A.N.: Okay folks, it has been too long. I know and I am sorry. But yesterday I received two nice reviews for this old abandoned thing and therefore decided to get back to it. The main reason for abandoning this story, btw, was that, as already predicted, the little organic food store I used to work for closed down after not one but two organic supermarket chains moved into the area. No need for hostilities on their part ... we just folded under the pressure of competition. And I hoped for Eliot Spencer to march in and safe the day until the last minute, but of course it didn't happen. So for I while it was just too painful to continue writing this. Hence the delay. But now I am back and I plan to see this thing through to the end.

»Listen, Eliot, why don't you take Annie home?« Nate suggested. Annie shook her head in protest.

»But shouldn't I stay here? Talk to the police and stuff? I can't just leave now.« She wanted to get out of the car, but Eliot gently pushed her back into the passenger seat.

»Let Nate take care of that. He is good with this kind of thing. I still think I should take you to a doctor to get you checked out, though.«

»No, really, I'm fine. Nothing a hot shower and a good night's sleep couldn't remedy«, Annie assured him. Eliot shrugged his shoulders.

»Home it is, then. How are you getting away from here? Do you want me to pick you up later?« The last was directed at Nate you casually waved him off with his hand.

»No, no worries, Hardison can pick me up with the van.«

»The van that is still at the workshop?« Eliot reminded him.

»Your truck then« Nate decided. Eliot shook his head firmly.

»No. Hm hm. There is no way, Hardison is gonna drive my truck. Last time he emptied a whole cup of slooshy in there ... and that was when he was only a passenger.«

»Dude! That was months ago ... that was ... I cannot believe you still hold that against me« Hardisons voice sounded hurt in his earbud.

»Don't worry ... I can drive«, Parker happily chimed in. Eliot rolled his eyes, feeling trapped.

»Hardison«, he growled, »I swear, if I find as much as a chewing gum wrapper or a drop of liquid that does not belong there, I will make you lick the floor clean with your tongue, do you get that?«

»There is really no need to be so nasty ... you make it sound as if I'm up for the superslob of the year award ... I do know how to take care of things, you know? It is not as if I ...«

»With your tongue!« Eliot repeated firmly, cutting Hardison off.

Despite of what had happened to her shop and even though she only witnessed half of that exchange, Annie couldn't help but smile.

»I really like your friends«, she said, when Eliot finally got onto the drivers seat. He was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was softer.

»I trust them with my life, you know. Almost every day.«

»But not with your car«, she observed dryly.

»That's something different.« But he could not help but smile himself now.

He started the car. Then he looked at Annie questioningly.

»Where to?«

Annie looked at him confused.

»What?«

»I know you run this little shop and I see you almost daily, but I have no idea where you live«, Eliot explained.

»Corner of Washington and Green«

The hitter frowned while he set the car into motion.

»Not the nicest of neighborhoods.«

»What do you expect? I run an independent organic food store. That's not as lucrative as people seem to think it is.«

She sounded defensive.

»I didn't mean it that way«, Eliot hurried to assure her. »It just does not seem to be a very safe place for a woman on her own.«

»It's not as bad as its reputation. Most of my neighbors are very nice. We help each other out, look out for each other. In many of the 'better' neighborhoods you don't find that anymore.«

The drive took only a few minutes.

»Best park over there« Annie suggested, pointing at a small parallel parking booth beside the road. Eliot reluctantly obeyed. Most other cars he could spot were a lot older and cheaper than the Tesla. It stuck out like a flamingo in a murder of crows. But Annie seemed unconcerned. She waved at an elderly black man who was leaning on his windowsill in one of the groundfloor windows of an old, pretty run down apartment block.

»Hey there, Georgie.«

»Hey Missy. You alright? You look like crap.«

He was missing a few of his front teeth, making his words hard to understand, but there was real affection and concern in his voice.

»Bad day at the shop«, she admitted. »We had a fire.«

»How bad?« George wanted to know.

»Pretty bad. Shop's gone, I'm afraid. Look, I am not up for talking about it now. I will come over for a cuppa tomorrow and tell you about it, hm?«

»Yeah, sure. My door is open for you. You know that.«

He smiled a toothless smile.

»I know, George. Take care.«

»You too, Missy. You too.«

Annie turned towards Eliot.

»See what I mean? No one is going to touch Nate's car, now that George knows you belong to me. He will guard it.«

Eliot was still not convinced that the old man could do much to prevent the car from getting stolen or vandalized if someone set his mind to it, but he let the matter be. Annie led the way to a doorway. The heavy door was only leaned to. Alarmed the hitter looked around.

