Living On The Edge

by Charlies-Angel123

BY LUCY: Lara Johnson wins a trip to Vice City where she finds she has to live life on the edge to survive... WARNING: CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND MILD LANGUAGE

Living On The Edge

Prologue - Vice City.

It's a hard life in Vice City, even for those that had lived there for years. A city of carjacking, drugs, gang fights and guns, those that have just moved there may find that they have to learn to live life on the edge in order to survive...

Chapter 1 - Little Haiti.

After being thrown from her expensive New York apartment for not paying the rent on time, Lara Johnson lived on the streets. But it wasn't comfortable on the cold, dark, city sidewalks, and she got her hopes up when she found a slip of paper that had been chucked away - an entry form to win a trip to Miami!

Lara asked a pen off a passer-by. They waited while she filled in the form. Handing the pen back, Lara's brown eyes were filled with glee; maybe this was her chance to start anew.

After a week, a winner was announced - "Lara Johnson!"

Watching the television sets in a shop window, Lara jumped up in glee. She went to the studio and claimed her prize plane tickets.

As she stepped off the plane, Lara was astonished at the heat, and the bright blue sky; the fluffy clouds; and the tropical blue sea. She gathered her luggage together and headed to the taxi rank of Escobar International Airport. She got into a taxi, but realised that she had nowhere to live here!

"Where can I take you, lady?" the driver asked.

"I...don't know." Lara replied.

"You not from around here?"

"New York,"

"Aaah."

"Can you help me?"

"You want me to take you somewhere?"

"Yes,"

"How much money you got?"

"Five dollars and twenty-two cents,"

"That won't get you far,"

"What will?"

The driver turned around in his seat and stared at Lara impatiently.

"How am I supposed to get more money?" Lara asked.

"Get a job," the driver laughed simply.

"But how am I supposed to find a job if you won't drive me anywhere?!" Lara said angrily.

"Okay okay, man!" the driver exclaimed. "I'll leave you in Little Haiti. Dude, you could probably buy a house for five dollars there!"

The taxi pulled up next to patch of grass which was covered in little wooden shacks. Some were painted blue, some green, a few pink; others were left plain. All the paint was faded or peeling. A small dirt path ran in, out, and around the houses like some sort of earthy snake. A burgundy coloured car was parked up near a shack nearby.

"Thank you," Lara told the driver, and then she handed him the last of her money, and got out the taxi.

"Good luck!" the man laughed, and then he drove off.

Lara looked around: she saw a large yellow building peeking out above some singular white flats, with stairs going up to them. She noticed that the road led around the corner to the building front. Another road led in the opposite direction.

Lara decided to find a house. She walked along the path, but found no 'For Sale' houses. She did see many seemingly-uninhabited shacks though, so she selected a pink shack facing a long road which led to a bridge, and slowly opened the door.

Inside, it was musty and dark. There was an oven, a sofa, a small camp bed, and a table with one chair. Everything was covered in dust and grime. Lara pushed the door to another room open; a bathroom. A tub, toilet, and sink were the dusty furniture items in here. Despite the thick covering of grey on everything, the things looked rather unused by their previous owner. Lara threw caution to the wind and shut the front door behind her. She grabbed an old shirt from her suitcase, and set about dusting everything off.

When the house was as clean as it was going to get, Lara managed to cook a packet of sausages she had with her. She ate, and then got into the bed. The covers were itchy and thin, but this was a bed all the same, so Lara settled down and went to sleep.

In the morning, Lara was thankful that nobody had come home in the night. She cooked herself the remainder of last night's sausages, and then she dressed in jeans and a plain white t-shirt, and went outside.

She walked off down the sidewalk and walked along to the left. She carried on until she found a sort of parade of shops. One was a pizza place.

"Excuse me," Lara walked into the pizza place and called to the man behind the counter, "do you have any job vacancies?"

"Yeah. The pay ain't so good, but you get a company car," the guy said.

"When can I start?" Lara asked hopefully.

"Whenever you want; we ain't got no management. I'm the one in charge aroun' here," the man squeaked. "I'm Herbert."

"Lara Johnson," Lara went behind the counter and slipped on a red apron.

"My last name's Ted. Herbert Ted," Herbert smiled.

"So what does this 'company car' look like?" Lara asked.

"Oh it's just a cheap one - a Stallion. You can have an open-topped one though," Herbert said.

"Okay. When do I get it?" Lara enquired.

"You can drive it home with you today," Herbert replied helpfully.

"Thanks." Lara smiled.

After a long day of serving people and breaking up fights, Lara got her blue, open-topped Stallion, and drove it home. She went to bed.

Lara woke up at four-thirty the next morning, and she drove her Stallion to work.

"Hey, Herb," she smiled to Herbert as she walked in the door.

"Hi, Lara. Look, we got some people at Table Nine that need serving," Herbert croaked, and handed Lara a tray.

Lara put the tray down on Table Nine, and then went behind the counter.

"You alright?" Lara asked Herbert. "You look ill."

"I just ain't feelin' so good. I'll be okay," Herbert rasped.

"No no - you get your coat and go to the hospital. I'll take it from here," Lara smiled.

Herbert smiled back gratefully, and then put on his jacket and left.

Then a group of gang members walked in through the door. A woman couldn't get past them to leave, so she punched one of them in the face.

"Hey!" Lara called. "No fighting!"

But the gang member punched the woman back, and then the other members all began to fight her too.

Lara got over the desk and punched the woman. The woman fell to the floor and lay there while she got her breath back.

"You guys - do you wanna eat, or are you just here to cause trouble?" Lara turned to the black, purple-clad gang members.

"We're leavin' now," said one, and they left.

The woman got back up, looked at Lara crossly, and then left. Lara went back behind the counter.

"Excuse me, Miss, but it is an offence to attack a customer," said the voice of a policeman.

Lara turned around and saw the police car parked outside.

"I, ur, she was causing a fight, sir. It was the only way to restrain her," Lara said shakily, as the policeman walked up to the counter.

"There may have been other ways. You understand that if you do that again, I'm going to have to talk to your manager; maybe close the place down for a while," the policeman eyed Lara suspiciously.

"The manager isn't here right now," Lara gulped.

"Well in that case...I'll have three double cheeseburgers and fries to go, please," the policeman ordered.

Lara, relieved, served up the meals, and then the police left.

"I better not tell Herbert about that." Lara decided.

Three days passed, and Herbert came back to work. All seemed well, until another fight broke out, and Herbert punched someone to restrain them.

A wail of sirens sounded - and a car door slammed as a policeman got out. He walked into the restaurant.

"Didn't you tell your manager about the illegalities of attacking customers?" the policeman said to Lara, as Herbert watched fearfully; his fear turning to anger as he heard of Lara's warning.

"I didn't want to tell you!" Lara protested to Herbert.

"I don't wanna hear it, Lara. I'm afraid I'm gonna to have to sack you," Herbert shook his head.

"But I haven't even had my wages yet!" Lara said angrily.

"You got a car. Now leave." Herbert pointed to the door, and Lara left.

The next day, Lara walked off along the pavement, and turned the corner. She walked right to the front of the yellow building, and looked up at the sign - Kaufman Cabs.

I could be a taxi driver, Lara thought hopefully. She stepped inside.

"Hey, lady, what you lookin' for?" asked a fat man with a moustache; he was wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and white trousers.

"A job, actually," Lara answered, craning her neck to look around the garage. She spotted a small office.

"Well go and see the boss." the man said, and then he went back to working on his taxi.

Lara went to the office and knocked on the door.

"Enter." said a croaky, female voice.

Lara entered, to see an old lady who had dyed brown hair up in a bun, and a purple dress on.

"I'd like a job, please," Lara smiled.

"Well we certainly need another driver," the woman croaked.

"So I'm employed?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, and you look like you can handle a bit of managing too. I'm goin' to Florida for two weeks, and I'm leavin' you in charge, rookie," the woman said.

"But I've only just got here, I can't take over management," Lara shook her head. "I don't know enough about the company."

"What are ya, scared of a challenge? Fine, I'll have Boris take over...Hey, Boris!" the woman screeched out of the door.

The fat man at his taxi looked up.

"You're in charge, mister!" the woman told him.

Boris smiled happily and came up to the office. He went inside and sat in a chair at the desk, as the woman got up and grabbed a suitcase.

"Do I have a job?" Lara asked quickly, as the woman left the office.

"That's for Boris to decide!" the woman called. She got in a Kaufman Cab and the driver drove her off.

"So, Boris, do I have a job?" Lara repeated, turning to Boris.

"Yeah. It's five thousand big ones every month," Boris sniffed.

"Five thousand dollars?!" Lara widened her eyes. "How does the company get that much--?"

"No questions asked," Boris interrupted her. "Now get in a cab and find some fares."

Lara couldn't believe her luck - since arriving here, she'd already got a house, and a job that paid five thousand dollars a month!

She jumped into a cab and slowly drove out of the garage.

Lara set off down the road, and found herself on one long, main road. Buildings ran along one side, and the sea and palm trees edged the other side.

Then a man waved over at Lara's taxi. Lara pulled up next to him and he got in.

"Ammunation, Downtown, please," the man said breathlessly, slamming the door.

Lara set off at an average speed. Some cars got in the way. Lara drove patiently along behind them. They hit a red light. Lara waited.

All of a sudden, the man got out the cab.

"Hey, wait--we haven't arrived yet!" Lara called.

"You take too long, man!" the guy tutted and walked off.

A woman waved over at the taxi. Lara pulled up, and the lady got in.

"The Docks, Vice Port," the woman ordered.

Lara drove off, faster this time. When a car got in the way, she weaved around it, and she charged past a red light, which set her pulse racing - what if the police saw?!

