kate had stomped off. At least, she wasn't there to make another scene.
As we made it back to the parking lot, I thought about the Cat's Paw.
It wasn't at all what I'd expected. Then again, I'd had no idea what I
expected before we got there.

Ted drove and Hawk directed him. Kruger's place looked normal enough.
Hawk climbed out and ran to the front door, dropping the envelope
through the slot. When she was back, we started toward Galveston again.
It felt like we had been making this trip over and over.

"Won't his wife find it first?" I asked Hawk.

"He's divorced," Hawk replied. "Years ago. She took the kids and moved
to Michigan. She's a good person, I suppose, but cop work is hard on a
family. Shit happens."

I nodded my understanding. Being a prosecutor had some of the same
problems. I wondered if that had anything to do with the trouble Hawk
had with Sharon, but I didn't say anything.

"Now, how will we do this? Just call him and tell him to come over?" I
asked.

"We're taking a chance here," Hawk said. "If he comes with backup, we
could end up in a world of hurt. I think it might be best if I stay
there and wait for him alone." She held up a hand to quell my
objection. "Let me finish. You're not armed, really have no weapons
training and no tactical training. I don't want your blood on my hands
if something goes wrong. I'm trained for this. Let me take him down
alone and if he comes with company, I'll bail out the back door."

"No," I said stubbornly. "They might spot us on the street. If we have
to bail, we can all bail together. With me there, I might be able to
talk Arthur into giving up the names easier. Get used to it, boys and
girls, I'm part of this and I'm going."

With a sigh, Hawk relented. Ted didn't say anything.

It was after dark when we parked in the alley behind my mom's. The
house was dark and empty looking. Hawk checked every room just to be
sure it was empty.

"We'll want to pull the shades down," Hawk directed. "Ted, I want you
looking out the back in case we have company. Lisa, I want you with me.
Call him."

I pulled my cell phone and used the call log to call him back.

"Yeah? What?" Arthur said after a few rings.

"Arthur, I've been thinking and Mom wouldn't want us fighting like
this." I said tiredly.

"Really?" He sounded surprised. "After this morning, that is a very
surprising change of heart. Why?" He also sounded suspicious.

"Fine, you're right," I countered, changing tactics. "I'm just tired of
fighting with you and having you threaten me and mom. I want to pay you
to go away. Leave the area and never come back." Yeah, like that ever
had a chance of happening.

The oily guile in his voice almost made me laugh. "I think we can do
business, Sissy. How much are we talking about?"

"One hundred thousand dollars," I said firmly. "Non-negotiable. Take it
or leave it."

"Done," he exulted. "Where do I meet you?"

"Mother's house. In one hour."

"Keep that punk of your's away. I won't deal with him there threatening
me."

"Fine. Don't be late." I hung up the phone and sighed. "Please, tell me
that I'm not that gullible."

We sat in the house, looking out the blinds and waiting. I saw his
ratty car pull up in front of the house, just short of an hour after I
had called. He made good time in that rat trap. He climbed out, alone,
and strutted to the door, ignoring the buzzer and banging on the door
with is fist.

I opened the door and he stalked past me into the living room. "I'm
glad you finally came to see this in a businesslike way, Sissy. This
never had to be so hard."

"Arthur, you don't know the meaning of the word." Hawk said, stepping
out of the kitchen with her pistol out. "Against the wall. Assume the
position."

Arthur stiffened. "Crap." He looked to have some familiarity with the
position. Hawk cuffed him and then patted him down, pulling a pistol
from his belt, under his shirt.

"What have we here? I wonder if this could be the weapon that someone
tried to kill Ted with at the vineyard? Or was it Lisa you were after?"
She purred in his ear before propelling him into the easy chair. "We've
never been introduced. I'm Hawk. I've heard *so* much about you,
Arthur, that I feel like I already know you."

"Fuck you, dyke cop bitch," he said and spit in her face.

Hawk wiped her face with her sleeve. "I see my reputation proceeds me.
Let me help you get this into the proper perspective." She planted her
knee in his crotch and leaned in hard. His groan of anguish twisted me
inside. I hated him, but he *was* my brother.

"Look here, Sport. I'm a bad-assed dyke cop bitch and you're mine,
all mine. Don't fucking tease the doberman when it's loose and you're
not." Hawk ground her knee in harder. "I already know most of the
story, but if you want to ever have kids, you'll tell me what I want to
know without all this macho crap. Understand?"

