NI-ASSA

Ní-assa !

She had managed to out run and even out maneuver the attack on the Griselda fortress, including escaping from Gary and Ed, Juarez and his men, Ní-assa was almost overtaken in the chase across the Mexican desert ! Then thinking she was saved from being captured or killed, Ní-assa believed the rope ladder that had dropped from the chopper above her, was her salvation until she found herself dangling from the helicopter because of the avenging grandmother of a man Ní-assa had killed a while back! Having crossed the Chicago cartel and their wishes, they had sanctioned a hit on Ní-assa by the grandmother and brother of the man she had brutally murdered and sent the pieces back to the Chicago cartel!

Ní-assa had managed to pull herself into the cab, almost reaching the old woman Abuelita in the control seat, that had planed to kill her! Abuelita, seeing Ní-assa crawling ever closer reaches down to grab the keys, but just before she reached them,

Ní-assa slaps away Abuelita’s hand before she can throw them out! They fight, and out goes grandma! Making every effort to keep the chopper from crashing, Ní-assa finally does just that, although a bit harshly, but in tack, then turning off the motor, sits while the large blades slowly come to a halt . Thanking herself for the miracle she had just preformed, Ní-assa hears a jeep arriving. Thinking it might be Juarez and his Rangers, she jumps from the helicopter and begins running from the scene.

Inspector Francisco, investigating the Griselda fortress battle, had come from other direction and accidentally saw Ní-assa landing the helicopter. Seeing that the pilot was making a run for it, Francisco goes in pursuit using his jeep as a vaquero would use a rope and eventually Ní-assa gives in, collapsing in the sand!

Not realizing who the woman was, or that she had been involved with the Griselda fortress battle, Francisco decided to take her back to his office and interrogate her there. By the time they had reached

Inspector Francisco’s office, Ní-assa was beginning to realize what she would need to get out of this place. Within a few minutes in the Inspector’s office, it was apparent that Ní-assa could find ways to manipulate this very dishonest ‘ guardian of the border!’

Ní-assa began by saying she was part of Griselda’s gang , and that the former owner of the fortress had assigned her the task of hiding all of the woman’s treasures !After convincing Francisco, that large sums of money were hidden in the fortress, and all he had to do was let her go and she would lead them to the treasure, Francisco’s

expression had changed from a growling suspicious man to a very cooperative mark. Ní-assa guaranteed that the treasure would be worth the effort if he would just let her go. Francisco, having heard tales about the ‘ Treasure of Griselda’ and her famous fortress, he began to think this could actually be his biggest score yet!

Ní-assa continued with her description of the wealth Griselda had hidden away in the fortress. She continued with the story about how huge the vault was that Griselda had built and even with Ní-assa sharing the hidden treasure with Francisco she convinces him it would make both super rich!

Bringing back Ní-assa to his office, Inspector Francisco’s excitement was noticeable in his positive reactions. Those who knew him realized it right away, however his latest female companion had another reaction to his fawning over this new prisoner. She thought to herself, ” I best put an end to this before Francisco gets any ideas of changing lady friends !” The female companion of Inspector Francisco is a brassy woman with thoughts of the Inspector’s new catch being trouble when she sees them laughing as they approached. The woman immediately begins a confrontation with this new woman, who even having gone through a serious ordeal, still had that appeal to a man like the Inspector!

Foiling with Ní-assa , the woman calls out to Francisco, ” Seen a lot of shit come out of the desert, but where did you get her? ”

The woman continued, ” Did you try her out before coming back, or are you waiting to clean her up first? The taunting only stopped when Francisco took his captive into his office and closed the door!

Ní-assa sat down and asked the Inspector, ” Are all your lady friends that noisy?” Francisco laughed answering with, ” Haven’t known her long enough to teach her any manners.” Ní-assa, in a flirtatious manner suggested, ” If you would like, I could start her lessons now.” Ní-assa had many years of weaving her web of a combination of sexual innuendoes and drawing men to believe they had the upper hand. When Francisco reached over and closed the shades to his office, Ní-assa knew she could count one more to that long list! The woman pounded on the shaded office window until a security guard made it evident that it wasn’t a good idea.

After the sexual favors had been gratified as genuine, Ní-assa sat in Francisco’s high back padded chair, wearing only the borrowed shirt of the Inspectors. ” Now that we have an understanding, how about planing my demise with the helicopter crash?” Francisco agreed it would be best if everyone thought she was dead, and had already secured a witness to swear to the fact that it was indeed her at that crash sight. ” I knew you were a man of action, ” Ní-assa said, slipping on the tattered pants she had when on the chopper. ” Why not call miss angry out there and tell her we won’t be needing her services any longer.” Francisco went into the office proper and before he could say anything, the woman rushed by him and into his office! Ní-assa standing by the desk smiled at the woman who became more enraged with Ní-assa’s action and began swearing and throwing anything she could find at Ní-assa. Francisco stood by the door waiting to see what was going to happen next. While papers and books along with anything loose flew across the room, Ní-assa called over to the Inspector, ” Close the door will ya?”

Francisco obediently complied and closed the door as he entered the room. When the door was closed, Ní-assa waited until the woman turned to rant at the Inspector, then reached over, picking up the large stapler that had been thrown at her. Waiting until the woman again turned toward her, Ní-assa made her move. The blow by Ní-assa was not enough to kill the woman, however the many after completed the task! When Ní-assa was satisfied that the woman would no longer be a threat, she looked at Francisco declaring ,

” Now we have a body for the wreckage at the plane”

Francisco didn’t know what to say and just stood looking at the mutilated head of a once lovely woman. Ní-assa asked, ” You have someone to take this out to the helicopter sight?” Francisco hesitantly replied, ” Yes, I will have someone take her to the chopper right away.” ” Good !” Ní-assa responded , then as though nothing had taken place, she asked, ” Which way to the washroom, Partner !” After Ní-assa had left the office, Francisco called one of his men to transfer the body and make it look like the woman’s body was part of the crash. Ní-assa returned to the room as the man was removing the body, saying, ” You best put her head closest to the craft to give the impression she got those wounds from the impact.”

Returning her attention to Francisco, Ní-assa asked, ” You ready to get that witness to view the tragic end of that bad ass Ní-assa? ” Then picking up a bloody phone and pointing to the outer office said, ” You want to use this or the one out there?” Francisco went into the outer office and called the man he had that would do some of the coverup he required from time to time.

Javier would be a good witness to tell a story because he knew all of the key words that he heard sitting in a group of people who were studying law. He had that believable look and was a steady trial witness, whenever a witness was needed, regardless of the need for truth or actual witnessing!

Francisco and Ní-assa arrived at the place where the helicopter had landed, seeing several men making abstract gouges in the sandy soil.

One of Francisco’s men, Lorenzo, came up to the two and said, ” When we get through it will look like the chopper crashed and then caught fire , blowing it up! ” Ní-assa asked, ” Where did you place the body?” Lorenzo replied, ” Right now it’s over by the truck. We will place it close to the chopper just before we ignite it.” Ní-assa suggested, ” Perhaps in the pilots seat would be better, in order to have the body completely unidentifiable?” Lorenzo answered, ” We can do that. It might not go along with Javier’s story as well but if thats what you want, we can do.” Motioning for Javier to join them, Ní-assa asked the ‘ Witness’ what he planed to tell the authorities.

Javier answered with, ” This was what I saw….the first person jumping out with no parachute or nothing, then the second person jumped! After that there was another person in the cockpit that crashed in the desert like I said. Ní-assa looked over at Francisco asking, ” Thats all you got? This idiot sounds more like a puppet on a string! Where’s the passion or anything to make him seem reliable?” Francisco tried to get a word in but Ní-assa was not slowing down ranting, ”Get me someone that I can relate to!” She yelled out!

A young man who was digging the fake crash holes came over and said,” If you want someone to tell a good story, I’m your man! I can tell a real good one for you if you want.” Ní-assa looked at the kid exclaiming, ” You tell me your version and If I buy it, you will no longer be digging holes in the ground! ” While the three stood watching the man walking away, they looking at one another with a common question between them of ” What the hell is he doing?” When the man had reached about a hundred feet away, he suddenly turned and began running towards Ní-assa yelling out, ” I saw everything!, I saw every thing!” Quickly he grabbed at Ní-assa’s arm and began to pull her toward the helicopter. ” Look! There’s a person in there! And I saw two others jumping out one at a time before the helicopter started to crash! We got to get him out! ” Then jumping around, he kept yelling, Someone save him!”

As quickly as he had started, he stopped, slowly walking over to

Ní-assa’s side asking,” Well, what do you think?”

Ní-assa’s was pleased with the young mans skit saying, ” Stay around, I may have need of your talents!” Javier went to Francisco complaining that the young kid had starting to gain favor with Ní-assa by showing off ! Francisco was not happy with the choice but knew discussing it with Ní-assa would be futile. Once the area had been addressed to look like the crash sight, Ní-assa called Javier over to her saying , ”Your not being left out only reassigned for a better place for the effect.” Javier felt much better, although if he knew what Ní-assa had in mind for him, his enthusiasm might have been less enthusiastic!

Ní-assa has that way with people. Making them think they have the upper hand, without knowing she is in control all the time! Francisco was a victim of this power and was slowly loosing his hold over some of his men when Ní-assa begins to weave her web of his destruction as a leader. Even though he is an officer in the Mexican police, he had built a secret group loyal only to him…..at least until she arrived!

Gary, Ed and Juarez had followed the path they figured the helicopter had taken but found nothing. Juarez called in a second team to look for any clues back at the embattled fortress of Griselda

but they were not finding anything useful.

Gary called Silhouette asking how she was recuperating. ” Just great!” Silhouette said, ”But thats not why you called, Right? ” A little embarrassed, Gary said, ” I need to find if Gaspard was available to help out again in the capture or discovery of Ní-assa. He had been very helpful in the past, and with Ní-assa’s trail fading, it was especially urgent he assists. Silhouette said she would send him down right away with instructions to give his full support.

Gary called his headquarters and had a brace of helicopters head for the Mexican area where Ní-assa’s trail had ended. Using a sophisticated grid search, it wasn’t too long before they found the downed helicopter ! Notifying Gary, he took action quickly after the arrival of Gaspard, and the four headed for the place in the desert where the downed helicopter was located.

They were met by Investigator Francisco who makes an entrance introducing himself as the guardian of the area. He begins the tale about what happened , using his newly discovered witness, Alejandro as the person who can give you his account of the crash.

Juarez asked the witness, Alejandro, about the time lapse between the chopper crash, and the fire that all but destroyed the entire chopper with just ashes and metal to show where it had been. Juarez continued with his questioning asking, ”What about the bodies recovered, especially, the third body to be assumed as Ní-assa!

Alejandro looked at Juarez with a puzzled stare responding with, ” I don’t know who that is but if they were in that machine, they ain’t here no more!” Juarez asked about the other two bodies they found. ” That was a long way off, but you still saw the two other people jump without parachutes? ” Alejandro answered in a positive manner that the three was all he could say came out of the helicopter that day. Francisco interrupted the interrogation with, ” That’s about enough for now. Let’s go back to the station and sort this out.”

Juarez asked if Gaspard could help with retracing the chopper path while the two of them go back to the station and see if anything had been left out. Gary had no objection and called out as they left, ” Good Hunting!” Inspector Francisco did not like the idea of leaving the two behind to investigate further, saying, ”Why can’t they just take the kid at his word? Theres nothing more to see, and we know that the body at the crash sight was the Ní-assa woman you were looking for!” ” Not really! The autopsy hasn’t been done as yet, and we still don’t know for certain about the other two people.” Gaspard interjected, ” That’s something I just found out from a source Silhouette had been tracking. It was indeed the Grandmother and the grandson who took the helicopter out, and the funding was from the East coast cartel! ” Francisco was getting more irritated as the conversation got too close to home. He knew

Ní-assa was going to be very angry at these men from the states looking around at the crash sight. If they discovered she was still alive, all would be unraveled, and she would be on the run again!

Having the thought of these gringos finding out about the woman who was about to make him rich, and messing up the whole thing, Francisco called over five of his men. He said, ” If they find anything you think would mess up our plans make them disappear ! We aren’t a bunch of naco’s! But we do take care of our own!” The four left after Francisco informed Juarez some of his men would be accompanying Juarez and the others, saying ” Only to follow the flight plan of the downed helicopter and be of any assistance, of course . ”

” Bullshit! ” Juarez said under his breath. Getting into the Wranglers with Gary, Ed and Gaspard. ” How stupid does he think we are?” Juarez gunned the engine and headed out into the direction the helicopter had taken in hopes of finding some new evidence of what really took place that day. One of the two land rovers, with the three military escorts came along the passenger side the with one of them yelling, ” Your supposed to wait for us Gringo!” Ed leaned out yelling back, ” Sorry, can’t hear you!”

Juarez gunned the engine a couple of times to irritate the escort, then pulled out ahead of the two LR’s leaving a huge desert dust cloud that required the followers to spread out on either side just to see where Juarez was heading. Gary laughed saying, ” Glad you know where your going since they were supposed to be our guides.” Juarez replied, ” My friend, there isn’t much of this land I haven’t seen, and these ‘ Escorts’ need to know who is not to be fooled with! With that, Gary, Ed and Gaspard took another hold of the Wranglers safety bars and held on while Juarez played with the two LR’s trying to keep up through the intense desert cloud he was providing.

When Juarez figured his escorts had been through enough training, he stopped after doing a one eighty and waiting until the two LR’s sped past the Wrangler. When they realized what he had done, and had reversed their course, coming back to the awaiting four men standing by their Wrangler,

When the two LR’s came to a halt, one of the officers jumped out, drawing his pistol and began yelling orders for the four men to get out of the vehicle and lean against it! He screamed out order to the other officers who had begun to direct their rifles at the four. Juarez, after warning the other three to say calm, started to negotiate with the leader of the officers. ” I didn’t mean for you to get so angry,” Juarez began to explain. ” I was just showing my friends what we used to do for fun when I was heading the ‘Rangers’.” The man walked over to Juarez asking, ” You headed the ‘Rangers ’? Juarez answered, ” Yes in deed! And as well as you handled your self, you could be one also. If you ever decide to join the ‘Rangers’ come by and see me! ” It was obvious to those laying across the Wrangler that Juarez had a lot more going for him than they realized. Holstering his pistol, the man began to ask questions about the ‘ Rangers’. Juarez said ,” I’d really like to talk to you about the ‘ Rangers, ’ but would it be alright if my friends could stand up?” The man laughed saying to his crew, ” The gringos are ok, so let them up.” Juarez asked the man, ” You don’t seem to be like them, I mean your a smart guy and know how to control your men. ” The man answered, ” Coming from you that means a lot!”

Juarez continued his questioning while Gary, Ed and Gaspard sat watching their friend as he gained the confidence of the leader.

” I’m sorry but I didn’t hear your name. I mean is it alright to call you by name, or would your men tell. ” The man smiled like a kid saying ” No, No, they are fine. They do what I say and won’t tell anyone , and my name is, Miguel!” Juarez said, ” Well that is a great name, Miguel, and thats good, cause I was going to ask if it would be alright if my men and I search on a little longer. I have a feeling about this crash but I don’t feel comfortable with telling Inspector Francisco about what I think.” Miguel, looked around as though looking for a listener behind every bush, then carefully said, ” Sometimes he gets really angry and you don’t want to make an enemy of him, so what you say better be only said out here in the desert!” Juarez saw the apprehension in the man’s face and realized the depth of Inspector Francisco’s hold over them as a whole. Trying another approach, Juarez asked, ” How serious are you about joining the ranks of the ‘ Rangers’?” The question completely took Miguel by surprise! For a moment he didn’t know what to say, then blurted out, ” I have always wanted to be a part of something like that!” Juarez asked, ” What kept you from trying,?” Miguel’s answer

rather shocked Juarez, who had looked at the man with somewhat shaded values. Miguel continued, ” My family did not have a lot of money, but we were happy. Then one day some of the cartels came to our town and murdered my mother and father because they had said something about them! It turned out, that the person who had actually done the deed only told the cartels about my dad because he lusted after my mother! ” Juarez filled in the man’s story with, ” And so you joined Francisco’s group to get back at them, ….right?” There were sign’s of redeeming qualities coming from this man that Juarez thought he could see him as one of his own ‘Troopers.’ Juarez said to Miguel, ” We will continue this conversation later, but in the meantime, allow us to look around for a while and you and your men can head back.” Miguel agreed to leave and return to camp, if Juarez promised to talk with him about the ‘Rangers’ again.

Juarez promised, allowing Miguel to take his men out of the area leaving Juarez and the others to continue with the investigation without interruption.

Gary and Ed tracked the distance from the first marker where a body was found that indicated the original sighting , tracing the steps taken as explained by the witness, Alejandro. The next marker, indicating the second person who, for whatever reason, was removed from the helicopter , either vonitariley or by force!

If the witness was correct, the third body closest to the crash sight, would be Ní-assa. As yet there had been no positive indication that it was her, however the popular vote was that it had to be her!

When Juarez talked to Gary and Ed about the markers placement, it was evident that the supposed eye witness was very mistaken about how he saw the incident. Returning to the camp of Investigator Francisco, Gary began with a question. ” Francisco, your witness said he saw the three people leave the helicopter before it crashed, right?” Francisco replied with, ” Yes! Thats what the man said !”

Being joined by Ed and Juarez, Gary said, ” Our discovery of the distances your man described could not have happened in that manner!” Bringing out the chart he had made of the supposed flight path, Gary continued, ” If you look at this layout you will see it would have been impossible for him to have seen two, much less three separate exits of the people!” It would have been impossible for him to have even seen the first jump because of the distance between the helicopter and where you said he was at the time. Somethings is very wrong, and we will find out just what it is before too very long!!!

Francisco became enraged that these gringos would dare to question his witness, Alejandro, or suggest there was anything wrong with the report. ” I can make you leave this area!” Francisco yelled. Juarez jumped in saying, ” You may want to think about that for a while, mister Chief Investigator! I have a feeling you really don’t want any outside officials coming into your territory, now would you? ” Francisco had no reply to Juarez’s statement and left in a huff, leaving Juarez, Gary and the rest to ask questions, but leaving his second in command, Domingo González, to keep a watchful eye on their progress. Domingo was even less tolerable than Francisco , but with the help of Juarez there might still be some advancement in the search for the elusive Ní-assa, or at least some evidence of her demise!.

After leaving the compound and the prying eyes of Juarez and his companions, Francisco went to his hacienda outside of the normal housing for an officer of the Mexico police. Chief Inspector Francisco thought he deserved much better, and acquired a beautiful home complete with the large watering fountain in the courtyard for horses. Going inside he found Ní-assa waiting for him , dressed provocativel. ” It was so nice of your late guest to have such good taste in clothes” Ní-assa said softly, while removing Francisco’s jacket. ” You seem upset, problems at work?” Francisco was not in the mood for such an approach from Ní-assa and pulling away from her caresses yelled out, ” That damn Juarez and his people are messing up everything! If they find I have you here, I could loose everything!” It was evident to Ní-assa that she wasn’t able to have enough time with Francisco to bring him completely over to her side, and it might be necessary to take a difference approach!

While Gary, Ed, Gaspard and Juarez combed the crash sight, it was obvious that the information the so called witness had given was bogus and something that Investigator Francisco should have know, or perhaps he did! Juarez suggested they finish the desert investigation and go to the police headquarters where they might find a different reception and maybe some more information with the autopsy of the unidentified person from the craft. When they arrived at the Federal Police station in Zacatacas Juarez discovered the bodies had been sent to Mexico City. With a distressed look on his face, Juarez told Gary that the men at the morgue were instructed to transport the bodies to Mexico City, and that the unidentified body had been directed to a special autopsy specialist because of the extent of damage to the corpse! ” It’s not that far from here,” Gary said, suggesting ” Maybe you could follow up on that end Juarez, and in the meantime, the rest of us could return to put a little pressure on Francisco. He looked a might concerned when we spoke last. ” Juarez agreed and left for Mexico City.

On the way back to the Monterrey headquarters for Investigator Francisco, Gary posed the theory that with Francisco’s hold on most of his men and having a very nice home complete with many amenities not usually afforded on the wages of a policeman, he has something else more lucrative working for him. Ed added, ” Your right about that! I also found his second in command, Domingo González, a little nervous when asked about certain things that should have not been controversial. Gaspard also noted, ” Maybe it’s just how the police do it here in Mexico, but did you see the hand weapons they carry? Both González, and, Francisco look like they were ready to buy Cabot Guns!” Gary laughed saying, ” They were pretty fancy all right, but maybe not quite that rich !” Ed broke in with, ” OK smart guys, I’ll bite! I saw a lot of weapons in the service and even more at gun shows, but I don’t remember hearing about Cabot Guns. What are Cabot Guns anyway? ”

Gary patted Ed on the shoulder saying, ” Don’t beat yourself up. Not many people know about this pair of pistols unless you are an art dealer or a real dedicated collector. ” Gaspard said, ” Didn’t mean to confuse you, it’s just that the pistols those guys were wearing made me think about the little known pair of pistols made from an actual Gidion meterite !” Ed said, ” That sounds intriguing! How did they do that?” Gary answered, ” Very carefully! They were designed after the 1911 Browning Automatic, and the last time I heard they were sold at auction for five million dollars! ” Ed thanked the men for the lesson saying, ” I’ll pay more attention next time I see a fancy gun!” Then concluded with, ” They may not be Gidion’s but you can count on the one’s González, and, Francisco were wearing were costing a lot more than any of the other law enforcement people’s arms in Mexico.”

Gary added, ” Thats what drew me to look a little further into just what does Francisco and González do that gives them such a coveted position, and have the kind of money to buy such expensive equipment.” Gaspard asked if he should call Silhouette and see if she could find out more about the Federal Ministerial Police. They are the federal agency tasked with fighting corruption and organized crime in Mexico, so they should know something about any special units.” Gary said he already had his men working on that theory, but having Silhouette look into any more info on her end, would be very helpful

Gary asked Ed if he would ask around and find out exactly what the original purpose was for the Federal Ministerial Police to establish a special unit to handle some of the vast area of the Chihuahuan Desert. The Southern part touches Texas and had experienced problems which could be a feather in the sombrero of Investigator Francisco, if he could get it straightened out.

Ed began at the local cantina and soon was building a profile concerning the infamous Investigator Francisco. From what locals could revel, the person in charge of the area was well endowed with

all of the equipment that went into the making of a very corrupt individual. His family had a lot of holdings and Francisco never wanted for any of the things most young men desired, because if he wanted it, the family would see that he got it! Being the oldest son of the most corrupt family in Mexico, Francisco’s meteoric advancement up the chain of command was no surprise. As Ed dug deeper into Francisco’s group of recruits, he found that although somewhat uneducated, these men had total loyalty to their leader.

Ed discovered that his investigation would be filled with discrepancies but never challenged! If any improprieties were spoken of, the person responsible would have a sudden memory loss or not be seen again!

Much like the Mafia in the states, the cartels of Mexico have strict rules concerning the organization and their followers. One of those rules concerned anyone leaking any information about other members of the team.

With Ed’s realization that the investigation would not be advancing in this area, he decided to try another approach and headed for the next local informational source, a gambling place!

Whether wagering on sports or simply for recreation, gambling in Mexico goes back past the time of the Aztecs. Ullamaliztli, the famous Aztec ball game, was played on a tlachtli ball court. The ball court was one of the first things built when the Aztecs settled a new area. It was a very difficult game played with a large rubber ball with much wagering. The game was not just important for entertainment, but also gambling, politics and religion.

Ed had seen the results of the illegal gaming in West Texas and to what extent the East coast cartels had taken to protect its placement in certain districts. Gary and the others had seen first hand the results. The trick would be to find someone that would be willing to maybe divulge some of the information he was looking for if given a financial boost. Ed knew about habitual gamblers, and now in this century old environment he was comfortable in looking for just the right candidate for the bribe!

Gary was aware of the difficulty in finding the right subject to act as informational source, however he was confident in Ed’s ability. Instead, Gary decided to once more approach Francisco and González and straight out ask what gives them such a coveted position. When Gary arrived at the hacienda that was Francisco’s hideaway, he was told, by an armed guard, ” This is a private resident and you have to leave!” Gary explained he knew Francisco and wanted to speak to him. The guard called the information in and returned to Gary saying, ” No one here wants to talk! You better leave now!” Gary tried to be persistent, however the argument with the guards barrel being pushed harder into his stomach was an unpleasant reminder of the persuasion a piece of equipment can be if placed in the right position! Leaving the area, Gary called Silhouette to ask how her issue was going with the Federal Ministerial Police. The man answering the call was not aware of any information that was to be given to Gary, or anyone else. After the abrupt announcement, the man hung up! Gary was not only annoyed, he was baffled by the immediate transfer to a voice message ! Thinking to himself how unusual it was for that kind of treatment from Silhouette’s staff, he decided to contact

Gaspard. When Gaspard answered , Gary told him of the call, and how it was handled. Gaspard replied, ” Don’t be alarmed, it’s normal for new guy’s in the office to make up stuff if he really doesn’t know where she is. ” Most of us in her employ are aware of her sudden movements and just ride along, sometimes even get into something with her! Gary thought it was a strange way to do business, but she had run a very lucrative organization for a long time , so he wasn’t going to be concerned. When Gary arrived at his hotel, the man at the desk said, ” There’s a message for you!” Handing it to him, the man returned to his comic book for his daily infusion of intellectual information.

Gary opened the envelope and reading the note inside which simply said, ”There is a lady waiting in the bar for you.” Although suspicious in nature, Gary figured it was worth a try to see who would know him in this town. When he walked into the bar, the woman sitting by the entrance turned saying, ” Do you always follow instructions so well?” Gary, giving a big grin and a huge hug to Silhouette, leaned back and still smiling broadly replied, ” What in the world are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be recuperating or something?” Silhouette, laughed and said, ” I can’t stay unproductive for ever!, and besides, I missed you and the adventures you get yourself into.” Gary, seeing her drink said to the bartender, ” Bring two more ….and chips, we may be here a while!” Heading for a booth, Gary started to question her with, ” How did you get here? and how did you even know I’d be in town?” Silhouette grinned replying, ” I had Gaspard promise to let me know when you would be back, so when you called him, he called me. The nice thing was, I just arrived this morning so it worked out great.” Gary was still smiling when the waitress came over with the drinks asking, ” Will you be staying for dinner?” Gary, before Silhouette could say anything burst out with, ” Yes, of course we would like something to eat, but give us a couple of hours first!” A little embarrassed by his speedy comment, Gary tried to backtrack saying, ” I meant a couple of minutes.” Smiling, the waitress said, ” I’ll just give you two a few minutes to think about it, OK?” When the waitress had left, Silhouette said in a soft and compassionate voice, while touching his hand ” You must know I didn’t mean to bring up any pain. ”

Gary, who was looking away, turned to Silhouette saying, ” Do you know, that was the first time in a very long and hurtful time in my life that I actually allowed my feelings take over my mind! After Shaniyah’s hoods took my beloved Alexis from me, I had a very difficult time in feeling any kind of pleasure in sitting across from a beautiful woman without wanting to cry like a baby! ” Silhouette held Gary’s hand tighter whispering, ” It’s OK to cry, just remember I am here for you.” Gary realized this sincerity of a woman was something that had been missing in his life for a long time!

The waitress returned, breaking into the conversation, which Gary was thankful for. At this point in time he didn’t know what to consider as priority. It was obvious that he had to continue in tracking Ní-assa, and the team had to come first! Silhouette could almost see the internal discussion Gary was having with himself and said to the waitress, ” Please bring two spicy hot dinners with a bunch of stuff we won’t be able to pronounce anyway, and refills on the tequila.” The waitress, touching Silhouette’s shoulder, gave a thumbs up and left .

Gary has known Silhouette for a long time but had never had any feelings for her except in a business relationship. Why he was now having other feeling was not only confusing, it was dangerous because of what the team was involved with in tracking down Ní-assa. When the dinner came Silhouette offered a toast. ” Here’s to a better understanding of what the unspoken word can produce!” With that, the two touched tequila glasses and even though Gary had moments of uncertainty about what the outcome could be, he felt much more at ease and began enjoying the evening.

When dinner was over it was Silhouette who set the tempo for the next time they might have a meeting such as this night. ” I’ve scheduled a meeting with Gaspard to meet with me and discuss his thoughts on a new person to take a turn at his replacement.” Gary was taken back by her comment, suggesting Gaspard would be devastated to think helping the team he would have lost his position with Silhouette’s group. Silhouette quickly affirmed the opposite with, ” I’m not demoting Gaspard, I’m promoting him to work in my place!” ” Now I’m totally confused!” Gary stated , ” I thought you were better and could be returning to the helm again!” Silhouette smiled, answering ”I know how this may look to you, but in reality, I never liked to be the lone person at the top making decisions every day and all that! It was exciting in the beginning, but when the reality of what I was involved with and the fact that I had been part of some situations what had caused harm, even death to members of my group, it was overwhelming. I was becoming something I never thought I would be!” Gary responded saying, ” Is there anything you need from me? Can I help you in anyway?” Silhouette answered with, ” Just being here with you is helping me in ways you may not truly comprehend, but in time it may make more sense.” Gary took her hand saying, ” You know I will be here= for you, so don’t hesitate to keep me close if you need.” Silhouette thanked him and shared her thoughts of why she had chosen now to open herself and explaining what she was doing.

After dinner they headed for the lobby of the hotel. Gary thanked Silhouette for trusting in him enough to share what she had in mind .

” I hope this evening can be repeated, perhaps with less drama on my part.” Silhouette said. Gary replied with, ” That is certainly my desire also.” Hesitating for a moment then adding, ” If you want to have someone to bounce your thoughts off of later, here’s my room number, don’t hesitate to call!”

Night time Gaspard came down the hotel hallway, seeing Silhouette and Gary standing fairly close. To Gaspard’s surprise, at how relaxed Gary was , and actually looking as a person having a good time. ” Excuse me ‘ Kids’, I was just looking for a couple of friends of mine, so just ignore me!’Silhouette continued to hold back the obvious giggle that was a dead giveaway to his comment.

Slightly stepping back from Silhouette, Gary looked at Gaspard with the expression of a kid that just got caught with a partially opened Christmas gift in front of him.

Gaspard laughed saying, ” Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know you two have feelings, Gary.” Then he turned his attention to Silhouette commenting, ” And you, boss lady, don’t keep the older fellow up too late!” Continuing past the couple, towards his room, it was evident he was enjoying the blushing faces and gave a ‘ To Have and Have Not’ whistle. Silhouette and Gary broke out laughing , then saying good night, Silhouette opened her door while Gary headed for his room.

In Mexico City, Juarez was busy trying to find some answers to the identity of the body he followed from the desert. At one point, one of Francisco’s men questioned Juarez as to the reason he was so interested in this body. Juarez explained he was investigating the incident and had found some discrepancies in the report. After, the man reviled to Francisco that there was questions being raised, he said, ” That damn Juarez and his people are messing up everything!

Back at Francisco’s hacienda, Ní-assa began to see a weakness in Francisco’s leadership. Perhaps it was the ties to the family or his lack of taking the helm without his relatives assistance.

Francisco could become a form of exposure for Ní-assa as Gary and his crew advanced their investigation. Ed dug deeper into Francisco’s group of recruits, discovering that although somewhat uneducated, these men, with the exception of one or two, had total loyalty to their leader. The key would be to expose what Francisco and González does that gives them such a coveted position. The Ní-assa connection would be a deal breaker for Francisco if the Mexican cartel, who has special dealings with Francisco and González, controlling the drug and trafficking in the western Texas boundaries, were to find out Ní-assa was still alive and friendly with Francisco. It had become a good mixture of corrupt law enforce personnel, and unscrupulous law breakers, but could come to a violent end if either side felt threatened! The Chihuahuan Desert was a nice place for non discovery of bodies, which González relied on, but the cartel was not above using.

Ed spoke to Gary and Gaspard about the small amount of information coming forth from the different sources. With a lot of crime and retaliation existing it would be dangerous to talk about that association without arousing suspicion ! Francisco has influential relatives in government, coupled with his play boy attitude and had been warned by his superiors about his bending of the rules. Gonzalez, on the other hand, was responsible for being a cleaner for Francisco which could be a serious problem for him if there was any doubts or questions, especially if Ní-assa got involved.

Gaspard told Ed and Gary that he had heard from Silhouette saying she had some new information concerning the possible sighting of Ní-assa! He explained she had called and was coming to the hotel to discuss the new information with everyone.

When arriving, Silhouette immediately began to divulge the information she had received from a source close to the Policía Federal Ministerial concerning the third victim at the crash scene in the desert. She began with, ” The most important discovery was that the body was definitely not…. Ní-assa!” The report stated that the woman found was different in several ways, including, many issues with knife cuts Ní-assa was known to have ! Gary thought it was best if this new information was kept low key for now. All agreed, especially Juarez, who had lost men to this vicious woman, and was pleased to learn that she was still alive. He wanted the privilege of ridding the world of that woman first!

Gary and Ed said they would retrace the chopper trail to see if the switch could have transpired there somehow. While they traced the helicopters trail, Silhouette and Gaspard headed for the

Griselda fortress, or what was left of it to search for clues that might tie into something about Ní-assa. Juarez returned to his Raiders for a while to reply to a situation in Northern Mexico.

Days passed without any more productive information coming in , with the trail to finding Ní-assa beginning to fade, making it difficult to stay in Mexico without having any clues to keep a focus on the primary target. The four had dinner at the hotel to discuss the necessity of staying any longer. It was going to be a tough decision, however necessary.

Francisco was becoming a problem for Ní-assa when he began pushing for the huge money promised him by Ní-assa when he aided in her rescue and coverup of her death! He was beginning to sound more like a threat than a benefactor! Ní-assa sought out the man who had come with Alejandro when she hired him. Alejandro said he was best friend’s with the man Gacho, noting he was very reliable when it came to doing unpleasant tasks. Ní-assa asked Alejandro to set up an afternoon meeting with Gacho to discuss an important project she had in mind for just such a man.

When the stocky man whose face was in need of much repair, walked into the room where Ní-assa was going over her plan for some needed measures, he startled her. Gacho said, ” Didn’t mean to frighten you, was told you wanted to see me.” Ní-assa rose up from the desk, walked around to where Gacho was standing, and all but touching noses, whispered in his ear, ” I was told you are a very capable man when it comes to cleaning up after certain people.” Gacho, still looking straight ahead answered, ” I may not be much to look at, but my work is impeccable!” Ní-assa was somewhat taken back by Gacho’s reply saying, ” You don’t sound like you are from this area.” ” You mean because I talk so you can understand me? I get that a lot!” Ní-assa wasn’t quite sure if she found the man pleasant and disrespectful at the same time, or just ugly, but useful! Walking around him, Ní-assa questioned his friendship with Alejandro. Gruffly, Gacho said, ” The only thing you should be interested in is if I can do the work or not! You don’t need to know anything else!” Ní-assa did not respond lightly to this mans arrogance! ” I could have Francisco, or even Domingo see that your held in jail for a long time! Gacho smiled, looking directly into Ní-assa’s face saying, ” Let’s try the truth of this situation, shall we?” Sitting down after pouring himself a drink from the tequila bottle on the table, Gacho began to relate the situation as he saw it. ” After meeting with some of the higher ups in the chain of command, it appears that ‘ Daddy’ got into some kind of disagreement with someone further up on the power scale and is now ‘ Persona non grata’ . The shit your boyfriend’s been doing has reached the ears of the wrong people, and not necessarily the political ones, but the most powerful sort. As for González, his role as the second in charge did not set well with the rest of the troops! I think when Francisco is given a choice of heading for the ‘ High country’ , or staying here to face the cartels, there won’t be any need for discussion or decision.” For some unknown reason, Ní-assa liked the way the man handled himself, inviting him to remain and discuss arrangements which could be beneficial for both participants! Gacho could see the tempting look as he considered what extra ‘ Benefits ’ could be gained with this woman. ” Sounds like an excellent suggestion,” Gacho exclaimed, ” Maybe it could be discussed better after dinner?” Ní-assa could see the reason this might be a real enjoyable time, but thinking better of it said, ” I’ll let you know, ”

Ní-assa felt unusually comfortable with this new person, instructing the man who had brought in Gacho for the interviewing to leave, saying, ” I don’t want to be disturbed, so post yourself at the door , and don’t let anyone in! ” It was obvious to the guard that this new mans persona had somehow triggered Ní-assa’s desire to be alone with him. ”Standing at the office door, the guard was approached by another man looking for Ní-assa. ” Can’t go in just yet!” the big man said, motioning for his friend to keep quiet. ” Whats she doing, testing out the troops?” The guard whispered, ” You say that out loud, and she will kill you! …..If Francisco doesn’t get you first for talking about his Ní-assa like that!” The man laughed as he left the guard saying, ” I won’t tell the boss if you won’t” The guard knew if anyone said the wrong thing about Ní-assa, Francisco would have to wait until she got through with them! Investigator Francisco was beginning not have the loyalty of the troops with Ní-assa daily infiltrating their thoughts with her very efficient demoralizing comments about Francisco. Especially efficient in her scheme was the mention of the ‘Griselda Treasure’ of the former fortress owner, and that Francisco had never mentioned it to his men or captains.

Loyality would not go well for Francisco if he and Ní-assa were to split.

It wasn’t too long before the door opened and out came Gacho, smiling as he hurried toward the elevator. Ní-assa, in a very pleased tone, commented to her guard, ” I think Mr Gacho will be joining the troops shortly, so please see that he is treated well.”

Alejandro had suspected Ní-assa had plans for his friend when she had him summoned for a visit. He was prepared for duties not always legal, but for the kind of jobs Gacho was known for, it was totally out of Alejandro’s ability, or desire.

