"Satisfied Miss Vittoria?"

Eva gave him a glare.

"Now, now, my sweet Annie where were we? You don't look very well! Oh your anger got the best of you again! What a shame to have to hurt this beautiful face of yours. Instead of hurt you I could do so much more pleasant things."

Having Mike pinned her against the wall gave her someone time to recover some strength, and she spat right in his face. "You bastard, you want me, leave them alone. I will come with you if you bring your sniper down."

"Annie!" Eva shouted.

Mike looked right on to her eyes and studied her features "Why should I believe you?"

"Well first, we have unfinished businesses, and Eva is a good shooter, so there is only two ways, you and I ended up dying or we walk from here all alive. Which way is going to be Jones?" Annie tilted her head.

"Trick me and your friend Eva will die, the Irish might live, but she won't." He threatened her and let go of her wrists.

Annie almost fell with the hurt of their fight and the weakness she was feeling, but she could be damn if she won't give a last try. "Eva, run, now." At the same time, Annie took her gun, put her elbow around Mike's throat, so he was shielding her from the sniper, Eva took her order, so on the shadows they were more protected from the sniper.

"Oh, oh well done, Annie, I didn't see that coming! " He was genially surprised with her action and with the strength she still got, it was difficult to get free, she had her gun pointed behind his back near the place of his heart, any threat and she was going to shoot without hesitance.

"Hey, you, sniper, show yourself otherwise I will kill him." Annie shouted.

Nothing, no movement, no sound. "Jones, tell him to show up now."

"I don't think he heard you! Your voice is a little low!" He laughed.

"Fine, you made your own bed" Annie changed the position of the gun and shoot right in his right shoulder.

Mike screamed in pain, and both almost fell but Annie used all her last strength to stand up. "Your bitch, I will torture you for this." He said crying, because such a close shot had hurt much more and the damage would be severe.

"Now, Sniper are you going to show up or should I make another hole on this left shoulder!" She commanded.

With a pain that made him almost fainted, Mike said "James, show yourself."

Tommy and Eva put themselves on position for an eventual gun fighting, they were concerned, but they also know Annie knew what she was doing and appearing now, without protection, only would make her situation worst.

The silence stopped, slowly steps starting to be heard, and from the shadows of the opposite side of the alley, a man appeared, all dressed full in black, with military boots, bulletproof vest, black helmet and a rifle on his hands. He was looking down and wasn't close enough for them to see his face.

"James Jones, I introduce you Detective Annie Williams!" Mike said with a suffering voice, the blood was soaking his clothes and the pain was beginning to be impossible.

"Show yourself close!" Annie screamed.

"Oh come on, you already know my face, you think you will know another Jones's one."

Annie ignored Mike, but put more pressure on his throat making him let a small cry of pain. "I won't ask again."

The man, took a moment and then started to walk in their direction, he was close and then he looked up right to his brother and his capture and in that moment everything stopped.

She knew him, he knew her, only one word, Afghanistan.I He

Annie was shocked, that man was Mike's brother … That must be some sick joke, an awkward silence filled the alley. James couldn't take his eyes of her, and Annie neither.

"You? Are you his brother?" Annie asked in almost a whisper.

James was perfect at hiding his emotions, but a flash of guilt passed through his eyes. His brother had tortured and was obsessed with a detective, he had killed her fiancé and almost destroyed her, he just could not believe it was her, the same woman he met and saved in Afghanistan.

How could it be the same person and he never found out. He knew there was a detective but I would never guess it was her, the military he met on a small village almost three years ago. He knew after her team died, she had left the army, but since that day he turned his back on that year of his life, when I finally revenged his family death, so he forgot about everything.

"I am. I couldn't never have guessed you were the Detective my family speaks about." James said in his most calm tone.

Annie laughed "You want me to believe that? You are one of them! You are as bad as this shit I'm holding!"

"No, I'm not. You know me."

"Do I? What were you doing on Afghanistan? Following me? Following orders from your brother? Trying to kill me?"

"Annie, I think you in your heart always knew what I was doing there and what I did." James said with a sad smile looking into her eyes, she would hate him, but she needed to know, he was a Jones, but not a truly one.

