WOO-HOO!! Another chapter! Two in a day!! Now, I think that warrants a LOT of reviews....
As always, disclaimers apply.
Yeah.
Moving right along...
* * *
Raye awoke in a strange place with an ominous feeling in her head. 'Uh-oh...one moment I was at my house,
then...where the hell am I? And WHAT THE HELL is this?' She looked down to see that her gun was gone, and
instead, fastened like a vest around her was unmistakably a bomb. 'Shit. Saffir.'
She sat silently in thought. 'He must have captured me. I'm all alone here, and he has the control to this bomb.
He presses the big red button, and I blow into smithereens. He must want to interrogate me if he hasn't just
killed me yet.' She knew that she had to somehow defuse the bomb as soon as possible, before he or his thugs
came in to check on her.
The wires were all in the back. 'Fuck you, Saffir, you just HAVE to go out of your way to make things difficult
don't you..' Raye looked around the room for something that might help her. Nothing. Doggedly, she reached
behind her. She would have to rely on touch, since she wouldn't be able to see the wires. Slowly and carefully,
she ran her fingers down her back, feeling around the circuitry of the bomb, following the paths of the wires
with her fingers.
It was a difficult process, and her arms were sore from being held behind her back for so long, but Raye had
finally found the wire that reversed the mechanism. However, it now needed to be cut. Keeping one hand on
the wire, she reached inside her boot, then swore to herself. The bastard had taken her knife as well. Raye
once again looked around the room. Hmm, what could she possibly use to cut the wire? Yanking it would set
the bomb off, and she could not pull it apart in two without disturbing the other wires and causing the bomb to
detonate. Her eyes fell on the window. It was a small one, too small for a person to crawl out of. But it could
be used...Raye stepped back, and then leapt into the air. The window shattered as her brutal fly-kick smashed
into it. Pieces of broken glass fell outward. Raye broke off a thin shard that clung to the window frame, and
used its jagged edge to cut the wire.
The bomb stopped ticking. For once, Saffir had not installed multiple systems onto it. Raye was now able to
remove it from her body. Freed, she stealthily crept to the door of her room.
With one good kick to a vital pressure point, she had rendered the guard patrolling the hallway unconscious.
Now, to find Saffir...
~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, James had reached Saffir's hideout. 'Hmm...I have to get past the guards, but fighting my way in
will probably not be a good idea. Raye is in there, and that heartless criminal would kill her in an instant. No, I
mustn't use guns.' Suddenly, he smiled. And dug something that looked like a wooden flute trimmed with green
fibers out of his glove compartment. He owed Zack one...he really did. Zack was the world traveler out of the
four of them, and with the shitload of money that he made from juggling his stocks and bonds and mutual funds
and whatnot, he had enough money for it. Recently, he had made a trip to the Amazon rain forest, and had
returned with presents for each of them, presents that James still didn't know how he smuggled in through
customs. The 'flute' was actually a blow-gun that the Amazon natives used in hunting, to fire poison darts at
their prey. The tiny projectiles they fired were liberally dipped in the venom of poison dart frogs, and despite
their size, were lethal enough to kill large animals. And there were 10 darts in there. James did not know if
that was enough, but even if it wasn't, it would certainly bring him much closer to finding Raye...and killing
Saffir.
Quickly but quietly, James made his way through the small building. Already, 8 guards had been dispatched, one
after another. Now, there was another up ahead. A man with ice-blue hair. James' fists unconsciously clenched
and his eyes narrowed. So THIS was the one who had kidnapped Raye. Silently, he lifted his blow-gun to his
lips.
Linarite heard a slight rustling noise behind him, and whirled around. He did not notice the tiny pin-like blur that
found its way to his earlobe. He saw a blond, seraphically handsome man, who had an expression of deathly
hatred on his face. With a sneer, he withdrew a gun and aimed it at James' head, so quickly that James did not
have time to react. But just as he pulled the trigger, his arm trembled, then seized.
Time seemed to stretch out slowly as the bullet flew towards James. Closer...closer.....closer.......James was
watching Linarite. Who was now in convulsions on the floor. And all of the sudden, he felt a stinging pain. The
bullet had grazed his cheek, and there was now a bloody streak.