Francisco, reliving the embarrassment of being dressed down by his superiors, and the fact that certain cartel bosses had been angered by his antics, called Ní-assa explaining his plan to leave Mexico and all the threats behind. ” How soon can you pick up the ‘Griselda Treasure’ and meet me ?” The silence coming from Ní-assa lasted a moment, then she began to laugh heartily! Francisco became angry yelling, ” What’s wrong with you? I’m serious! There are people out there that want to kill me! ” Ní-assa, holding back some of her laughter, responded with, ” You foolish man! Do you really think there was a Griselda Treasure’ ? And if there was, do you think I would share it with a dimwit like you? You had a good thing going here with these men, but your stupid handling of them not only was a laughing joke behind your back, you never had their respect! ”

Francisco became so enraged at her taunting, he screamed, ” I will kill you, you bitch! If it’s not today, tomorrow will have to be soon enough!” Ní-assa twisting her verbal knife said, ” You better bring along someone with more ability than you, which shouldn’t be too hard considering your lack of about every useful or manly feature!”

While Francisco continued his violent threats, Ní-assa interjected a laugh, then quietly said, ” Goodby, Deadman!” cancelling the phone call.

Afterwards, Francisco called González, asking him to bring all contents of the safe! González replied with, ” How much do you want me to get?” Francisco, still reeling from Ní-assa’s attack yelled out, ” All of it, you idiot! We will leave as soon as you get here!” González questioned the instructions with, ” I’m going with you? Where are we going?” Francisco said there was no destination, ”Were leaving this place where the cartel’s may be watching. Those who would ruin our game out here will just have to wait!

Following his boss’s instructions, González headed for the hacienda safe . Hurriedly he entered the numbers on the safe, then when it opened, a voice from a corner of the room called out, ” You gonna count that before taking off? ” From the darkened corner of the

room, out steps Gacho, looking at González who by this time was trying to figure out an escape plan to escape the threat of Gacho.

” Were you trying to leave us before saying goodby?” Gacho asked.

González, realizing this man’s reputation for being ruthless, decided it would be better if he just killed him and not worry about negotiations. Having experienced many situations like this, Gacho had already made his move toward the knife he carried at his coat neckline. Before González could remove the pistol he carried, Gacho’s knife had already found its mark in the man’s throat! Walking into the light, looking down at the man on the floor, Gacho reached down and removed his knife, then returned it to it’s awaiting sheath. After removing all of the safes contents, Gacho called Ní-assa to tell her they now had the funds to invite the men of Francisco’s once unified unit to cross over into an independent group. ” How nice of González to show us where the money was.” Ní-assa said, ” After we take care of the other problem’s, we can sit down and discuss the organizing of a new group you spoke of.” Gacho laughed saying, ” Sit down or perhaps lie down. Whatever comes first you mean.”

Ní-assa could feel her skin crawl just hearing this unpleasant and ugly man even suggesting they continue with any sexual favors. Ní-assa had plans for something bigger than the extortion tactics they had been using with the low expectation of anything larger than themselves.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Gacho asked, ” You still there? Whats the next move in your bag of tricks? ”Ní-assa answered with, ” Next is Francisco, but it has to look like an accident or else there might be some backlash from the men.” Gacho commented, ” Got to admit, your a cool one! And what do you have planed for me, my sadistic beauty?” Ní-assa replied with, ” Guess you will have to wait around and see.” I’m not used to waiting, but with you as the prize, it will be worth it!

Ní-assa continued looking for a location that was more centrally located, and closer to Texas, in case the federalizes got too close. Also when Gacho arrives with the money and anything goes sideways, she wanted to have a great place to get rid of his body!

After considering Mexico and Texas as hiding places, Durango or Del Rio seemed the most prudent. She decided on Del Rio because of theTexas brush country, and it is much easier to escape and hide in that terrain. Finding where she might be safe, Ní-assa began to group her thoughts as to the best way to eliminate the burdensome Gacho ! Calling on Alejandro for help, he came willingly not knowing what Ní-assa had in mind for him to do.

When Alejandro arrived, Ní-assa approached him with all of her assets barely covered, then suddenly she ran into the bedroom.

Coming into the room, Alejandro found Ní-assa sitting on the small couch with her head in her hands, weeping. He immediately sat down to comfort her, only to be pushed away. Trying again, this time kissing the back of her neck, while stroking her shoulders and asking softly, ” What did I do to make you cry?” Slowly Ní-assa raised her head and looking into Alejandro’s eyes began to tell him of her fear that Gacho might try to harm the both of them. ” He said he would kill anyone who even looked at me desirably! He’s your friend and I may have come between the two of you.” Alejandro stood exclaiming, ” I will never allow anyone to harm you, not even Gacho” has that power!

Ní-assa, looking up at Alejandro exclaimed, ” I don’t want anything to happen to you!” He assured her that he would not allow Gacho to dictate who she could see! ” Please don’t challenge him, not just yet anyway!” Alejandro asked why not! ” Because I have other plans for him that will help in our escape!” With that Alejandro sat down to listen to the idea’s Ní-assa had in mind. With great detail, Ní-assa began to explain to Alejandro what her plan was. ” I have been patient with these pseudo ‘bandito’s’ , it’s time for payback to three real losers, take what we can, then leave for parts unknown!!”

What losers are you talking about?. Alejandro asked. Ní-assa answered, ”Francisco, Domingo González , and mr I think I’m wonderful, your friend, Gacho!” Alejandro was surprised by the last name , asking, ” Why Gacho? He knows a lot and is capable of doing most anything you would want.” Ní-assa answered with, ” He wants more than I want to give, and besides he wants to take your place in my life.” That last statement put a closure to why Gacho needed to be dealt with, and Alejandro smiled saying, ” I understand.” With Gacho on the way to her, with the Francisco money, Ní-assa had to work fast to put her plan in place. First an anonymous call to the Policía Federal Ministerial saying that Francisco was running to avoid prosecution for his conduct . She also called the local cartel that Francisco was running out of Mexico! and they should get to him before the Policía! because

he knows too much! As planed, Francisco was waiting in his secret hideaway in town, where Ní-assa said he might be when the cartel arrived. Francisco was surprised by their visit asking, ” How did you know I was here?” He asked. One of the cartels began to answer Francisco when the other member came up from behind Francisco and with one quick stroke of the mans blade, permanently removed any possibility of Francisco ever telling anything again. When the Policía arrived, it was too late, except to pick up the body of the once popular, Investigator Francisco .

Gacho arrived at Ní-assa’s new hideout, spreading some of the contents of the late Investigator Francisco’s bounty on the table. ” See what I have brought for you dear lady!, ” Gacho said excitedly. His excitement suddenly turned to questions when Alejandro came into the room.

Gacho looked at his one time friend, who was holding a deadly goat horn or A k47, aimed at Gacho’s body! ”Your first rodeo with a woman, I take it, ” Gacho said in a sarcastic tone. ”Almost wish I could appreciate the gesture with the rifle” Turning to Ní-assa he said, ” Taking them in kind of young don’t you think?” Alejandro yelled out, ” Shut up, old man! I’m the one in charge now!” Gacho began laughing, ” Are you certain you got that thing loaded and ready for me?” Alejandro glanced over toward Ní-assa, who was standing still and enjoying the attention by the two men. ” You really don’t want to do this for the likes of her, my friend.” Gacho said to Alejandro, who by this time was becoming unsure holding the rifle toward his one time friend. Ní-assa began to slowly walk toward Alejandro while the two men stood still looking at one another. When she reached Alejandro it was as if he was in a trance ” Shoot him! ” Ní-assa whispered into his ear. The hesitation of Alejandro was enough time for Gacho to reach his neck knife and send it towards Alejandro. Unwittingly, Ní-assa, standing too close, caught the blade in her shoulder instead ! Letting out a screech, Ní-assa turned to see Gacho heading toward the two of them. The action Alejandro took next made it all worth while to Ní-assa, when Alejandro opened fire directly at his one time companion, hitting him several times before Gacho could take another step.

Dropping the rifle, Alejandro grabbed Ní-assa, who was about to fall over, and sitting her on a chair, began to check for what would be required to remove the blade and stop the bleeding. Ní-assa looked up at Alejandro asking, ” You have done this before I hope.” Alejandro smiled replying, ” Yea, a couple of times.” Ní-assa’ reached up with her other hand and started to remove the knife from her wound. Alejandro grasped her hand saying, ” It’s imperative to leave the knife in until I can secure some bandages and stuff .” Ní-assa smiled replying with, ” By stuff, I guess you mean something for the pain I hope.” Alejandro had torn then removed her blouse sleeve and applied some clean cloths from the bathroom.

” Now lie down on the bed to keep your shoulder above your heart until I can return with the proper bandages.” Ní-assa, Looking up at the man who was working so hard to do the right thing for her injury, then turning her attention to the very dead Gacho, Ní-assa said , ”Cuerno de Chivo’ served you well tonight.” Alejandro had seen a pharmacy on the way to the hideout and figured they would have some of what he would need. After checking on Ní-assa’s condition one more time, Alejandro headed to the place he remembered . Reflecting back to what Ní-assa said concerning his shooting of Gacho, Alejandro thought to himself, ” What am I becoming ? I did some pretty bad things with Gacho, but never had to kill before. ” Alejandro had not thought out what the “cuerno de chivo” or “goat horn” Ak47 was capable of in his hands.

Siting in his car in front of the pharmacy, Alejandro began to rationalize the events that had just taken place and figured that one more illegal step toward getting help for Ní-assa would make no difference now. Walking into the pharmacy there was an older guy behind the counter. ” I need some medicine for pain!” Alejandro said to the man. ” And just what kind of pain are you talking about?” the man said, looking at Alejandro with a suspicious eye.

” Something that will work, old man!” Alejandro replied loudly. The pharmacist explained, ” I have to know what kind of pain you need the medicine for” the man behind the counter said. Alejandro yelled at the man while taking out his Glock, ” Look at this and think hard about what kind of medicine I need for a knife wound to the shoulder!” The pharmacist, trying to remain calm asked, ” Just how deep is the wound?” Alejandro fired back, ” Deep enough that I can’t remove the knife without her bleeding out!” The pharmacist realized the severity of the wound and suggested that the best thing to do would be to take her to emergency. ” That ain’t gonna happen old man, now get what you will need to bandage her up!” The pharmacist began to realize this man with the gun was going to want him to address the injury. ” I’m just a pharmacist, I can’t dress an injury like that!” The man said in a pleading manner. Alejandro, Pushing the glock deep into the mans side replied with, ” You just got promoted, now get what your going to need!” The pharmacist, trying to stall for time, hoping the secret alarm button he had pushed would alarm the police, asked, ” How bad is the wound?” Alejandro said, ” It’s bad! The knife is still in her shoulder and she is in pain bad!” The pharmacist again offered, ” The best thing to do would be to take her to emergency.” ” You got two minutes to get everything you need before I blow your head off!” Alejandro yelled!

two minutes and your a dead man!” The pharmacist knew he couldn’t stall any longer and began removing several items from the shelfs. When Alejandro figured the man had enough suplies, he ordered him out side and into the car. ” You drive! I’m not going to have you try and trick me!” Alejandro told the man.

On the way back to the hideout Alejandro told the pharmacist, ” You do everything right and I will see that you get back to your job!” The man kept telling Alejandro, ” I’m a pharmacist, not a doctor!, I don’t know if I can do anything for the woman you said had a knife in her shoulder.” Alejandro, directing the man to turn into the side street said, ” Well we are here, and you better do your best if you want to get back to your pill house!” As the two men entered the room, Ní-assa was almost falling from her chair. ” Ní-assa!” Alejandro called out. ” The doctor is here and we are going to get you taken care of right away.”

The pharmacist, looking at the knife imbedded into Ní-assa’s shoulder and bleeding through the towels she had covering the area said, ” Look lady, I told this man I’m not a doctor and don’t think I can help you!” Ní-assa leaned into the mans face saying, ” Don’t worry, if I die, so do you!” With that statement of fact, the pharmacist began sorting the items he had brought and before starting to do whatever he could to close the wound and try to stay alive, he said to Ní-assa, ” The first thing is to give you something to decrease the pain.” Taking out a bottle of pills he began to hand two to Ní-assa saying, ” These should give you some pain reduction, I hope.” Ní-assa replied in answer to his statement with, ” I’ll take one and save the other for after you and I finish .” Calling for Alejandro to stand by with the antiseptic cloths, the pharmacist removed the knife that was imbedded into Ní-assa’s shoulder, and had severed one of the internal veins. ” I don’t have the knowledge to remove the knife without being able to close off a vein!” the pharmacist said. Ní-assa gave a warning, ” Better figure out something or else we both die!” Knowing this could lead to his death, the pharmacist removed the blade and revealed it had only been stuck between the joint capsule and was not the vein. Attending to the wound the pharmacist was able to stop the bleeding and bandage the shoulder with a zipstich enough to give Ní-assa some relief. ” This will give you time to see a real doctor and have them attend to this properly.” The pharmacist said, feeling elated he could do something to not only help the woman, but mostly he was happy to know now he could be released. ”You did good, pharmacist, ” Ní-assa said as she took a pistol from under her couch pillow. Alejandro was taken back by Ní-assa’s action asking,” Why do you have to kill him, he saved your life and did what he was told?” Ní-assa replied, ” Silly boy, of course he did well, but the reality of this situation is that if I let him live, he will tell people about it and blow my cover!” The pharmacist insisted he wouldn’t say anything to anyone if he could just go. Ní-assa said, ” I truly believe you wouldn’t tell anyone, but I have to make certain.”

Alejandro had been distracted with Ní-assa’s comments

and when she lifted the pistol, the man started to run. Alejandro

turned to stop him at the same time that Ní-assa’s weapon fired!

Alejandro dropped to the floor while the pharmacist began to exit the building. A second shot hit the pharmacist and the man fell to the floor. Ní-assa knelt down to see Alejandro’s condition, stroking his hair back from his eyes whispering, ” You know, you really were a nice guy.” Opening his eyes, Alejandro smiled, mouthing,”I know,” then for the last time closed his eyes in death. Returning to where the pharmacist lie bleeding, Ní-assa stood looking down at him as he tried to crawl away. Slowly lifting the glock she said, ” This is for the kid over there”, emptying its deadly contents into his body.

Ní-assa, having to rethink her original plan of escape, looked at the two bodies thinking, ” It’s nice that I don’t have to share my bounty with anyone, however it will be more difficult to move around with bags of money and such without drawing attention. ”

Her thoughts went back to Griselda, former owner of a very fine hacienda in a remote part of Mexico. There, Griselda had put away a very nice stash of cash in different denominations and currencies along with other items of value. Ní-assa had originally thought of returning to the US, however after considering the fact that the Chicago group had a hit out on her for killing the three vengeful family members of the man she had sent back to the cartel in pieces, that probably would not work out too well if they found her.

That along with the Mexico Federal Ministerial Police Investigator Francisco and his second Domingo González, also dying under strange circumstances, was going to make it a tossup as to where

Ní-assa would be safer.

After the discovery of the bodies and deaths of Francisco

Domingo González, Gacho Alejandro and others, Ní-assa seemed to have vanished from the scene. Gary called Juarez to see if he had any new information Silhouette also called on some of her contacts with no positive results

Ní-assa’s personal plan had been to build a cartel of her own and perhaps take it to the US, but things kept getting in her way. In her fantasy she had watched how Francisco had taken his group and moulded it into what he wanted, and he was a looser! Ní-assa wasn’t going to let that association be anything less than a good example of what not to do.

She was determined to follow the Los Zetas, the Mexican criminal syndicate regarded as one of the most dangerous of the countries cartels! “The Zs”, as they are known as, are primarily concerned with drug trafficking, the organization also runs profitable sex trafficking and gun running rackets, but Ní-assa didn’t want to get involved with any of that and make the Z’s unhappy.

Ní-assa used a lot of the ill gotten money to bribe law enforcement to release five of the old special force officers that had worked with Francisco and Domingo González, in the illegal operation headed by Francisco. They were thrilled to be released to the attorney with a fake business guaranteeing their employment, along with a healthy ‘ donation ’ from Ní-assa.

Ní-assa said, ” First thing we will do is get the hell out of here.” One of the men offered, ” I know a place in Chihuahua that is located in the northern region of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra del Tigre is a range principally situated in the Sonoran Desert South of El Paso . It’s much safer than Ciudad Juárez that has had its share of cartel killings in the last two years. Ní-assa questioned the man with, ” I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere as I was before! By the way, who the hell are you?” ”Horrillo’s the name, and these are the four others you asked for, Adolpho, Ramero, Kinsley, and Constance.” Horrillo continued with his knowledge of the area. This mountain range was a key outpost for Apaches when they were at war with both Mexican and American forces in the early 20th century. ” Sounds like the kind of place a person could get lost in and not have prying eyes looking for them.” Horrillo confirmed the statement, offering the fact that he knew the area very well. ” I could be your guide if you want.” Horrillo offered.”Yes, that a good idea since you know the place.” Ní-assa said. Then turning to the one woman in the group she asked, ” And you, little puta, what have you to offer other than the obvious? ” With one very quick movement, the woman called took a knife that had slipped into her hand from some hidden holding device and was quickly placed under Ní-assa’s chin, then announcing,” And my ability to shoot anything I aim for is legendary!” Gently pushing aside the hand holding the blade from her throat area, Ní-assa commented, ” And I for one, believe you!” continuing to lower the woman’s arm Ní-assa adding, ” But if you ever get that close to my throat with a knife again, you better be ready to finish the job or die! ”

Constance understood the message and carefully backed away while the rest of the group stood waiting for what was to come next.

Ní-assa staring into the eyes of each of the three remaining asked,

” And what about the rest of you? What do you have to offer me that would change my mind of not getting rid of you right now?” Each of the three looked at one another then with a silent motion

Kinsley motioned for Ramero to speak. Before Ramero could get his first word out, Ní-assa ordered Kinsley to tell her why Ramero had to speak first. ” It was you that motioned for him to step up first, am I right?” Kinsley answered with, ” I figured he was the best with explosives and you would want to know that first.” ”BULLSHIT!” Ní-assa yelled at the man. ” You’re the boss of this little gang of misfits and didn’t want me to know that…. Why?” There was a hesitation in Kinsley’s answer which gave time for Adolpho to speak up with, ” Because he’s been Domingo González’s pet and got a lot of privileges to hold over the rest of us!” Ní-assa, looking at the other three asked, ” You agree?” Kinsley started to answer for the rest of the group with, ” I only did what I was told, and these

liars are all wrong! I never did anything to them!” Constance spoke up with, ” More bullshit! You were always having us do your dirtywork and you got all the privileges! ” Horrillo looked at Ní-assa saying, ” It’s true, Kinsley never had to do anything except ride around with González and lord it over us!”

Ní-assa looking at the crew in front of her saying, ” I think I’ve heard all the necessary information I needed to make my decision.” Walking around the group, Ní-assa began to relate what was forming in her mind about who should stay and who should go.

I understand you all have your special talents, and that joining me in my endeavor to settle some issues I have with certain people will utilize some of those. Loyalty is a trait I know a lot about, and after listening to you all speak it is obvious four of you are loyal to one another, and that other one person is not! When all eyes turned to Kinsley, he stood up yelling” Why are you all looking at me? I did what I was told and didn’t make waves for us!” Constance spoke up with, ” You liar, you never gave any of us so much as a look without making some comment about how we don’t do the job right, or anything to take glory away from what we did! ” Kinsley began to take steps toward the exit when Ramero placed his arm across the doorway blocking Kinsley’s exit. ” Thinking of going somewhere ? ” Horrillo, and Adolpho asked as they came closer to the now frightened, Kinsley. Ní-assa grinning as she joined in the others getting ever closer to Kinsley. . Ní-assa asked, ” Anyone here have an idea of what to do with this person of mistrust?” Kinsley. began to swear and call out obsentitivies while trying to work his way free from the ever enclosing circle of people. Suddenly, Kinsley found an opening and pushing his way through Adolpho and Ramero, he made for an open window to make his escape. The knife leaving Constance’s hand found it’s mark before Kinsley could make it to the opening.

Watching the life flowing from Kinsley’s body, Ní-assa made a statement. ” Now that thats over, anyone have a problem if

Constance here is my second in command?” None of the men had anything to say leaving an awkward moment of stress, then Adolpho spoke up saying, ” Hell yes! She’s just what your going to need to keep us in line!” Ní-assa walked over to Adolpho saying, ” With that in mind, I think we are going to make a great team! Now to establish a main base, which Horrillo had mentioned in Sierra del Tigre.”

Constance spoke up saying, ” It was close to Sierra del Tigre when I was caught last year. It used to be a place you could get lost in, but now they have a horde of ‘ wanna be’ armed posse people that show up when you least expect them! ” Ní-assa added, ” We sure as hell don’t want that! Anybody have another idea of a good

location?” Ramero volunteered, ” My grandfather lived in Jimenez, that is in the mountains and very small.” Ní-assa thought for a moment then said,” Adolpho, get the jeep so Ramero and me can take us a ride to this place in the mountains and see if it’s what we all want. On the way there, Horrillo and Constance, we can drop you off in El Paso to pick up another jeep .” Constance asked, ” What do we use for money?” Ní-assa answered , ” It would take all of the fun out of getting another jeep if you had to pay for it!”

Constance replied back, ” And I suppose it would be my chance to show you how much I appreciate your rewarding me with the second in command position.” Ní-assa laughed saying, ” Have fun you two, and don’t get lost. Afterward you can meet us in Jimenez.”

On the way to Jimenez, Ní-assa commented on the difference of landscape going from the El Paso area to Jimenez. She also wanted to establish a place in Texas to wage war on her enemy, and El Paso seemed to be a good choice being so close to the border which would give her a fast escape path in case the law should get too close. Once in Mexico, it would be a short journey to Jimenez and safety. The only thing she might have to contend with would be if Juarez returned with his Raiders and decided to come search for her!

Juarez had been a thorn in her plans as much as Ashley and that group of irritants, so she would have to work around them or better still, eliminate them permanently!

Arriving in Jimenez, Ní-assa instructed Adolpho to slowly drive around towards the hills surrounding the very small town.

Looking around for just the right place, Ní-assa chose a place set on a hill, which would be the ideal location for her to keep prying eyes from getting too close to her operation. Asking Ramero where he thought the best location would be, he suggested where the head of the village lived. ” It is a nice place , built by a cartel man who was killed, and his surviving people did not want to stay here. He may not want to sell, but we can ask.” Ramero said. Ní-assa smiled saying, ” Yes, I suppose asking would be the thing to do, however if it works for my purposes, he will want to sell, I’m certain”

Returning to the center of the town, Ní-assa said, ” Look over there, if I’m not mistaken, thats Horrillo and Constance by that new jeep!”

Driving up to the two smiling collaborator’s, Adolpho called out, ” Nice Jeep! Where’ed you pick that up? ” Constance grinned replying, ” A nice man gave it to us … sort of.” Ramero said, ” Where have I heard that before?” Walking over to the new addition to the group, Ní-assa announced that here was to be a very nice location available soon and that they should make plans for the transfer and purchase the necessary supplies. Constance suggested they do the shopping in Las Cruces, since El Paso might recognize the jeep and could cause problems. Since El Paso is off the grid for awhile, Ramero can be your guide, since he is versed in the area between New Mexico and Jimenez, Mexico. Ní-assa agreed suggesting they all go, with Adolpho as driver, and leaving Constance with her, to assist with persuasion here in Jimenez.When the men had left on the way to Las Cruces for supplies, Ní-assa looked at Constance saying, ” Let’s go look at real estate, shall we?”

Constance ,driving up one of the mountain roads to the secluded home where the head of the village lived, then stopping just short of the front of the home. Ní-assa looked out at the entrance noting, ” You see what I see?” Constance, also saw the two guards walking casually around the entrance responded with, ” You think the man may have something better in there than just what the head of a village might have? ” Ní-assa agreed adding, ” If you still like to use that feminine charm you have, I’ll take the one on the right and you can have mister mustachio on the left. ” Constance grinned saying, ” More tests?” The two ladies approached the guards at different ends of the home. Sidling up to the one with a mustache, Constance said, ” Bet you could tell me where I took the wrong turn off the road to Jimenez, couldn’t you?” The guard, looking at the low cut, semi open blouse answered with, ” Sure I can tell you, but how about spending a little time with me instead?” Making certain the guards eyes were focused on her breasts moving in unison with her heavy breathing, Constance slid her blade slowly across the man’s throat, which always seemed to bring that very surprised look as her victims would fall to the round.

At the other end of the building, Ní-assa had already taken care of the guard and was approaching the head of the village as he sat in his chair. Announcing her approach, the man jumped to his feet, drawing a gun from his waist! ” Morning!” Ní-assa said in a polite manner. ” Thought my friend and I would see what you would like for this very nice home.” There being no answer, Ní-assa again started to ask, but was interrupted with the man yelling, ” Who the hell are you?” as he raised his weapon towards Ní-assa. The man never heard the answer because of the knife that had reached his throat, allowing the pistol to drop from his hand, and his body to sink to the floor. Ní-assa looked down at the dying man saying to Constance,” I never got a chance to negotiate with him on the price.” Constance reached down removing her knife saying ” O, well, I guess I’ll just have to speak for him….Sold!”

Calling Ramero, Ní-assa gave him the address of the home saying, ” When your shopping, pick up a chain and lock. I want you to close and lock the front entrance gate when you arrive. Can’t have strangers coming in unexpectedly. ” Ramero answered, ” Will do! ” adding, ”We should return late tonight with everything. ”

Late that evening, the crew arrived at the home with Ramero attaching the chain and lock to the front entrance. ” That will keep the prying eyes from getting too close, ” Ramero said, handing one of the set of keys he purchased when buying the chain to Ní-assa.

Horrillo was setting aside some food supplies when Ní-assa asked him, ” You taking over the job of chef? ” Horrillo answered with, ” Learned it when I was being chased by the law and had to make du with whatever I found, then started to like it! Been doing it since then. ” Ní-assa thanked him for his efforts and said, ” Maybe we can get you a real nice kitchen some day.”

Coming around the corner from one of the rooms, Constance said to

Ní-assa., I think I heard someone or something out side, suggesting they go outside and investigate. Ní-assa knodded approval and motioned she would take the rear, sending Constance to go out the front.

Ní-assa silently left out the rear door and made her way around towards the front. Constance left out the front area then not seeing anyone began to walk toward the trees surrounding the home. Taking a few steps further away from the porch she suddenly felt the familiar touch of a gun barrel pushing against her back. ” Thats far enough. ” said the unknown person. ” Let’s wait until the other one comes to the front, then we can all go back into the house.” Coming around to the front of the house, Ní-assa was not aware of the Constance situation, and walked right up to her second in command who said, ” We just got ourselves captured !” Feeling a little foolish in not seeing the trap, Constance said to Ní-assa, ” Hope you have a backup plan for this!” ” Let’s go inside and see the rest of the crew” their captor ordered. Ní-assa glanced at Constance with a puzzled look thinking to herself, ” Why would this person take us inside if he knew the others were there, or maybe he doesn’t know?” Opening the front door, told the answer when three other uninvited guests stood with guns, held at the ready, holding Jimenez, Horrillo, and Adolpho, at bay! The man stepped from behind Ní-assa and Constance commenting on the ease at which he was able to capture all of these intruders. ” You got it all wrong,” Ní-assa said, ” We own this house, just bought it a couple of days ago.” The obvious leader asked, ” Then I guess you will be taking care of the transferring right?” Ní-assa answered , not knowing what the man was talking about, ” Of course! We can handle anything he could, and even better, I’m sure.” Putting the gun to Ní-assa’s forehead, the man asked, ” And what is your price if I give it to you to do?” There was no way out of his question so Ní-assa reached up, taking hold of the man’s gun by the barrel, then pulled it forward against her head saying, ” I have no idea of what the hell your talking about!” Constance eyes opened wide, as well as the rest of the team. The man laughed, as well as the rest of his men. ” You a crazy gringo woman, but you got guts alright!” The man lowered his weapon, with his men still holding their rifles pointing towards the five. He walked up to Constance asking, ” You two ladies take care of these guys ok? Maybe you take care of mine to maybe? ” His men shook their heads and laughing at the possibility of having some fun with the

female captives, lowered their guard just long enough to give Constance the chance to retrieve her neck knife and bury it into the neck of one of the men holding a rifle. At the same time, Ní-assa and Adolpho jumped the leader, holding him down with Adolpho taking away the man’s pistol, then shoving it into the man’s mouth, warning him with ” Don’t bother talking!” When the other two men saw their friend fall with the knife in his throat, they threw down their

rifles.

Getting up from the floor, Ní-assa picked up one of the rifles, walked over to the men standing with their hands in the air, saying, ” Before I shoot you with your own gun, just what was that idiot over there trying to tell us?” One of the men started to speak, but the other one said ” You tell them too much and El Carnicería will cut off your head!” Ní-assa swiftly hit the man in the face with the but of the rifle, sending him to the floor. Focusing her attention once more to the man left standing, Ní-assa repeated her request.

The man, looking down at his friend bleeding from the facial impact of Ní-assa’s gift, then over to the leader, lying on the ground with a pistol still in his mouth, began to babble a ton of words which did not make a lot of sense. Ní-assa walked away from him and going over to the leader, still on the ground, asking, ” When you get that gun out of your mouth, will you give me some real answers? The man indicated he would, so Ní-assa gave Adolpho the ok to remove the pistol from his mouth.

Ní-assa asked, ” Who is El Carnicería, and where did he get the idea he could come here and try to take over without so much as a hello?” The man took a deep breath and almost in a whisper said, El Carnicería !” Ní-assa yelled into the man’s face, ” I heard that! Who the hell is he?” The captive was very reluctant in his answers, which was irritating Ní-assa to a point that she decided to take a different approach. Taking his hand and stroking the fingers, Ní-assa called over Constance and Adolpho, saying, ”Adolpho, You hold on to our friend here, and Constance, if you would place that fine knife of yours against one of his longer fingers and get ready to separate it from the hand, I will say when!” Looking down at the man who by this time was realizing this woman was telling the truth, and would cut off as many fingers as necessary in order to get the information she wanted, exclaimed to those watching, ” I will begin shortly, but before I do, let me tell you something I learned working with the Italian mafia guys in Chicago.” Her captive struggled to get loose but Adolpho kept a tight hold on him while Ní-assa continued her story. ” The Italian mafia had this game of ‘ Hard Eight’ where they would take someone who had done something very wrong, or they needed to find answers to a question, and they would start with the little finger…..” Ní-assa touching the mans struggling hand with her finger, ” Then working their way to the index. Usually by then the person has admitted to the offense or given them the answer. ” Constance asked, ” Why did they stop at the thumb, and why was it called ‘ Hard Eight’?” Ní-assa smiled explaining, ” Cause it is hard to eat with only your thumbs, and it is hard to watch!” Turning back to the man, who by now was ready to tell everything , Ní-assa asked,” How about you taking us to see this ‘El Carnicería’ and I let you keep your fingers,…for now?” The man shook his head with veracity so when Adolpho released him the man jumped up thanking Ní-assa for her kindness and he would always be her

supporter! ” And now back to you!,” Ní-assa said to the last man standing. ” What can I expect from this ‘El Carnicería’ when we go see him?” The man looked over at his leader and said, ” ‘El Carnicería’ will probably have someone cut off your head and ours! ”

” Thats not very encouraging ,” Ní-assa commented.” How about if I have a lot of money to offer? ” The man said, ” Don’t know if that will make any difference!”

” This ‘El Carnicería’ sounds like a real tough ombre!” Ní-assa commented, ”Think it should be fun finding out so tell you what, I’m going to do for you.” Motioning for Adolpho to bring the leader over to her, she looked at the two saying, ” Now here is my thinking on this. If I let you go tell this ‘El Carnicería’ that I am willing to negotiate a working agreement between us, do you think he would be interested?” The leader said ” Of course he would, he is a kind man!” Ní-assa watching the reaction of the second man posed to him the same question. Without hesitation the man said, ” He will probably cut off our heads and then come get yours! ” The leader said, ” No no, he will do the right thing, I’m sure! Just let us go and we will go ask him to meet with you.” Constance commented to Ní-assa, ” Your not buying this are you?” Ní-assa replied, ” Perhaps if I send just one of these men and have him take the head of the other, it will be impressive enough to get this guys attention!”

The captives looked at one another then began begging for mercy, suggesting to please take the other one’s head! Ní-assa laughed at the frantic plea’s then said to the leader, ” Your a pathetic little shit, but you grovel better than mister honesty here, so leave and pray you can make your ‘El Carnicería’ accept my offer without having to use an extra head !”

Silhouette contacted Gary saying she had no new information concerning Ní-assa’s location. ” I know she is out there somewhere, but is so dug in that Gaspard or none of my people can find her. Talked to Juarez today and he is having the same problem. He agreed we should hold back for a while to see if she makes a mistake and gives us some kind of clue! ” Gary wasn’t pleased with the idea but without any new developments in Ní-assa’s whereabouts, it made more sense.

Afterwards, Gary told Ed about the plans to put the effort on hold for a while. ” That sounds great. ” Ed replied, ” Haven’t seen my Lulu forever, and I do miss the treats that Patrick and Maria serve at Connolly’s Corner”. Gary laughed saying, ” I bet you do, looking at how skinny you have gotten lately.” Maria answered with, ” She is with Sophia. They go for walks everyday about this time. You might be able to find them out by the park. They have a special place for puppies there.” Ed had to smile at the statement thinking, ”That ‘ Puppy’ is almost 9, but she would never admit to that, and beside’s one never should tell about a girl’s age!”

Walking towards the city park, Ed could see his Lulu in the distance with Sophia struggling to hold her back. Calling out, ” Hey Fluff Butt!, Where have you been? ” Hearing Ed’s voice was too much for Lulu to just walk towards him. To Sophia’s surprise, Lulu reached the end of her lead and pulled it from Sophia’s grasp, heading for the one who she had been missing since he left. The leap when she was within range of her friend was one to admire, for it looked like a ball of fur in flight! Falling off the pathway into the grass, Man and puppy rolled around and between licking, hugs and laughter, it was all Sophia could do to hold back from joining the party. Once the greeting had subsided to a manageable level, Ed looked over at Sophia saying, ” Thanks for taking such good care of my Lulu. She appears to have not lost any of her enthusiasm for loving!” Laughing, Sophia answered with, ” Haven’t seen her like this since you left. Better not be gone so long next time.” The three walked back to Connolly’s with Lulu looking over her shoulder several time along the way to be certain Ed was still following.

Speaking with Patrick, Gary said, ” Had any more troubles with the gambling problems or threats of any kind?” Maria answered for her husband with, ” Not since you left. The sheriff came around a couple of times but not to do anything but look around and then leave.” Seemed like a dammed waist of time if you asked me!” Patrick challenged his wife’s comments with, ” They still exists , just not as severe as before. And the crime rate has been all but stopped since the cartel moved out of the Western boarder !” Both Gary and Ed were pleased to hear that the cartel influence had diminished in the are, but warned them to be diligent because taking the infamous one to jail was not going to one they had plan on. Patrick assured them he wasn’t worried about any intruders, goin over to the register and pulling out a sawed off shotgun. ” Haven’t had to use this, but it gives us a feeling of comfort anyway.” He said, returning the weapon in its hiding place. Both Gary and Ed felt a little uneasy about Patrick’s rather casual attitude concerning the danger still inplay as long as the Ní-assa woman remained a fugitive. Patrick joked with his friends saying, ” I know that woman is out there somewhere, but from what you have told me, she has a lot more to be concerned with more than having to worry that someone like me is going to be a threat to her.” Gary had to admit that with the cartels in Mexico and Chicago having her on their list of people to be rid of, it didn’t seem likely she would take the time to come to a place like Big Springs to do them harm. Ed sid, ” I don’t know why Ní-assa would come here when she has made enemies of just about everyone around, but please be careful anyway!”

Maria and Sophia came back into the room with hot desert treasures , with Maria saying, ” Enough of this bad talk! You come eat and enjoy!” Then looking over at Ed who was feeding Lulu some pastry, shouted, ” You feed that little baby too much and she look like ‘ Papa’ over there!,” pointing at Patrick.

The next day, Gary called Silhouette asking if she had any more conversations with Juarez. She replied she hadn’t, however Gaspard

had spoken to one of his sources that had hinted there was some noise in the cartel group that indicated rumblings were being

perpetrated by an unknown source. Gary asked, ” Does he think it might have something to do with Ní-assa?” Silhouette answered with, ” Might be, but he will tell me more later after he talk’s to his source.”

Silhouette wasn’t too surprised that her second in command was anxious to pursue any leads at all when it came to Ní-assa. Gaspard had not let any time go by without thinking of Ní-assa and what she had done. It was as though a demon had possessed him. Several times Silhouette had approached him about keeping focused on all of the company needs and not spend all of his time with hunting the elusive Ní-assa. When Gary called it was a reminder of Gaspard’s neglect of other duties. ” I am concerned however, and if this last lead doesn’t pan out, I will confront Gaspard and give him one more chance to get back to business.” Gary offered to help in any way, however Silhouette said she would rather handle the issue by herself.

Gaspard had heard about the issues in the Chihuahua area, and especially around the town of Jimenez. From what his informant said, it appeared that a new power grab was the issue and a lone standout had taken advantage of the situation and hired a couple of outside guns to add to the already sparking fire she set when sending the man back from his assignment of getting rid of the new irritant in Jimenez. The cartel leader in the Chihuahua area was

‘El Carnicería’, a ruthles man who had earned the name which meant, ‘ Butcher’ by his lack of any kindness toward those who challenged his authority in any way. When Ní-assa sent back his man with the message she wanted a meeting, he was enraged that this woman dare dictate commands or conditions to him! Turning to the messenger, he swung his machete, swiftly removing that source of irritation permanently ! Turning to one of his guards he ordered him to find the head el, teniente or lieutenant .The man quickly left , returning shortly with Alférez the lieutenant. ‘El Carnicería’ angered by Ní-assa’s approach, instructed Alférez to find her and bring her to him! ” She is at the Jimenez house. Don’t return without her, Alive! .” Alférez, thinking he may need backup, took four of the men and headed for Jimenez to find and capture this

arragant woman who dared to anger ‘El Carnicería’!

