Adult-Warning -

Chapter 16
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"Aaargh!"

A glass hit the wall and shattered.

Anna Martinez kicked the smashed phone as she walked towards the deck windows. Paoulo was a in jail and there was no way he was going to be let out in time to complete their plan. Her plan.

Revenge.

Vendetta Paoulo called it.

Venganza she called it.

She wouldn't wait for him. She would enjoy doing these last bits herself. Then she would be free to live her life wherever and however she chose.

With barely suppressed glee she opened the bedside table and pulled out a gun. With loving fingers she stroked the barrel, almost feeling it hot and trembling after shooting its next targets. Closing her eyes Anna began to run the gun barrel along the silk covering her body. Her black hair streamed down her back as she rubbed the gun over the dark curls poorly concealed by her gown.

Oh how she missed Paoulo just then. He was such an animal lover both before and after a kill.

Holding the cold gun over her stomach she lay down on the bed and spread her legs. Slowly she ran her hand over her thigh, towards her throbbing center.

No. She didn't need Paoulo to finish any of this.

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Saturday, May 29, 1999
8:23 am

Tom closed his eyes and held his face up to the shower spray.

It had been a long night. First he had refused to leave Cassy's after she tried to throw him out, then he had to practically fight to get her to let him leave this morning so that he could come home and shower and get back to finding out who was after them. And by default, their baby.

He had had to promise to wear a Kevlar vest and remain behind his armed guards at all times. His promises rankled, but he hadn't wanted to upset her. Not in her delicate condition. Despite her assurances that she felt fine, the fact that Doctor Sam and her own ob-gyn wanted her there for another night made Tom worry about the precariousness of the pregnancy. Especially in light of all the stress and strain Cassy had been under before and after getting pregnant.

That meant he had work to do. "So stop dawdling in the shower!" he reminded himself and set about finishing up.

A few minutes later, a towel wrapped around his hips he walked determinedly out of his bathroom and went to find the file that Harry had delivered to him earlier that morning. He remembered dropping it in the kitchen when he came in before rushing to call the hospital to check on Cassy before showering.

Tom had been both relieved and worried by what he had read. They were now sure that Paoulo and his partner were out for Cassy and it had something to do with Texas. Tom's information from Cassy seemed to lead toward Diego Martinez's murder, although that was merely because of a lack of other leads. Their best hope was that they got their suspect to talk before he made bail, if he made bail. The Austin police had made their request that he be held for return to Texas for parole violation and questioning.

"Hello Ryan," a feminine voice said from behind him.

"What?" Tom spun around to find a gun pointed at him. Held by an angry looking woman.

"Thomas Ryan, I've been looking forward to this for years," she spat out, her dark eyes flashing.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Tom struggled to keep his cool.

"Anna Martinez," she said coldly as she motioned him towards the refrigerator.

"Diego's sister," Tom acknowledged.

"That's right. The man Cassandra St. John killed," Anna moved closer, the gun now only inches away from his chest. "Turn around and put your hands on the fridge."

"Don't tell me you're going to frisk me?" Tom joked as he complied.

"I just might. You have my boyfriend in jail you know," Anna pulled Tom's handcuffs off the kitchen counter, next to the file, and pressed the gun to his back. "Put these on," she handed him the cuffs.

"Why should I?" Tom didn't move.

"Because I have a gun pointed at your back. You're wife's gun and she would be very hurt if you were shot by her gun, wouldn't she?" Anna pointed out.

Silently, Tom put the cuffs on himself.

"Turn around. Well, maybe I should have a little fun with you before I kill you. I would have to make sure Sandy heard about it first," Anna trailed the gun down Tom's chest. She laughed when she saw his face harden, though he was trying to hide his reaction from her.

"Don't worry. You're a little too gringo for me. I like my men dark and passionate not happy and pretty. Go sit on the couch and I'll tell you what we're going to do here," Anna sneered at him.

"I'm all ears," Tom said when he was seated.

