Two squad cars were there at the scene of the crime. The ambulance had already gone, taking away the deceased body of an elderly woman, who was found dead on the floor with a bloody handprint on her bathrobe. Marge Gunderson was baffled by it all. As she stood on the snow-covered front yard of the house surrounded by yellow police tape, never before had she seen a case as crazy and bizarre as this one. And she was sure to have another one in the future.

The station wagon parked on the opposite side of the road. Elena turned off the engine and got out and shut the door. Anton got out of the car and shut the door on the passenger side and walked across the street with her.

"Marge, what's going on?" Elena asked.

Marge turned around and saw her cousin and asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"Where is she?" Anton demanded.

"We heard everything on the television", said Elena. "Mary is missing and her mother is dead. Where's Andrew?"

"We just missed him", said Marge.

"I know that!" Elena shouted. "Where is he?"

"Will you keep your voice down", Marge hushed. "We have a very serious situation going on here."

"If you were any kind of serious, you would be doing your job right", said Anton.

"Mr. Chigurh, I don't know what you're problem is with me, but you have no right talking to me like that", said Marge. "My men are doing the best they can. This is not an easy job for any of us. I am in control here, not you. You're not a policeman, you're not even a local citizen. You're just a man. You stay out of my way and let me do my job. Now, do I make myself clear?"

At that moment, Officer Lou came over and said, "Hey, Chief. Looks like we might have found something." The policeman showed an evidence bag that had two license plates inside it. The identification was from Florida.

"Where did you find those?" Anton asked him.

"They were hidden under a mattress", said Lou.

"Let me see that." Marge took the evidence bag and looked at the license number through the plastic. "147 AFY. Weren't these the same plates you identified on the Ford Custom, Anton?" She asked him.

For a minute, Anton said nothing. Finally, he nodded his head. He was far too furious to speak. Despite his anger, he kept calm and stoic, as usual.

"Those were in Mary's house?" Elena asked them, sounding concerned.

"Yah", Lou answered. "Hiding evidence is a stupid thing to do, ya know."

"But why would Mary have them?" Elena asked. "And why would Andrew kidnap her? I'm the one he's been after for months. Why would he go after her instead of me?"

"Well, you've both been in a feud since the college incident, haven't ya?" Marge questioned. "Did you ever see Andrew conversing with Mary before the stabbing?"

"No."

"Are you sure? I'd be very surprised if it turned out she was helping him. If so, then it looks like we got ourselves both a captive and a fugitive."

While Elena continued to talk with the police, Anton Chigurh stood there and kept himself silent, looking like a predator waiting for the right moment to attack. His hand curled into a fist, as his mind switched from one dark, contemptuous thought to the next. It was cold and he had forgotten to put on his jacket, but at the moment, he didn't care. He was far too angry to care about anything. He turned away from the two women and walked back across the street to the car. He stood there facing the driver side for a minute and slammed his fist onto the roof on the vehicle. "¡Mierda!" He cursed in Spanish. He turned and leaned his back against the car and crossed his arms.

"Anton?" Annaliese came over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Anton, what's wrong?" She asked him. He looked at her, but not in the way she expected.

Marge handed the evidence bag to Lou again and told him, "Take this to the station and have Jerry contact me as soon as you get something."

"Sure, Chief", said Lou. He turned around and walked over to his prowler.

Marge looked over across the street and saw Anton having a conversation with Annaliese Erikson, though it seemed more like an argument. Not only that, but he seemed to be talking in another language.

"What's that about?" Marge asked Elena, who turned around and saw the hitman arguing with the red-headed woman. He spoke to her in Spanish. Elena did not understand what he was saying, but Annaliese did. Having learned Spanish from her childhood, the Texan woman understood every word he said. Whatever it was he told her, Annaliese reacted with shock and offense, and slapped him in the face. Elena gasped and ran over to Anton. Marge followed after her.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Annaliese said. "You wanna start go killing people and acting like a monster? You go right ahead, cowboy. Just don't ask me to bail you out if you get into trouble."

