Jan inhaled deeply when she smelled hot apple cider. It was faint, but the scent was more than enough to make her mouth water. She was about to walk away from the window when the scent grew stronger. She turned towards the rear stairs to see her cousin, Heather, coming up the stairs with two cups of the steaming elixir. Heather was wearing a pair of her faded sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt on top, completely hiding the magnificent body she possessed beneath. "I thought you might want some", the auburn haired beauty said and extended a mug Jan's way.

Jan took a sip before saying, "Thanks. How'd you know I was awake?"

"While I was downstairs I heard your bedroom door open and close. Just like you probably smelled this apple cider when I left the kitchen with it. I don't have to lie about it now", she added with a big grin.

"This is so crazy", Jan mused and shook her head. "I still can't believe you, Taylor, and Brice are gifted and I never knew."

"It's like Sara said last night, when you're freaks like us, you're always pretty damned good at keeping it a secret from everybody… well something like that. I think I added the damn part. Does Sara ever curse?"

"No", Jan answered immediately. "If something ever made her mad enough to curse then it would be a good idea to put some distance between you and her."

Heather and Jan shared a laugh before Heather's face turned very serious and tears welled in her nearly violet eyes. "I used to have to be so careful around you to make sure I didn't hurt myself in any way. When I was younger I couldn't control my healing, and if I got a scrape or a cut or something it would just heal on its own. I was scared to death of getting some sort of bad injury and you seeing it heal up immediately. It used to paralyze me."

"Well you don't have to worry about it now", Jan said and wrapped her arm around Heather's shoulders. "We're a family who can be freaks all at the same time. Now all we have to do is tell our parents. Speaking of which, where's your mother? I thought I'd see Aunt Kat outside."

"Oh yeah", Heather exclaimed nearly spitting some cider back into her mug. "I was going to tell you that Mom and Uncle Jack left for the Equine Club this morning."

"Together!?!" Jan's face showed that the news had to be too good to be true. Her aunt and her father had been talking in the same room the night before, but now this.

"Yeah, together, in the same car. Uncle Jack got invited to play polo with some old friends and Mom said that she was going."

"Daddy hasn't played polo in years, and Aunt Kat is going to watch?"

"She said that she wanted to watch Uncle Jack make a fool of himself, but you can tell she didn't really mean it."

"I don't know what to say", Jan said and put a hand over her mouth and had to fight back tears.

"Me neither", Heather said and wrapped her arm around Jan's waist and hugged her tightly. "I usually dread coming down here to Palm Beach. This is Taylor's playground, but I think this might be the best few days of my entire life."

"Yeah I know. Now I think I'm gonna cry."

"Cry about what?", a voice asked from behind them. Heather and Jan turned to see Taylor coming towards them. Her sandy blonde hair was mostly pulled back, but a few strands hung in front of her stunningly beautiful face. Her night shirt was slightly bigger than Jan's but a pair of short shorts put her lusciously long and shapely gams on full display.

"Mom and Uncle Jack went off together", Heather blurted and went on to explain the rest.

"Wow", was all Taylor could manage for a second or two. "For once I am at a complete loss for words. I have no idea what broke the iceberg between the two of them, and I don't care. Sometimes miracles happen I suppose." The three young women who all looked like sisters even though Jan was Taylor and Heather's cousin were in complete agreement. Taylor's face took on a little frown as she took a breath.

"Hey have you guys seen my cross?", she asked. Heather and Jan's faces went from joy at their parents' possible reconciliation to near panic.

"You wore it last night didn't you?", Heather tried to remember.

"Yeah, I thought I might have left it in the limo, but I called Gordon and he said he cleaned the car and didn't see it. I've looked all over my room and in my car, which I haven't been in since Thursday, and I can't find it anywhere."

"Were you wearing it at the club last night… you know when you started running?"

"I think I was."

"Ut oh", Jan and Heather said at the same time. They knew how much that simple golden cross meant to Taylor. She was trying to stay optimistic about finding it. Maybe she'd dropped it somewhere. Heather woke up Brice and Thomas woke up after hearing the commotion. Sara and Alisha joined in the search too even if they had no idea what the cross meant to her. After half an hour most of the household staff joined in the search. Azalea even released some workers from their Cook-Out duties to look for the simple piece of jewelry.

Jan couldn't help but feel guilty. She'd been moving at tremendous speed last night. Taylor had been forced to run just as fast to catch up before Jan made a big mistake, but the chain holding Taylor's most prized piece of jewelry couldn't take it and had snapped somewhere along the way. Taylor knew the truth of what had happened and she called an end to the all out search. She thanked everybody for looking before disappearing into her room. Jan, Heather, Brice, and Thomas were alone in the hall when Taylor closed her door.

"I remember the last time she misplaced that cross", Brice began. "She nearly tore up the house looking for it."

"She's taking it a little better this time, but only on the outside… trust me", Heather said with a sigh.

"I feel so bad for her", Thomas said and looked towards Taylor's room. "Maybe we can get her another one", he offered with hopeful enthusiasm. Down the hall Brian's door opened and he came out rubbing his eyes, wondering why he was awake this early.

"What was all that noise out here?"

"We were looking for Taylor's necklace, a cross. I think she lost it last night when she was chasing me."

"A cross?", Brian asked with a frown. "Like a little gold cross with an inscription on the back?"

"YEAH!", Taylor's family exclaimed. "Have you seen it?", Heather demanded with hopeful excitement.

"Seen it? I found it, last night when all that hoopla was going on. Hold on let me get it." He went back into his room and came back in a few seconds with the cross and the broken chain. He handed it to Jan who only had to glance at it to know that it was the right one. Both Heather and Brice breathed a sigh of relief. "That's Taylor's cross." Jan handed it back to Brian. "Take it to her.

"What? Where is she?"

"In her room."

He tried to hand it back to Jan. "You go give it to her. I'm not going in there. She hates me enough already", Brian said with enough real apprehension in his voice to make Brice chuckle.

"Dude, you really have to lighten up. You've got Taylor all wrong. If she was as bad as you think she is, she'd have ripped Heather's head off years ago."

