Sara Hewitt and Alisha von Edder had spent the night in Miami. Alisha had partied in Miami before, but not Sara. The last time she had been to South Beach, she had been a skinny 14 year old. Now as a young woman with sex appeal to spare, she'd loved it. They didn't make their way back to the Caufield place until just before noon. By then the drama of the night before had mostly faded. They noticed a fading sense of tension on the air though. There was plenty of activity though. The staff was getting prepared for the Annual Caufield Cook Out. Both Sara and Alisha were looking forward to it, and they were looking around the house. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Matthews was around. Taylor and Heather were both gone as well, and even Brian wasn't there. They were about to ask one of the maids what was going on when they saw Brice Matthews coming up the stairs.
"What's going on?", Alisha asked as soon as she saw his hulking frame. Brice had to pause before he replied. He thought that both of Jan's roommates were hot, but there was something about Alisha that made him have an instant boner. He was pretty sure his reaction had something to do with tight body coupled with the heavenly cleavage that she wasn't shy about showing off. Her face always had a little mischief on it no matter what she was doing. Regardless, Brice brought himself into the moment.
"It was crazy here last night. We couldn't get in touch with Jan. Taylor kept calling and calling, probably a hundred times. Jan's phone kept going straight to voicemail."
"So?", Alisha asked, wondering why Taylor would be so worried.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, but Heather was worried too." He was about to say something, but he chose his words as he continued. "The guy who bought Jan at that charity thing is some kind of shady guy. I don't know the details. I do know that Taylor was beside herself. I've never seen her that worked up about anything, but she was really worried about Jan. It calmed down not long after sunrise. Jan called the house, and Taylor went to pick her up."
"So where's Jan now?", Sara asked.
"In her room out like a light."
"Where's everybody else?", Sara asked.
"Mom and Dad went to a riding about an hour ago. I was going to go with them, but I decided to stay with Jan", Brice replied.
"Where are Taylor and Heather and Brian?"
Brice hesitated before he spoke. "Well they left together, but I don't know where they are exactly", which wasn't exactly a lie, just almost.
Brian raised the camera and took several shots in rapid succession. He had a clear line of sight to Martin DeBraya's home. He could see the entire front of the estate and most of the left and right sides too. Since there was no alley or back driveway, there was no way for a vehicle or person to go onto the property without him seeing it. He captured any movement into or out of the house. He'd also gotten shots of every car in view. He was on a real stakeout and he had to admit that it was sort of exciting.
Taylor was sitting behind the wheel of the service van constantly texting. Heather was in the passenger seat and Brian was in the back where he had room to set up his tripod if he wanted, but he needed to change angles too much to use the tripod so he stuck with the monopod instead.
"Did you get the shots of the blond guy with the dark suit on the second floor?", Taylor asked without looking up from her phone.
Brian's mouth hung open. He'd only seen her glance up only once in the last ten minutes, and even then she didn't have binoculars or anything. They were a good distance from the house. "Yeah, I got him, but only in profile. He hasn't turned straight on to the window yet."
"Okay. Keep trying." Brian didn't outwardly huff, but she sounded like she was giving him orders, and he was the one doing them a favor. Other than the occasional instructions, Taylor didn't say a word to him. "I'm sorry, Taylor."
"For what?" She didn't bother to look up from her phone.
"For pissing you off the other day. I shouldn't have said that you were mean."
Taylor let her phone drop to her lap and her face took on her famous look of annoyance. Brian knew he was already on thin ice, and perhaps he'd just made a hole in it. "I don't want to talk about that right now. Just pay attention." Her tone made Brian want to shrink up. Unlike Jan who was usually intimidating by accident, Taylor did it on purpose. She knew how to manipulate a situation just by the tone of her voice. Since they'd met, Brian had been idling thinking about what it would be like to sleep with Taylor, but he wouldn't fantasize about that anymore. She'd probably give him a look that would make both of his balls crawl up inside of him and run for cover. He was sure that Taylor had slept with some guys, but whoever they had been were better men than him. He brought his camera up again and started shooting. There was movement.
"What are we doing here?", Brian asked more to Heather since he didn't expect Taylor to say anything.
"We're observing for the moment", Heather answered.
"I mean why?"
"Are you serious? Why?", Taylor began, this time turning to face Brian. The look in her eyes ignited his fight or flight response. He might have jumped out of the car if he hadn't seen that same look in Jan's azure eyes in the past. It must be a Caufield thing. "That bastard in there is the reason that Jan got left in a swamp. I don't know all of what happened, but he's going to pay for that."
Alisha and Sara didn't bother knocking. They opened the bedroom door and came in quietly but Jan moaned and rolled over anyway. "You guys have a good time?", she asked in a raspy drowsy voice.
"Not bad", Alisha replied quickly. "What the hell happened to you?"
Jan's head fell to the pillow like it weighed a ton. "I need to keep this private", she told Alisha. "Brice isn't nosey, but he has good hearing."
Alisha quickly used her power to make it where anybody listening would have heard absolutely no sound coming from Jan's room. They could have had the 4th of July inside that room and no one would have heard anything. "Ok, you're clear. Now tell us what happened."
"Yeah, Jan you've got me worried now", Sara drawled. "You don't look good, and it takes a lot to make you not look good. You aren't having problems with your powers again are you?"
"No, and thank God for that because Martin DeBraya had me thrown out of a helicopter from 3000 feet above the Everglades", Jan stated without any strong emotion. "I blacked out after I hit the ground. I didn't wake up until this morning where a very nice man named Wayne gave me a ride to his grandfather's place. His grandfather, Otis, was also really really nice. He let me use his phone and take a shower. They even gave me some clothes to wear." Jan went on to explain the situation from the night before that lead to her getting thrown from the helicopter.
Sara was getting angrier with every word. By the end of Jan's tale, Sara had to keep herself in check. It took all of her self control to not go to Martin DeBraya's house and knock it down with him inside.
"You know what the crazy thing is", Jan began with a deep sigh. "I really didn't look at his computer. Although, I'm rather interested now in what's on it."
"So am I", Sara said with barely contained rage in her tone. Usually Alisha would have tried to calm Sara down, but she was feeling the same way. Jan was the voice of calm.
"As you can see, I'm in no shape for a confrontation. I mean I guess I could do something if I had to, but I'm hurting all over. And I don't want you guys going after him either. I have another idea."
While they were talking, a limousine pulled into the driveway. The driver tried to not let his fatigue show as he put the car in park. He'd been on the go all night ever since driving his boss to Miami the night before. His boss Martin DeBraya was still wearing a lingering smile. He'd had a night for the ages. He'd drank more liquor and been in the company of more women than on any day of his life, and that was saying a lot. It was partly for show, but he'd had a damn good time. He had gone to at least a half a dozen clubs then ended up at a house party to cap things off. He had to be seen last night because Martin had ordered that a girl be murdered. It was too bad though. Jan Caufield was more beautiful than any of the women he'd partied with, and she was obviously athletic and strong. He could have done things with her that other women wouldn't dream about. It didn't matter. Martin only had one rule for his women. Stay away from the computer. It was the most important thing in his house, and Jan Caufield had broken that one rule on the first night. The stakes were too high, so Miss Caufield had to go. It wasn't that simple however. Jan came from one of the prominent families in Palm Beach, and news of her death would spread very quickly. The fact that she had been in his care meant that he had to put on the proper charade of grief and guilt. It wouldn't end today. There would probably be a memorial service that he would have to attend. He was sure that there would be no body. She was probably food for the swamp by now.
Martin's assistant had been on that helicopter in the co-pilot's seat. He had heard the long anguished scream and turned in time to see the look of terror in that girl's eyes as she started to fall from the aircraft. He tried to block it out of his mind because working with a man like DeBraya was unpredictable at best.