"Hey, what the heck is going on over here?" Marge questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

Elena went over and stood next to Anton and looked at his face. "Anton, are you okay?" She asked him, stroking his hair. Elena knew he wasn't hurt, but she was still worried enough to care about the man she loved.

"I'm fine", Anton answered, acting like it was no big deal.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Erikson, but is this man bothering you?" Marge asked her, loosing patience with Anton.

"No, Chief Gunderson, this man just said some things he shouldn't have, that's all", Annaliese answered. "There's no need to press charges..." She paused for a minute and looked over at Anton and said with a warning sort of tone, "Yet."

Marge looked to her right and turned her attention over to Anton. He looked in her direction and glared at her. She stared back at him, unmoved by his voiceless threat.

Grabbing him by his arm, Elena slowly led him away from the two women and said, "Come on. I told Martin I'd be at work by 9:30."

Anton allowed Elena to guide him around to the passenger side of the car, keeping his hateful gaze fixed on the incompetent policewoman, who he cursed internally, along with her husband. Elena opened the door for him and Anton eased himself into the passenger seat and slammed the door. She then walked back around to the driver side and opened the door and shot an apologetic look at Marge before stepping into the car and shutting the door. The engine turned on and the car backed out and took off down the road.

By the time they got to the hospital, Anton and Elena walked into the room Sophia was staying in and found Dr. Benedict waiting for them. There was good news awaiting the couple, as the oncologist explained to the nurse about a recent update considering the young patient. He showed her a medical folder and went over the latest information on Sophia's condition.

"The swelling in her brain is decreasing rapidly", said Dr. Benedict to Elena. "We'll see if she wakes up in the next few days. She's a strong fighter, she is."

"Can we expect her to tell us anything?" Elena asked.

Dr. Benedict sighed and answered, "I don't know. Until she wakes up, we won't know what happened or why she became like this. We'll be lucky if she remembers anything at all."

Elena nodded in agreement.

Dr. Benedict turned around and left Elena alone to be with her daughter. She walked over and sat down on the bed and looked down at the comatose child. She placed a hand to her face and felt her skin was warm. A good sign. Once she was awaken from her coma, Sophia would be confused and respond slowly to everything around her, but she would eventually return back to normal.

"She's been working for him", said Anton.

Elena looked over at the hitman, who was standing over by his usual spot near the window. His back was to her. "What?"

"There has to be a connection between those two", said Anton, not looking at her. "Why else would that woman disappear all of a sudden?"

Elena stared at him for a minute and asked, "You're still on that? Dr. Benedict just gave us some good news and you're still stuck on Hartman? Anton, there's nothing we can do about it."

Anton turned around and looked at her and said, "There's nothing we can do about it? You're asking me to stand back and leave everything in the hands of some small-town country hick who can't even tell the difference between good and evil. I should be the one out there looking for him. Instead, you have me trapped here like a sparrow in a birdcage."

"Anton, you can't get involved in this!"

"Why not? That disease-ridden whore is involved in this, so why shouldn't I be?"

"You can't interfere with official police business", said Elena, standing up and walking over to him. "First you want to stay incognito because of a mess you got yourself into, now you want to start going off on some cock-a-doodie vigilance mission to hunt down Mary? What is your motivation here?"

"You mean besides you?"

Elena looked horrified upon hearing him say that and took a step back. "Wait a minute! I never ask you to do anything like that."

"You didn't have to. I've killed a woman before and I can do it again", said Anton. He raised his voice and said, "Those people you call the police have not been doing a damn thing at capturing this maniac or making sure you are safe! Marilyn Hartman hired that psychopath to try and kill you and you fucking now it!"

"Watch your language around my child", said Elena, calmly but with a slight warning.

Anton stepped forward and said to her in a low voice, "Your life is in danger. How can you not be angry or upset?"