Heather scoffed and poked her brother in the chest. "She could try." Her face softened when she turned to Brian. "Taylor doesn't hate you. She doesn't even dislike you. If she did, trust me you'd know. She's just… she's just… Taylor. Go ahead and take it. That'll make up for you saying that she was mean a few days ago."

Brian went down the hall and stepped to the door. He stood for a second listening a piano being played by a practiced hand. He didn't know the first thing about classical music, but he knew this tugged at his soul a bit. He would have stood and listened if not for the several pairs of eyes watching him. Against his better judgment, Brian knocked. "Come in", came her voice through the door.

He opened the door like Doom waited on the other side. He stuck his head in before taking his first step and swept his eyes over the room not knowing what to expect. Taylor's room was painted the color of an early morning sky in winter, and her bed wasn't grand like Brian imagined it would be. It was simple and neat with sheets the same color as the walls. Taylor was off to one side of the room sitting with her back to him playing an electric piano the same as the one Jan had in her apartment in Atlanta. This was the first time Brian had ever heard Taylor play anything. He took his first step into her room just as she came to a beautiful part of whatever song it was she was playing.

Two racks attached to the wall on either side of the door held lots of pictures. Most were of her family. There were pictures of her parents, her siblings, her aunts and uncles, and her cousins. There was a picture of Taylor and Jan smiling at the camera showing off their missing teeth that caught Brian's eye. Brian realized that they'd been close for their entire lives. He saw lots of pictures of mountains and of breathtaking vistas that could only have been shot from the tops of mountains. There were pictures of Taylor hanging from the sides of mountains. In some shots she wore full climbing gear with ropes, carabineers, and cold weather gear. In other shots she wore only tight spandex over her heavenly body while free climbing cliffs and mountains. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen the expression of pure happiness on her face in person that he saw in those pictures.

"Did you need something?", she asked in a tone of voice he'd never heard come from her, at least not while she was addressing him. He didn't hear the condescension or the disdain or the intimidation.

But even with her back turned, Taylor's aura of unapproachability was intact. She made Brian uneasy without even looking at him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and walked up behind her. "I umm… I found your cross. I think."

Taylor stopped playing immediately, spun on her stool and took it from his hand. She exhaled softly as she closed her fingers around it and to Brian's complete shock, she put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thank you so much. You have no idea", she said while still holding him.

"I saw it in the middle of the street when I was trying to follow all of you super powered people."

She released her hug and leaned back with a big smile on her impossibly beautiful face. She looked so angelic, alive, and genuine that Brian began to smile despite the lingering butterflies in his stomach. "Jan and Heather told me how much this cross means to you."

Taylor looked at the piece of gold in her hand and sighed again. "I got this for First Communion when I was in the second grade and I wore it every day growing up. I've replaced the chain on it more times than I can remember. I probably shouldn't be so attached to it, but I am."

"Well, I would have given it right to you, but I had no idea who's it was. I looked at it last night and saw an inscription."

"Proverbs 31:30", she said for him.

"Yeah, that one. I looked it up and read it, but that didn't help… I mean… what it said didn't…"

Taylor gave Brian a wry smile. "Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised", she recited from memory. "You probably didn't think that I of all people wouldn't get that inscribed?" Brian blinked several times and his mouth opened and closed like a beached fish. "Probably better you don't answer that", she warned him then laughed.

She shifted in her seat and sat back on her crossed leg. "When I was little, people used to say that I was the cutest kid that they'd ever seen, and then I hit puberty and all this happened." She gestured at herself. "I had modeling scouts calling the house day and night, so much that we actually unlisted our number and changed it three times. And I had guys hitting on me all the time. One time when I was fourteen a grown man tried to pick me up while I was heading to meet some friends at the movies. I looked past him and saw that his wife and kids were in the car waiting for him to come back out with the tickets! That really blew my mind. And people always think that they know me because I look the way I do. I want to tell them all the time that being hot isn't a personality trait! Sure I like being attractive. I even flaunt it because it's easier than trying to hide it, but I'm not really vain... not completely anyway. And it's hard to keep grounded when people fill your head with bullshit, so when I was fifteen I had a jeweler inscribe this cross. I wanted the entire verse, but it wouldn't fit so I got the reference instead. That way I'd remember the truth even if so many people don't."

Taylor was so guarded usually that Brian didn't know quite how to react, but before he could finish his thought, Taylor jumped up from the stool and hurried across the room to her dresser. She opened a case and pulled a necklace with a heart-shaped pendent. She quickly slid it off and slid on her cross. "Could you fasten this for me?"

Brian jumped up and hurried over to her. She pulled her hair up and out of the way exposing the elegant sweep her neck and in profile her face was sublime, with its clear flawless skin, sensual lips, and shining blue eyes. Brian's hands were steady despite his heart rate going up a little as he touched her skin for the first time. She even smelled wonderful. He quickly closed the latch and stepped back. "There, all done." He backed up as she spun around. He looked back at the piano then back to Taylor. "Heather told me you played, but I hadn't heard you until now", he said to get off the heavier topics. "What song was that?"

"Oh that was Nocturne 6 by Fauré."

"I heard you thought that you didn't play as well as Jan, but that sounded great to me."

Taylor laughed and put her hand on Brian's shoulder. "I sound good when there's not a really good pianist around."

"Oh first you're not vain and now modest? Wow this is a revelation."

"Maybe its modesty, but it's also true. Have you ever seen The Bodyguard?"

"Yeah, with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner."

"You remember when the crazy sister is singing Jesus Loves Me? Yeah, sounded good. You think to yourself, well she can sing. She's really talented too, but then Whitney comes out singing the same song and it's like hmmm well maybe not. When it comes to playing the piano… I am the crazy sister." Brian looked skeptical. "When you get a chance, ask Jan to play the same song and you'll see what I'm talking about." She turned back around to check out the cross and new chain in the mirror, and Brian turned to leave.

"Thank you again", she told him as he started to walk out.

Brian put his hand on the knob but didn't turn it. "You know Taylor", he began. "It's almost like we're meeting for the first time."