In Jimenez, Ní-assa was preparing for what she expected to be a confrontation, hearing of ‘El Carnicería’s’ temperament and power. ” Ramero,”, Ní-assa began, ” With your knowledge of explosives, What would you consider a forceful announcement that we mean to negotiate or die! ” Ramero answered with, ” I can whip out a useable IED in a very short time, if I have the parts, and from what we have found in the former occupants storage house, there will be plenty. ” ” Then get to work! I want our guests to have a real explosive adventure when they arrive!” Ní-assa said. ” And put a couple of those on the front entrance of the hacienda and one in back just in case we have to make a run for it!” ” Leave it to me,”

Ramero said, looking at Horrillo. ” You want to come along? Should be fun.” The uneasy Horrillo stood up, following his friend saying, ”We don’t know what these people will be like if provoked do we? ” Ramero laughed exclaiming, ” If I do my stuff right, they won’t be able to say anything at all!”

Ní-assa began to plan her strategy of dealing with the notorious

‘El Carnicería’ when his emissaries don’t return, but the more she thought of the repercussions of the original plan, the more a different approach might be wiser. Calling back Ramero, Ní-assa said, ” Rather than just blowing them up as they enter, we might be better off letting them speak before taking any other actions.” Ramero was disappointed, cause he enjoyed using his talent for blowing things up.

Ní-assa, pointing out the need for an ally rather than another enemy, said, ” If things don’t work out the way we need, then of course you can have fun with your explosives.” Ramero thanked her for that and began to research other avenues of utilizing his talents.

While Horrillo and Adolpho assisted Ramero in setting up a different explosive to hold off an attack rather than taking the initiative and just blowing them up, Constance helped Ní-assa in fortifying the hacienda. ” You expect that ‘Butcher ’ guy to ignore your suggestion about joining in a joint venture?” Constance asked . Ní-assa replied with, ” Thats what I would do if a stranger came into my town and took over one of my places. I really didn’t think this over too well, but now I’m stuck with making the best of the situation. Lets get this hacienda as ready as we can and maybe we will come out ahead.”

After Ramero had directed Horrillo and Adolpho in the best places to set small explosives, he cautioned them to not forget where everything was. ” I purposely placed these devices so that anyone heading toward the hacienda will have to be real careful to follow our guide.” By the afternoon, Ní-assa felt all was in place. ” If they come in with good intentions of a merger, we will guide them through to the hacienda. However, if they decide to play rough and want to drive us from this hill, well then it will be up to all of us to keep that from happening!”

As the evening approached, Ní-assa said, ” Lets give them something to show a non hostile attitude.” Constance said ” Like what for instance?” Ní-assa replied, ” That grill out by the courtyard looks like it could be fired up for sticking a bunch of those chickens in the refer.” Then adding, ” And besides that, I’m hungry.” Horrillo called out, ” Damn good idea! I haven’t had a grilled chicken for a long time. ” Adolpho chimed in with, ” What would a pilot know about cooking? I had a grill back in Texas, so I’ll handle the set up, ok? ” Ramero told Ní-assa that he would go to the front gate and alert her if any visitors are seen. Ní-assa for some reason told him to stay near the hacienda, and send Horrillo to be lookout.

Ramero found Horrillo watching Adolpho as he began the grill in preparation for the chickens. ” Hate to take you away from all of this chicken cooking, but Ní-assa wants you to be the point man for the front gate. If you want, take my AK47 with you, but don’t get it scratched!” Laughing, Horrillo shouldered the weapon and headed for the front gate.

’El Carnicería’s men arrived in Jimenez and headed for the hacienda

on the hill. Alférez told the four men with him, ” Remember what El Carnicería’ said, and be sure we bring her back alive. Anyone else, kill if necessary, but keep that woman safe!” Arriving at the gate where Horrillo also had just arrived, Alférez saw the weapon on

Horrillo saying to his men, ” Don’t want to take the chance she escapes, so kill that guard before he can warn whoever is in there.”

With that, one of the men leaned out the window and began firing at Horrillo before he had a chance to even remove the weapon from his shoulder. The impact of several bullets hitting their target sent Horrillo falling to the ground.

Back at the hacienda Ní-assa and Constance heard the unmistakable sounds of gunfire coming from the area of the front gate! Constance grabbed her weapon as Ní-assa headed for the front door with her glock in hand. Adolpho dropped the chicken into the fire as he reached for his rifle leaning against the cook stand. Ramero, seeing the jeep speeding up the drive, reached into the satchel he was carrying and removing one of the bomb triggers, pressed the button, causing the ignition of one of the bombs they had planted in the drive. The explosion lifted the jeep violently in the air, throwing out the men who had begun firing their weapons in the direction of the the advancing hacienda. Adolpho, having picked up his AK47 and was running toward the burning wreckage, did not see one of

Ní-assa men lying on the ground who rolled over shooting him in both legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Adolpho, lying in a prone position returned the fire killing one of the advancing members of the destroyed jeep. Lying a few feet away, Alférez seeing his driver

lying in a pool of blood began shooting toward Adolpho, who was trying to escape by dragging his body to safety.

Adolpho got off two more wild bursts, them collapsed, dead.

Alférez ordered his men to advance with full firepower! Ramero, hearing the enemy command knew if he drew the assault towards the center, they would be near one of the planted explosive devices. Motioning to Ní-assa to retreat to the hacienda, Ramero crouched down waiting for one of those advancing to get near another of his devices. Alférez, seeing Ramero called out to his man, ” By the porch!” at that same instance, the man stepped close enough for Ramero to push another button for the detonation! The explosion caused the death of that soldier, however it gave Alférez a chance to fire shots at Ramero, wounding him and sent him limping towards the protection of the brick grill. Advancing slowly, Alférez kept firing towards the grill hoping to drive Ramero from its protection.

Constance, seeing the advancing Alférez, waited for the right moment to shoot but was surprised by the two men who had come up from behind the building, successfully wounding Constance. Ní-assa, had seen them, tossing one of Ramero’s handmaid grenades he had given her, putting a stop to both of them!

The sudden explosion caused Alférez to look away for a second, when Constance, wounded but steady, stood up, firing her deadly weapon, putting an end to the assault. Ní-assa went to Constance who had sat down nursing her wounds saying, ” Guess we will have to have the chicken later!” After a few moments, Ní-assa rose up instructing Constance, ” You stay there for a bit until I can round up some bandages and supplies. Can’t have you bleeding all over the place, it doesn’t make me look good!” Constance had to grin, even in this situation. She had never heard Ní-assa say anything humorous in the short time she had been with her. Ní-assa returned with the supplies, the two worked on bandaging the leg shoulder and side wounds on Constance. ” You hold up real well,” Ní-assa said, wrapping the last bandage on Constance leg. ” What’s next ?” Constance asked as she started to raise up. Ní-assa, looking over the battle field remaining after the fight replied, ” I guess we better take what we can and get the hell out of here before that ‘El Carnicería’ guy and his remaining troops decide to pay us a visit. I‘m certain he will do just that when no one returns after a while. ” Constance asked, ” What about our guys? Aren’t we going to bury them or something?” The familiar snarl returned to Ní-assa’s face when she said, ” You stay here and do just that! If your still alive after the ‘ Butcher Boy’ pays you a visit, at least you will know your in good company!” Constance said to herself, ” there’s the Ní-assa I remember!” Ní-assa yelled out, ” If your coming, get the light stuff and I’ll get whatever weapons I can find! You might find some of Ramero’s grenades also, might need them later.” After loading whatever they could of the essentials they might need, including several AK47’s , Glocks , grenades and four M72 LAW shoulder rocket launchers that had been thrown from the intruding forces vehicle. Constance added, ” I brought some food, but most of what was there was perishable.” Ní-assa had no problem with the food, telling her only companion, ” Don’t worry, we will find what we need on the way.” Constance questioned, ” And just where are we headed?” Ní-assa replied, ” I’ll tell you on the way, but for now, let’s get the hell out of here before we acquire some unwanted guests, and leave Jimenez to ‘El Carnicería’ and the locals!”.

When ‘El Carnicería’ was told of the defeat of his men to some outsider, no one wanted to be anywhere near his rage! ” I send out my best men and they are slaughtered like naked lambs!” he yelled! ” I want the persons who are responsible!” His lieutenant, Morales, took out five more of the troops to locate the missing men. ” If you don’t find them, don’t come back!” was the order of the day. Morales knew only too well that his boss, ‘El Carnicería’ did not tolerate loosers!

Heading for the last place Alférez and his men would have been if they stayed on the trail ‘El Carnicería’ had set out for them, the group headed straight for Jimenez. Once there, Morales and his men began asking questions about the head of the town, and why he wasn’t there to greet them. One of the braver citizens offered, ” It was the ‘Mujer peligrosa‘ and her troops!” The people all agreed that it was the ‘ Fighter lady’ that had taken the house on the hill. Morales knew of Alférez and his men as fighters, so the thought of all of them loosing a fight with a woman and her men seemed ridiculous. Heading up the mountain road, Morales cautioned his men to be on the lookout for any hidden areas that might be used by Alférez and his men. Arriving at the front gate, the first thing they noticed was the uneasy quietness. Morales sent out two guards to

recon the area. After a short time they returned with the results of their discovery. The first man began with, ” There were bodies scattered around the hacienda and grounds. Both our men and many of the ‘Mujer peligrosa’s as well are all dead! Alférez and his men killed many, but the one called, ‘ Fighter lady’, was not among them.” It was going to be difficult enough to tell him of the loss of several men including his good lieutenant, Alférez. It would have been rewarding to have announced to his chief that ’Mujer peligrosa’s body was among the bodies lying in the sun.

When Morales returned to Chihuahua, and reported to ‘El Carnicería’ the results of his find, including Alférez’s death, there was an anger and frustration that quickly filled the room! The ’Butcher ’ was well aware that other cartels in Mexico would be happy to take over his territory, especially if they thought less of him for allowing a piruja to get the best of him and kill his lieutenant ! It wouldn’t matter how many of her men they killed, it would only go away with her death, and a trophy he could show! Glaring at Morales, ‘El Carnicería’ ordered him to, ” You take what men you need and find that woman! Kill her if you have a chance! Then bring the head back to me to put on my desk!”

‘El Carnicería’ was known to have a temper, bringing death and

torture to all who crossed him. The battle at the hacienda in Jimenez

brought attention to several cartel members who were willing to bid for ’El Carnicería’s position in the chain of commands in Mexico. One person who heard of the rumor concerning the cartel chief was

Juarez who was with his Raiders. Juarez decided to contact Gary and tell of the unusual situation and to make him aware of the conflict between El Carnicería and this mysterious woman who is creating quite a stir in the different cartels around the state. Those who joked about the battle and those who saw the danger as a threat! After hearing of the situation, Gary asked Ed if he was ready to work in Mexico again. ” Think it might workout different this time?” Ed asked. Cary replied, ” I’m ready to start now and make it so!” The two began making preparations for the trip , calling on those who had participated prior, in trying to capture Ní-assa. Silhouette and Gaspard would join Juarez and some of his Raiders to help finish this woman for good.

Ní-assa and Constance had many people on their radar to look out for, but this last time it had accelerated into a small army of

pursuers! Constance said to Ní-assa, ” Are you willing to give up a lot of your money to get you out of this mess?” Ní-assa, thinking of the strange relationship she had with this woman she had not known that long, saying, ” If it will get us our out of their crosshairs, I will give the whole damn thing away! I can always get more, if I’m not dead!” Constance made some call and by days end she had found someone to give a message to the man she was looking for, telling Ní-assa, I think your going to like this guy, and I know he will enjoy taking your money! ” Constance went on to tell of how she knew of this man.

” Mac Maciver, at one time, was a very good pilot both with small helicopters and planes. The trouble was, military planes grew faster than he did and he was left behind with the planes he knew so well that were no longer used. The army had no use for someone with his skills and relegated him to maintenance duty. Mac loved the action and adrenaline that had been taken from him and he no longer felt anything exciting. One night while he was working on a single engine piper, a soldier came up offering five hundred dollars for a quick flight to a place close to the base. Mac thought it over then said, ” What the hell, sure I can!” It didn’t take long to figure out the soldier was a smuggler and was testing out a new way of getting past the guards at the gate. The more Mac learned about how money is made using the small plane as a delivery tool, he began to look at another use for his knowledge and soon advanced to selling his trade on a regular basis. When the army discovered what he was doing, he was court-martialed and stripped of his rank including loss of his pension.” When Mac tells of that time he always ads, ” Best day of my life!”

Constance continued with her story, telling why she stayed with the cartel group even after they had kidnaped her! ” I was with a group of wild kids, just out of collage and ready to try anything available during our trip in Mexico. What I didn’t know was the stuff they had given us was laced, so when the three of us woke up, we were in a truck headed for god knows where.

After a while the truck stopped and some ass whole jerked Alice from the three of us……we never saw her again. ”

Tears fell from Constance eyes as she related the months that followed. Continuing her story once more, Constance admitted she was looking for a way to escape from the moment she woke up in that truck. Ní-assa asked, ” What happened to the other girl with you?” Constance replied, ” She was the lucky one, cause when we were going into some stupid cave they had as a hideout, she was bitten by a Chilean recluse spider and died in less than a week.” Ní-assa could see the anger in the woman as she related the next few months of her capture. Ní-assa inquired ” And when did this Mac fellow come into your life?” Constance admitted she was about to take her own life when Mac entered the cave with some contraband armor he was selling to the cartel groups. ” We looked at each other as I tried to look disinterested so as not to attract any attention, but one of my captors saw us looking at each other and told Mac, ” She’s the captains! Don’t even think about it!” When Mac started to leave he gave me a high sign that he would return, but it didn’t happen!” Ní-assa shook her head saying, ” Never met a man I could trust, so why do you think this guy can help with my problem?” ” Cause he is the best there is and has been known to have a small army. ” Ní-assa smiled, thinking to herself, ” I might need a small army if I’m going to get out of Mexico intact.” Turning to Constance saying, ” You make him sound good”

Mac Maciver could be the answer to a lot of Ní-assa’s problems if even part of what Constance said was true, and there was only one way to find out ” So let’s give him a try! ” Ní-assa exclaimed, ” We can’t do this without help, and your Mac guy sounds right for the job.” Constance made the calls she hopped would result in Mac coming to their aid. Two long days went by without any communication return from Constance inquiry concerning Mac. Ní-assa asked, ” You certain you have the right contact info?” Constance came back with, ” Yes! I’m damn sure, and just because you’re in a hurry, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything to him.” Grumbling something incoherent, Ni-assa returned to her inventory of weapons, staring out the window scanning the horizon for an enemy she knew was going to be there at any time.

While she understood the meaning for revenge, and she certainly had that, it would be in her best interest to set that aside for the

moment, and have this Mac person take the lead in getting them out of Mexico.

Later that day, Constance and Ni-assa were discussing the events and what they would do once they were out of danger.

Constance didn’t have any direction in which she was heading when they were kidnapped. ” We were just having a good time and got caught in a random captive sex gang. ” Ni-assa on the other hand had all kinds of plans, but the top priority was revenge on those responsible for her life style now! She told Constance again about her plans to kill those responsible and she would start with Gary Ashley and his cohort! ” Then with them gone I will continue with Silhouette and her flunky.” Ni-assa exclaimed loudly.

The conversation ended abruptly when Constance received a call instructing her to meet at a certain bar. The instructions were vague but the person made it clear, ” Have whoever has the money to be ready to leave, we will tell you where later.”

A short time later, a truck drove up and the women got into it after being blindfolded. The women sat as the truck made several incline moves and at times was very rocky. When the truck came to a stop and the blindfolds were removed, it was possible for the two women to see where they had been taken. The first to speak was Ni-assa. ” I hope this meeting is worth all the intrigue.” The guard who had removed the eye coverings, ordered the women to sit in the chairs provided, and wait for the Boss to arrive.

The first meeting goes alright with Ni-assa looking to do the talking. When Mac enters the room Constance yells out, ” Bastard! You left me there in that shit hole!” Mac looked over at Constance smiling. ”You sure I’m the ‘Bastard’ you want. There’s a lot of us around so be certain I am the one ! Ní-assa walked toward Mac but was stopped by one of the guards with a very large rifle cradled in his arms, saying, ” Don’t worry big guy, I won’t hurt your boss, just wanted a closer look at who I might be bedding shortly. ” Mac laughed out loud, pushed his guard aside saying to Ní-assa, ” Maybe we should take this in the other room? You might have a good time getting to know this ‘Bastard’ better.”

As the two of them were leaving, Ní-assa, said to Mac ”We’ll see .” confirming his offer, adding, ” Guess it depends on how much you can convince me of how good you are! ”

When the two had left the room, one of the guards said, ” We may be here a while!” Laughing, the other guard looking over at Constance, taunting her with ” Maybe we could come up with something to do while they’re indisposed?” Constance tightened her crossed arms with the grip she had earlier, responding to their coments with, ” If you want to get any older, don’t mess with me!”

It had been almost an hour before the door opened reveling a shirtless Mac who ordered one of his men to get the bottle of tequila from his van. When the man returned and knocked on the door,

he was startled by Ní-assa, who opened the door, also shirtless!

Taking the bottle from the staring man she asked, ” Never see scars on a woman before?” then slowly closed the door. The man went over to his friend and sitting down said, ” I did’t think about the scars!” His friend laughed happily looking over at Constance who had seen the whole thing saying, ” Don’t look so glum, you can have fun too, cause I got another bottle for the three of us.” Constance, giving him a finger salute, got up and started to leave the room. ” Where do you think your going Puta? ” Constance replied, ” None of your damn business !” but before she could reach the door, the larger man jumped up, grabbing her by the hair, and began to drag her towards the table while the other man stood against the wall, not wanting to get involved! What the aggressive man didn’t realize, was that this woman he thought would be an easy target, always carried her knife in a neck holder. When the man removed a part of her blouse, it was too late to escape the quickly drawn knife which found the side of his face! Screaming, he went for his sidearm that gave Constance reason to slash his hand, stopping any chance of him using the gun. The bedroom door flew open with Mac yelling out ” What the hell is goin on?” The other man, standing against the wall answered, ” I had nothing to do with her! ” Mac looked over at the bleeding man saying, ” You mess with my guests and you pay the price”. Turning to Constance, Mac asked, ” What do you want me to do with this man for his offense?” Constance walked over to the man, stood silent for a moment then said, ” I’ve got this!” then took her knife and with one quick gesture, cut off his right ear! Leaning over and picking up the ear, Constance told the wounded man, ” I could have had your testicles, but they’re messy to cary around!” Mac gave a couple of hand claps to

acknowledge her comments, then telling the other man to remove his friend and bandage him up. Looking at Constance, Mac said,

” You play rough don’t you?”

Ní-assa, watching the actions of her traveling companion said,

” Guess I won’t have to worry about who’s watching my back!”

Remembering back when Mac had said he’d return for her, and now seeing the two having of them coming from the bedroom, half naked, Constance looked at Ní-assa exclaiming, ” Kind of what Caesar said to Brutus”, and walked out the door.

Ní-assa asked, ” You going after her?” Mac, watching as Constance

left the building, answered ” What the hell, she’s just one less person to feed or worry about! ….. Now where were we?”

In Big Springs, Gary thought of perhaps contacting Silhouette to see if she or any of her people had heard anymore concerning Ní-assa.

He was finding the frustration of not having captured or killed the woman he had been chasing for a very long time, creating a void in his usually organized daily events. Even his business had been relegated to those he had put in strategic positions so not to interrupt the flow of his business dealings. Ed had seen the change in his friend and had invited him to spend some time away from everything and take a couple of days investigating the ‘Great Comanche war trail’.

Gary looked at his old friend saying, ” What are you talking about? I don’t go sight seeing !” Ed laughed stating, ” You look like you could use a couple of days just relaxing and forgetting about her!” Gary knew just who Ed was referring to and answered with,

” Shows that much does it?” Ed smiled and began to educate his friend on a very famous place there in Big Springs. ” Because you and I have seen a lot of different types of combat and soldiering, I thought you might enjoy traveling some of the famous trails of the Great Comanche warriors.” Gary had to admit Ní-assa’s disappearance had plagued him to a point he was not as in tune or comfortable with his surroundings.” I feel like I should be doing something to find her!” Gary said harshly. Ed agreed that it would be great if they could find out something about her, however for right now a couple of days away from everything would be a good idea.

” Famous springs and river crossings were used for centuries by the Comanche Indians. ” Ed began to say, ”Big Springs here was one of the springs that were along the way.”The Comanche were not prosperous until the Spanish introduced the horse which turned around the fortunes of an entire people.” Gary asked, ” So thats why this town has the name of Big Springs?” Ed continued pointing out,

” Every fall, the most feared cavalry the world has ever known, the Comanche Indians, would leave their home on the great plains and raid deep into Mexico taking horses, and humans, back with them. They followed an ancient trail that came to be known as the Great Comanche war trail. Famous springs and river crossings were used for centuries, and I thought the history would intrigue you enough to get your mind off of her! Gary had to admit to allowing Ní-assa to take the lead in his agenda. ” Lets do it then! ” Gary told Ed. ” We can talk of the old days and modern day ‘Indians’ you and I have met over the years.” Ed was very pleased that Gary was willing to change corse and return to the very positive man he has always been until now. When the weekend arrived, Ed was ready for the trip complete with enough meat to put on the fire for dinner and beer to float a gunship. Gary laughed saying, ” Did you bring any sidearms in case we run into any Comanche warriors ?” ” Very funny.” Ed replied. After saying good by to Sophia who would be taking care of Lulu while they were gone, and having a tasty muffin at

Connolly’s Corner, the two started to drive off when Maria called out, ” Hey you two, don’t forget your lunch!” Patrick ran out to give the box of goodies to the men saying, ” You know ‘ Mama’ she always likes to know her men are fed ”. With that, Gary and Ed finally left for their first stop on the ‘ Comanche war trail’.

Maciver not happy with what had taken place, called his man asking for details. After hearing what really happened, Mac decided to have some of his men find Constance and bring her back to the house. What wasn’t known to them was that Constance had other plans for herself and how to deal with Mac and that bitch Ní-assa. Going into town she headed back to Mexico to find El Carnicería! She knew it could be risky, however the reward of turning in Ní-assa to the ‘ Butcher’. She would deal with Mac another time! After sending out some ‘ feelers’ Constance sat in the bar she had been told was

frequented by El Carnicería. A rough looking man came up and said he would take her to El Carnicería. Getting into the car she felt the pistol barrel against her ribs. ” I’m here as a friend.” She told the man sitting beside her. ” I just wanted to warn the ‘Butcher’ that

Ní-assa was out to get him!” It only took a few minutes before they arrived at the place wherecEl Carnicería was waiting beside a Hummer-like vehicle. While Constance waited in the car, the man got out and said something to El Carnicería, which made the leader look over the man’s shoulder at Constance in the car and gave a menacing look. When the leader motioned for Constance to get out of the car and come to him, she felt it was the right decision to use him as her punishment for what Ní-assa had done to her. Approaching this leader of a cartel, she thought he might even have a place for her in his organization. Extending her hand in a gesture of respect, she was disappointed he did not offer his in return. Instead,

El Carnicería asked, ” What do you want with me?” Constance answered, ” I wanted to warn you that your enemy Ní-assa, is joining with Maciver to make trouble, so I wanted you to know!”

El Carnicería smiled saying, ” And so you think that this ‘Butcher’ would want to know and do something about it?” Constance was concerned that the way in which he had said ’butcher’ reflected what she had said to the man in the car. ” I was sure you would want to know about something like this, so that’s why I’m here.” El Carnicería stared at the woman then said to one of his men, ” Hold her!” Struggling to free herself from the grasp of the soldier holding her, Constance yelled out, ” What are you doing! I’m trying to help you!” The cartel leader touched Constance cheek saying, ” I could attack Maciver and get even for you, but I was warned by some of my other Mexico cartels not to have too much exposure and bring down unwanted trouble, so there is only one thing left to do. cWith that, El Carnicería took the knife from its scabbard on his waist saying, ” Without loyalty, there is nothing! And besides….I don’t want her that bad!” Constance fell to the ground from the

effects of his blade slowly being drawn across her throat.

In Las Cruces, Mac watched as Ní-assa walked into the room, slowly wrapping the towel around her body. ” Have a nice shower?” he asked. She answered with, ” Showers are nice. I like having something hot caressing my body! ” A big grin came over Mac’s face when he replied, ” I’m at your service at any time!”

One of his men knocked on the door saying there was something going on in Mexico that he should know about. Mac shouted back,

” I’ll be out in a minute !” . The man left, waiting on the porch for 103his leader to arrive. When Mac came out the door, he asked the man, ” What in the hell was so important that you had to see me now/” His soldier replied, ” There’s something going on that had to do with the woman that was here called Constance.” Maciver flinched at the information asking, ” What was the info on her? Also who is involved?” The man explained that from what he heard, the woman had tried to get El Carnicería to come after the woman inside. Maciver asked, ” You mean Ní-assa ?” The man replied,”Yes!….. And after you!” Going back into the house where

Ní-assa was sitting, Mac said, ” We have a bit of a situation !”

She looked at him with a concerned expression asking, ” Anything I can do to help?” Mac asked, ” What do you know about a man called, ‘ El Carnicería’ ?” Ní-assa sat up in the chair with an angry expression exclaiming, ” The bastard sent a bunch of men to kill Constance” and me!” Mac quized, ” And of course you resisted….” Damn right! ” Ní-assa exclaimed. ” Thats when

Constance asked for your help.” Mac said he was confused that Constance would ask for help, then take off so suddenly. Ní-assa

answered with a grin, ” I can certainly give you some good reasons why she would find your attention to me very unsettling.” Mac shrugged his shoulders saying, ” I didn’t make any promises to her,

I don’t do that!” Ní-assa, taking his hand, asked, ” Never?” Mac, slipping his hand away from her grip answered, ” Never!”

Ní-assa, feeling she was not going to have as much control as she had planed, decided to change her approach asking Mac ” I know you have a small army, but could you spare just one or two to go to a town where they might know where Gary Ashley and his man Ed something are?. Mac asked, ” And just where is this town ?” Ní-assa, answered, ” Big Springs, in Texas.” Mac asked, ” You want them that bad?” Ní-assa exclaimed, ” My desire is to kill all on my list including the ” Butcher”!, But I’ll let him go for now! If your men could locate the other two, I’ll do the rest!

After hearing her impassioned plea to find the two men, Mac sends two of his men to Big Springs to find out where Gary Ashley and Ed are , with instructions to get the information anyway they seem fit. ” Don’t come back without the information!” was Macivers words to them..

The next day Maciver’s two men, Miguel and Sabastian arrived in Big Springs, and sat outside the pastry shop called Connolly’s Corner, Where Ní-assa had said they should start the search.

There was a sign in Connolly’s Corner window informing their regular clientele of the closing for the next day of the coffee shop, to attend a wedding. Patrick and Maria, usually opened early for customers in the past and it wasn’t unusual for people to come up to the door and knock for one of them to open up. This day wasn’t any different, so when Patrick saw the two men at the door, he motioned for them to wait, and he would open up in a short time.

Telling Maria that it was just a coupe of customers, Patrick began to open the door to let the two men in, when he noticed the tip of a pistol in one of their hands! Screaming for Maria to run, Patrick relocked the door and started for the rear of the cafe.. One of the men swung the club in his hand, shattering the glass and began wiping the fragments away searching for the door lock. by that time Patrick had retrieved the pistol he had under the counter, aiming it at the men. ” Stay where you are!” demanded Patrick, calling for Maria, who was standing by the door, to call the police. Outside, coming back from a walk, Sophia , with Lulu in her arms, interrupts what is taking place. Not seeing the men, she called out, ” I heard a crash, are you alright? ”Before Patrick or Maria had a chance to warn Sophia, one of the men grabbed her and putting a gun to her head yelled, ” Now what old man! ” As Patrick started to lay his pistol on the floor the man turned his pistol towards him ” That’s right! now get over against the wall”

When Lulu saw the gun, she immediately sprung from Sophia’s arm toward the man, grabbing his arm and biting down hard making the man drop his gun while trying to shake Lulu from his arm . Maria quickly retrieves it, pointing it at the man when he finally succeeds in removing Lulu from her grip, tossing her across the room! . Patrick ,who had come from behind the counter, jumped toward the second man, sending both to the floor. Wrestling with the man on the floor, Patrick was loosing the advantage, while Maria was trying to keep the second man guarded. Sophia ran over to see if Lulu was all right after being thrown by the man she had attacked!

When she got to Lulu, Sophia saw Patricks pistol where he had dropped it. She picked up the pistol and fired two quick rounds into the direction of the broken door yelling, ”Don’t try anything !”

The man on the floor with Patrick stopped, slowly standing up. Patrick rose up, somewhat blurry from the hammering by the

assailant. Maria called out, ” Patrick, are you able to call the police?” Patrick waved a hand and stumbling to the phone he thought, ” This wasn’t random. Why did they pick here?” Instead of phoning the police, Patrick came back with a hand full of strip ties from the kitchen. Maria asked, ” Aren’t you calling the police?”

As Patrick began to secure each of the men with the strip ties who were under the guarded attention of the two armed women, pointing pistols that once belonged to the men, directly at their heads, he answered with, ” There is something not right here and I think it might be a good idea to let Gary and Ed know about these men, before we turn them over.” Once the captives were secure, Patrick led them into the store room and with a strong chain, attached each to the security barred windows . Going back into the dining area, Patrick congratulated the women on their fantastic performance as fighters! ”Now to contact Gary and Ed!

Patrick was being treated by Maria, when Sophia cried out,” Lulu! ”

In all of the drama and danger that had transpired, Sophia had not gone to where Lulu was lying, but instead had to gain control of the loose gun! Now she ran to where Lulu had hit the wall. Kneeling down beside the injured Lulu, Sophia said over and over again, ” My little Lulu, my brave and courageous Lulu!” When Sophia started to pick her up, the fragile Maltese, cried out in pain. Patrick and Maria heard the cry, stopping the treatment for Patrick and came over to the place behind the counter where the man had thrown the pup. Kneeling down next to Sophia, Patrick gently brushed Lulu’s coat with a gentle touch saying, ” Don’t worry our brave little one, we will see you get the best of care!” Maria called the local veterinarian that often came into Connolly’s Corner, asking her to come to the pastry shop right away. Sophia and Patrick didn’t want to move the little girl that had brought about a completely different ending to a near tragic scenario. When the doctor arrived she examined Lulu , finding the throw against the wall by one of the men that had held a gun on everyone, to be good and bad for the brave Maltese. Sophia anxiously asked, ” But she will be alright won’t she?” The doctor replied, ” Yes, once we transport her to my hospital and repair her broken hind leg, and give her a full examination to see if anything else might have be damaged.” Gently, the doctor picked up Lulu and carried her to the van outside. Looking at the three people standing on the walkway, the doctor asked, ” Would anyone care to follow me to the hospital?” All three said loudly, ” Yes!” It was decided that Maria and Sophie would be the ones to follow, while Patrick remained behind to try and contact his friends and to keep an eye on the two men tied to the window bars inside.

Gary and Ed were just about to leave the Jeep Gladiator and began to hike the Comanche war trail when Gary’s phone went off. Answering it he said, ” I thought we were off for the weekend!” Patrick quickly related part of what had occurred and asked that they return to the pastry shop as soon as possible. ” You and the family are all alright, correct?” Gary asked, putting the phone on speaker mode. With hesitation Patrick related what had happened to Lulu. Gary looked over at Ed who was waiting for the conversation to end so he could get back to his companion, Lulu. Gary said they would be returning as soon as they could get back to the Jeep and rush home. Patrick thanked them both and said he would keep the two intruders restrained until their return.

Maciver’s two men, Miguel and Sabastian tried fruitlessly to free themselves from the chains when Patrick came in shouting, ” If that little dog dies, the only thing between you and your maker will be if I can hold back Ed when he arrives!” Miguel yelled back, ” That damned dog ripped my arm! I need a doctor.” Patrick laughed

answering the man’s complaint with, ” You’ll need an undertaker more than likely!” Miguel tugged at the chains with no results.

Sabastian asked Miguel, ” What do you think these men will want from us?” Patrick answered, ” I can tell you. Number one, the’re going to want to know why the two of you attacked us, and why with such force!” Sabastian turned to the wall ending the conversation with, ” Lots of luck with that!”

When Gary and Ed arrived at the pastry shop, Patrick was still cleaning up the glass and debris from the violent exchange from the intruders. Ed was the first to ask Patrick, ” How is Lulu? Did the doctor find anything else?” Patrick tried to calm Ed by saying, ” If anything had been bad, Marie or Sophie would have called. I’m certain she is doing well, but if you want to go see for yourself, here’s the vets card and the hospital where they took Lulu!” Gary looked at Ed saying, ” Well get going! Your not going to be any help to us here!” With that, Ed ran to the jeep and headed for the vet hospital.

With Ed gone, Gary asked Patrick, ” Think you might want to join me as I interrogate these men ?” Patrick smiled, thinking back on the past few hours of what the two men had done and the terror they imposed on his wife and Sophia, and the damage to Lulu.

” Hell Yes!” was Patricks reply as he opened the back room door where the two men were restrained. Looking at the two men, Gary began with, ” Strange, you two don’t look stupid, but here you are! Now which one of you is the smart one, and which one will have to take the sad news back to whoever you work for, that the other one didn’t make it back alive!” The two bound men looked at one another for a short time, while Gary handled a large butcher knife he picked up passing through the kitchen. Miguel started to say something but was kicked by Sabastian who gave him a very nasty look! Sabastian yelled at Gary with threats and profanity that only created more anxiety in the face of the other man. Coming closer to the man who obviously was the leader of the two, Gary asked, ” You think if your friend here said the wrong thing it might get back to the person you work for?” Miguel squirmed awaiting the answer. Sabastian spit in Gary’s face saying, ” You can’t do anything to me that hasn’t been tried before!” Wiping his face, Gary exclaimed, ” That might be the worst decision you could have made.” Reaching for the man’s chain tied to the window steel bars that was keeping his hands secure, Gary said to Patrick, ” I’ll take this somewhere else so I don’t get your place messed up with human stuff !” The other man screamed out, ” Sabastian !, Tell them what they want !,” ” Shut up Miguel, He doesn’t know who he is going to make very angry! !” Gary said, ” And just who would that be, Sabastian ?” ” I ain’t saying anything!” was the response.

Ed arrived at the vets hospital asking where Lulu was. Sophia saw him from the waiting room and ran over to tell him about what happened. ” Gary is taking care of those two , but what about Lulu?” Ed said quickly. Maria had come over by then saying, ” We aren’t sure just how bad it is yet, but the doctor is a friend and she will do everything that Lulu needs.” The three sat waiting for some kind of news, hoping for the best, when the doctor came out . Ed rushed over to her asking about his longtime friend and companion. The doctor, smiling, said to the three anxious people, ” Lulu will be fine! She suffered a broken hip and some minor contusions, but the prognosis is that with care and some gentle handling, Lulu will be just fine in a few weeks.” Ed asked, ” How long is a few weeks for her?” ” She is a strong girl and in six to eight weeks she should be fine, depending on how much she has to do that is strenuous or hurtful such as another fall or something like that.” Sophia said, ” Don’t worry Ed, we will make certain that she has us as her support team and keep her quiet.” The doctor also added that it would be important to have Lulu begin to take short walks to train her body to use the new hip structure favorably. Marie laughed exclaiming she and Sophia will make certain the little hero gets all of the attention she requires.

Once Ed was satisfied that his beloved Lulu would be alright, he said to Marie and Sophia, ” I can’t thank the two of you for taking care of my Lulu. I know she would have been in a lot more danger if you hadn’t got her to the vets in time.” Maria answered with, ” If it wasn’t for Lulu, there is no telling what could have happened to us!”

Sophia related one again how Lulu sprung from her arms and attacked the man holding the gun. ” I was so scared, but when she grabbed the man and made him drop his gun, I knew it would be alright.” Maria asked Ed, ” I don’t know what the men were after, cause we don’t take in that much money to attract a thief.” Ed answered with, ” Dear Maria, I don’t think it had anything to do with money, mainly because they were looking for us from what Gary has found out. ” Sophia asked, ” How did you find out about what they wanted?” Ed answered , ” A few minutes ago, I got a message from Gary saying one of the men had started talking. That was when the doctor came in and I forgot all about anything else but Lulu.”

Saying goodby to Maria and Sophia, Ed returned to Connolly’s Corner, and the continuing interrogation of the two intruders by Gary. Walking into the back room where one of the men was still restrained at the bared window, Ed was told by Patrick where Gary had gone. ”Guess Gary felt that taking the other one outside made better sense, especially if some kind of persuasion would be required, if you get what I mean.” Ed saw the slight wink of Patricks eye, making what he said understandable. Ed knew Gary wouldn’t actually use force on an unarmed person unless he had to, so taking the other man outside was a ploy to get the man inside to revel who sent them. Outside Ed saw Gary with the second man asking him how the interrogation was going. Gary replied, ” Not as well as I had hoped, however I really haven’t had a chance to use that favorite tactic we learned in Nam.” Ed looking over at the man secured to a tree in the rear of the pastry shop asked Gary, ” Do you think anyone will hear the screams?” Gary replied, ” No I don’t think so, but your right, perhaps I should just cut his tongue out and have him write down what answers we need!” Looking over at

Miguel, who by this time had soiled his pants and was screaming not to take his tongue. ” You don’t have to do anything to me !” the man pleaded, ” I didn’t want to hurt anyone, it was all because of Sabastian, he said we could get in good with the boss if we found out where you were and report back to him.”

Ed said, ” You want to tell us who ’ Him ’ is?” Miguel was silent, but Ed could imagine what was going through the man’s head of whether to go through life without a tongue, or maybe it would be better to take the chance that Maciver would never find out .

An aggressive move by Ed with scissors in his hand, towards Miguel, was enough to make him decide that he would keep his tongue and take his chances with the boss! After Miguel disclosed the intentions of his boss Maciver to Ed, it was imperative that all involved should be made aware that it wasn’t just a loose cannon

after Gary and Ed, it was the evil one, Ní-assa! Somehow she had found the mercenary Maciver and convinced him to be her

champion. Inside the pastry shop, Gary had made little headway with Sabastian, however when Ed came in with the identity and intentions of the man known as Mac Maciver it was Sabastian who made it clear that his boss had a lot of manpower and would free both him and his stupid partner Miguel, then it would be all over for everyone concerned! Looking over at Patrick, who hadn’t said anything, Sabastian laughed saying, ” He might even burn this place to the ground just for the hell of it!”