"I am upset, okay? I understand what Mary did was wrong, but asking God to bring down the pain of death upon her is not going to solve anything", said Elena.

Anton scoffed and said, "God? Where was God when all this was happening? For that matter, where was God the night my parents were killed, huh? You tell me that!"

Elena said nothing and stared at him in disbelief. Her face paled and she looked as though she were ready to cry. "Anton, I love you, I will always love you, but there is a limit of how much negative energy I can take from you", she said. "I don't want you to revert back to your old self and get thrown in jail by throwing your life away because of one person. I want Marge to find Andrew for me and not you, because that's the way it has to be. Don't you understand that? I want to see that Mary is found alive, and that Andrew is brought to justice and given a legal sentence carried out against him, because that is what decent people do. I can't just go out there and point a gun at my enemy and kill them like you would."

"No, you'd rather show your enemy compassion and mercy and have them beg for your forgiveness", said Anton. "Well, let me tell you something, Elena, that is not how I deal with people."

"No, you'd rather just shoot everybody, wouldn't you? Ask questions, get answers, and then shoot, right?" Elena shook her head and reached into her pocket and pulled out a quarter, holding it up for him to see. "This is how you decide to deal with people. Call it. Heads or tails. You flip it, they call it. If you asked me to call it and I chose tails, what would happen?" Elena flipped the coin and caught it and slapped it on her arm. She covered it for a second and then looked at the coin and revealed the answer to him. It was heads. She looked at him again.

Anton stood there, staring at her with dark eyes, the calming effect of her own turquoise orbs kept him from arguing with her any further, though he still wanted to get his point across to her.

Elena slipped the quarter back into her pocket and said, "I can understand if you're not happy with the police work being done the way it's going, but there's nothing we can do about it. The police are doing everything they can to find Andrew. He's cleaver, but he's not as cleaver as you. He will get caught, eventually."

"And how many more people are you willing to let die because of him?" Anton finally asked her. "How long are you willing to let him roam free out there until you or somebody you love gets hurt? My biggest fear is loosing you or seeing you get killed. That almost happened twice, Elena. I can't allow that to happen again."

The door opened and a young woman walked in and said, "Nurse Olmsted, Dr. Bibbet is waiting for you."

Elena turned and looked at her and said, "I know. I'm coming."

The young woman nodded and walked out, leaving the door open.

Elena looked at Anton again. A single tear escaped from his right eye and rolled down his cheek, and he hated himself for it.

"We'll talk about this later", Elena said. And then she turned around and left.

Anton lowered his head and turned to wipe the forbidden tears away from his face. He hated himself for breaking out of his natural stoic and hard-barked form and showing her that he had a weak side. A man, he thought, who cried and showed a woman he cared about somebody meant more to him than just a sign of weakness. To him, it meant he felt powerless. Ever since she had come into his life, he had been displaying the human element known as emotion, and he hated it. If he had never met her, he never would have cared. But he did. He knew he loved Elena, but love was difficult for him to understand. He knew for certain that Mary Hartman had helped Andrew Pittman cover up the car crash that almost killed her, but Elena refused to believe it. As much as she tried to deny it, Elena refused to believe that such evil could exist in the world, even in the people she thought she could trust most and call friend. It frustrated him to no end.

Anton walked back over to the window, placing a hand on his hip. He stood like that for a minute with his head bowed and then looked over at Sophia. He did not think she even noticed he was there with her, but it gave him some small hint of comfort to know that she might pull out of it. Perhaps Elena was right. For once, maybe he was wrong. He hoped not. Anton sat down in the chair and kept his watchful gaze on Sophia. Even in her unfortunate state, she looked every bit as beautiful as her mother. She looked almost as beautiful as Elena. Three minutes went by. He looked out the window, a light snow was starting to fall. He turned his attention back over to the child. Some time later, he dozed off.