He saw her reflection before she looked over her shoulder. "Jan and Heather have been trying to take up for you the last several days, and now I can see that you're a pretty cool guy. But don't get it twisted up, Brian. I'm every bit the bitch you've been thinking I am", she paused and grinned. "That's just not all I am."

Jan and Heather were still at the window looking out at the construction guys finishing up the temporary bathroom facilities. Kat didn't want to rent port-a-potties, even the nice ones. No, she was having a permanent looking and well appointed restroom built just to be torn down in a couple of days. It was a small example of excess, but it couldn't be helped. Taylor came out of her room with the renewed bounce in her step.

"Hey I was thinking. Do you guys want to go to the spa before the Cook-Out?"

"Like the three of us?"

"No", Taylor began with a little hop of excitement. "Brice is planning on taking Thomas and the younger kids out on the lake on the Sea-Doos and I think the rest of us can go get pampered before we're in the spotlight." Heather and Jan knew exactly what she meant.

"Sounds like a plan to me", Heather said.

The spa was only a mile or so from the Caufield house, and once they got there Brian wished that he'd brought his camera. Every staff member of this exclusive spa looked like they'd been chosen from a model catalogue. The women were all varying degrees of hot and the guys a looked like they'd jumped directly off a romance novel cover. Brian felt a little out of place, but he was getting used to that feeling on this little trip. "It is time for some skin pampering", Alisha announced soon after they'd entered. A perky blonde attendant started leading her upstairs. Sara decided to join Alisha, while Jan and Taylor decided to hit the steam room. Heather was in the middle of trying to make up her mind when she heard her name called. She turned around and Brian wasn't quite sure if the look on her face was a smile or a grimace.

"Geoffrey", she called out and leaned in for a half hug and a peck on the cheek.

"My goodness you look stunning", he said despite the fact that most of her body was hidden beneath baggy clothes and most of her head under a beret. He knew what was under there. "I'd like you to meet Andrea Lusetti my fiancée."

Andrea turned around and quickly stood next to Geoff. She was pretty with hazelly eyes and blonde highlights in her neatly pinned ponytail. She wore a white and green tennis skirt short enough to show off almost all of her athletic legs. Her quads tightened with each step and her calves too. She'd worn a jacket covering her arms from the early morning chill but it was warming up nicely and she found a reason to remove it as she got closer. She didn't want to toss anything in anybody's face, but she had the body of a woman who'd worked hard to hone it. Obviously Geoff's tall friend was trying to hide some flaw in her body under those sweats.

"Nice to meet you", Heather said in all honesty and leaned in for a Continental greeting from the pretty Italian. Geoff had tried for quite a number of years to catch Heather's eye, and now that he had a fiancée she hoped to get no more unwanted advances from him.

"Pleasure's mine", Andrea replied in the cutest Italian accent.

"Guys, this is Brian Pronger. He's a classmate of Jan's from Emory. He's spending the holiday with us."

Handshakes were exchanged. Then there was a needless moment of silence with the four of them standing across from each other. "Andrea's ranked on the tour, you know", Geoff said to destroy the awkward pause.

"Oh congratulations. I thought I might have heard your name", Heather lightly lied. She didn't follow the pro tour like she used to when she thought she might join it.

"We were just going out to play a couple of games. I wish I'd known you were coming, Heather. We could have gotten one more and played doubles."

"Oh Brian can play. You don't mind do you Brian?"

"No, sure… I'm always up for a little tennis", he replied not knowing what else to say.

"Excellent. See you shortly."

"Sure will", Heather said with a smile, but she frowned and huffed as soon as Geoff and his strutting fiancée were out of sight. "Of all the people…" She took Brian by the shoulder. "Hurry and get dressed. We have to talk when you come out."

Jan and Taylor were already in the steam room naked and relaxing. Taylor sat with her back against the wall and Jan had her long form stretched out at Taylor's feet with only her head and shoulders against the wall. There'd been three other women in the room when the two gorgeous Amazons had come in. One by one they'd left even though neither Jan nor Taylor had said a word, but their beauty was like a challenge to every other woman who thought herself attractive  and some couldn't handle it. Taylor was amused, but enjoyed the privacy just the same.

"You know all these years I could have been punching you for real instead of pulling them", Jan said after breathing in a lungful of steam.

"Yeah, well I could have beaten you way more often if I hadn't treated you like a china doll, afraid you'd break."

"Oh ha ha. What I don't understand is why Aunt Katherine stopped you and Heather from sparring when you can't really hurt each other unless you try to."

"She didn't want any big marks on me that night. Heather heals before she even gets hurt, but not me. I mean I'm pretty hard to injure but if I get a cut or scratch or bruise it doesn't heal as quickly. And then I'd just be pissed at Heather until it went away."

"If I leave a cut alone it'll go away in about twenty minutes. What about Heather?"

Taylor chuckled. "Heather's cuts heal immediately and I mean immediately. When she got shot last night she had to use her control over her powers to keep the wounds from healing. One time a few months ago, she got shot through and through with a rifle. The entrance wound had healed before the exit wound was even created."

"Wow, even if I use the healing side of the power by itself I can't come close to that. What about strength?"

Taylor shrugged and put her legs up on the tile bench she was sitting on. "She's pretty strong too. I mean she got mad and tossed an F-150 at a guy once, but she's not nearly as strong as me and from what I felt last night she's not nearly as strong as you either." Taylor opened her eyes and looked down the length of her glorious body and spread her toes. "Do you think I should get a French pedi or a color?"

Jan wiped her eyes and leaned up for a second. "If you're going to wear the grey and white outfit I'd say go with a color."

"I didn't think I'd need one, but I knocked all the polish off my nails chasing you to keep poor Montez and Kevin alive", she said with a chuckle. They could laugh about it now, but last night it hadn't been funny at all.

"I still can't believe Mrs. Worthington and Angie didn't at least hint that I might be hard to wrangle if I flew off the handle."

Taylor smirked. "Ah, you weren't that hard to wrangle."

Jan cocked an eyebrow. "I distinctly remember someone being winded chasing me and also nearly sinking in the dirt trying to stop my punch."

"I didn't know you got a bump on the head too. Your recollection is a little off."

Jan got on her elbows and pushed herself up so she could see Taylor's face as she asked, "Are you saying stopping me was easy?"