Gary, considering the words of his captives, said to Ed, ” I’m thinking these two might be right about their employer, Maciver.” adding, ” If he has a lot of fire power we might need some assistance in capturing Ní-assa .” Gary called Juarez to ask if he knew anything about Mac Maciver from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Juarez

answered, ” The only thing I know about the man or his gang it that he is some kind of flagitious hired gun. From all I have heard, he has very little scruples , and as dangerous as he is I would be very hesitant to attack him with anything less than a better group of honest professionals, like my ‘Raiders’. Gary thanked Juarez for his counsel, and of course if it came to head to head combat, he would be the one to ask. ” I’m hoping perhaps this Maciver person will have enough sense to deal with us and turn Ní-assa over to us, for a price of course!” Juarez laughed saying, ” Your getting to sound like one of us with the talk of buying your way to get what you want. Just remember, we are here for you if you need us.”

Gary thanked his friend saying how great it was to know such a professional leader of men such as, ‘ The Raiders’.

After the conversation with Juarez, Gary asked Ed about his thoughts on what plan of attack he would consider advantageous.

Ed was somewhat surprised that Gary would ask him his thoughts concerning the situation. Usually, Gary would have the whole thing planed out and we would follow as good soldiers. This time it seemed different, so Ed replied, ” I think from what Juarez said, and the fact that this man is a ‘ Paid for services rendered’ kind of man, I actually think that with enough money he could be persuaded to give up Ní-assa.” Gary agreed that if money would be the most prudent factor in at last being able to incarcerate Ní-assa, he was all in to try it that way! Going back in to the pastry shop, Gary approached the man Sabastian saying, ” If you don’t want to end up as a lyric in some narcocorrido type ballad, I suggest you tell your boss that I want to make him a rich man but it will entail his not wanting to keep that Ní-assa woman around.” Sabastian asked, ” Does that mean your letting me go?” Gary answered with, ” That will prove our honest intentions. So go and make Maciver believe it would be in his best interest to accept our offer of a large sum of money for her!” Sabastian inquired about his partner outside. ” Don’t worry, he will be just fine, but we’re going to keep him for a while .”

With his questions answered, and his instructions given, Gary

released Sabastian from his bonds and sent him back to the man protecting Ní-assa, in the hope he desires the promised five million more than Ní-assa.

When Sabastian returned to Las Cruces, New Mexico and his boss,

Maciver with the message from Gary, there was a moment when Maciver looked angry, then he laughed out loud saying, ” Damn! I knew she was worth something, but I didn’t expect this! You go back and tell that Ashley guy that she is as good as in his hands

tomorrow. And tell him we will meet in El Paso day after tomorrow, at noon!. I’ll give you a map to give him where to meet. ”

Sabastian, returning from his task of presenting the financial arrangement for the turning over of Ní-assa for five million to his boss, arrived back at Gary Ashley’s saying Maciver would meet him at the location designated on the map, at noon. Handing Gary the map with the instructions and time, Ed asked, ” Was that it?”

Sabastian answered, ” My boss was excited to see the woman worth so much and was looking forward to the exchange.” Turning toward Gary, Ed said, ” If this is legit, and not just a ploy to get you out in the open for her to get to you, then I’m for it.” Sabastian jumped in saying, ” He may be a dangerous man, but my boss is more in love with money and power than any woman I ever saw him with!” Gary

agreed and told Sabastian to leave, ” And take that Miguel person with you.” When Sabastian had left, Ed asked Gary why he didn’t keep them and turn them over to the police. Gary’s answer was expected but not welcomed by Patrick, who had been standing by.

” Those basterds almost killed us and Lulu’s going to be limping for a long time, yet you let them go! I don’t understand!” Ed added, ” I know you had a good reason, but I have to agree with Patrick that there should have been some kind of restitution for the trouble they caused.” Gary replied to their concerns saying, ” What good would it do us to keep them here or turn them over to the authorities? If we did that, it would ruin our chances of finally having Ní-assa in our custody, where we can at last have some closure from all of the evil she has done. The man called Maciver might want revenge if we kept two of his men and could renege on the agreement.” Neither Ed or Patrick could argue with Gary’s statement. 

Ní-assa watched as Mac was being very careful not to allow her hear whatever he was saying to two of his men. When he approached her Ní-assa asked, ” What’s the big secret?” Maciver

took her into his arms and with a tight grip gave her a passionate kiss, then with one quick movement, snapped handcuffs on her wrists! Trying to move back from his space, Maciver reached down and held her cuffed hands against his chest. Ní-assa tried to force her body back away from him but in vein. Looking into her eyes, Maciver tells Ní-assa that she has been sold to the highest bidder! Ní-assa, struggling to find some sort of defense against this man she thought was in her corner, but had just announced he was turning her over to some unknown person. Maciver

said to Ní-assa, ” Believe me, I have enjoyed your company

immensely, and it’s nothing personal, however business is business, and this is just what I do for a living! Calling in two of his men,

Maciver said to Ní-assa, ” I don’t know if it will make any difference to you or not, but the man buying you is called Gary Ashley!”

With that, Maciver turned over the screaming Ní-assa to his men with orders to keep her tightly guarded and screen everything she does until they leave in the morning. Each of the guards grabbed

Ní-assa by the shoulder and began to escort her to a lockup place.

She struggled for a moment then when they tightened their grips she smiled saying, ” Careful guys or you might have to satisfy me!” With that, they left the room leaving Maciver sitting in his big chair

contemplating the five million dollars and how good it will be.

The next morning Maciver rose early and went to see how Ní-assa

spent the night, and how his men did with her . ” She went to the toilet twice, once at 2am and just a little while ago, that was it.”

Going into her room, Maciver asked if she needed anything before they left for the rendezvous with Ashley. ” Not that you give a shit!” was her reply. Leaving the room, Maciver said, ” We did have fun!” At the designated time, Maciver, the two guards and

Ní-assa began the journey from Las Cruces to El Paso and the

rendezvous point to meet Gary Ashly and the five million dollar

package waiting for Maciver’s arrival.

What Maciver, or his men were not aware of, was that Ní-assa

had prepared for this trip by asking to use the bathroom at two in the morning, and while she faked using the toilet, she was actually

dismembering the flush system in order to remove the stiff wire

attachment used to flush the toilet. Carefully threading the stiff wire into the top of her panties, so not to bring attention to her small but potentially dangerous weapon, she placed it for easy removal. Returning to her bed , she practiced removing the small lethal wire until she felt comfortable with its quick removal.

As they got closer to their destination, Ní-assa, sitting in the rear seat with Mac, starts making overtures to him saying, ” Since this will be the last time to have sex with me and you did say it was good, how about one more time before we get there?”

Maciver thought to himself, ” The sex was great, and she does know some moves that I will miss, so one more go round will be fun! Turning to Ní-assa, Maciver starts to kiss her, but she turns her head just enough to stop him , lifting her cuffed hands saying, ” How can I respond properly with these ?”. Looking down at the cuffs, Maciver figured my men have checked her out for anything lethal like hidden knives or poison so why not, and removes the and starts to unbutton her blouse. She gently places her hand on his saying, ” Let me do that for you.” As she softly began to caress him, sliding her hand across the front of his pants slowly, with one hand, while sliding her other hand into her panties retrieving the stiff wire she had placed along the top of her panties.

With one vicious effort, Ní-assa plunges the stiff wire into Mac’s eye, sending him into a rage ,trying to reach out to her while pulling out the wire. When he turned to her semi blinded, she manages to reach into his jacket knowing where his Glock was holstered, and as she pulled it out from its holster, squeezing the trigger over and over, shooting Maciver in his thy, then his groin, finally in his gut, before completely removing the pistol from its owner !

The two men in front reacted with the driver starting to pull off the roadway, and the other turning to see what happened, only to be met with Ní-assa placing one single shot into his brain. When the man fell back onto the dashboard, as the car came to a dead stop, the driver swung open his door in order to escape from the gunfire, but wasn’t fast enough to escape Ní-assa’s two more shots, wounding the driver. Walking around the car to where, writhing in the back seat, Maciver was trying to open his side of the car door. Ní-assa opened it for him, standing silent, she looked down at the pathetic person she had conquered, saying, ” Nothing personal. this is just what I do to assholes like you! ” Placing the gun barrel in his mouth, she pulled the trigger! After she was through eliminating her captors , Ní-assa systematically gathered all of the small arms weapons, placing them in the suitcase Mac had brought along for the cash payment for her transfer to Ashley. ” Kind of poetic I think.” she thought to herself. ” Mac never trusted money transfers so he always had his own money carrier to transfer money into his own carrier to discourage planted trackers or anything like that ” Next she went through the pockets of all of the bodies for ID’s, money, or anything of value, even the fancy watch Mac loved. Trying it on she just shook her head thinking, ” Too gaudy for my taste!”’ throwing it in her new carrier, she removed a Glock for her personal use for the next phase of her escape . Ní-assa was not pleased with the results of the money aspects of her victims, with the exception of Mac, who had ten thousand in his money belt and pocket, the others had a couple of thousand each. ” Not much to go on but what the hell, it’s a start.”

Walking away from the car, Ní-assa watches while three passing cars began to slow down when seeing her standing by the stopped car. She waves them off waiting for just the right one.

When a pickup approaches, she begins to flag it down.

An older man steps from his pickup truck asking, ” Looks like you have some problems there!” ”Not anymore, and thanks for the ride!” Then Ní-assa shoots him! Driving down the road Ní-assa

considers her options.” Texas is out- Mexico not good- New

Mexico questionable ……..Maybe head for Canada!

Gary and Ed had informed Patrick of their intentions and when Maria found out she was furious. ” What do you expect from crooks like that man? He will probably just shoot you and keep the money and the woman!” Gary laughed saying, ” You always look on the bright side mama. But this man is a soldier of fortune type and will not ruin his reputation that could cost him in the future if found out by the people he deals with in his world. ” Patrick added, ” You and I have seen the kind of people he’s talking about, in the old day’s, remember?” Maria grumbled and retreated back into the kitchen to retrieve Lulu from her new perch that Patrick and Sophia had made for her so she could watch everyone as they worked. Bringing the bandaged Lulu out to Ed who had seen her earlier and asking him,

” Do you want to see this girl again or are you going to go with my friend and get yourselves killed?” Ed went over to Maria and Lulu asking, ” Why are you making this so difficult for me? You know

she has been with me through so much , and I love her, but this has to be done.” Gary went over to Maria, leaning down to give her a kiss on the top of her head. ” You know I will be back and so will Ed , so you and Sophia take care of Miss Lulu there and we will call after the exchange.” Patrick, Maria and Sophia all gave Gary and Ed big hugs, with Maria ordering them, ” You come back in one piece or I will never bake pastries for you again!” Ed reached over to Lulu, resting in the special carrying harness sleeve, Patrick had made for Sophia to carry Lulu in. ” I’m counting on you to get better. ” Ed instructed his longtime companion, ” And when you get better , we will be walking along the shores like old times. ” With a loving hug for his friend, he heard Jake said it was time to go. The two men got into the Jeep and with hands out their prospective windows, gave a ‘ Thumbs up’ as they drove off. Going back inside

Connolly’s Corner, Patrick, trying to lighten the moment said, ” I guess it’s a good thing we aren’t in another country where that sign is as rude as a middle finger!” Maria snapped back, ” Patrick! You best mind your tongue! You can’t talk like that in front of Sophia and Lulu! ” Sophia smiled and carried Lulu back to the kitchen where the three began making pastries for the morning rush of friends and customers .

Gary and Ed traveled toward the rendezvous designated by Maciver.” This will be an event we have waited a long time for.” Gary said with a sound of satisfaction in his voice that Ed had not heard for a very long time. ” It’s strange how this all played into the capture of Ní-assa after all this time.” Ed agreed with some reservation . ” I know it will be a victory of sorts, but when you think of all of the people she has killed, maimed and in many ways made suffer, I don’t see where there can be a just punishment for her!” Gary was somewhat surprised at his friends conclusion saying , ” I haven’t seen you with that much desire for revenge since the Delta.” Ed answered , ” Maybe I’m getting older or something, but when I saw Lulu in that rig to keep her stable, it reminded me of times I have tried hard to drown out. The problem is that I let something like her suffering to allow my revenge factor take hold for a while.” Gary was very aware of Ed’s past sufferings and comforted his long time comrade by reminding him of the many hardships he had conquered, starting with the time they spent in Nam. ” Don’t worry, Ní-assa will pay dearly for her run of terror.” Ed glanced a look over at Gary while gripping the steering wheel just a little bit firmer

replying, ” I hope so, God I hope so!”

Arriving close to the designated time at the rendezvous point, Gary said ” Glad we brought those prisoner tools with us. I didn’t want to take any chances with Ní-assa giving us any trouble on the way to Big Springs Federal Correctional Institution. It wasn’t my first choice, but I didn’t want to far of a return drive before having her incarcerated in a federal location.” Ed asked, ” What one’s did you bring? ” Gary replied, ” Hand cuffs with a martin chain, and Leg irons.” Ed smiled saying, ” That will do the trick all right.” Gary looked at his watch again exclaiming to Ed, ”These guys never seem to know what time it is when they want to meet. Something about a power play I think.” Ed asked, ” Do you want to wait another thirty minutes and after that head for New Mexico to find him or maybe meet them on the road? ” Gary thought for a moment answering, ” They’re a half hour late now, so let’s drive a ways west down the road and maybe meet them coming this way. ” Gary thought that it wasn’t his best idea, but both were anxious to get Ní-assa in chains and head back to Texas and a Federal jail facility.

The men began heading down the road towards New Mexico, scanning the horizon for any signs of Maciver and Ní-assa. After driving a few miles, Gary commented, ” I’m not getting a good vibe, somethings not right.” When the highway began its path around a jagged Plato there was a law enforcement car with its lights blinking the warning to slow down. Ed slowly made his way past the scene, while Gary looked to figure out what was happening. At first it looked like an accident, then when he saw the different uniforms of

Field Investigators, Border Patrol , NM State Police, it was obvious this was more than just an auto accident, besides, both cars were

intact. Gary told Ed, ” Drive up a ways and pull over, I’ll see if I can get any answers from anyone.”

Gary’s first choice was Juarez, telling Ed, ” If anyone knows what thats all about, it would be Juarez. In the meantime, if Maciver and Ní-assa approach, we can always follow them to a different place for the transfer. ” Reaching Juarez, Gary described the scene saying ” There’s way too many different police around the two

vehicles. It looked more like a crime scene than a auto accident.”

Juarez said he would look into it and find out what he could. ” I’ll call back later if I find out anything.” Gary thanked him and telling Ed, ” Let’s go down the road a little further and do a little investigating for ourselves.” Ed reacted with, ” A little reconnoitering,

Corporal? ” Gary smiled recognizing the mock military lingo they used in Nam when Gary was a Corporal and Ed a private.

Gary wanted to see if he could make out any clues as to what happened, leaving Ed below to watch out for Maciver’s vehicle. Gary, beginning the journey up the plateau, was pleased he had kept his

Steiner binoculars. If he was to see much they would make the task a lot simpler. Looking at the scene from his perch half way up the plateau, Gary positioned himself on a boulder looking down on the activity below.

Several new vehicles had arrived in the short time since they had passed the scene, and by the activity there was more than just a crash. There was even a representative from the Federal Ministerial Police. That put a whole different twist to the picture. Returning to Ed, Gary related what he had seen and his thoughts on why so many different law enforcement entities were present.

Gary called on his friend Juarez asking if he had heard anything about a situation on the 180 highway headed toward El Paso. ” I’ll get back to you as soon as I find out anything.” was Juarez’ s reply.

Apologizing for always asking for his help, Gary added, ” I’m kind of limited to this part of the Mexico, New Mexico contacts and rely on you for information.” Juarez laughed saying, ” I wouldn’t hesitate to ask you for help if I was in San Francisco or New York, would I ?” Gary replied, ” You better believe it!” Ed yelled out,

”And I’ll handle Minnesota! Giving Ed a retort, Juarez said, ” I didn’t think anything important happened in a place called

Minnesota”

Gary’s next call was to his friends Silhouette and Gaspard.

After explaining what had transpired in such a short time concerning

Ní-assa and the deal he had made with the, freelance hired gun, Mac

Maciver. Silhouette said, ” Dare I ask where you found someone like that?” Gary answered, ” It’s more like he found us in a way, but I’ll tell you the whole story later, right now I’m trying to locate him. He was supposed to meet with us and hand over Ní-assa for five million, but hasn’t shown up as yet. Plus on the way to the rendezvous point, there was a lot of activity on 180 with a whole array of badges gathered around two vehicles, and I’m trying to find out if there is any connection to our meeting and this gathering.” Gaspard

chimed in asking, ” What kind of badges?” Gary answered , ” Everyone from local to state and mixed with special units from across state lines.” Gaspard exclaimed, ” Quite a party, I’ll see what I can find out for you.” Gary thanked the two saying he would appreciate any info. Ending the conversation, Gary looked at Ed asking, ” Do you think there is a correlation between whats going on back there and why Maciver hasn’t shown up with Ní-assa ?” Ed said, ” If Maciver has Ní-assa in some kind of cuffs or the like, he may not want to go through a check station.” Gary agreed, but reminded Ed that if they were coming East on 180, they would not have been at the sight in question before us. Ed understood the reasoning asking, ” Whats next?” Gary answered with ” Depends on what kind of response we get from the feelers we have out, but right now I think we need to get something to eat, cause I’m hungry, and it may be awhile.” Driving toward El Paso, Juarez called asking if either of them knew a guy called

Sebastian. Gary answered, ” Yea, he’s one of Maciver’s crew, why?” Juarez answered, ” He was trying to get ahold of you, something about the feelers you have out.” Gary was surprised that the man he had sent back to Maciver with the message concerning

Ní-assa, had any reason to contact him. Gary thanked Juarez for the message and after pulling into the first diner they came to in El Paso, called the number he was given. Sebastian answered the burner phone saying, ” Is that you Ashley?” Gary answered, ” Yes this is Gary Ashley, is this Maciver’s messenger?

”Sebastian said, ” I’ll make this quick! You been asking about my boss, and so has his men. Him and two guards left this morning with that woman, Ní-assa, to deliver to you. But when he didn’t answer any of our calls, even after his instructions to the man he left in charge that he would call every hour to make sure everything was being taken care of, in case there was a problem.” Gary asked, ” Are you saying, that Maciver’s missing?” Sebastian replied, ” That’s it exactly, with one exception, Maciver’s dead! Jako, his right hand, sent out trackers to find out why he wasn’t responding, then he called up one of the police informants they had in their pocket who said, Maciver, and three others were dead from gunshot wounds!” Gary was stunned asking, ” And the woman, Ní-assa, what about her?” Sebastian hesitated, then said, ” She wasn’t anywhere to be found. I don’t even think anyone was looking for her exactly. They just had all these bodies and no suspects. One of the informants said that the Mexican and New Mexico border patrol officers were having a fit because Maciver had been on their radar for a while because of his dealings with both Mexican and New Mexico cartels, doing some of their dirty work for them as a free lancer.”

Gary explained the situation to Ed who was listening to the conversation. ” If the authorities don’t even know she was in the vehicle, they will be following the wrong trail! Sebastian added, ” With

Maciver gone, I think Jako will try to take over, but he doesn’t have the fear factor Maciver did as far as enforcing his will on people.”

Gary thanked Sebastian for the intel, telling him to relay anything he could, and he would be paid for the info. Ed frowned at his friend, then turned to look out the window of the diner they had stopped at.

When the waitress came over to take their order, Ed growled, ” Just Coffee!” Gary said, ” Coffee also and a hamburger, large!” The waitress looked over at Ed who said, ” Yea, a hamburger also.” then returned to the window gazing. After the waitress left, Gary asked Ed, ” What the hell’s the matter with you?” Grumbling something under his breath, Ed didn’t reply to Gary’s question. Softening his voice, Gary tried again to reach his friend with, ” Hey private! Whats going on with you?” Ed swung around and started to

chastise Gary for treating the enemy like a friend! Keeping his voice down in the diner, Ed growled his disappointment of Gary for treating the man who was part of the reason Lulu was in a sling and recovering from the injuries by the man Sebastian, and his partner in crime! Gary understood why Ed was so angry, but knew the inside information this man Sebastian was able to give them was very valuable. The waitress came with the food, but stayed very quiet as she laid the dishes down. When she left, Gary continued with his reasoning of why the information could be so beneficial. Ed knew Gary was probably right, but every time he thought about Lulu in the condition she was forced to be in by this informant, it made him angry all over again!

Heading North, Ní-assa felt the urge to destroy something! In the past year she has had to have sex with some of the ugliest, meanest, dumbest men, and for what? She’s been chased, dragged around by a helicopter, shot at by everyone it seems, and sold like some vintage cote de boeuf (rib steak)! ” I want to kill something!” Ní-assa

screamed out into the open desert, driving faster as she remembered what life had been and that nothing she has done has stayed without a huge price! ” I’m too good at what I do to have to be like a fugitive afraid of everything!” Ní-assa hadn’t paid any attention to her speed as she raced down the highway, until the flashing light and siren caught her attention in the rear view mirror.

With over 121 thousand square miles to cover, The New Mexico State Police have a huge task to keep the highways safe, so when the pickup passed the NMSP at what he considered extremely fast, especially for an older vehicle, The officer turned on his light and siren and began his pursuit. Once the vehicle had come to a stop, the officer left the patrol car and cautiously approached the pickup with Ní-assa waiting inside with both hands on the steering wheel.

” I assume this is how you want my hands, right officer?” The statement by the woman caught the NMSP officer a little off guard.

” Yes Ma’am, ” he said while glancing into the cab. ” You were speeding close to ninety miles an hour, and with a vehicle such as this, it could lead to a very serious accident.” Smiling coyly,

Ní-assa answered with, ” I’m extremely embarrassed officer, I just broke up with my boyfriend and was so mad I was taking it out on the road!” The officer asks to see her license and registration.

Ni-assa, trying to distract the officers attention answers, ” I have to admit its my fathers truck and I don’t have any drivers license! The officer grinned at the excuse, then asked, ” Ma’am, what are you carrying in that large case next to you” Ní-assa answered , ” I shoved some of my clothes from my boyfriends apartment into the suitcase when I left.” Her story could be correct, however the officer had been on the force long enough to be somewhat cautious even when it appears as an ordinary traffic stop. ” Would you mind opening the case for me ?” Ní-assa started to become irritated at the persistence of this lawman. She knew it would not be a good idea to show him the contents, because of the weapons inside.

Wary of her hesitation, the officer said, ” Ma’am, please step out of the vehicle!” Ní-assa said, ” Ok, officer, but I have to hold on to the steering wheel while I get out cause this pickup is so far from the ground.” As she starts to get out of the pickup Ní-assa looks over her shoulder towards the officer, asking, ” Can’t I make it worth your time ?” Looking over at the suitcase on the seat .” The officer says bribery isn’t his thing, then says he will have to arrest her unless she steps aside while he looks at the case and its contents.

Ní-assa says to the officer, ” I hate these big trucks, they are so hard to get out of!” The officer steps back to give her room without having to hold on to her. Ní-assa uses the movement to her advantage reaching under the case, drawing out the Glock, then while sliding down to the ground, she fires four well placed bullets into the officer’s chest, knocking him to the ground, and disengaging the camera on his uniform! Quickly raising up , she looks at the stunned man saying, ” Those vest are a wonder aren’t they?” Then before the officer can move, Ní-assa fires one more bullet, reducing the NMSP roll call count by one.

Immediately removing the camera from his body, just in case, then keys from the policeman’s belt, Ní-assa thinks, ” Why not take the whole belt. Hell, why be stingy about it, let’s figure out something to make this worthwhile!” Surveying the scene, while once in a while a vehicle passes, Ní-assa knows she better get the body in the police cruiser before someone see’s his body on the ground. After stripping all of the useful items from the body, such as handcuffs keys, belt and attachments, she reaches into his pocket to find

ninety two dollars. Shaking her head, Ní-assa stares at the officer saying, ” They really don’t pay you enough to be doing this job!” It was a struggle, but Ní-assa finally gets the body into the rear of the cruiser commenting, ” This would be a lot easier if you had been a woman.” Removing the officer’s shirt, Ní-assa put it on, along with the hat, which required some padding. ” Anyone driving by now will assume it’s just another civilian getting ticketed.” she said to herself, with a smile. With the keys, Ní-assa opened the trunk exclaiming,

” Well goodness, what do we have here?” Looking at the armor and special equipment, Ní-assa’s thoughts began to run wild, thinking, ” If I do this right, I can have a real winner here! I could disguise the Ford to look like any ordinary vehicle and have all that power under the hood! ” Suddenly, the sound of a voice from the Ford Intercepter’s interior, brought Ní-assa back to reality. It was the sound of the police scanner asking for a transmission check! 
” Shit! Ní-assa!” she said out loud, ” Of course they would have a communication check every hour or so!” Hurrying to transfer as much of the weaponry as she could, into the pickups bed, Ní-assa

got back into the old pickup and headed back towards Las Cruces,

and Maciver’s old team. Driving at the legal speed, watching the mirrors at all time for any indication or hesitation on the part of any of the several police and state trooper vehicles speeding past in the opposite direction. Ní-assa had to smile to herself thinking, ” They won’t know which way to start once they find the vehicle and body, and by then I’ll be in Las Cruces where I will have rented a storage unit and unloaded all of the contraband from the bed of this old pickup!” It wasn’t long before entering the town of Las Cruces, off Highway 10, that Ní-assa saw the sign advertising Jennie’s Storage. ” That was quick.” She thought to herself. Pulling in she registered with a five month security payment and soon found the unit in the rear of the large storage facility. Ní-assa had requested a unit in the most rear location for a reason. She had learned that if for some reason there was a surprise visitor, she would have time to evacuate.

The time Ní-assa had spent with Maciver, he was somewhat secretive about his operation, but being Ní-assa, it wasn’t too difficult to secure information from several members of Maciver’s people. The best part , she thought, was the absence of any kind of challenge from his second in command Jako, who actually was not much of an organizer, but more like a follower. He and Maciver had been in a prison cell together, so when Maciver had escaped, he took Jako with him. He was a perfect fill for the position, cause Maciver wanted all the power, and Jako wanted him to have it! Jako was very content to be the organizer of tools, weapons and the like, but didn’t want to take part in any of Maciver’s actual mission’s.

Maciver’s second place of sanctuary, just outside the Organ Mountains, was a hacienda type place with no neighbors or activity to disturb his planing of new jobs. The place he had in town, was getting too crowded and the authorities had placed surveillance that curbed any chance of privacy. It had been a challenge for the authorities because Maciver’s crafty moves had not only allowed him to elude capture, his reputation as a freelancing Mercenary began to take hold! Jako had suggested the second location and Maciver had agreed. Ní-assa was confidant that this would be where she should introduce her plan! The first thing she needed to do would be to get their attention!

Looking over the equipment and devices she had commandeered from the police vehicle, Ní-assa looked at the flash bang grenade saying ” This might be interesting, and without too much work.”

Taking two of the grenades, and one of the assault riffles, Ní-assa

headed for the Organ Mountain place, to begin her takeover plan.

Driving up to the hacienda, Ní-assa stopped about twenty feet from the two armed men standing by the entrance. One of them yelled out, ” Turn your pickup around! This is private property!” Ní-assa

stepped out of the truck and as both feet hit the ground, a shot rang out, creating a small dust cloud made when the projectile fired hit the ground close to her foot! ” The next one will not be as nice!”

the man yelled out. Ní-assa called out, ” That’s not very sociable.”

then launched a flashbang grenade which quickly exploded creating a blue smoke cover . The results of the explosion caused momentary disorientation in the two men, giving Ní-assa a chance to

retreive her assault rifle, kneel down on one knee and point at the men as the smoke cleared. Three other men came running out to see what was happening. Ní-assa fired a half dozed rounds into the air yelling out, ” Lets not be too hasty here, gentlemen. I just came to talk, OK?” Jako came out asking, Who is it that wants to talk?

Standing up, Ní-assa cradled the assault rifle saying, ” Didn’t anyone miss me while I was gone?” Jako and the others were taken back because they had seen Maciver and two others drive off with

Ní-assa who was to be sold to a guy called Ashley!

Walking closer, Ní-assa said to Jako, ” Sorry for the theatrics, but it was necessary to get your attention.” Jako replied, ” Well you certainly got our attention! Now what the hell do you want, and what happened to Maciver ?” Ní-assa answered with, ” Oh! I thought you knew? Mac and the other two men were ambushed just a few miles out of Las Cruces! ” All of the men became excited at the news asking how it happened, then Jako asked, ” Why weren’t you killed also ?” Ní-assa explained that two big vehicles drove Maciver’s vehicle off the road and gunned them down before they could do anything! I don’t know why they didn’t kill me , but when they were not looking, I escaped into the dessert! The story kind of made

since, but Jako was still uneasy about why Ní-assa had escaped and the others were all dead.

One of the men said, ” I just heard some news that there was a bunch of cops at a crime scene, in the desert.” ”I bet that was where Mac and the guys were killed!” Ní-assa said, with a phony sad face. Turning to Jaco, Ní-assa exclaimed, ” When I was in the desert, a cop saw me and offered to help. So naturally, I

accepted his offer. ” Jaco asked, ” And why would that make any difference to me?” Laughing, Ní-assa said, ” Why don’t all of you come see my trophies!” Leading them back to the pickup, she took hold of the canvas covering, jerking it away exposing the array of weapons she had commandeered from the patrol car. ” Holy shit!” One of the men exclaimed. Jaco, picking up one of the

assault weapons, then the launcher said, ” These look a lot like something from a police car, right?” Smiling, Ní-assa took a

NMPD badge from her pocket, placing it in Jaco’s hand saying,

” And this is for you, to show how good I can be!” Jaco was at

a loss for words to express his feelings of a cross between terror and, telling Ní-assa she was stupid for bringing this kind of exposure into their business place! Jaco chose to use the second one, and began yelling at Ní-assa, ” That was really stupid of you to bring

all of this shit into our space! Your going to get us all killed by alerting the cops right to us!” Ní-assa saw the expression on the men surrounding her and began to talk. ” Number one, I didn’t alert anyone to this place! Two, I have killed more law men and women than any of you here! And as for your feelings for me, you are so

insignificant, I didn’t even know about you until Mac said he was keeping you around for old times, which is another way of saying

your nothing but a leach!” Jaco started to draw his Glock yelling, ”We’ll see who’s a leach!” Jaco might have made an impression with the other men if he had not been the recipient of the assault weapon Ní-assa was holding, quickly being tilted and firing three

very deadly bullets into the short time leader of this group of

mercenaries!

Turning to the rest of the men gathered Ní-assa asked, ” And how do the rest of you feel!” There was a long moment of silence before

one of the men asked, ” Do you want us to get rid of Jaco?”

Ní-assa walked over to the man saying, ” Whats your name?” The man answered, ” Lucas.” Ní-assa questioned the man saying, ” Your right in asking, rather than telling me , so Lucas, how about you being my lieutenant ?” Lucas, looking around at the other men

then returning to Ní-assa’s stare, answered, ” Yes Ma’am, that would be real nice.” Ní-assa said to her new lieutenant, ” That’s a nice accent, but it sure as hell doesn’t fit New Mexico standards. Where you from? ” The man answered, ” Texas, Ma’am!” ” I kind of knew that would be your answer, Lucas.” Ní-assa said with a slight smile. ”Tell me Lucas, do you have a couple of men here that would serve as your right hands for assisting me in making this group of misfits into a first grade unit?”

Looking at the men that were gathered, Lucas said, ” My choice would be James and Oliver. They have been in situations that I was impressed with.” Ní-assa called out, James and Oliver, to the front.” Standing next to Lucas, Ní-assa said to the rest of the men, ” This is your team, Lucas, James and Oliver. You had it soft because you had no guidance, but from now on, I will see you are guided to make all of us feared and rich!” The group voiced approval for the most part, but there were a few septics. Ní-assa told Lucas, ”This is your first order. Give them the choice of leaving or dying!” All but a couple said they wanted to stay, with a couple that chose to leave

peacefully. Ní-assa questioned Lucas, while James and Oliver escorted the men leaving out of the gate, ” There was a man called

Sebastian, that brought the offer from Ashley, where is he? ” Lucas shook his head slowly back and forth saying, ” No one really knows, except when Mac left with you and the other two, they weren’t out the gate before Jaco asked Sebastian to meet him in the office. No one ever saw him again!” Ní-assa interjected, ” A little strange, but I guess we will never know what happened.” Lucas replied, ” We can only guess what happened because there was always a friction between the two. Sebastian was a smart guy, and you know what Jaco was like, so I would guess that with Mac away, Jaco got rid of his irritant!”

Ní-assa thought about the different cartels she had dealt with and there was one thing in common when it came to security for their business places, and that was visibility! If they could find a place that hid the traffic of whatever they were moving, it had first

priority! Asking Lucas if he had any knowledge of a tracker or hunter in the New Mexico, Texas mountains that might have knowledge of hiding places, Lucas answered, ” Actually, there is one guy I know of that made it his business to search out those kind of places. ” Ní-assa said, ” Find him and bring him to me!” Lucas

immediately left for the bar in Las Cruces where the man he knew that might have that kind of information, hung out.

A day went by with no sight of the man Lucas knew as ‘Tracker’. The next day was also becoming a negative result. The bartender came over to Lucas around two in the afternoon slipping a note

under the bowl of pretzels by him, walking away quickly. Lucas

pulled the note towards him, then into his lap. Opening the folded paper, Lucas read the note. ” Asking about me is not healthy for

either of us!” The first sentence read like a warning, so Lucas put the note into his pocket and left the bar. Once he was a distance from the bar, Lucas retrieved the note and continued reading its message. ” Do not tell anyone about me, cause I’m being sought by the authorities that want me to tell them where some of the cartels have their hidden tunnels!”. Returning to the bar, Lucas asked the bartender for another beer. When the man brought the beer, Lucas slid a hundred dollar bill in a napkin towards him saying, ” There’s

four more of these if you tell my friend I need to see him!” The man

hesitated, then after pocketing the money said to Lucas, ” Come back tonight after closing and bring the rest of the money with you.”

Ní-assa was not waiting for Lucas to return before beginning her task of building a force such as the one she had almost built in Mexico, before Juarez and his Raiders, along with that Ashley asshole messed everything up and chased me out of that beautiful hideaway!

Calling James and Oliver into the makeshift office that had satisfied

Maciver, but wasn’t what Ní-assa wanted for her temporary center of control saying, ” While Lucas is away I want to start some

discipline practices starting with, no more going into town and

getting drunk and loudmouthed! If I hear any of them saying

Ní-assa is heading this operation, I will personally shoot them, DEAD !” I want you to also inform everyone to address me as, Ramona ! Ní-assa will no longer be acceptable at any time!

James and Oliver heeded the warning and soon had informed the entire group of men that Ramona is to be addressed as Ramona and no slip ups will be tolerated! One of the men asked, ” What is she

going to do, shoot us if we forget?” The question was not answered because Ní-assa had walked into the room and heard the question, responding with a single shot being fired into the air, startling everyone. Walking up to the man who had asked the question, sticking the barrel of the Glock into his mouth , the woman asked, ” And what is my name?” Barely audible, the man said, ” Ramona!”

Removing the gun, and turning to the very attentive audience the woman again asked loudly, ” What is my name? ” A very unified response was, ” RAMONA” !

The two men, James and Oliver, stood next to Ramona exhibiting a forcefield of power no one wanted to challenge. Walking past the men, Ramona looked at each one as an individual, saying ” Each of you has a specific quality, and I want to know what that is!” Touching one man on the shoulder, she asked, ” What do you know about building things? ” The man looked surprised at the question, then hesitantly replied, ” I used to be a builder of sorts, why do you ask?”

Ramona responded with, ” I know how we can become a force in New Mexico, even bigger than Mac Maciver ever dreamed of! ”

The men had not been privileged to such a charismatic leader before, which resulted in a much more responsive acceptance of

Ní-assa as their leader, even if she did create a different name for herself. After some basic instructions as to who will be in charge of

ammunition, material, cleanup of debris so as not to attract attention, and such, Ní-assa thought to herself, ” I think the name of Ramona

was a good choice. It has a nice ring and can be handled by those who had trouble how to pronounce my real name. Besides, it means, ‘ Wise Protector’, and that is certainly me !”

When Lucas returned two days later, he was totally surprised to see the men he had known as a basically lazy group, with the exception of a few, looking like they actually wanted to be active. James and Oliver met him saying, ” That woman is a real ball of fire! She has given us all things to do and cleaned up the place.” Lucas asked,

” What made the difference, threats or what ?” Oliver answered with, ” It wasn’t all threats, even if she did say anyone giving out her real name would be a dead person.” Lucas laughed saying,

” What kind of crazy is that?” James interjected, ” She was dead serious when she told all of us !” Lucas realized his friends were not joking, so he asked, ” What does she want to be called?”

” Ramona !” the two men said in unison. ” Ramona’s a nice name, I hope I don’t forget to say it when I see her. By the way, where is she, or should I say, where is Ramona?” Oliver answered, ” I think she is in the back, showing some of the men about how important the use of knives can be.the ” Lucas walked to the rear of the building to see Ramona and several of the men refining the art of knife throwing. ” Good afternoon, Ramona!” Lucas said loudly. with a grin. Ní-assa turned around smiling, responding with, ” Have a successful trip I hope ?” ” Very!” Lucas said, adding, ” I also learned a few things we need to talk about concerning some people in Texas and Mexico.”

Ní-assa took Lucas aside saying, ” Thanks for the support in calling out my new name.” Lucas replied with, ” If that has been the order of the day, I will follow, even if I liked the other name better.”

