The hot steam from the shower felt wonderful. As he opened the bathroom door, the cool air from the adjacent room hit his body sending goose bumps down his arms and legs. 'How refreshing' he thought. He wiped the steam from the mirror and rubbed his hand across his now newly shaven face. He combed his hair back, splashed on some aftershave, and walked into his bedroom where he put on a pair of burgundy silk boxers, burgundy silk pajama pants, and a burgundy smoking jacket that had fine pin stripes of grey. After stopping one more time to look in the mirror, he smiled, picked up the bucket with the champagne, two glasses and headed down the hallway towards Della's room. Before reaching the door, he sat everything on the hall table and, remembering the fight she had given him the night before, he pulled out a small revolver from the table drawer, and slipped it into his jacket pocket. Then, he picked up the keys from the same table, unlocked the door, retrieved the bucket of ice, champagne, and glasses and entered the room.

"Hello?" he called out as he entered. He turned just in time to see Della raise the Tiffany glass lamp over her head. He dropped the bucket and champagne. Ice and shards of glass shattered across the floor as he got his arms up just in time to keep the lamp from striking him in the head. He grabbed the lamp and a tug-of- war ensued for control of it as he and Della fought each other. Getting a firm hold on part of the lamp with both his hands, he used the force of his body to propel the lamp back towards her…slamming her into the wall behind the bedroom door. The jolt caused her to lose her grip on the lamp and he tossed it across the room. She gained her balance and tried to run out of the door, but he caught her by the arm and jerked her back into the room. She lost her balance and fell onto the ground…cutting her legs and hands on the broken glass. He reached down, grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up. He then pulled her across the room and threw her onto the bed. She was no match for his size and strength.

He quickly jumped onto the bed and pinned her down by sitting on top of her hips. He tried to pull her robe apart. "I told you I wanted this robe OFF and you will learn to do as your told. You're mine now do you understand?," he growled, but she swung up with her fist and caught him in the side of his head as she screamed "No!"

He grabbed both her wrists and forced her arms under his knees thus rendering her defenseless against his assault. He pulled the robe apart and buried his lips in her chest.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Paul and Perry sped away from the parking garage of the Brent Building.

"Where are we headed Paul?" Perry asked in a very grave tone.

"Perry… we're heading out towards the old location of Orchids Unlimited. There's a house attached to the land out there. It is quiet. It is secluded and…I think that's where Della is being held." Paul stated.

"What? How? I don't understand." Perry exclaimed.

"I sent Faulkner to the Coroner's Office this morning to see if he could retrieve the small notepads or any of the other paperwork my men would have had on them at the time they were murdered. We hit pay dirt Perry." Paul said seriously as he changed lanes.

Perry said nothing, but sat waiting for Paul to continue.

"Jones…the man found by the back door of the office? He was the detective I had assigned to watch the outside of the building so it struck me kind of strange that he would be inside the building."

"He wasn't who you were supposed to meet then?" asked Perry.

"No" replied Paul, "He had just started his shift. Guess what he had written down on his notepad for 5:20 PM?"

"What?" asked Perry.

"Mail truck turned into back parking lot at 5:20 PM. Mail should not be running this late. Vehicle looks suspicious…does not have government plates. YTG-34R."

"He was right. No mail trucks come to the building that late" responded Perry. "Did you trace the license plate?"

"You bet…and it is not a U.S. postal truck. It is a standard delivery truck having once belonged to Orchids Unlimited." Paul stated.

Perry sat bewildered. "What do you mean 'having once belonged to Orchids Unlimited' Paul?" Perry's mind wandered to the morning he and Della entered her office and found all the bundles of the orchids. What had she said? She always hated going out to Orchids Unlimited because the smell reminded her of funerals.

"It now belongs to one…Harry Marlow." Paul stopped waiting for a reaction from Perry.

"That's impossible. He's in prison. Besides, where would he get the money to buy all that up?" Perry asked quietly while the anger swelled inside him.

"No it isn't impossible, Perry. He's been out of prison for a while and my sources tell me he's back up to no good with his former mob associates."

Perry quickly turned his head and locked his eyes onto Paul's. "How long is a while?" he asked.

"Months…he bought the business, its equipment and all the surrounding land for a cheap price when the prior owner passed away from her heart ailment." Paul stated. Perry said nothing.

Paul continued, "Look Perry…it all adds up. My office was ransacked but only files from L and M were missing. I had a whole file on Marlow from when you had me follow him that time…remember when we thought he might have poisoned that lady's candy? The missing files from my office are definitely his and what about the break in?… The man I fought with during that ordeal was very husky… so is Marlow. I think he has gone after Della to get back at you for helping send him back to prison on extortion charges."