"Give me the damn flowers", Martin ordered the assistant. He took the large bouquet and put on his dark shades. He tried to adopt a contrite countenance before exiting the car. He got out, and his face became more anguished and more tortured with each step. When he was sure that he looked sufficiently grief stricken, he rang the doorbell.
Usually one of the staff would have opened the door, but Brice was standing right there. Martin actually flinched when he saw all 6'6" inches and 270 pounds of Brice Matthews standing there in a sleeveless shirt. Martin had been hoping for one of the women to come to the door. All of them were hot, but this huge teenager made Martin wish that he had brought a gun. "Can I help you?" Brice's question sounded more like a threat. Every fiber of his being wanted to jump on this guy and pound his face in, but he didn't want to mess up what Taylor and Heather had planned so he held back.
"Hello, my name is Martin DeBraya. You might not know who I am."
"I know who you are Mr. DeBraya", Brice replied.
"I just wanted to come and offer my condolences", Martin said with the proper gravity in his voice.
"For what? Nobody's dead", Brice rumbled. "I think you've got the wrong house."
Martin knew that this might happen. They didn't even know that Jan was dead yet. He cleared his throat like he had a lump in it. "Have you seen the news of the helicopter crash?", he asked and Heather nodded. The authorities have presumed that all the people aboard it died on impact."
"Yeah, I caught a little about a crash on the radio. That's really bad about the people who died, but why come here talking about a helicopter crash?"
"That was my helicopter." Martin hung his head and forced his voice higher. Sobs of emotion broke through randomly while he explained, "We were all supposed to go together. I should have been on that flight…" He paused to stave off full fledged weeping. He kept it together and continued. "Some people wanted to go party in Miami and we thought it was a great idea. I had paid for Jan at the charity event, and I wanted to show her a better time, so I got my helicopter ready. I was going to go with her and we were going to party in style for the entire night, but I had a business call." His weeping had increased now. This might not be Oscar material, but he was doing a pretty damn good job. "I… I don't know how to tell you this, but Jan was on that helicopter that crashed."
"How do you figure that?", Brice asked and crossed his arms across his massive pecs.
"She's dead with the rest of my people. I'm so very sorry!", he cried openly.
"Mr. DeBraya, Jan's not dead", Brice state evenly.
"What!", Martin exclaimed.
"Yeah, she's upstairs talking to her friends as we speak."
"Guess who's downstairs", Sara interrupted Alisha out of the blue. "Martin DeBraya", she informed without giving them any chance to guess. "I should go down there and turn his head inside out."
"No! Really?", Jan began then forced herself to a half sitting position. "I wish I could go down there and see the look on his face." Jan thought about getting up but was in no shape for it. "Hey, Alisha you could go down there for me to tell me his reaction. I need to know what his game is. He couldn't just drop me in a swamp without some sort of plan."
"Well, yeah I guess I could do down there, but what do I tell him? I know you don't want me to tell him the truth."
"No that would be a bad idea", Sara began. "He's talking to Brice."
Jan nodded. "He's probably trying to feed him his line of bull." She grinned when she had an idea. "Tell him that I fell out of the copter at a low altitude. I asked the pilot to take me low so that I could see some of the wildlife and that's when it happened. Make it seem innocent, and that I'm not mad at him or anything. Think you can pull that off?"
Alisha stood up from her chair and walked over to the bed. "Yeah, I think so. Now all I have to do is look like you." She took Jan's arm and held it for a few seconds. Both Jan and Sara had linked with Alisha several times, but they still didn't quite understand how her power worked. It was more than just imagination and illusions. When Alisha wanted to, she could capture the true essence of a thing and all but become it.
After she held Jan's arm, she shimmered for the briefest of moments. When it was over, Jan was staring at a carbon copy of herself and she was none too pleased. She was pale, sick looking, and weak, nothing like her normally gorgeous vibrant self. "Is that what I look like right now?"
"Pretty much", Alisha replied in Jan's voice.
Jan's eyes opened wide in their sockets. "Is that what I sound like!"
Sara and Alisha both nodded. "Ohh",
Jan moaned and fell back to the bed and pulled the covers over her head.
"She's not dead! I… I mean that's great. How do you know she's not dead?" Martin's brain was going in ten places at once and his charade was coming undone.
"Because I checked in on her not too long ago. She's a little under the weather, but Jan is certainly not dead. Like I said before, this is some sort of mistake. I think that's about it, Mr. DeBraya." Brice moved out of the way in order to shut the door.
"But she was on that helicopter! I… I don't believe it", Martin said partly to himself. He quickly put his hand up to stop the door. "Can I see her?", he asked urgently. "I… I just want to make sure that she really is okay."
"No", Brice answered quickly. "She's fine and you're going to have to take my word for it."
Martin was so shaken that he actually stepped into the path of the door. The flowers were smashed against his body. "It is real important, Mr. Matthews. I have to insist." He swallowed a real lump when he saw Brice's demeanor change slightly. He had gone past annoyed. He really was half a second from tossing DeBraya on his ass when a voice called from the stairs.
"Its okay, Brice", Jan's voice called from the foot of the stairs. Brice was stunned as his cousin slowly made her way to the door. Alisha (as Jan) gave Brice a weak smile and went to the door. As soon as Martin saw Jan his face went white like he'd seen a ghost.
"Wha… what happened? I was so worried. I thought you had gone down with the helicopter", he blathered and stumbled.
Alisha put her hand on Martin's hand. "It was all my fault. I had them take me down low so I could look at the wetland. I don't remember all of it, but I must have fallen. I hope they didn't crash trying to find me."
"Oh, I don't think so", Brice rumbled. "That helicopter crashed sixty miles from where you got picked up."
Martin DeBraya backed away from the door. "I don't know how you can call yourself lucky for falling from a helicopter, but in this case I guess you were. I'm really sorry for this mistake, and I'm especially sorry for what happened to you last night."
"Ah don't worry about it. I've had worse nights", Alisha said with Jan's voice. Martin hurried to the limousine and got inside quickly.
Brice shut the door and turned to Jan. He had a frown on his face. "You should stay away from him. He's a bag of shit in human form. Taylor would kill me if she found out that you even talked to him. Can you go back to bed now? Where you belong in first place."
"I'm going", Alisha answered and forced herself to slowly walk up the stairs. Once she was safely in Jan's room, she went back to her own form and gave a full report.
Martin DeBraya threw down a stiff drink to keep his mind from flying apart. His body was shaking uncontrollably as he sat in the back of his limousine. "I thought you told me that you dropped that girl from high in the air", he said to his assistant.
"Yes sir."
Martin's shaky hand poured whisky down his throat before he looked at the assistant again. All sorts of things played across Martin's eyes as he took the measure of the man. "If you were high in the air, then why did I just see Jan Caufield come to the door? She's alive and well enough that her family isn't even worried about her in the least."
"That's impossible!" The assistant rose in his seat. "I looked at the altimeter when she was pushed. Liam, the pilot, was holding at around 3000 feet. From that height it would take a full 15 or more seconds to fall to the ground. She should be hamburger."
"Then you explain it to me." Martin barely had the ability to talk right now. He stared straight ahead as the car traveled towards his house.
Martin was just coming out of his daze as the limousine pulled up to the front of his house. There was a strange car parked next to the house, but he barely noticed it. He came through the door prepared to dig into his staff but he didn't get a chance. "Mr. DeBraya, he's waiting in your office", a staff member announced as soon as he saw his boss.
"Who's waiting for me?"
"Morgen Stern."
Martin went up the stairs and walked into his office. Morgen was sitting in a chair near the door with his legs crossed and a cup of coffee in his hand. DeBraya felt an ounce of hope fill his heart when he saw Morgen Stern. He would know what to do. He would make this all go away, but that hope turned to dread.
As soon as DeBraya closed the door, Morgen jumped up and shoved Martin against the wall pressing a forearm into his throat. "Du arschgefickter hurensohn!", Morgen cursed in his native German. He was so mad that he couldn't even think in English.
