(Story continued from "Unravelling". Rocky is in New York, Chris and Jay are in Maine, Matt is in Alabama. It is June 2008.)

Somewhere in Maine
June 2008

Jay had found out about Chris' little stunt the hard way, when he'd gotten a call from the cops telling him they'd impounded his car, which had been found abandoned on the steps of some church. He had planned on going off on the kid, but Chris had felt so bad about it already, he'd let him off easy, telling him to go sleep it off while he took care of the car. He wasn't done having his say, but he had bigger fish to fry right now.

Matt hadn't heard as yet. He was back at his place, leaning back in a leather chair and looking out over the pool, halfway thinking about a dip in the hot tub, the other half thinking about lying in bed. Mel was upstairs changing, as far as he knew, so it was depending on what she came down wearing to make up his mind on what they were doing.

Melissa was planning on the hot tub, which would probably eventually lead to the bed, but before she had a chance to come downstairs and surprise him with a new swimsuit, his cell phone rang. The call was from Jay, who was still in Maine lying low with Chris.

"Phil's Plumblin'."

"I've got a leaky faucet."

"So fix it, Mel's here."

The voice was obviously Jay's. "It's in Boston."

"Ah hell, give me a minute. I'll call you back."

"Gracias." Jay hung up the phone and waited.

Melissa called from upstairs, "Matthew? Did I hear the phone?"

"Yeah, it's Jay. Give me a minute?"

She knew what that meant. Unlike his previous wives and girlfriends, she wasn't demanding of his time and attention or jealous of his friends. She was an intelligent, independent woman who knew enough about him to know what he did was important. "Let me know when you're done, baby."

He raised a brow, thinking Jay's problem had better be life threatening. He picked up his other phone and tapped a few keys on the keyboard beside it, securing the line, and dialed the man back.

Jay picked up immediately. "Hola."

"Your hair on fire, Amigo?"

"Not mine, Christian's."

"Chris? What the hell's he done now?"

"He's in over his head, Matt."

There was that click of the Zippo even though Matt was working on quitting for Mel's sake and his own. "What now, Jay? No lies."

Jay wasn't quite sure where to begin. He decided to start with Guido. "You know about Guido?"

"Guido Sarducci? Wasn't he a comedian in the late Eighties?" Matt took a deep, nervous drag, knowing this wasn't going to be a laughing matter.

"Not that Guido."

"I know," Matt sighed. "What now, Jay?"

"The kid hacked into Guido's account and made a... sizable donation to the Girl Scouts."

Matt choked on his cigar smoke. "He what?"

"Seventy-five grand. I'm afraid he's losing it, amigo."

"Seventy-five... large? I assume that Guido is looking for my boy?"

"He was out last night drinking tequila." That should tell Matt something. Chris was a lightweight. He rarely drank anything stronger than beer.

"Tequila?" Matt was shocked, to say the least. "He did this shit while drinking?"

"No... A few nights ago."

"Jesus Christ," Matt ran a hand over his head. So much for a relaxing night at home. "Where's Chris?"

"Sleeping it off. He picked up some chica in a bar and asked her to marry him. He left the car on the church steps. I just got it out of impound." He didn't mention that the kid had been driving drunk. It kind of went without saying. And Matt should know how Jay felt about that, considering his wife had been killed by a drunk driver. "He's loco over Rocky."

"You didn't kill him?" Matt lit another cig, after crushing the first out. "He's loco over her, but shacked up with some broad?"

"I came close, but... He says nothing happened. He thought she was Rocky."

"God damn it, Jay... I told him to lay low out there. Not go hoppin' into the sack with someone he thought was the Sarge and then drain too much of that sombitch's bank account."

"Si, I know. He needs to get his head on straight. His madre is sick again."

"How bad?"

"Bad. He needs to go home, but Guido is a problem."

"So, he is looking for him then." More of a statement than a question. "Jay,? he sighed a bit, shaking his head. "That boy needs a lesson, but he also needs his mama."

"I think he learned his lesson this time, mi amigo. You know he's like a little brother to me."

"Learned hell. He went pokin' around a fire with gasoline!"

"You want him to learn the hard way? By losing a few fingers? Or maybe Guido's men will kill his mother or his sister."

"You know I don't. I always take care of you guys, but shit fire, Jay..." Another sigh.

"He was angry and stupid." Jay paused, wondering just how much he should tell the other man. "And hurt. I've never seen him like this. He loves that girl. It worries me." Jay didn?t mention the mess he?d found in Boston. The wreck Chris had made of his house and the emotional breakdown that had followed.

"Then he needs to grow his ass up and tell her the fuckin' truth. How long's it been now?" Matt clicked the lighter out of habit.

"He says he's tried. He says she left him for dead. I don't know if he can get past it. Have you talked to her?"

"Oh, yeah, I've talked to her."

"And?"

"And she's pissed about lies and where in the hell he'd need that kind of money, why he was there with another girl..."

