Disclaimer

All stories in the Dragon's Storybook Challenge are covered by Dragonjul's web site's disclaimer.

Stories are listed in the order in which they were received.

Except for the formatting that is necessary to convert a story from a word document to an html document, this story is exactly as the author submitted.

 

Chapter 1

 

Sienna heard the crack! under her foot, and before she could react she heard a very authoritative voice say "Do.Not.Move." 
Sienna didn't see anyone around. All she could do at that moment was listen. 
"WHAT! Do you think you are doing?" She heard the voice say again.
Sienna wasn't really in the mood for any of this.  Her 32 hour flight from LA to Egypt was horrendous with turbulence, they lost her luggage, not only which had her clothes in it, but many other necessary things, like her cell phone charger and her contact accessories.
Sienna took a deep breath, and decided to let her attitude convey her bad mood.
"I thought it was obvious, I was walking."  Still not seeing the owner of the authoritive voice, she heard it again say "Obviously, not very well!"
Sienna opted for silence to be her answer.  Sienna went to finally move her foot, thinking someone was playing a game with her, since she still hadn't seen anyone in sight.  As she went to move her leg, she felt a hand grab her at the ankle.  She would have screamed, but was too infuriated with herself to do so.
"I thought I said do not move."  The voice again.
Sienna heard some voices muttering, and slowly her ankle was let loose.  As she was about to stammer her dislike for not only being told what to do, but for also being touched without an invitation, she locked eyes with the most stunning woman.
Eyes of violet were staring right into Sienna's brown eyes. Neither woman spoke for a matter of seconds, but Sienna could have sworn there was a slight glimmer in the strangers eyes.
A man from somewhere in the distance was yelling, causing the odd moment, of whatever it was to break between the women.
"Dr.! Dr.!"  The man was saying.
"Yes, Trevor, what did you find?"
Trevor stopped speaking suddenly noticing there was a stranger present.  
Sienna wasn't able to hear much more, as the man whispered something in the lady's ear.  Sienna took this moment to look at the lady.
A Doctor?  Sienna thought.  How odd.  She looked so young.  Definitely too opinionated.  Not enough patience for this type of work.  Sleek black hair pulled back in a tight tail. Muscular legs and arms, definitely in too good of shape to be some intern or assistant to a professor.
Sienna was shaken from her thoughts as she heard the Dr. say,  "You are lucky all you stepped on was some discarded clay pieces."
Sienna went to open her mouth as she felt her wrist being grabbed by this woman.  With a jerk, they were both of walking at a quick pace. The woman hadn't bother to give Sienna any time to speak.
"You need to walk with me now. Hurry."
Sienna followed, simply because she didn't have a choice at the moment, being pulled along the way she was.  "Look,"  Sienna was saying, trying not to trip keeping up with this woman's frantic pace, "I don't know who you are, or why you are dragging me along, but I am looking for a gentleman named Taylor Dean, would you happen to know where I can find him?" 
The Dr. didn't respond.  They went on for quite a few more paces and the lady let go of Sienna wrist as she muttered something to Trevor. 
Trevor nodded and briskly walked away.
Sienna went on to ask about Mr. Dean again, just as she saw the lady drop down to her knees, and pull out what looked like a rather large blush brush.
Both woman gasped. 
"That's not.."  Sienna slowly dropped to her knees.
"Yes, I think it just may be!"  The mysterious Dr. answered in barely a whisper.
Both woman were left staring at what could be a very important piece of history.
Suddenly, as if just hearing everything Sienna had been saying, the Dr. said, "Why is it you are looking for Mr. Dean?"
"wha...oh.  I was sent here to perform a first hand interview with Mr. Dean and the excavation he is doing."
"oh yeah?"  The Dr. put her hand quickly to her face over her mouth.
Sienna assumed she was smothering a sneeze, due to all the dust that kicked up around them between the wind and the digging.
"yeah."
"Hm.  Have you done any previous research on Mr. Dean?" The Dr. asked.
Sienna stood up slowly and placed her hands on her hips.  "Not that it is any of your business, but no, I didn't have a chance.  A colleague of mine was to do the interview originally, but some family business came up, and well, here I am."
The Dr. Nodded slowly, seemingly amused by some private thought but didn't bother to say anything.  She led the way to a rather large tent and told Sienna that she could use the dwelling for the time being.  “I’m sorry there isn’t a private tent set up for you, but we had no word anyone was coming.”