Taylor smirked down at her younger cousin. "Ahh poor Janet, are you feeling inadequate because you aren't the strongest girl in the room anymore?"

Jan pretended to yawn as she arched her back, crunching her abs, flaring her lats, and curling her arms behind her head and flexing her biceps which swelled like they were hooked to a tire pump. "There are some girls stronger than me", Jan began and flexed her biceps to even greater heights. When relaxed Jan's arms looked to be about 12 inches or so, but when she flexed like this they jumped to 15 inches of solid muscle on her long lean frame. "but there's one way to find out how strong you are, Miss Matthews."

"How's that?", the aristocratic Taylor asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Jan lay down on the floor of the steam room and put her elbow down with her hand up. "Best two of three with both hands?"

Taylor tossed her wet hair to one side and peered down like a goddess from Olympus. It was nearly impossible for outsiders to read Taylors aggressively beautiful face for a hint to her thoughts, but to Jan the answer was pretty plain. The little twinkle in her crystal clear azure eyes and the tiny smirk at the corner of her mouth told Jan that her cousin was only a second or two from joining her on the floor. They had to adjust their position for the room to accommodate a combined twelve feet of stretched out perfection.

Jan's eyes bored directly into her cousin's and they locked grips. Jan's hand was slightly larger, but not enough to matter. She shifted on the floor and curled her left arm in front of her. Taylor glared back, unflinching as they felt the first taste of the other's power. Forearms flexed when they tightened their grips beyond what even the strongest of men could have done. As the two superwomen stared they began to see the rage dancing in the other's deep blue eyes. Jan could almost feel the power spilling past Taylor's mental and emotional barriers. Jan knew that it took years to build a cage strong enough to hold back the rage that was at the core of both girls' power, and now they were letting it out on purpose. It was always a rush to feel the unchecked fury flow through them like the very blood in their veins. How much, they both wondered silently. How much was too much?

Taylor bit down hard, the muscles of her jaw flexing and a vein appearing on her forehead, and her forearms. The tendons of her hands stood out and a small frown formed on her face. Jan's head tilted slightly down and she looked through her lashes at Taylor. "Since you're the underdog, you count it off, Jan", Taylor said in a voice that dripped with the authority her power gave her.

Jan wasn't scared or hesitant despite the sound of Taylor's voice. Hers sounded eerily similar. "One…. Two… THREE!"

Muscles burst to prominence. Gorgeous faces twisted with effort and their shaking hands turned snow white then fire red as a few tons of instant force pushed all the blood out of their limbs before their beating hearts and surging bodies forced it back in. Jan's body came alive with muscle, her earlier flexes barely hinting at what she could do. Her arm thickened and thickened as if her flex would never stop. Her peak rose up like a mound transforming into a mountain. Deep striations sliced across her burgeoning muscle and a vein as thick as a pencil traced the summit of her still rising peak. She sucked in a breath of steamy air and exhaled through her nostrils and her flexed harder. The stalemate was broken and Taylor arm started down.

"Oh fuck", Taylor uncharacteristically swore as she felt Jan's strength.

"Not bragging now", Jan hissed through clenched teeth, feeling as much pain as Taylor in the struggle.

Taylor finally looked away, her cheeks shaking and her eyes starting to water as she fought and halted Jan's advance. Both of them let more and more of their power loose, and it was like uncorking twin competing volcanoes, full of power but nearly uncontrollable. Taylor's fit young body flexed so hard it hurt. Her own biceps flexed up higher and harder, but it seemed like there was no way her peak would ever catch Jan's, but as Jan's muscles thickened Taylor's flexed into mind numbing sharpness. Her striations grew striations. Muscle fibers defined themselves under her skin creating an impossible definition. Taylor sucked in quick breaths through quivering lips like she was hyperventilating. She needed more strength and her body responded with an explosion of muscle and power. Muscles looked to burst and her skin turned red from head to toe a she struggled to push Jan's arm up inch by painful inch until they were even and beyond.

"No, no NOOO!!!", Jan roared releasing the full fury of her power. Her body heated up like a furnace and her muscles went beyond nova, flexing as hard and big as they ever had. Steam seemed to radiate off her, and her power took Taylor's breath away. Taylor's hand started over and down. Things started to crack. Taylor's unbreakable bones were bending slightly to the pressure and Jan could actually feel the tension on her own bones as she forced her cousin towards defeat.

Taylor wasn't going down easy, but down she was going until the softest of feminine moans escaped her colorless lips. Her shaking body stilled like the air before a storm and her slowly descending hand stopped cold. Her eyes shot open and her mouth twisted shut as she too released the last vestige of control over her power. A landscape of ultra, shredded to bone, thickening, and twitching muscle flexed all along her body, but focused on her arm. A shocking mix of hyper-flexing muscle fibers mixed with vacillating capillaries and throbbing veins to make Taylor's arm look like a living roadmap.

Jan's arm wasn't to be outdone. Her biceps filled the space between her elbow and shoulder, growing up and up. It wasn't enough. Her arm felt like it was being torn from her body. She watched her muscles surge to fight and for a moment the momentum stopped, but Taylor had another gear completely. With a last display of unreal flexation Taylor put down Jan's arm really, really hard. Fired tile turned to dust at the impact, and small pieces shot like shrapnel and flew all the way to the ceiling. The concrete floor beneath wasn't spared either. A spoked wheel of cracks fanned out from the spot where Jan's hand had hit, but the cousins didn't even notice.

They laid their heads down against each other trying to catch their breath and regain control over their powers. "I stand corrected, Taylor. You are certainly the strongest girl in this room. I'm in so much pain, I'm afraid to open my eyes and look at my arm. I think you ripped it off."

"I don't smell any blood so I think it's still attached", Taylor mumbled from exhaustion. She finally lifted her head and opened her eyes. She had to use her left hand to wipe the sweat and water from her eyes. "Oh no", she gasped and slowly peeled her fingers from around Jan's hand.