"There was no other girl. He's crazy in love with her. He's been crazy in love with her for years. What do you want me to do?"

"She said the goons said he was there with someone else, waiting on him while he made the deal. Know anything about that?"

"An escort. Someone who took him to see Guido. That's all."

"Escort? God, don't tell her that."

"Matt, I know him like my own, and I'm telling you... There is no one else. He hasn't been with anyone else since he met her."

"Jay, you are going to have to make this problem disappear then."

"I've been with more women than he has. You want me to get rid of the whole problem or just a piece of it?"

"You ol' sly dawg." Matt tried to see the humor in it, but he was worried. "Deal with Guido, and I'll deal with Chris. Cool? If you take the head off, maybe the snake will just be too busy fightin' over what's left."

"I can take him to Boston and deal with Guido there. I got the package. He?ll be pleased."

"Take him to Boston, let me know when you arrive. I'll deal with a few... well, I'll just meet you there, and if he does something stupid, the next one, he buys." The package was a brand new computer, the latest and greatest, since the last one had gotten fried in the fire when Rocky had blown up Chris? Jaguar.

"You should call him. Talk to him. You are like a padre to him. He'll listen to you."

"I know, but right now, I want to kill him. What the hell was he thinking, Jay?"

"He wasn't thinking."

"Okay, fine. I'll call him, but you take care of the rest for me, so I know it's handled?"

"Will do, boss.? There was a brief pause. ?Matt?"

"I mean it, Jay, no more mishaps. Not with my guys." He stopped, "Yeah?"

"He needs some time off." Jay wasn't a man of many words. He and Matt and had known each other a long time, and what little Jay said usually spoke volumes. He hoped what few words he said hit the mark. The kid was a mess and Jay knew it. He wasn't going to do the team any good until he got his head on straight and got things settled at home.

"Time off... What about you, Jay?" For Jay to say that Chris needed time, meant that his mother was worse than he thought. "That boy better tell me what she needs."

Jay chuckled. "My head is on straight." There was a time when it wasn't after the death of his wife, so he kind of knew what the kid was going through and Matt had been there for him then. "He's Irish,? he said, as if that was an excuse for the kid?s stubborn streak.

"Yeah, but do you need a few days, just to go soak up some home sun?"

"If I need it, I'll say so."

"Okay, deal with Guido. Call me when it's done." Matt sighed. "Thanks for telling me."

"De nada."

Matt hung up the phone, staring at it a long while, wondering if he should call Chris.

Jay did the same, exhaling a long sigh and hoping the kid was going to be okay.

Chris stopped his pacing and dropped down onto the bed, staring at the phone in his hand, wishing he had just one more chance. He stared at it a moment, almost willing it to ring. Wishing by some chance of luck, she'd call and apologize and ask if they could start over.

And as if his will worked, his phone did ring.

He answered the phone a little too eagerly, hoping it was Rocky, not realizing it wasn't her ring tone. "Rock?" he asked, sounding anxious.

"And roll, baby." Matt said.

"Oh, it's you." He sounded disappointed.

"Glad to hear from you too, Jerk. Where are you?"

"At the safe house, where do you think?"

"Good. How is everything?"

"Just peachy."

"Liar. Where's Jay?" He would hear the clicking of the old Zippo Matt always used to light his smokes.

He wasn't sure if Jay had told Matt about the tequila incident yet, and he wasn't about to do it for him.

"If you wanted to talk to Jay, you should have called Jay. He's downstairs cleaning his guns or something."

"Did he kick your ass?"

"About what?" he asked, playing stupid.

"I heard about your drunk ass getting his car impounded. A church...really?"

Sigh. "Did you call to mother hen me? I already got a lecture from Jay."

"Boy, you just have to be careful. We were worried."

"Matt, give me something to do, man. I'm going stir crazy here. Is everything cleaned up?"

"What do you want to do? You heard from her?"

"No..." Another pause. Every time he thought about Rocky, he felt sick inside. "Have you? I tried to call her. Some jerk answered the phone."

"Everything in Boston's cleared up. They are saying your hot water heater sparked a gas leak and took out the garage and damaged your house. You sure it was her?"

"Must have been one hell of a leak," he muttered. "Yeah, I'm sure. She won't talk to me."

Matt was avoiding answering about talking to her. "Well, she is a little hot headed Latino, Son. She's good, you think you are going to find anything left there that says pro hit?"

"Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get some insurance money."

"That's the hope. You just going to stay in Maine then?"

"You're the one that wanted me to lay low."

"Yeah, til I got everything L7 in Boston. Or would YOU rather deal with the PD?"

"What about Vegas?"

"What happens in Vegas..." He chuckled then.

"Yeah, that's real funny, Matt. Haha."

"Should I let you take care of your own messes from now on, you ungrateful turd?"

"I'm not ungrateful! I've never been ungrateful!" Miserable maybe. Annoyed definitely. But not ungrateful.

