CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alf let out a loud sigh as he walked into his private quarters and shut the door behind him. Today had been a long, tiring and very stressful day, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better.

Martha was still missing and he had no idea if she was dead or alive. The only thing that kept him at ease was the thought that Jack was with her and hopefully keeping her out of harms way. Alf knew that Jack would protect Martha with his life. His fingers were crossed; hoping that they would both come home safe. If anything happened to either of them; there would be hell to pay.

Alf walked over to his bed and picked up his long black velvet robe. He slid his arms in; wrapping it tightly around his body. He knotted the tie and then sat down on his bed. He grabbed his warm slippers and slid his feet into them before standing up and walking across the room towards the dresser.

He picked up a glass bottle and poured some brandy into a round glass. He raised the glass to his lips and took a sip; rolling the liquid around in his mouth and taking in the taste. It helped him sleep; the Brandy. A glass every night before he went to bed always done the trick.

"Taste good," a voice from a darkened corner of the room startled him.

Alf spun around; dropping the brandy glass on the carpet in the process. He took a step back when Ashton Nadar stepped into the light.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Jack walked back to the motel room. He'd stepped outside for a few minutes while Martha took her shower; in hopes of finding some vending machines. He was starving.

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He found Martha perched up on the bed; wrapped up in the fluffy white robe. She had the TV remote in her hand; flicking threw the channels, trying to find something decent to watch.

"Here," Jack threw a packet of M&M's at Martha. "There wasn't really much to choose from," he added as he placed a bottle of water on the bed next to her.

Martha quickly snatched up the chocolates. "Peanut M my favorite," she grinned. "You remembered?" she smiled up at him sweetly.

"Of course I remembered," Jack smiled back at her. "You practically beat it into me when we were ten, remember?" he then started to smirk.

"I never," Martha pouted.

"Yeah, you did," Jack laughed. "The last time I gave you original M&M's, you tried to kick me in the balls," he reminded her.

"Oh, poor baby," Martha teased as she threw an M&M at Jack's head. She fell back onto the bed laughing when it hit and rebounded against his fore-head.

"I'm going to take a shower. I hope you left me some hot water," Jack ignored her and made his way to the bathroom.

Martha sniggered. "I thought after the little display before you'd probably be in need of a cold one," she wiggled her eye-brows at him.

Jack smirked at her. "You have a great rack, but not great enough to get me hot," he winked at her.

"You keep telling yourself that," Martha winked in return.

Jack laughed at her and walked off. He closed the bathroom door behind him and turned on the shower. While under the hot stream of water, Jack's thoughts went back to Martha. She was fun and he couldn't help but think of her as the female equivalent of himself. She could throw it back just as fast as he could give it.

He wanted her; there was no doubt about it.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"How did you get in here?" Alf sneered at Ash.

Ash laughed at him. "Everybody is so busy worrying about your precious Martha. You let your guard down old man, and I easily slipped in. You should have made sure that you had someone watching your back," he was being smart.

"Leave now," Alf ordered.

"Not until I finish what I came here to do," Ash shook his head at Alf's demands.

"And what's that?" Alf held his head high. He wasn't afraid of this boy.

"To kill you of course," Ash snorted. "Why else would I have come here?" he sniggered.

"You'd have to be stupid if you think that I'd let an ignorant little boy come into my home and kill me," Alf took his turn to laugh as he reached out and went to pick up his gun.

"Don't even think about it," Ash quickly pulled his own gun from his jacket and pointed it at Alf. "I'm calling the shots now," he snapped.

"Actually that would be me," a hard voice sounded.

Ash flinched when he felt a cold metal pressed into the back of his head. He immediately dropped his gun to the ground. He slowly turned and came face to face with Tony Holden.

"Big mistake coming here Ashton," Tony cocked his gun. "Big Mistake. Big. Huge," he added.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888