But she sped on, and she arrived at The Docks. The woman got out.

"Nice speeding, honey," she smiled and handed Lara one hundred and eighty-three dollars.

"Now that's more like it," Lara smiled smoothly. She suddenly realised that she liked this job very much.

After a week of her job at Kaufman Cabs, Lara was starting to rake in the money. She kept it in her suitcase, and had just counted out over two thousand dollars.

When her alarm clock rang, Lara pushed her suitcase under the bed, and then left her shack and went to work.

"Hey, Lara!" Boris shouted, as Lara arrived. "We like what you been doin' for us here. Take a look at your nu cab!"

Lara looked where Boris was pointing - and there sat a brand new taxi. It was yellow with an angry orange at the bottom, and it was covered in black stripes.

"It's tha Zebra Cab!" Boris smiled. "Fast, man, fast!"

"Sweet," Lara nodded, smiling, getting in. It was certainly better than her old taxi.

"Thanks, Boris. I'll go and get us some money!" Lara called out the window, and then set off.

"Take me to The Docks," the fat man said, jumping into the back seat.

Lara zoomed off, and dropped the Patrol Investment Group member off. A builder called to the taxi. He wanted to go to Ammunation.

Lara cruised off down the long road, doing seventy. Everything was going fine, until Lara realised she was in the wrong lane. She was about to get in the right lane, when all of a sudden--

SMASH!!!!!!

The car crashed headlong into a huge truck. The taxi did a three-hundred-and-sixty degree spin, and then flew straight into one of many little white apartments. Black smoke poured from the crumpled bonnet. A tyre bounced off down the street.

Lara opened her eyes and stared through the cracked windscreen. She coughed once, and then pushed open the door, which fell off onto the grass.

The builder got out and ran off, screaming.

Lara ran away from the car. She ran across all the roads and then collapsed on the grass amongst the palm trees. What had she done? She'd smashed up the fanciest cab in town by being stupid, and she'd nearly killed a customer. She couldn't go back to her job now; not when they learnt of her mistake. She'd have to leave this island and find somewhere else to go. She had the money, and she had her car from the pizza place...

Lara got up and hailed a taxi from the VC firm - yes, they were Kaufman Cab's rivals, but all of the Kaufman drivers knew her, and she didn't want them to find out about the accident, at least not yet.

When she had been dropped off at her shack, Lara packed her bags, got in her Stallion, and drove off onto the road. She noticed the bridge, so she decided to take it to the next island...wherever that may be.

Chapter 2 - Washington Beach.

Lara stopped the car. The bridge was just behind her...she could turn back now...

No, they'll never accept me back, Lara thought defiantly, and she drove off along the road, taking in the bright pink sign nearby that read Washington Mall.

The blue Stallion continued down the road. A small bridge was in sight. To the right - an orangey-brown building with lots of windows, and to the left; a tall, multicoloured, apartment building.

Lara stopped her car again and looked up at the building: she caught a glimpse of how much an apartment would cost.

"Three thousand dollars?" Lara sighed exasperatedly. She checked her suitcase - only two thousand dollars.

"MOVE YOUR DAMN CAR!!!!" screamed a voice.

Lara turned around in her car seat and saw a long line of angry cars behind her. She switched the engine back on and pulled around the corner of the mint coloured walls of the apartments. She left her car in the small car park around the back, and then went back to look at the prices.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Lara spun her head to see a cop shooting at a criminal, who was running for it. The criminal was shot down, and he lay there bleeding. The cop walked off.

Lara saw the banknotes by the body...a thousand dollars maybe?

Lara ran across the road, picked up the bloodied dollars, and stuffed them into her pockets. Some more people rushed along to see the body, so Lara pretended she had run over for the same reason as them. Then she slipped away while the others inspected the dead man.

Lara hid behind the apartment wall and counted the money; there was exactly a thousand dollars. Lara went to her car and took the other two thousand from her suitcase. Then she went inside the apartments.

"Hello?" she called when she entered into a light, cool hallway. A desk sat in front of her, an empty chair behind it.

"Hello?" Lara called again, louder.

"Yes, can I help?" asked a man, coming out of a back room behind the desk. He had short, dark hair, and wore a pair of glasses and a smart, navy, business suit.

"Yeah, I'd like to buy an apartment," Lara explained.

The man slowly moved out from behind the desk and opened a large window, that let sunlight straight into the hall. Then he sat behind the desk.

"I've got cash. Three thousand dollars," Lara smiled. A cool breeze danced in through the window, refreshing on the back of her neck.

"Okay, lady, your apartment is number 1103," the man said, handing Lara a key.

"Thank you, mister...?" Lara pocketed the key and held her hand out to shake the man's.

"I'm Joseph Mule," the man replied, shaking Lara's hand.

"Lara Johnson," Lara told him. Then she held up the key, "Thanks for this."

"That's why I'm here," Joseph smiled helpfully. Then the phone on the desk rang. Joseph looked at the phone and then at Lara, "I'd better get that. You go and unpack and I'll take you through safety tips and what-not later on."

"Thank you," Lara nodded gratefully, and then climbed the stairs to the top floor.

She took out the key and unlocked apartment 1103. She went inside, and shut the door behind her.

The apartment was modern and light. Everything was a light wood colour, or a cream, or white. A window at the end of the hall offered Lara a lovely view, and there was a bathroom, kitchen-and-diner, a bedroom, and a lounge.

"Not bad for three thousand bucks." Lara commented.

She went into the bedroom and began to unpack.

An hour later, Lara had unpacked, and was about to go out shopping for some food, when Joseph arrived to show her around.

"As you can see, we have some beautiful views of Washington Beach here," Joseph smiled, showing Lara to the hallway window. "There are some building works to the very far left, however, but noise from there is a bare minimum."

Lara nodded as Joseph showed her into the kitchen. He told her about the electricity, heating, cooker, refrigerator, and what to do if the fire alarm goes off, et cetera.

"...and I think that's about it." Joseph finished breathlessly, spreading his arms wide.

"I hope so," Lara muttered, too quietly for Joseph to hear.

"So, Miss Johnson; what brings you here in the first place?" Joseph asked.

"Opportunities," Lara replied simply.

"Business? Pleasure?"

"Business."

"Some loose ends need cleaning up?"

"Not necessarily. I'm just looking for a job," Lara stared interestedly out the window, at the police station nearby.

"Aaah, lookin' at the old jailhouse, huh?" Joseph joined him at the window and craned his neck around to see the police station.

"Hey, do you know where I can find a corner store or something?" Lara changed the subject.

"Yeah, there's one in Vice Point. Near the bridge to Prawn Island - oh, and the El Swanko Casa," Joseph smiled.

"El Swanko Casa?" Lara echoed, interested.

"Yes, it's the biggest up-for-sale property in Vice Point. Got a pool, garage, balconies...great view, amenities in close proximity..." Joseph sighed dreamily.

"Up for sale? How much?" Lara asked.

"Eight thousand dollars," Joseph replied, then pausing so he could do a long 'Phew' whistle.

Lara looked back out the window at the police station again, and decided to take the bull by the horns and ask, "Are there any job vacancies at the police station?"

"You wanna work at the police station?" Joseph laughed. "Y'know it's a pretty risky business, especially if you've had run-ins with them before."

Lara sighed - she was expecting something like that.

"So, the corner store," Lara found her same change of subject. "How can I get there?"

"Well from here, just go over that small bridge, hang a right, across another bridge, follow the road past The Malibu..." Joseph explained, "...and then follow the same road until you reach a sort of 'square' of roads. Go along here, and you should see the El Swanko Casa. The store's near there."

"Bridges...past The Malibu...square roads...El Swanko Casa...got it. Thanks," Lara nodded, and showed Joseph out.

Lara grabbed her wallet, took a last look at the police station, and then left the building.

Lara pulled her Stallion up outside a parade of shops. She got out and walked into the corner store. The floor was shiny, the food all looked the same in their plain cardboard containers, and a single man stood behind a single wooden counter, with a single till.

Lara put a few things in a basket, paid for them, and then went and got back in her car.

She was about to start the engine, when a black man in jeans, a black leather jacket, and a white shirt, yanked open the car door and pulled her out.

"HEY!!!" Lara shouted angrily.

The guy in the car started the engine and was about to drive off, when Lara jumped back to her feet and tore open the car door. She grabbed the man roughly around the arm, and then raised a fist and punched him right in the face.

"Ow!" the man roared.

Lara threw him onto the pavement and then kicked him in the side.

"Whaddya think you're playin' at, you son of a bitch?!" Lara yelled.

"Hey, dude, leave me alone!" the guy said arrogantly.

Lara lifted the man off the ground by his lapel. The man stared down at his feet that were dangling in mid-air, and gulped.

"Leave my damn car alone, dude," Lara snarled.

"Why you so tense, man? Cool," the man made sweeping motions with his hands, spreading them out wide, but then withdrawing them as Lara shook him.

"Why am I tense? I'll tell you why I'm tense!" Lara spat, "I've been sacked from one job, left another coz I smashed up a taxi, had to spend all my damn money on an apartment, and I can't find a job here coz I've had too many run-ins with the police to work at the station!"

"Hey, man, you in some deep shi--"

"Yeah I'm quite aware of that," Lara interrupted the man by shaking him again.

"Look I ain't got a car..." the man grinned weakly.

"So you thought you'd steal mine, did you?"

"Hey, a man's gotta make a livin'--"

"And I gotta make it around the goddamn island which is why I need my car,"

"Okay, dude, how 'bout we just forget about this little...ur, misunderstanding?" the man said hopefully.

"Why don't I take you to the police...?" Lara trailed off thoughtfully.

There was a silence for a moment. The man was still suspended in the air and the breeze picked up and swayed his dangling legs as well as Lara's long brown hair.