"Look kid, you are like my own... I bailed you out, but I can only do so much."

"How long do I have to stay here?" He knew it was for his own good, and it wasn't an unpleasant place to be, but he felt like he was being punished. Not to mention babysat.

"You hate it there?"

"There's nothing to do, and Jay isn't the best company," he whined, a little.

"Your sister's worried about you by the way, you should call her." That dawned on him about the message he'd received. "What do you mean Jay's not? Did he give you the package I sent?"

"What package?" The package must have arrived while he was out tying one on.

"If you weren't out all night, drinkin' with the Rocky look a likes, you would'a known. Jay's a good guy, he watches out for you... You apologize to him yet?"

"Yeah, but Jay's idea of a good time is... I've been doing nothing but apologizing til I'm blue in the face!"

The package was leaning up against the bed in Chris' room. Fed Ex and all. Matt even insured this one.

"Okay, I just thought I'd ask. You know how he is about drunks and drivin'."

"Yeah, I know. No more tequila."

"You know he's like your brother, Dris. He wants you safe, too."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."

"Tequila is a man's drink." He chuckled again. "So open it up, and tell me what you think."

He found the package leaning against the bed and tilted his head to hold the phone between his head and neck while he picked it up and laid it on the bed. "What is it?"

"I know it's a few days early, but Happy Birthday."

"Happy... what?" He was tearing open the box now, curious. Considering all that had happened, he'd completely forgotten about his birthday. In a few days, he'd be twenty-seven years young.

"What is it... you dumb ass. Ain't you ever got a gift before?"

Inside the box was the latest greatest slightly upgraded Macbook. Easy to transport, even in a brand new carry case.

"Well?" He took a drag, waiting impatiently.

"Yeah, I've gotten..." Dead quiet on the other end of the phone, while he looked his present over.

He could hear the pack being ripped apart, and wondered what the kid would have to say. "Supposedly it's the biggest one they have...and sorry, I went to your competition to get it, he helped me and told me what to get if he was getting one, so I went a step higher."

"Oh, my god," he muttered, his patented reply when he was feeling stunned.

"What good is my friend, my partner, adopted son and comm guy without his equipment, huh?"

He juggled the phone against his shoulder and laid the computer on the desk, starting her up, bored no longer. "I don't know what to say." He had screwed up big time and was being rewarded anyway.

"No porn." He said with a chuckle. "Don't want those glasses thicker."

"You should come down for some cake. Jay's threatening to bake one himself." He took a seat and turned the notebook toward him, tapping a few keys and testing her out. He felt like a kid on Christmas morning with a new favorite toy.

"Um... Jay ever cook anything for you?"

"Yeah, I think he's trying to kill me."

Matt just laughed. "I talked to Rock, Chris."

There was a moment of silence again as her name came up.

"I am not trying to stress you out, but I think she just needs to cool off, you know? I sent her a new phone, you can track her with that new toy there."

"Why would I do that?"

"In case you are wondering where she is...or if she's abducted by Aliens. I don't know, Son. I just set her up so you could."

"I tried calling her, Matt. She doesn't wanna talk to me. If she did, she'd call. I don't want to keep tabs on her. It's over."

"You talked to David. I know, cause I talked to her before she went to bed."

"Who?"

"David Antonelli." Matt said again as he lit another smoke.

"Her brother?"

"The same, he is watching over her a few days. Her dad was being a dick."

He was the Intel guy; he had Intel on the whole team and knew it by heart. "Yeah, and she thinks I'm just like him."

"Are you?" Matt asked then, cause his actions have been somewhat questionable.

"No." Pause. "They wanna do a bone marrow transplant. It's gonna cost a crap load of money."

"Is that why you borrowed the cash?" He was curious to say the least, and he felt he had a right to know.

"Why else would I borrow money from a scumbag like Guido? I'm maxed out. The only thing I had left was the Jag. I was trying to sell it."

"Why didn't you come to me, or Jay? Hell, even Rocky, you stubborn Irish pug."

"Because I... I wanted to do it myself for a change."

"Son, you went dealing with some low life over some of your other family? That ain't good."

"I didn't have time. I needed it quick. I figured I'd pay him right back, next job."

"Bullshit! I could'a hit the bank and had that money just as fast, and you know it. Dammit boy, you gotta stop living job to job."

"Matt..." He sighed. "You don't understand.This bone marrow thing... it's gonna cost a lot of money and it's gonna take a lot of time. They have to do tests, find a donor."

"You don't understand family. Dammit Son, I'd die for you. Jay would too, and hell Rocky was going to marry you... Time is all you have."

"She doesn't have that kind of time!"

He pulled his glasses off and laid them on the table, leaning his forehead against a fist.

"I know, Son... I know. But take the time, get yourself matched to see if you can donate."

"I can't do that from Maine. Everything's screwed up. I screwed it all up." He rubbed his forehead where it was starting to ache again.