The sound of a gunshot was heard, though the darkness prevented him from seeing anything. He peeked through the shutters and looked to the direction of the doorway. There was a teenage boy standing there, though he could not see a face. There was a gun in his hand. The teen-aged killer looked at the murder weapon and turned around and left. Once the little boy knew he was gone, five year old Anton slowly opened the door to his closet and came out. He walked quietly out of his bedroom and went out to the living room and found both his parents dead on the floor. He walked over to his mother first, her long dark hair covered both her face and the bullet hole in her head. She was bleeding from her chest from a second gunshot wound. Anton felt tears fill his eyes and made a soft gasping sound. The boy then turned to his father and walked over to him and dropped down to his knees and threw himself over his father's lifeless body, crying. He begged for him to wake up, but he never did, and never would again. Knowing it was hopeless, Anton grabbed onto his father's arm and draped it over himself, making it seem as though he was being held by him one last time.

Then, Anton heard a growling noise and looked up. The black wolf was there again, this time with a dead white rabbit in its mouth. The black wolf dropped the bloodied carcass and bared his fangs, snarling and staring him down.

"No", Anton begged him, tears rolling down his face. "Please, don't kill me."

Before the beast could strike, a young lioness came out of nowhere and stood protectively in front of Anton, growling softly. The black wolf growled, his front paw scrapping at the floor. He looked ready to kill them both. The lioness roared. It was not a powerful roar, but a low one. The black wolf raced toward them. The lioness pounced before he could reach the boy and jumped at the wolf, fighting back with all her strength. They fought and clawed. The black wolf pinned the lioness down at one point and tried chomping at her, but the lioness swung her paw at the wolf and dislocated his jaw. The black beast yelped in pain. The lioness then slammed her paw into the black wolf's face and sank her teeth into his ear, tearing it off. The black wolf fell limp on the floor, bleeding out.

The lioness rolled over and stood up and looked at the boy, staring at him with demure eyes. Anton sat there on the floor, looking at her. His heart raced, and even though he was scared, he did not think the lioness would attack him. She had saved him for a reason. Neither one of them moved for a minute. The lioness looked at him considerably, but then the enraged wolf jumped back up and attacked her from behind.

"No!" Anton yelled.

The wolf wrestled the lioness, biting her neck and causing her to give a cry of pain. Anton was horrified at seeing the violent animal attack the lioness. Instead of a roar, she made a noise that sounded more like a woman screaming.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!"

"He won't stop." The little boy turned around and saw a young lady standing behind him. She was holding a lion cub in her arms. "Not until you've finish what he started."

"What are you talking about?" Anton asked.

"You need to wake up, because if you don't, he will kill her."

Little Anton turned around to look back at the wolf and the lioness, but it was not them who he was looking at. It was Elena being dragged away by a man whose face was covered by a red bandanna. He was wearing a black cowboy hat and sunglasses. He had his arm around her neck, choking her. She was bleeding from her mouth. Elena reached her hand out to him and screamed his name. Anton gasped in shock and covered his eyes, not liking what he was seeing.

"Wake up, Anton", said the young lady. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Anton woke up at once, gasping in fright. It took him a minute to realize he had fallen asleep. He looked over at Sophia, who was still lying comatose in her hospital bed. Slowly, he stood up and walked over to her, staring down at the child.

"Why did you show me that?" Anton asked her, but to no response. Grabbing her by her shoulders, he shook her gently and said, "Sophia, if you know something, you better tell me now."

The child did not rouse.

"Sophia, talk to me", said Anton.

Again, she did not respond.

"I said wake up, goddamn it!"

Nothing.

Then, Anton heard sirens and turned around and walked back over to the window. He looked down at the street and saw three cop cars pull up in front of the hospital.

A stumbling noise made him turn around and he found Dr. Benedict had come in. He was holding a handkerchief close to his right cheek, which was bleeding. "Anton, he was here. He took her! Andrew kidnapped Elena!"