"Not quite," Anna looked down at his slipping towel and leered. "But first you're going to call your wife and tell her she needs to come here."

"She's in the hospital, they won't let her out," Tom informed her.

"If she wants out she'll get out. She's not too injured to leave, it's amazing what you can learn when you pretend to be family," she held a cordless phone out to him.

"I won't do it so you'll just have to shoot me now," Tom didn't lift his cuffed hands to take it.

"No! You will do what I say! I've waited too many years for this and you will not deny me my revenge!" Anna pulled the trigger.

Tom's face screwed up in agony as blood began to flow down his left arm. Irreverently, he couldn't help but think that now he would have a matching set of bullet wounds. If he lived.

"Make that call," Anna ordered him again.

"No!" Tom shouted through the haze of pain that surrounded him.

"Do it or I'll shoot you again, not to kill, just to wound," she threatened.

"Why are you doing this?" Tom lifted the phone from where she had dropped it in his lap.

"Because she is responsible for my brother's murder. If he hadn't fallen under that slut's spell...he knew better than to date one of them. Those rich gringos that ran that backwater town," she waved the gun wildly as she spit out her explanation.

"So you and your boyfriend killed Jensen..." Tom began.

"We did, but this isn't confession time so start dialing before you loose too much blood. If you pass out you'll have no hope of stopping me..."

"But I will," Harry Lipshitz announced his presence, holding a gun pointing at Ms. Martinez's head. Behind him stood two uniformed officers.

"Actually it was confession time," Tom said between gasping breaths.

The two officers disarmed the intruder while Harry knelt down to unlock Tom's cuffs.

"Let's get you to the hospital, I think I can arrange an interesting roommate," Harry pressed his handkerchief to Tom's wound.

"I think I'd rather be shot than roomed with Cassy right now. I promised to wear kevlar," Tom grimaced, both from the wounds and picturing Cassy's reaction.

"I don't think she intended you to wear it in the shower," Harry said.

"I wouldn't be too sure. Do you think I could get some clothes first? So was me getting shot part of the plan?" Tom asked.

"Are you kidding? Then we'd have Franny and Cassy after our asses." Harry looked like he'd been shot.

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"His father had taken him and some cousins over the border to sell some used trucks, a practice that's illegal in Mexico, but is widely practiced since used vehicles are priced out of the hands of most citizens and farmers who need them. After the sales they went to visit some friends and there was a fight. It had nothing to do with you Cass. The mother blamed the father for getting their boy killed, he was smart boy, heading for college. The family broke up. Anna was only three years old. Over the years she heard various rumors and stories about what happened to her brother, including warnings to stay away from white boys in schools because trying to date one got her brother killed. She had a hard life and she was looking for someone to blame," Harry leaned back in the chair next to Cassy's hospital bed.

"So she killed Patrick and Brian Wilker because of me, or what they thought happened because of me. Pat because I dated him in high school and Brian because he was kind to me during a plane ride." Cassy's eyes were filled with tears she refused to let fall. She hated hormones.

"It's not your fault, that's what I'm trying to tell you. You are as much of a victim in this as those men." Harry took her hands in his. "You do this for a living. You know that sometimes there is just no explanation and no one to blame other than the killers. You can't control everything around you Cassy and the sooner you accept that the happier you will be. Fight the battles you can win or you need to fight. Don't waste your time and energy on those that don't matter."

"Thanks Harry. I'll...I'll try, but it's hard. And thank you for saving Tom. Where is he?"

"Right here," Tom made his presence known, having just entered the room.

Cassy eyed the sling on his arm before looking him in the eyes.Seeing the unspoken tension between his officers Harry stood and excused himself. Even after Harry left no words were spoken. Tom moved closer to Cassy's bed.

"It's over," he said quietly.

Cassy looked down at her hands as she tried to gain control over her warring emotions. "Where do we go from here?" she asked when she finally looked up at him.

End Chapter 16

1999