"Calm down, boy. Tell Jay to take you to the airport tonight. Take a Redeye back, but LAY LOW. You hearing me? Something tells me that little stunt you pulled he's going to be watching for you."

"Who is?" he asked quietly.

"You know damned good and well."

"That jerkoff Guido?"

The silence on the other end was an agreement.

"He's a weasel. I'll be careful."

"You still got your pistol?"

"Yeah, of course, I do. You think he'd come after me again?"

"Carry it. Check it in your baggage and go home, to help your mother. Jay will tag along, and stay in a hotel close by."

"We could drive."

He remembered Chris' dad, how he'd said the boy was going to be something, so his old man could retire, and he knew that John would be proud of the way he was taking care of his family. "Dris, fly down. It's faster. If shit hits the fan, y'all fly back and get buried."

"Matt..." He sounded downright hopeless.

"Chris?"

He wanted to say something, to tell the other man what he was feeling, but he wasn't sure how. "Thanks." It was only one word, but it meant a lot more than that.

"You know you don't have to."

"Yeah, I do."

"You are family." Matt said quietly

"Yeah," he quietly agreed, wishing he could tell the man how he felt about him, how much he appreciated everything he'd done for him, how he'd been a better father than his own flesh and blood. "I'll call you when I get to Boston, okay?"

"Get to Boston, kid." He chuckled as they said nearly the same thing. "Call me, but call your sister and let her know you are okay."

"I will." It looked like he'd be spending his birthday in airports and hospitals... again. He wished Rocky could be there with him, but he didn't dare call her.

"Try her again." He said, as if reading the boy's thoughts.

"Maybe when I get to Boston." He didn't have the heart right now to try again, to get her brother again, to listen to either of their insults.

"Be safe, Kid." He said as he then hung up the phone. No need for goodbyes, he wasn't the type. Said he didn't believe in them. He knew he would be hearing from Dris soon, and he pulled his boots on, to go see about getting money into Chris' account.

Boston, Mass
June 2008

Chris and Jay arrived in Boston without incident, and Jay had immediately sent the kid home to see his mother, while he checked into a hotel and started digging for dirt on Guido.

He scoped things out and found there was rarely a moment when the scumbag was alone, always surrounded by one group of goons or another. Jay wasn't sure how much any of them knew about Chris, but if he wanted to keep him safe, he knew he'd have to not only get rid of the snake, but the entire nest. That called for bigger guns than his.

There was no point in calling Stone for advice. Stone had given Jay the go ahead to do what needed to be done, and that meant making his own decisions and deciding what was best. Stone had said he'd meet them both in Boston, and Jay didn't want to bother him with little details like Guido's goons.

Jay had spent half the morning debating what to do and finally decided to throw caution to the wind and make a call. He trusted her about as far as he could throw her, but he had a gut feeling she would be only too happy to help. And so, he called Rocky.

Rocky had been laying low since her conversation with Matt. She didn't want much to do with him or Jay, and her days were spent planning and executing the sales of illegal arms and weapons, so when her phone rang she wasn't expecting it. "Yeah?"

He didn't bother to announce himself, but assumed she'd recognize his voice. "You alone?"

She felt a little sick, wondering if she was in his sights. "Yeah, why?"

"I need a favor."

"Oh, really, now? What sort of favor?"

He slipped from English to Spanish, just in case anyone else might be listening. "How soon can you be in Boston??

She followed suit but stayed clear of her windows and other places. "I don't know, why?"

"We have some loose ends to tie up."

"We?"

"You still part of the team?"

"Matt's pissed, and honestly, I'm not sure that you aren't looking at me down a barrel."

"I'm in Boston. You want the weather forecast? There's gonna be a shit storm soon if you don't get off your ass and help me finish what you started."

She moved around and took a glance from her window, and couldn't see anyone, but that was his specialty. "What do you need, Jay?"

"Need to take care of some scumbags once and for all. You in or you out? You bungled it in Vegas, chica, and almost got my boy killed. You owe me for that."

"I didn't bungle that, he did."

"He told me what happened. You walked away. He's lucky he's not dead."

"Did he tell you what we were doing, Jay? Fine, you need my help..." She looked at her watch. "Give me a couple hours."

"Don't tell him you're coming. He's got enough to deal with right now."

"I haven't talked to him, Jay. You should know that."

"What did you learn in the service, chica? Never leave a buddy behind. Ever. Rule number one, si?"

"Buddy? He lied to me, repeatedly." She sighed. "We meeting face to face or having this conversation now?"

"Lies or no lies. You don't abandon your teammates. Call me when you get here. We'll talk then."

"Right." She hung up the phone and looked at her still packed bag. "So, going to Boston for either a bullet or a sermon."

Rocky walked back to the rental car and tipped the valet before sliding in behind the steering wheel. After an adjust of the mirror and a check of her reflection, she was out into the evening traffic and driving toward the hotel.