»Looks like someone has been here.«

Annie laughed.

»No. Don't worry. The lock broke years ago and the landlord just never got round to fixing it.«

»You mean, it is just open like that? Day and night?«

»No, at night Grace bolts it from the inside. She lives on the ground floor. If you get home later than midnight, you have to wake her up, so that she can let you in. I don't think the bolt is necessary, but she says, she feels safer that way, even if it means she sometimes has to come to the door in her nightgown to let stragglers in.«

A group of four boys, aged between six and ten came running down the stairs. Eliot was a bit baffled at how much they all looked alike. One of them stopped when he saw Annie.

»Do you want to come play baseball with us, Annie?« he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

»No, sorry, not today, Pedro. I am really tired. Maybe another time, okay?«

She gave the little guy an affectionate pat on the back as he ran past her.

»The Gonzalez gang«, she explained to Eliot. They live on the first floor. Poor Maria, she had twins twice, and then her husband left her. Don't get me wrong, they are nice kids, but it's tough raising them on her own. I really don't know how she manages to juggle two jobs and the household.«

The house did not have an elevator and Eliot noticed that even in her current state, Annie climbed the four flights of stairs to her apartment with ease and without getting out of breath.

Annie pointed out the other doors while they climbed up.

»This is where Jack and Edward live. They are gay. Edward is a barber and Jack works for the city as a gardener. And that's Mr Miller's apartment.«

She lowered her voice.

»He is a bit weird. We don't even know his first name, he insists on being called Mr Miller. He keeps mostly to himself. But I am sure, he is really nice as well. Just not as outgoing as the others. Maybe he is just shy.«

»Annie, there are not just good guys in this world« Eliot cautioned her.

»Yeah, I kinda noticed that recently«, she reminded him. »But most people are pretty nice if you give them a chance. It is just a very small percentage of really nasty ones that give everyone else a bad name.«

Finally they reached the top floor. Eliot noticed that at least the apartment door was fitted with a half decent lock. When Annie got the key from her pocket, he took it from her.

»Let me. Wait here.«

She did not protest when he unlocked the door and stepped into her apartment first. It was smaller than the ones on the lower floors because the slope of the roof took some of the space away. It had only one small bedroom and a rather nice living room with a kitchenette in one corner. The bathroom was build under the slope and so narrow that Eliot couldn't even stand up straight in it. After he had made sure that no one was in there, he called out for Annie.

»You can come in. It is safe.«

»Of course it is safe. It's my home. Do you want a cup of tea?«

Eliot nodded.

»Yes. But you will sit down on the sofa and I am going to make the tea. Just tell me where I can find everything.«

Annie wanted to protest, but actually, she felt more exhausted than she wanted to admit. So she obidiently sat down on the red two seater and leaned back into the cushions with a sigh.

»What a day«, she said, while Eliot busied himself with putting the kettle on and searching for teabags. He was pleased to find quite a collection of loose leaf tea instead.

»Darjeeling, Ceylon or Oolong?« he asked.

»Oolong«, she decided. »But don't throw away the tea leaves after you take them out. The second infusion ...«

»... is the best«, he completed the sentence. »I know.«

Annie smiled.

»Of course you do. I forgot how much you care about good food.«

Eliot opened the cabinets of the small kitchen to find a teapot, cups and saucers. He was quite impressed with how efficiently Annie had stocked the little space available. The boards and shelves held everything you needed for cooking and dining, not just for a single household, but also for at least five guests. A small fridge had been fitted neatly under the counter and there was a two flame gas stove accompanied by a small electrical oven.

»No microwave«, he noticed.

»Yeah. Those things are awful. I mean, I am not worried about the radiation thing so much, but the food just never really tastes right. It never really warms you up inside, no matter how long you heat it.«

»I know exactly what you mean«, Eliot answered while serving the tea.

Annie took the cup he offered her and smiled.

»Look, my hands are still shaking.«

He sat down on a small armchair, close enough to gently place a hand on her knee.

»Annie, you just had a near death expirience, you are probably concussed and your livelyhood has been blown to pieces. I'd say you have every right to feel a bit shaky right now.«

They both took a few sips of tea in silence. Eliot looked around in the small living room curiously. The furniture was mostly old. Not the expensive antique kind of old, more the handed down from generation to generation kind of old. He spotted an oak sideboard that took up most of one wall.

»That must have been very difficult to bring up here« he said and gestured towards it with his chin. Annie shrugged.