"Morgen! What are you doing?" Martin didn't even try to fight back.
"You tried to kill Jan Caufield last night! Without calling me first!!!"
"She's not dead", Martin said quickly and tried to get Morgen off of him.
"Of course she's not dead you ass. She's gifted!" Morgen slammed DeBraya against the wall again. "You were impulsive and stupid. Jan Caufield isn't just gifted you imbecile, she's extraordinarily gifted. Dropping her from a helicopter won't kill her." Morgen let DeBraya go. He was too mad to look him in the face.
"I didn't know!"
"You would have if you had done what you're supposed to. She's not only practically indestructible; she's stronger than a busload of powerlifters. Not to mention she has a terrible temper. You have pulled the tiger's tail my friend."
"You have to help me, Morgen!", DeBraya pleaded. "What should I do?" DeBraya's face was covered in beads of sweat. "Can't you just go over there and make her forget what happened?"
Morgen folded his arms. "She's protected now. It would take an army to get in there after the stunt you pulled."
"Maybe! Maybe I should get out of here. I can't stay now."
Morgen played out the scenarios in his head. None of them were all that pleasant for Mr. DeBraya, but Morgen needed time to think He hadn't planned for this. "Ok, you should leave and not come back here."
Martin called his assistant into the room and ordered him to organize the men to begin removing all the precious artifacts from the walls and the displays. He didn't want anything of significance left behind. His people got working.
"This is going to take a couple of hours", Morgen began, having regained his even keel. "In the mean time you need to keep your head and be prepared for anything."
After talking about the situation in Jan's bedroom for a while, Sara and Alisha left when Jan had faded off to sleep. It had been hard for her to keep her eyes open, and after a nap she was awake again. She yawned and lifted the phone off the cradle. She dialed the number of her old boss at Special Programs, FBI Special Agent Harry Wills. He answered after a couple of rings.
"Jan, is that you?", he asked once he recognized her hoarse voice. "You sound like you're sick, but we both know better than that."
"No, I'm not sick. Some guy threw me from a helicopter last night." Jan went on to explain everything including the charity event and the location.
"I'm so glad you called me. Martin DeBraya has been under investigation for a while. We knew he was a player, and we've been trying to get enough evidence to substantiate a raid by Special Programs."
"Really?"
"Yeah, DeBraya's a bad guy. I wanted to go get him before the charity event, but we didn't have enough. I'm sorry Jan. If we'd been able to-"
"Don't be sorry", Jan cut him off. "I'm not. I mean it hurt like hell, but I'm alive. What if he'd done that to someone else who would have been snake food? Anyway, there's something on his computer worth killing over. I could go over there for some payback, but whatever he's into is bigger than just me. I thought that you guys need to get involved. You might find whatever you need to put him away on that computer."
Agent Wills was quiet for a time. Jan couldn't see Wills shaking his head in wonder on the other side of the line. This young woman was so impressive that just when thought that nothing she did would surprise him, she did it again. If he had half of her abilities, he would have gone over there and ripped Martin DeBraya limb from limb, but she was thinking clearly despite what he had done to her.
"You said that you've told Sara and Alisha. Have you told your family?"
"Goodness no! They don't know about my abilities. I wish I could tell them." Jan sighed and continued, "Maybe I will. I don't even know how to bring it up, but I can't keep going like this for the rest of my life."
"Good for you Jan. And I know this might be hard, but try and enjoy the rest of your vacation. We'll take care of Martin DeBraya."
"Agent Wills, just keep me in the loop a little. And if you need anything, just let me know."
"I will, and you take your own advice. Call me if you ever need anything. Take care."
Jan put the phone on the cradle and looked around the room. The blinds were closed. The lights were out, and she felt shut in. She hopped out of bed. Every joint in her body popped and crackled. "Oh man", she gasped as she got on her feet. She started her normal stretching routine, but it lasted a little longer than usual. Her body was tight and Jan hated that feeling. Once her body felt sort of normal, she walked out of her room.
Azalea smiled broadly when she saw Jan. "Ah there you are. Are you feeling better?", she asked after putting her hand on Jan's forehead to make sure she didn't have a fever.
"I feel a lot better. Thanks for asking. Hey, have you seen Taylor and Heather?"
"They left a few hours ago with your friend Brian. They said that they were going to take photographs of something."
"Hmm?", Jan murmured as she walked towards the bathroom. "I wonder what they're up to."
Heather turned around in the seat and looked at Brian. "Please tell me you got all of that."
"Yeah, I got it all, including the little scuffle on the second floor. I wish I had a parabolic mic. We could hear what they were talking about."
"It doesn't matter", Taylor began finally looking up from her phone after reading one last message. "He's in there and we have what we need. It's time to go." Heather opened the door and got out but Taylor turned to Brian. "Stay in the van no matter what. Got it?" He nodded and she got out. They started walking towards the DeBraya house.
"You remember the plan don't you?", Taylor asked as they walked side by side.
"Yeah, it's not the most complex thing we've ever come up with", Heather replied quickly.
"As long as you can pull it off. Remember you have to look sexy. I hope you remember how to do that."
Heather gave her sister a hard look. "Why the hell do you think I wore this dress?" Heather looked down at the sexy ruffled strapless floral print dress. It showed off the beautiful sweep of Heather's body and the hard work that she'd put into sculpting it. On her the dress looked both sweetly innocent and mind bogglingly sexy at the same time. With her lush auburn hair tossing back and forth, her clear skin shining in the sun, and her ultra blue eyes twinkling, Heather could stop traffic or a heart, and Taylor knew it.
"I was just checking because you know you usually dress like a member of a hazmat team." Heather's cheeks began to blush. Taylor smiled at her and winked before breaking off to the right behind some structures. Heather stopped and laughed before continuing. Taylor had almost gotten her again. In a couple of minutes Heather was to the front of the DeBraya house.
Brian was in the van observing all of it. He didn't know what they were doing or what he should do. Should he take more photos or just wait until they get back. He wished they had been more specific. He hoisted his camera so he could get a closer look. Watching Heather saunter towards the house in her carefree way only added to her powerful sex appeal. She was in the yard now, a few feet from the driveway.
DeBraya's security wasn't overt. Only someone with a good eye would even notice the cameras and the guards. Heather noticed them both, but more importantly everybody noticed her. She looked right at the guard who came up to intercept her. Brian couldn't tell what Heather was saying, but whatever it was she had that guard and his two partners wrapped around her finger. After a very short conversation, the three men escorted Heather into the house. All of them took up positions behind her in order to get the rear view of this redheaded goddess as she glided up the stairs and into the house.
Only when Heather was inside the house did Brian see Taylor. "No way", he breathed as he spotted her climbing a tree like a tomboy. He quickly shifted in the van and focused his long distance lens to look at her. She wasn't like a tomboy at all. She was climbing like an experienced mountain climber. Now he knew why Taylor's shoulders and back muscles were so sliced to pieces when she worked them. He could see the tight sinews of her forearms working as she gripped the trunk of the tree and made short work of the distance from the ground to the second floor and beyond. She was wearing tight black jogging pants like Jan liked to wear. In them there was no room to hide a body flaw. Good thing Taylor didn't have any of those. She'd removed her jacket and was bare armed in a grey mini top. Her impressive upper body was on full display including a set of sweat slicked abs that Brian hadn't really seen before. He watched them tighten as she brought her legs up and up until the sole of her shoe was over her head. She pressed her shoe to a branch and her arms tightened like her skin was shrinking against a solid wall of muscle. She was a human gibbon as she swung from one branch to another and pulled all six feet one and a half inches of her body high up into the tree. It was an impressive display of raw power. Brian hadn't been able to help himself. He snapped several shots of Taylor's exploits. Once she was about thirty feet high she crouched down and waited for something.