Her thoughts turned to the conversation, picking it over and thinking about the way that Jay had looked at her. She had a feeling that he didn't care for her style, and more for the way that she and his self-proclaimed boy had their fall outs. Chris' brother, confidante, and friend, doing what those types always do, protecting him.

She'd been packing a pistol and two knives to that meeting, and they all found their way to the bed after she locked the door. The remote was picked from its rest on the bedside and in a moment the television was on, just for the background noise. Rocky carried the brown bag toward the table, where the information Jay had given her waited.

"Christian, what have you done, besides gone loco?" she said in Spanish to the empty room.

Everything she needed was in the folders from Jay. Hours, names, even home addresses of Guido and his men, if they weren't all at the club. Doors, windows, and offices were all marked clearly.

She calculated the size of the building, and the closest building, also owned by Guido, would take some damage that could lead to demolition.
The building had a basement used for storage and that's where the main charges would be, and the rest placed carefully for maximum destruction and destabilization. The foundations would weaken and break, bringing down the three story building around the men.

Rocky didn't care. They were going to be moving for Chris again, and she'd decided a long time ago, no one killed Christian Driscoll, except her.

She stepped out of the car and walked toward the house, after being sure that there were no neighbors watching. The last thing that Rocky needed was more attention, or a night in jail for them to figure out who and what she was.

The garage was gone, all that was left were the charred and burned wall studs and the gray-white ash stains across the floor where his car had been. She remembered talking to him, the night she flipped the switch, and she knew then that the slightest miscalculation could have meant bringing the house down on him and Jay. Glass and other debris crunched under her boots as she stepped in past the crime scene tape, looking around the remains of his house.

The pictures were gone, but she could still see them, as if the walls were still there, holding them. There was a Christmas tree in the corner, and they were lying next to it, a pallet on the floor, lost in a lover's embrace. The couch that was turned over, ripped and burned, was where it normally was, against the garage wall, and they were there, cheering on the Red Sox, and sharing a beer.

She turned and walked down the hall, only to be passed by Chris, carrying her down the hall, kissing her passionately, and whispering how much he loved her, and she could taste that kiss over the slight tinge of burnt wood, carpet, and plastic tiles. Her smile spread, as much as she tried to fight it.

She turned on her flashlight then, and looked toward a pile of rubble, where a picture caught her eye. As she stepped closer, Rocky could see that it was one of their pictures from the Keys. She bent to pick it up, and frowned when it was her smiling face, with nothing more than a burned mark where Chris once stood.

Rock dropped the picture and started looking for more, thinking that there had to be something left, more than memories, something of the physical. The toe of her boot kicked some of the rubble away, and there was another piece of paper, burned and dirty, but as she picked it up, she paled. A bill statement, or what was left of it, from the Hospital not far from his place.

Rock ran from the house, fighting the fear and the tears, she had to know. She had to find out on her own. There were things that needed to be known before she dealt out her own form of justice, that way she would know how bloody things needed to get.

Sue joined Rocky in the hallway outside her mother's room. There were things they needed to discuss but not in front of her. Those things were mostly about Chris. "Coffee?"

"Sure, why not?" Rocky waited and watched the woman, not sure what she was to expect.

Sue wasn't going to make a scene outside her mother's room on the oncology floor of all places, so she started down the hall toward the elevator. "Did you come here to see Chris or my mother?"

"Actually..." Rocky paused, unsure how to answer. "I thought maybe Chris was here."

Sue hit the button for the first floor. "How'd you find out?"

"About what?" She was attempting to play dumb and failing miserably.

"Don't play stupid, Rocky."

"There was a piece of a bill or something at his house, and I wasn't sure who was here. I took a drive, asked a few questions, and got this." Rocky pointed at her visitor badge.

"But instead of seeing him, you went to see my mother." Sue was merely stating a fact.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, letting people disperse.

"Damn sure wasn't from your brother," Rocky continued, as the doors opened. "I'd never met her."

"You thought the bill was his?" Sue was slowly putting two and two together. She stepped into the elevator and turned to face the other woman.

Rocky followed her into the elevator and shrugged. "Yes."

"So, you came to see if he was sick... or hurt?"

"Hurt, yeah," Rocky admitted. "How long has your Mom been that way?"

Sue frowned at the other woman, not really wanting to discuss personal family business in an elevator among strangers. "Too long," she said quietly and thankfully, the doors opened again onto the ground floor. "There's a cafeteria. The coffee food isn't great, but the coffee is passable."

Rock stepped out and walked toward the cafeteria. "I'm sure I've had worse."

Sue followed and once there, poured herself a cup of coffee, adding sugar and cream.

Rocky made hers dark with one sugar pack and looked at Sue. "He never told me, you know?"

"I know," she answered, not looking at Rocky, seemingly focused on stirring her coffee.

"Just always told me that she was strong and doing okay. Another lie in a growing list." Rocky stirred her own coffee then. "You know? He told you he's lied to me about this? Something this big, this... important?"