"Yeah, how about we go down the station?" Lara smiled. She shoved the man into her car. "So now you get to ride in my car after all."

The guy cursed and aimed an angry punch at his seat.

"Put your seatbelt on, dear," Lara said sarcastically; she reached over and strapped the man in.

"No escape, huh?" the man laughed meekly.

"Yeah. Right." Lara said, and drove off.

Lara got out the Stallion at the Washington Beach Police Department. She got the man out the car, and then pushed him up the white steps, and into the VCPD HQ.

"I got a car thief here," Lara explained to the cop behind the reception desk.

"How do you know he's a car thief?" the cop questioned, giving Lara and the man an accusatory stare.

"Coz he tried to jack my car," Lara said hotly.

"Okay. Evidence?"

"Do you need any evidence? I got the guy, just question him!"

"Do you have any proof, Miss?"

"Search my whole goddamn car if you gotta, just deal with this piece of crap!" Lara shoved the man angrily towards the desk.

"Hey, watch my coat, man!" the guy said smoothly, tweaking the collar of his leather jacket.

"Look, whatever-your-name-is: this man tried to steal my car and I am not about to let him get away with it," Lara argued, feeling herself begin to get very annoyed, "so either you take him in or you don't."

"Do you have a lawyer, Miss...?" the cop raised an eyebrow.

"Johnson, Lara Johnson."

"Do you have a lawyer, Miss Johnson?"

"No."

"I suggest you get one,"

"Why? It's a simple case - do you believe this guy tried to jack my car, or don't you?" Lara squared up to the cop that had now come out from behind the desk.

"I'll get some more VCPs to search your car. In the meantime, I'll need both you and him," the cop pointed at them both, "to be held in custody."

"I don't have time for this!" Lara protested angrily. "And what makes you think that I'm the antagonist here--?"

"Your police record, Miss Johnson, contains one account of a physical attack on a customer in the Little Haiti pizza joint," the cop interrupted, officially.

"So what?" Lara challenged.

"So you might have attacked this man,"

"He was stealing my car!"

"So you admit to attacking him?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean--"

"Tell us what you mean later," the cop led Lara and the man down a corridor, and then down some steps. A corridor awaited them. Either side of the corridor were cells - with locks, and bars, and tiny camping beds, and foul, tiny toilets.

The cop shoved the man in one cell, and Lara in the cell facing him.

"Sort out your issues down here. We're gonna search your car, Johnson, and then send the inspector down to question you," the cop explained as he locked the cell doors. Then he left.

"This is all your damn fault!" Lara hissed at the carjacker, holding onto the bars with sweaty palms. She stuck her head as far through the bars as she could, and then went all floppy as she sighed.

"Be cool, man," the guy said.

"Look, man...what's your name anyway?" Lara frowned.

"I'm Jericho Rouge. You digging ma name?"

"I'm digging you a grave,"

"In your cell?"

"In my mind. I'm having happy thoughts," Lara smiled sarcastically at Jericho.

"We're in this together now," Jericho said, "so why don't you just cool down?"

"Fine. Let's go onto our next subject then - why the Hell am I in custody?"

"Because you hit me!"

"They don't know that for sure."

"Well you admitted it,"

"I DID NOT admit it!" Lara shouted, punching the wall in anger.

"Hey, sister; this is Vice City," Jericho said breathily, spreading his arms wide.

"So?"

"So, even the Law don't abide the Law sometimes," Jericho explained. "You just gotta deal with--"

Jericho was cut off by the sound of a policeman walking down the step into the cell corridor.

"Miss Johnson, the inspector has arrived and will take your statement now," the cop said. He unlocked Lara's cell, and Lara stepped out.

"What about me, dude?" Jericho complained.

"You're next," the cop said warningly. He went back up the steps with Lara.

"Daaaaaamn," Jericho breathed.

Lara sat down in front of the inspector, watching him across the table. A cop behind them slammed a door shut, and then the inspector pressed 'record' on a cassette player on the table.

Lara fazed out and looked around the room as the inspector spoke the date and time into the tape player. Lara saw a mirror - a one-way mirror by the looks of it.

"...Lara Johnson, please give your statement." the inspector finished, staring at Lara.

Lara snapped back to the table and cleared her throat nervously, "I'd just come out of the corner store, in Vice Point, and got in my car, when this guy suddenly pulled me out."

"What did you do then?" the inspector asked.

"Well I opened the door and pulled him out too, just as he was about to drive off," Lara explained.

"Did you harm him?"

"Yeah - I punched him in the face just before I pulled him out."

"And after that?"

"He was on the pavement, and...I got angry, and I kicked him in the side,"

The inspector scribbled something down on a notepad.

"And?" he urged.

"And then I grabbed him by his shirt, lifted him up, and questioned him a bit."

"Were you violent? Aggressive?"

"Well wouldn't you be?"

"Answer the question, Miss Johnson."

"Yes, I was aggressive, but this guy had just tried to jack m--"

"Miss Johnson, you say you hit this man twice, once while he was lying defenceless on the ground," the inspector said seriously, "and the first time while there were other ways to restrain him."

"Whose side are you on? The carjacker's, or the carjackee's?!" Lara shouted.

"Please sit back down," the inspector scowled.

Lara then realised that she had jumped to her feet in her moment of rage, and her chair was lying on the floor. She picked it up and then sat back down in it.

"Miss Johnson, you seem to be rather aggressive and violent by nature, so excuse me if I don't side with you straight away," the inspector tutted and leant back in his chair.

"I'm sorry, inspector, but I just feel a little victimized right now," Lara shook her head in frustration.

"Okay. So what did you do after questioning him?"

"I strapped him into my car, some wit and puns were exchanged, and then I took him here," Lara slapped her hands on the table in gesture, "and you're the one who knows the rest."

"Right. Thank you, Miss Johnson. You'll have to remain in your cell until we question the carjacker, and then a bit longer while we sort out this mess," the inspector nodded at Lara, and then said the final date and time to the tape recorder, and then pressed 'stop.'

Lara watched as they led Jericho out of his cell and up the stairs.

Everything went very silent. The only sounds were the ones that drifted from the reception. A murmur of chat; telephones ringing; the tip-tap of a computer keyboard; shoes clacking on the stone-coloured lino. Lara felt a rush of fresh air that must have come through the open doors in reception. She breathed it in deeply, holding her breath in to savour the air. When she let her breath go, she opened her eyes and shook her head slowly, as if to clear all thoughts from her mind.

"How the Hell did I get myself into this mess?" she sighed.

Later on, Jericho arrived back at the cells. The policeman locked him back in his cell, and then left.

"Hey, buddy, how ya doin'?" Jericho smiled.

"How did your statement go? Did you get enough lies in it?" Lara said sarcastically.

"Well if it makes ya feel any better...yeah I did,"

"And?"

"And some brownie's gonna come down here and tell us as soon as they go over the tapes."

"God I wish I was back in New York." Lara then swore loudly and kicked the end of the cell bed.

"You a New Yorker?" Jericho sat down on his own bed, watching Lara pace around her cell.

"Yeah. I lived on the streets. I won a competition - trip to Miami, yeah?"

"And they sent you here? What a duff competition!" Jericho laughed.

"I lived in Little Haiti. I got my first police record when I punched a woman to restrain her at the pizza place I worked at," Lara shook her head, "and I got sacked. Then I went to work for Kaufman Cabs--"

"That old place? You know it's been bought up by a Mister Vercetti?" Jericho said.

"Vercetti? I thought this woman ran it--"

"Yeah. She did at first, but then Vercetti bought it. She got her ticket to Florida with her savings, and off she went," Jericho explained.

"But she left Boris in charge," Lara remembered.

"Boris takes care of the office when Vercetti's away,"

"So does Vercetti rule the roost around here?"

"You could say that. He owns fourteen properties y'know."

"Fourteen?" Lara widened her eyes in amazement. "Which are?"

"The Malibu; the Pole Position Club; the Cherry Poppers Ice Cream Factory; Sunshine Autos Car Showroom," Jericho held up a black hand and counted off the property on his fingers, "Kaufman Cabs; the Printing Works; the Boatyard; the Film Studios on Prawn Island; and that smooth Vercetti Mansion."

"That's not fourteen." Lara pointed out.

"Oh yeah, and his hideouts - Ocean Heights Apartment; 3321 Vice Point; the little Skumole Shack," Jericho held up his other hand, "the El Swanko Casa--"

"I thought that place was up for sale!" Lara stopped Jericho.

"Uh-uh. Who told you that?"

"Joseph Mule. He's the landlord at my new flat,"

"He got his facts wrong."

"Oh."

"Yeah. You wanna know the last place?"

"Okay," Lara sighed, her hopes of buying the El Swanko Casa immediately crushed.

"It's 1102 Washington Beach Apartments."

Lara jumped up from her bed, "Say that one again."

"Ur...1102 Washington Beach Apartments," Jericho looked confused. "What hit your buzzer, sister?"

"If what you say's correct...then I'm living next-door to Tommy Vercetti!" Lara laughed in disbelief. Then her smiled faded and she turned to Jericho, "How the Hell do you know all this?"

"I tried to jack his white Infernus sports car once. He pinned me up against a wall, threatened to shoot me, and then told me that if I ever did that again, he would set his gangsters on me," Jericho grimaced.

"That doesn't explain why you know all his haunts." Lara said pointedly.

"Ur...well y'see, he then shoved me in his car and drove me real fast to all the places his gangsters were - basically, his businesses."

"Okay. How do you know about all his houses?"

"Coz I stalked him for a while. I wanted to get even," Jericho replied.

"Well maybe we should add that to your police record." Lara tutted.

Then a cop arrived. He took a bunch of keys from his pocket.