Ní-assa thanked her new lieutenant Lucas and began to lay out the plans for a future for the group of men. ” But first, tell me about the things you learned concerning people in Texas and Mexico.” Lucas

divulged that one of the contacts he talked to had heard about her

situation with the cartel of El Carnicería, and that he was not happy about what happened but after listening to other cartel leaders he figured you were not enough of a threat to bring down any problem from other Mexico cartel groups. Ní-assa was pleased to hear that she didn’t have a bullseye on her back, from the Mexico cartels at least. ” And what about Texas, anything I should worry about there?” she asked. Lucas answered, ” That is a whole different

matter. There are rumors that some men in Texas called on that

special task force called ‘ Juarez’s Rangers’ for information about you!” Hearing what Lucas had said, Ní-assa threw the coffee mug across the room, shattering against the wall. ” Those SOB’s won’t believe I’m dead until they see my body in pieces somewhere. I thought I had hidden my tracks , but those two and their friends have made it impossible for me to get anything together!”

Lucas asked, ” Is that one of the reasons for the name change?”

Ní-assa grinned saying, ” I knew you were smart when I picked you out as my lieutenant. Yes, that was part of it. I want to get these men into a fearful unit, but from what I have seen, it will take time and maybe some recruiting if these guys don’t all work out.”

Lucas asked, ” What about James and Oliver, are they working out ok ?” Ní-assa replied with, ” They have a good start, and I think with a push from you, they will do fine, by the way, they are hell fire good with knives, and I have them scheduled to be training the rest of the group.”

Ní-assa and Lucas spent the rest of the day sorting out the strategy of obtaining funds for the revamping of the group.

Ní-assa started the conversation with, ” Two of the quickest money makers are kidnaping, which is always a bad idea because of the feds, and banks, which I never liked because of the people control, always a problem, and also feds involvement. Two other ideas are more about planing, but with a little help from the right sources, I think hitting a small casino would be the best bet.” Lucas looked puzzled saying, ” You mean a gaming casino?”

Ní-assa felt she had taken her new recruit a little fast into a world she had been in for a long time. ” Yes my young friend, a real

gaming casino.” Lucas, shaking his head asked, ” What made you think of that, they are big and protected and have a lot of people all over the place!” Ní-assa answered with, ” Yes, your correct in the overall business, however in many of the small casinos there are much less restrictions and with the right connections, they are vulnerable in certain areas when transferring the cash flow.” Once the shock Lucas experienced had settled, he asked ” You seem to know a lot about this, am I right Ní-assa?” She reassured Lucas that this was something she had seen done before and was confidant that after they train the men to follow orders to the letter, they will be ready to make the transition from a gang of hoods to a refined and polished force. Ní-assa could see the confusion in her lieutenant asking, ” Are you good with puzzles?” Lucas answered, ” I’ve done some, why?” Ní-assa reached over to the desk, taking a jar full of pencils saying, ” Can you control all of these from getting away?” Lucas, starting to take hold of the jar said, ” Sure !” Before he could take hold of the jar, Ní-assa turned it over, spreading the pencils on the desk.

Lucas, looking at his new leader asked, ” Why did you do that?”

Ní-assa answered, That is a lesson in control! If you want to control

a situation, know what can happen if you loose control! In the case of the casino money, it would be impossible to take the money from the active casino with all of the negatives to conquer, however if your objective was not the casino, but the casino money, it becomes a far less problem to control.” Not completely understanding

Ní-assa’s example, Lucas asked, ” Whats the difference, isn’t it all the same?” Ní-assa answered, ” Remember what I said about the

casinos, they are vulnerable in certain areas when transferring the cash flow. So if you have a small casino and it must transfer a

majority of their money to the bank for deposit at certain intervals, the money is now in one jar! ” Lucas smiled broadly, like a kid that just found a dollar in the street. ” I get it!” He said proudly.

” Good!” Ní-assa said, telling Lucas, ” Get James and Oliver, and see if you can teach them the information you just learned.” When Lucas left to find his friends, Ní-assa said to herself, ” Well, that’s a start anyway! Now if I can just keep from killing any dumb ones, it might work out.”

Ní-assa began checking the city of Tucson, just across the state line .

Thinking if she could find a vulnerable place between Tucson and the border, there could be a chance that with a little luck, she might be able to pull off an armor truck hold up. The main thing would be to pick a place of least resistance, and least exposure. Ní-assa was leaning towards a two phase attack. Lucas, James and Oliver came into the room asking if they should be doing anything to prepare for any plans that Ní-assa would need them for. ” You came in at a very good time.” Ní-assa said, ” I have an idea we can go over .” The three men were pleased she was inviting them to discuss a plan, sitting down to listen, showing respect. Ní-assa thought to herself, ” Perhaps this will be the beginning of a very profitable adventure.” Ní-assa began with, ” This will be rehearsed many times before we are actually ready, however if we push the men and make them aware of the large profit a plan such as this can deliver, we will succeed !

”First we find out the money pickup times from one of the lesser known casinos south of Tucson.Then the next step will be the holding bank’s location or close to it. With that information we can calculate the attack position. When the semi-armored truck passes the contact point, that’s when our two cars move in. The lead car will pass the AT, while the second one remains behind. Slowing down, the lead vehicle will begin to emit spikes from home made tire spike guns mounted on the rear, tearing at the AT’s tires, making the tires useless within a mile. When the men in the AT realize the futility of resisting, they will have the chance to surrender the vehicle or be gassed. Once we have control of the AT, we will head towards the Catalina Mountains where a camouflage cover will hide the vehicle until we have emptied it of its treasurers. Lucas asked, ” How come they have a smaller armored vehicle, and who makes the spike guns ?” Ní-assa answered, ” The smaller armored vehicle’s are used for smaller runs such as casinos in the back country. As for the undercarriage spike guns, you will be in charge of making and installing them. But don’t worry, I have a man coming in that will teach you the art!”

Arnold, the explosive expert arrived with Ní-assa greeting him

enthusiastically. ” I’ve heard of your talent and know we will be able to make this a profitable venture for both of us. One thing I would ask, is that you call me Ramona. It’s a thing I need to do to get some people off my tail”. Arnold said he didn’t care as long as the money was right! Introducing him to her lieutenant Lucas,

and his two controllers, James and Oliver, .Ní-assa asked that he start right away. Arnold agreed that the sooner they get the operation going, the faster they all would be much richer.

Arnold began his part of the operation while others prepared for the entry devices required for the AT. Oliver brought in two men who have had experience working with piping and welding, that Arnold had requested. After meeting with the two men, Arnold explains that the object of the spike guns is to make any vehicle vulnerable at its most unprotected area, the tires! The guns are basic cannons built to fit under the lead vehicle’s rear bumper area ,that when engaged will send heavily spiked projectiles out into the path of the

armored vehicle, stopping it within a one mile area.

The operation was going as well as it could, however Arnold was noticing that the two pipe men, Larry and Art, had to be disciplined for not being serious about the process of making spike guns and had been fooling around with equipment. Arnold had warned

Ramona that they could be a hazard, and should be given a serious warning! Things were ok for a couple of days, then when Arnold entered the workplace and saw the two men playing with dangerous material, he felt it necessary to make a physical point.

Picking up one of the spike projectiles , Arnold grabbed the hand of Larry, and pulling him ran the four inch spiked tack across his arm! When Larry saw the blood starting to flow from the injury he yelled, ” What the hell are you doing!”

Arnold loudly informed the careless man of the dangers of these weapons! ”Your scratch will heal, but think of what it would do if it hit you in the right area! There are six points to every projectile, and one of these pipes will propel twenty of those out into the way of a vehicle, destroying the tire’s ,bringing it to a halt! Think what it could do if anything in here exploded and sent these projectiles in all directions! ” Leaving the building, Arnold thought to himself,

” Those idiots must to be replaced.” As he headed toward the main building to talk to Ramona about getting rid of such a dangerous element.

Later, while bandaging his friends arm, Art says, I got those two bottles of tequila I hid, from a couple of days ago, let’s pour some on your wound and make it heal faster! After consuming a good part of the tequila, the two get angry about being treated like kids and as they get drunk, they play around with the spike guns. Larry, laughing says, ” Like one of those old war movies, I’ll save the day by blowing up the enemy!” Art laughing whispers, like Ramona ?

then says we better be careful , if they see us fooling around, the teacher will send us home! Laughing, .Larry says, ” Your right,”

tossing the pipe into an unprotected area on the table, setting off the internal trigger! where ammonium nitrate and Butane nitro methane lye in the vehicle prep area!

When the device triggered a reaction inside the pipe, mixed with the chemicals, it created an explosion sending spiked shrapnel in all directions! The explosion brought most of the men to the work area, where they saw Larry coming out of the building, shaking his head. ” Shit! that was heavy!” Where’s Art someone asked. Larry, realizing his friend was still in the building, Larry started to run back in. There was a shout from the their leader, Romana. ” Stay where you are, Larry!” Approaching the man who had some burn scars and was wanting to go back inside to help his friend, Ramona ordered him to stand clear. Lucas came up to the scene with Arnold who looked at Lucas saying,, ” I told those two idiots not to fool around with anything this volatile!” Two of the men had gone into the burning building retrieving Art and had pulled him from the burning building. Arts injuries were severe, not only with the burns, but his face and body had been punctured with several of the spiked shrapnel. Larry ran over to his friend repeating over and over, ” I’m sorry Art!” Looking up at his boss, Ramona, Larry pleaded, ” We got to get him to a hospital, he looks bad!” Ramona snapped at the man saying, ” And what do we tell the doctor? Oh excuse me but we were outfitting our car to rob an armored vehicle, and stupid here blew himself up!” Larry, seeing his friend in such pain asked, ” Can’t we do something to ease his pain?” Ramona said, ” Yes there is.” Asking Lucas, who was standing by her, ” Let me see your weapon.” When Lucas handed his Glock to Romona, Larry

shouted, ” What are you going to do?” Ramona replied, ” Stop his pain.” Larry screamed, ” You can’t do that to him! It was my fault!” Ramona held the Glock out to the angry Larry saying,

” Your choice, you or me?” Larry started to give all kinds of reasons why his friend should be taken to a doctor or hospital. ” He’s real good at lots of stuff and won’t ever make any problems for you again!” As Larry finished his last plea, a single shot rang out.

Handing the Glock back to Lucas, Ramona said to Larry, ” Now you don’t have to decide.”

Walking back to the house, Ramona said to Lucas, ” I should have shot that stupid shit to! It’s going to set us back at least a two weeks, or more.” Arnold came up and informed Ramona that all of the supplies had been destroyed. ” We will have to start all over , if I can find another supplier for the chemicals. ” Ramona was furious, telling Lucas, ” Go get that ass hole and bring him to me!” Lucas turned and hurried back to where Larry was still mourning his friend. ” Ramona wants to see you!” Larry answered, ” I’m saying goodby to my friend, she can wait!” Lucas, grabbing the man by his shirt, yanked him up from his dead friend growling into his ear, ” You really don’t want to make her any madder than she is right now!” Pushing Larry in the direction of Ramona, the man stumbled, not wanting to see the woman, but was finally in front of her, trying not to tell her how much he hates her! Ramona stared at the man who had just set back her plans back considerably! ” After you

bury that idiot friend of yours, you will now be in charge of every dirty job I can think of ! You will be at my beck and call 24, seven! You will do whatever I tell you, and if for some reason I don’t like what you did, I might just bury you along side that other piece of shit! ” Looking at James and Oliver who were standing close, Ramona ordered, ” And you two are in charge of seeing that he does everything as I order, got it?” Both men gave an affirmative answer, taking Larry by both shoulders, half dragging him away.

Ramona said to Arnold, ” You think it will take that long to get started again?” Arnold replied, ” That and perhaps even longer if I can’t get it through my resources.” Ramona instructed him to do whatever he had to in order to get the job done

Lucas asked Ní-assa, ” Do you really want my two best men looking like baby sitters?” She replied, ” Of course not! That was for the benefit of the rest of the men standing there. Have your men assign that ass hole to some kind of duty that he can’t screw up!” James and Oliver had taken Larry to the kitchen to patch him up and try to drive some sense into him about what he had done. ” Did you see what the woman did? She killed Art without even trying to save him!” James responded with, ” I’m surprised that your not going to be buried with him! She could have just as well put a second slug into you!” ” I don’t give a shit! She’s going to get payback if I have anything to say about it!” James, patching the injuries on Larry offered, ” If you know what’s best to get by here, you better quit being such an ass and keep your head down when

ever she is around.” ” Screw her! If I get the chance, she will get her’s somehow!”

After James finished attending to Larry’s injuries, he said, ” Maybe you better rest for the next couple of hours. I don’t think Ramona will be asking you to do anything for a while.” Larry laid on the bunk saying to James, ” Screw her!” James and Oliver flipped a coin to see who would stay with Larry until he has a chance to recoup, then they will bring him to Ramona for his first assignment.

Oliver, winning the toss, started to leave but James said, ” You do still owe me from the last time we bet.” Oliver, grumbling over what had been their last bet said, ” I don’t think this is what I had in mind but a bet is a bet!” James, laughing , headed out the door.

After James had left, Larry asked Oliver, ” Is there anything for a screaming headache?” Oliver answered, ” I think there’s something in the kitchen. Stay there and I’ll see if there’s any in the drawer.”

Calling from the kitchen, Oliver said, ” Your in luck.!” Then returning to the bunking area, continued with, ” I found a half …….”

Oliver didn’t get a chance to finish his statement, because of the impact on his head when Larry brought down the heavy drawer he had removed from the steel desk in the room. Before Oliver could recover, Larry had tied and gaged him. Looking at Oliver, Larry said, ” Sorry, I hate to do this to you, but that bitch gave me no choice! Reaching into Oliver’s rear pocked Larry retrieved the Glock most of the men carried. Removing Olivers billfold and looking at the money, Larry said as he left out the back door, ” Maybe the bitch will reimburse you, if she doesn’t kill you for this!” Shutting the

door behind him, Larry looked out at the mountains behind the buildings thinking, ” If I can make it to there, it should give me enough of a head start before they find out I’m gone!”

Later that afternoon, James returned to the building saying as he opened the door, ” How’s the babysitting going?” Not hearing a

response, he continued to search and call. Hearing a noise from the closet James found his friend Oliver, bound and gaged. Checking to see if he was alright, James removed the tape from his mouth and while uniting him asked ” What the hell happened?”

Oliver gave an account of how Larry had tricked him into leaving the room and hit him with something when he returned. James said, 
” I don’t know how Ramona is going to take this, but we better tell her right away!” Going to Ramona in the main house, Oliver told Ramona how Larry had succeeded in tricking him and had escaped.

Lucas was standing by Ramona along with Arnold, listening to Oliver explain what had taken place. When he was finished, Ramona sat still for a moment. The chill in the air was thick enough you could have cut it with a knife. Ramona slowly got up from her dest saying, ” First find him and bring him back! I don’t care what condition he is in when you do, but bring him back!” Looking at Oliver she only said, ” I will think of what to do with you, later.”

Going outside, Ramonas lieutenant Lucas, and Arnold began to

theorize where Larry might have escaped to. James and Oliver who had joined the two, offered the thought that since Larry had gone out the rear door and the Catalina Mountains were so close, he might have tried to get away there. Arnold had to agree saying, ” I‘m familiar with these mountains since one of my clients hired me to make some stuff to blow up for a science assignment at the collage. Because it is the home to the University of Arizona and the Catalina Mountains are so close, there usually are students scouring the mountains for projects or just to get away from the collage for a weekend.

Those ideas had become a reality for Larry as he struggled to keep as much distance between him and Ramona and her men as he could. Ever looking over his shoulder for any signs that they might have found a trace of where he was, Larry pushed forward into the dense trees and hopefully safety.

Rounding a large boulder outcropping, Larry heard voices coming from the other side. Drawing his Glock to the ready, he carefully eased his way around the outcropping. To his relief, it was a small group of young people, apparently out for a fun time. When Larry came around the boulder, having replaced his Glock into the back of his pants, some of the group jumped up with one asking, ” What the hell mister! You scared the shit out of us!” Larry apologized, saying he had gotten lost and was so grateful to be found by the group. One young woman offered , ” You look like you were in some kind of accident, are you alright ?” Larry assured her his injuries were minor, he just needed a place to rest for awhile. One man asked,

Was it some kind of explosion? Larry snapped back, ” I told you I was fine, now enough of the questions!” The man backed away, looking at another man there saying, ” Something not quite right, but maybe we should call someone to help this man.”

Overhearing the man’s suggestion, Larry quickly drew his Glock yelling ” You’re not going to call anyone, got it!”

” I told you he didn’t seem right !” Larry went over to the man yelling, ” What the hell do you know! Now who has the ride?”

The three couples looked at one another, not wanting to admit who had the van at the base of the mountain. Grabbing one of the young women, Larry placed the gun at her head asking again, ” who has the ride?” The oldest member of the group said, ” It’s my Jeep.”

Larry replied, ” Now that wasn’t that hard was it? Now for my next trick, I want you all to strip! Gentlemen first but keep your pants on., but remove the shoes. Then picking up a knapsack, Larry informed them, ” Put everything from phones, watches and, of course, money, into the bag!”Smiling at the young women, Larry said, ” From the looks of your short shorts, you most likely don’t have much to hide, except your phones, so into the bag you go with those, and take off your shoes also.”

One of the men challenged Larry with, ” You can’t leave us here without shoes!” Larry laughed saying, ” One thing I learned in this country, is that you don’t travel fast with bare feet!” The man continued with, ” We could die out here!” Larry answered, ” Not likely, your only about five hours from the highway.! Of course I could always forget about being nice and just shoot you !” After all the

requirements had been accomplished, Larry thanked the group saying, ” I’ll leave you some of the beers, but thanks for the food. I’ll try to leave your Jeep in good condition somewhere in Mexico. ”

With that Larry headed down the mountain to the Jeep at the base.

Larry finally made it to the base of the mountain, finding the Jeep where it had been parked. ” Hopefully those kids will tell the athorities what I said , and send them heading South instead of North where I will actually be going.” Starting the Jeep, Larry headed for highway seventy seven and California!

While James and Oliver searched the area behind the house at the foot of the hills and heading up to the Catalina Mountains for any signs of the escapee Larry, Arnold asked Lucas, ” Do any of your men know how to fly a chopper?” Lucas laughed saying, ” I don’t know if any of them could fly a kite much less a chopper, why?”

Arnold answered, ” Because I know where there is one, but the law took the pilot away and left the chopper in the field where they had mad the arrest. ” Lucas thought it would be a good idea anyway, and that they should ask Ní-assa. Going inside to see about a pilot for the chopper, Arnold asked, ” Do you have any connections to any pilot’s that you can get in a hurry? I figured if we could take to the sky, it would increase out chances of finding Larry.” Lucas agreed, adding, ” It could be just what we need if we can find one.”

Ní-assa agreed that a chopper would be an asset, but to wait around until we found a pilot isn’t going to work for me. Looking at the map that was in the building, most likely from one of the tenants who had been there before, Ní-assa showed Arnold and Lucas the area at the base of the Catalina Mountains. ” This is where we are, and with these mountains in back of us, there isn’t a lot of places Larry could go in his condition. ” Arnold offered, ” If each of us took one of these mountain roads, Larry would have to end up on one of them.” Lucas added, ” Yes, your right. He hasn’t been gone long enough to have made it that far, so maybe we can catch him sooner than later. ” Ní-assa said, ” It better be sooner! With the shit he knows about our plans for the AT and what we were doing at this location, he could offer that info if he was caught by some trooper or even a security wantabe desiring a name for themselves.”

Lucas said, ” I better get on it and divide the troops into who was the jeeps, and who can use the atv’s. ” Ní-assa said, ” You tell every one that whoever brings Larry in, dead or alive will get a fifty thousand dollar reward! ” Arnold looked over at Ní-assa asking,

” Does that include me?” ” Hell Yes!” was Ní-assa’s reply.

The group of young people had watched while Larry left with much of their belongings, including any way to communicate with anyone off the mountain. The men decided to have the women stay at the place they were at saying ” When we are found , we need to know you will still be here.” The ladies were not pleased with the idea exclaiming, ”We can move just as fast as any of you guy’s, and you want us to stay here and get eaten up by bears?” Seeing the futility of trying to change their minds, the men said to the ladies, ” Mount up! We’re out of here!” While the young group slowly walked through the forest, trying to miss all of the tree debris, rocks and other obstacles in their bear footed path, one of them said, ” Did you hear that?” Stopping for a moment, one said, ” Yea, I heard something also!” Each of them strained to hear anything. Then, all of a sudden the sound of an ATV became dominate to the joyful yells and screams of the entire group! Lucas, astride the ATV came through the brush stopping short when he saw the people there. Everyone started to speak at the same time, telling of their plight. ” This ugly man came out of nowhere and held us at gunpoint!” One woman said, ” He took our money and shoes and phones!” said another. ” Don’t forget the Jeep!” the owner of the vehicle said, almost as an afterthought. ” A Jeep?” Lucas repeated,

What model?” The man answered, ” The new seven seater Grand!”

Lucas immediately contacted Ní-assa with the information.

One of the group said, ” He said he was going to leave the Jeep somewhere in Mexico !” Lucas said, ” He might be heading that way, but I would bet that your information was something given by him to throw us off!” Ní-assa got back to Lucas saying she had instructed one of the group to head for Mexico and the other three vehicles to divide themselves towards Albuquerque, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Lucas agreed that spreading out the group should offer some kind of chance in finding Larry. ” For all of our sake, we

better!” After the call ended, one of the group, Bruce the owner of the vehicle asked, ” You think there is any chance that I will get my Jeep back?” Lucas, answered, ” You never know, but it would have been better if we could have tracked him, like from the air! ”

The man questioned Lucas about his statement. Lucas explained that his company had been trying to find the man that robbed them because he had stolen very important documents that had to be recovered. The young man said, ”My name is Bruce, Bruce Morgan, and if you can help find my Jeep, I know where you can get a plane.”

Lucas at first thought, ” This kid must think I’d buy his offer and get him out of here faster.” Playing along, Lucas offered, ” Tell you what Mr. Bruce Morgan, I’ll even do you one better. You get me a chopper and I’ll buy you a Harley to go with it!” The young man laughed saying, ” Make it an Ultra Limited, Red, and it’s a deal!”

Lucas countered with, ” You know your wheels, I gotta say, but a thirty K Harley, sounds about right if the chopper can take three of us.” Young Morgan held out his hand saying, ” Shake on it, hand

me your phone, and I’ll start making some calls !” Lucas was taken back by the man’s statement thinking it was all just a young kid trying to look good to his friends. ” Well?” said Morgan, ” We got a deal or not?” Lucas frowned saying, ” OK kid, the fun’s over, I ain’t got anymore time to play your game. ” One of the other group members said, ” He isn’t kidding mister! His dad is Bruce Morgan Sr. that owns half of the land around here, …that’s his son!” Lucas, taking a second look at the young man standing in front of him with no shirt or shoes, thinking, ” If this kid is for real, maybe we can still find Larry before he get’s away!” Taking Morgans hand, Lucas laid his phone on it saying, ” Deal!”

On highway seventy seven, Larry smiled as he headed for California, thinking, ” I can get lost in California a lot easier than staying in Arizona or Nevada. I’ll pickup everything I need in Phoenix, and take highway Ten through Tonopah from there straight into BlytheCalifornia!” Larry had taken all of the phones and gear from the young group, thinking that by the time they can hail down someone once they get to the highway, he will be a long way off. Especially if they go in the opposite direction. If Larry had any idea of who he had stolen the Jeep from, it might have made a difference, but that hadn’t happened and now Bruce Morgan’s son has made a bargain with Lucas to use a chopper to try and track the Jeep and its thief down. Lucas contacted Ní-assa to tell her of the new plan. Appreciating the find, Ní-assa said, ” You take the lead on this and I will round up our men so as soon as you find him, we will be there! Take Arnold and James with you.” Lucas hesitated for a moment saying, ” One other thing Ní-assa, we’ll be taking Bruce Morgan with us.”

Ní-assa yelled , ” What the hell are you talking about! You can’t get anyone involved in what we have to do!” Lucas tried to explain that the arrangement was that Bruce Morgan wanted to be there when Larry was caught. ” I don’t give a shit! He can’t be there when I get my hands on that traitor!” It’s his dad’s chopper and we can’t refuse his request! ” OK then, I’m coming with you, and when we capture Larry, tape his mouth and handcuff his hands behind him, I got plans for his entertainment.. Lucas contacted Arnold and James telling them to meet at the foot of Catalina Mountains where they had started the search.

When the two men arrived at the designated meeting place at the base of the mountain, they were surprised to see a six seating Airbus Eurcopter sitting in the field. Next to Lucas and his ATV was

Ní-assa. Arnold came up to Ni-assa saying, ” Nice ride, where did you get it ? She replied, ” Wasn’t me, it was my fine lieutenant

Lucas’s friend, young Bruce Morgan’s son over there!”

James walked around the Airbus marveling the beauty of such a fixed wing aircraft. The five got into the chopper and as it began to wind up, young Bruce Morgan told the pilot, ” Follow the ladies

instructions to the letter. ” The pilot answered, ” You’r the boss!”

Ní-assa, hearing the conversation said, ”Start heading West along

highway ten.” Bruce, looking over his shoulder at Ní-assa, said,

” Guess you’r used to getting your way I take it. Smiling, Ní-assa asked, ” What makes your Jeep so special that you want to come along on this chase?” The young man answered, ” Hellayella !”

When all in the four rear seats heard his reply, is was a unanimous question for them all, ” Why in hell would you want to have a garish yellow Grand Cherokee?” Laughing, Bruce answered, ” It really made my dad take a look at me!” Lucas said, ” I would have done more than take a look at my kid if he painted a fifty K set of wheels Hellayella !” Ní-assa said, ” Well at least we won’t have any trouble finding it, even at three thousand feet!”

As the Airbus began to rise, Ní-assa told the pilot, ” Head west and when we spot the Jeep, jump ahead five miles and then land in the highway! The pilot objects, but is told by Bruce to do whatever

Ní-assa order’s. All eyes were on the highway below, looking for the garish painted Jeep. ” A thousand to the first man to see

Hellayella !” Ní-assa called out. James and Arnold, sitting in the middle seats said, Not fair! We can’t see the highway from where we are. Ní-assa, smiled saying, ” Would you like out on the landing braces for a better view?” No comments were offered after that statement.

Cruising over the fairly empty highway, it was possible to see the vehicles color from three thousand feet so all strained to find the Jeep. The closer they got to the California border, the more agitated

Ní-assa became. ” Is it necessary to fly this thing so slow?” Ní-assa

asked. Bruce answered with, ” We want to get there in one piece, so don’t be so impatient!” Ní-assa was about to chew out the young man when Lucas sang out, ” Hellayella Jeep ahead!” Touching the pilots shoulder, Ní-assa reminded him of the instructions. Moving forward, Ní-assa watched as the yellow jeep disappeared behind the choppers view.

The pilot looks at Bruce asking, ” You certain you want me to do this?” When Bruce hesitated, Lucas placed his Glock against the man’s neck whispering, ” Not a good idea!” Bruce told the pilot,

” Thanks for the warning, but do exactly what they say.”

Flying over the thinning traffic the pilot begins his move to bring the chopper around to face the ongoing traffic, then ever so slowly he begins to lower the craft. There was a moment when it wasn’t certain whether the cars would stop, however when the first one decided to pull over to the side of the road when the large helicopter

looked like it was going to land on top of the car! After that first stopping of a vehicle proved sufficient, the traffic behind all came to the same decision. After landing Ní-assa instructs James to follow Lucas after checking their guns and run along the stopped

vehicle’s until they reach Larry and the jeep. When Larry realizes who is running towards him, he knows he can’t get out of the stopped traffic and opening the door , starts to run. Weaving in and out of the cars, Larry stopped and shot towards his pursuers! James

starts to return the fire, but is stopped by Lucas who says, ” I’m pretty certain Ní-assa is going to want this one alive!” Dodging Larry’s bullets, Lucas signals James to widen the distance, giving Larry less to shot at in the same direction. Reaching the last of the stopped traffic, Larry heads out into the desert. Lucas stops and taking careful aim, shoots twice at the fleeing mans legs. One

connects dropping Larry to the ground. He tries to start running again, but by then both Lucas and James are standing in front of him. ” I’m bleeding bad!” Larry yells, ” I need a doctor!” Lucas laughs saying, ” You will probably need more than a doctor when Ní-assa has been satisfied.” Half dragging the man to the road, they are meet by the chopper that had flown back to the place where the pursuit had advanced into the desert. Ní-assa stepped out of the Airbus and walked over to the three men. ” You have cost me a lot of time and trouble Larry. I guess we better take you back to

someplace where you can rest up. ” Larry started to cry, saying he was sorry and what can he do to make up for all the mess he created.

Ní-assa smiles saying, ” I’ll think of something, Larry.” Looking at James, Ní-assa said, ” Wrap up his leg so he doesn’t bleed on this beautiful Airbus Eurcopter. I don’t want Bruce’s dad to think we are not grateful. And while you’re at it, handcuff his hands behind his back before loading him into the Airbus. ” Then as an afterthought,

Ní-assa said, ” And give him a heavy gag, I don’t want to disturb anyone on our flight back.” Walking over to Bruce who was

watching the whole thing, Ní-assa announced, ” I believe that

Hellayella Jeep belongs to you ! ” Bruce wasn’t quite sure as to what he should do at this point. ” Do you want me to take it now?” he asked. Ní-assa smiled saying, ” We have to make room for Larry here, and your seat on the Eurcopter will be most welcome.”

Bruce thanked Ní-assa for retrieving his Jeep saying, ” My pilot will take you back to the pickup point.” Ní-assa stepped up into the craft next to the pilot, ” I think we’re ready now.” Bruce stood by the Jeep watching the company helicopter carry off some very different characters, especially that Ní-assa woman.

In flight, Ní-assa said to the pilot, ” I understand some of you pilots like to fly with the doors open because it gets hot inside.” He replied, ” Sometimes , if I’m alone, but never with passengers.”

Cruising along at three thousand feet, Ní-assa tells the pilot, take this bird up another five hundred feet”. The pilot ask’s why .

Ní-assa answered wih, ” Because I said to and because I have some business to attend to at that level.” The pilot started to challenge

Ní-assa’s instructions when Lucas placed the tip of his Glock against the pilots neck suggesting he follow instructions and do what the lady requested. Taking the Eurcopter up another five

hundred feet, he said ” We are at your requested altitude lady.”

Leaving her chair next to the pilot, ”Good” Ní-assa says, opening the side door. Ní-assa tells Arnold to move to her seat. Squirming violently, Larry knew Ní-assa was about to do something but he

couldn’t plead for forgiveness, because his mouth was gaged! He could only watch as Ní-assa sat next to him lightly pulling at his

restraining seat belt. ” These things really are a good idea if you don’t want to get rid of something. On the other hand, if you have trash in the way, it should be removed.” Unsnapping his seatbelt

Ní-assa says to Larry, ” Thinking of the loss of time, energy, and trust, much less the fact that you destroyed my lab, and all of

Arnold’s hard work, keeping you around would be a stupid idea”.

Larry again tries to stand but is pushed back into his seat .

Struggling franticly, Larry fights with his head and legs, but without the use of his shackled wrists behind him, there isn’t much of a fight!

Asking Lucas to hold the door open, Ní-assa says to the wide eyed Larry, ” I hear bending your legs when you hit the ground helps with the landing. Oh, thats right, you’ll most likely die before you hit the ground, never mind! ” Ní-assa smiles, thinking ” Well at least this is one problem solved!” Then looking at Larry she taunts, ”Guess this is where you get off !” With an energetic shove by his former employer, the handcuffed Larry begins his last flight.

As the Airbus Eurcopter heads for the location where the pilot had originally picked up Bruce Morgan, Ní-assa and her men, he overhears Ní-assa talking to Lucas. ” When we land,” Ní-assa

began,

”You will need to stay back and take care of the pilot. He has seen too much to be set free.” The pilot knew he had better come up with some kind of escape plan or die trying! Seeing the vehicles at the landing place, the pilot announced, ” We will be landing, so hold on to your seats.” When the landing skids hit the ground, Ní-assa said to the pilot, ” You can shut off your engines.” The pilot replied,

” Will do, just have to allow the blades to settle before I can stop everything.” Leaving the chopper first was Ní-assa, followed by

Arnold and James. Then as Lucas, standing by the opening, started to reach for his Glock, the pilot gunned the engines creating a blade swirl throwing Lucas against the door frame! Next the pilot pushed the blade to a high degree of rotation, creating a very uneven lift, causing Lucas to fall out of the craft onto the ground below !

Ní-assa and the others ran to avoid the choppers blades as it begins to turn in a circle just a few feet off of the ground. Ní-assa yells out commands to shoot, but everyone is too busy trying to escape the blades to take any kind of a shot. Lucas is the first to even shoot in the direction of the chopper, that has begun to cause a large amount of dirt and dust giving the pilot some protection from the random shooting by those scrambling at the base of the encounter. When the pilot feels he can make his move, he begins his assent into an extreme starboard lift, aiding his escape. A half dozen shots in the direction of the escaping pilot hit the Eurcopter, with two hitting the pilot, one in the shoulder and the other in his leg. By the time the next round of shots headed for the chopper, it was out of range and heading for the nearest point of rescue, The pilot, knowing the area, headed for the town of Maricopa, calling ahead asking permission to make an emergency landing at the County Sheriffs heliport. The control tower granted the request, and when the pilot landed, there was several officers there to meet him. Sheriff Johnson began the interrogation as the paramedics began to tend to the pilots wounds.

The pilot, giving Sheriff Johnson a full account of what had transpired, said, ” That crazy woman didn’t have any remorse about sending that man to his death, hands cuffed behind him and gaged!”

The Sheriff asked if the pilot had any ideas where the people were headed when he made his escape. ” All I wanted to do was get the hell out of there and report the murder!” The Sheriff asked, ” Were you able to hear any names or would you be able to identify any of them?” The pilot getting excited as the medics gave him a shot to relax his trauma said loudly, ” Your damn right I can! That killer bitch was the leader, and all of them jumped to her command. One man who seemed to be her head guy and the one she told to kill me, was named Lucas! The others didn’t seem as important to her. Their names were James, Arnold and the guy she pushed out the chopper, Larry!” The Sheriff asked, ” And what about the woman? Do you remember her name?” The pilot answered, ” something like ‘Nice’, or ‘ Nica’ but there wasn’t anything nice about her! ” Then after thinking for a minute, the pilot blurted out, ” I remember now, it was ‘ Ní-assa’! I thought it was a screwy name for a screwball woman! ” The Sheriff said, ” Thats a really different name alright. I’ll have my staff look it up and find out if she has any warrants out for her.”

Sheriff Johnson had one of his men do the search while he

continued to question the pilot. ” Let me get this straight. ” The

Sheriff started,” You went to the mountains to pickup some people that your boss’s kid said to pickup, because one of them had stolen the kids Jeep, right so far?” The pilot affirmed the narrative. ” Then when you found the Jeep in traffic, you blocked a state owned highway to let two of the men out to find the thief?” Again the pilot affirmed the statement. ” Was that the man you said they threw out of the chopper?” The Sheriff asked. ” Yes, I told you that!” the

pilot said angrily. ” No reason to get mad, I just want to make

certain I have all the facts!” the Sheriff said. ” And you saw a person throw this man out the door of the chopper, right?” By this time the pilot was loosing his temper saying, ” I told you, it was that damned Ní-assa woman!” The Sheriff saw that the questioning was not

being productive and ended with, ” If your story is collaborated, we will see what we can do to get you back with your chopper. For now just relax and sit still while my men try to trace your events.”

Leaving the pilot stewing, Sheriff Johnson went to the control center asking his lead investigator, ” What do you know about a woman called, ‘ Ní-assa’ ? ” The investigator smiling answered with , ” If you mean the bulletproof mysterious woman that my friend Juarez has been chasing for a while, then yes I have. ” The Sheriff asked his detective to elaborate. The detective gave an abbreviated account of what several of the law enforcers in three states and Mexico have said about the woman called, ‘Ní-assa.’ ” She lives a life full of anger, hatred, revenge, and in most cases, deadly results. It seems no matter if she is surrounded by an army of pursuers from lawmen to cartel people, she always eludes capture!” The Sheriff said, ” Oh yea, now I remember. She’s was the one those two guys that were chasing her joined up with Juarez and his Raiders from Mexico, at one time.” The detective added, and she is a She-devil in disguise, somehow making fools out of some dpangerious men with her ways! ” The detective asked, ” You think it would be alright to let Juarez know she has been seen here in Arizona? ” Sheriff Johnson

answered , ” Sure! He might even have some ideas of where she is going next. In the meantime, let that pilot go and tell him he can take his chopper, but be around if we need him. ” The Sheriff, going into his office called the County heliport, asking for a couple of

helicopters to do some reconnaissance along the path the pilot had stated where the body of that Larry guy might be.

In Mexico, one of Juarz’s operators hears the word ‘ Ní-assa’ in chatter coming from Arizona. Triggering what Juarez had cautioned him to be aware of, he calls Juarez’s attention to the report.

When Juarez hears the report and find it to be fairly accurate, he contacts Gary and Ed to tell them of the discovery. Excited, Gary calls Silhouette, and Gaspard to tell them of the news.

Excited to again hear of a sighting of the elusive Ní-assa, the four plan to go to Maricopa, Arizona, and meet with the County

Sheriff, Johnson. Gary suggested they meet in Big Springs and take his jet to Maricopa, where they can decide the best action to take from there. Silhouette liked the idea saying she and Gaspard

would meet them in the morning.

The following morning, the four board Gary’s plane for the trip to

Maricopa to see what they can discover about the whereabouts of

Ní-assa. Arriving, they are met by Sheriff Johnson, who was more than cooperative, wanting to have any assistance he could to solve the mysterious events of the helicopter and pilots story. ” You do believe him do you not?” Gary asked. The Sheriff was reluctant in answering because he was not going to make any decisions until he could see some evidence of a body or something. Ed inquired as to the bullet holes and the injuries to the pilot. The Sheriff had to agree that it looked like some kind of a crime, however if he was to do any real digging into the issue, there would most likely be some rough waters because of the owner of the Airbus Eurcopter.