"Lie? You think he lied about this? I think you misunderstand." Sue almost bristled, feeling defensive about her brother. She turned toward the cashier and paid for both coffees. She knew her brother better than anyone, and she knew he had a hard time talking about things, especially when it came to their mother. Was an omission of truth the same thing as lying? In a court of law, it probably would be.

"Sue, he never told me that she was fighting like this. He told me of everything that woman did for you and him." Rock sighed. "Made her sound like Superwoman or something."

"In a way, she is." Sue seemed to relax a little. "Let's get a table."

Rocky turned from the cashier and walked toward a table in the back, her back to the wall, all entrances and exits watched. Lifestyle habit.

Sue had developed no paranoid bad habits, so she took the seat opposite Rocky without even thinking twice about it. She idly stirred her coffee, feeling a little bit awkward, a trait she shared with Chris, though she was far more outspoken and self-assured than he was. She just wasn't quite sure where to start. She didn't want to attack the woman. She knew Chris wasn't perfect, and there were two sides to every story, but he was her brother, and she had her loyalties.

"He should have told me... All the times that we'd talked about our families."

"Ten years," Sue finally admitted, blurting it out. "Or maybe eleven. I don't know. I lost count. In and out of remission. She has her good days and her bad. We were sixteen when she first got sick." She referred to them as we, since they were twins. She assumed Rocky knew that much.

"Today a good day?"

"Today..." Sue sighed, looking suddenly tired. Taking care of her mother, her brother, her daughter, and her career. It was starting to take a toll. "There have been worse days than today."

"She seemed in good spirits. Maybe it was a show for my sake."

"She's having a good day today, so far. She seems to like you."

Normally that would have made Rock smug and likely to pop off something like what wasn't there to like, but instead it was like someone had twisted the blade already at rest in her chest. "She seems like a very nice woman."

"She's an amazing woman," Sue agreed. "She's my hero. You probably think the same thing about your own mom."

"I can see why," Rocky said as she took a sip. "Yeah, my mother has three big sons that she kept in line."

"You're the youngest?"

"Yes and the prettiest, though Davey would argue that."

Sue smiled. "Brothers can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn't trade Chris for the world. He's the most selfless person I know."

"You just have the one, but you are right. I wouldn't trade mine for anything." Rocky sighed, listening about Chris, but tried to keep her feelings from showing. "Some days I'd pay someone to take them."

Sue laughed. "I hear you. He used to drive me crazy when we were kids." She took a sip of her coffee finally. "He's always been too serious. I used to have to force him to have fun."

"You still have to force him to have fun."

"He had dreams once. We used to talk about them. Before Mom got sick."

"What'd he tell you?"

Sue shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her coffee. "He wanted to travel, see the world. His big dream was always to go to Alaska. See the last American frontier.?

"Alaska?"

"Yeah, you know, Alaska?" She laughed. "He'd probably bitch about it being too cold now."

"I can't see him there."

"Why not?"

"The Great White Wimp? Are you kidding me?"

Sue smiled. "I don't think he planned on doing any mountain climbing while there."

"He'd just want to stay close to a fire and check his email. I'd be the climbing, panning, whale watching, touristy type."

"I don't know. Could be kind of romantic if you're with the right person."

"Checking your email?" Rocky grinned.

"I have a feeling he'd give up his email for awhile for you."

"He has." She smiled slightly. "So, you have much more school left?"

"I'm studying for the bar. He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Tell me what?"

"He put me through law school."

"He did?" She shook her head. "No, he failed to mention that."

"He doesn't want anyone to know. I'm not stupid, Rocky. I know he doesn't make that kind of money working as a programmer or whatever the hell he tells Mom he does."

Rock just looked at her over the cup of coffee as she sipped, not confirming nor denying.

"You don't have to say anything. I know what's going on. There's one person he can't keep the truth from and that's me."

"And what's that?"

"Don't play games with me."

"What'd he tell you I do?"

"I just don't want him to get hurt. I told him I'd take loans, but he insisted. He's spent his whole life taking care of me and Mom. Paying the bills, trying to take Dad's place. I owe him a debt I can never repay."

"I don't think he needs to be repaid on that."

She heard Rocky's question, but she was rambling now, letting go of things she'd never told anyone. "Once I pass the bar, I can take care of myself. He can stop worrying about me. God, sometimes I just want to slap him and tell him to do something for himself for a change."

"Right." Rocky chuckled. "Good luck making him not watch out for you."

Sue frowned, fingering her mug. "He told me you two broke up."

"Again." She nodded.

"He won't talk about it. He usually tells me everything, but every time I ask, he just clams up."

"I thought he told you everything." Rocky took another sip, then smiled as she said nearly the same thing. "He wanted to get married."

"That's why you broke up?" She glanced at the ring on Rocky's finger. "That ring belonged to my mom. My dad gave it to her."

