"You don't expect me to allow you to stay here do you?" Arlene pulled her robe tighter and glared at Sandra.

"I do. And there isn't a whole helluva lot you can do about it. Try kicking us out and old John here—an apt name by the way—will be the next Hammond headline. What with your hubby caught with his 'assistant' in the hotel, I should think you'd be more than happy to have us here... keeping quiet." She tossed the empty wallet back to John who was sitting in shock on the other end of the sofa.

"What do you know about that?" Arlene 's voice sounded strained.

"Everything. It's all over the news."

A gurgling sound came from Arlene's throat and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"If you continue to make nasty about our being here well then, Mrs. Maxwell, you'll have to explain your activities with John here while your husband was getting his brains beat in."

"I know you from the bank, don't I?" Arlene hid her failing confidence with bluster, turning her attention to Curtis.

"I've served you from time to time." Curtis answered stubbornly. His future was looking far less rosy than the imagined adventure he'd... well... imagined.

"I wouldn't remember." She threw back with disdain.

"That it?" Sandra asked. "Are we done sparring? Don't make a mistake in thinking I'm as sweet as I look... Arlene—might as well get on a first name basis." Arlene screwed up her face at the nasty bruise on Sandra's face. "I'm Sandra and this is Curtis." She reached across and patted John's leg, which jerked like he'd been zapped. "We already know yours, Johnny." She turned back to Arlene. "I'll use this if I have to." The gun bounced up and down once in her hand.

"Fine, but I'm expected at the hospital for my husband and the police want to interview me again after I see him."

Curtis looked to Sandra with a doubtful expression. "That could well be true."

"We could all go. What do you say? Curtis can drive, I'll ride beside him and you and John can neck in the back on the way." Sandra laughed. "We aren't wanted for anything, Arlene. We could just be concerned friends."

"If that's true why are you here at all?" John snapped out of his stupor and braced her angrily.

"Excellent question, Johnny. It so happens—"

"It so happens, Johnny, she's here because she thinks she can hide from me."

The reactions varied but all were expressions of surprise, confusion and particularly, dread. The man who had appeared in the livingroom doorway unnoticed leered over the barrel of his gun at the room's occupants.

"Hello, Curtis. Sandra, bitch." Gabe sauntered into the room keeping his gun aimed right at Sandra until he snatched hers away and stuck it in his belt. "Want to introduce everybody... bitch?" She didn't answer. "No? How about you, Curtis?" Gabe walked over and stood behind a cringing Curtis, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Mrs. Maxwell," Curtis pointed nervously. "This is the man that- that..."

"Beat the shit out of your philandering husband." Gabe grinned. "Don't thank me, it was a treat. I gave his little whore a taste of her own medicine too." He stared smugly at Arlene who seemed to wither inside as she gawked back at the man who raped Zeena. Her heart began to pound and she cast a nervous glance at John who rolled his eyes and looked quickly away.

"Ooh, what have we here? Is Johnny boy here on monkey business with you, Mrs. Maxwell?" He went to the couch and rested the gun barrel on John's neck. "Did John come here for a cup of Maxwell's house?" He looked about and laughed loudly at his perceived joke. "Hey, Johnny, get it, Maxwell's house?" He pressed the gun into John's neck and cocked the hammer. Arlene and Sandra gasped and John let out a loud moan as his bladder let go on the very expensive upholstery of the sofa.

"Aha, John, what have you done?"

"Leave him alone, you asshole," Sandra snarled, sick of Gabe's act.

"You got somethin' to say, bitch? Johnny here a special friend? All your friends piss themselves, bitch?"

"Gabe, shut up and do what you came to do or bugger off."

"Oh I'll do what I came to do all right, don't you worry." He ordered Curtis to get the tassels from the drapes and tie John up and then he made Sandra tie Curtis up and sit him in Arlene's chair. Arlene moved away, terrified as Gabe then told Sandra to lie face down on the rug while he tied her hands and feet with a lamp cord, tugging it particularly tight and making her cry out.

He went to the bar and poured himself a large drink and then sat in a chair across from where Arlene stood and toasted her. "There we are. Let's chat a bit, get to know one another, then, Arlene, you and I can have some fun."

"The police will be around to take me to see my husband." She tried, the thought of his suggestion turning her stomach.

"That right, Sandra? The cops comin' here to pick her up?"

"How would I know," she groaned, as her wrists began chafing from the cord.

"What about you, John, you think they're coming?"

"I don't- yes, I think they are."

"Nice try, John but no cigar. And since you lied there is a price to pay." Gabe cocked the gun again and casually aimed it his direction.

"No! No, wait!" He faced Arlene. "Tell him! Tell him for God's sake!"

Arlene knew that if she admitted the lie her fate was sealed yet she couldn't bring herself to see John murdered because of her own fear. She held up a hand and whispered. "I lied."

"Ain't that just too touching. Kinda like somethin' from Shakespeare, eh? Love thwarted—like that word? Love thwarted and the heroine willin' to give herself up to save her lover." Gabe finished his drink and set the glass down with a purpose. "So be it."

*********************

Ted didn't think he was so lucky after creeping around the huge house trying to find a window that would give him some information without giving him away. Finally he found a tall, narrow window that looked in on the end of a large living room and he could just make out a woman in a robe standing and looking toward a chair. Someone was in the chair but only a leg and one arm was visible.

Beyond that chair, Ted could see the partial body of a woman tied up on the floor. He stepped away and tried checking around the back once more to see if there was a way in that wasn't locked. As he slipped through a small gate off the rear patio and tested one of the sliding doors, he jumped and made a garbled sound as something prodded him in the back.

"Move and you'll be one sorry housebreaker."

Ted held up his hands and turned around. "I'm not a housebre—" He stopped and gaped at the young woman holding the pistol. "Kath!"

She squinted and leaned toward him. "You're the joker from the hotel."

"And you're the phantom waitress."

She tilted her head and pursed her lips. "I like that. The Phantom Waitress."

"Yeah, well could you point that elsewhere please."

"What do you think you're up to here... what's your name?"

"Ted. Ted Wagner and inside we have a killer holding the occupants of this place hostage."

"No shit?" Kath pushed him aside and peered in the window.

"Jesus! Don't let them see you!"

"That's Arlene in the robe. Who are the others, that guy with gun?"

Ted took her place and looked again. The woman in the robe, who he presumed was, Mrs. Maxwell was moving behind different pieces of furniture like some game of tag, screaming and darting about while Gabe patiently counter-moved, gradually forcing her into a corner. When he finally made his move she surprisingly hauled a priceless cranberry glass floor lamp down into his path and made a dash for the upstairs.

He roared in anger as the bits of broken glass stuck on his clothes and under foot. Ted wished he had a cell phone to call the police but then that would deprive him of his own mission and so he kept a close eye on the game in the living room.

He turned when he heard Kath on her own cell phone talking to the 911 operator. "Shit, no!" He darted around to the front of the house and grabbed the front door handle—amazed that it was unlocked—and charged inside.

By the time Gabe got clear of the glass and began his chase, Arlene had reached the second floor and as he reached the stairs he heard the bedroom door slam and lock. At the same time he heard the front door bang open and as he bolted up the stairs he caught a glimpse of the guy from the diner. Son-of-a-bitch! I was right! He stopped and took out his phone and hit the redial, waiting for a response.

"It's Gabe. What did you get, tell me quick I'm in a friggin' hurry? Really? And she confirmed he was in Hammond? Perfect, friggin' perfect. Go for it. I'll be back there by this time tomorrow and we can settle up. Do what you like, I've got my hands full here. You bet. Tomorrow." He closed the phone and climbed the stairs.