Annie gasped, she forgot about Mike, sent him to the floor and stepped close to James, looking right in his eyes. "Tell me, it was you who killed them?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You know why, I didn't lie to you, the only think I did, was the reason why I was there, everything I said was true." He said showing in his eyes part of his soul so she could see, the true.

"They killed your wife and daughter! Why didn't you kill me? Why did you just knock me down?" Annie had her hands grabbing his vest shaking him. "Why?"

"Because you were innocent, you didn't kill my family! I don't kill innocents, despise what you think about my family, not all of us don't have morals. Some of us were good people until something bad had happened to us, and you know what it is, to have someone taking from you, all you want is revenge!"

Almost shouting James had grabbed her by her shoulders, to try to make her understand that, despises his brother actions around her, he couldn't never hurt her, because she was the only good thing in his life after his family death and for that he had to thank her. Now he was in the middle of a difficult path, one side his brother which was supposed to catch this detective, other side was a good person who had suffering like him, but didn't get the right to have her revenge and all the pain was cause by his family, he was lost, he didn't want nothing of this to happen. All his humanity he had shut down, was still there and this woman was part of the reason why, he needed a way of make a middle ground of the situation right now, she couldn't kill his brother, but he couldn't help his brother either.

Mike was astonishing, they knew each other, James once spoke about a woman he had met in Afghanistan, but was just a talk he didn't pay attention because that time he had information that Annie was in Iraq. He wasn't expecting such a twist, she knew his brother... That was going to complicate things, because James was a sniper but he hasn't been involve in a lot of their operations because he disagreed with it, so torturing Annie could be a problem, one he had to fight for.

Eva and Tommy were looking to each other and running thoughts on their minds, she had been on Afghanistan? She had been a soldier of the British Army, she had lost her team... Now everything made sense, the fighting skills, the way she was so good on sneaky kidnappers without they see her coming, the hurt, the pain, the constant feeling of observation and looking for threats... She was a soldier, even for a short time, but she had to learn all those skills, so the 2 years gap was reveal, she was in Afghanistan doing missions with a time, on a place like that, there wasn't a lot of choices, rescuing missions, taking down terrorist cells or protecting the populations, but for a sniper and so less respect for death, one of the two first options must had been her job.

"So, are you going to let me kill your brother James Jones?" Annie mocked with an icy glare.

"No, I won't. He will pay for the consequences but not this way." James told her with his most controlled tone.

"You are joking, I have been chasing this bastard for four years, I had one change to kill him but everyone stopped me from do it." Annie shouted, giving him an icy glare.

"I will kill him and nobody will stop me!" She was turning to Mike, who still was on the floor holding his shoulder.

James grabbed her elbow and made her look at him. "He is my brother and kill him won't bring you peace. All the anger will stay with you, the pain, you will feel empty because you might have your revenge but nothing will bring the ones you lost." His blue eyes were fixed on hers, he needed to make her understand the true.

"Revenge it's enough for me! Now let go of my arm before you end like your brother!"

"I won't let you!"

"Even once, we understood each other, now nothing matters, you are a Jones, I will kill your brother and destroy your family, all the kidnaps, all your schemes. You are just like them." She spat on him. Their gaze was so intense that everyone around could feel the tension and one unspoken story.

"If you think I am, then you give me no choice." With all his speed James had Annie shielded him from Eva and Tommy. "Mike get up, we have a lot to talk about. You two stay where you are and nobody gets hurt."

"Really? Why should we believe you?" Eva said.

"Because Miss Vittoria, I had you on my vision all the time and you still breathing." James told her with such a threatening tone and a cold look.

"Perhaps I will shot that bastard brother of yours." Tommy shouted.

"No you won't. You are cops, you don't risk lifes like that, but Annie is the negotiator. And if you had a clean shot to me you already had taken it." James said, the Irish was good on trying to buy sometime to Annie to do a move, but she was to weak, he was almost supporting her weight.

Mike stood up and started to walk through the alley, even with all the pain he took a look at Annie and near her ear he stopped "See you around gorgeous! And by the way, my brother does have morals. You are wrong about him, your loss. Until next time, love." And with that he disappeared at the shadows of the alley.

James put her hair on one side and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry. I wish things had been different. I'm not your enemy, but don't cross my way Annie. I never had the chance to say it." He breathed on her ear. "I missed you. Please, be safe." And suddenly he pushed her away and ran away following his brother.