24

The morning sun peaked through the blinds on Integra's office window. Amon was glad to see it. It had been a long night.

"Hurry up, Walter," Integra said in mock command before hanging up the phone.

"So when will he be coming home?" Seras asked.

"He'll be discharged next week," Integra said. She adjusted her arm in the sling over her shoulder.

"Wonderful," Seras said with a yawn. "I think I'll go to bed now. I've been up half the day already."

Amon eyed her as she passed by him on her way out.

"Sir Integra, how did you get Solomon to leave so quickly?" Robin asked.

Integra smiled a little. "I made a phone call to the heads of Solomon. I told them that you two weren't here at all. My uncle falsely reported your presence in order to secure Solomon's help in his personal vendetta."

"And they believed that?" Amon asked rudely.

"Of course they did," Integra said indignantly. "I have more than a little credit with them."

"Even now when you're up on charges?" Amon asked.

"I'm not up on charges," Integra shot back. "Once it became clear that my uncle used his influence to manipulate the court system illegally, the charges were dropped."

"Regardless, we shouldn't stay here," Amon said. "If Solomon finds out you lied to them, there will be consequences."

"Agreed," Integra said. "Where will you go from here?"

"It's better if you don't know," Amon replied. Integra nodded.

"I always wanted to see Paris," Robin said absentmindedly.

The other two stared at her for a moment until she looked up.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.

"It doesn't matter," Integra said. "If they ask, I'll just tell the truth and they'll assume that I'm lying again."

The two hunters were almost out the door when Amon turned back around.

"By the way, what was that thing you had to pick up here?" he asked.

Integra smiled again. "My confidence, of course."

25

It was just past midday when Amon and Robin got back to their hotel. As they climbed out of the taxi, Robin turned to Amon and let fly with another question.

"Why did you decide to help?" she asked.

"I told you before," he said without looking at her.

"What was the real reason?" she asked.

"The real reason?" he repeated.

"Yes."

Amon paused and looked at her. "It seemed important to you," he said as flatly as ever.

Epilogue

Date: March 10
From: Amon
Subject: You remind me of…
I met someone interesting the other day. A very proud person with silver blonde hair. And I finally realized who he reminded me of.

Date: March 10
From: Integra
Subject: Re: You remind me of…
Amon, you slimy spook. How did you get my email address?

The End… or is it…

Story notes:

March - The epilogue takes place right after Hunting Dogs. From certain clues in WHR, I figured out that Hunting Dogs would take place in March. Email me for a full explanation.

A very proud person - I know there has been some confusion among my email buddies about this line. It refers to Inuyasha, not Sesshomaru. If you've read Hunting Dogs 2, you know that Amon and Sesshomaru did not officially meet. Also, if you've read the first two parts of the Hunting Dogs series, you know what I'm trying to suggest about Integra.

Spook - a slang term for spy or secret agent. NOT a nice word.

Thank you to all the reviewers. I'm working on Hunting Dogs 4 right now. It might take a while to finish but I've already started posting it. This one is a bigger story with lots more surprises. Now that I've established Amon and Integra's ancestry, what could be more fun than sending them off on a quest to find the legendary Fang Swords? With another dog and a fox tagging along and an old rival hot on their trail there's plenty of excitement. Why, it almost reminds me of... Well, you get the idea. HD4 is posted in the WHR section, so check it out.