"So can I go?" Jericho asked hopefully.

The cop said nothing - he selected one key, and then twisted it into the lock of Lara's cell. The door swung open.

"You're free to go," the cop explained.

"Bye, Jez," Lara laughed.

Jericho sulked.

Lara arrived outside the police station to be greeted with her convertible, which was covered in a clear plastic cover. Little droplets of water lay on the cover, and the grass nearby looked wet. It looked like it had rained during Lara's stay in jail.

Lara tore the plastic off her car, and then got in it. The sun shone down brightly now, and no trace of the grey rain clouds of earlier remained, which brightened Lara's spirits as she drove back onto the road.

Shame my plan didn't work though... Lara thought.

Her original plan had been to take in this criminal, and then the police might have let her have a job. But the police had other ideas, of course, so Lara's plan had been thwarted.

But now she knew about Tommy Vercetti, and that this guy had a gang going. Maybe she could be a gang member for him...it'd be good pay by the sounds of things.

And he lives next door, Lara's mind told her, and she smiled.

Leaving her Stallion in the Washington Beach Apartments parking lot, Lara went in the building and climbed the many stairs to her apartment. She took a long look at the door next to her - number 1102. Tommy Vercetti's flat.

Maybe he's home... Lara thought. She began to slowly walk towards the door, when suddenly, it swung wide open.

Lara quickly manoeuvred over to her door as Tommy Vercetti stepped out onto the landing.

Vercetti was a tall, handsome man. He was slightly tanned, obviously because of all the time he spent in Miami, and he had short, dark brown hair. He was wearing a smart, pastel blue suit, a dark blue shirt underneath, and expensive loafers.

Lara saw her chance - as Vercetti was closing his apartment door, Lara dropped her paper shopping bag onto the floor 'by accident.'

"Oh darn, I'm so clumsy today," Lara tutted to herself, kneeling down to pick up her shopping.

"Here, let me help you with that," Vercetti knelt down next to Lara and began to help her gather the shopping.

Lara's plan was going perfectly.

When Lara's shopping bag was filled up again, she smiled at Vercetti, "I'm Lara Johnson."

"Tommy Vercetti," Vercetti returned the smile.

"How long you been living here?" Lara asked.

"Too long," Vercetti shook his head and then laughed.

"I moved in earlier on," Lara explained, pointing to her apartment door.

"You like Vice City?" Vercetti leant against the wall that separated his front door from Lara's.

"Not so far," Lara smiled, gesturing by pointing her thumbs downwards.

"You've had it rough, huh?"

"A bit. I've just come back from the police station. Some jerk called Jericho tried to jack my car,"

"Jericho...Rouge?"

"That's him."

"He tried that on me too."

"You put him in his place?"

"Yeah, I'd like to think so,"

"I took him to the station. He's in jail," Lara smiled triumphantly.

"How long are you planning on staying here?" Vercetti asked.

"Forever. I ain't got enough money to get out now," Lara replied.

"And you plan on staying in this apartment forever?"

"I haven't got anywhere else to go. I haven't got a job," Lara shrugged hopelessly. "Have you got a job?"

"I got eight," Vercetti laughed.

"Eight?" Lara repeated, feigning incredulousness for she had already heard this from Jericho.

"I got an ice cream factory, a film studio, a car showroom, a print works, a boatyard, two clubs..." Vercetti smiled.

"...a taxi firm?" Lara couldn't stop herself.

"You know about that, huh? Obviously you've been here longer than I thought," Vercetti said. "And let me think...Lara Johnson...hey, you worked for Kaufman Cabs didn't you?!"

Lara's eyes went wide in shock. She smiled meekly.

"And that Zebra Cab never came back; and nor did you," Vercetti laughed.

"Okay okay, I admit it; I smashed up the cab and ran away," Lara held up her hands and laughed, too.

Vercetti smiled. "You had a proper look around Vice City yet?"

Lara shook her head.

"Check out the Mainland," Vercetti advised. "I might see you there; I'm looking to buy this place called the Hyman Condo."

"Huh. How much is it?"

"14,000 dollars,"

Lara widened her eyes. Then she smiled again and whistled.

"Yeah, well, it's the last place I need to complete my collection of businesses and handy hideouts...it's a hard life bein' rich and powerful," Vercetti laughed.

"It's even harder just living here!" Lara exclaimed.

"Well it's been great talking to you, but I gotta get going now. Revenue to pick up, people to pay a visit to..." Vercetti smiled, trailing off purposefully.

"I get your drift," Lara smiled. She gestured to her shopping bag, "Thanks for your help."

"No problem. Thanks for the chat, darlin'. I'll see you round," Vercetti returned her smile, and then walked off down the stairs.

Well he knows me now, Lara thought as she opened the door to her apartment, Good.

Lara unpacked her shopping, and then ate. Then she went to bed.

The next morning, Lara woke up and got dressed in a navy sweater and camouflage jeans. She opened the curtains to find stormy weather beating against her window. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, the rain poured, and the black clouds rolled across the sky like a stormy chariot. The wind howled through the palm trees, threatening to tear them out by their roots.

Lara tied her hair back in its usual ponytail, ate some breakfast, and then left the flat.

She arrived outside and was greeted by a rush of water in her face. Laughing it off and blowing water droplets from her lips, Lara set off along the pavement to the left. She saw a store called 'Bunch Of Tools.' She walked towards it, and then turned the corner at the end of the street.

"Ah-hah," she whispered.

Standing tall above her, was a terracotta coloured archway. A palm tree and a sandy beach were chalked onto it at the very top, and in red italics were the words, 'Starfish Island.'

"Hello," Lara smiled.

There was a pair of black ornate gates fixed into the archway. They were wide open right now, letting many cars drive across the bridge to the Beverly Hills of Vice City.

Lara walked over to the archway and continued through a smaller archway that had been cut out of the larger one. This hole led to a metal sidewalk that pedestrians could use to cross the bridge.

Lara set off along the sidewalk.

She had reached halfway along the bridge, when she heard a commotion behind her. She turned around and saw a white man in a red leather jacket push an old lady to the floor and grab her handbag. He set off running with it.

A cop saw what was going on and leapt into action, but he was a very slow runner.

"Too many doughnuts," Lara quipped, and then sprinted off after the thief herself.

The thief was nearing the hole in the archway that led to his freedom. Lara was closing in on him though, but she didn't bother him - She's just a woman, she can't get me! he thought.

But as the thief was slowing to duck through the hole, for he was quite tall, Lara launched herself forward and flew straight into the man.

"Ahh!" the thief cried as Lara landed on top of him, sprawling him to the ground. He let go of the handbag, and it spun across the pavement, out of his reach.

Lara stayed sitting on the thief's back. He struggled momentarily, but Lara shifted her weight, making him curse in pain and fall still.

The policeman arrived with the old lady. The lady picked her handbag up and smiled at Lara gratefully.

"Get her off me!" the thief shouted.

Lara got off the man and let the cop handcuff him. The cop lifted the man to his feet, keeping a hold on his hands, and then he turned to Lara, "Thank you very much, ma'am." He reached into his pocket with a free hand and brought a fifty dollar note out. He gave it to Lara.

"Thanks," Lara smiled, tucking the bill into her own pocket.

"Thank you, dear, God bless you," the old lady croaked, and then she threw a 'V' sign at the thief before hobbling off.

"Hey, you were that girl that got that car thief," the cop said suddenly, looking Lara up and down again.

"Yeah,"

"And now you stopped a man from getting away with an old lady's handbag," the man shook his head in disbelief. Then he raised a suspicious eyebrow, "You're not a cop are you?"

"No."

"Hmm. Well maybe you could be," the cop looked thoughtful.

"I could?" Lara gasped, hardly daring to believe she might get the job she wanted after all.

"Yeah. Come to the station with me and I'll sort something out for you," The cop set off down the street with the thief.

Lara followed him, realising that she might finally be able to get some money...and a crime-busting reputation too.

Upon reaching the police HQ, the cop deposited the handbag thief in a cell next to Jericho Rouge.

"How you doin', J?" Lara smiled, giving Jericho a high-five through his bars.

"I'm fine, sister. How you gettin' on?" Jericho asked.

"I might be able to get myself a job here," Lara bared her teeth at Jericho, jokingly.

"Good luck, dude."

"Dudette," Lara corrected.

"Yeah, sure."

"Miss Johnson?" the cop called.

"That's my cue to leave. And, Mister Handbag Thief?" Lara addressed the white man, "I hope you have a good time in jail."

The white man stuck his tongue out at Lara and blew a raspberry at her.

"How very gangster of you," Lara laughed. Then she left.

"What a woman," the white man sighed.

"Yeah. She'll be the only female cop in this city. Think she'll get on alright?" Jericho asked.

"Are you kidding? I think she broke ma back!" the white man groaned, rubbing his back.

"...and so this is your desk," the cop explained, pointing to a pine desk covered in bits of paper and stationery, "and here's your chair."

"Kinda guessed," Lara smiled, getting in the leather chair and spinning around in it.

"Don't do that please," the cop said robotically, and Lara stopped.

"So what's my job exactly?" Lara asked.

"You deal with suspect files and finding out about any new criminals, or newly-jailed crooks, et cetera," the cop replied. He pointed to a black laptop on the desk, "You use that."

"Yeah. So what's your name?" Lara enquired.

"I'm Robert Robertson,"

"It's got a ring to it," Lara laughed.

"File a report on that handbag thief." Robertson ordered, and then he went into an office nearby and got to work himself.

Lara watched all of the other cops walk past, and work, for a while, until she realised what she found so strange - there were no other women here!

"Hey, coppy," she called to a passing colleague, "can I get a uniform around here?"