Martin DeBraya had barely gotten a hold of his thoughts when a staff member came to his office and knocked softly. "Sir, there is a lovely young woman downstairs in the foyer who says that you told her to come over today."
"Did she give a name?"
"No sir. Do you want me to ask?"
Martin looked at Morgen for advice. "Go handle it", he said.
Martin took one more sip of cognac then washed is mouth out to take away the smell before tapping down the stairs. Martin was a man who loved a beautiful woman, and this one made him burn. He stopped halfway down the stairs to admire her in profile. The structure of her face and the genetics of her tall strong body were unfair. But there was hard work there too. He could see it in every tiny movement she made as she stood there with goons salivating over her. It had all been done to perfection. As he looked at every part of her body he could tell that each of them were honed from hard work. He wondered just how many hours had this young woman spent making her body the symbol of female perfection that she had managed to produce. He had seen few women that he would put in a category with this one. His mind instantly went to one of the women who would compare to this one, the one had somehow survived his attempt to kill her. He pushed the thoughts of Jan Caufield from his mind. So far that he didn't even notice the resemblance when that auburn haired beauty turned full on and looked at him. Seeing her angelic face was like watching the sun rise.
"Hello. Hello", Martin called out as he came to the bottom of the stairs and swept up close to Heather. She smelled wonderful and he could see more details of her wonderful body and face from only a couple of feet away. Usually he would have invited this woman into his house with no questions asked, but with the events of the last 24 hours, he was a little bit skeptical. "Who told you to come here, doll? I know it wasn't me because I would never have forgotten a face like yours."
Heather smiled at him, and it made his heart flutter. Just like Taylor did with her voice and attitude, Heather used her sweetness and her smile like weapons. "Oh, I was sent over here by my cousin", Heather said and turned to look at the men around her. There were six including DeBraya himself. She was going to enjoy this.
"Really, who's your cousin?"
"You've seen her", Heather began and walked to one side of the circle of men that was surrounding her. "She's got a great athletic body without a real weakness. Unlike me. I used to think my shoulders were too broad. It came from playing tennis for hours and hours every day. I grew into them though. What do you think?"
"You're perfect", Martin assured her, forgetting all about his troubles. He was completely enthralled by this vision of a woman.
She smiled then continued "Well anyway, she's a couple of inches taller than me with light brown hair, a little cleft in her chin like me." Heather put her finger to her lips and twirled as she spoke. "We look a like if you see us standing right next to each other, but… Do you like my eyes?", she asked suddenly.
"Intoxicating", Martin breathed and stepped closer to her. He could feel the heat of her body now. His hands longed to feel her soft skin and the trace the shape of her body.
"I get a lot of compliments on them, but so does all of my family. We pretty much have this shade of blue trademarked. I mean they vary a little bit from person to person, but not much. My brother has them and so do my sister and my mom, and my cousin. Do you remember her yet? Take a good look."
Martin gazed into Heather's eyes. It was like looking into the depths of the sea on a sunny day. He could see the pure blueness of the surface, but there was so much more that he couldn't see at first glance. As he looked on, his libido was being excited by this young woman at deep levels, but the rest of his brain was trying to warn him. Heather's appeal was so complete that he almost blocked it all out, but he had seen eyes like hers before. He'd seen them that very day when he'd looked at the face of that teenaged behemoth, and then he realized. He took a sharp breath and half a step back when he realized that he'd looked into eyes like those just the night before at his own house. Jan Caufield's captivating gaze had made his loins ache not a day past.
"Take her!, Martin yelled and moved away quickly.
Heather lurched backwards into the man right behind her. He lost his balance. She spun on axis and delivered a blow to his jaw. His head whipped back. A kick to the pit of his stomach put him to the ground. She spun again, this time to her left. A bodyguard came. He was really big and way too slow. Her leg left the ground again, but not high. Her muscular thighs powered a short kick to the inside of this man's knee. His legs buckled and his momentum carried him towards her. Heather's sweet face twisted with bad intentions as she drew back her elbow and gathered her strength. Her thick athlete's muscles unleashed their fast twitching fury on this man's face as her elbow cracked the side of his jaw. Blood sprayed from his mouth and his body slumped to the floor. Two down in the blink of an eye.
Martin DeBraya was running away now, in his own house. He was on the other side of the large foyer when he watched this red headed she-devil dispatch another of his guards. She was coming towards him now. She saw those blue eyes zero on him like lasers. He had nowhere to go. She should have watched out for the other guards. One blocked her path. She stopped, intent to dispatch him like the others, but the last of the guards came from behind her. The desperate man delivered a hard blow to the back of her head. When she lost her balance and equilibrium, they jumped her and wrestled her to the ground. Martin breathed a sigh of relief thinking it was over, but it had truly just begun.
Taylor suddenly took a deep breath and her body tightened like the head of a drum. Every muscle from her jaws down gathered strength and definition. Even through the fabric of her pants, the cuts of her quads, hams, and calves showed plainly. She rocked her body forward a fraction of an inch then released all that power in one awesome instant. She exploded from her crouch, her long legs straightening with enough power to shake the entire tree. Taylor went from the shadows into the light and silently glided through the air thirty feet above the ground. She landed on a balcony of DeBraya's house going back into a crouch for an instant just to collect the power and to reign in the sound. Taylor stood up to her impressive height and went to the French door. She took her jacket from around her waist and pressed it against a pane of glass. She broke it with a quick strike then reached through and opened the door. She disappeared into the house and found herself in a bedroom. She pulled open the door to the hall and looked both ways before going out. She didn't try to keep out of sight, and she didn't peer around corners. She walked with authority and anticipation. Her hands absently balled into fists, but there were no targets, just walls baring the remnants of hastily removed art and artifacts.
She walked the halls until her keen hearing picked up a sound. She slowed and leaned her ear to slightly open door. She crossed the opening quickly and saw a single man in the room. He was big though, at least three inches taller than she was, and big. She pushed the door open slowly and crept into the room. The man was in the middle of loading boxes with artifacts from a display area. He shouldn't have had his back to the door. Taylor took one long step from the door and drove her knuckles into the man's back. He grimaced, but couldn't scream. He stood up straighter from the pain and in a blink Taylor wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed hard. His eyes opened wide and his windpipe was cut off completely. Blood was forced into his cranium where it couldn't leave. He could feel the feminine arms around his head and neck growing and tensing like living rock. The instant pressure made his ears pop.
"Don't struggle", Taylor warned him in a voice devoid of strain. The man twisted anyway and tried to stand to his full height, but Taylor had him bent slightly backwards. "I'm tired of walking around this house. Tell me where your boss' office is."
The tight muscles of Taylor's upper body released their steely hold just enough for him to breath and enough for the man to believe that this woman might be human after all. He'd never felt anything as hard as her muscles in his entire life.
The man's face was bright red and his fingers pulled at her arms hoping to give himself more relief, but nothing doing. Her choke stayed at the same pressure despite his best efforts. "Talk now or soon you won't be able to."
He took several deep breaths. "Fuck you!", the man grunted between those labored breaths.
Taylor clamped back on him before he had a chance to say anything else. "This is what I get for being nice. I won't do this again." Taylor's eyes narrowed in extreme concentration before she turned her muscle dial to full. Her sharp biceps burst out to their full thickness, the heads of her pectorals fanned with vascular cuts, leading to her shoulders which were insane with twitching and writhing caps of female muscle. The man felt his head being crushed. Blood vessels burst in his eyes. Blood ran from his nose and sharp pops and sizzles filled his ears. He felt his jaw dislocate and his neck get misaligned. His hands and legs spasmed uncontrollably, as Taylor unleashed all the power in her upper body on his head. Years and years of martial arts and climbing and sports had made her so much stronger than she looked. Even with her triceps nearly doubling in size and her biceps pressing in further dislocating this man's jaw with their growing peaks she was still stronger than that. Her lats were overly impressive. She knew that when relaxed, her back muscles helped give her body the taper and sexy curve that caused instinctive lust in men and jealously in women, but when they were flexed like this she had power like that people wouldn't imagine. She had hauled herself up the Matterhorn carrying 100 pounds of gear just using her finger tips and her powerful muscles. This guy was learning that the hard way.
