Ch 2-

"A bullet proof vest?" Theresa said as they entered a weapons store.

"If you're made a partner you'll want one." Noah frowned. "But we're staying small for now, so maybe we should wait on that."

"No. I mean you never know what's gonna happen. I should get one." Theresa looked around her. "Nice rifle."

Noah gave her a look.

"Oh c'mon. Your dad used to take Hank and Luis hunting all the time. I know what a rifle looks like."

Mutely, Noah pointed.

Theresa bit her lip. "And those would be rifles. But so are those?" Unintentionally, her tone turned the last statement to a question.

"C'mon let's find you a nice little gun." Noah said leading her over to the case.

"Can I help you with something?"

"Hey Lou."

"Noah. How's Hank?"

"He's good."

"Heard he left town in a hurry."

"Yeah, so it seems." Noah said noncommittally.

"So what's today's mission?"

"A gun for her." Noah nodded to Theresa.

"Okay. What kind were you looking for?"

"How about that one?" Theresa pointed.

"Your friend's got good taste."

"I'm sure." Noah said bleakly. "Let's see it."

Theresa shot him an inquisitive look. Noah winked carefully, so Lou didn't see.

Theresa tested it out. "Nice weight."

Noah took it from her hands. "What's the handle?" He asked suspiciously.

"Pearl, of course. It's a weapon for a lady." Lou sent Theresa a salesman's smile.

"Pearl handled pistol? Little old fashioned, aren't you Theresa?"

"I'm a lady after all. We are all old-fashioned." Theresa kidded. "I like the look of the Colt over there." She pointed.

Lou shook his head. "You don't want that. Nothing but trouble." He said. "This here has a nice weight, it's reliable,"

"I want to see that one." Theresa said firmly.

"You heard her Lou." Noah said.

Reluctantly, the man removed the Colt from the case. "Now, this here, this isn't a toy." He said, handing it to Theresa butt first.

"I know that guns aren't toys." Theresa said, aggravated. "It's nice. What is it? A Colt Defender Plus?"

"That's right."

"Stainless steel slide, aluminum alloy commander receiver, a nine round clip, and twenty-two and half ounces. Am I right?"

"Yes you are ma'am." A grudging not of respect replaced Lou's patronizing tone.

"What do you think Noah?"

He frowned at it. "How are you going to carry it?"

"What do you mean?"

He frowned at it. "Well, no one's going to laugh at you for carrying a granny gun. At least this thing looks intimidating."

Theresa rolled her eyes. "The guns are on Hank and do you have any thigh holsters?"

Lou shot Noah a look of pity, that asked 'Boy, what are you getting into here?'

hr

"A thigh holster? Why do you need a thigh holster?"

"Because I don't wear a lot of jackets in warm weather and besides I like wearing skirts. It makes a guy forget that I'm there to arrest them." Theresa said from the bedroom, where she was trying on her new gear. "Besides I got the shoulder one too didn't I?"

Noah sighed. "Let's not discuss where you put your gun, ok? If we do and Hank finds out he'll shoot me out of a sense of duty to Luis."

"What if Luis found out?"

"He'd strangle me if he found out I bought you a gun. You are, after all, a recently released convicted murderer."

Theresa scowled.

"I can hear you scowling you know."

"Okay, you ready to see if I've got this on right?"

Probably not, Noah thought. "Sure." He said.

Theresa came out of the bedroom wearing a skirt that stopped about two inches above her knee with a button up blouse. The skirt was the type that fluttered when she walked.

He scanned her figure. "I don't see it." He announced, blushing a little.

"I thought that was the point." Theresa said.

"Uh it is."

"Noah, you realize that you're blushing right?"

"Huh? Oh am I?"

"Yeah." She giggled. "C'mon let's go to dinner. We can eat at some diner and then go meet Viper."

He shook his head. "One more question, then I swear I'll shut up."

She raised her eyebrows, enjoying this mild feeling of power. She and Noah had been friends for years without him ever openly acknowledging that she had grown up. Not that he denied it, it just never came up as an issue. "Sure."

"How are you going to get to your weapon if you need it?"

Theresa didn't answer she just stared at him in the eyes, and smiled. She carefully inched closer still smiling. Just as Noah was about to say something he felt something stick in his ribs.

He looked down. It was her gun. He looked back up.

"You were saying?"

HR

"Ice water for the lady, Coke for the gent." The waitress set the drinks in front of Noah and Theresa.

"Thanks." Theresa said.

"Thank you." Noah said as well.

"I'll be back with your meals soon."

She looked around the restaurant trying to be inconspicuous. "You live in a town your whole life, you never imagine that there are places you haven't seen."

"There's a whole world you haven't seen yet. T, I think we're being followed."

"What?"

"My half-brother. I saw him when we were in the mall, and now he's in the back booth."

Theresa put her hand to her face. "Please be kidding."

"Sorry."

"Think my eye trick would work on him?"

"You know that trick won't work when you have to bring in a woman." Noah complained.

"That's why you're here. You get the women, and I get the men."

"That sounded so wrong." Noah mumbled.

"I think it's really cute that you're still capable of blushing." She informed him. "I thought you would have outgrown that."

"I think that theory was proven wrong when you asked me to scrutinize you to see your holster showed."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. So what's he doing now?"

"I can't see him." Noah said. "He's hiding in a booth."