"You don't get uniforms if you work in files," he replied.

"But everyone else has one,"

"Well, they're...they work on other things too."

"Ohhh, I get it," Lara crossed her arms and frowned, "it's coz I'm a woman."

The man swooped his head down next to Lara and spoke in less than a whisper, "Yeah it is. No one's ever seen a woman cop in the whole of Vice City. You're the first. That's why everyone's acting so strange around you."

"That's discrimination, isn't it?" Lara whispered back.

"Yes. Look, come to the locker room, I'll find you a uniform," the cop straightened up again, and Lara followed him down the steps, and back to reception. They then went down some steps, next door to the ones that led into the cells.

The room they arrived in was the locker room. It was quite small; lockers lined the walls, and benches sat in the middle of the tiled floor. Around a small partition was a block of showers.

"Where can I get my equipment then?" Lara asked.

"Here's a uniform," the cop handed Lara a spare uniform. It had a light brown shirt with short sleeves, a pair of dark brown trousers, flat black shoes, and a belt.

"Here's a baton, and a gun," the cop gave two weapons to Lara.

As Lara held the gun in her hand, she felt a surge of power - but also a surge of fear. She could kill someone with this.

She soon snapped out of her thoughts and asked, "What's your name?"

"I'm Zeke Maxell. And you're Lara Johnson," the cop nodded his head.

"Does everyone here know who I am?" Lara widened her eyes.

"Lara, you're the only female cop in Vice City, everyone in the city's gonna know who you are!" Maxell exclaimed. Then he patted Lara on the shoulder, and went back up the stairs.

Lara changed into her uniform. It was a bit baggy, but it fit reasonably well, so Lara tucked the baton under her belt and holstered the gun. Then she climbed the stairs into reception, and went down the stairs into the cells.

"Whaddya think, boys?" Lara laughed to Jericho and the white man.

"So you got your job?" Jericho asked.

"Yeah. What's your friend's name?" Lara pointed at the white guy.

"He's Peter Stile," Jericho answered.

Peter waved.

"I'm gonna need to take down some of your details," Lara said to him. She searched the pockets of her uniform, hoping to find a notebook. She found one, and a pen.

"My full name is Peter Piper Stiles," Peter explained. "I am twenty-two years old and I used to work in Vice Point pizza place."

Lara wrote all of this information down. She said, "Any idea where I might find a full file on you?"

"Yeah, on the internet. I've got my own site and I put a fact file on myself on the home page," Peter smiled.

"Right," Lara rolled her eyes.

While Lara was questioning Peter, Tommy Vercetti was watching the news at his mansion.

"The first female cop that Vice City has had in its whole history, is working at the Washington Beach Police Headquarters," the reporter said. "Although we have no picture of the young lady, we can reveal her name to be Lara Johnson."

"Damn it!" Vercetti banged his fist on his coffee table. "Well that's just great - I've gone and made myself known to a damn cop!"

As the news switched to the next report, Vercetti switched off his television. He walked out of his lounge and into the vast hallway of his mansion.

"Mario!" he called, "Get me the Colt."

A man with ginger hair, sunglasses, and wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, hurried up the red-carpeted stairs and into Vercetti's office. He found the Colt Python and took it back down the stairs to Vercetti.

"Why do you need it, sir?" Mario asked.

"I got a loose end that needs cleanin' up," Vercetti replied.

After a few days of police office work, Lara was already starting to get bored of her job. She wanted to fight crime out on the streets, or drive a police car with wailing sirens! Not be stuck in a stuffy office where some of the cops still avoided her because she was a woman.

But then at the end of the week, Lara was called into Robert Robertson's office.

"What is it, sir?" Lara asked as Robertson shut the office door behind her.

"Well, Miss Johnson, I think that our only policewoman should be out and about on the streets," Robertson announced. "You're getting a promotion."

Lara resisted the urge to scream happily and jump about, by asking, "What will that involve?"

"We give you a police car, and you patrol the streets. If you see trouble, stop your car and see to it," Robertson replied. "If you hear a car's been stolen on your radio, go after it and stop it, and then detain the driver."

Finally, something exciting to do! Lara thought with relief.

"So you'll need some handcuffs," Robertson placed a pair of shiny handcuffs onto the desk. Lara took them and clipped them to her belt.

"And you will need your car. MAXELL!" Robertson shouted suddenly, making Lara start.

Zeke Maxell arrived in the office.

"Take Miss Johnson to a car, please," Robertson ordered him.

Lara stood up; she thanked Robertson, and was about to leave, when Robertson stopped her.

Lara turned around and waited expectantly.

"I almost forgot - here's your first pay-packet," Robertson handed her a brown envelope. Then he waved a hand at her, and she left.

"Ooh, money!" Lara laughed to Zeke, waving it in front of his nose.

"There should be about eight thousand dollars in there," Zeke smiled, happy for Lara.

They went outside, and Zeke showed Lara around the back of the station. There was a car park here, and three police cars were parked up.

"Which one do I get?" Lara asked excitedly.

"This one," Zeke pointed at the car closest to them. He took some keys out of his pocket and gave them to Lara.

Lara unlocked the police car and climbed in. It was very silent in the car, and there were no radio stations; except for the police one.

"Thanks, Zeke!" Lara called out the car - but soon realised that Zeke had gone.

"Sour grapes, huh," Lara shook her head and started the engine.

She reversed out of the space and manoeuvred the car down the narrow ramp that led onto the road.

Suddenly the radio crackled into life, "Stolen yellow Phoenix, last seen in Ocean Drive. Check it out, Johnson."

Lara switched on the sirens and sped off along the road, thanking her experience in the taxi. She found that she was quite a good driver. She weaved around the cars with the greatest of ease when she needed too - although most of them moved out of the way when they heard the sirens. She reached Ocean Drive in no time, only to see a yellow Phoenix speed right past her and turn onto the road heading North, past The Malibu.

Lara zoomed off after it, sirens blaring. As the Phoenix rounded the corner around The Malibu, it skidded crazily and smashed into a wall. Lara saw her chance, and took it; she swerved her car in front of the Phoenix, stopping it.

Quickly, as the Phoenix was slowly pushing against the police car, hoping to escape, Lara ran around to the driver door and pulled it open. She threw the woman out of the driver's seat and handcuffed her.

"Wazzzzzzzzup!" the woman screamed. She laughed.

"Are you drunk, madam?" Lara raised her eyebrow.

"I was just cruisin'!" the woman smiled drunkenly.

"You're under arrest for drink driving and stealing an automobile," Lara declared.

"True." the woman grinned.

Lara was about to head back to the station after a long day, when a last radio report came through, "Hey, s'up, L? It's Zeke here. We got a real maniac zooming through Starfish Island in a white Infernus. Go get 'em."

Lara turned the car around and headed across the bridge to the archway. She realised, as she sped along the Starfish Island bridge, that this would be the first time she had ever been there - since she had been stopped halfway by that crook the first time.

Lara was greeted at the end of the bridge by an archway identical to the one at the entrance. She drove on through and looked out for the car.

There!

All it was doing was going round and round the only other road on the island - a curved one that led full circle.

"What a dumb-ass!" Lara laughed. She drove forward to the curved road herself, and waited at the place that the car would come out.

She saw the white sports car racing towards her - and she saw that it wasn't going to stop. She put the car into reverse gear and hit on the gas, but the white car sped towards her and CRASH!!!

Lara's car spun around and around, only ceasing to spin when it hit a wall. Lara looked up through her broken windscreen, peered through the smoke from the bonnet, and saw the white car coming in to attack again!

SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

The car kept reversing and then smashing into Lara's police car again. Lara coughed as the pale white smoke turned to grey, and then black. She finally saw the spots of blood on the windscreen, and realised that she had cut her head.

SMASH!

The car came in for a final bash - and then flames started to crackled from the bonnet.

Lara tried to open her door, but then found out that her door was pinned to the wall and she couldn't get out!

"The passenger door!" Lara cried to herself, and she launched herself across the seats and opened the door. It swung open, and she dragged herself out of the car and fell onto the road. She got to her feet shakily, and then began to stumble away from the car, when suddenly the police car exploded!

Lara was knocked a few metres forward, and she fell to the ground covered in black soot, cuts, bruises and burns. She hit her head hard on the tarmac and fell unconscious.

The owner of the white car got out. He had a Colt Python in his hand and a smug smile on his face.

It was Tommy Vercetti.

Chapter 3 - Starfish Island.

Lara's eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was a man who had his back to her. He was wearing a pale blue suit...

"Vercetti," Lara said.

The man spun around - and Lara was right.

"Johnson," Vercetti sneered.

Lara tried to lift her hands, but she realised that both her hands and feet were tied to a chair. She was in Vercetti's office by the looks of things. The chair she was tied to was sitting in a corner near the desk. Lara saw a revolver on the desktop.

"Nice isn't it?" Vercetti saw where she was looking and picked up the silver gun. He waved it around a bit, and then Lara heard a click as he took the safety catch off.

"Almost as nice as my car...or rather, what's left of my car," Lara said angrily.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Vercetti laughed harshly.

"What the Hell is this anyway?" Lara focused her rage-filled eyes on Vercetti.

"I'm sorry, but I can't have a cop on my tail,"

"I wasn't even on your tail!"

"But you knew about me, and you knew about those people I had to...talk to," Vercetti slammed his gun down on the desk, making Lara jump.

Suddenly, Jericho's voice shot into Lara's mind; I tried to jack his white Infernus sports car once... and she knew how stupid she'd been to not remember what Vercetti's car looked like.

"And you caused some trouble with the police so I would be sent out here, right?" Lara guessed.

"Right." Vercetti smiled wickedly.

"And now what are you gonna do with me?"