Rocky looked at the ring, then at Sue. "So, this should be yours?"

Sue shook her head at Rocky's misunderstanding. "I don't want it. Mom gave it to Chris to give to you. You're still wearing it."

"Yeah, I know. I haven't seen him to return it."

"He still loves you."

"He lied to me about a lot of things, Sue."

"What about you? Did you always tell the truth?"

"I didn't lie to him about something like this and what he did."

"What did he lie about?"

"Can I plead the Fifth?"

Sue frowned, knowing what that meant. Whatever Rocky was about to tell her wasn't good.

"I'm not telling you this to go and tell him or question him, but he had a couple of friends show up in Vegas."

"And?"

"He owed a guy some money, Sue." Rock hated telling her, but she wanted the woman to see her side and maybe understand where she was coming from. "A lot of money."

"What kind of guy?"

"A loan shark, so a pretty bad guy."

Sue's eyes widened. She knew Chris was getting his hands on large sums of money somehow, but she wasn't sure how. She'd never really wanted to know how. "I'll kill him. Idiot."

"No, don't tell him I told you this. He doesn't know I'm here."

"Is that who blew his house up? Jesus Christ, he could have been killed."

"I think that was a hot water heater."

Sue laughed. "Yeah, right." She'd seen the damage and found it hard to believe it had been caused by a faulty water tank.

Rocky wasn't about to tell the truth about rigging his car. "What'd Chris tell you that I do?"

"He said you were in sales."

"And acquisitions." She nodded. "We came back to the room, and there were two of Guido's guys waiting on him."

Sue turned a little pale as she listened to Rocky's story, her hand closing tightly on her cup of coffee. "Is he in trouble, Rocky?" Despite her claims, she knew Chris wasn?t telling her everything and maybe Rocky wasn't either. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know. Ignorance was bliss, after all, or had been up until now.

"Chris tried to tell me fifty-thousand, but they were asking for seventy-five. They had a freakin' hand cannon on him and worked him over." She took a sip from the mug. "So, I got pissed and I walked away. He was blowing through money like it was nothing in Vegas. He'd come up and instead of walking away, he'd play it all back and ask me for money. Then he gave me this." She pointed at the ring. "Swearing to go legit, no more sharks, no more gambling..." She sighed.

"Jesus..." Sue muttered, tears filling her eyes.

"I bought him a Versace suit that he left in a cab." She pushed her hair back, anger threatening again.

Sue didn't care about the suit. She turned away, taking a deep breath and thinking about what Rocky was telling her. She had a feeling she knew why he'd borrowed the money and she didn't like it. "They were gonna foreclose on the mortgage. Mom needed money for the bone marrow tests." She shook her head, having trouble holding back the tears. "He's such an idiot."

Rock said nothing, but it made sense. Borrow the money, but try to double it for extra payments. "Well, in his own warped way, he was trying to double that money, I think."

"It's not fair." Now she sounded like Chris. In his own warped way, he was trying to put bad money to good use, but that didn't make it right.

"I agree, he's an idiot."

"How are we gonna pay them off? I don't have that kind of money. I know he was trying to sell the Jag."

"I already did." She paused and looked at her then. "He what?"

Sue echoed Rocky. "You what?"

"He was selling that damn car?"

Sue nodded. "Yeah, he was trying to sell it, but he hadn't gotten any bites yet."

"He loved that thing."

"He's always wanted one, but he said he didn't need it. Said he'd get something more practical."

"What's he going to get, a Beetle?"

Sue shrugged. "I don't know. He hasn't gotten anything from the insurance company yet. They're still looking into it."

"I saw it in the paper. That car was twisted into a pretzel," she said quietly. "He's lucky he wasn't killed."

"Yeah," Sue agreed quietly, wrapping both hands around the mug, since now they were shaking. She hadn't realized until just then how close she'd come to losing her brother. "I don't know what I'd do if..." She broke off. All the anger she'd been feeling evaporated in the wake of Rocky's news. Part of her wanted to kill her brother for being so stupid, and the other part wanted to hold on tight.

How did you tell someone that you were responsible for nearly killing their brother? "Well, he's okay, so that's good. I paid for his debt and he doesn't know. I'd like to keep it that way."

Sue lifted her head to look at the other woman, and her eyes were shining with tears. "I don't know if she's gonna make it, Rocky. I can't lose them both. The doctors said..." She broke off again, her voice breaking.

"Well, as far as I know, Christian isn't leaving your side." She stopped, listening and nodding. "I can't imagine."

"If he's not a match..." She just shook her head.

"You aren't?"

"No, not close enough."

"I would try, but I don't see me matching your mom."

"God..." Sue laughed humorlessly and wiped at her eyes. "He's such a baby. He was so upset, they had to dope him up. He's probably sleeping it off by now."

"He is a baby. Stubbed his toe and you'd think he'd broken his leg off."