Sara and Alisha decided to get some air while before going to finish up their very spoiling spa treatments. The pool area was beautifully landscaped and the custom pool looked inviting, but Sara didn't feel like a swim. She came out before Alisha and searched for a seat. The ends of her soft blonde curls bounced along her bare shoulders while she wore one of her dozens of sun hats. She wore a coffee colored bikini that showed off the hard work she'd put into her body. Her stomach was hard and toned with a six pack clearly outlined with each breath she took. Her running trained legs curved up sweetly to her ass, an ass that she'd been self-conscious about at first. But now she loved it. She also loved her breast, which were comfortably contained in the bikini top. They weren't as large as Alisha's but they didn't have to be. On Sara's petite body her breasts looked plenty large. Her body made her feel like a woman and not like a little girl. She hadn't quite got the hang of ignoring men who stared, but she was working on it.

Alisha came up to the pool area about a minute later, wearing a black one piece suit against her fair skin. It accentuated the exaggerated curves of her bosom and the slim sexiness of the rest of her body. She'd worked hard for a long time to get her body to look like she'd just jumped from the pages of a swimsuit calendar. She saw a guy off to her left eyeing her every step. Alisha saw him out of her periphery but she didn't turn full on to look at him, but even from that angle she could tell that he wasn't looking with lecherous intent like most guys. He looked like a man trying to solve a puzzle. Maybe he thought Alisha's bountiful breasts were fake. She got that quite often. Women would come to her and ask for the doctor who'd given her those large boobs. They looked so natural; they would say. Alisha would grin and give them name Dr. Sienicki and his phone number. He was actually the doctor who'd delivered her back in Michigan, but he probably got at least a call a week from some woman in LA wanting a boob job. Alisha found a lounger not far from Sara, intent to take in the winter version of the Florida sun, while Sara opened up Our Endangered Values by former president Carter.

"You better not let Aunt Kat see that book", Jan warned as she joined her friends at the pool.

"What this book?", Sara asked and looked up at Jan who was wearing a turquoise and red bikini top and matching beach wrap below.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even mention his name to her."

"Why not?", Sara asked with a frown as Jan found a lounger too.

"Well, Aunt Kat was an elite swimmer back in her high school days. She was the phenom for USA swimming. She even had some American records from the late 70's and early 80's. Anyway, President Carter pulled the US team from the Olympics in 1980 and my Aunt didn't get to go. She was only 22 during the '84 games, but by then she'd gotten married, torn her right shoulder to pieces in a collision during practice, and gotten pregnant with Taylor... in that order. She tried again to qualify for the '88 games, but it didn't work out."

"Wow, that really sucks", Alisha said with a frown. "I might not like Carter either."

"I don't know if she actually blames him, but his name certainly doesn't bring up happy memories." Jan laid her head back after explaining the situation and slipped on her shades. She had about forty minutes to relax before her next spa appointment.

"Excuse me, sir. Mr. Hastings is out of recovery and he can see you now, but he's really weak and the medicine hasn't completely worn off."

Montez blinked twice to shake the lingering drowsiness from his eyes. He'd had a cup of coffee, but he was working on two days without sleep and this seemed like the day that just wouldn't end. He stood up from the waiting room chair and followed the nurse down a hall towards a private room guarded by a uniformed cop. Montez showed his badge and walked into the room alone.

Hugh Hastings looked like he'd aged ten years in the last several hours. His face was drawn and big bags sat under his eyes, but he was alive. He turned away when he saw the man who walked into the room. "Who are you?", Hugh demanded in a raspy voice.

"I'm Special Agent Montez Jefferson, and I'm the guy who called the ambulance that saved your life."

"How'd you know I'd been stabbed anyway? Were you there?"

"No sir, your son Slater told me, and I thought despite the time lost that you might still be alive. Turns out I was right."

Hugh appraised the dreadlocked black man a little differently than he had ten seconds earlier. "How do you know my son?"

"I'm working undercover, and your son thinks I'm somebody that I'm not."

"Well Agent Jefferson, what do you want with me?", Hugh asked like a man who had little left to fight about.

Montez glanced at the chair beside the bed but decided against sitting in it. He was so tired he might nod off if he sat down so he decided to stand. "First I wanted to come and check on your condition."

"Please don't butter me up Agent Jefferson. If you need to ask me some questions do it."

Montez shook his head, causing his dreads to whip over his right shoulder. "Mr. Hastings, I never trifle when life and death are in the balance. I've seen enough death in my day to understand the importance of life. I don't know you and you don't know me, but if I can save a life believe me I will. I'm serious about what I said."

"Fair enough. Now what's the second thing you came for?"

"I need to know what you know about Martin DeBraya and his off the books business dealings."

Hugh sighed and looked up at Montez for a moment as if weighing his options. "He never said what the secret project was", he began. "He only said that it would change life on Earth. He said that it was his destiny to complete this generations old dream of his family, but when I would press him on it, he'd just say that if I did a good job that I'd get some big payday like I couldn't imagine. But Martin has a way of fucking exaggerating because I can imagine quite a bit."

"So he had you funnel money from legit businesses towards this illicit one?"

Hugh frowned and coughed before he could reply. "I didn't say it's illicit. I don't even think what he's doing is technically illegal, but he doesn't want anybody to know about it and he'd do anything to achieve this. He was like a kid getting the best toy ever… no… its more than that. I've known Martin a long time and I've never seen him quite like this."

"So he's been working on this secret project for a long time?"

"No. He never mentioned it to me before a couple of months ago. He said that something had happened that he'd been waiting his entire life for, and that nothing was going to stop him. And that he'd be untouchable once this project was complete. In the last two months I have funneled tens of millions through the accounts I set up, but no sooner could I put money in than they'd be empty again, but Martin would have me put more money in and more money like a fucking bottomless pit."

"Have you ever had dealings with Martin's father Alphonse DeBraya?"

"Never", Hugh answered. "I've met him once or twice in passing, but that's about it."

Montez nodded slowly and pondered before asking, "Do you think Martin is getting into the drug business?"

"You aren't paying me to speculate, and if you were I don't work cheaply Agent Jefferson, but since you saved my life I'll give this to you free of charge. Drug barons aren't untouchable. They poke their heads up as high as they dare because if they poke it up too high some government will eventually cut it off. The smart ones know that money doesn't equal power. Only power equals power and that's what Martin has been talking about, real true power to rival anything. Plus a drug deal has partners and Martin doesn't seem to be working with any of those. This is something that is very, very in house. I can't tell you for sure what he and his people are up to, but the more I think about it, the more I hope they don't succeed."