She only held the hold for a couple of seconds before letting him fall into a man-sized puddle at her feet. Taylor's sweat covered chest rose and fell as she took in deep breaths and admired her work before looking around the room quickly. There were rows of books on the shelves with gaps where this guy had packed certain volumes but left others. Taylor stepped over the unconscious man and looked into one of the boxes that he was packing. She hadn't had a chance to even read a single title when there was a quick knock and entrance.
"Hey Paulie its Joe, I thought you said that you'd be out of here alre-", Joe stopped in mid sentence. He walked in and was eye to ass with two gloriously round cheeks lovingly displayed in skin tight black pants and bent over. Only when Taylor stood up and turned around did Joe even notice Paulie lying in a heap on the floor with blood oozing out slowly.
"Hey what the fuck did you do to him?!?", Joe exclaimed and stepped into the room fully. He circled closer to Taylor, who stood her ground.
Taylor gazed at the new guy then down at Paulie slowly before speaking. "I asked him the same question that I'm going to ask you. He didn't feel like answering", she replied and assessed Joe the same way that he was assessing her. He was just a tad bigger than Paulie, but in much better shape and smarter.
"Did you kill him?"
"No, I'm not here for that. I'm here for your boss' computer, well that and your boss too, but my sister's going to take care of that. So if you would kindly tell me where your boss' office is, you won't have to end up like your friend Paulie here."
Joe ignored her and looked down at Paulie. Taylor stood her ground, and Joe bent down like he was about to check on Paulie, but instead he shot towards Taylor with surprising quickness and power. She's been waiting on him to make a move. As soon as he came into range, Taylor wholloped him with a right hand that sent him to the floor hard. He rolled away from her and got to his feet. He shook off her punch quickly and raised his fists. He inched towards Taylor then sent a quick jab. Taylor moved her head. The punch sailed right over her shoulder. He threw another and another. His hard punches missed her with fractions of an inch to spare with each one. Joe got angrier by the miss.
"Why don't you fight!", he roared and threw a hook. It missed and he slammed his chest with big blows. "You think you're so tough, then fight me!!"
Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Okay", she said with a shrug of her shoulder in the instant before she drew her fist back and unleashed a straight right to the center of Joe's face. Joe took it, but there were two more punches coming right after the first one. Taylor's long arms generated tremendous power as she sliced them towards her target. Joe staggered and threw a wild punch over her head. Taylor ducked it, and Joe charged quickly burying his shoulder into the center of Taylor's chest. She back peddled as he tried to force her to the ground.
She gasped when her back hit bookcase cracking wood and knocking books down around her. Joe wrapped his arms around Taylor's tight body and lifted her off the ground. While she was in the air, Taylor dropped the point of her elbow down onto his extended ribcage. Joe's muscles spasmed and he lost balance. Taylor's feet hit the floor and she immediately kneed him off of her. He backed away and tried to gather himself.
"Now, you've really pissed me off", Taylor hissed and stalked him. The much larger man put up his hands to block a punch, but it didn't help. Taylor threw a right hook that hit Joe in arms knocking them to one side of his face before sending a left that exploded against his right cheek. Joe's head whipped to one side and Taylor pressed him. Her muscles were just about fully primed now, which was bad for Joe. He threw a hook that Taylor brushed aside and countered with two devastatingly hard punches to Joe's head. He was tough, but his left was swelling shut and his right cheek was cut and bleeding. Taylor bounced near him then planted her feet for her hardest shot yet. Her beautiful face set in an instant as she delivered a picture perfect right hook to Joe's face. His neck looked like it would break in the instant her face hit him. Everything on him jiggled from his scalp to his toes. His eyes were rattled in his sockets and teeth flew out of his mouth. Blood dripped down his cheek and his vision went white from the blow then black from the pain. This tall bitch was tearing him up. He grunted and nearly fainted when her big fists hit him again. Her punches were a blur and she hit harder than any man he'd faced, but pride wouldn't let Joe give in.
Taylor was breaking this man down blow by blow, but she didn't have time to keep this up. He was tough, but she had to finish this. Her muscle fibers bunched up as she pulled her right arm back and slammed her fist into Joe's increasingly swollen face. Knots swelled atop knots and blood ran from cuts all over. He could barely stand, and one more hook from Taylor's powerful arms sent him flying across the room knocking over everything and bouncing down against the hardwood floor. He could barely see though the results of Taylor's beating, but as he lay on the floor he saw a golf club, a wedge, laying under the table by the wall. It was within arm's reach and he didn't even have to think twice. He snorted like a bull and grabbed the club. He jumped to his feet just as that tall bitch was coming to finish him off. He swung that club like his life depended on it, and Taylor only saw it at the last moment.
Her reflexes were quick, quick enough to keep her head from getting smashed by the steel club, but not quite quick enough to get out of the way completely. The heavy head hit Taylor right in her left shoulder. "Ahh!", she yelled and was knocked to the side by the force of Joe's strong blow. He swung again, and was ready to move when her foot slipped on a book that had fallen to the floor. She tried to twist away, but the club grazed the back of her head. She went down and quickly rolled, but Joe was right on top of her. He held the club up high and brought it down with all he was worth. The wedge whistled as it cut through the air, before it hit with a hollow thud.
"Umph!", Taylor moaned as the club crashed against her torso. Her body curled into a ball. She rolled away from him, her eyes squeezed shut from the pain. Joe stomped after her, holding the wedge like a knight of old would have held a sword. He would have smiled at the turned tables if his face hadn't been so swollen that it couldn't move, plus blood ran from his mouth from the teeth that Taylor had knocked clean out of his head. He was going to pay her back for that.
"FOUR!!", he yelled at the top of his lungs and took another mighty swing. Taylor was waiting for that. She had been rolling away from him slowly, but as soon as she heard the sound of the club in the air, she rolled towards him. The club hit the floor behind her with a big sharp sound and Taylor rolled the other way again using all of her body to pull the grip from Joe's hand. It went to the floor as she rolled over the shaft. A quick sweep with her long leg forced Joe to back up or fall on his head. When he backed up, Taylor got to knee and took up the club.
Joe hoped that she would at least look slightly worried. He had hoped that his couple of blows would have at least brought her closer to his level, but as he looked into Taylor's blue eyes all he saw was festering anger. "You know you're going to pay for that", she told him as she took up the club in both hands. Joe backed up more, thinking that this Amazon was going to wield his own weapon against him, but he was wrong.
He looked on in wonder and arousal despite his beating as the muscles of Taylor's upper body began to flex and tighten. Every single one sharpened harder and harder, and then they began to grow like from a sustained hard flex. Every muscle, every sinews stood out on this beautiful woman's body. Her face registered the strain, but still her muscles tightened. More definition and more size filled her body. A single throbbing vein pulsed in her forehead, but many more began popping all along her arms and shoulders and pecs and her abs. The steel shaft of the club had no chance, but she wasn't just bending it half. Her already sharp muscles tightened again. She was twisting her left hand in one direction and her right hand in the other. Her powerful forearms were already bulging with white knuckle pressure and then with a surge of strength, the steel shaft broke into three pieces and fell at her feet.
Taylor exhaled and looked directly at Joe as she stood up. She could see the fear and hesitation in his eyes. She really loved that look. "So I guess you've figured out that now you've really fucked up."
Joe tried to fight back, but Taylor dodged his punch for the first time threw a kick. He thought her arms were strong and they were, but Taylor's kicks were overwhelming. This high kick simply crushed the side of Joe's head and knocked him off his feet. He tried to get up. He was on his knees, when Taylor stepped into the next kick to his chest that sent Joe flying and sliding all the way across the room.