»I wouldn't know, really. It was already here when I moved in. Maybe it has always been here. I love it, though. Lots of storage space. And it has woodworms. Sometimes I imagine them living in little families, having their own adventures. I make up stories about them in my head.«

Eliot looked around further.

»You don't have a television«, he observed. That pleased him. »Neither do I.«

»TV dumbs you down«, Annie said. »Besides, the woodworms are much more exciting.«

Eliot felt himself unwind. The cozyness of Annie's little place and her trust in the people around her made him relax in a way he very rarely could, even when he was with the team.

He almost jumped when he heard Nate's voice in his ear.

»Eliot? We are on our way over. Is it safe?«

»Safe as houses«

Annie looked at him questioningly. He pointed with his finger to his ear in explanation.

»Nate says they want to come over. Is that alright with you?«

»All of them?« she asked. »How nice. It's going to be a bit crowded, but yeah, of course it's fine.«

»The address is Washington ...« Eliot started to say, but Hardison interrupted him.

»Way ahead of you. Did you know that Annie has a degree in archaeology, by the way?«

»Archaeology?« Eliot said with genuine surprise.

Annie was confused.

»How do they know that?«

»Hardison is a hacker. He can't help himself. It's what he does.«

Annie roled her eyes.

»So I guess now is the time to come clean about the two times I was arrested as well, hm?«

»Once for smoking marihuana and once for ... ooh you gonna love that ...«

»Hardison, shut up« Eliot said, took the earbud out of his ear and switched it off.

»Archaeology?« he repeated. »Really?«

Annie laughed.

»That was ages ago. I guess at the time I thought it would be all adventures and exciting discoveries, you know, Indiana Jones and all that. After two years I spent in the basement of the local museum, dusting off and sorting shards of ceramics, I had enough of it.«

»So you opened an organic foodstore instead?«

»Nah ... first I travelled for a few years ... France, Tibet, Ukraine ...«

»Ukraine? Why would anyone travel to Ukraine?«

»Have you been? The people are really nice.«

Eliot tried to put the image of the Butcher of Kiev from his mind.

»Not all of them«, he said.

»Anyway, when I came back to the States I worked different jobs for a couple of years: cleaner, office assistant, farmhand ... I lived in my car and saved every dime I could. And when I had laid aside a few thousand bucks, I opened Annie's Foodbasket«

»I am glad you did«, Eliot said and meant it.

The phone rang. Annie went to get it. She froze when she identified the caller's voice.

»Well, Mr Farnham«, she said pointedly with a look at Eliot and pressed the speaker button. »What can I do for you?«

Eliot fumbled the earbud out of his pocket and switched it on.

»Nate!« he urged quietly. »I think you should listen to this.«

.Farnham's voice was oozing with fake sympathy.

»I heard what happened to your little shop today. A gas explosion, was it? How unfortunate.«

Eliot ground his teeth. It took him a lot of self control not to rip out the phone line. How dared this bastard to call Annie and gloat about what he did? Annie's voice lost the last bit of pleasantness.

»What do you want?«

»Well, you will understand that my offer to buy your business no longer stands ... I mean, with the business gone, what's there to sell? Still, I feel bad leaving you hanging in there without any assistance. You will need to get back on your feet somehow, after all. I could help you with that.«

»You are offering me money?«

»An interest free loan to get you over the first difficult months«, he specified. »Let's say, 20,000? Of course there are conditions.«

»What conditions?« Annie wanted to know.

»You take the money and you leave town. Find a new life somewhere else, preferably not in the organic food business.«

»You bastard«, Annie growled. Eliot raised an eyebrow. It was the first time he had ever heard Annie address anyone other than kind and friendly. »You must be really afraid of me. Why is it so important that I leave?«

Farnham's voice didn't change a bit in tone.

»Well well, you had a bad day. Maybe you need some time to think about it. My offer still stands. I will be in touch again.«

He hung up. Annie put the receiver back with so much force the phone rang once in protest. Eliot wanted to punch someone very badly. Preferably Farnham. But since he was out of reach, he looked around for something he could smash. Then he remembered that he was in Annie's place and that the last thing she needed was for someone to destroy more of her belongings today. He went over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

»Are you okay?«

»No. No I am not. How dare he? How dare he call me and offer me money?«

Her hands were clenched into fists, her jaw set.

»Nate, did you get that?« Eliot asked quietly.

»Yes, all of it« Nathan Ford replied at once. »And I think Annie is right.«

»Of course she is right. That cockroach has some guts to call her after what he just did to her, I am gonna ...«

»No, that's not what I mean. I mean, she is right about the fact that he is afraid of her. We have to find out, why. Here's what we gonna do ...«