Montez took in Hugh's words before asking, "How well does your son Slater know Martin DeBraya?"

"Don't speak to me about that boy!", Hugh yelled. "He put me in this hospital. He's torn up my insides for good! And what he did to Ted Matthews' daughter… that's more than I can take. That poor girl…" His voice trailed off and his weakened body was racked by sobs. "It should have never come to this", Hugh cried as he remembered.

Montez stepped closer to the bed. "Heather's fine", he said simply.

Hugh turned towards him, his face full of disbelief. "I saw the picture! She's dead!! And what the hell do you know about it?!?"

"I know all about it Mr. Hastings because I'm the man who shot her." Hugh leaned up and frowned. "I'm undercover as a hitman and your son hired me and my partner to kill Heather so I shot her and took the picture, but it was a ruse."

"A ruse? Please, that sort of photo can't be faked. Don't lie to me!"

"Trust me, Mr. Hastings. Heather Matthews and me are very close. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. She's perfectly fine."

Hugh shook his head furiously. "I don't know why I believed a word you've told me. You'll say anything to get me to talk. Heather Matthews is dead!"

Hugh flinched when Montez leaned past him and snatched the phone off the cradle. He punched in a number and handed Hugh the receiver.

"Hello", an impatient female voice answered.

"Hello?", Hugh replied. "Who's this?"

"I'm Heather. Who're you looking for?"

"Heather Matthews?"

"All day long and twice on Sundays. Who is this?"

"Miss Matthews, this is Hugh Hastings, please don't hang up. I just want to say I'm sorry for all of it with you and with your sister Taylor. I… I don't know what possessed my son, but I never wanted it to go this far."

"Uh huh", Heather replied without a hint of sympathy or acceptance of his apology. "We might continue this conversation Mr. Hastings, but not now. Good-bye."

"Satisfied?", Montez asked and hung up the phone.

"I'm sorry Agent Jefferson… I'm just not sure what to believe or who to believe. I always thought I was in control of my life and it's sort of a shock to the system to realize how little control I actually had." Hugh cleared his throat and tried to wipe the tears from his face, but both of his hands were quite shaky.

"So what's the plan for me?"

"You're going to remain here under police protection until we can determine whether DeBraya or perhaps your son are a danger to your life. After that it depends. You agreed to talk to me without your lawyer present and you answered my questions. That's good news, but are you willing to testify at a trial?"

"If I can get a deal to stay out of prison I will."

"I can't promise you immunity, but my report will show that you were cooperative this morning, and that'll hold weight with the prosecutors because I'm the first person to question you."

"What if the local cops come to talk to me, what do you want me to tell them?"

"The truth, Mr. Hastings. You keep on telling the truth and make a habit of it. That's probably the only thing that'll keep you out of prison."

Montez walked out the door and rubbed his tired eyes. He looked at his watch and sighed. He was supposed to go to that event later on. If he was going anywhere he had to get some rest. He put a call in to headquarters updating the status of Hugh Hastings before he got in his replacement undercover car, which looked exactly like the car that Jan had destroyed the night before, and drove to the apartment he currently called home. He fell on the bed and was asleep in less than half a minute.

"Who was that on the phone?", Brian asked while stretching his legs.

"That was Hugh Hastings", Heather answered and stuffed the cell phone back into her big tennis bag.

"Wow, I can't believe you didn't go off on that guy. What did he want?"

"I don't want to talk about it now. Time to focus. I do not want to lose to these two", Heather told Brian then looked over her shoulders at Geoffrey and Andrea warming up. This spa complex had really nice tennis courts, but Heather wasn't paying attention to the amenities. "Okay, they don't know that you know how to play and that's to our advantage. Geoff is good, but not nearly as good as he thinks he is."

"Well, is he better than me?"

"Probably", Heather answered deflating Brian a bit. "But not by much", she said truthfully. "And by the time he figures that out we should already be ahead."

"What about Andrea?"

"I've got a better first serve, and I do better ground strokes, and I'm probably more athletic overall, but she can make really great shots if memory serves. Her net game is pretty damn strong so be ready for balls to come from anywhere on the court."

"You make it sound like money's on the line or something."

"Of course there's money on the line and I don't have much. If I lose I'll have to borrow it from Taylor and we're going to make sure that doesn't happen. Aren't we Brian?"

"Of course. We've got this!" They started walking out towards the court when Brian stopped Heather. "You know Jan's gotten her trust. You could borrow the money from her so Taylor wouldn't know."

"Stop being defeatist. We're going to win, and when we do I'll share my proceeds", Heather said with a mischievous grin on her face.

Brian's own grin grew slowly. "Now you're speaking my language."

Andrea and Geoff were already on the court when Brian and Heather started their way. Andrea turned and felt a twinge of jealousy. Heather came striding up the small rise. Gone were the baggy sweats, replaced with a tight tan colored, curve hugging one piece tennis dress. Her long auburn hair was freed from the Jamaican style beret and tied back out of her way. She walked with a carefree confidence and innocent swagger. It was cute and infuriatingly sexy at the same time. Her body bristled with athletic might, from the tear drop at the center of her gently flexing quads, to her hips and glutes, up her rock hard abdomen, to the swell of her large breasts and out to the caps of her delts and down to her strong arms.

Andrea looked at Geoff in time to see him realize that he was staring. He tried to reset his face to neutral, but Heather looked like a vision of a perfect athletic ideal with a mix of unfair genetics and years of hard body sculpting effort. Her shapely and honed muscles enhanced her extreme beauty. Hers wasn't a body built from simply moving weights around. She looked explosive, powerful, graceful, and strong. Every motion showed the muscles at work beneath her faultless skin. It hurt Geoff to look away, but he finally cleared his throat and turned around completely.