Down the hall and around the corner, Morgen Stern heard the commotion. He went into the hall and moved quickly towards the sounds. He slowed as he got closer and finally took a quick look through the door. He shook his head when he got a glimpse. This was all moving so very quickly. Morgen was a man who liked to plan things as detailed as possible, but he caught a glimpse of Taylor Matthews dismantling one of DeBraya's men. Morgen hurried down the hall to the far back of the large estate to where several more men were working with music playing. They hadn't heard anything so far. Morgen didn't go and get them; he simply used his power to send them towards Taylor. He knew that they wouldn't stop her. He could only hope that they would slow her down and buy him some time to tie up a couple of loose ends.
Brian had a great view of the fight in the room on the second floor. He couldn't see Heather, but watching Taylor was like watching some sort of matinee movie. With the aid of his camera, Brian watched every move Taylor made against the big guy who was giving her a little bit of a challenge but ultimately getting the worst of their encounter. He had his face pressed to his camera when the van door opened and closed suddenly. Brian gasped and pulled away from his camera to see a very well dressed man sitting in the front seat. It only took a second for Brian to realize that this was the same handsome blond guy he'd seen arguing with DeBraya.
"Don't be startled young man", he began. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Brian didn't believe him and shifted his weight slightly in case he had to defend himself or make a quick getaway.
"This is a very nice location", he said after looking in all directs and around the van. "You can see the entire front of DeBraya's house from here and the exits. To make it all the better, the people in the house will hardly notice." He finally turned to look at Brian, but not for long. His eyes went to his hands. "That is a very nice camera. Is it yours, or are you just working with the Matthews girls?"
Brian's lips pressed together and Morgen smiled. "So it's yours then. Oh and I apologize for being rude. My name's Morgen Stern." He held out his hand, but Brian didn't bite. "No matter. I already know who you are Mr. Brian Pronger from Pittsburgh, PA. You're good friends with Jan Caufield and strangely enough your mother Debbie used to work with the mother of a former associate of mine. Do you know Amaris Johanssen?"
Brian's eyes were wide in his head. There was so much coming at him so fast. "Well anyway, Mr. Pronger, I wish I could stay and chat longer, but I need you to do me a quick favor…"
Three men ran as quickly as they could towards the other side of the house. They had no idea why they had dropped what they were doing and run, but they knew that one of their own was in a fight. These three were men who never shied away from a fight. When they got closer, they could hear the sounds of punishment being dished out. The sounds of crushing blows and collisions with solid objects like walls and furniture made it down the hall. The men ran faster. As they came near the door, they heard a feminine grunt from way down in her chest just before a sharp blow. They heard bones break with that wet snapping sound. An instant later there was a boom. The wall near the door dimpled out like it had been hit by a car. Plaster and drywall fell from the ceiling and the wall. The force of the impact had broken the damn studs in the center of the wall. Somebody was getting their ass kicked in that room. The three men rushed into the room hoping that they hadn't missed all the fun, but were stunned by what they saw. They expected to see Joe and Paulie completely destroying some guy, but instead they saw Paulie lying in a fetal position with a nasty welt raised on the side of his neck and head, and Joe… poor Joe barely looked like a human. His face was swollen beyond recognition and his body was so beaten and broken that even propped up by the partially collapsed wall it was easy to see that bones were broken and ligaments were torn.
They looked quickly for the gang of men who could have destroyed these guys, but they only saw one woman standing there. They'd never seen anything like her, it was as if she'd come from some other planet. No one should be that beautiful and that dangerous. She crossed her arms across her chest, and the men got to see first hand how these two men had been destroyed. The muscles of her arms rippled as their real thickness was revealed. The separation in her deltoids was amazing and so were all the muscles of her arms and back. It was like she had the perfect pedigree to be a beautiful badass.
"What the fuck is going on here?"
Taylor cocked her head to one side and looked at the three men before letting her arms drop and starting towards them. "I tried to talk to these two guys and it didn't work. I'm just going to beat the shit out of you three and find the computer myself." She stopped short of the guy standing at the front and drew back her fist. In a blink, a crushing hook had knocked the big man to his knees. The guy behind him fared no better. She kicked him in the ribs before a left hook looked liked it would take his head off. The third guy rushed her like a linebacker. If Joe had been awake he could have warned his friend that he'd just made a bad mistake. Instead, his friend had to learn the hard way. He did when Taylor broke two of his ribs with her first punch.
"Hold her up", Martin ordered his men once they'd gotten the feisty redhead under control. It had taken three guys to hold her down, but a quick crack across her jaw made her more cooperative. Two men held Heather tightly while two more were very near in case she started acting up again. "What are you doing here?", DeBraya demanded from Heather. He was angry that she'd gotten so close.
Heather looked at him, but didn't say anything. He frowned and slapped her across her still smarting jaw. Her head whipped to the other side. "Whoo", Heather exclaimed before turning to face Martin again. "Did that make you feel like more of a man? If not you can hit me one more time. I know if I was a man, hitting defenseless young women would really get my juices flowing. Go ahead." She raised her head and presented her cheek to him.
Martin rubbed his knuckles then stepped closer and snatched a handful of Heather's hair. He yanked it hard. "Tell me what you came here for before I let these men have their fucking way with you."
"Aww, just them? I was hoping that I'd get raped by the big dog himself. Did I do something wrong? Not slutty enough for you?"
Martin yanked her hair again, causing Heather to grimace. "You crazy bitch! You have a death wish or something?"
"Not really. I was really planning on getting out of this entire situation alive if truth be told. You see half of the fun of putting yourself in a dangerous situation is getting yourself out of said situation so you can brag about it later."
"How do you plan to get out of this situation exactly?", Martin asked and tossed her head to the side before letting go of her hair.
Heather blew some out of it from her face and tracked Martin's movements. "Well I've been thinking about how I'm going to get out of here as a matter of fact. I think I'm going out the side door. Then over your hedges and then down the street to my ride, that's after I meet up with my sister of course. I'm waiting on her to finish up."
Martin looked at Heather and just shook his head. "I don't like it when some bitch toys with me. You might be gorgeous and all, but it doesn't matter." He looked over at one of his bodyguards and motioned towards Heather. "Soften her up."
"Love to."
The man strutted over to Heather and stood across from her. She didn't try to struggle much, just steeled herself for whatever this guy was going to do. In the back of her mind, she did wish that Taylor would stop taking her time though. This tough looking bodyguard pulled his thick arm back and Heather cringed and half closed her eyes while he wound up. When he'd torqued his body enough, he released a tight short upper cut right at her midsection. The men standing around eagerly awaited seeing this brash chick doubled over in gut wrenching pain, but when his fist hit Heather's abs, there was a dull thump and a sharp pop.
"Holy shit!", the bodyguard yelled and cradled his hand. Heather threw her head back and laughed and laughed. The bodyguard looked at his hand, and saw that he'd managed to dislocate his pinky.
"Oh don't feel bad", Heather said after a cough to clear her throat. "That was a really good punch and it hurt like hell, but I think you got the worst of it!" She laughed again as the bodyguard grunted and reset his pinky. The men standing around were stunned into silence, even Martin looked at Heather in disbelief.
"Dude what did you do?", one of the other guards asked and came over to look at his friend's hand. A couple more came over as well.
"Man her stomach is hard as a fucking brick wall", the guy with the hurt hand exclaimed.
"Why thank you so much", Heather gushed, still held up by two men who weren't quite as confident now as they had been a minute ago. "I work really hard on them."
"Shut the fuck up. Ain't nobody got abs that hard!"
"Not true. My cousin, the one who Mr. DeBraya doesn't want to talk about, has really nice abs too. I won't say Jan's are harder than mine, but… Oh and my little brother has nice abs too. I have to put his in there or he'll get mad."