The poison dart had caused Linarite's arm to falter when he pulled the trigger, so the bullet had been a bit off,
and instead of hitting James between the eyes, had only grazed his cheek. Ignoring the pain, James moved on,
once more silently thanking Zack. 'Hmm, I really owe him one...what could I do? Hmm, that Agent Mercury who
Luna sent over, she's cute...maybe I should set her up with Zack...he needs to have a committed relationship..
I'll have to explore the idea further after I'm done torturing and killing Saffir...'
~ ~ ~
Raye, however, had beaten him to that. Soon after she had defused the bomb, she had found Saffir, walked up
bluntly behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He had spun around, launching his nose directly into her
waiting fist.
Saffir looked at her in shock for a moment. That bomb was made practically impossible to defuse! But then, in
spite of the blood dripping from his nose, Saffir sneered. Creeping up behind her, knife drawn, was one of his
most skilled assassins. He was armed. Agent Mars was not. Mars heard the soft sound, and whirled around. The
assassin had then thrown his arm back to fling the knife at her. But suddenly, he fell heavily to the ground in
a fit. His hand convulsed around the knife handle, and when he shuddered and breathed his last, the knife was
clutched still in his hand. Behind him, sporting extremely tousled hair and a bloody cheek, was James. Raye felt
happy tears springing unbidden into her eyes. But James had nothing to say, just launched himself at Saffir with
rage in his eyes.
Within minutes, Saffir had, besides the bloodied nose, a black eye, and various other bruises all over his body.
But he also had a gun in his hand, aimed at this new attacker. Gunshots rang out, and James immediately leapt
out of the line of fire. It was unfortunate that the room was fairly small, but it would have to do.
All of the sudden, out of his peripheral vision, James saw Raye somersaulting into the air, her white hands flying
to her hair. Within moments, she was diving towards Saffir, her silver chopsticks, sharp ends out, aimed directly
at him.
The chopsticks entered with a sickening sound. Raye had launched herself over Saffir's head, and both former
hair accessories had punctured his windpipe. He fell heavily to the ground choking in agony. James winced from
his position next to a filing cabinet. Now, that was an awful way to die. Raye seemed to think the same, for she
paused for a moment, and gave the dying man a nod, as if to say, "Had you not been a psychotic, merciless
criminal, you might not have had to die like this."
Then, all that had transpired seemed to break over her like a tidal wave, and her composure and poise seemed
to disappear like smoke. She ran towards him and into his waiting arms, and did something that the patrician,
proud Raye Warrington had not done for goodness knew how long. Like a little girl, she sobbed, and wet the
front of his shirt with tears of exhaustion and relief.
James just held her close and pressed soft kisses to the top of her head. Her hair was loose now...now that she
had used her only available weapons on Saffir. Soothingly, he ran his hands slowly down her back. He had saved
her life, and she had returned the favor. And she was smart, a loyal, fearless, generous and kind friend when he
got to know her, and so full of spunk and spirit and warmth and beauty that it almost took his breath away. He
wondered if she knew that.
Raye finally pulled away, and immediately saw where the bullet had grazed his cheek. "You're hurt!" Her voice
was full of concern. Immediately, she tore the cuff from one of her sleeves, and gently dabbed at the wound,
wiping away the blood smears, then gently holding it in place there. She gazed up at his face, soulful violet
eyes still slightly teary. He had come to save her, had risked his life goodness knows how many times, with all
the guards around the place, for HER, not for a client, but for her! She smiled tremulously up at him, and said in
a quavery voice, "Do you know that you look like an angel?"
His warm hand came up to cover hers, still on his cheek, and his blue eyes held something significant in their
lapis orbs. "Do you know that you are my angel?" He had said softly in response.
Her smile widened at that. "Did you know that angels fall in love?"
His eyes darkened to a luminous sapphire. "Did you know that men could love angels?"
She laughed softly. "I think that's enough with the questions." She remarked, before pressing glossy crimson lips
to his.
* * *
WHEW!! And it's done!! Except for an epilogue....;)
After which, we move onto the story of Mina Angell and Kevin Knighton.