It wasn't long before the foursome was on the court warming up by knocking some easy shots back and forth at each other. Brian took the time to size up the competition because he could tell that neither Geoff nor Andrea were paying any attention to him. They were both trying to gauge how serious Heather was taking this game, but any quick glance would have seen that she had her game face on. She hated losing and she certainly didn't want to lose to this guy for some reason. Andrea was playing it cool. She'd faced and held her own with all the top girls on the pro tour, and while Geoff said that Heather could very easily make it on tour, Andrea didn't believe him. Not until it was time for the game to begin.

Brian knelt near the net while Heather lazily bounced the ball at the end line. She tossed the ball up, her eyes following it, and her body arcing into a graceful bow as the racquet came up. There was always a moment of anticipation before the serve, and Brian was going to love it because Andrea had no idea what was coming at her. Heather's swing started forward slowly like a train picking up steam but it was a blur by the time it struck the floating ball. The ball flattened like a saucer at impact and rocketed only inches from the top of Brian's head flying over the net like a green meteor. Andrea made a move for it, but it sailed right past her racquet going 121 miles per hour. Ace. The Italian player glared across the net at Heather's easy grin.

"This is going to be fun", Brian whispered as they took their place again. Heather just smiled and readied for her next serve. It was just as hard as the first, but Geoff caught in on the backhand and rifled it over the net. Heather ran to her left. Brian had to tear his eyes away from her legs as she moved like a lioness about to pounce on a gazelle. Her eyes locked in on the ball, and her muscles coiled, storing power. Her shoulders, lats, and abs tightened before she took one last step, and swung her racquet through the ball returning it at a blistering speed. This time Andrea caught up and sent a whistling return of her own. Heather had been shading to her right, but Andrea sent the ball left. Heather quickly spun, catching up to the ball and sending it to Geoff's left with a great shot. But Geoff quickly sent it back, directly at Brian, who was ready for it. Andrea was running towards the net, but she didn't get there in time. Brian dropped it an inch over the tape and watched it bounce twice before either Andrea or Geoff could get there. "Wow that was lucky", Brian said with genuine sounding surprise. Heather just winked as they got set again.

A while later Heather, fresh from a shower and a massage, joined the rest of the girls in the middle of their manicures and pedicures. Each had their hair tied up with a gleaming white towel. "You look happy", Taylor observed. "You must have beaten Geoff and his little Italian fiancée."

"We certainly did. It was freaking brilliant. I can see why Brian's a good poker player. He did just enough to win points here and there, but never showed that he was more than competent. But when they both started ganging up on me, Brian showed what he could do, and by then it was too late for them to do anything about it. He won the last three points pretty much by himself… well I set him up for the match point, but anyway."

"I'm sure Brian is in the men's locker room counting his winnings", Heather paused to smile and lay her head back against the rest. "He got six hundred out of it so yeah probably. You know that massage was more than wonderful. You guys should have gotten one."

"I did", Alisha chimed in.

"Oh did you get Lars?" Alisha nodded and Heather blushed. "My goodness for about half an hour he made me want to move to Sweden. I swear." It wasn't long before the girls went in and got the salon treatment from head to toe. Then it was time to go.

Katherine's laugher spilled out of the open windows as Jack parked the car in the garage. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. It's not like they give style points. I even scored a goal", Jack defended himself and put the car in park.

Kat howled. "That almost makes up for the three you let get by." Jack didn't have a defense for that, just like he hadn't had a defense when Andy had slipped past him during the third chukka. Taylor drove up with the rest of the group fresh from the spa. "Well, all you girls look nice", Jack said rather than respond to his sister.

"How'd it go?", Heather asked her uncle who'd already started towards the house.

"Not bad if you ask me. I knocked a deflected ball in for a score. I might want to take up polo again as a hobby", Jack said with a quick laugh and put an arm across Heather's shoulders as they walked. "But your mother might disagree." Jack stopped walking when Heather stopped.

"I… umm… didn't mean the polo game. I mean with Mom."

"Oh that!", Jack began then gave Heather's shoulders a squeeze. "That went better than my polo game. I mean, I'm still on eggshells a little, but I think we can make this work out between us."

"Good. Cause you two aren't getting any younger", she said with a smirk.

Jack's face dropped before he leaned down and snatched Heather up off her feet. She giggled and kicked her legs, but her uncle's big strong arms held her tightly. "You better be glad you're mother didn't hear that."

"I did", Kat said and slapped her daughter playfully on the thigh as she walked past. A group of people working on Cook-Out preparations looked in their direction, but they didn't stare. It was better to stay out of the bosses' business. Jack put Heather down when they neared the door and he checked his watch. It was just about showtime.

A few hours later the sounds of the party were drifting high into the sky, mixing with smoke from the five barbeque pits. The winter's sun slid towards the western horizon, but the party had just begun. Music spilled out from the yard, even the people still on the lake heard it, some wondering if they could join. It was invitation only, in a loose informal way. Anyone with an engraved invitation could invite anyone else to the Annual Caufield Family Cook-Out and Fundraiser, so long as the new guest left a donation for charity. This year half the money raised was going to fight human trafficking. That topic had seemed near and dear to Jan's heart so her aunt Katherine had formalized the arrangement. Reps from the various charities were working the party trying to get some individual donations from the wealthy partygoers, and invariably one of them came the way of the unofficial guest host for the event.

It had been more than two decades since he had been to this event, but most of the people who wintered in Palm Beach had heard the name Jack Caufield plus stories of some his exploits. Standing in the flesh, with a nut brown ale in his right hand, surrounded by a gaggle of people, Jack didn't disappoint. "So, Mr. Caufield, is it true that you were in the Green Berets?", a cute 40ish neighbor from down the street asked.

Jack gave a little chuckle. "It's true, but I can't tell you much about that", he paused and lowered his voice. "It's all very, very classified", he said to laughs from the group, although he was telling the complete truth.

Jan Caufield stood a ways off, near the deviled eggs, watching her father. A hundred emotions, all positive, passed through her as she stood there. She was seeing a side to her father that she rarely saw, and she was glad to witness it instead of listen to stories. Jan turned to her right and saw her aunt Katherine working the crowd like she'd done for years as hostess of this event, and she seemed pleased to have her big brother there even if he was garnering quite a lot of attention. The Cook-Out was an entrenched part of the winter party schedule in the community, and everyone knew how important it was to several charities, but almost no one knew how important it was becoming for the Caufield family itself.