"Gimme your cell."

"What are you going to do with it?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to get Ethan off our tails." Theresa took the phone and dialed. "Hullo?" She said in a British accent. "Yes, I have a message for Miss Gwen Hotchkiss. Please tell her that her fiancé, Ethan Winthrop wants to meet her at the Seaside Diner down on the docks at six-thirty for dinner. Thank you."

"What did you do that for? He doesn't know that she's expecting him."

"I did it so that when we leave, he can't follow without Gwen making a big stink. She should get the message right about now and she'll be on her way."

Noah shrugged. "If we can't see him, how will she?"

"Gwen's like a homing pigeon when it comes to Ethan. She'll find him. Trust me."

"Did she attach a tracking collar or something?"

"Probably."

"Good to know." He said, as their food arrived.

)()()()()()()()(

Theresa entered the book cafe with a bag of clothing. They were from her Mrs. Crane days. She was donating them to charity.

But not to the blonde. These clothes really needed a dark complexion to carry off. Theresa spotted Kay and approached her.

"Hey Kay."

"Hi Theresa. What's in the bag?" She asked.

"Crane clothes." She announced. "Stuff Ivy and Rebecca bought while I was in jail."

"Really? Anything in my size?"

"Take a look. Let Jess and Simone look too. I let Whit go through it this morning."

"Did she find anything?" Kay asked, going into ecstasy over a pink silk top.

"She took a couple of the skirts. There's a blue one in there like that that would look really nice on Jess."

"Why did they buy this for you?"

Theresa shook her head. "No, this is what I ordered ahead of time that arrived while I--yeah. But I don't want it."

"Theresa?" Kay looked concerned. "You haven't passed up good clothes since I've known you."

"I kept some of it but I just wanna spread the wealth a little. Enjoy it okay?"

"Hey, you forgot the bag."

"You deal with it." Theresa said.

"Doesn't your mom want some of it? I thought she used to send some of your outgrown stuff to your cousins and sister."

"Gave her a box this morning. I got a lunch date to keep. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Kay began to marvel over the variety of clothes in the bag, as Beth came over with a pot of coffee.

"Nice stuff. I like that pink tank."

Kay looked at it. "You want it?"

"What?" Beth almost dropped the glass pot.

"Theresa's giving away Crane clothes. I don't think this would fit me or Jess or Simone. You want it?"

"Sure. Thanks." Beth took it and folded it before she stuck it behind the counter next to her bag.

"Keep looking. You might find something to go with it."

"It feels like Christmas." Beth said.

"And Theresa's Santa Claus." Kay laughed.

HR

"So what do we do today?" Theresa asked. She was dressed in what she considered sensible clothing--a teeny t-shirt, jeans, and cute canvas sneakers.

"Change."

"What?"

"Go change your clothes."

"Noah, I look fine." She protested.

"You look distracting. We're going to a gun range. You'll make people lose their concentration."

"You're overreacting."

"All right, let's put it this way. Would you want to walk past a bunch of guys who are on the same intellectual level as a dog wearing that, while your brother follows you with a loaded gun is in his possession?"

"I will be right back." Theresa went into the bedroom and took something out of Hank's closet. Then she came back out. "How's this? Better?"

"Much."

Theresa had put a flannel shirt on and buttoned the middle button.

"Thank you." Noah said. "I didn't want to shoot anyone today."

"You know I'm beginning to see what Kay and Jess have been complaining about all these years."

"You haven't seen anything yet." He promised darkly. "Wait till Hank comes back."

"He's the younger brother."

"But he's had training from Luis."

"My brother is too oblivious to do anything but fly into a blind rage."

"Which is why we don't tell him about this. Or that. Or anything."

Theresa grinned. "OK. So practice with the gun. Then do we get to go after some slime ball?"

"I picked up a nice safe drunk for you."

"Is he a slime ball?" She asked. "Wait, I just thought of something."

Noah refrained from a sarcastic comment. "Yes?"

"How do you and Hank do this here? I mean, bring them into the station and get body receipts without someone recognizing you--cause your dad doesn't know, and my brother doesn't know. So how does that work?"

"We bring 'em to Vinnie. He has a cage in the office. He takes 'em in, gets the receipt, and then we get paid."

"And he's never been dishonest?"

"He tries, from time to time." Noah admitted.

"Then what happens?"

"We threaten to run his rap sheet by Sam and Luis. He wasn't exactly the most law abiding of guys in his youth."

"And that works?"

"Well, that or Hank threatens to call his wife. Rita likes Hank."

"Like likes?"

"What are we, in junior high? No, she just thinks that Hank keeps Vinnie on the straight and narrow. Rita stuck with him through the wild days, and she doesn't want to go back there."

"Smart woman. C'mon let's go. After practice, I'll go collect the skip and then we can go do something."

"In Harmony?" Noah asked. "Hon, hate to disillusion you, but there's not a lot to do around here."

"We can go play ball at the community center."

"How's Ethan?"

"He's fine. Mama has him."

"She must like babysitting."

"She likes to spoil him."

"My mom's jealous."

"What? Grace has the Grandma bug?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Maybe you'll meet a nice girl and cure her."

"Maybe." Noah said, noncommittally. "You have the gun?"

Theresa reached around her. "Right here."

"Good." He said. Noah scooped up the keys. "Let's go."