"Hmm...I think I might kill you actually. I mean, if that's okay with you," Vercetti laughed his horrible laugh again.

"Yeah, it's fine. Some other cops are gonna come out to find me though," Lara said hopefully. "Did you think of that?"

"Well my boys can take care of them," Vercetti replied.

"So when were you planning on killing me?" Lara was now just stalling as she untangled the rope that tied her hands together.

"Maybe...now," Vercetti picked the gun up again and aimed it at Lara's head. His finger closed in on the trigger.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lara said quickly, still untying the rope, "I can still duck my head y'know. Maybe you should shoot me at a closer range."

"Yeah," Vercetti nodded with a smirk and pressed the cold metal gun barrel to Lara's forehead. His finger squeezed slowly down on the trigger again...

...and then Lara freed her hands and SMACK! punched Vercetti in the face.

Vercetti fell over backwards, the gun sliding from his hand and bouncing off down the stairs.

Lara was about to reach down and untie her feet, when some of Vercetti's gang members rushed into the office.

"KILL HER!" Vercetti roared, still holding his bleeding nose and recovering.

A man ran at Lara - she grabbed onto the desk and pushed it forwards. It knocked the man over and pinned him to the ground while papers fluttered everywhere.

By the time the paper had all fallen to the ground, Lara was completely untied. She threw the chair at one of the gang members.

"Argh!" he screamed as it knocked him down the stairs.

Lara took on another man. She punched him in the gut, blocked his kick, and then pushed him down the stairs. He landed on top of the other man with a CRACK!

Two gang members remained. One had a gun.

The guy without a gun attacked next. Lara beat him off and then knocked him spinning with a strong round kick. He fell to the floor with a thud and blacked out.

The man with the gun raised his weapon and fired. Lara dropped to the floor before the bullet reached her, and swept the man's legs out from under him. His gun fell to the ground and Lara snatched it up.

But Vercetti was back on his feet now. He ran down the stairs to retrieve his gun, and Lara saw her chance - she ran along the landing to the right, went up the small flight of stairs, and then ran into the corridor nearby. She reached a huge stairwell. Some stairs went up, some went down. Lara chose the stairs leading down.

She took them three at a time as she hurtled downwards, but when she had reached the bottom, she heard more gang members running to get her, so she ran back up the stairs.

As Lara approached the landing where she had first come in, a shot was fired, narrowly missing her head. Lara looked up to see that Vercetti was standing in the doorway.

Lara saw him raise the revolver again, and she ran past the doorway, aiming a kick at Vercetti's gun hand.

"Ow!" Vercetti exclaimed as the kick connected. The gun went flying from his hand again.

Lara was now pounding up the stairs, running faster than she'd ever run before. She climbed the last flight of stairs and ran along the corridor.

She emerged on the roof.

There were barrels and boxes everywhere, and standing right in the middle of the roof, on a raised helipad, was a helicopter.

Lara heard Vercetti panting as he ran up the stairs, so she sprinted over to the helicopter and pulled open the door.

Vercetti arrived on the roof to see the blades of his helicopter whirling furiously. Suddenly, the helicopter took off into the air.

"Damn it!" Vercetti shouted. He took a running leap at the helicopter, but Lara was flying it forward and out of his reach. Because Vercetti couldn't grab onto the helicopter, he flew right off the roof instead!

Lara gasped as she saw him fall, but she quickly handled the helicopter and flew off toward the ocean that stretched behind Vercetti's mansion.

Vercetti landed in one of his swimming pools, throwing water up everywhere. He got out quickly and ran off to his Sea Sparrow helicopter. He jumped in to it and whirled up into the sky, not even pausing to shut his door.

Lara headed towards the skyscrapers of Downtown that could be seen across the water. She finally let out a sigh of relief which she had been holding in for a long time since making her escape.

But all of a sudden, the sound of another whirl of helicopter blades could be heard. Lara checked behind her and saw a mechanical-looking helicopter flying after her. She could see its pilot through a clear bubble at the front of the machine; Vercetti again!

"Damn!" Lara cursed. She dipped the helicopter so she could go faster.

But then the sound of machine guns rang out, and Lara's helicopter was peppered with bullets.

"Machine guns? Not fair!" Lara exclaimed, noticing that Vercetti's 'copter had guns mounted on the front.

More bullets. Lara's Maverick took more hits. Black smoke began to billow out from the engine.

Lara was getting closer to Downtown though...she could see the grass at the edge of the road. She could see buildings, she could see cars, she could see people!

"Nearly there!" Lara cried frantically.

But Vercetti let loose another magazine of bullets, and Lara's helicopter went up in flames!

Lara began to descend the helicopter very quickly. She was near the ground now, but her machine was near explosion - so she opened the door and jumped out!

Lara screamed as she fell to the ground. She landed on the grass with a painful THUMP. The helicopter above, without a pilot manning it, plummeted down. It bounced off the edge of the road and splashed into the water, where it exploded, sending water droplets and bits of debris flying over Lara like some sort of absurd rainfall.

Vercetti spotted the helicopter explode in the water, and smiled. He turned his own helicopter around and headed back to Starfish Island.

But he didn't see Lara lying on the grass. Nor did he see the ambulance that came screaming around the corner, or the paramedics leap out of the back and lift Lara onto a stretcher.

And he certainly didn't see Lara being taken to hospital, because he thought she was dead and gone.

Chapter 4 - Schuman Health Care Center.

Beep...beep...beep...Lara's eyes flicked open to the steady sound of a life monitor.

Hospital...she thought worriedly.

Shooting up in bed, Lara looked around. The sunlight filtering in through white-framed windows told her that it was daytime, probably morning. The window was open, letting some cool air into the white ward. Other patients rested in white beds around Lara, drip bags hung high above them, some of their limbs cast in more white.

Lara groaned and sleepily squinted over to the door to the ward; a nurse was just leaving.

"Hey!" Lara exclaimed.

The nurse stopped and looked at her. He made his way over to her bedside, then stopped and smiled. "Can I help you--"

"Look, I need some questions answering," Lara interrupted. "Where did you find me?"

"Jeez, eye witnesses told us, and the police, that they saw a great helicopter fall from the sky," the nurse explained, "and they said it was shot down. They saw you fall onto the grass, then we were called out. That's all I know."

"The police?" Lara raised an eyebrow.

"Ur, yeah. They've been investigating. They say you're one of them. That true?"

"Yeah. What've they found out?"

"They're looking into who shot you down. More people say they saw a...whatsit...a Sea Sparrow helicopter shoot yours down,"

"Hmm, you don't say,"

"You know something? It wasn't an accident?"

Lara fell silent. She watched the young nurse intently. He was looking back at her, seemingly a bit nervous.

"Are they here?" Lara finally said.

"No,"

"Get them here. I need to make a statement,"

"So it wasn't an acci--"

"Just get 'em here," Lara snapped, then turned over on her side and became silent again.

She heard the nurse walk off; she sat back up and sighed.

What a crappy day...

"Miss Johnson?" a male voice ripped Lara from her deep sleep.

"Huh?" Lara asked groggily, her eyes squinty as she stared up at her visitor.

"Lara?" the guy asked.

"Who're you?" Lara sat up, the white ward slowly coming into focus.

"It's Zeke," said the man.

Lara looked at him; it was Zeke!

"Zeke," Lara sighed with relief, a small smile slightly lifting the right corner of her mouth. "Why're you here--"

"For the statement," Zeke explained, whipping out a notebook and pen. "This is business, not pleasure."

Lara raised an eyebrow and smiled her small smile again.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Zeke asked, settling himself in a chair by Lara's bedside.

Lara didn't know if she should tell Zeke about the whole Vercetti thing. She could just tell him it was some anonymous loony that had got hold of a Sea Sparrow...

"Lara?"

"Zeke."

"Please will you tell me?"

Lara took a deep breath, then began - with the Anonymous Loony story.

"Right, I'll hand this report in. Get better soon, L," Zeke smiled, then left.

Lara sighed and shook her head; what had she just done?! She'd lied to the police! Why hadn't she told Zeke about Vercetti? What was holding her back? It wasn't as if she liked the guy - he was a creep who had tried to kill her!

"But why?" Lara asked herself quietly, her head in her hands.

She thought long and hard, thinking back to when she'd first met Vercetti...nothing came to her.

But suddenly - "...People to pay a visit to..."

She'd replied that she got his drift; obviously, he'd just told her that he was off to kill some people. He must've seen something on the television, the news, something about her becoming a police officer. Now she was a loose end that needed cleaning up.

Lara made her decision - she couldn't stay here, not if Vercetti got wind of her still being alive.

She pulled out the needles in her arms, threw back the covers, then leapt out of bed. She hurried out of the ward and into an even whiter corridor. There was no one around, so she ran off towards the staff room, hoping to find some clothes there.

"...and so, the police are looking into the incident. Trying to kill a police officer can receive the death penalty here in Vice City, so Miss Johnson's attacker better look out."

Vercetti picked up his Colt Python and aimed it at the TV screen. BLAM! With a fizz and crackle, the TV died as the bullet entered it. Its screen blew out in a spray of black glass.

Vercetti threw his gun down in anger, then left his office. He walked down the wide staircase and outside into the afternoon sunshine.

The flowers in the flowerbeds, the grass and the palm trees all swayed in the cool wind. The weather was perfect, but Vercetti's mood was stormy.

He flung open the door of his white Infernus, which was parked around to the right of the huge stone steps that led down from the mansion. Switching on the radio, Vercetti reversed into a full spin, then sped off along the gravel drive, spinning 90 degrees to leave the estate via the gap in the orange wall. He then turned to the left, and zoomed off to the Mainland.