"Jan, my dear, you're just standing there. Are you going to get one of these eggs? They're delicious", Joyce, Jan's grandmother said from behind the six foot tall beauty.

Jan spun and smiled. "Oh, I already ate like six of these eggs, I was just thinking. I'm still blown away that Daddy is here, and even more that, Aunt Kat and he seemed to have patched up their problems."

Joyce patted Jan's arm tenderly and smiled up at her grandchild. "Sometimes we don't need to think too much, or even to ponder why or how. We just need to enjoy the moment and cherish the good things about the people we love and toss the bad stuff in the trash. I always knew that Jack and Kat would work it out. Love is more powerful than embarrassment and heartache, Jan. It's like water. It can wear down the toughest stone if you give it long enough. Kat and Jack are both tough and strong willed and I probably shouldn't say this, but they're stubborn too. They must get that from their father. Your grandfather was as stubborn as an Arkansas mule when he wanted to be. Sometimes I think only Andrew takes after me. But Jack and Kat love each other deeply and they always have." She sighed and hooked her arm around Jan's. "Why don't you help me find a seat? My legs don't work as well as they did ten years ago."

The Cook-Out wasn't just a place for the wealthy to hobnob with each other, there was an entire area set up for kids, with inflatable castles, half a dozen waters toys, and of course the pool was open to swimmers. But their time was drawing short. When the sun went down and the lights came on, the Cook-Out would become an exclusively adult affair. Until then the kids were enjoying themselves along with a few adults, including Heater. She'd volunteered to supervise the younger attendees and was a natural at babysitting, but there were so many that she'd wondered if there would be enough adults. She shouldn't have worried. That afternoon, fresh from the salon, Heather had stepped out of the house wearing a tropical print one piece swimsuit with large diamond shaped cutouts showing her awesome midriff. With her curvatious athletic body displayed in that suit, several young men had suddenly volunteered to help with the kids.

Taylor stood not far from her mother watching everything with regal detachment, heading towards one of the bars. "Cuba libre", she told the bartender who was momentarily too awestruck to move. He just stared at Taylor unable to look away. Normally she would have been more than annoyed, but even she had to admit that she was positively radiant today. Her smile dripped with pity for the bartender who finally gathered his wits enough to deliver Taylor her cocktail. She was in such a good mood she left the guy a tip anyway. Nothing could possibly pull her down this day. First she'd found out that Jan was just as much of a superpowered freak as she and siblings, and this morning Taylor'd found out that her mother and Uncle Jack were two days into a reconciliation that had been stalled for twenty years. Now all that was left was telling her parents, but Taylor figured that would be a breeze.

She pushed some hair from her eyes and took the first sip. At least the guy had mixed it right. She took another sip and turned towards the pool and had to fight a laugh to keep from spitting rum on the person next to her. She watched Heather run, gaining speed before diving and sliding the entire length of the Slip'n'Slide and continuing for another five feet through the grass to the delight of a dozen kids standing nearby. Taylor shook her head in wonder. Only Heather could go through the effort of getting her hair done only to play in chlorinated water a few hours later. At least she was having fun though. Taylor herself was going from one overly energized teenaged flirt to another. Most of the older guys already had wives or dates with them, but as the day drew on and the liquor continued to flow that wouldn't matter much. They would be coming after her in waves. She took another drink and wondered if she should make her next drink something stronger. She was about to find a seat, when, Mason, her seven year old cousin came up and tugged on her hand. "Hey, Taylor we're gonna play volleyball. You wanna come play with us?"

Taylor looked down, instantly coming up with an excuse why she couldn't go play, until she looked down at Mason's innocent little face. "Sure, let's go", Taylor agreed cheerfully. She put down her drink and pulled her shoes off while jogging towards the sandpit.

Slater Hastings had his mind on the Caufield Cook-Out too. He wondered if they'd cancel it as they prepared for Heather's funeral. He'd pay whatever just to get a chance to see the mood at the house, but there was no way for him to leave this compound. He was safe here, but in some ways it felt like a prison. Big burley guys walked around all over the place, watching his every move.

Slater wandered the maze of rooms where the people slept in this big place and actually ran into Martin DeBraya. "Oh excuse me", Slater said immediately.

"No don't worry about it. I was looking for you anyway. It turns out that your father isn't dead?", Martin announced.

"What!?!!"

"Yeah I got a chirp from a little buddy of mine that he's at the hospital. He's serious but stable at the moment. The doctors think he'll probably pull through, not because you didn't do quite enough damage, but because there was an anonymous call for an ambulance that saved his life."

"It must have been one of those useless fucking household staffers."

"No, my buddy was sure the call didn't come from within the house. It came from somewhere else. And one more thing, I heard that some federal agent went to question him this morning. I'm pretty sure he asked him questions about you and more importantly about me."

Slater swallowed hard.

"You see I took you in thinking that you'd covered your bases kid, but now your father's got info on me and you. That's not good because the way I travel, I can't have excess baggage." Martin looked into Slater's eyes until he was sure that the boy understood what he meant then he walked off leaving Slater alone with his worries.

"What the hell am I going to do?", he asked the air.

But a voice came from the semi darkness like an answered prayer. "I have an idea young man", Morgen Stern said as he approached. Slater looked at the stylish and oh so handsome stranger without saying a word. "The way I see it you can salvage this situation. Convince Martin to allow you to finish what you started… if you think you're able to do that."

"Oh I can, Mr. Stern. I can kill that old bastard father of mine!"

Morgen smiled and put a hand on Slater's shoulder. "I like your enthusiasm, but you have to use your head. You're in the underworld now young man. The rash guys with bravado and balls always get the headlines but in the end they get clipped by a thinking man with patience."

Slater's eyes darted from place to place before settling on Morgen's face. "What would you suggest, Mr. Stern?"

Morgen nodded slowly and patted Slater's back. "You're smarter than I thought. Well I would suggest you talk to a couple of those big tough guards that you've gotten friendly with and ask them if they'd join you for a little expedition…"

to be continued...

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