"No! This is nonsense. What do you have under there?"
"Nothing, but skin and bone and really hot hard muscle. That's all." The bodyguards all came towards her. "Hey, hey, one at a time. I'll let you all take a good crack at them, but not all at once."
One of the other guards stepped up to her. He put his left hand on her shoulder almost gently and looked Heather directly in the eyes. He didn't notice any change on her face before he drew back and punched her in the gut as hard as he could. It sounded like his fist had just struck a side of beef. He jumped back shaking his hand, but his fingers were uninjured. "No fucking way", he breathed and made sure all of his fingers were working.
Heather's face was flushed, but she was smiling. She looked at the other guard. "Hey you wanna go at it? See if you can break me where your friends can't."
The third bodyguard eyed Heather hard. "What do you have under there?" He stepped over to her and reached out.
"Oh come on man! Not the dress!" Riippp!!! She sighed and he looked down and saw two red marks on this young woman's otherwise unblemished midsection. One of the marks was still bright and angry looking while the other was starting to fade. "See, I told you, no boiler plate like A Fist Full of Dollars, and no modern wonder material either, just me and my wonderful abdominal." To show off, Heather crunched down on her abs. First a deep valley etched from the bottom of her sternum to her navel, so deep that it was like watching land part. It was deep enough to lose a finger in there, but that was just beginning. Her hips moved just slightly, and then all was revealed. Heather's abs were a landscape of deep grooves and brick like ridges that were oh so deep and very very cut. Everything was so hard, just pure muscle from top to bottom. They could see the hints of vascularity. She wasn't done. She blew out and crunched down really hard the second time.
One of the bodyguards could hardly stand it. It was just too perfect. This was the first time he'd ever seen abs so hard and sexy. He wasn't even a guy who thought he liked muscle on a woman, but right now as he watched Heather flex her abs, he wanted nothing more than to fall at her feet and worship her body from head to toe. In the middle of his personal fantasy, Heather relaxed her flex. "So do any of you guys want to take another whack at them, or are you ready to move on?"
The men were speechless. Martin DeBraya just stared at this true goddess. She was surrounded by big rough looking men, but she wasn't scared of them, or she didn't appear to be. Perhaps it was time to up the stakes. "Give me your gun", he told one of the guards who quickly handed it over.
He put the muzzle against Heather's temple. "So how do you feel now?", he asked with a grin.
"Sad", was Heather's immediate reply.
"Oh so now you finally understand what trouble you're in. Go ahead and feel sad."
Heather shook her head slightly. "No, sad for you. You need a gun to take on an unarmed 19 year old girl. Tisk tisk. So very sad indeed."
"You really are fucking crazy."
"No, I'm bored and filling time. This could have been over a while ago."
"Oh really, then what are you waiting for?", Martin asked and stepped away from her. The gun wasn't having the desired effect.
"I told you, I'm waiting on my sister. She should be finished any minute now."
Taylor wiped some blood from the side of her face. It wasn't hers. It belonged to the guy who she'd just kicked through a door. His torso hung in the hall while his feet brushed the floor of the room where Taylor had just finished beating up four of the five men who had come against her. The fifth guy was cowering in a corner. She'd laid into him pretty good, but he been scared to death by watching Taylor beat the shit out of his friends. He was bleeding from two cuts on his face and his breathing was shallow which meant that she'd probably broken a rib or three.
She turned towards him and he watched those long legs clad in the skintight black flex and release in perfect sequence as she got closer and closer. The man was whimpering as she came to him and stopped. He tried to back away from her, but he was already against the wall. He would have jumped from the second story window to get away from her had he been close enough.
Taylor looked at the man for a second before she squatted. "Hey, my name's Taylor. What's yours?", she asked without a hint of recent exertion or intended malice.
"I'm R…R… Robert, but everybody calls me Bob."
"Okay Bob, nice to meet you. Now I know a minute ago I said that I was going to beat the shit out of the three of you. I'm well on my way to finishing that, but I'm willing to make an exception if you answer a couple of questions for me."
"Anything!"
She smiled. "Good. Now I was here yesterday with my cousin Jan. Did you see us?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I saw you and her. I only saw you once, but you've got the kinda look that a man don't forget." Taylor grinned and he kept answering. "I saw your cousin too. She was with Mr. DeBraya for a while."
"Did you see what happened to her after most of the guests had left?"
"Yeah, she got in the helicopter and left. I didn't see her after that."
"Was she scared or hurt or anything when you last saw her!"
"No no, she was like beautiful and perfect when she got on that helicopter. I didn't see her after that."
"So you didn't help hurt her in anyway?"
"No fucking way! I swear to God! I never touched your cousin!"
Taylor looked at him closely then nodded. "Okay, now for the second one. I'm looking for your boss' office, but all of these damn rooms on the second floor look alike. Well really I don't care about his office. I just want his computer."
"Oh well then it ain't in the office. We've moved it. It's way back by the service entrance. We were moving it out with all the rest of the stuff. I'll show you." He started to stand up and Taylor moved back to allow him. "Come on, this way." He started towards the door, but he nearly wet his pants when her big hand wrapped around his elbow. He stopped and turned ready to beg for forgiveness if necessary.
Taylor's face was serious as she looked the man over. "You aren't lying and leading me to some sort of ambush are you?"
"Oh no, please I… I just want to help. I don't want to end up like those guys." He shuddered as he looked at the men lying around the room unconscious and bleeding. "Even if I was to set you up, you'd just beat them up too and then come after me worse than before."
Taylor actually cracked a big smile and patted Bob on the shoulder. "You're smarter than I thought you were. Okay, let's go." He led her down the halls towards the back where he and his friends had been working. He went to the correct box and pulled the minitower out for Taylor. "That's it right there. Are you happy?"
Taylor tucked the computer under her arm and looked at Bob. "Yeah, I'm happy."
"Can I go?"
Taylor considered it for a moment. "Have you ever murdered anybody Bob?", she asked him after thinking about it.
"No never. I mean I've busted some heads, but never took no man's life. And I ain't never hurt no woman neither, like your cousin or any another woman. That ain't me", Bob added.
Taylor nodded slowly. "Okay then, get the hell out of here."
Bob ran down the stairs and out the back door. Taylor watched him go then took off running herself. She ran down the hall with the computer tucked under her arm like a football. About halfway to her destination she heard sirens for the first time. Taylor had really good ears and knew that they were still a ways off. She hoped that they were going somewhere else, but then she heard more sirens coming from different directions converging here at DeBraya's house. "Shit", she breathed and ran faster.
Heather heard the sirens too. The men noticed that for the first time the look of calm was leaving her face. They couldn't quite hear the sirens yet, but it was only a matter of time. "Gettin worried?", one of the guards asked.
"No, not worried, just impatient."
"Still waiting on that sister of yours? What you gonna do when she gets here?"
"You'll find out", Heather told him and sighed.
Taylor slowed as she reached the stairs and stopped. She took a deep breath and shouted down. "I've got it!"
"About time." Heather picked her feet off the ground and let the two men holding her take all of her weight suddenly. They compensated, but with her feet off the ground, she hooked her feet around the back of their knees and pulled forward. Both men lost balance when she bent their knees. They lost their grip and Heather was loose just that quickly.
She lunged towards the guard with his gun drawn and grabbed the barrel pointing it away from her with her left hand and punching him in the side of the head hard enough to knock out two teeth with her right hand. He fell to the ground with Heather still holding the gun. She spun round to find the bodyguard who had torn her dress. He was reaching for his gun, but she already had one drawn. She threw it at him and hit him in the side of the head. She followed right behind it. She kicked him in the knee. He started down, but an upper cut stood him back up. A hook tore his head to the left, but then she knocked it back to the right. He tried to fall forward, but a kick to the center of his chest sent the reeling guard over backwards. Taylor had unleashed all of this in just a blink. She was on the next bodyguard before the last one had even hit the ground. Martin was watching his men get destroyed. She had been had to corral before, but he could tell that she'd only been going at half speed. In the midst of this of this dismantling of his security force, he heard the first siren. He ran for the door.