Dressed in a pair of jeans, a blue skinny-fit t-shirt, and a pair of old sneakers, Lara left the staff room and snuck off down the hallway. Nurses passed her, but they ignored her, their mind on the jobs they had to do.

Lara reached reception and left the building, still unnoticed. She smiled as the fresh air hit her face.

Lara looked off down the street - to the right, a road that stretched off into the distance, perhaps around a bend. To the left was a T-junction, cream coloured buildings leading the way in both directions. Across the road was a chain of electronic stores.

Lara looked around; then quickly crossed the road.

There was an ear-splitting screech, the sound of tyres braking on tarmac - Lara leapt out of the way of the car that almost ran her over.

"Yo stupid bitch!" screamed the woman from inside the car. She drove off and Lara hurried onto the sidewalk.

She walked along to the corner, then examined the two roads that led off the T-junction. One went past big buildings and greenery; the other, a very long road that led off round a curve.

Lara took this route.

As she walked, she thought about Vercetti. He could be watching her at any time, or he could have employed people to watch her. She didn't know what was going on in his head! He seemed very ambitious and certainly not the type to let anything stand in his way. It gave Lara the shivers. It reminded her of Richard III, a play by William Shakespeare, where Richard III had killed his family members to get to the throne. Maybe that was what Vercetti was like, except he would kill to get a new sports car--

"Hey, watch it!" a man's voice shouted.

Lara blinked furiously, trying to come out of her thoughts. She did, and she saw a small, round man looking angry at her.

"Watch where you're walking, lady, you bumped right into me!" the man squawked, then he waddled off.

Lara raised an eyebrow as she watched him go. Then she turned her attention back to the road ahead; it did lead around a curve. There was an opening in a cream coloured wall to her right, and a couple of roads heading between some buildings to an unknown place.

Lara decided to investigate the opening; she stepped onto the long stretch of grass that ran along the wall of the building on the right. The left side had big metal doors set in it, and as Lara walked, she saw a smaller door with the words 'Roof Access' above it.

She stopped suddenly.

This was the Hyman Condo. The place that Vercetti wanted to buy. $14,000...

The big metal doors (there were 3 of them) were garages, two-car garages. There was access to the roof, so a helipad became a possibility. It looked like the perfect place to live.

And, Lara thought, I'm gonna need a place on the Mainland. But 14,000 dollars is a lot of money...where am I gonna get that kinda cash?

Lara looked around some more - the opposite end of this alley where the Condo was situated was cordoned off by two white-and-orange traffic blockers, with the little yellow lights on the top. There was a curvy road beyond that, and across it was a cafe called 'Tacopalypse.'

"Excuse me," came a strong, manly voice.

Lara span around to see a tall, muscular man with crew-cut blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"I'm Lara Johnson," Lara smiled, holding out a hand for the man to shake, although she didn't really want him to take it because she didn't want her hand crushed.

"Guy Philips," the man smiled, taking Lara's hand - she winced as he shook it roughly.

"I was wondering if I could buy your place," Lara quickly took her hand back as soon as Guy let it go.

"Yeah, it's $14,000, but I could make a special reduction for a pretty lady like you," Guy grinned.

"Oh, ur...what kinda reduction?"

"Say...$2,000?"

"Off?"

"Yeah, that's only 12,000 bucks."

"Uh-huh. I don't have much money, y'see, they took the last of mine at the hospital,"

"Hospital? What's a pretty lady like you doing in a hospital?"

"Don't read the newspapers, huh?" Lara smiled, although she doubted this beefcake could read at all.

"No. Were you in some kinda trouble?"

"Do we have to discuss this now?...I'm sorry, I just...I don't want someone else to get this place, I need to buy it now or never,"

"Oh, yeah...yeah, sure."

"Is there any way I can get the money together before someone else buys it?"

"I tell you what; I'll reserve it for you, so if anyone wants to buy it, they'll have to offer more than the asking price,"

"Ah, gee, thanks,"

"But you can still have it at 12,000 dollars when you're ready," Guy smiled.

"Great, thanks a lot. Hey...have you got any ideas how I could get the money together?" Lara asked.

"Sure, there's a pizza place down the road and the Hyman Memorial Stadium run Dirtring Obstacle Courses, Hotring Races, Bloodring Destruction Derbies..."

"Sounds cool. Well, thanks, Guy. I'll catch you later," Lara smiled at Guy, then walked off out of the alley the way she had come.

She looked at the two roads that disappeared between the buildings. She crossed the road to the nearest one, then set off along the pavement that ran alongside it.

A huge stadium loomed into view. It had a big, blue dome, and stone-coloured walls. Many flights of steps, with 'glass' banisters, led up to the entrance, from the right and left, then up one big flight, then up another...it just seemed to go on and on.

Lara was now at a roundabout. It had plants in the middle and a huge stone ring above it. It all looked a bit over-the-top.

Lara climbed the stairs to a large panel of black doors. They were all closed. There was a big sign above the complex that read 'Hotring Race.'

"Hey," Lara stopped a passer-by.

The woman glared at her.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your, er, walk, but I was just wondering when the arena--" Lara began.

"--opens? Yeah yeah, nobody knows." the woman grumbled, then she shuffled off.

Lara rolled her eyes. She shook her head and walked back down the stairs, past the roundabout, and was about to leave the way she had come, when she saw a big stone sign amongst the plants in the roundabout.

It read 'Hyman Memorial Stadium. Est 1979.'

"1979, eh?" Lara raised an eyebrow. She checked her digital watch; it was 13:42.

Then she smiled and left the way she had come - she was going to come back at exactly 8:09pm.

1979, you might say.

"Hi, Guy, look, I'm sorry but the stadium won't be open 'til 8 this evening," Lara spoke into the payphone receiver, "and I won't be able to get any money until then--oh, I see. Well maybe--a what? A pizza place? Whoa, hold it! I've had some very bad experiences in pizza places!...Look, it's a long story. But--" beep beep beep. Lara's quarter had run out. She dug in her pocket and found another; she inserted it, then continued speaking to Guy: "I know, I know, but I just don't think...oh. Can you arrange something? Hey, who's that in the background?"

Lara's blood ran cold as she heard Guy's reply:

"It's some guy called Tommy Vercetti."

"A-a-a-and what does he w-w-want?" Lara tried to sound casual but fear broke into her voice.

"He wants to buy the Condo, hun. He's kinda...forceful, if you get my drift,"

"Hey, I got his drift, I can get yours too," Lara quipped. "Look, where are you?"

"We're at my house, to sort out some papers...except, he has a...a..."

"A gun?" Lara guessed worriedly.

"Ur, yeah. Look, he says he's gonna kill me. He says if I don't give him the place he'll kill me and my family,"

"Okay, here's what you're gonna do," Lara slipped another quarter in with sweaty fingers. "You're gonna do whatever he says, and you're gonna stall him. Don't give him any reason to hurt you. Just...keep him busy. What's your address?"

"I can't tell you exactly, he'll get suspicious...he's already watching me. It's number 22, y'know those white apartments near--"

Guy was suddenly cut off by a male voice saying, "Time's up." and then the hang-up tone sounded.

"Bugger," Lara slammed the phone down. She stood for a moment, wondering what to do, even though she had already made a little plan - just to grab a car and get over to Guy sharpish, then she'd...take on Vercetti.

Where could she get a car, though? There were loads driving past her, but she knew she couldn't just take one. That would be carjacking. She didn't want to end up like Jericho. And he'd been jailed! She couldn't do it, she just couldn't...

Lara turned a corner in the white Banshee. It was a fast car, responsive too. It looked pretty cool, must've cost its owner a bomb. As if Lara had stopped to ask when she was pulling the poor man out. The leather seats were very comfy, though...

Lara figured she needed to check up with Guy. She didn't have a payphone with her, so what could she use?

She checked the glove compartment - score! It was a flashy cellphone.

Lara dialled Guy's number, eyes on the road. She was passing the police station by the time Guy's phone was answered.

"Who is it?"

It was Vercetti, Lara could tell. She slapped the flip phone shut quickly, breathing hard. She threw the phone onto the passenger seat and zoomed on ahead, up the very long stretch of road that went all the way to The Docks.

Despite Guy getting cut off before he could say where his flat was near to, Lara knew that the white apartments were near The Docks, especially considering that she had smashed the Zebra Cab into one of them.

But suddenly, another thought hit Lara; she could call the police for back-up!

Oh yeah, after I've nicked someone's car! she thought cynically, I'm just like that woman I caught...I can see the radio message: 'some lunatic just jacked a white Banshee, go check it out, blah blah.'

Lara shook her head and pressed her foot down harder...she was nearly there. Past Little Havana, Little Haiti, the white flats were in view--

SMASH!

Lara's windscreen exploded, glass scattering all over the leather seats, scratching at Lara's face. Lara ducked down below the wheel, squeezing her eyes shut, covering her face with her hands.

Then her door was flung open; rough hands pulled her out. She was thrown onto the tarmac and then someone was on top of her, pinning her down, one hand at her throat.

Lara opened her eyes to see a ginger-haired man staring down at her through bluey-black shades. She swatted at him with a free hand and took his glasses off.

"HEY!" the man screamed.

Lara then used the same hand and SMACK! punched the guy off her. He rolled off her and lay on the ground next to his broken sunglasses and an Uzi.

Lara jumped up - and found herself face-to-face with more of Vercetti's goons.

Chapter 5 - The Docks.

WHACK! Lara acted fast, her hand shooting out in a claw-like pose. It hit one of the men right on the nose and he dropped quickly. Lara performed a drop-sweep, taking out another man's legs.

"Agh!" he cried as his head hit the road.

Two down, four to go...Lara thought.

Another crony kicked at her; she jumped onto the roof of her car to avoid it. She retaliated by kicking out at the man's face - which was just at the right level now she was higher up - and he fell down swiftly.