Silhouette offered, ” Politics as usual I suppose.” The Sheriff

nodded his agreement saying, ” Arizona is big, but the Morgan’s have a lot of control about who gets what. His son, young Bruce Morgan may have some involvement, because he was in the chopper along with the woman, Ní-assa, and three of her men. ” Ed asked,

” Where is Bruce Morgan now?” The Sheriff answered , ” Most likely at the collage. He was with friends when the Ní-assa woman conned him into calling for his chopper to catch a member of her’s that went rouge and stole young Bruce’s Jeep.” Silhouette said, ” I

see this is going in several directions already.” Gary asked, ” What have you been able to do ?” The Sheriff answered, ” The one thing I could do without any problem was to have one of our helicopters survey the path that the pilot said he was flying , and try to find the body the pilot claimed was thrown out of the chopper. It isn’t that I don’t believe him, I just need some proof!” Gary agreed it was a

difficult task to work with what is the correct procedure and still stay clear of politics. The Sheriff had to agree, asking, ” Did you four have any ideas you were considering, since you seem to have a big interest in finding this Ní-assa woman. ” Gary, looking at the others said, ” She has done great harm to many we know and she seems to evade all of our efforts, so yes we do have a vested interest in capturing her, and putting an end to her murderous ways.”

Gary asked, ” I have a fleet of aircraft that could be useful in finding the body in the dessert. Would you like me to contact my people and have three or four fly in from California to assist in your search?” The Sheriff, grinning like he had just won a trip to the

Bahamas, answered with,” You do that and I will see you all have a room at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Hotel for as long as you are here in

Maricopa!” Gaspard, who had been silent, asked, ” And breakfast?” The group laughed and Gary began making calls.

Ní-assa, Lucas Arnold and James had recovered from the actions of the helicopter pilots evasive maneuvers, which had not only allowed the pilot to escape being killed, now he was free to tell the authorities, who was involved in the capture and execution of Larry. ” It’s obvious we will need to get the hell out of Dodge, if we are to elude capture! ” Ní-assa said in a reluctant admission. ” We need to get some funds and re-create what we started before those idiots threw everything out of wack!” Arnold asked, ” What ideas do you have for filling that void?” Ní-assa answered with, ” We will have to start with something a little less aggressive than a gambling casino. So does anyone have suggestions?” Lucas suggested that one theme that runs through the states that has a lot of cash and could be a source of income was ” Cannabis ” locations. James said, ” That’s not a good idea at all! Those stores don’t even take checks, and from what I hear, they have a two hour pickup for any monies.”

Ní-assa looked over at Lucas asking, ” Is that true about the pickup?” Lucas answered , ” Some places it’s true, but not all. Recreational marijuana is legal in several states, but banks are still hesitant to work with the industry, which means private transporters of the cash are hired to transfer the monies from the dispensaries to a safe government depositary. ” Ní-assa liked the idea of a lot of money being transferred, but wasn’t certain about how it would work on a smaller scale. She asked Lucas, ” Does this apply to New Mexico?” Lucas answered, ” Yes! There are several towns that have dispensaries. ” Looking at Lucas, Ní-assa said, ” I want you to go into Albuquerque, and check out the situation. Take James with you and perhaps we can make something out of the transporting of some of the dispensaries funds.” Arnold was listening to what Ní-assa

was ordering Lucas and James to do saying, ” I don’t want to get mixed up with cartel money! You know most of those places are owned by the cartels. Count me out!” Ní-assa walked over to the explosive maker explaining to him that he was in the chopper when she got rid of one problem, and she would not be hesitant to ad him to her list of fatalities accomplished! Arnold backed away, not wanting to make Ní-assa to become angry and do something he would regret. Leaving Ní-assa and Arnold, Lucas and James headed for Tucson to investigate the possibilities of hitting some of the dispensaries and get Ní-assa back on track with her plans for a big hit.

Arriving in Tucson, Lucas instructed James, ” You go in and start a conversation while I look around. This place is larger than I thought , and with several customers in the dispensary it’s not ideal for a hit. ” James agreed saying, ” There’s three more listed in

Tucson and maybe they are better targets.” Lucas had to agree that

a smaller target would be a lot better. Contacting Ní-assa, Lucas

explained the situation and recommended they try one of the smaller business’s. ” We don’t have time to run around to find out what one would be the most comfortable! ” Ní-assa yelled, ” Find a motel outside of town and we will meet you there to discuss our strategy. ”

James watched as Lucas hung up, looking concerned. ” She have any ideas?” James asked. Lucas answered , ” I think she has ideas but not what I would do, that’s for damn sure!”

By the time Ní-assa and Arnold arrived at the motel outside of town, Lucas had rented a room and had made certain no one would move in close to them by renting the end room and renting the only room next to theirs. Seeing the arrangement, Ní-assa commented to the other two, ” See! This is why Lucas gets the good jobs. He see’s what we need and goes for it” Arnold said, ” BFD! I blow things up and you just hold things up!” Lucas and James looked at Ní-assa

waiting for her responce. Ní-assa stood up, walked over to Arnold

saying, ” You know, ……when your right, your right.” Arnold looked at Ní-assa thinking, ” She doesn’t even look angry at what I said, perhaps my thinking she would be mad was wrong. ” The next thing Arnold would realize was ” My god !, she stabbed me!”

Sinking to the floor while Lucas and James stood still watching, Arnold looked over at Ní-assa mouthing, ‘ Why ?’ Ní-assa walked over to the two men who had not moved saying, ” He was right you know. We don’t kneed a blow up person with a big mouth. Now let’s move to the other room you rented next door, after you put Arnold in the closet. Before he gets too ripe we will be out of this place and headed back to Texas!” ”Texas? ” Lucas said with a question in his voice. Whats back there? I kind of thought we were going to head for California.” Ní-assa looked over at James, who was assisting Lucas in picking up Arnold, for placement in the closet. ” Learn from this, James. If you keep them guessing, you will always be ahead of the game!” Sitting in a chair, Ní-assa explained to the two men as they finished placing Arnold in his new resting compartment. ” I still have some unfinished business with some people in Texas. I need to acquire some funds first, and then make arrangements for a certain pair of irritants in Texas called Gary and Ed.”

Moving next door, Ní-assa laid out her plan for hitting three of the local Cannabis dispensaries and leaving for

New Mexico unless there is a problem. In that case we can drop down into Mexico to lie low for a while. Lucas and James listened to their leader intently hoping for a more positive approach for the hits than the one she was describing. ” You’re saying we hit all three of the Cannabis dispensaries within two hours and make our escape to New Mexico before the law, or even worse, the cartel find out who is responsible?” Ní-assa smiled broadly saying, ” You got it! This will not only guarantee us some great financial rewards, it will also show these people, Ní-assa is back! ”

Lucas and James listened to the plans Ní-assa related to them, and even they were beginning to believe it was a possibility. ” Just think of it!” Ní-assa said with total conviction, ” The fact that three

entrepreneurs held up three of Arizona’s Cannabis dispensaries within an hour, left without a trace! Lucas and James became

more excited with each of Ní-assa’s hype examples, knowing if they pulled it off, they would have no problem in getting others to join them.

The more Ní-assa talked the better it sounded to Lucas and James. Ní-assa said, ” We won’t have a lot of time but with the advantage of hitting all three dispensaries at the same time, we will have the element of surprise, and should use that for our getaway plan.” Lucas asked, ” What about transportation for us? We only have the one Jeep.” James joined in with, ” No problem there. I can get in a car in less than a minute, and have it to you before you can say money train!” Ní-assa laughed saying, ” Thats the kind of

enthusiasm we need to get this job done! You, Lucas and I will go in search of the right vehicles for the task right now, ready?”

The town didn’t have a lot of choices but when James saw a Maserati GranTurismo , he told Lucas, ”Now that’s a mighty fine car for a robbery! Fast and elegant at the same time. ” Ní-assa said, ” Thats a little fancy for us. We need something that doesn’t shout ‘ Look at Me!’ ” Driving around, James spotted a Dodge Avenger, saying to Lucas, ” There is a nice old guys ride!” Lucas grinned saying, ” Ok big man, let’s see how you operate! ”

James pulled around the corner of the building saying, ” You two wait here and when I drive by, follow me!” In less than two

minutes, James drove by, giving a slight tap on the horn and driving to the motel with Ní-assa and Lucas following. Stepping out of the Dodge Avenger, James said, ” Would like a second one now or wait until another older one is available?” Ní-assa had to grin at the young mans enthusiasm saying, ” I think anything along the lines of the Avenger would be just fine!” Leaving Ní-assa at the motel,

Lucas and James headed back out to find another car for the attack on the three dispensaries. Driving on the outskirts of town, James was still talking about the Maserati and what a fine ride it would be.

Lucas told him to think a little smaller and not such a high end set of wheels. ” Then how about that red one over there ?,” pointing to a Ford GT. Lucas answered, ” Looks good, will it do the job?” James said, ” You really don’t know much about cars do you?” Lucas

answered, ” I just drive them, and don’t need to know who made them!” James, laughing said, ” That particular Ford can do 200 MPH and with a little work even faster. ” Lucas, getting irritated said, ” You don’t have to make love to the damned thing! Just get in it and let’s leave!” James stepped out of the car and walked over to the GT. After a couple of moves, he casually got in and after less than a minute under the dash, the roar of the Ford sounded out.

Setting up in the drivers seat, James motioned to Lucas to go ahead.

Lucas took off towards the motel with James coming up along side once they were on the highway. Lucas, staying within the speed limit so not to attract attention, motioned for James to slow down and get in behind him. With less than four miles to the motel, James gunned the GT, sending the car down the highway like a missile.

When Lucas pulled in to the motel parking lot, James was setting

against the car with a mock yawn, stretching his arms and looking at his watch. Lucas got out of his car and walking over to James, gave him a violent double slap across the young mans face!

” You stupid son of a bitch! What would you have done if a cop saw you speeding ninety miles an hour down the highway? ” James,

staggering from the slap answered, ” I wasn’t thinking I guess.”

” Your damn right you weren’t thinking!” Lucas yelled. Ní-assa came out of the apartment telling both of the men to get inside and shut the hell up! Once the three were inside the room, Ní-assa asked

” What brought all this up? You’re making such a racket half the people here could hear you!” James started to say something when Lucas yelled, ” Shutup Kid!” Turning to Ní-assa, Lucas said, ” This idiot was behind me on the highway and decided to act like a racecar driver, speeding past me and racing ahead at ninety miles an hour.” James interjected, ” Actually it was ninety eight .” Hearing that, Ní-assa said to James, ” I thought I made it clear with Arnold as an example, that there is no room for stupid in my team!” James stood very still, waiting for what was to come next. Ní-assa walked over to Lucas saying, ” You were right in slapping James around, but if you do it in public again, I will have to make some changes. Understood? ” Lucas said he understood and sat down. Returning to James, Ní-assa said, ” What you did was so close to messing everything up, I would normally just kill you, but luckily for you, this job requires three to make it happen. However, just so you will remember how close you came to some different kind of discipline, I’m going to give Lucas a third of your share, of whatever we recover from the three dispensaries.” With that Ní-assa poured three glasses of scotch and handing each a glass offering, ” Here’s to the success of our project, and to working together!” Under his breath James said, ” Here’s to payback! ”

After a short time, the three headed for their respective vehicles. Ní-assa started to take the Jeep but James said taking the Avenger was much better, in case something happens. Ní-assa questioned him with, ” What do you mean, ‘ if something happens’ ?” James

answered, ” I can drive the jeep circles around the authorities much better than you because of my experience. You need a high powered vehicle for a quick getaway.” Ní-assa thanked James for thinking ahead, saying, ” See, a little discipline goes a long way if you try.”

Lucas stood by the Ford Avenger as James headed for the Jeep.

” Don’t feel bad James, after this you can buy that Maserati !”

Lucas said, laughing. The two men stood by their vehicles waiting for Ní-assa. Looking at her watch, Ní-assa said, ” It’s two o’clock. The armored trucks will be there for the afternoon pickup at three, so go in, make your play and get out! You have to be in and out in that short time with as much as you can take. Don’t stay for anything more or else you will get caught! See you in Las Cruces!” Lucas gave a thumbs up as did James, all entering their cars and heading in their respective locations.

Ní-assa was the first to enter her choice of Cannabis dispensaries. Leaning over the counter, Glock in hand, saying to the clerk, ” No noise or alarm buttons and you will be home for dinner! ” The clerk quickly placed the money from the register in a bag. Ní-assa said,

” Cute! Now get the rest of the bills from that armored bag under the fake deposit drawer! ” The clerk did what he was told, and Ní-assa

left with time to spare.

Closer to the edge of town Lucas had preformed basically the same

set of plans and had come away with a bag and a half of money still in the armored bags.

James had thought about what had transpired and how the armored bag would be much better if he didn’t have to share it with the other two. Driving up to the Cannabis dispensary, James made one phone call then went in to the store following the holdup procedures laid out by Ní-assa, leaving with two armored bags, with one exception….. He was keeping the whole thing for himself! His call to the authorities had alerted them of his one time partners and that they were heading for Las Cruces, while he was going to make one more stop and then head in the other direction, for California!

Returning to the place where he had first seen the Maserati GranTurismo, James pulled in two cars behind it and after scrutinizing the area for anyone that might be associated with the Maserati,

felt comfortable enough to approach the convertible with caution and a little excitement. Once again looking for signs of anyone watching the Maserati, and being satisfied it was safe, James jumped in and squeezing his hands under the dash felt for the

familiar wires he associated with starting a car without the keys.

When the wires connected, the sound of the powerful engine roared, and James was set to leave. In his enthusiasm to steal the Maserati,

convertible and taking off, James had left the two armored bags in the Jeep. ” Shit! ” He yelled, making a sharp U turn, stopping at the Jeep to grab the two bags. Men came running out of the office building, calling for James to stop! He jumped back into the Maserati with the bags and sped off into the downtown traffic, heading for California.

Silhouette and Gaspard arrived in Maricopa and immediately contacted Garry and Ed to see what the next steps would be in the hunt for Ní-assa. After greeting the pair, Gary called Sheriff Johnson and all headed for the heliport. Once there, Gary informed the Sheriff that the choppers Gary had promised were on the way. Returning to the heliport office, the four watched as the Sheriff began to explain the searching process for locating lost people when they wander into the desert and get lost. Ed asked, ” You said the pilot claimed that

Ní-assa was the one to throw the man from the chopper ?” That was what he said, and I believe he was being truthful. Silhouette

said, ” Thats a lot of territory to search isn’t it?” The Sheriff agreed explaining, ” We have had a lot of experience in this kind of searching, so I am confident that between my choppers and the generous

ones that Garry has provided, we should get results in a very short time. ”

When the helicopters arrived from Gary’s group, all participants gathered for a final review and then they began the search for the body of the man called Arnold.

After Sheriff Johnson became air born in the County helicopter, Gary and Ed took off in one of the two choppers Gary had sent for.

Silhouette and Gaspard were the third to rise, all headed for different areas in search of the body as described by the pilot . They had hardly gone more than a few miles when the Sheriff was informed of two separate chases in progress from Tucson. Listening to the conversation, Gary listened intently when the mention of an informant reporting that two separate people had just held up two different Cannabis dispensary’s Sheriff Johnson asked for more information and was told the suspects were headed directly in line with

Maricopa ! Sheriff Johnson was apprised of what was happening

but continued to search the desert for the body. The dispatcher called again with a report that a third dispensary had been hit, but this time it was held up by someone who had just stolen a Maserati owned by a local Realtor! Sheriff Johnson asked if the three were related . The dispatcher answered, ” It’s possible, however the third suspect was the informant that told us of the other two! He is headed for the California border, while the other two are headed for New Mexico.” The dispatcher said that the Tuscan Lawmen along with the state police will try to stop the Maserati thief before he goes over the state line into California. ” The only information we have on the other two vehicles heading your way, is the names the third suspect gave concerning them which was, Lucas and some other name that sounded like Kneeassa”!

Sheriff Johnson calling Gary said, ” This is sounding like it could be the woman your after. I’m going to abort the body search and we can track down the escaping suspects more in line with your search for the woman, Ní-assa!” Gary thanked the Sheriff saying he would follow whatever instructions that he should give. With that the

Sheriff had the pilot continuing to head towards Tuscan, and instructing Gary’s craft to take the East end of Maricopa to try and stop any vehicle in case they escape the Sheriff’s net and try to head back towards Maricopa. Silhouette and Gaspard will hover over

the East end of Maricopa, in the event the pair elude the two

choppers. Gary and Silhouette answered with an affirmative, and began to head for their designated areas.

Gary looked over at Ed saying, ” We got her this time!” Ed held his excitement thinking of the times the elusive Ní-assa had slipped through the nets laid out for her.

Ní-assa, realizing her plans had been ignored by James when she tried to contact him as to where he was, with no reply. Lucas contacted Ní-assa saying he was almost to New Mexico, but had seen the choppers closing in and wanted her to know he was giving up.

Silhouette and Gaspard had seen him and called ahead for the border patrol to apprehend him. Knowing he was caught in the cross hairs of helicopters, border patrol and others, Lucas pulled over, then getting out of the car, placed his hands behind his neck and waited for the choppers to land.

With the description by Lucas of the overflow of police and border patrol it was evident that James had betrayed them and told of their locations. There would not be enough time to change course or head into the desert, but as always Ní-assa had an alternative plan . Pulling over on the side of the road, she stuffed as much of the cash in the armored car bags as she could into her blouse, then putting on her jacket, ran ahead on the highway for a time until a passing car saw her pleading signal to stop.

The couple in the old Chevy pickup stopped when seeing Ní-assa frantically waving her arms for them to stop. After they came to a stop, Ní-assa jumped into the bed of the pickup and yelled, ” Please drive away quickly!” The woman in the vehicle looked at her husband saying, ” The poor dear looks terribly frightened Harold.” The man gunned the Chevy into gear and heading for Tuscan saying to his wife, ” I hope you know what your doing.” After about five miles Ní-assa tapped on the rear window signaling for them to pull over. When the man stopped, Ní-assa jumped out of the trucks bed and asked to ride in the cab. ” I’ll tell you everything, but please keep driving away from that place!” The man asked, ” What do you mean by ‘ That place’ ?” Ní-assa, fake tears flowing, responded with, ” My husband was going to kill me! He took me out here in the desert to kill me and run off with some woman!” The woman placed her arms around Ní-assa saying, ” That’s alright dear, we will not let him catch you, Right Harold? ” Harold responded by once again heading for Tuscan. As the Chevy headed for the city, Harold mentioned that there were more helicopters heading toward Maricopa than he had ever seen. ” Maybe it’s a bad car wreak, you know how people drive on these long desert highways.” His wife offered.

As they approached Tuscan, Ní-assa said, ” Let me off at the first motel and I will call my brother to come pick me up!” The woman

responded with, ” Don’t be silly dear, we will take you right to the police and they can arrest that monster before he can hurt you!”

Ní-assa answered , ” No-No, I don’t want you wonderful people involved at all! He is so crazy I don’t know what he would do to anyone who helped me!” Harold said, ” She’s right! We shouldn’t get involved. We don’t need any more trouble!”.

Ní-assa sat waiting for the woman to respond to her husbands comments. Approaching Tuscan, Ní-assa pointed to a motel saying, ” There! Thats fine! Just pull over and I will get out, and you two can be on your way!” Harold pulled into the motel as three more police cars speed by. ” That must have been one hell of an accident!”

He said pulling to a stop. ” Watch your tongue, Harold!” the wife said. Then to Ní-assa,” Are you certain we can’t help more dear?”

Ní-assa hugged the woman saying, ” You have been wonderful to me! I’ll never forget you!” Then grabbing a handful of bills from her blouse and handing them to Harold, saying her words low and slowly,” You never saw me! And by the way, Take care of that woman or I will come back and kill you!” Hesitant to take the money from Ní-assa, knowing she meant what she said, Harold promised he would not tell anyone. Then taking the money, quickly got back into the Chevy and was gone !

Going into the motel, Ní-assa, asked for a street level room and a car rental that delivers to the motel. Handing the man at the front desk

a hundred dollar bill, she said, ” There’s another one of those if no one is given any reason to ask who it’s for.” The man at the desk said ” Pleased to be of service! If you need anything else, just ask for Johnny” as he slid the bill into his pocket, continuing with, ” How about I just write Mary Jane, Guest in the registration log.” Ní-assa gave Johnny another hundred saying, ” That will be very nice, glad we think alike.”

Unaware of the drama happening close to the California border where James was racing from the authorities, Ní-assa entered her motel room with the attitude that even if that stoolie James is caught, he can’t possibly know where I am now!

James had thought the authorities would be too busy with capturing Ní-assa and Lucas, the other two he had told them about, but looking up at the sound above, James realized the sound overhead was the police! One of the border patrol choppers had called in a sighting saying the Maserati was traveling at a high speed just outside Yuma, heading West. He was about ten miles from the freight line tracks, and that they were in pursuit. Sheriff Johnson had received the message and within a short time was in sight of the high speeding Maserati thief, and those trying to stop him before he went over the state line into California.

The chopper with Gary and Ed had not seen any sight of the Maserati or James, so when the Sheriff contacted them with the

Maserati sighting, and that the Tuscan Lawmen along with the state police and Sheriff Johnson were in pursuit!

James seeing the law closing in knew he only had a few miles before the California border. Approaching the railroad tracks, James could see the train coming from the east and knew if he could make his approach just right, he could use the train as a buffer between him and the law.

Getting closer to the tracks, he passed a 18 wheeler rig full of lumber that also saw the train approaching and was following a truckers rule of safety by beginning the process of slowing down the heavy rig when approaching a railroad crossing, in order to not try and outrace a locomotive! James figured if he slowed down it would allow the law to surround him. ”One advantage of having a convertible ” James thought ” If I start shooting at the driver, he may overturn his rig! Running alongside the 18 wheeler, James started shooting at the drivers window. The driver , trying to miss the bullets, swerved

back and forth trying to miss getting hit. James kept firing his Glock into the cab. The irrational swerving of the rig finally caused the driver to turn too sharply and the entire truck trailer combo went into a tilt with lumber falling in waves of boards filling the road with debris causing the law to stop the chase.Looking over his shoulder, James laughed at the mess in the highway knowing it would be enough to slow down his pursuers.

Unfortunately, the maneuver had cost James several seconds of

precious time, and now the train’s engine was almost to the crossing. James slammed the accelerator to the floor knowing he would make the crossing before the train, which was blasting its horn seeing the small vehicle racing to make it across before the train reached the crossing.

At the crossing, the Maserati, smashing through the guard rail and being lifted at the crossing incline, became airborne, flying over the tracks! James felt a moment of triumphant glory as the Maserati started to come down on the other side. What he had not expected was the boarding rail of the speeding engine catching the last fourteen inches of the Maserati which had not quite made it across before the impact. When the engine rail caught the auto in flight, there was no resistance from the vehicle causing it to be violently slammed against the ever moving oil tankers the train was pulling.

The impact caused the oil car to jump the track however fortunately, the engineer was able to stop the train before the tanker fell over completely.

By the time Gary and Ed’s chopper and the one Sheriff Johnson

was in arrived, there was nothing to do but watch the burning Maserati pieces spread from the crossing to almost a half mile along the track. One of the border patrol came up to Sheriff Johnson

saying,”Not much left of the driver. but we’ll have the corner put together what pieces he can for your report.

When Gary and Silhouette both heard of the train crashing into the car close to the California border, and the man called Lucas

surrendering East of Maricopa, they called one another to verify if Ní-assa had been part of either action. Ed, listening to their conversation reminding Gary, ” Remember what I said about the elusive Ní-assa, and how she slipped through the nets laid out for her. ” Silhouette said, ” I have to agree, but this time we have the police resources of two states and our own people after her.”

Gary joined in with,”Ed’s right. We can’t afford to give her any slack at all! ” Gaspard inquired if any of the helicopters were equipped with surveillance equipment. Gary answered with, ” I’m not certain about the one on Sheriff Johnson’s rig, however ours was on.” Looking over at Gaspard, Gary added, ”Thats a great idea, lets look at the choppers playback to see if it can shed any light on where Ní-assa, may have slipped through the perimeter loop.”

Sheriff Johnson was busy with other law enforcement officers answering questions and getting some answers. When Gary approached him with the question concerning the availability of

any surveillance equipment on his helicopter, the Sheriff responded with, ” Unfortunately the device was not in working order and had been sidelined for a time.” Gary explained that it was being used on his choppers, and they were going to see if anything was prevalent to finding the woman Ní-assa, since she had not been apprehended by any of those in the task force. Sheriff Johnson apologized for his

chopper not having a working camera unit, then added he had to return to the other officers to put together the reports all would be responsible for. Gary and Silhouette thanked the Sheriff for his efforts, with Gary adding, ” It was a fine effort by all, and we did get some of the bad guys off the grid!” Sheriff Johnson smiled saying, ” Yes we did! Some whole and others not so much!” Ed grinning stated,

” Well, thats one way to put it!”

After the ID’s had been confirmed, it was evident that Ní-assa had slipped through the law and Gary’s net! All of those in the operation were sorry for not apprehending Ní-assa. ” Because she is a fugitive wanted for the suspected murder of the patrolman in New Mexico, plus others killings, he will be on many radars, and we will keep a tight vigil for any sightings, so expect some results from that posting.” The Sheriff said confidently

Gary, Ed, Silhouette and Gaspard sat in the coffee shop to discuss what was the next step in their quest to capture the elusive Ní-assa.

The conversation headed toward all talking about returning to their respective places. Ed said, ” It will be good to see Lulu again, I know Sophia is taking good care of her, but every time I’m gone for an extensive period, I wonder how she is handling it.” Gary laughed saying, ” From what I’ve seen, that pup has everyone fawning over her so if anything, you may have to ask for an audience to see her when you get back!” The others laughed knowing Gary was most likely correct in his assumption. Ed replied, ” Perhaps your right, but I will still expect her to jump into my arms when we return to Big Springs.” After everyone had given their thoughts on what would be the next step, it was a unanimous decision that it would be best if they all returned and waited for the next sighting .

Just as they start to disperse, a call from Sheriff Johnson comes with the information they thought would be much later.

The Sheriff informed the group that he had been contacted by an

anonymous caller who had seen the news and heard that the last of the suspects could be a woman. The man had suggested that the woman who had just rented a motel room could be her, and asking if there is a reward for the woman. Gary told the Sheriff,” Absolutely!” Explaining, ”How about twenty thousand for starters? With the informant money designation, the Sheriff called the man back with the offer by Gary adding, ” We will need a place to meet where you can verify your sighting. Where are you calling from?” There was a long moment of silence , then the man said, ”The Chop Block and Brew close to the casino in Maricopa. Meet me there in the parking lot.” Sheriff Johnson asked, ” What kind of car will you be in? And by the way what is your name?” ” I’m in a VW and my name doesn’t matter, just meet me there and I will tell you where she is.” After hanging up , Sheriff Johnson set in motion for his task force to be on alert, then informed Gary’s group of the plans to meet with the informant and find out where he thinks she is staying. ” I don’t want to scare her off.” Gary said to Sheriff Johnson, ” But we will be ready for whatever position you want us in.”

Sheriff Johnson said he would go into The Chop Block and Brew

and finalize the location of Ní-assa, then inform his task force to approach. ” If you want to be some type of observer, I can’t be responsible for your safety, and I know how much you want to see this person caught, but it has to be legal however, so don’t get in our way.”

Gary tells the group of the Sheriff’s restrictions, which did not go over very well. Ed argued that the six of them had a better chance of capturing Ní-assa, than the whole lot of Johnson’s people! Silhouette and Gaspard had to agree knowing what they had seen of Ní-assa’s ability to slip through tight spots.

In the parking lot of The Chop Block and Brew, Sheriff Johnson

approaches the VW and ask’s ” You ready to tell me now?” The man asked, ” Where’s my money?” The Sheriff replied, ” It will be yours when we capture the woman.” The man baulked at the statement with, ” You didn’t say anything about all that, I’m out of here!” Before the man could start his car, Sheriff Johnson reached in and removed the car keys from the steering wheel. ” What the hell are you doing?” the man protested, ” I don’t want to be part of this, just let me go!” The Sheriff asked, ” You want to throw away twenty thousand just for giving out the name of a location?” The man was obviously frightened, but thought of the reward and said, ” She’s in the lower room fifteen in the motel next door! ” The

Sheriff said, ” Now that wasn’t too hard was it? By the way, how do you know about this?” The man said, ” Because I’m the Manager!” Then pulling the man from his car, Sheriff Johnson said, ” Now be a good Manager and go back to the motel and call her up saying you have a problem with some of the rooms on the ground floor that have a serious gas leak and everyone will have to leave their rooms for a time. And don’t worry, we will have you in sight the whole time. ” The Manager didn’t want to be any part of what was about to go down, but now he was being forced to be a part of the decoy.

Returning to his office at the Motel, the Manager started to phone

Ní-assa’s room, when she walked into the office asking, ” What’s your name Mr. Manager?” The Manager stammered a bit then said,

” Olson, Johnny Olson, Why?” Looking at the young man fooling with papers trying not to look at Ní-assa, she became suspicious asking, ” Where’s a good place to get a steak around here?” Then adding, ” You look a little jumpy Johnny…. anything bothering you?” The Manager replied, ” Nothing, just must be the weather or something” As always, Ní-assa’s senses were on high alert and she asked if he wanted her to bring something back from the restaurant.

Johnny became a little more nervous saying, ” If your going to eat out, I’d recommend the steak house a couple of miles into town, but a lot better food!” Ní-assa replied, ” Great! Thanks for the idea. When I come back to the motel, I’ll have you to thank for a great meal.”

When Ní-assa leaves, Johnny calls the Sheriff saying she had gone out but would be back after she has dinner.

Sheriff Johnson, being on alert, told his men to stand ready, then contacted Gary to explain where his men will be and to not interfere in any way. Gary called the others saying, ” We can meet outside of the motel area to wait for Ní-assa’s return Don’t have much time to get ready, however I think we should split up and watch all four

areas of escape, just in case. The Sheriff has his team on alert however we know what Ní-assa is capable of and I want to get her this time!”

Sheriff Johnson’s task force was stationed a distance from the motel waiting for Ní-assa’s return, with Johnny, getting more tense as he waits inside the office for Ní-assa’s return. When there’s a rap on the rear door of the office, Johnny jumps up to open it, hoping it would be the Sheriff saying all was well and the woman was in custody.

Instead, when he opened the door, there was Ní-assa, smiling and holding a badge from one Sheriff Johnson’s task force.

Johnny begins to back up while Ní-assa begins to question him about all the activity out in the new car sales lot next door.

Johnny edges toward the front door hoping someone might see

Ní-assa and rescue him Ní-assa’s voice lowers asking Johnny if he was expecting someone? You keep looking out the window!

Johnny replied, ”No, just wanted to go outside and check on the parking lot. People have been abusing the place by sleeping in their cars in this lot and I should check on that”.

” That probably was not your best attempt at lying, Johnny.” Ní-assa said with a smile that looked like a tiger about to jump. ” We both know there’s someone out there that would like to see me I think. don’t you agree? Now turn the door lock carefully without drawing attention and look at the beverage machine.” Wanting to run, but afraid of what this crazy woman might do, Johnny steps back from the office door towards the front of the beverage machine on the other side of the entrance. ” I’m thirsty, how about you Johnny?” Ní-assa asked . Johnny responded with, ” Not now, I mean no thanks, I don’t drink sodas anyway….. .” Before his last words were finished , Ní-assa pulled him away from the front of the beverage machine, to the side, away from anyone looking in from the outside. Then with her knife appearing in her hand, from her neck sheath as it had in the past, Ní-assa removed all anxieties Johnny might have had. Keeping a watchful eye on the outside activity,

Ní-assa released her grip on Johnny and watched as he slid down the wall, to the floor.

Going to the rear of the office where the maintenance uniforms,

including one for the housekeeper, were kept, Ní-assa slipped into the white uniform that hung like a sack on her. ” Good god that woman is big! ” Ní-assa said as she looked at the size of the uniform in the mirror. But tightening the waist belt and folding over the sleeves, she was able to look the part from a distance.

Leaving the office by walking out the front door, Ní-assa sees a laundry truck about to unload the cleaned laundry for the motel. She goes over to him and begins her well documented flirting tactics on the driver. Before long Ní-assa has seduced the man enough to get him to drive her out of the motel parking lot with the promise of an exciting time, once they are out of the managers nosey interruptions.

One of the undercover officers had watched as the driver began to pull away from the office with the woman in the cab with him. He looked over at his partner saying, ” That slick looking maid is going to make that driver happy tonight I bet.” The two men laughed at the prospect of what might be happening while talking about other

‘ motel maids ’ they heard about and wondering what the cost might be for a maiden thrill !

While the time seemed to be going slower for Sheriff Johnson as he waited for the appearance of his suspect, Ní-assa to return from her dinner so he could make the arrest, Gary and his group had positioned themselves in random places in case of an escape attempt.

Gaspard was close to the rear of the building and thought he saw something lying close to the rear entrance to the office. Going over he discovered the body of one of Sheriff Johnson’s men. Calling the

Sheriff first, Gaspard told of his find and that it was possible Ní-assa

had already been to the motel and had killed the guard! After

notifing the Sheriff, Gaspard called the group and explained his find. Standing by while Sheriff Johnson interrogated his men asking who was guarding the area besides the dead officer, and tell in detail any activity they saw. The two closest to the office entrance was asked if there was any activity at all next to the office. The one officer said, ” There wasn’t anyone around the office at all. In fact the only people we saw was the laundry guy and his truck.” The other man added, ” The maid was there also, but the two of them left in the laundry truck, most likely to have some fun.” Sheriff Johnson

yelled out, ” Where the hell is the manager?” One of the team came running over saying, ” Sheriff Johnson, the Manager is dead also!”

Silhouette asked the man, ” Did you see any clothes on the ground or thrown over a chair or anything like that?” Sheriff Johnson asked, ” What made you ask that?” The officer replied, ” As a

matter of fact there was some stuff thrown in the trash at the back door.” Silhouette looked over at the men who had talked about the encounter between the truck driver and the woman. ” Was there anything unusual about the woman?” The one officer replied, ” Not really, except she could hardly keep her clothes on because she was thin and they were so big on her.” The officer that discovered the manager said, ” There’s pictures of the manager and staff on the office wall, and the maintenance woman is far from small!”

Silhouette looking at Gary said, ” I’ll bet that was Ní-assa in that truck !” Sheriff Johnson yelled out, ” Shit! I have a whole army of men and that woman slipped through us like we were grunts straight out of the academy! ” Gary and Silhouette had to admit they were fooled also. Ed said he was glad that Gaspard had discovered the one body or else they would still be waiting around for Ní-assa !

After Sheriff Johnson, sent out an all points lookout for the laundry truck, it wasn’t long before it was discovered in !

The Sheriff, furious over what had taken place, said with gritted teeth, ” Very cleaver of her to leave it in the middle of town where there is no way to tell in which direction she might have gone. One thing for certain, the driver won’t be giving out any clues either.” Sheriff Johnson said, seeing the photo of the laundry driver

slumped over the steering wheel with his throat slit.

With all but one of the men following Ní-assa being dead, and the last one on his way to jail for a long time, Gary and his group

give Sheriff Johnson a best of luck high five, for the mess that he would have to be facing with Ní-assa slipping through the net! The Sheriff

thanked the group for trying to assist with the capture saying, ” I have to say, your group might have been even more useful if I hadn’t been so determined to do it the regular way, but you know how that goes I’m sure. Hope you find her someday, and give me a call when you do so I can lift a glass to all of you .” The group left with regrets of not being able to have had Sheriff Johnson being able to take credit for Ní-assa’s takedown.

To meet one more time as a group, Gary had arranged for the four to have a special dinner at the best steakhouse in Tuscan. When everyone had arrived, Gary said, ” It was like we were here just a while back, yet here we are again, with the same unfinished task of taking down our nemesis, Ní-assa. But even though we gave it our best, she still is out there somewhere, in hiding and without any of the

assets she once had. We have been able to keep her on the run through several states, destroyed her attempts to take over two gangs, and put a huge burden on her ability to find support from most of the organized gangs from cartels to locals. So I personally think congratulations to all of you is worth my buying dinner! ”

The applause from his friends was heartfelt knowing all of them had sacrificed much, but they still had the camaraderie for one another.

Ed said he was looking forward to returning to Big Springs. ” Yes, yes”, they all said, laughing at Ed’s statement after the kidding they had given him the last time . Silhouette said, ” You know, it would be nice if I had a great puppy like Lulu that I could take with me to our new headquarters in Texas.” Garry broke in with, ” Texas? I thought your base was all entrenched in the East coast.” Gaspard

added, ” I thought the same thing until the other day when she said we were going to be moving the entire unit to Texas, in the near

future.” ” Wasn’t that kind of sudden? ” Gary asked. Silhouette explained that she had thought about a move when things got so dangerous in the place she had originally set up her business. ” I

don’t want to loose any one else to the crime that was becoming an everyday situation. ” Ed interjected, ” I can’t say that I blame you for your decision, but you can’t have Lulu as a house warming gift!”

Laughing, they all talked of happier times, avoiding the subject of the months of pursuing Ní-assa, without success in capturing her.

Ed asked Gaspard, ” You think you will like Texas ? After all you are an East coast kind of guy. ” Gaspard replied, ” I would follow

Silhouette to the moon if she asked! ” Silhouette looked over at her very faithful second in command saying to the group, ” Gaspard has been with me from the beginning, and this move will give him a better chance to do some of the regrouping ideas he has had for the

organization. ” Gary said, ” He certainly has shown his energy these past months.” Silhouette lifted up her glass saying, ” And I want to be the first to congratulate my friend and new partner, Gaspard !”