"Don't make me chase you!", Heather yelled out to him. Her voice was so forceful that Martin actually slid to a stop. He turned and saw her on a knee pummeling a man into a bloody mess. She dropped him and started after Martin who looked around for help. There was none. This young woman had dispatched his men and now she was coming after him. He had no chance. He was near hysterics. Nothing he had done was working right, and now the cops were coming. He could hear their powerful engines and see the flashing lights. Part of him wished they got there to arrest him and save him from this woman.
One of Martin's braver guards threw himself at Heather. He'd been playing coy and he tried to punch her in the head. He managed to hit her shoulder. It knocked her to the side, but the man lost his balance. Heather took him by the neck and threw her entire body and all of her considerable power and strength into a crushing elbow that exploded against the side of his face. Martin cringed when he heard his bodyguard's cheek and orbital bone break. The man went down in a heap. "I'm here for you", Heather told DeBraya. "I probably could have saved some of these guys hospital time if I'd explained that, but oh well. Now are you going to come quietly?"
Just then Martin saw his ray of hope. Heather saw the change in his eyes, but she didn't quite have time to react before a blinding white flash filled her vision and she went to the ground. "I'm sorry for this Miss Matthews, but he's not going with you at all", Morgen told Heather and dropped the ax handle that he'd just used to crack her in the head. He took Martin around the shoulders and pushed him towards the back of the house. They were going out of a window to make a getaway. It was the only way to escape without the cops seeing.
Heather was on one knee rubbing the back of her head when Taylor came around the corner. "What happened to you? Where's DeBraya."
She stood up and pointed. She was so mad that her hands were trembling. "Some guy just hit me over the head. It just happened a second ago. They haven't gotten far. I'm going to kill him!! Do you hear that?!? I'm going to rip your fucking HEAD OFF!!!" Heather could hear them banging doors open to get to the window. She started after them, but Taylor stopped her.
"Just let them go. The cops are coming and we can't afford to get caught. Let's get out of here."
Heather was angry enough to pull from her sister's grip, but the moment passed and they hurried towards the side door. "Here", Taylor said and tossed Heather the jacket. "I thought you might need this." Heather put on the jacket. It covered the big hole that had been ripped in her dress even if it didn't match anything she was wearing. Heather and Taylor exited the house just as the cops were coming down the street. They split up after that. Heather took a more direct path to the parked van while Taylor went a more round about route. Taylor still had the computer and she didn't want to be seen with it. They made it to the van about the same time though because Heather was walking slowly and Taylor was running.
Brian was in the driver seat. He started the van and pulled off as soon as the doors were shut. Neither of them complained at the change in arrangements. He drove past the scene trying his best to look like a delivery driver, curious but with a job to do. He passed that test because the cops let him through. They were blocking the roads near DeBraya's house and detouring traffic. Brian was one of the last drivers who got to go straight through.
"Why did you call the cops early?", Heather asked while Taylor pushed her hair out of the way to look at the bump on the back of her head.
"I didn't. I don't know who did, but if they had just come about five minutes later it would have been fine."
"So everything didn't work out?", Brian called from the front of the van.
"It went okay. Just take us back to the house so we can drop you off." Brian did just that. When they got there, he gave them the memory cards from his camera and they drove off. He went into the house and tried his best to act like nothing serious had happened. He knew that Sara could pull the information out of his head and Jan could have intimidated him into talking, but he gave them no reason to suspect anything. He ended up in Brice's room playing on one of the brand new X-Box 360's. Playing Madden and Gun on the 360 was as cool as advertised. He was in there for hours.
Taylor and Heather got home before dinner time. Their parents were home and Jan was up around. "Well you look 100% better", Heather said with a smile and walked over to Jan who was lounging in a chair. She leaned over and gave her a hug.
"I feel better too. Trust me." She got up when Taylor came in. They hugged without saying anything. Jan had things that she wanted to tell, but was afraid to and she didn't trust herself speaking. They might just come spilling out. She was glad that Taylor said something first.
"You might want to see this." She took the remote and turned on the local news. The top story was a raid on Martin DeBraya's home. It said that law enforcement had seized all the property in the home and were looking for Mr. Martin DeBraya who fled from the house just before police arrived. The story went on to talk about how Martin DeBraya was implicated in organized crime, fraud, human trafficking, and even murder.
"Couldn't happen to a nicer man", Jan observed with a smile. She sat down and watched the live shot and listened to the story unfold on television.
While Jan was wrapped up in the news, Taylor and Heather went upstairs. "You talk to him", Taylor told her sister. "He trusts you. He wants to run away and hide when I try and talk to him."
"That's because he thinks you hate him."
"I don't hate him, but you do need to go talk about the little problem."
Heather sighed and knocked on Brice's door, and asked Brian to come out into the hall. She was going to ask him there, but there was too much activity. They didn't want anyone hearing about what had happened earlier that day. They ended up in Taylor's room. "What's up?", Brian asked after Heather shut the door. He could see the serious looks on both of their faces.
"It's about the pictures", Heather began. "Some of them are missing. There are like 20 missing numbers in the sequences. Did you delete them?"
"Yes", Brian answered before the thought had even formed in his head.
"Why? Now we don't even have a record of the blond guy who was arguing with DeBraya!", Taylor exclaimed and threw her hands up.
"He told me to delete every file with his image on it, or his vehicle."
"And you did it? You didn't even tell us before now!" Even Heather was getting a little heated.
They watched Brian's eyes glaze over like he was hypnotized. "I told him that you would notice the missing pictures by the automatic numbering system, and he told me that he liked us so he was going to give you two a message. He wanted me to tell you, 'Sorry for tampering with your hard work girls, but I am a man who must keep my unsavory business in the shadows. I bear neither of you any ill will, and to be honest I also want Martin DeBraya to pay for what he has done. He's a childish, debauched, small minded, sociopath, but I need him for a while longer. Also, I must apologize to you Miss Heather for what I fear I'm going to do in order to rescue Mr. DeBraya from your trap. I saw you being held by some of his men, which I'm sure is exactly where you want to be. He thinks that he has you, when he is within arm's reach of you at all times. It is a very cunning trap, and you are playing it very well. You are the perfect bate, quite a bit sweeter than honey. I hope we have the chance to meet in person someday. And don't be too hard on Mr. Pronger. He's only doing what I'm asking him to do."
Brian stopped talking. Taylor and Heather looked at each other. This day was getting stranger and stranger. "How does he know us?"
"He did not say", Brian replied immediately.
"How did he do all of this?"
"He said that this is… his thing. He told me that you two would understand."
The sisters looked at each other again. "Yeah", Heather began. "We do understand."
Brian's eyes rolled in his head and he nearly fell. Both Taylor and Heather had to reach out to keep him from falling. "Hey, Brian are you okay?"
"Yeah, what just happened?" He shook his head to clear the webs. He didn't know that he had just been used as Morgen Stern's Memorex.
"Nothing", Heather replied, not even knowing how to describe what had happened. She'd seen some strange things in her lifetime, but nothing quite like this. There was no question as to whether he was faking. The sisters talked with Brian for a few minutes more to see what he remembered and what he didn't. He remembered everything except the blond guy. To Brian that man didn't exist. When they were finished talking, Brian hurried back to Brice's room to keep at that 360, while Taylor and Heather were left with a feeling of deep unease.
Heather was uneasy to the point of worry. "We should find out who that blond guy is."
Taylor shook her head. "We can ask around, but I have a feeling that we'll hear from him when he's ready and not before that. We just have to figure out how to respond. Until then, I'm not going to worry about it."
Much more to come
soon!!
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