Sienna looked around the tent and realized the accommodations should do just fine for the short time she was there.  Sienna then noticed the Dr. eyeing her.

“Oh right.  I have no luggage because the airline lost it.  I have my little back pack with me and as of right now, that’s it.”

“I see.  I have to get back out there, but take your time in here, get some fresh water and gather your thoughts and I will see what I can do about getting Mr. Dean for you.”

“That would be wonderful, the faster I interview him the faster I can get out of here.”

The Dr. felt a small twinge of something hearing what the young lady had to say, but ignored it and left with a small smirk and nod of her head.

Sienna looked around after the Dr. left.  She decided to take a few minutes and gather her thoughts as she rested on a nearby stool. Sienna took in her surroundings.  It was a large tent with few creature comforts.   There was a small cot. A lantern.  Some netting to block out various bugs.  A make shift desk with assorted items on it and a few random artifacts strewn about another small table with some paper tags identifying most of them.

Since Sienna wasn’t told she had to actually stay put, she decided to wonder the site a bit on her own.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

            The Dr. was intent and focused on the work before her. However, in the back of her mind she was bothered that this young woman had showed up, and why hadn’t anyone informed her of it?  She recalled the big brown eyes she had stared into just a short while ago.  Wow. I could certainly get lost in those. She froze for a second realizing what her own brain had just said.  She shook her head, as to shake the thought of her mind and kept up her light brushing of the artifact at hand. 

She stopped brushing about a 1/3 of the way and just grunted something to herself.  She abruptly stood up and turned, which led her to collide with Sienna.  Both woman slightly jumped at the sudden contact and then laughed light heartedly. 

“I came to see if you needed some kind of help, since I am waiting around for Mr. Dean.”

“Right.  I’d certainly take you up on the offer, but there isn’t much you can do.”

“I could help you brush off that artifact you were just by.”

“Yes, I suppose you could, but even I wouldn’t let you dehydrate in this heat for nothing.”

“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?  Whatever that is has been buried for years, it has to be something!”

The Dr. noticed the ambition in the young woman and was quite amused by her determination.  She could use someone like her on her team.  But that wasn’t truly her call to make.

“Ok, you are right. It is something.  Just not the something we had hoped for.”

Sienna looked at her questioningly. 

“Here. Let me show you.”

Both women kneeled down.  The Dr. took her brush once more to a part of the artifact, “See the design here?”

“Yes.”

“It’s very close to the crest of the great family that was thought to be located here, except for one small difference.”

The Dr. was about to continue as she heard Sienna quietly say, “It’s upside down.”

The Dr. turned her head quickly and was quite surprised at Sienna’s knowledge.  “Yes, that’s right.  You must be quite a history scholar.”

Even in the bright sun, the Dr. noticed a slight blush in Sienna cheeks.  “Not really,  I’m, but sometimes something more visual has a tendency to stick with  me for some reason.”

The Dr. nodded, appreciating that everyone has their own strength for something.  “How about we head back to the tent and get out of this afternoon heat for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Both women walked quietly back to the tent.  Once there Sienna was looking at the Dr. with an obvious look of question upon her face.

The Dr. attempted not to laugh, but didn’t quite follow through.  With a hearty chuckle she hadn’t felt for days, the Dr. said “I hope you don’t play poker!”

Sienna completely caught off guard, sincerely replied “No, I don’t.” 

The Dr. looked at Sienna and decided not to tease the poor girl and sat down on a nearby stool.  “So, is there anything I can help you with?”

Sienna smiled suddenly and said “I was curious why you are wearing pants in heat like this?”

The dr. smiled right back, stood up, grabbed Sienna hand and walked out of the tent once more.  As if on cue, a large gust of wind blew by and pelted them with sand.  Sienna instinctively reached for her legs and muttered a number of “owes” along the way.  The Dr. turned to reenter the tent with a Sienna following slowly behind.

“It would have hurt a lot less if you would have just told me.”

“True, but you mentioned to remember the visual things better, and with the little red indentions that will appear on your leg in a few seconds, I just thought…”

Sienna glared at the Dr. for a minute and then just shook her head in defeat.

“Would you like to go to town?  I know you said you lost your luggage, and since I wasn’t prepared to have a guest in my tent, I’m sure there are some things we both could use.”