'Kay, I think that's enough of coming attractions. To business: REVIEW!!!!!
As always, disclaimers apply.
Yeah.
Moving right along...
* * *
Raye awoke in a strange place with an ominous feeling in her head. 'Uh-oh...one moment I was at my house,
then...where the hell am I? And WHAT THE HELL is this?' She looked down to see that her gun was gone, and
instead, fastened like a vest around her was unmistakably a bomb. 'Shit. Saffir.'
She sat silently in thought. 'He must have captured me. I'm all alone here, and he has the control to this bomb.
He presses the big red button, and I blow into smithereens. He must want to interrogate me if he hasn't just
killed me yet.' She knew that she had to somehow defuse the bomb as soon as possible, before he or his thugs
came in to check on her.
The wires were all in the back. 'Fuck you, Saffir, you just HAVE to go out of your way to make things difficult
don't you..' Raye looked around the room for something that might help her. Nothing. Doggedly, she reached
behind her. She would have to rely on touch, since she wouldn't be able to see the wires. Slowly and carefully,
she ran her fingers down her back, feeling around the circuitry of the bomb, following the paths of the wires
with her fingers.
It was a difficult process, and her arms were sore from being held behind her back for so long, but Raye had
finally found the wire that reversed the mechanism. However, it now needed to be cut. Keeping one hand on
the wire, she reached inside her boot, then swore to herself. The bastard had taken her knife as well. Raye
once again looked around the room. Hmm, what could she possibly use to cut the wire? Yanking it would set
the bomb off, and she could not pull it apart in two without disturbing the other wires and causing the bomb to
detonate. Her eyes fell on the window. It was a small one, too small for a person to crawl out of. But it could
be used...Raye stepped back, and then leapt into the air. The window shattered as her brutal fly-kick smashed
into it. Pieces of broken glass fell outward. Raye broke off a thin shard that clung to the window frame, and
used its jagged edge to cut the wire.
The bomb stopped ticking. For once, Saffir had not installed multiple systems onto it. Raye was now able to
remove it from her body. Freed, she stealthily crept to the door of her room.
With one good kick to a vital pressure point, she had rendered the guard patrolling the hallway unconscious.
Now, to find Saffir...
~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, James had reached Saffir's hideout. 'Hmm...I have to get past the guards, but fighting my way in
will probably not be a good idea. Raye is in there, and that heartless criminal would kill her in an instant. No, I
mustn't use guns.' Suddenly, he smiled. And dug something that looked like a wooden flute trimmed with green
fibers out of his glove compartment. He owed Zack one...he really did. Zack was the world traveler out of the
four of them, and with the shitload of money that he made from juggling his stocks and bonds and mutual funds
and whatnot, he had enough money for it. Recently, he had made a trip to the Amazon rain forest, and had
returned with presents for each of them, presents that James still didn't know how he smuggled in through
customs. The 'flute' was actually a blow-gun that the Amazon natives used in hunting, to fire poison darts at
their prey. The tiny projectiles they fired were liberally dipped in the venom of poison dart frogs, and despite
their size, were lethal enough to kill large animals. And there were 10 darts in there. James did not know if
that was enough, but even if it wasn't, it would certainly bring him much closer to finding Raye...and killing
Saffir.
Quickly but quietly, James made his way through the small building. Already, 8 guards had been dispatched, one
after another. Now, there was another up ahead. A man with ice-blue hair. James' fists unconsciously clenched
and his eyes narrowed. So THIS was the one who had kidnapped Raye. Silently, he lifted his blow-gun to his
lips.
Linarite heard a slight rustling noise behind him, and whirled around. He did not notice the tiny pin-like blur that
found its way to his earlobe. He saw a blond, seraphically handsome man, who had an expression of deathly
hatred on his face. With a sneer, he withdrew a gun and aimed it at James' head, so quickly that James did not
have time to react. But just as he pulled the trigger, his arm trembled, then seized.
Time seemed to stretch out slowly as the bullet flew towards James. Closer...closer.....closer.......James was
watching Linarite. Who was now in convulsions on the floor. And all of the sudden, he felt a stinging pain. The
bullet had grazed his cheek, and there was now a bloody streak.
