A/N I do not own these characters. I am simply borrowing them for my own amusement, and hopefully that of my readers. I mean no harm and am gaining no profit from the use of these characters so please, please don't take me to court! Thanks Ya'll...

Chapter 17

Antonio stood next to Bo anxiously. "What is he saying?" he asked Bo.

Bo motioned for Antonio to be quiet but Chris heard him anyway. "Oh is that my brother? What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be fetching your coffee?" he asked snidely.

"Where is my niece?" Bo demanded.

Chris took the phone in to where he had Natalie tied and sat down next to her. "She's right here." He grabbed the back of her head roughly and forced her to look at him. "Tell your uncle that you are ok!" he said to her.

"Don't you hurt her!" Bo yelled into the phone.

Natalie heard him and shouted, "Uncle Bo. He's crazy! We are in the master bedroom!" Before she could say anymore Chris hung up the phone and hit her across the face with it. "Bitch!" he swore at her. Natalie cried out in pain as he hit her again in the arm. She knew that there would be bruises later.

John heard Natalie shout and demanded, "Let me go in there!" He said. "I'll get Natalie out."

"John you're a civilian now. I can't let you anywhere near this. All you can do is sit and wait." Bo told him.

John threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine. I accept your job offer as Chief of detectives. There I am now a cop again. Now let me in there!"

"No." Antonio said. "I'm his brother. He will listen to me. Let me go in. I think I can talk him down with out anyone getting hurt."

"Natalie may already be hurt!" John said.

Bo thought carefully and said, "All the more reason to settle this with as little violence as possible." He dialed the number again and waited. Finally Chris picked up again. They talked for a minute and Bo was able to convince Chris to let Antonio come in and talk with him. Unarmed of course.

Antonio approached the front door slowly. He knew Chris was over the edge.

Chris walked over to Natalie and stuffed a rolled up sock in her mouth. "Don't want you talking now. Might ruin the reunion," he told her with a laugh.

He walked over to the door and made a show of keeping his gun trained on Antonio. When Antonio opened the door and walked in he made sure the cops saw him pat Antonio down for weapons. Finally he shut the door and closed the curtains.

Natalie watched, scared for Antonio. Surely Chris was so far gone that he wouldn't think twice about shooting his own brother. What happened next shocked her to the core. Before her eyes Chris but down his gun and the two men embrace each other.

"Well done brother!" Antonio said, slapping Chris on the back. He smiled and then looked around. "This will make you famous for sure. Those paintings will be flying off the shelves.

Chris smiled at Antonio and then said, "You did pretty well your self. I can't believe no one suspected you were in on it the whole time." He laughed, "Where else would I get that crap I knocked her out with?"

Natalie's eyes were wide; they had planned this to sell more paintings! Antonio was in on it? How could he do this to her? "MMMM" she said thru the sock.

Antonio finally noticed her and walked over to her. His eyes widened when he saw all the bruises on her face. "You said you weren't going to hurt her!" he said to Chris.

Chris shrugged and said, "You know how mouthy she can be." He turned and stared out the window. "We have to kill her anyway. What does it matter if I roughed her up a bit?"

"MMMMM" Natalie struggled in the bed. "MMMMMM"

Antonio was furious. He reached behind him and pulled out a gun that Chris had missed. He aimed it at Chris's back and fired. The bulled swished thru the air hardly making a sound and landed in Chris's back. Chris went down with out a sound and Antonio walked over to him and rolled him over.

"Why?" Chris asked, blood bubbling from his mouth.

"Why? That's easy. You had everything! You had Natalie! But you threw it away!" Antonio raged at him. "I loved her before you even met her but she picked you! That hurt but you're my brother and you came first."

Chris tried to say something but all that came out was a wet gurgling noise.

"Then you treated her like garbage! You had the love of the best woman in the world but it wasn't enough! I hated you. Oh how I hated you!" Antonio spun around and glared at Natalie. "And you! You hooked up with McBain! You could have been with me but you picked him!"

"MMMMM" Natalie said again, the sock still blocking any sound she made.

Antonio heard the noise and it seemed to please him. He turned back to Chris and pointed the gun at his head, "Now everyone will think you killed her and then I had to kill you." He laughed, "What a shame. Bet your paintings will sell REAL well now" Still laughing he squeezed the trigger again sending a bulled right between Chris's eyes.

"He has been in there a long time Bo." John said, pacing. He wanted to go in but Bo kept telling him not to. His gut was telling him something was seriously wrong.

Bo too had a bad feeling about this whole situation. He knew that Antonio was the best choice to send it to negotiate because he had an emotional connection to Chris but something felt off. "I know John but lets give him a few more minutes." He began talking to his sharpshooters that he had placed around the cabin. With the windows closed none of them could get a clear shot, even with inferred sights. Antonio and Chris were too close in body size to be able to tell the difference and Chris had turned the heat up to high so they kept getting false readings.

John watched Bo talk on his walkie-talkie and silently slipped away. He would fine a way in that place. Natalie needed him; he could feel it.

Antonio went over to Natalie and removed the sock from her mouth. "Are you ok?" he asked calmly.

Natalie stared at him in shock. He had just killed his own brother in cold blood and he was acting like nothing had happened! "You're crazy!" she said to him then immediately regretted it.

Antonio didn't take offense at her comment he just smiled and said, "I'm crazy in love with you." He stroked her bruised face gently and said, "Run away with me? They'll never find us. We could be so happy together."

"What about Jessica?" Natalie asked to keep him talking. She prayed that he untied her. She would give him something to think about!

"Jessica?" he scoffed, "A pale imitation of the real thing. It's always been you." He ran his hand down her side then back to her breasts. "I've always wanted you."

"Don't touch me!" Natalie said trying to get away from his hands. She began crying. "Please don't."

Antonio removed his hand and said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I love you. Please lets just go away together." He said again.

"Untie me." Natalie sobbed.

Antonio felt bad for her and reached over to untie her left arm. Just as he was about to untie it he pulled back and looked at her. You won't try anything will you?"

"No, I won't try anything. I promise." Natalie lied. She eyed lamp next to the bed and prayed that she was quick enough to snatch it and hit him in the head with it. 'Please John' she prayed, 'hurry up and get here!' She knew he would come for her. He would always come for her.

Antonio nodded and believed her. She looked so scared and helpless that he trusted her word. He leaned over and untied her wrist.

The minute her arm was free Natalie grabbed the lamp and swung it as hard as she could at Antonio's head. He looked up at the last second and ducked. The lamp only grazed the top of his head before he savagely grabbed her arm and forced it back down. "You CUNT!" he screamed at her. He slapped her hard across the face and tied her arm back to the bed.

He grabbed her blouse and ripped it open, exposing her creamy white skin. Her black bra stood out against the pale of her skin and Antonio smiled an evil smile, all tenderness and affection gone from both his voice and expression. "I'm going to have to kill you now. But not before I taste what I have been missing all these years." With that he bent down and began to touch and kiss her exposed skin.

"No! Please! Don't!" Natalie pleaded. She could feel his hands all over her. Her skin crawled at the feel of him. She tried to get away but the ropes held her tightly. She began screaming as Antonio grabbed her face with both hands and brought his mouth to hers. He covered her lips with his and forced his tongue in her mouth. Natalie bucked trying to shake him off, praying that this wasn't going to happen to her.

To be continued...