Another guy had a gun - BLAM! he fired. Lara leapt backwards off the roof and onto the trunk, the whole car rocking with her weight. Then she felled a goon waiting around there for her and avoided another's punch.

Two left!

Lara did a cartwheel off the trunk as both men with their guns fired. Sparks flew as the bullets hit the metal.

Lara ducked down behind the car, breathing heavily. If only she had a gun!

The ginger guy.

He was still knocked out in the middle of the road, his gun just lying there, useless.

Lara saw his body; she did a forward roll out from behind the car, diving out to grab the gun. She claimed it, then quickly moved sideways as she took off the safety catch.

What a wuss, she thought, glancing at the ginger man.

POW! Lara fired this time. One of the goon's chests exploded in a spray of red. He dropped in an instant.

Just one left...

Lara ducked another wave of bullets, then darted behind a palm tree. She poked an arm out and shot blindly at the man.

"Aaaaaaah!" came a scream.

Lara slowly peeked out from behind the tree--BLAM! She narrowly missed having her nose blown off. The guy was faking.

PTTTTTTTTPTTTTTT! Lara shot at him again, and then he cried out once more.

Cautiously, Lara took another peek; and this time he was dead. His whole face was covered in blood.

Satisfied, Lara stepped out from behind the tree. She walked over to her car, which had black smoke pouring out of it, and went past it to the apartment that Vercetti had so kindly marked for her by putting his gunmen out onto the road.

Number 22 - Lara didn't bother knocking. She took a few steps back, then ran full speed at the door.

SMACK! The door fell down into the dark hallway beyond.

Her shoulder aching, Lara tiptoed down the hall, glancing in open rooms. She didn't find anything or anyone, until...

"Please don't hurt me!"

"What makes you think you'll stop me from doing just that, with your little whiny pleas?!"

"Look, you can have the apartment, just--"

"I know you know her, Philips, and if you don't tell me I'm going to have to shoot you!"

"Well...well, seems how I know, you won't shoot me until I tell you. So I'm not going to tell you!"

So much for not giving him a reason to hurt you, Lara rolled her eyes out in the corridor. But she knew what courage it must take Guy to stand up to Vercetti. Good tactics, too, with the whole 'You Won't Shoot Me Because You Need Me' thing.

Lara located the room that the voices were coming from and waited for the right time to bust in...

Now!

Lara opened the door slowly and pointed her gun at Vercetti's head. Vercetti was standing by the window at the back of the room. The window, of course, was covered by a dirty blind, which threw shadows around the whole room.

Vercetti had his back to the door. Guy was tied to a chair in front of his own desk.

"You like tying people up, dontcha?" Lara said to Vercetti.

Vercetti span around; he saw Lara but he stayed looking calm.

"I thought you'd died out there," Vercetti snarled.

"Ah, well, easy mistake. Y'see, your men have very girly screams," Lara retorted. "Sorry, I'm wrong...they had very girly screams."

The corner of Vercetti's top lip raised into a sneer. His eyes flashed warningly.

"It's okay, Guy," Lara told the frightened man in front of her. "He's not gonna hurt you." She stepped forward next to Guy's chair and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"How...sweet..." Vercetti's mouth finally contorted into a proper sneer.

"So, why do you want me? Huh? I'm guessing you don't hold people at gun point when you want to buy a property," Lara remarked.

"Y'know I told you about a few...people I needed to talk to?" Vercetti said quietly and menacingly.

"I'm familiar with that conversation seems how I was actually there,"

"Well...when you were a cop, I didn't want you to know about these...people and my little...chats with them."

"Okay, this isn't pre-school, you can drop the secretiveness. You went to kill some loose ends, right? People that didn't do what you said?"

"You know, Miss Johnson, you're quite perceptive,"

"Drop the stupid gangster act as well. I know you're just a puff."

"Ha...ha...ha..." Vercetti said sarcastically.

"So you wanted to kill me because...?" Lara got back to the subject, figuring she wanted to know why he wanted to kill her, before he did.

"Because I didn't want some cop to know about my loose ends. And you were a cop, so I lured you to my house, and then you got away. I thought you were dead, but the news gives away a lot, y'know," Vercetti started to move closer.

"So does your breath, yeuch! Did you eat garlic or something?" Lara derided.

"Cheeky bitch," Vercetti hissed, his face right up close to Lara's.

Lara's finger tightened on the trigger. She aimed the muzzle at Vercetti's stomach.

"Might wanna change your clothes, too," she smiled sarcastically.

"Why?" Vercetti snapped.

"Because you've got bloodstains on this suit," Lara replied, and then she quickly pulled the trigger.

BAM!

Blood blossomed out across Vercetti's blue suit. His face froze into an expression of apoplectic shock. He staggered backwards, grabbing onto the desk. His hand slipped on some papers and they fluttered over him as he fell to the floorboards.

"Oh...my...God..." Guy muttered.

Lara untied him, then helped him up. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"I can walk on my own...should I go and get the police?" Guy asked.

"Ur...yeah, yeah. I'll stay here," Lara replied, eyes still on Vercetti's body.

Guy hurried off out the room.

Lara walked over to Vercetti and knelt next to him. She grabbed some of the papers and used them soak up the blood.

"W...what are you d...doing...bitch?" Vercetti groaned.

"Shut your face, dumb-ass," Lara snapped. "I'm trying to stop you from...not living."

"Why the...Hell...would you...want to do...that?" Vercetti breathed.

"Because, I don't want killing someone added to my conscience in this Hell Hole,"

"What about my men...though? You k...k...killed them."

Lara sighed. "Y'know what? I don't know why I'm trying to save you. Maybe I want to keep you alive so you can actually go to jail and suffer there."

"Look, bitch, I never ever get c...caught by the p...police!" Vercetti struggled to get up.

"Shut it," Lara pushed him to the ground again, reaching for more papers.

Vercetti smacked her arms away from him and tried to sit up again. This time he succeeded. He pulled the blind open and slid the window wide.

Lara just stayed kneeling where Vercetti was. As he climbed out of the window, he looked back at Lara. Then he jumped out.

Lara got up and watched him go. It was just like it was in the movies, with Vercetti growing dark as he ran off into the sunset.

"POLICE!" someone shouted and the office door burst open. Half a dozen cops stood with their guns trained on Lara.

"He...he fought me off and escaped," Lara lied, pointing out the window.

But Vercetti was already gone.

"Hey, Lara, here's your coffee," Zeke Maxell handed Lara a coffee as she sat in the reception of Downtown VCPD. Lara took a sip then placed it on the table beside her.

"How'd your statement go?" Zeke asked.

"It was okay. I told them the guy in the heli was Vercetti," Lara replied.

"Why did you let him get away?"

Lara was shocked. "How did you...did you..."

"It's obvious. He didn't fight you off, you let him go. Why?"

"Because...I don't know. I just didn't want him to go to jail...I don't know why."

"Did you say that in your statement?"

"No,"

"You puzzle me,"

"Look, he's probably gone and left town. He won't bother anyone anymore,"

"What about you?"

"He's left town, he won't bother me--"

"No, I mean, in your memories."

"Ah come on, it wasn't like he meant anything to me."

"Miss Johnson?" the receptionist's voice broke into their conversation. "Miss Johnson, there's a phone call from a Mister Yeti waiting for you."

"What?" Lara laughed in disbelief. She got up and took the receiver from the woman. "Hello?"

"Lara? Vercetti."

"Oh! Y'know you called the station? I can't talk well in here," Lara shot a glance at Zeke, who was watching her intently.

"Just pretend I'm your friend from New York. Talk about dogs or something,"

Lara smiled. "Right. So, how're the dogs? Are they somewhere hot and sunny?"

"Was it hot and sunny when you were here?"

"What?"

"I'm in New York,"

Lara laughed; it was like a complete reversal.

"Y'know, I always liked you, Lara. You're pretty strong, very unwomanly."

"Oh, thanks," Lara grinned.

"Hey, you know all my property?"

"I know of it,"

"You take it."

"WHAT?!" Lara cried. "Y-y-y-you're prop..." she saw Zeke looking and acted fast, "...props? The dogs have eaten your props? Terrible!"

"Er, what? Oh, I see, cover-up. Well, you take it. I ain't got no use for it. Keep it running for me. There's a couple hundred thousand dollars in the safe at the Vercetti Estate, if you need it. Just buy the Hyman Condo and do me a bloody favour!"

"Sure...and...thanks a lot, Yeti,"

"Always happy to help. You just take care of my stuff, yeah? And if anyone gives you any stick, tell 'em where they can stick their...stick."

Lara smiled. "Sure thing. I'll talk to you later. Hope you find some new props and your dogs don't have such a hard time as...ur...mine did where you are."

"Yeah, thanks. You never know, I might win a trip to Miami like you did."

Lara laughed and hung up.

Epilogue - The End.

"Hey, Mario, get me my Colt!" Lara's voice echoed up the stairs of the Vercetti Estate.

"Here," Mario shoved the gun at her, breathless from his run up and down the stairs.

"I promise that is the last time I'll call for you," Lara smiled.

Mario tutted and walked off.

Lara sipped her cocktail and stared out of the window; it was a nice day. There were so many pools outside, she knew she should be wallowing in their blue coolness, only coming out of the water to take another sip of drink. But somehow, she wanted to stay inside. She liked being inside the big, red-decorated mansion. It made her feel powerful.

She had actually just returned from going to all of Vercetti's businesses to pick up revenue and to tell the gang members there who was boss now. This also reminded her that the businesses were no longer Vercetti's...they were hers.

Lara was glad she had taken that step further, not been afraid to live life on the edge. Because now, she was officially in charge of Vice City.

She smiled.

The End