Chapter Two

The Blue Tattoo had seen it's fair share of questionable customers but this was ridiculous. The bartender eyed his workplace with something akin to fear for not only was thee Bad Billy Joe Thompson monopolizing half the bar with his thugs but there were cops as well. Oh, they were trying to be inconspicuous but when one's worked the taps as long as he have, spotting cops becomes a game. The only one he couldn't place was the one with the Mohawk.

Now that dude was something else, he wore a vest but no shirt. A rebel obviously, but for what cause? His skin was dark natural tan, not some pansy hitting the tanning salons. And the guy was cut! Not a biker and definitely not a rocker like the hairstyle implied. Most certainly not a punk kid either.

The guy was a mystery and he was glad he only had to worry about serving the dude, his drink.

The Bartender glanced up as the door opened yet again, only for his heart to skip a beat.

Not her . . . not again . . .

Sasoli tried not to smirk at the look of horror that crossed the bartender's face. That was the thing about bartenders, customers come and go but the someone has to keep serving the drinks. They always seemed to remember her . . . oh well, nothing she could do about it now.

She scanned the bar for her next victim. The entire day of tracking down all her contacts had been a bust. No one knew or heard anything about the murderer of Capsule Corp. employees but, after a very serious and long talk, one source finally broke and revealed a name. If anyone knew anything then it was Billy Joe Thompson.

Her scan had left her with two possible candidates. One at the bar with the mohawk and the other at a table surrounded by henchmen. Was Billy Joe a lone wolf or a self diluted power house?

Instinct screamed power house and so after a quick dress adjustment, she stepped into her role.

The man with the mohawk had seen the woman enter in the reflection of the glass behind the bar. His fist reaction was attraction. Her blood red dress was a scrap of a thing designed to capture a man's interest and he was only human. She had let the matching red wrap fall of her shoulders to be held in the crook of her elbows which only drew attention to her slim waist. Her raven hair spiked around her face giving her a wild air but what really caught his attention was her ice blue eyes.

The eyes of an angel in the body of a demon.

His second reaction was concern as she casually strolled over to the man he had been watching all night. Thompson was suspected of murder, money laundering, and drug distribution and he was just the detective to bring him in.

The undercover detective narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he watched the unknown female whisper into his suspect's ear. Is she part of his organization?

With an eagle eye, he watched her pout playfully before she walked confidently to take a seat at the bar. When Thompson made no move to follow her with more than his interested eyes, the detective moved to intercept her.

Sasoli was pleased with her encounter with little Billy. Her instincts were right, as usual, and in a minute or two she would have him eating out of her hand. Taking a random stool, she made sure to drape her wrap just below her waist to conceal her tail. There was no point in alarming the people around her, at least, not yet.

Her senses prickled as the Mohawk man she had spotted earlier took the stool right next to her. He was attractive in his own right and had yummy chocolate eyes. It was too bad she was on a mission, she would have loved to see if there was more to the rebel than just good looks.

"Hello," he greeted her, watching her eyebrows arch in surprise at his rather formal introduction, "My name is Uub and-"

"I don't want to talk to you," she interrupted him, resigned. She had expected a lame come on line, and instead, was completely caught off guard. What kind of man dressed like he was one with the streets and spoke politely? She was terribly intrigued but she was on a mission.

Uub's mouth closed with an audible click. He had never had a woman react to him like that before. Usually, they were half-way into a conversation before he realized they were talking to him. He had never just been blown off . . .

Sasoli peeked over her shoulder at her target. She hoped the mohawk hadn't scared him away. When Billy only seemed to frown in their direction, she smiled into her drink, this might work to her advantage.

Feeling humbled for some odd reason, Uub found himself actually hesitating to talk to her again but he was on the job. It was his duty to protect her from herself.

"Um . . ."

"Hey," Sasoli turned to him slightly, "I appreciate the lack of stupid come on lines but I can't talk to you."

Disgruntled, he had to work to keep his expression clear of frustration though he couldn't help the narrowing of his eyes. "You have to stay away from him."

Surprise widened her eyes as she turned toward him curiously. "Why?"

"He's dangerous," Uub angled his head down, trying to conceal his features from the now glaring Thompson.

A giggle brought his head up and he found himself caught by mischievous blue eyes.

"And you're not?" Sasoli was amused, "Are you old friend's with Billy? Is he a bad boy?"

Uub couldn't stop the frown as she continued to tease him.

"I can handle Billy," Sasoli studied the man's concerned face. He was serious but then so was she, "Leave him to me."

"I can't," Uub scooted closer to her so he wouldn't have to raise his voice.

Sasoli eyed him wearily as he moved into her personal space. Not that she couldn't take him but she really didn't want to do it in front of Billy. He was skittish enough.

"Oh," her mouth formed the word, "why is that?"

Uub clenched his jaw for a moment before loosening it. He knew now without a doubt that she was not apart of Thompson's group. Her questions revealed the a lack of knowledge about him. However, just because she was probably just interested in a date didn't mean it was safe to reveal himself to her.