Perry sat quietly and pictured Marlow in his mind. His gut instinct told him Paul was right. Perry cringed at the thought of this man putting his hands on Della. Had he already forced himself upon her? She would be no match for his physical strength. Even if Perry got her back, she would live with the emotional scars of the assault for the rest of her life. Thus, knowing she had been hurt because of his line of work, would then torture him the rest of his life Overwhelming anger filled Perry as Paul slowly drove down the dirt road that would take them to the old homestead near Orchids Unlimited.

Paul put the car in park and turned if off. He looked to his right and saw Faulkner's car parked off behind some brush. Faulkner was out and walking towards them.

"We should walk from here…just to be safe and preserve the element of surprise too." Paul indicated.

Perry nodded in agreement and then reached into Paul's glove compartment. He pulled out 2 revolvers. Paul watched him intently. Without speaking, Perry handed him one of the loaded guns and kept the other for himself. Faulkner waited for them to get out of the car.

"Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?" Paul asked Faulkner as he opened the car door and exited.

"It was really quiet up until a few minutes ago. There's been some shouting and sounds of things breaking," replied Faulkner. Paul looked over at Perry. He seemed as if he were in a trance.

"Perry?" Paul said.

"Let's go," Perry stated hatefully as he ran down the path leading to the home. Paul and Faulkner followed him with both their guns drawn. As he walked, Perry again heard Della's words, "With my life" and he thought back to the vow he made to her that night as she slept on the pallet in front of the fireplace. Now, he would make good on that promise.

'Harry Marlow' he thought, 'you are a dead man.'

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Harry Marlow stopped his assault upon Della's chest long enough to whisper, "This isn't very comfortable now, is it?" He pushed himself up so that he was no longer crouched on top of her in such an awkward position. Slowly, he shifted his weight from his knees allowing her arms and hands to be freed. However, as quickly as he did this, he grabbed each of her wrists with his hands and pushed her arms out straight over her head. As he did so, he slid his body down so that he was lying on top of her. Slowly and rhythmically, he pressed his body into her…each thrust intensifying his excitement. He softly kissed her cheeks, her mouth, his tongue flicked her earlobe...the wetness causing her to turn her head away from his mouth in disgust.

She was powerless to stop him. She tried to focus on a way out... find a weak point she could monopolize on... focus on anything else than what was about to happen.

"Let me love you" he whispered in her ear. His breath felt hot. Della struggled against him as he pressed his lips and then teeth into her neck. The bite shocked her and she cried out. He caught her eyes with his own and gave her a wicked smile. He released one of her wrists and, with his free hand, reached down to try and pull up the cobalt blue gown. She instinctively brought her own hand down to stop him. With her hand clenching his, he looked into her eyes again. They were filled with angry tears. He smiled, ran his tongue across her bottom lip and rolled off of her. "Still so defiant," he laughed.

Della sat up quickly…clutching at the robe and pulling it back around her body. Her breathing was very heavy and her hands were shaking as she tried to compose herself. Marlow stood up and began taking off his robe.

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Perry, Paul, and Faulkner proceeded to the front door of the two-story home. Perry's mind briefly drifted back to the many times he came to visit the prior owner. She suffered from a poor heart and Perry always took great care to not upset her on their visits particularly when it came to that gambling, alcoholic bum she had married. Paul gently tapped on the front door while the other two men hung back. All were waiting to see if anyone answered. When no one did, Paul slowly twisted the knob and pushed open the door. Perry followed him in and noted very little had changed in the decor of the front entry way. Faulkner followed Perry and Paul and then set out on his own into the living room on the right to check things out. Perry and Paul started to climb the staircase when they heard Faulkner clear his throat. They looked back at him. He was motioning for them to come back down to the living room. When they entered the room, Faulkner pointed to the corner.

Just behind the couch, the legs of two dead bodies were visible. Paul walked over to inspect them. He could tell they'd been dead for many hours. Both were wearing postal uniforms.

"They've both been shot" whispered Paul, "but this one looks like he's had the tar beat out of him."

Perry glanced at Paul and nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. Paul motioned for Faulkner to come with them. Two loud crashing sounds followed by a woman's scream upstairs shattered the silence of the home.

"Della" Perry said urgently to Paul as he turned to race towards the stairs followed by the other two men

PDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPD

Della watched in horror as Marlow slowly slipped off his robe and laid it across the foot of the bed. As he started to untie the string of his pajama bottoms, she jumped off the opposite side of the bed and ran across the room.