The poison dart had caused Linarite's arm to falter when he pulled the trigger, so the bullet had been a bit off,
and instead of hitting James between the eyes, had only grazed his cheek. Ignoring the pain, James moved on,
once more silently thanking Zack. 'Hmm, I really owe him one...what could I do? Hmm, that Agent Mercury who
Luna sent over, she's cute...maybe I should set her up with Zack...he needs to have a committed relationship..
I'll have to explore the idea further after I'm done torturing and killing Saffir...'
~ ~ ~
Raye, however, had beaten him to that. Soon after she had defused the bomb, she had found Saffir, walked up
bluntly behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He had spun around, launching his nose directly into her
waiting fist.
Saffir looked at her in shock for a moment. That bomb was made practically impossible to defuse! But then, in
spite of the blood dripping from his nose, Saffir sneered. Creeping up behind her, knife drawn, was one of his
most skilled assassins. He was armed. Agent Mars was not. Mars heard the soft sound, and whirled around. The
assassin had then thrown his arm back to fling the knife at her. But suddenly, he fell heavily to the ground in
a fit. His hand convulsed around the knife handle, and when he shuddered and breathed his last, the knife was
clutched still in his hand. Behind him, sporting extremely tousled hair and a bloody cheek, was James. Raye felt
happy tears springing unbidden into her eyes. But James had nothing to say, just launched himself at Saffir with
rage in his eyes.
Within minutes, Saffir had, besides the bloodied nose, a black eye, and various other bruises all over his body.
But he also had a gun in his hand, aimed at this new attacker. Gunshots rang out, and James immediately leapt
out of the line of fire. It was unfortunate that the room was fairly small, but it would have to do.
All of the sudden, out of his peripheral vision, James saw Raye somersaulting into the air, her white hands flying
to her hair. Within moments, she was diving towards Saffir, her silver chopsticks, sharp ends out, aimed directly
at him.
The chopsticks entered with a sickening sound. Raye had launched herself over Saffir's head, and both former
hair accessories had punctured his windpipe. He fell heavily to the ground choking in agony. James winced from
his position next to a filing cabinet. Now, that was an awful way to die. Raye seemed to think the same, for she
paused for a moment, and gave the dying man a nod, as if to say, "Had you not been a psychotic, merciless
criminal, you might not have had to die like this."
Then, all that had transpired seemed to break over her like a tidal wave, and her composure and poise seemed
to disappear like smoke. She ran towards him and into his waiting arms, and did something that the patrician,
proud Raye Warrington had not done for goodness knew how long. Like a little girl, she sobbed, and wet the
front of his shirt with tears of exhaustion and relief.
James just held her close and pressed soft kisses to the top of her head. Her hair was loose now...now that she
had used her only available weapons on Saffir. Soothingly, he ran his hands slowly down her back. He had saved
her life, and she had returned the favor. And she was smart, a loyal, fearless, generous and kind friend when he
got to know her, and so full of spunk and spirit and warmth and beauty that it almost took his breath away. He
wondered if she knew that.
Raye finally pulled away, and immediately saw where the bullet had grazed his cheek. "You're hurt!" Her voice
was full of concern. Immediately, she tore the cuff from one of her sleeves, and gently dabbed at the wound,
wiping away the blood smears, then gently holding it in place there. She gazed up at his face, soulful violet
eyes still slightly teary. He had come to save her, had risked his life goodness knows how many times, with all
the guards around the place, for HER, not for a client, but for her! She smiled tremulously up at him, and said in
a quavery voice, "Do you know that you look like an angel?"
His warm hand came up to cover hers, still on his cheek, and his blue eyes held something significant in their
lapis orbs. "Do you know that you are my angel?" He had said softly in response.
Her smile widened at that. "Did you know that angels fall in love?"
His eyes darkened to a luminous sapphire. "Did you know that men could love angels?"
She laughed softly. "I think that's enough with the questions." She remarked, before pressing glossy crimson lips
to his.
* * *
WHEW!! And it's done!! Except for an epilogue....;)
After which, we move onto the story of Mina Angell and Kevin Knighton.
'Kay, I think that's enough of coming attractions. To business: REVIEW!!!!!