Sasoli was becoming annoyed. Who was this guy? He wasn't the type of guy she usually ran into who was just interested in sex. He actually cared about her safety. What did he want? A date? A lifetime commitment? What?!

"Listen-"

"No," Uub interrupted her firmly before scooting in even closer to whisper, "He's a criminal and I am undercover to catch him."

"Undercover?" She whispered back just as softly, their faces were just inches away so only the barest thread of sound could travel to the others ears. "For what?"

Satisfied for finally getting her attention. "I am a detective for the

Hercule Police Department and I have been on a stake out for Thompson for the last month. I don't want you to get involved, he's dangerous."

Suspicion entered her eyes, "Prove it, show me your badge."

"Fair enough," Uub turned to face her completely, his hands going for his belt as he stood.

Sasoli stiffened slightly as he gestured to his belt buckle when she noticed the ingeniousness of the design. The belt buckle wasn't solid but had a compartment to place his badge so the front showed but was disguised by the design around it. Only a person with a sharp eyes would be able to see it for what it really was.

"You really are undercover," Admiration colored her voice as she reached out to touch his badge.

Uub swallowed and took her hands away from his belt as she slid of her stool. "Yes, so you-"

"You're good," the space between them was almost nonexistent now, "I didn't even spot you. You should train your fellow police officers in here."

Startled, he forgot to release her wrists, "You spotted them?"

She smirked at him now, amused. "The woman at the table wearing the jean skirt. The men at the pool table. The woman at the jukebox. The-"

"How?" Uub demanded softly, unconsciously pulling her closer.

"Well, you see," her eyes were laughing, "I'm undercover too."

Uub drew in a startled breath as disbelief and surprise swirled in his eyes. But-

"What the hell is going on here?!"

The couple jerked toward the man they had come to the bar to see.

"Billy," Sasoli breathed as she turned to find her wrists still being held. She made a small show of trying to pull away weakly. "Let me go."

Uub locked eyes for a moment and found himself weakening against the will in her eyes. He released her.

She slapped him.

Shocked, he put a hand to his cheek as she ducked behind Thompson.

"I told you I didn't want to talk to you," Sasoli whimpered and forced herself to cling to Billy, "He's an ex that won't leave me alone."

"I see," Billy Joe arrogance came out in full force, "If you're not man enough to keep your woman then you should leave her alone."

"Not man enough," Fury shone in his eyes though felt none of it. Truthfully, he was impressed by . . . He didn't know her name. He yanked the man up by his collar and narrowed his eyes dangerously, "I'll show you what happens when someone steps between me and my woman."

"You have just forfeited your life," Thompson sneered at him and motioned for his henchmen. "Kill him."

Sasoli's mouth dropped open in genuine alarm as half the bar pulled out guns. This was, of course, a bad move since the other half was cops.

"Drop the guns!" Came the shout from at least ten cops at once.

Sasoli found herself grabbed and a gun placed at her temple.

Uub was pissed. Of all the . . . He met her eyes and was shocked to see their was no fear in them. Slowly he released the guy and lifted his hands in surrender. Just because his idiot partners had given themselves away, did not mean he was. He couldn't afford to, his mohawk was too distinguishable and would be remembered.

Sasoli felt her esteem go higher for him as he refused, even now, to reveal himself for the cop he was. . . Well, he had Billy for attempted murder, possession, and kidnapping; all she had to do was get her information and she could hand him over.

"Put your guns down," Billy pressed the gun uncomfortably closer. "I'll shoot her!"

"You won't make it very far after you do," Uub promised darkly, "In fact, you won't make it very far at all." Almost faster than the regular eye could see he snatched the gun from the guy's hand.

The gun went off and the shooting began.

"Shit," Sasoli tackled Billy as unobtrusively as she could.

"Damn," Uub cursed as he disarmed every man in the bar as fast as he could, after he made sure she was out of the way.

"What the?" Thugs and cops cursed as guns were magically ripped from their hands and were knocked out of the paths of bullets.

Turning to hand to hand combat, the bad guys were overpowered and easily detained.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Uub shook his head at the sheer stupidity of his comrades at time. He turned to arrest the man of the hour only to find Thompson and the girl gone.

Sasoli snarled into Billy's face as she held him against the wall in the alley of the bar.

"I am not going to ask you again," she punched him in the stomach, "Who's killing the Capsule Corp. secretaries?!"

"I don't know," he blubbered, "I swear I don't know anything."

"Then you're useless." Sasoli knocked him out and left him in the alley. If the detective boy was worth his salt, then he would find little Billy Thompson within minutes.

Uub was out of the bar like a bat out of hell. He sent out a probing ki to locate any and all life signs near by, Thompson couldn't have gotten very far.

The alley.

Uub nearly flew into the alley only to stop dead in his tracks.

There he was, Billy Joe Thompson, lying on the ground unconscious. The girl nowhere in sight. Just slightly puzzled, Uub picked up his perp and started to return to the bar.

He didn't even catch her name or what district she worked for. Who was she?

End of Chapter Two