"Oh no you don't" he laughed as he chased after her. She ran behind the table in the corner, picked up the tray from breakfast, and threw it at him. It made a loud crashing noise as he dodged it. Marlow, in response, picked up the table and threw it sideways into the wall. Della screamed and tried to run past him, but he caught her around the waist and carried her struggling body back to the bed. He threw her down and she landed on her stomach. She tried to crawl across the bed away from him, but he caught her legs and pulled her back towards him…pulling the gown up in the process. With his left hand, he grabbed the back of her hair and pushed her face down into the mattress. She cried out in pain while he fidgeted with getting his pajamas down with his right hand. As he struggled, she lunged forward and fell head first off the side of the bed into the broken shards of glass...she let out another painful scream.

Perry was the first to reach the top of the landing. He looked around frantically trying to decide which room to go to when he heard a woman cry out and he heard a man's voice reply, "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way, Miss Street."

Perry quickly, but quietly moved in the direction of the voice with Paul and Faulkner close on his heels. The bedroom door was slightly cracked open from where Marlow had forgotten to shut and lock it after Della hit him with the lamp. Perry barely pushed on it with the tips of his fingers. The site revealed to him made him forget all reason as blinding fury engulfed his mind and body. Marlow, half clad, had Della pinned to the floor where she had fallen near the side of the bed.

Perry flew across the room completely taking Marlow by surprise. He lifted him off of Della and slammed him backwards into the wall. He held him there by his throat and then let go so that he could draw back and punch him several times in the face and torso. Although physically larger than Perry, Marlow was no match for the fury rising up from within in him as nearly two days of worry and rage unleashed itself.

Paul and Faulkner, who had followed Perry into room, noted it looked like a disaster area of broken glass and furniture…the result of Della and Marlow's earlier confrontations. Faulkner made a move to go break up the fight between Perry and Marlow, but, catching site of Della lying on the floor, Paul stopped him. He knew vindicating Della was something Perry simply had to do if he was to begin to move past what had happened.

Motioning for Faulkner to keep his gun on Perry and Marlow, Paul quickly moved towards the floor to try to check Della's condition. Pulling her up, he took off his trench coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. She was conscious but definitely shell shocked. Perry quickly joined Paul's side...leavng Marlow slumped against the wall.

Perry looked into Della's tear streaked face...noting the busted bottom lip, bruising, and bite marks on her neck. He felt nauseous. "Della? Della, please say something…" Perry begged.

When their eyes met, she threw her arms around Perry's neck. Hugging her closely to him, he buried his face in her hair and then her neck as he kissed her repeatedly. "I'm so sorry," he whispered over and over. Paul stood up and helped Perry get Della up so he could carry her and her bare feet into the hallway and away from the broken glass. As Perry and Della held onto each other in the hallway, Paul searched for a phone to call homicide and an ambulance.

Faulkner walked cautiously over to Marlow to check him out. He took his pulse and noted his breathing appeared okay. Perry, still clutching Della to him, watched Faulkner check the monster's vital signs.

"Let's tie him up until Tragg and his boys get here, " Perry stated. Faulkner shook his head "yes" and started looking around the room to find something to use as rope. He saw Marlow's robe on the bed and reached over to get the silk belt.

"The police are on their way, Perry, " Paul said as he climbed back up the stairs.

Reaching over and gently squeezing Della's shoulder, he asked with great concern, "You okay, beautiful?" She let go of Perry and gave Paul a warm hug.

Choked up by her display of affection, Paul smiled and said,"I will take that as a yes." Della returned his smile and shook her head affirmatively. Approaching police and ambulance sirens could be faintly heard in the distance.

No sooner had the words come out of Paul's mouth, there was a loud crash in the bedroom causing everyone's attention to focus back to the open door.

Faulkner yelled, "What the hell!"

Marlow shoved Faulkner backwards as he tried to tie him up. Lunging forward towards the bed, Marlow grabbed the gun he had placed inside his robe. As he stood and pointed the barrel towards the hallway, he laughed aloud, locked eyes with Perry and yelled, "Now, the game is truly over, Mason!" He took aim at Mason and fired as, from the ground, Faulkner drew his gun and fired off two defensive shots leveling Marlow instantly. Faulkner then ran over and kicked the gun away from Marlow's hand, but it was too late.

"Perry?" Paul yelled frantically.

Perry turned around in time to see Della slump in Paul's arms…her cobalt

blue gown and Paul's trench coat soaked in bright red blood.