Due to the season we post this chapter before the weekend rather than after. After Christmas, that is... ;-)

We wish you all the best of days, no matter what way you're going to spend them. See you in 2015!

MB&D

CHAPTER 3

Clarice never doubted her own mortality. She'd faced it too many times, knew the punch of bullets into her vest intended for her heart and lungs, delivered with indifferent menace. It's nothing personal, pig. Felt sweat sting her eyes and drip down her neck as her heart hammered a turbulent staccato, the knife at her back pressed in harder. Cunt, you're gonna bleed.

Once, she'd cuffed herself to a madman.

She had survived them all, but she'd been lucky. Lucky and good. She could take pride in her skills without suffering any delusions of grandeur. She knew one day she would die.

But she'd be damned if she'd let some little lump on her boob take her out. She could handle this. However, she wasn't sure Hannibal could.

He paced their luxurious hotel room, eyes never meeting hers, hands restless at his sides. "We must leave for Portugal immediately. I have an old friend there, an oncologist."

"Hannibal, we just got here. Just established our new identities, and we have a new hunt. Surely I can see a local doc..."

He shook his head before she could finish. "Absolutely not. Diogo is the best diagnostician I know, and you'll have the best."

Clarice rose from her place on their bed and reached out to his shoulder, causing him to halt his pacing. Finally, he looked her full in the face. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Love, awe, and dread mingled in her stomach.

She reached up and gripped his face with both of her palms. "Love, it's a bump. It's very likely nothing. My daddy would say don't borrow trouble." [D]

She held his gaze for a moment longer.

"I'm here with you, Hannibal. It took some time to get there but I'm not going anywhere soon. I promise. But if it'll make you feel better, we'll go see Diogo."

Hannibal smiled but his smile didn't reach his eyes. His life trembled.

He'd strived to make his life the epitome of stoic acceptance of both Divine providence and human contrivance. Human life was the children's playground where he dug, shoveled and molded, Divine providence the world beyond. Having been confronted with the cold ineluctability of the latter in his childhood he'd turned inwards and kept his eyes on the sand, but his eyes were now drawn towards the periphery of life where the love of his life was led away. He could not help but hold her and keep her with him for as long as he could.

"We leave tomorrow," he said in a tone that allowed no dispute.

.

The next day would have been perfect under normal circumstances. Bright weather that didn't seem to care about human feelings, the landscape alternating between beautiful, exquisite and impressive along the 650 mile route to Gouveia. And the 260 PS Alfa Romeo Brera they'd hired deftly devoured the miles. But a thin veil hung over their conversations and acts that obnubilated the joy they normally experienced in everything.

To anyone else it would appear as if nothing was wrong, just two people on the road, accustomed to each other and long drives. And, if that's what you look for in life, you could say they were okay and fine.

They did talk. Of course they talked, that's how everything started. Just not about... that. They talked about the case. Not that they had much evidence, just what they had seen in situ, however brief that moment had been, and what they'd read and seen on the internet that evening.

It was impossible to say anything about motive, MO or pattern with the limited information they had. But the signs were there: this one wouldn't stop.

It wasn't until they passed the Spanish-Portuguese border that the veil seemed to lift slightly, as if entering another country also meant entering another state of mind. It remained an odd sensation to Clarice to cross a border without seeing a single customs officer or barrier.

The GPS directed them to exit the highway in one mile, at Celorico da Beira, and take the N17. 22 miles to go along the edge of the beautiful Parque Natural de Serra da Estrela. [MB]

The landscape was compelling.

Mountains, ravines, and miles of smooth, scattered stones bespoke the long ago movement of ice giants. Glaciers had cut and scraped and carved the earth, carrying and depositing debris along their journey. Millennia later, their creations still lay under the blue, blue Mediterranean sky.

Gentle joy, joie de vivre, unfurled inside of Clarice.

It was a beautiful day, and she was with the man she loved.

She unbuckled her seat belt. The car gave a series of rapid, angry dings, but she ignored them and leaned over and licked Hannibal's neck, whispering in his ear, "Pull over."

He kept his eyes firmly on the narrow, two-lane road, but from her vantage, Clarice could see the corner of his mouth tilt up in a small grin.

"I'm incredibly tempted, love, but we told Diogo we would meet him for dinner."

Clarice nuzzled his neck once more before moving to his earlobe, giving the delicate skin a few gentle love bites, then pulled back and answered, "We're traveling hundreds of miles. People encounter delays." She paused for another nibble. "Traffic." Nibble. "Road construction." Nibble. "Insatiable women demanding roadside service."

Normally he would have picked up her mood and returned her playfulness. Instead, a heaviness, a pensiveness, descended over him.

"It's rude not to keep one's appointments." Which really meant he wanted Diogo to examine her as soon as possible.

Clairce sat back fully in her seat. "Pull over, Hannibal." The sensual teasing was gone from her voice, in its place firm resolve.

Hannibal obliged, braking, downshifting and pulling onto the narrow shoulder. He turned to her, waiting.

She took a deep breath. Exhaled. "I won't live my life in fear. I won't be constrained by fear, and I won't allow you to be either." He started to respond, but she interrupted, cutting him off. "No. Listen. We're not those people, living their perceived safe lives. Working 9-5 jobs with listless eyes so they can vacation in the same spot for two weeks every year. We make our own damn rules." She reached for his hand, rubbing her thumb across his. "None of us are ever really safe. Shit happens, illness happens." Then, more quietly, "Death happens. You and I know that better than many. We don't even know if anything is even wrong with me. What I do know is, I have you. I have this gorgeous day. And I want you to make love to me, now."

Hannibal lifted her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her lower palm. "May I at least pull off the main roadway?"

A dazzling smile broke across her face. "That would be okay." [D]