Gaspard had no idea of the gift he was receiving from his employer and friend. Silhouette laughed, saying to her friend, ” You and I have had many experiences together and you have never once refused any of my requests. It only seems right that your loyalty be given the recognition you deserve. Gaspard, I hope you accept this offer as given to you by a grateful friend. ” Gary and Ed applauded

saying what a generous gift by Silhouette. Gary spoke saying, ” I know the two of you will make Silhouette’s business even greater than before. ” Gaspard, finding it difficult to speak offered, ” I can only hope to be as faithful to Silhouette, as she has been to me!”

The evening continued with much talk of Gaspard’s focus on the future advancement for Silhouette’s company. In the morning,

Silhouette and Gaspard thanked Gary and Ed for the great send off adding they will probably be seeing a lot more of one another since they will be moving to Texas soon. Gary said, ” I’m going to watch how well you make the transfer to see if perhaps I will follow your venture with my California company. ”

After Silhouette and Gaspard left, Ed said, ” So, it’s back to Big Springs I guess?” Gary looked at Ed saying, ” I suppose there really isn’t anymore we can do here, so yes, let’s get ready and head back to Big Springs.” Neither man said anything about the past months and the heavy burden of not apprehending the person responsible for so many painful experiences. They would talk of other things, however each knew that if there had been any chance of following

Ní-assa after her narrow escape from the authorities, they all would have been ready. Ed was looking forward to seeing Lulu again, and Gary would like to make certain his friends Patrick and Maria were settled after the experience they endured from the intruders of Maciver’s two men. Ed asked Gary, ” After we check in with the folks in Big Springs, are you heading back to California ?” Gary replied, ” Yes, I have to see if there are any fires that require my attention. And how about you? Did you give some thoughts to coming back with me on a full time basis?” Ed answered, ” I did think it would be a great idea, but why would you need another person in you organization that doesn’t know a lot about your services.?

Gary hesitated for a moment then said, ” What would you think of staying on as a consultant for my new Texas operation?” Ed smiled replying, ” I thought that was just a passing thought, not an actual plan.” Gary said, ” Well…. you know how I operate, and have been with me is so many capacities, from friend, rescuer, supporter, to a shoulder I could lean on when tragedy struck!” Ed said, ”As I recall, it was you who arranged that meeting with a certain lady at the airport when we got back from Nam!” Gary laughed answering, ” I do admit to all charges!” The two men started to regal one another of the good and not so good times and the adventures they have had over the years.

Driving back to Big Springs, the two men had no idea that in a place called Roswell, in New Mexico, a woman with hate and revenge, that knew no bounds, was plotting how she could find a way to

destroy the people in her life that had caused her to become a wanted, hunted person in many states! Ní-assa had always been able to find a sanctuary in some form or another. Sometimes in the form of sexual encounters where she could lure a man into a situation that many times would end up in their deaths. At one time she was a sought after assassin, used many times by the cartels, but had lost her standing when she murdered one of the Chicago cartel

family members, in a rage over an insult, that resulted in her being a target for that members family, whom she ended up killing three of them also! Gangs in Texas and Arizona had a network that warned of her being bad news and a danger to have as a member of any group. Cartel syndicates and underworld people had similar feelings about any connection with the woman called Ní-assa!

Sitting alone in the 1920 Tavern in town, that was inspired by the sophistication and playfulness of speakeasy style, Ní-assa flirted with the bartender, gaining some of the history of the town, and mostly feeling out the local crime situation for a possible link to regain some momentum for her revenge against the men she hated and would see dea

The tavern was located incRoswell that is home to a small population of about 50,000 residents. ”It is known not only for aliens, ” The bartender said. ” But if you look around at the ambiance here in the restaurant, it gives a person the feeling of life back when it was pretty violent.” Ní-assa asked, ” What about crime? This seems like a quiet place.” The bartender laughed, exclaiming, ” Looking at violent crime specifically, this place has a violent crime rate that might be 3% lower than the New Mexico average, however if you look at the national average, your talking 118% higher, than the national average !” Ní-assa smiled saying, ” With those kind of averages you would think people would be running around with rifles and carrying sidearms !” The bartender replied, ” There’s plenty of firepower around, you just don’t see it like in times past.” Ní-assa

felt she had perhaps landed in the right place for her regrouping of a support gang. Looking around the room, it didn’t appear to be the kind of place that would support as heavy of a crime rate as the bartender had suggested, but she would just have to discover that for herself.

Ní-assa watched as some men, and two women entered a small side room that conveniently had a very aggressive looking guard standing by the entrance. Thinking perhaps she could discover something about what was happening on the other side of the door, Ní-assa

walked up to the man, asking, ” What’s going on in there? Anything a woman like me might be interested in?” The guard, undressing Ní-assa with his eyes answered, ” I really don’t think you would have too much to offer!” Ní-assa wasn’t expecting such a blowoff, from a man especially, but not having to dress the way the two women did, for a very long time, Ní-assa thanked the guard and left the tavern to go shopping!

It had been a while since Ní-assa had needed to use her ability to dress the part of a trolling arm candy woman, mainly because the men she had seduced lately were leaders of gangs in Texas, Mexico,

and the like. They were interested in great sex, and not so much of the outer covering of the merchandise. For some unknown reason, the bartender said that many of the leaders in the Roswell area had a ‘ Mine is fancier than your’s!’ attitude. Ní-assa knew she could handle any situation with her charm, but now she would have to do a little polishing up of her assets.

Suffering a bit from the shoulder wound she received after a knife encounter with an unwilling participant, a while back, Ní-assa was having difficulty in applying some of the needed applications to her body.

Inquiring around to find a good beautician, Ní-assa was told of a very fine and talented young woman who had been fired from a first rate salon, only a day ago. Asking why she was highly recommended and yet was discharge, Ní-assa was given an answer by a friend of the woman. ” Sally would give a great style to a person and the owner would become jealous, telling Sally she’d have to give the owner half of any excess tip or reward! ” Sally’s response was

to yell out to all of the hairdressers and clients in the salon, ” This cheep bitch is trying to extort money from me because I am so much better than her!” Leaving the Salon with her equipment and jacket, Sally looked back at the stunned owner finishing her statement with, ” And we all known that to be the truth!……except maybe her!”

Then passing a small palm tree in a very expensive potting bowl that was the owner’s pride and joy, Sally preformed one of her famous karate maneuvers, sending the tree, and its pottery base, heading straight towards the owner! One of the other beauticians managed to push the owner out of the way just before the tree hit the mirriored wall, bursting with a resounding crash!

Ní-assa had to laugh saying, ” I’d like to meet this high spirited amazon.” The woman gave her a card with Sally’s number.

Calling the number, Ní-assa was pleased with the response the woman gave her when the subject was broached about her exit from the salon. Sally explained, ” I don’t do well with someone trying to steel from me, even if I kind of steel from them on occasion.”

Ní-assa found the woman to not only be a fighter, she was as feisty as they come, both great traits, especially for a woman. Ní-assa had been subject to that problem before, so this Sally would be a person she would like to cultivate. Ní-assa asked Sally, ” Is there someplace we could sit down and talk without too much interference from prying eyes?” Sally replied with, ” I know just the kind of place you mean. It’s called The Pink Masquerade! and it caterer to women, much like the cigar and brandy rooms of a long time ago.” Ní-assa said, ” I like the idea, but it’s name is even more interesting. ” Sally

told of the original place with a different name . ” People got the wrong idea and it didn’t go over very well here.” Ní-assa asked, ” And what was the old name?” Sally smiled saying, ” The Pink Playhouse.” Ní-assa shot a look at Sally saying, ” I can see why the name was changed.” The two women arrived at the Pink Masquerade and after being admitted, sat down in one of the polished tables.

Ní-assa, looking around commented, ” This is the kind of place that would go over big in the East, but I’m kind of surprised it found a home in a town like this.” Sally agreed that it was strange to her also until she met the owner. She was a well known woman’s bar owner in Minnesota until some of the locals resented her success in having an all women’s bar and forced her out. Ní-assa was very

interested in such a woman and asked if she could meet her. Sally, looking over towards the bar , motioned for service, which brought over a woman who obviously knew Sally asking, ” What now, beauty queen?” Sally introduced Ní-assa explaining that she would like to speak to Milana. The bartender, looking at Ní-assa, smiled asking, ” You selling something or just curious?” Ní-assa answered, ” Tell her I would like to talk some business with her.” The woman left and in a short time a tough looking woman emerged from her office and came over to the table. ” What kind of business are we talking about?” Milana said with a voice of authority. Standing up to look the woman eye to eye, Ní-assa said, ” Being close to

Minnesota, you may have heard of my work in Chicago for the cartels.” ” Why would that be?” Milana asked. ” Because, like yourself, I had to leave a lucrative business because of some men wanting me to conform to their way.” Ní-assa said plainly. ” We both know that when you want something done, it’s better to call on another woman, if they have the courage to stand with you.” Milana

inquired, ” What did you say your name was?” Giving a raised eyebrow, followed by a soft smile, Ní-assa said, ” You might

recognize me by my unusual name, Ní-assa! ” Milana, grinning at Sally said, ” Well I’ll be damned, Sally, you know who your running around with?” Sally wasn’t aware at all, because in her line of work, such things normally aren’t what women talk about in the salon. Milana called to her bartender saying, ” Bring over a good scotch, with three glasses. I would like to inform my friend, Sally here, of just how much many of us women in these kind of men only

businesses look to Ní-assa as our hero!” Pouring scotch into the three glasses, Milana raised hers saying, ” Here’s to Ní-assa, may she stay around long enough to teach men around here how to

respect women!”

Sally asked Milana how she knew Ní-assa . Having another shot of scotch, Milana answered, ” I first heard of Ní-assa from one of my liquor salesmen. ” Looking at Ní-assa across the table, Milana hesitated then asked her, ” Do you mind if I repeat what the man told me?” Ní-assa laughed saying, ” Not as long as you tell it straight.”

Sally listened intently as Milana began her understanding of the situation in Chicago. ” Ní-assa has gained a great reputation and was hired by the Chicago cartel to do some work. During an interview, one young smart ass member sounded off about not having enough respect for him by a woman. The exchange was heated and ended in Ní-assa sending the cartel the man’s head in a box!” Sally sat with eyes wide, looking at this woman across from her, with wonder!

” You did that to the cartel? I bet they were plenty mad. ” Ní-assa

smiling added, ” As a matter of fact, they sanctioned the decapitated mans relatives to take me out!” Milana said, ” I didn’t hear that part. What happened?” Ní-assa grinned at Sally saying, ” You sure you want to hear this?” Sally quickly replied, ” Yes, very much .”

Milana added, ” I’d like to hear it also to tell the people around here who we have as a hero.” Ní-assa, putting her finger to her lips said, ” Because there are people still after me in several states, I wouldn’d want too much of this getting out.” Both Milana and

Sally leaned forward, with Milana whispering, ” We will keep it quiet that you’re here, exept if you want us to tell someone in particular, OK?”

” Sounds like a plan.” Ní-assa said. ” The rest of that story was that I meet up with the three of them in Mexico and after a short encounter, killed the two brothers and threw the grandmother out a

helicopter!” When Ní-assa finished, the two women sat quietly while Ní-assa poured three more scotch ’s and lifting hers said,

” Who knew Grandmothers couldn’t fly! ”

The afternoon turned into evening as Ní-assa dazzled the two women with tales of her adventures through the states. Milana

listened as thoughts ran pictures in her mind thinking of how different it would be here in Roswell if someone like Ní-assa was in charge. Sally asked, ” Will you be staying here long?” Ní-assa

replid with, ” At the present time, I have to be one step ahead of some people who would like to see me dead!” Milana interjected,

” Why not stay at my place, just outside of town, which is very

secure?” Sally added, ” And I could take care of any grooming or such for you.” Ní-assa thanked them both for their offers, ” I would love to stay for a while but are you secure with the baggage I have following me?” Milana said, ” I’ve had to live as a second rate person since moving here with the testosterone heavy at every turn! The only reason I was able to get the bar going, is by sleeping with the pig Alexei!” Ní-assa looking over at Sally asked, ” How is the

testosterone level at your end of town?” Sally answered, ” Shity! You can’t walk down the street without having to ignore all kinds of crap! And if you say anything, it get’s worse!” Milana motioned for another round. Ní-assa said, ”Perhaps this is something we should talk about in depth. It might be something I could help you both with. By the way, is there a good Chinese restaurant with takeout here? ” Sally interjected, ” The China King Super Buffet!”

Milana laughed saying, ” She’s right, the China King Super

Buffet is the best in the area. They have a great evening spread that could be brought here in a short time.” Ní-assa said, ” Then why don’t we make the best of our time tonight in figuring out a way where we can instill some correct attitude into the men around here!” Ní-assa smiled, watching the two women light up with

visible joy in their expressions. Then said, ” You two order for us and if I can have a pen and some paper, I’ll jot some ideas down that we can put into place after some adjustments.”

Returning with the China King meal, Milana and Sally asked if

Ní-assa wanted to begin with questions or tell her about the town after eating. Ní-assa answered with, ” First hand me a pair of those chopsticks, and a plate, then Sally, tell me about your karate ability.”

Sally was surprised to hear Ní-assa speak of the salon incident. ” I was intrigued by your exit from the salon.” Ní-assa said. ” It isn’t everyday a woman of beauty has the opportunity to show off her skills as a karate master” Sally thanked Ní-assa for her comments saying, ” I have some degree’s in black belt, however I wouldn’t classify me as a Master just yet.” Ní-assa said, ” Tell me a little more about your training.” Sally explained that she had been

attacked by a group of boys out for fun, and was able to fight them off with the help of a neighbor who came to her aid. ” After that happened, ” Sally said, ” I decided to get some training in self

defense. A friend told me about a special group in Fort Sumner where women were being taught Karate, so I thought what the hell, and drove the two hours to see what it was all about.” Ní-assa asked, ” How many women are in the class? ” ”There’s about thirty, but only four of us are from Roswell. ” Sally replied.

Milana interrupted , asking Ní-assa, ” You seem really interested in the Karate, is there a reason?” Ní-assa answered with, ” You should always wear boots in the desert because some snakes won’t tell you when your in their way.” Both Sally and Milana looked at one

another with a puzzled expression. Ní-assa explained, ” The beauty with Karate is that when you think it’s safe to pick on someone smaller than you……. it’s the wrong decision!” Then turning to Sally, Ní-assa asked, ” Of those other three Roswell women, are any as discontented with the ‘ Boys only’ attitude as you two?” Sally answered with, ” I think most of the women in the school are discontented with being the object of ridicule and garbage gawking by men!” Milana agreed with the statement adding, ” It would sure be nice to have some power to tell the men around here to go to hell when they mess with us.” Ní-assa could see the potential of building a group of women fighters like she had before.

Ní-assa said, ” Did you two ever hear of ‘Arizona Donnie Barker’ both shaking their heads in a negative response. ” Why?” Milana asked. Ní-assa explained that she was the matriarch of an outlaw gang of brothers and allies engaged in kidnaping and in payroll, post-office, and bank robberies in the 1920s and ’30s. Sally asked, ” What does that have to do with us?” Ní-assa answered, ” I’ve an idea that may be the answer to a lot of the problems around here with the testosterone terrors that seemed to have taken a hold on all

of you in Roswell. ”

Sally, looking at Milana said to Ní-assa, ” What do you mean by,

testosterone terrors? We aren’t afraid exactly, it’s just that they are all bigger and stronger than any of us and can hurt us in a lot of ways if we don’t succumb to their demands.” Ní-assa slammed down her fist on the table, which sent some of the dinner jumping out of the plastic plates. ” Bull Shit! Your letting them do that to you!” Ní-assa stared at the two women who by now was giving her their total attention. ” Sally! When you gave that plant back to the woman, with a karate kick, why was that any different than if it was a man and you did the same thing?” Then focusing her stare

towards Milana, Ní-assa said, ” And didn’t you say, the only reason you were able to get the bar going, is by sleeping with the pig Alexei ? Or maybe he had a gun to your head and that was the only way you could fight back.” Neither of the women could say anything that would make sense to excuse their fear of retaliation.

Grinning, and looking towards the women, Ní-assa said softly,

” But we are going to change all of that…. aren’t we ladies?”

Milana and Sally looked at one another, then back towards Ní-assa

saying in unison, ” Hell Yes !”

Ní-assa handed both a sheet of paper with some names she had written down. Then saying, ”I want you two to look up these women and see where it is possible for men and women to work together as a team, but in each story the woman has a significant part as a leader, but never gave the impression they were the essence of the team. ” Milana said, ” You sound like it’s alright to have a man as a team member. With me, I’d rather do a job alone rather than have some guy tell me he can do it better.” Ní-assa, addressing them both said, ” You take these names and stories of what I like to call

‘ Warrior Women’ and think about your own surroundings and how much you could get done if you had a male partner to do some of the manual and heavy duty things when necessary.” Sally offered,

” At the Karate class the other night, two of the women asked if I wanted to go on a blind date with one of the instructors who had asked about me. ” Ní-assa asked, ” And what did you say?” ” I said if they were to make it the three pairs together, I’d go. ” Sally admitted. ” Great!” was Ní-assa’s responce. ” If this guy works out you have a better chance of feeling out his thoughts on certain

actions I have in mind.” Milana said, ” It almost sounds like your recruiting .” ” Your right on the money, Milana, thats exactly what I had in mind.” Ní-assa said. Now you take a couple of days and read up on, Arizona Donnie Barker, Moll Cutpurse, Anne Bonny

and Bonnie Parker. Then when you figure what these women had in common, you will begin to see where I’m heading with this plan.

Over the next few days, the two women studied the history of the women examples that Ní-assa had given them. Several times they would compare notes and by the time the week had ended, they approached Ní-assa with their results.

Sitting in the Pink Masquerade, Ní-assa watched as the two women approached looking a little different than the two women she met a few days ago. Milana started the conversation with, ” I feel like a woman who just realized she had power hidden and was ready to show the world!” Ní-assa laughed saying, ” Your not the first, and believe me there was a time when I thought all men walked on

water!” Sally jumped in with, ” So did I, but not any more!”

Ní-assa laid out a large paper on the table with a map of New

Mexico, showing several of the counties highlighted. Milana said

” Nice map! You plan on going somewhere?” Inviting the women to sit down, Ní-assa said, ” With your new found knowledge, I want you to think about what you could do if you had a leader that could show you how to use that to your advantage. ” Milana and Sally both agreed that it would be nice to not always feel ‘less than’.

Sally said, ” The one thing that they all shared was that they were all outlaws, which kind of confused me. Was that your attention?”

Milana agreed adding, ” It did have that in common, but they seemed to enjoy wealth and fame! ” Ní-assa smiled with the

answers hinting at the thing she was trying to convey saying, ” If

you have any reservations about taking a chance at working outside the law, perhaps you should find another mentor.” After a long hesitation and several glances at one another, the two women answered,

” No reservation!” With that affirmation, Ní-assa felt the women were ready for the next step.

With a pencil, Ní-assa pointed at different counties in New Mexico

saying, ” Each of these are close to Roswell, but have different law enforcement departments. I have pointed out some that will be our first attempts at building our credibility as a force to recon with.”

The women sat with a look of confusion, so Ní-assa said, ” To

answer your nonverbal questions, we are going to rob a couple of places to see what kind of reaction you will have as women of

power!” Ní-assa began pointing out the different towns and what they had to offer as to what they could make money wise compared to the chance of getting caught! Milana asked, ” What about

jewelry stores, they have a lot of expensive stuff!” Ní-assa answered with, ” Your right there is some expensive items, however you end up getting a fraction of its worth by the time you contact a source to fence the items.” Sally said, ” What are you recommending we start with? ” Ní-assa pointed to the map saying, ” Lincoln and Lea counties are good to start with.” Milana quizzed Ní-assa with , ” And what do they have that we could steal?” Ní-assa

answered strongly, Cannabis! Hugh Desert Relief in Hobbs has a

high end cannabis trade and Lea County being close to Texas, would make a good decoy as to where the authorities might think we escaped too. Milana wanted to know more, with Sally only wanting to be reassured that it was safe to do. Ní-assa gave Sally one of those

‘ What the hell are you talking about….’ looks, then said, ” If you have to ask, your not ready!” Sally started to make excuses for the question when Milana said to her, ” This is our time to shine Sally! Don’t worry about what comes after, just make certain that your ready as you can be when the excitement starts!” Ní-assa gave

Sally a moment to think about what Milana was saying, then adding, ” We are going to make this a joint effort of three women showing what their made of ! Remember the stories you read of real women and what they did .” Milana asked about the actual act they would be doing, and what will they have to force the holdup.

Ní-assa grinned saying, ” If I’m not mistaken, your asking if we will be armed, right?” Sally, looking like she could bolt at any time interjected, ” You mean with guns?” Ní-assa laughed saying, ” This time we will go in pretending, with me doing all of the talking, and you two will be my backups.” Milana said, ” What do you mean by pretending? won’t we be carrying guns also?” Ní-assa answered,

” Not this time. If anything goes wrong, you won’t have the stigma of a weapons charge if any of us are caught.” Milana asked, ” You said, ‘ not this time’ Does that mean sometime in the future we might be using guns?” Ní-assa paused for a minute then said, ”Guns have a way of going off at the worst time, and can be very

much a deficit if not handled in the correct way”. After going over some of the details Ní-assa said, ” I will make some inquiries about the timing of money transporting to Hugh Desert Relief in Hobbs, and we will meet in a couple of days, when I have all the info we need. In the meantime, you take another look at the women I had you study, and see if you can’t feel yourselves getting into a mental attitude about this new adventure.” Looking over at Sally, Ní-assa reminded her of what they teach in Karate about ’visualize your

object before the attack!’

Ní-assa made the trip to Hobbs and began to plan the attack on the

Hugh Desert Relief Cannabis dispensary . While in Roswell,

Milana was at the Pink Masquerade trying to look busy while feeling the butterflies in her stomach go crazy. When Alexei, walked

in, his first act was to grab Milana by her rear cheek saying,

” Great ass still! Keep it that way for me when I get back from the bank and we can see what kind of reward you can give me!” Milana

knew exactly what he had in mind and was visualizing in her head all the things she would do if she could!

At the Karate class Sally was fighting not to tell her friends about what she and the other two had planed. She knew it would be terrible if she was caught, but the thought of living like some of the women she read about, gave her a whole new way of looking at the world around her. Her friends were asking about her new energy and about the stories she had been reading. When one of the instructors came by, he remarked, ” What ever you have been doing, keep it up! You seem to have a new energy I haven’t seen before!” Sally couldn’t tell any of them about the excitement building in her, but it showed anyway.

At the Pink Masquerade, Milana was dreading the thought of Alexei

returning and having his way with her regardless of her feelings. She sat looking at her mirror image behind the bar thinking, ”What would those women that I read about do. ” She had visions of the things women of the past managed to accomplish even though they were women. Milana remembered a movie she had seen a long time ago about two women that had taken enough from a man and decided to do something about it, my blowing him up! Smiling, Milana

visioned her doing something like that to the ass whole Alexei. Her

fantasy came to an abrupt halt when Alexei came in slamming the door behind him, yelling, ” That little shit thinks I’m going to

gravel for him , but he better watch out or he could get hit by a truck! ” Milana sat quietly on the barstool while Alexei continued his tirade. After throwing a few more things around, he looked at

Milana yelling, ” What are you looking at bitch! Take off your clothes, I need to get rid of this anger, and you’ll do fine!” Milana

started at this insanely brutal man who was about to hurt her in many ways thinking, ” Ní-assa would say, hell no and fight back, but I’m not her. I don’t know what to do to stop him.” Just then the slap across her face sent Milana to the floor! Reeling from the blow, Milana laid on the floor holding her cheek bone. Another hit, this time by Alexei’s boot, slammed into her side with him

screaming, ” Get up bitch and satisfy me or lay there and be my punching bag!” Milana tried to raise herself up but found it hard with the pain of her body being torturous when Alexei’s boot kicked her legs out from under her. Again trying to stand, Alexei’s

fist his her face once more, this time sending Milana again to the floor in a ball. Reaching over the bar and grabbing one of the wine bottles, Alexei began to poor the wine over Milana yelling, ” Have a drink bitch ! Then we can have some fun right?” Milana laid still

trying to defend her body from another onslaught from this man.

Alexei, taking another bottle from the bars wine rack laughed calling out obscenities to Milana and began to roll her over onto her back. Alexei began drinking from the bottle, then pouring more over Milana’s face continued laughing while ripping at her clothes!

At one point, Alexei had removed Milana’s blouse exposing her body to him, so he set aside the bottle and tearing at her skirt yelled, ” What the hell did you tie this on with ?” It was then that Milana

heard Ní-assa’s voice saying to Sally, ” visualize your object before the attack!” Looking at the wine bottle Alexei had set aside, Milana

reached over, grabbed the neck and with everything she could muster, struck Alexei on the side of his head! He immediately fell off grabbing his head and swearing at Milana, then while starting to get up, Milana kicked him in the face! Alexei had not expected the retaliation and had no idea that Milana was about to take the wine bottle, and after hitting it against a barstool leg shattering the base, took the lethal jagged edges and shoved it into Alexei’s face! Blinded by the attack, Alexei stumbled around trying to find

Milana, yelling out, ” I’ll find you Bitch and when I do…your dead!” Trying to think about what Ní-assa would do, Milana reached over and removed another wine bottle from it’s rack and leaning over the crouched, screaming , Alexei, struck him several times!

While looking at the body of her attacker, lying still on the floor, Milana thought what she should do next. ”The best thing would be to see if he’s alive or not, I guess. ” She thought to herself. Then the idea that he could survive and she could be in big trouble became a fear for her. With Ní-assa out of town, the only person

Milana knew that might understand was Sally. Calling Sally,

Milana described what had happened and asked her to come to the Pink Masquerade to help with the body. Sally said she would be right over and the two of them can figure out something together.

When Sally arrived, Milana was waiting outside and ran to the car saying she was so grateful . Sally said, ” Let’s go inside and see what we can do.” Inside the two women looked at the figure lying on the floor with blood still coming from Alexei’s head and face woulds. A groan from the body startled the women! Jumping back

Milana cried out, ” Shit! I thought he was dead!” Sally wasn’t saying anything, but looked at the man’s leg starting to twitch as the moaning got louder. When one of the man’s hands reached towards his head, Milana yelled out, ” We got to tie him up before he can hurt us!” Sally agreed adding, ” I guess it’s that or finish him off!”

Milana looked around saying to Sally, ” We got to find something to secure him.” Sally answered her with, ” I have some rope in the back of my car I used camping.” Milana said, ” Go get it quick before he wakes up!” While Sally ran to the car, Alexei began to move more alarming Milana. She called out, ” Hurry Sally, he’s starting to wake up!” Sally being outside opening her van trying to find the rope she knew she had put back there, couldn’t hear

Milana’s cry for speed. Alexei began to mumble words combining questions, vulgarity and moans at the same time. Milana. became more frightened, reaching for another wine bottle to hit him again if he started to get up. Sally came into the room with the rope and

seeing the man starting to show signs of rising, took the bottle from Milana and with a single hit, put the man back on the floor.

It took some effort to tie Alexei secure enough to make the women feel comfortable with moving him to the back room. Once there, the women decided to leave the Pink Masquerade closed rather than have to hide him until they figured out what to do. Milana

suggusted they leave him in the back room until Ní-assa returned from her trip. Sally asked. ” Do you know when that will be?”

Unfortunately, Milana had no answer. In the back, Alexei started to make sounds again causing Sally to ask, ” Should we gag him or what?” Milana stated, ” If we don’t he might cause someone to hear him and start asking questions.” Sally asked, ” Who’s going to do it, you or me?” Milana said, ” I put him there, Guess I should be the one to gag him.” Going into the room, the one good eye of Alexei was staring at Milana, which frightened her enough to give her

courage to shove a towel into his mouth and then seeing a

bartenders T-shirt, placed it over his head to hide his glaring eye!

Going back into the main room where Sally was waiting, Milana said, ” I think maybe we should wait for Ní-assa, whats your thoughts?” Sally agreed replying , ” She probably would know more about what to do in this case, than either of us.” The two sat not knowing what to do now. Milana asked, ” I’m going to have something to settle my nerves, You want anything?” Sally

answered, ” Thanks, I’ll have a shot of scotch……., better make it two.” Milana poured herself a shot, then looking at Sally said,

” Good idea! ” and poured a second shot into her glass. The two talked about how things had suddenly become so different. Sally said, ” I know I feel more like I could fight back if I had to” Milana

looking at Sally, smiled, then responding with, ”I sure as hell proved that point today didn’t I ?” Milana’s phone rang, making both women jump. Sally laughed saying, ” Guess we will have to get a grip on ourselves ” ” You got that right!” Milana answered, picking up her phone. ” Hello, who’s this?” she said into the phone.

”Milana, you sound a little strange, You alright? asked the voice on the other end. It was Ní-assa inquiring where the women were, so she could report on her findings in Hobbs concerning the inquiries about local dispensaries. ” Thank God , your back Ní-assa!” was the response from Milana. ” I can’t explain over the phone , so come to the Pink Masquerade right away, please.” Ní-assa could hear the urgency in Milana’s voice and said, ” I’ll be there in ten!” ,and hung up.

Driving to the Pink Masquerade, Ní-assa wondered what could have made Milana sound so urgent. Pulling up to the space in front of the

Masquerade, Milana was out front waiting. Getting out of her car,

Ní-assa asked,” Why is your place closed at this time? Are you sick or what?” Milana grabbed Ní-assa’s hand and began to pull her in side. ” Whoa there lady, what going on” Ní-assa asked, semi resisting Milana’s tug. Once inside, where Sally was standing by the bar,

Ní-assa stopped and looking at the two women saying, ” OK I’m here, now whats so damn’d important it’s got you two rattled?”

Motioning for Ní-assa to follow, the women headed for the back room. Opening the door, Ní-assa looked inside to see the figure of a man, she assumed, tied and with a sack covering his head. ” Nice catch! What bait do you use?” The women did not see the humor in Ní-assa’s comment with Sally saying, ” This isn’t funny! What are we going to do?” Ní-assa motioning for the women to settle down saying, ” What we are going to do is first see if we have a body or a corpse ! ”

Lifting the sack off of the tied man Alexei, he groaned and moved some. Ní-assa looked at the women saying, ” I take it there was a fight and he lost!” Milana started to tell what happened , but was stopped by Ní-assa who asked, ” How long has he been tied and gaged?” Milana answered , ” Since yesterday, why did you want to know that?” Ní-assa explained, ” If he needs help, which he looks like he does, there is going to be a lot of questions that I don’t think any of us need right now. So my thought is to get rid of the problem quickly and go back to what you were doing.” Sally asked, ” What do you mean by, ‘ get rid of the problem ’ ? ” Ní-assa, walking back into the main room, and having the women follow, said, ” In a situation like this, it is usually best if someone with prior knowledge of such things takes over. So my suggestion is for you two to open up the place after you clean up the mess, including that blood over there,” pointing to where Milana had buried the broken wine bottle into Alexei’s face. Milana asked, Where will you be? Ní-assa

responding with, ” I’ll be fertilizing some of the dry land out in the desert.” Then looking at Sally, Ní-assa said, ” By the look on your face I would guess your not fond of my solution, right?” Sally started to defend her reaction but was stopped by Ní-assa, who said, ” If

your going to get soft on me, perhaps your not the kind of woman I thought you were.” Milana stepped in with, ” Sally’s OK, She just needs to settle down a little. She was there for me when you were gone, and I would have been a complete mess if she hadn’t helped me.” Ní-assa grinned a little saying, ” Well I guess you two did have a test by fire, so lets get on with whats needed, and I will see you later, after I take out the trash.” Sally again asked, ” There you go again with the quips! Why don’t you say what you mean? ” Ní-assa, becoming irritated at the young womens questions and digs said, ” You know what, I think I might need some help, so Sally you come with me and Milana, you finish up here while Sally and I take care of business.” Milana asked, ” Will you need help?” Ní-assa answered, ” No, once I get him into the van, we will take a drive and you can continue with opening up.”

Sally wasn’t pleased with the idea of leaving Milana, but knew she should help Ní-assa with Alexei. After they had Alexei into the van, groaning as he vainly tried to free himself from his bonds,

Ní-assa suggested Sally drive then got into the rear with Alexei. Sally asked, ” Where should I go?” Ní-assa smiled saying, ” Take us someplace quiet and away from prying eyes.” Then as an

afterthought, Ní-assa said, ” Tell you what, let’s put the old boy in my car, and you follow, just in case my old car has a problem . I’d hate to get staled with a body in my trunk.” Transferring Alexei into Ní-assa’s vehicle, Sally returned to her van and motioning for Ní-assa to follow, drove off into the direction of the desert hill country.

A few miles out of town, Sally took a side road, heading for the hills. Stopping at the base of a rocky and very deserted area, Sally got out of her van saying, ” Is this enough out of the way for you?”

Ní-assa felt the animosity from Sally and suggested after they get

Alexei out of the car, they dig a hole deep enough for anyone not to discover the body by accident. Sally, with a very disapproving voice asked, ” Your going to burry him? He’s not dead! You can’t do that” Ní-assa picked up a shovel from her car and walking over to the squirming Alexei, swung the shovel so violently that the man’s head all but exploded! Walking over to Sally, who was so shocked by what had just happened, she stood motionless. ” He’s dead now, so can we bury him?” Ní-assa said emotionless .

Sally yelled out, ” Your crazy! I’m getting out of here and going back to Milana to tell her what you did.” Ní-assa said to the ranting Sally, ” Thats really a bad idea. I’d think it over before you say something that might not be to your liking.” Running towards her van, Sally figured she would tell Milana what happened and the two could go to the police and tell them what happened. Looking back at

Ní-assa, Sally yelled out, ” Your a certified crazy bitch!” then jumped into her van, where she discovered the van keys were

missing! Ní-assa, holding up the keys called out, ” You looking for these?” Sally then realized her tirade had ben justified. Ní-assa was crazy, and she had to run! Running along the road they had entered, back towards the highway, Sally knew she must get to safety

someway. Running, stumbling and having a hard time breathing in the hot desert heat, Sally began to get slower and slower. Then she heard the sound of her own van coming closer. Thinking she must elude Ní-assa somehow, Sally left the road and headed into the desert. Ní-assa sat in the van and watched as Sally went further into the desert. When Sally was almost out of sight, Ní-assa put the van in overdrive and headed out into the desert in Sally’s direction.

The van, crossing the rugged terrain, bounced around, getting ever closer to the exhausted Sally, until at last the terrified woman fell to the ground. Walking up to Sally, who by this time was lying in the brush and sand, totally without any resistance remaining left to fight, heard Ní-assa saying, ” Well I guess this is as good a place as any for your departure.”

Then with one swift motion, Ní-assa lifted Sally’s head by her hair and cut her throat!

Looking down at the still body of the young woman she thought had such potential, Ní-assa sighed saying, ” You would have been a good student I thought. Too bad you had to disappoint me like this!” Getting back into the van, and heading towards town,

Ní-assa was hoping that Milana would have a better response to

the fact that Sally was no longer part of the team, than try to

challange her actions. Passing the old car she had bought, Ní-assa said to heself, ” Oh shit! I still have to bury that guy! Cussing herself for not having killed Sally until after she had buried Alexei

Ní-assa dug a shallow hole and rolled the body into it, then after shoveling a little sand over it, she ran the car across the area several times. Driving her car a mile back towards the highway, critiquing her efforts of burying Alexei, Ní-assa frowned thinking, ” I really need to have someone else to do this for me!” At this point she removed the license papers from the glove box and pushed them into her pocket. Walking back to where she had left Sally’s van,

Ní-assa debated if she would tell Milana what actually transpired, or make up something up. Entering Roswell, Ní-assa saw some kids playing hoops . Stopping at the court, she asked, ” Anyone here want an old car for free?” All six of the boys ran to the fence yelling, ” Me! Me! Me!” Ní-assa looked over at what appeared to be the oldest of the group saying, ” Here’s the paper and the keys. You will find the old Dodge back off the highway a couple of miles out. I don’t want to be bothered with fixing it up , and you guys look like you could use some fun thing to work on. ” The oldest boy walked over saying, ” Don’t kid with us mister! Whats the catch?”

Ní-assa smiled answering the young mans question with, ” Your right , there is one thing. You can’t tell anyone I gave it to you! You see, my boyfriend won’t buy me a new car because the Dodge hasn’t died yet!” The young man, taking the papers and keys from Ní-assa hand said, ” Don’t mind doing a lady a favor for that kind of reward, Thanks!” With that transaction, Ní-assa took care of her old vehicle, knowing the kids would have fun and no one would be asking questions.

Parking in front of the Pink Masquerade, Ní-assa went in looking for Milana. The woman at the bar said Milana left with a couple of men just a few minutes ago. After awhile, Milana returned with a frightened look on her face. Ní-assa asking what the matter was, sent Milana running to her office in tears. Opening the door and sitting down next to Milana, Ní-assa asked what had happened.

” Two men came in asking for Alexei!” When I told them he wasn’t here, they said he owned them a lot of money and had signed over the Pink Masquerade to them to pay his debt. When I told them that the Pink Masquerade was owned by both her and Alexei, they just laughed saying that the rest of his debt would have to be paid if she wanted her part returned. As they left, the taller said to me ” We’ll be back at six. Have the money or be ready to get the hell out of my place!”.” I don’t have that kind of money.” she told Ní-assa. While Ní-assa comforted the crying Milana, she said, ” Tell you what, you call those jerks and tell them a friend of yours will have their money and they should meet her at the old warehouse on Figarola street at nine pm.” Milana stopped crying saying, ”I didn’t think you had that kind of money! Besides, I can’t have you pay all that money if I can’t pay you back!” Ní-assa answered ” Don’t concern yourself, just tell them, Figarola street at nine pm”

Milana asked, ” Where’s Sally, why isn’t she with you?”

Ní-assa answered as she left , ” One thing at a time Milana, One thing at a time!”

Calling the number the man gave her, Milana told them what

Ní-assa had said. ” Who’s this Ní-assa your talking about?” the man asked. ” And what makes her think I would meet her on her terms and where to meet?” Milana answered, ” She just said if you want the money you have to come to her.” ” I’ll think about it!” The man said , and hung up. Milana tried to contact Ní-assa to tell her what the man had said, but got no response.