"Yeah." Sue laughed a little through her tears. "I appreciate you helping him." She had no idea Rocky had nearly killed him. "I'll pay you back."

Rocky nodded. "I haven't seen him since Vegas. Talked to him once." The pangs of guilt were welling up inside. "No, you won't."

"Yes, I will. It'll take time, but I will."

"No, Sue, I insist. I can afford it."

"It's the least I can do. He's my brother."

"He was my fiance."

"Do you still love him?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "I want to kill him."

Sue smiled a little. "You want to get in line?"

"You know, I didn't tell you all this so you'd want to kill him, too. I think it was just so you knew how much he was really trying to do for you and your mom."

"I don't want him to risk his life for me, and Mom wouldn't want him to either. I love him. He's my brother."

"Well, just appreciate what he does for you, know that his debt is free and clear, and soon you won't have to worry about his getting money anywhere in this town."

"What do you mean?"

"Just putting the word out is all."

"Oh, don't worry. If he tries anything like that again, he won't have to worry about hit men. He'll have to worry about me. Do you wanna see him? I have to go check on Mom."

"No, I think it's best I don't see him right now. He's on the calming drugs and such a lightweight, he won't know."

"I'm sorry about all this."

"Don't tell him I was here, please?"

"If that's what you want."

"It would upset him, and I think your mom needs you both right now." Rock drained her coffee mug. "I think seeing him would make it hard for him to focus on her."

"Hard for him or hard for you?" She had told her he was out of it and probably wouldn't even know she was there, so she wasn't buying Rocky's excuse.

"I don't know that I want to see him yet, Sue. It still stings."

Sue nodded, not wanting to push matters. Maybe she was right. She knew Chris was having a hard time with the break up, and their mom being sick wasn't helping matters any. She had her own opinions on the whole matter, but Rocky had to choose for herself.

Rocky pulled a piece of paper from her jacket pocket and scribbled her number on it. "Let me know about your mother?" She slid the number Sue's way. She wanted to be there, she wanted to see Chris, she wanted to hold him, kiss him, punch him, and strangle him, but she couldn't. "I should go." Her emotions were about to get the best of her.

There wasn't much more to say. Sue knew her brother had made some mistakes and done some stupid things, but she also knew he had meant well. His heart had been in the right place, though she still wanted to kill him. She took the slip of paper, wondering if Rocky really wanted to know about her mom or Chris or both. "I'm sorry things didn't work out. You seem like..."

Rocky stuck her hand out to Sue. "Sorry we had to meet this way."

Sue arched a brow at the offered hand, assuming it was Rocky's way of being polite, hesitating a moment and then clasping her hand. Women didn't usually shake hands, but she got the feeling Rocky wasn't like most women. "Yeah, me too." She had a strange feeling she was never going to see her again, and she knew what that would mean to her brother. What did you say to someone like that? Have a nice life? Sorry my brother was a jerk? "Goodbye, Rocky." She pulled her hand away and got up from the table.

Rocky dropped her hand and smiled. "Maybe he will come around." She also stood. "Bye, Sue." She started toward the exit, leaving the mug behind. "Oh, thanks for the coffee."

Sue nodded in reply and made her way to the ladies room to have a good cry. She'd yell at her brother later; right now she was just happy he was alive.

The meeting went without a hitch. Two military police, meeting as friends and passing a box of supplies from one jeep to another to anyone that happened to pass along.

"Good to see you again, Marie." Sharp said, smiling.

"Yeah," Rock replied. "This is the last time for a while."

"Oh?" Sharp looked disappointed, "Here I thought I could get the fur coat for my girlfriend that she was wanting so badly."

"Sorry, this is my last job up here for a while. After this, I'm heading South a while."

"Take care of yourself, I don't wanna hear about you getting hurt."

Rock studied the man for a long while, remembering their first meeting and how that she found it funny, even the straightest of men could be bought with what they found as the right amount of cash. She'd gotten weapons and other gear from him over the years at different bases, and they'd become business associates.

"I'll see you later Ger," Rock said as she loaded the last of the explosive carefully into the back of the jeep.

"Take care, Marie."


The Panty Pantry was still teeming with life at near closing. There had been a bachelor party, and the girls were making money hand over fist, while watered down booze loosened wallets, and inhibitions. There were thick necked bouncers watching the girls as they walked the darkened parking lots to their cars or waiting rides, then scanned the streets before closing the doors.

Rock sighed, knowing that she would have to work throughout the early morning hours and see another sunrise. She picked the lock easily on the alley door, and walked in slowly, with her pistol drawn. She was ready to kill or be killed, and their laughter from upstairs let her know that she was clear to make her way to the basement.

She looked over the map in her hands, and looked at the beams from the floor to the ceiling and back again, deciding on which were main support and secondary. Primary charges were added to base charges and then the remote detonators were carefully added. After years of watching her Father and Uncle wire buildings to come down on themselves, she considered herself as good, if not better than they were. Now was another time to prove that.