She pulled back away from him, sliding her pistol back into her
holster. "Ted, go watch the back. Lisa, the front. I don't want any
surprises while junior and I chat."

I peeked out. Still clear. Ted disappeared into the kitchen.

"Fuck you," he shouted, clearly frightened. "I don't know what you're
talking about."

"Let me remind you," Hawk said conversationally. "You got work at a
construction company under a false name and stole the explosives used
to blow up your sister's car and her friend. The police lab is onto
that and you left a copy of your fake ID with your picture, Doofus."

Arthur paled. "Ahhh..."

"So," Hawk interrupted, "the question now is, how hard do you want to
fall? The others will leave you for the sharks just to save their own
skin. We already know the identities of some of your friends and where
they're getting the cash. We're just nailing down some details now.
Cooperate and *maybe* you won't get murder one. I can talk to them and
see about something less *if* you give up the names and details I don't
know."

"I can't!" He said, sweating. "They can get inside and kill me."

"Then you go down hard and they'll kill you anyway, or you can tell
me what I want and we talk about witness protection. You're going in
either way, so just give me the name of the old dude and we'll call
that the start of negotiations. He's your leader, right?"

Arthur slumped and gave up. "Yeah. Shit. Bill Tanner." He half-turned
and glared at me. "Why didn't you have the grace to just get into your
car and die with Samson, you slut. I could have killed you and him and
got everything," he snarled.

Hawk grabbed his shirt and lifted him to his feet. "Focus, Arthur." She
propelled him into the kitchen and I followed. "We go out the back and
get into the car. Me in back with Junior."

Ted opened the door and Hawk man-handled Arthur outside. Looking
around, Ted and I followed. We were almost halfway to the car when a
man stood up behind it. I recognized him from the picture we had taken
from Zed's apartment. Jordan, Hawk's ex-boss.

"Hold it right there," Jordan said. "You're all under arrest. Put the
weapon down and step away from that man."

Hawk laughed. "I don't think so, Jordan. We already know you're part
of the separatist movement and in this mess up to your eyeballs. I
never thought to wonder why you called me for the bombing so late. You
should have been gone but you waited for it. You wanted me to pull it
so if I got close, you could burn me. Too bad I'm going to burn you
first."

"Oh, I don't think so," Jordan sneered. He raised his pistol and
fired even as Hawk threw herself back and into us. Ted and I went down
under her sudden impact. Several shots rang out and Arthur jerked
before falling like a puppet with it's strings cut. "Oops. No
witness." He ducked back behind the car.

"Arthur," I cried out as he fell. Ted grabbed me, keeping me from
rushing to him.

"Crawl to the front of the house and make a break for it," Hawk
shouted, firing her pistol from the ground while I stared at my dead
brother.

She didn't have to tell me twice. I scampered toward the front of the
house on my hands and knees with Ted right behind me. We stopped at the
side of the house and I had to look back. I was so worried about Hawk.

Hawk was still lying on the ground aiming carefully. I didn't see
Jordan, so I had no idea what she'd shoot at. I startled when Hawk
fired. A scream from the other side of the car told me she hit the
bozo. He fell into the alley holding one hand on his foot.

"Give it up, Jordan! Throw down your weapon!" She called out
triumphantly.

"Fuck you," he snarled, bringing the pistol up.

Hawk fired first. Jordan crumpled, the gun falling from his fingers.

I leapt to my feet and grabbed Ted, starting back toward Hawk. A hand
clamped over my mouth roughly and someone held me with a grip of iron
around my waist as I struggled. Two other shadows grabbed Ted.

"Now, aren't we resourceful?" whispered Tanner. He started dragging me
back from the house and one man remained and started firing into the
backyard at Hawk. I struggled, but I couldn't get free. I had a
whirling view of a dark van before Ted and I were thrown into the back
and the door slammed. Ted wasn't moving. I tried to find the handle
but there wasn't one on the inside. The front was screened off and I
saw Tanner get into the passenger side.

"Drive." He commanded the man beside him. As the van pulled away, my
heart sank. My brother was dead, we had been kidnapped, Ted was hurt
again and Hawk was in deadly danger!

-- 
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reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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