Ní-assa thought to herself, ” Those two enforcers might not show, but knowing how the game is played, they most likely will show up at the appointed time.” In order to get her surprise ready, Ní-assa first stopped by an auto store for a couple of items, then a dollar store for a couple more things. driving to the empty warehouse on Figarola street, Ní-assa began to build her surprise greeting for the unsuspecting men. First she took the quart glass bottle and after

almost filling it with gasoline, added some motor oil, then stuffing a tight fitting cotton napkin partially into the to opening, set it aside and continued to make a few more. Placing them in strategic positions around the warehouse entrance, she was ready for her evening visitors. Waiting for her guests, Ní-assa remembered some of the other times she had used these poor man’s grenade’s quite successfully with some unwilling clients. The main thing is to allow the gasoline to set long enough in the motor oil to help the burning

liquid to adhere to the target.

Shortly before nine, Ní-assa heard a car stopping just before the

gated entry to the old warehouse. One man got out, looking around, then returned to the car. They sat there for a minute, probably scoping out the place, then proceeded into the parking area which was empty with the exception of Sally’s van. Ní-assa stayed in the dimly lit doorway saying to the man as he got out of the car, ” That’s close enough. Did you bring the papers?” The man answered . ” We were thinking it over and thought why should we give you something that we already have? Maybe you should just give us the money and we let you get out of here in one piece?” With that, the man began to withdraw the hidden Tavor assault rifle from under his coat! At the same time, Ní-assa ducked behind the large metal trash dumpster

where she had four of the bombs cotton cloths slow burning. The first blast from the man’s weapon hit the metal container as Ní-assa

threw the first bomb towards the mans feet where when it hit the pavement, exploded into a flaming mass of sticky burning liquid, beginning to burn the man’s legs! While he tried to get the fire out, the second bomb hit the windshield of the other man’s car. When it exploded, the flames covered the windshield with flame making it impossible to see what was happening! When he started out of the car, another of Ní-assa’s quart glass bottle’s broke at the car door, spreading flames in all directions, including the man’s face and shoulder area.. The first man had regained his position and began shooting towards Ní-assa, barrly missing her as she headed for another bomb bunker behind another metal container. Lighting three more bombs before the man hearing the screems of his companion realized the man was on fire. She raised up and throwing both bottles towards the two men, the crashing bottles spread more destructive flames which stuck to many surfaces, sending both men to the ground trying to roll or otherwise extinguish the fire from their clothing!

Walking over to the one man, Ní-assa picked up his Tavor assault rifle and with a smile said, ” Great choice !” then shot both of the men with the weapon. Not having to hear the noise of the two men burning anymore, Ní-assa looked at the assault rifle thinking, ” I’d bet if this had been in the hands of one of those Israel Defense Forces guy’s, this could have been bad news for me.”

Walking over to Sally’s vehicle, Ní-assa thought about how the authorities were going to look at this scene. First they will look at the two bodies, then at their vehicle . Next they will wonder why there was a second vehicle in the lot, making certain to find out who it was registered to. When it comes back that the van was owned by Sally Jackson, it wouldn’t take long before the incident at the salon would come up. Walking away from the bodies and vehicles, Ní-assa felt comfortable with what had been accomplished.

Arriving back at the Pink Masquerade, Milana ran up to Ní-assa asking about Sally. ” Are you both OK? Where is Sally? Is she outside, I didn’t see the van.” Ní-assa was unhappy that Milana’s concern was more for Sally than the two enforcers that had threaten to take her place of business! Ní-assa snapped back her answer, ” Yes thank you! You don’t have to worry about those two returning to take your business!” Milana asked again, ” And what about Sally?”

Ní-assa answered, ” The little bitch left before I had a chance to instruct her in how to burry a body so it won’t be found. Instead of learning something new, she ran like a chicken, leaving me with the body and after I buried Alexei, I had to hike back to where my car had been, but someone had stolen it! By the time I hitched a ride back to town, I really didn’t give a shit where she was, and I still don’t!” Milana said, ” She wouldn’t do that to someone…..would she?” Ní-assa replied with, ” I only know I’m now without a vehicle and have some sleep catching up to do!” Walking out the door,

Ní-assa smiled thinking, ” That should satisfy her curiosity, at least for awhile. ”

A couple of days after, Milana had been visited by a police detective who had told her, Sally Jackson was a person of interest , and searching Sallys apartment had resulted in a business card for the

Pink Masquerade, with Milana written on the back. When Milana inquired as to the reason they were looking for her, she was

given very little information. Calling Ní-assa after they had left,

Milana was insistant as to where Ní-assa might have some idea as to where Sally had gone. ” She couldn’t just disappear like that could she?!” Ní-assa could see where this was going and explained to Milana, ” Your going to haft to accept the fact that Sally isn’t

coming back! She probably left for some other state and left you holding the bag, if I hadn’t helped get rid of the body!” ” I can’t believe that Sally would do that to me! She wasn’t that kind of

person. ” The next day the news carried the story of the two dead men and the two vehicles that had been found in the outer city.

When mention of the second vehicle being a van, and the men being murdered, Milana called Ní-assa almost hysterical, saying, ” She wouldn’t have done anything like that! They are saying the men were half burnt and killed with a bullet to the head! Sally didn’t even know how to use a gun!” Ní-assa listened for a time thinking,

” I really picked the wrong pair this time again!” While Milana

continued her rant and threw suggestions around, including what she knew about Ní-assa and her past, it became clear that this stay in Roswell was going to half to be brought to an end quickly before this woman says the wrong thing to the wrong person. Putting an end to the relationship would be no problem, however to make it coincide with the other killings would make Ní-assa’s departure less noticeable if all parties were deceased that had any contact with her.”

When the call to Ní-assa had ended, Milana sat rehashing what she had said, and the reaction from Ní-assa. Going over the past few days, and what part Sally had played in it, Milana began to think maybe there was more to Ní-assa’s excuse as to where Sally had disappeared to. ” If for some reason Sally didn’t want to go along with Ní-assa’s plan for Alexei’s burial, and they quarreled or something, would Ní-assa have scared her away? , or even still, something worse!” Milana realized her thoughts could be a reality and decided to call the authorities and confess the whole thing! If she was right, it would be possible that Ní-assa was going to get ride of her also, because of what she had said about knowing Ní-assa’s

history!

Night time came with Milana setting next to the phone ready to make a call to the police, and explain about Alexei threatening to kill her, and why she had called Sally Jackson. With the envolvement of Ní-assa, the whole thing seemed to go haywire with Ní-assa

taking over and enlisting Sally Jackson to help her get rid of the body of Alexei, who at the time was still alive! Milana began to pick up the phone when Ní-assa walked into the Pink Masquerade

saying, ” Let’s you and I take a drive.” Milana resisted explaining,

” I have to wait her for a minute until the relief woman comes to work.” Ní-assa looking around said, ” Thats OK, I’l just wait here and have a drink, or something.” Milana tried to look busy, wiping tables and such, with Ní-assa’s eyes following her every move.

When her relief woman walked in the door, Ní-assa exclaimed, ” Well, look who just arrived!” Then getting up from the bar stool,

she said, ” Grab a coat Milana, It might get cold tonight.” Trying to look natural, Milana said to the relief woman, ” Take care of things until I return.” After, following Ní-assa out the door to the back, the two were surprised by the detective who had been waiting for their exit.

” What are you doing here, detective?” Milana asked, with a feeling

of relief that someone was there to prevent Ní-assa from perhaps taking her on a one way trip. The detective answered with, ” Thought I would come by to followup on some of the conversation we had earlier. ” Looking over at Ní-assa, Detective Harris

asked, ” And you are?” Hesitating for a moment, Ní-assa answered, ” Margie Bright, detective. I’m a cutlery knives sales rep visitor from Texas that came to visit with my friend, Milana. ” The detective questioned, ” What part of Texas ? I know a lot of people in Texas.” To Milana the questions seemed natural, but to Ní-assa, she had been in this conversation before and it didn’t turn out too well. Detective Harris continued with, ” Do you happen to know anyone in Big Springs by chance ? ” Ní-assa was feeling that this would be a good time to end the question and answer game saying, ” Tell you what, Detective Harris, I’ll bet that was the town where I sold my last set of cutlery knives!” Then attempting to head for her rental car, Ní-assa said, ” Wait right there and I’ll show you some of my samples.” Detective Harris said loudly, ” Don’t need to have you do that, but how about some identification?” Ní-assa, looking over at Milana, could see she was about to warn the detective about

the neck knife Ní-assa always carried. Sensing the man was about to make a move for his weapon, Ní-assa threw her knife towards the detective! Because of her past shoulder injuries, Ní-assa’s aim was not as accurate as it had once been. While the blow did force the detective to drop his weapon, it was far from what Ní-assa had intended, which was a kill shot to the neck! When the detective dropped his Glock, Milana ran to pick it up, while Ní-assa went for her car. Thinking that Ní-assa was going to escape, Milana was shocked when Ní-assa reached into the back seat and brought out the Tavor assault rifle! Seeing what Ní-assa was bringing out of the car, Detective Harris grabbed the pistol from Milana turning to shoot Ní-assa before she could fire her weapon. Unfortunately for

the detective, Ní-assa was faster. The Tavor needs no adjustment of the stock before shouldering and firing, which gave Ní-assa the ability to fire off several of the thirty rounds in the magazine toward

Detective Harris, killing him immediately. Milana ran back inside the Pink Masquerade, locking the exit door behind her! Ní-assa could hear the yelling and confusion coming from inside. Not

usually vociferous, unless it was necessary, Ní-assa chose to use four rounds of the Tavor to remove the lock on the rear door.

Entering the kitchen area, she immediately could see that her

entrance had gotten the proper attention and everyone had left out the front. Making her way to the office, Ní-assa took the opportunity to relieve Milana of the money in the Pink Masquerade’s safe,

which was usually open during the evening shift. Milana wanted to make it easy to count the days receipts and not confuse it with the evening shift. Ní-assa had told her one time that it wasn’t the best idea, but now it was coming in very handy. Knowing the authorities would be arriving at any moment, Ní-assa decided not to pursue

eliminating Milana, not just yet anyway, but perhaps sometime in the future she might catchup to her again. After making the withdrawal from the Pink Masquerade’s safe, Ní-assa returned to her car and disappeared into the Roswell night, heading east towards Oklahoma.

Ní-assa had taken the three eighty highway out of Roswell with the intention of dropping down to highway 20 which went through Big Springs, and afterwords heading into Oklahoma to the little town of Duncan. It was somewhat of a detour, but since she was already running, one more stop won’t hurt.

The name of Ní-assa was on several wanted sheets and in several states. Her reputation had grown, but what she had done to

individuals and lawless leaders as well had given the name Ní-assa

more exposure than she wanted. In Big Springs, the word had gotten acknowledgement from the local police chief, Chief Newman.

When he read the wanted notice and saw the name of Ní-assa, he went to the people he knew had an interest in her capture. ” Didn’t want to alarm anyone, but I just got a report that the woman,

Ní-assa, had been spotted, again. ” Knowing she had been part of the trouble that had visited Patrick and Maria from Connolly’s Corner, the Chief wanted to warn them to be careful.

When the Connolly’s received the news, they called Gary and updated him as to the warning. Hearing the report, Gary called Ed, telling him to be aware, and also to stand ready, just in case they had to leave in a hurry. After hanging up, Ed, sitting in his favorite rocker, gave Lulu, who was lying on his lap, some soft strokes across her back whispering, ” Well little one, we might be out hunting again someday.” To Lulu, they were just words with no explanation required. She only desired to feel his hand as it carefully ran across her back to the end of her fluffy tail.

Gary, flushed with the knowledge of new information concerning

a Ní-assa’s sighting, contacted Silhouette and Gaspard who were still in the throws of their Texas relocation endeavors. ” I know your still backed up with moving, ” Gary said, ” But you said you would be interested in any information concerning Ní-assa’s sightings . ” Silhouette

replied, ” Certainly! Gaspard and I will be through with the basics here in a couple of days, so if you have any leads we will join you in any effort.” When Gary was through he also called Patrick and Maria warning them to be careful, just in case.

Gary called Juarez, asking if he had herd anything after the posting of the most wanted. Juarez replied that he had no extra information except for a hunch by one of the police officers in Roswell that he had spoken to. ” What kind of hunch did he have ?” Gary inquired.

Juarez answered, ” This man had been in several of the issues

regarding the Ní-assa woman.” Gary was anxious to hear the rest of the information, regardless of how much guess work there may have been. Juarez continued with, ” This man seems to think

Ní-assa may have headed East from Roswell, rather than West. ”

Gary asked , ” How did he reach that scenario? ”Juarez answered,

” The authorities were already informed of her leadership in the planning of the failed robbery, which got one man captured and another killed. So when they were informed of the situation at the

Pink Masquerade, where she had killed a detective and got away with money from the safe, and may be heading towards California, they immediately set up inspection points along the border between the California and New Mexico. ” Juarez continued, ” She is no dummy, so if she even had a small idea that the borders were being inspected, she may have headed for the Eastern states instead.”

Gary had to agree that with the money from the robbery, she may have enough to make the switch and head back through the states.

Hanging up after thanking Juarez for the info, Gary sat thinking where this woman of death and destruction may hit next. Looking at a map of the western states, following along the way she might have tried, Gary, looking at the map, suddenly stopped . Frowning, he took a marker and followed a possible path that Ní-assa might have taken coming from Roswell . Marking the map as he went from Roswell along three eighty, then dropping down into highway

twenty, it would take her right past Big Springs! From there she could go up to Oklahoma, or down, deeper into Texas. The uneasy thought was that she might decide to stop over in Big Springs. Gary contacted the local authority, Chief Newman, explaining what he had heard could involve the local police. The Chief said he had read the wanted report and had made preparations for any trouble which might occur. Gary went over to Connolly’s Corner to visit with Patrick and Maria. Entering, the pastry fragrance was extra overwhelming because of the new pastries Maria had managed to create.

Walking into the wonderful smell, Gary was sorry he had such

negative information to offer to his friends. When Patrick heard the

information, he went behind the counter, pulling out a short rifle.

” Just let her or anyone that works for her try anything again!”

Gary smiled, gently pushing down the barrel towards the floor.

” I’m happy you have the protection, but don’t rely on that too much. Ní-assa would have no trouble ridding you of that and hurting either of you, just to get back at Ed and me!” Sophia came in

inquiring as to where Ed and her little friend was. Her question was met with some silence by Patrick and Maria who had endured the

events when Ní-assa’s men had almost injured them, with Lulu a big part of their close call . Gary gave her a big grin saying , ” Am I not enough for you?” Sophia laughed, giving some levity to the

tension in the room. Gary asked if ’ Connolly’s’ had any type of cameras or alarms that could be used in case of intruders. ” We aren’t that hi tec yet, Gary.” Patrick answered, but we hope to be able to handle any situation if need be after a bit. Gary asked ,

” What kind of ‘ Handle any situation’ are you speaking of?”

Sophia answered with, ” It’s kind of like a safe room, only it’s a safe door!” Gary was intrigued with what Sophia described as

a safe door, asking, ” And just how does it work?” Patrick took Maria by the hand and walking over to the cash register had her touch one of the keys. What Gary saw next made him at first snicker, but when he witnessed the actual function of what had been installed, he applauded, saying, ” You have got to be kidding!”.

When Maria touched the register key, it put into action a dropdown semi-translucent shield between the register counter, and anyone on the opposite side. Gary was very impressed remarking, ” That took a great deal of thought, however, if someone has a gun, what good is this plastic front going to be?” Patrick took a pistol from below the register, firing it at the shield, demonstrated to Gary’s amazement that when it engulfed the projectile, stopping it immediately, the material then relaxed, dropping the harmless projectile to the floor!

Gary was so mesmerized by what he saw, his first question was, ” Where can I get one of those?” Sophia laughed saying, actually, you can’t, well not yet anyway. You see, this is the work of my

fiance, Robert Randle. He has been working on this for a long time, and now has a patten which is being looked at by several companies.” Gary remarked, ” I can certainly see the reason behind that! Your fiance should be very pleased with his product. I can see where it could be improvised to save many lives from criminal

actions.” Sophia said she would pass on the comments to Robert.

Walking around the screen type shield, Gary ran several scenarios

in his mind where this device could be very efficient in many ways.

Asking Sophia about the screen, Gary said, ” You called it a ‘safe door’, or was I incorrect?” Patrick answered with, ” I asked Robert that same question, and you know what he said?” Gary grinning responded with, ” Actually, if I knew what he said, I wouldn’t have to ask again.” Maria laughed saying, ” Gary got you there!” Sophia

answered the question with, ” Robert said he called it a ‘safe door’

because you are safe until you open it, like when you open a door. ”

Gary agreed that the name made sense adding, ”And with that little twist, he gives the product a catchy name. ”While Gary and the Connolly’s enjoyed some of the new desert Maria had made, Sophia said she would see if Robert could come by and she could introduce him to Gary.

Passing Lovington, which was about the last stop before leaving New Mexico, Ní-assa spied an ugly grey 1990 Ford Transit Camper with advertisement as a laundry delivery service, in a car lot. She stopped for a moment looking at this tired van and thought, ” This would be a great transporter that would go under the radar. Asking the used car dealer about the price, he said if she could wait a couple of days he would have it stripped and ready to use. To which, Ní-assa replied, not to touch anything and she would give him full price! The salesman answered with, ” Sounds great! Let’s get you the keys!”

With her new transportation, Ní-assa continued towards Big

Springs thinking about her desire to bring havoc on those who had been so disruptive to her plans at every turn! In Big Springs,

Ní-assa in her old Ford Camper was nothing to pay attention to as it passed Connolly’s Corner ” I guess I could just blow the whole damn family up, but what would be the fun in that?” Ní-assa thought to herself. Heading for Abilene where she had heard of some special places where a person could find special items to purchase for a price, Ní-assa reaching into her money pocket realized the funds were getting low, and she would need a good amount to make any kind if deal for equipment. The New Mexico fiasco had taken it’s tole, and even when she paid for the Ford, she knew it was time to build up her funds the old fashioned way, steal it! Passing Sweetwater, Ní-assa had heard it was not the worst place to live, however when your looking for an easy mark, this might do well because it has a small town attitude and would be a good place to withdraw some funds from the local bank.

Not having held up a bank in a while, it’s something you don’t

forget if it goes wrong, so Ní-assa picked the small satellite bank close to the edge of town. After surveying the interior for a few minutes, Ní-assa casually walked up to the teller stating, ” I’m afraid I have to tell you some bad news.” The teller looked at Ní-assa with a suspicious eye and said, ” What do you mean?” Ní-assa said in a soft tone, ” There’s a bomb about to go off in here!” The teller pushed several buttons and after running to the managers dest, making frantic gyrations, began to run out of the bank. The customers seeing her excitement, and staff watching the reactions did the same! While the alerted police came and began the usual preparations for the bomb squad, the people gathering started to grow as the news teams arrived with their crews, Ní-assa slipped across the street and removed the weekend receipts from the jewelry store owners safe, that the owner was so gracious , after seeing her

weapon pointed at his head, agreed to open for her. Ní-assa thanked him for the donation, then after locking him in his own bathroom with a smartly placed barrier, Ní-assa picked up a couple of nice but not too gaudy watches for bribes later on if needed.

With a flirtful smile Ní-assa drove past the police barrier officers where they motioned for her to keep moving, while gawkers did their best to watch the bomb squads robot beginning its search.

Now that part of Ní-assa’s financial situation had been eliminated, she began to plan her next move, which was to pay a very explosive calling card to the friends of Gary Ashley! Heading for Abilene

her first thought was to kill the Connolly’s, who had created a reputation for defending their bakery from the men Maciver had sent, and was very popular with the locals. Rethinking the idea because a single bomb would not only eliminate them, it would not be much entertainment unless Gary Ashley was there watching, and perhaps even his partner Ed whats his name!

Arriving in Abilene, Ní-assa decided to go to the best source of

gossip in any town like this, which was a beauty salon. Walking in ,

the Asian woman approached with the usual suggestions to change or maintain a person’s image. Recommending a suggestive bad ass

seductive but not too stand offish style for Ní-assa. ” You certainly have a proactive attitude for your clients.” Ní-assa said with a hint

of a smile. My name is Asnee, which is Asian for ‘ Lightning’, and

you are, ?” Ní-assa hesitated , thinking of an appropriate name to match her enthusiasm. ” Virago! ”, Ní-assa said, ” Which is Latin”

for ‘ Exemplary!’ The woman laughed saying, ” Welcome to my place of adventure! Are you new in town?” Ní-assa, hoping to

gain some information from the woman answered , ” Yes, actually, and I enjoy the fact that your aggressive enough to already know what hair style I was looking for!”

While the woman, Asnee created a new look for Ní-assa, who would now be known as Virago, for the remainder of her stay here in Abilene, the exchange of pleasantries began to include more personal observations for Ní-assa to gain a better picture of the general attitude of the people in this town. ” Much trouble with crime here?”

Ní-assa inquired. Virago replied, ” Not here, but outside the

parameter of town, it’s a different story.” Ní-assa pushed further with, ” How do you mean different? ” Virago explained saying,

” It used to be a quiet place with very little crime, but lately it has turned into a real mess. Many of my clients refuse to come into town anymore because of the possibility of running into one of the

local gangs on this side of town. ” Ní-assa tried not to smile thinking this was great news. ” Doesn’t the police keep them from messing with your side of town?” One of the other women in the salon called out with, ” You mean the ‘ Piccadilly police?’ ” Ní-assa was beginning to see a pattern with the locals and their efforts. Watching the reactions of some of the women in the salon, she felt it would be a good place to start knowing some of the local bad boys.

After Asnee, finished with the style cut for Virago, she warned her to be carful, especially if she was to be alone in South Abilene.

Ní-assa, smiling to herself thought, ” Perhaps for Virago, but not such a bad place for Ní-assa !” As she left the salon, one of the other stylist handed Ní-assa a note saying, ” You might like this place to meet new friends, since your from out of town. ” Ní-assa thanked the woman and left knowing she had made some good contacts already.

Checking into a motel, Ní-assa asked the manager about the place the woman had given her. The manager replied, ” I supose it would be alright if you want a mixed group. Some of the people there are a little rowdy, but on the whole, it is a fun place. ” Ní-assa inquired,

” Do you go there?” The manager said, ” A lot of times I go there for the music but most of the time just to watch the dancers.”

Looking at the older man, Ní-assa knew he probably wouldn’t be much into dancing, but could tell a person a lot about the people there.

That night, Ní-assa using her new name cover went to the

Recommended bar and dance hall. It was a bit of a shock to find the recommendations never said anything about a total western dance place. She was entering a world of western get together personified!

Thinking to herself, Ní-assa figured that the best she could do here was leave. What she was looking for probably wouldn’t be in a place like this. Starting to leave, a had reached out to her shoulder with a woman asking, ” Not leaving so early are you?” Turning around Ní-assa was surprised to see Asnee, and a good looking tall Texas man under tow. Asnee, introduced the man Arnold, then saying to him, ”This is Virago that I told you about.” ’Howdy Ma’am !” the big guy said to Ní-assa. Her first reaction was to get the hell out of there, but instead she said hello and started again to leave. Asnee said , ” Wait a little while, we can find you a man and we can do a dance or two and have some fun.” Ní-assa thanked her and said she just wanted to see the place and would be leaving. Arnold, standing close said, ” Just for a little while ….to make my Asnee feel right.”

Ní-assa had known that particular sound of authority sound that was more of an order than a suggestion. Well, big guy, since your so

persuasive, I’ll stay for a little while. Asnee gave a big smile and looking out over the crowd said, ” Virago, there’s a guy you should meet over there,” pointing to a handsome man, who strangely enough wasn’t wearing a cowboy hat. Arnold called the man over and introducing him to Virago with, ” This is a friend of Asnee, her name is Virago, so treat her as family.” The man stood still, then in a nice gesture, took Virago’s hand and said, ” Hi, I’m Bill Cooper but most of my friends call me, Big Bill.” Ní-assa felt she should go along with this intro thing and replied, ” And my friends call me

Virago. So now that we are friends why not buy me a drink and forget about the dancing part. Watching whatever their doing brings to mind lemmings goin over a cliff ! ” Big Bill laughed heartily saying, ” Thats as fine a description as you could have made!” Ní-assa

was somewhat surprised that this Big Bill guy had such a good

response about what she said. ” Big Bill, am I correct, or is that the hint of an eastern accent?” The man smiled saying, ” Still shows a little bit does it?” Ní-assa was pleased he hadn’t been in the East for some time, especially with some of the mafia still having a hit out on her. Drinking and talking, Ní-assa was feeling good about the meeting mainly because Big Bill seemed to be enjoying someone from the east .

The break came when Ní-assa asked what he did for a living.

” Thought you knew. ” Was his answer. ” Well no, why would I?”

Ní-assa threw back. Big Bill lowered his voice a little, then leaning in said to her, ” I work for Arnold, as his second in command of the business. ” Ní-assa wanted clarification asking, ” So, Big Bill, what do the two of you do for a living?”

The big man, looking away for a moment while trying to conjure up some kind of answer for this woman across from him. Ní-assa asked again starting with, ” If you blow things up, thats OK cause I like fireworks.” Her humor seemed to relax Big Bill and he answered, ” We are in the finance and security business.” Ní-assa related a common thread of what she has done with, some liberties in translation. ” I also have dealt with finance and security. More on the

security and sometimes persuasion end of the equation. ” Big Bill,

feeling somewhat comfortable with the way the conversation was going, asked, ” And if the persuasion works in your favor?”

Smiling, Ní-assa laid her hand on Big Bill’s adding, ” Thats where the finance comes in!” For a moment, the two looked at one another as though they were trying to figure out what they could say next

without giving away the farm! Finally, Big Bill suggested, ” Want to get out of here and find a much quieter location?” Ní-assa

answered , ” Would you have any Scotch at your place?” With a very large grin, Big Bill hurriedly laid a fifty dollar bill on the bar and taking Ní-assa gently by the arm, headed for the exit. ” Perhaps we should tell Asnee, and Arnold we’re leaving ? ” Big Bill, opening the door to his Jaguar XJ, replying with, ” Maybe if we don’t bother them, they won’t bother us!” While heading for Bills apartment, Ní-assa thought to herself, ” With the right touch, this could turn out a whole lot better than I had expected.”

As it turned out for Ní-assa, the rest of the evening and into the early morning was more than she had expected. Big Bill was indeed, and his use of sexual knowledge combined with her years of practice allowed the two of them to create new paths of delight that heightened with each successful venture they entered in the art of sexual satisfaction. At one point, Bill whispered, ”Te quiero!” a couple of times

durning emotional heights, meaning I have feelings for you, which did not hold the same meaning for Ní-assa as it most likely did for Big Bill, who had not encountered such a woman before! The nice part for Ní-assa, was that as Bill became more involved with her, the more she would be able to handle him.

The net day Ní-assa, or as she is know as here, Virago, stopped by

to thank Asnee for the chance to have some fun and enjoy life for awhile. When Asnee saw Virago walk in, she ran over to her asking,

” What in the world did you do to Big Bill ? No one around here ever saw him smile that much, even when he had a lot to Drink!

Today he’s walking around like a kid.” Virago replied, ” Perhaps it was the cosmic connection between us.” Asnee said enthusiastically,

” Well whatever it was, I’ll have to get me some for Arnold and I!”

After Asnee realized she wasn’t going to get any details from her friend, she asked, ” So, Supper girl, what next?” Ní-assa wasn’t too sure herself of what the next step would be, however it appeared that the prior night had been successful, and would require some

refining if she was to build up a trust with Big Bill.

Ní-assa finally answered with, ” We do share certain feelings and I’m looking foreword to spending more time with Bill.” Asnee

laughed saying, ” I’m sure you are! ” The next few days went by uneventful with the exception of nightly sexual adventures, and discovery of new and enjoyable pleasures. One day, Big Bill called

Ní-assa saying he couldn’t make their nightly meeting because of some work related things he had to accomplish before the next day.

Ní-assa asked what was so important that he had to cancel. Big Bill explained with, ” You recall I said our business dealt with clients who were cooperative in sharing some of their profits with us for our assistance in keeping riff raft out of their places of business. ”

Ní-assa answered , ” Yes I remember.” Big Bill continued with,

” It appears that one of our clients has grown tired of us and decided to go without our assistance. I just need to explain the situation to him and convince him of the error of not continuing with our

services.” Ní-assa asked, ” Want some company?” The question took Big Bill by surprise, but after a moment he answered with,

” And why would you want to do that?” Ní-assa felt that this could be the time to educate Bill to her real identity and perhaps even find some more common ground for her to work with to accomplish her desire to kill those who she has vowed to vanquish.

Taking a deep breath, Ní-assa sat down and began to pull on Big Bills arm to set down by her. She began with, ” Bill, I haven’t been exactly honest with you or Asnee and Arnold. I want you to feel comfortable with me, so that if I were to ask you to do something you would know I was not trying to get you in trouble with Arnold or anything. ” Big Bill listened intently, then said, ” What are you talking about, being honest? Have you been lying to me?” Looking into Bill’s eyes, Ní-assa played her hand expertly saying,

” Virago is not my name, my real name is Ní-assa! I wanted you to know that before someone else told you. ” Big Bill

frowning, asked, ” What other secrets are you keeping from me?”

Big Bill was not pleased at all with Ní-assa’s admission. at first he started to leave, but then just before he opened the front door, he turned and asked Ní-assa, ” You still want to come along?”

Ní-assa grinning, jumped up and hugging Bill, thanking him for being her hero, vowing never to make his decision harmful to him.

That evening Big Bill and Ní-assa left for a small store front owned by a dealer named ‘ Wired ’ . When the two went into the shop

lined with hardware on the walls and a worried looking man standing at the counter, Big Bill asked, ” Hey Wired, sell much today?”

The little man was stammering for a response but could not get the right words out before Big Bill grabbed him by the neck, holding him straight out in front of him, talking as though he was just standing there. While the little mans legs began to do a strange dance, Bill suddenly let go and ‘Wired ’ fell to the ground gasping for a breath that was having a difficult time finding any air in his lungs to function. Big Bill walked over the gasping body, motioning for Ní-assa to follow. Going through the double doors at the rear of the store, they entered a room filled with naked women hustling back and forth cutting, filling and loading a lot of white powder for

distribution. The whole place was alive with activity, with only one man watching over the entire operation. When Big Bill and Ní-assa approached, the man started to say something but was cut short when Big Bill’s huge fist plowed into the man’s face immediately sending him into another dimension. ‘Wired ’ came into the room, where the industrial efforts had come to a halt. ” What the hell are you doing? The boss will have a shit fit when he hears about this!

Big Bill walked over to ‘Wired ’, who was backing up quickly, and without saying a word, slipped his business card into the little mans shirt pocket. Some of the women snickered when they saw the flow of liquid staining the pants of ‘Wired ’.

Leaving the building, Ní-assa felt she had made a good choice this time, in picking a man with strong quiet intentions of how to get his message across. ” Let’s get a beer.” Bill said to Ní-assa, heading into a bar across from the hardware front. Ní-assa followed into

the bar and sat down next to Bill. Beginning a conversation ,

Ní-assa asked, ” You usually set down for a beer after what I just witnessed?” Bill smiled , ” You ain’t seen nothing yet sweetheart!”

The two sat while Bill ordered another beer. After about ten minutes had passed, the sound of a car screeching to a halt outside the bar,brought Big Bill to his feet . Opening the bar door slowly, one could see four men getting out of a car and head into the hardware store . Bill said to Ní-assa, ” Why don’t you go get the car and meet me in front ?” Ní-assa wasn’t used to following orders, but at this juncture, it seemed like a prudent task to do.

Driving up to the bar, Ní-assa saw Bill coming out of the hardware store, guns on fire as two men dropped at the entrance! Big Bill stood up brushing his coat front, then casually walked toward

Ní-assa and his awaiting vehicle. ” Guess we can go back home now, thanks for driving.” The rear view mirror provided the image of two more men coming out of the bar yelling as Ní-assa drove off in a hurry.

Driving fast was a treat for Ní-assa. It brought back memories of some of the chases she had been a part of when she worked with a team. Big Bill sat and admired her ability to weave in and out like a professional driver. When they had reached their destination and Ní-assa turned off the ignition, Bill put his arm around her saying,

” Lady, you can drive my get away vehicle any time!”

Ní-assa smiled and thanking Bill for letting her take the wheel. Big Bill questioned Ní-assa on how she learned the maneuvers she had demonstrated eluding any issues of scrapes or collisions., ” That was some of the finest driving I have ever seen!” Bill said . Looking at Ní-assa Bill asked, Why didn’t you say anything about what was going on? Most people would have asked.” Ní-assa grinned replying, ” Funny thing was, what you were doing brought back memories of when the mafia had me doing something very similar in the East! It might be a little different here in Abilene, but we do have some of the same ideas! Big Bill shook his head saying, ” I guess thats part of the name thing you told me earlier, right?” Ní-assa

admitted she had deceived most of the people, but if she let on about who she was it could go bad for her. Bill wanted to ask some personal questions about her and the Mafia and Cartels, but decided to wait until another time. Ní-assa asked if Bill thought Arnold would be upset if he knew about her past and that there were people that would like to put her in the ground. Bill was ok about his new love interest, but had a feeling it might be a little difficult to explain

to Arnold. Bill said to Ní-assa, ” Maybe we should let it be our secret until he knows you better. ” Ní-assa was disappointed but could see some reasoning in what Bill was saying. ” The thing is, Bill, I have a couple of scores I would like to settle, and if I wait around for Arnolds permission, I could be an old lady and not be able to do what I need to do to those individuals ! ” Big Bill looked at Ní-assa

with a puzzled expression saying, ” Just what are you thinking of doing that you have to do now?” Ní-assa smiled that expression of desire that she did so well, saying slowly, ” I’m going to kill those son of a bitches! All four if I get the chance.” Bill had not seen this side of the woman he knew as Virago. This woman was the

Ní-assa she was hiding. Bill was showing some very expressive

facial gyrations including shaking his head and looking at Ní-assa in a totally different way. Ní-assa could read the expressions and told Bill, ” Tell you what…. You stay and grovel to your master, but I’ve got things to do and don’t have time for hand holding sessions before doing what I have been waiting for, for a long time!”

Bill was hesitant to even think of the direction that this woman was leading him towards. Ní-assa hugged Bill in a pathetic manner, which put him off guard while she spoke apology words making her

to appear vulnerable. ” My love, I didn’t mean all those awful words I said to you! Please forgive me for being so selfish.” Bill carressed her saying words of comfort and trying to make her feel

better. What Bill wasn’t aware of is that Ní-assa was like the tiger waiting in the bush until an unsuspecting stranger comes along to rescue the poor little cub lying helpless, awaiting a rescue. Bill was a strong man and a tough man in a fair fight, but with Ní-assa, there was no fair fight anywhere ! After awhile, Ní-assa’s tears settled and she continued to hold tight to Bill, making him feel he was the hero of the day. Later that evening, Ní-assa explained to Bill the reasons she needed to extract her revenge on ‘ Those terrible men!’

Her stories were imbedded with several out and out lies with some minor truth’s attached for flair. By the time she was finished,

Ní-assa had Bill almost as angry as she was. Finally, Ní-assa put the whole idea of going to Big Springs and killing the four men who had done such terrible things to his woman, squarely in his lap with, ” Will you help me win back my dignity and make me a whole woman again?!

When Big Bill approached Arnold the next day, asking to take a couple of the men and pay a visit to Big Springs with Ní-assa.

Arnold was not pleased with the idea and suggested to Bill that he find another sex partner and stay in Abilene where he knew what the stakes were. ” You and that woman go into a new town and start to make trouble, you don’t know what a pandora box you could open!”

Bill argued that Ní-assa really needed some help with her desire and he was willing to cover any trouble that might come out of the venture. Looking at Bill, Arnold yelled, ” Who the hell is Ní-assa?” Bill started to explain about the name change thinking it might help if Arnold knew some of her story. Still yelling, Arnold said, ” First, this bitch comes in and mesmerizes my best man, making him sound like some love sick shit head! Then you tell me she can’t even tell us who she is and lies about her name to us! You better dump her and pick up another bitch to satisfy your needs! ”

Arnold was adamant that Bill stay in Abilene, saying, ”Tell

Ní-assa, or whatever in hell her name is, to find another sucker to fight her battles!” Bill left angry because Arnold had been so stubborn and would not even consider any of his men to go on the

trip to Big Springs! Returning to Ní-assa, Bill explained the yelling tirade Arnold had, and that there was no way in hell that he would allow any of his men to leave Abilene for any reason, especially for her. ” And you stood there like a mule I suppose, just bowing your head and letting Arnold shit all over my plan!” Bill was surprised at

how angry Ní-assa had become, saying, ” I did the best that I could, but don’t give me more shit! I don’t have to listen to you like I did with Arnold.” Ní-assa laughed and slammed her fist on the table saying, ” Your right! A mule would have stood his ground, but your more like a rat that turns tail and hides!” Bill yelled out, ” Bitch!”

slapping Ní-assa across the face with such force that she fell againest the wall and landed on the floor. Bill started to give

Ní-assa his hand to assist in her getting up, when she yelled, ” You touch me and you will loose a hand!” Bill’s anger was rekindled by her remark so rather than giving her a hand, he took his foot and pushed her back to the floor. Walking away Bill said, ” Stay down there until you can treat me with respect!” The last thing Bill would have considered as Ní-assa’s reaction, was that she never let a bad thing go to waist. Reaching for her neck knife, Bill became a prime example of what happens to those who ignore the warning signs of

dealing with Ní-assa harshly and expecting different results than death! Lying on the floor, Bill looked up at Ní-assa, who was reaching down to retrieve her knife, trying to say something, but the words became garbled as the blood filled his lungs. ” Thats OK Big Bill, I forgive you!” Ní-assa said as she removed the money from his body and taking the keys to his very nice car, left Abilene,

heading for Oklahoma.

The End?