Sienna thought for a moment that maybe she wouldn’t need too much if she could just find Mr. Dean.  She could do her interview and then leave again.  On second thought, she did figure a change of clothes would be nice.  She was slightly aware of the pain on her legs from the sand due to the lovely first hand demonstration the Dr. gave to her earlier. 

“Why not.”  Sienna stood and waited for the lovely Dr. to lead the way.

Since the drive to the nearest town was about 45 minutes, and was too loud to talk, both woman site silently with their own thoughts for amusement.

The Dr. was able to eye Sienna with out her realizing it and kept thinking what a surprise this woman was.  She was bright, stubborn, able to fit right into her surroundings, comfortable among strangers, and so very beautiful.  The Dr. noticed Sienna to be about 5’5”.  Her weight slightly under, but she still seemed to have an athletic build.  Her hair was a dark brown, as were her eyes.  She was a slight tan color, but nothing fake or over done.  She seemed well educated and possibly in her 30’s.  The Dr. knew age wasn’t much of a factor but was just simply amusing herself in her own thoughts of the woman.

Sienna knew the Dr. kept stealing glances at her, but she didn’t make it known.  She was trying to figure out why she hadn’t insisted on staying at the tent and tracking down Mr. Dean so that she could simply leave again.  She kept trying to shake the Dr.’s eyes and smile from her thoughts.  And why did she know have an overwhelming urge to hold the Dr. hand?  Wait. What?  Oh lord, Sienna yelled at herself.  A crush on a virtual stranger, just what she didn’t need right now.

A small town came into view and the Dr. pulled along side of the buildings.  They both crawled out and went into the small building.   Sienna was pleasantly surprised at the coolness inside. Not quite air conditioning, but certainly cooler than it was outside or in the tent.  Sienna took in the bright lavish colors of tapestry all around.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Dr. make a hand motion to one of the young men in the store. The man smiled and then disappeared briefly.  As Sienna concluded her visual intake of the small building she was startled to feel something cold placed in her hand. 

“Cheers.” The Dr. said, as she took a swallow of her bottled water.

Sienna watched the Dr. place the bottle to her lips, and then watched as the liquid quickly went down her throat. Sienna’s eyes went back to the Dr. lips and she licked them off.

Feeling startled by what she was thinking Sienna quickly unscrewed her own cap off the water bottle and took a long swallow.  “Wow. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until just now.”

The Dr. led them to a small table with chairs as she said, “The sun and heat will do that to you here, be careful.”  

Feeling flustered for having stared at the Dr.’s lips, Sienna looked around once more and then tried to casually change the subject.  “So what else should we get?”

The Dr. had more than noticed Sienna looking at her lips.  At first she thought she was just surprised at the cold bottle she had held in her hands, but when Sienna’s eyes made their way back to the her lips, it was like a hot blazing trail that no amount of water could have put out.  How sensual that could have been in another place, or another time perhaps. It was in that moment that the Dr. suddenly noticed the ring on Sienna’s hand.  It was a small solid gold band upon her ring finger.  Who was I kidding anyways, the Dr. mused to herself.

Smiling the Dr. said, “I’ll gather a few things, while you go in back there, and find some clothes.”

Sienna got up, and then almost as abruptly sat down again.

“I don’t….”  feeling quite foolish, Sienna knew she had no way to pay for any of the garments, or anything at all for that matter.

“It’s ok, we have an account here until the excavating is completed.”

Sienna was going to protest, but knew a change of clothes would be necessary.  “I’ll reimburse you, I promise.”

“I wasn’t worried, but I am sure you will.” 

Taking cue from the Dr., Sienna found a similar pair of pants.  As she glanced around for a shirt, she almost screamed as a husky voice said in her ear, “You’ll want some socks too, it gets a little chilly in the tent at night.”  Before she could even turn around, she felt an arm around her waist.  Sienna looked down to see a hand holding some very thick socks. 

“Ok.”  Sienna retrieved the socks and proceeded to ask, “Is there someplace..”

“Yeah. There is a small changing room over in the back there.”  The Dr. pointed towards the back of the small clothing department. 

“Thanks” Sienna said as she sauntered off.

The Dr. watched her go and was lost in thought as she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

“I’m sorry to disturb you Ms. Dean, but will this be on your account?”  The young store clerk had asked.

“Yes it will, thank you.”

The gentleman smiled, nodded, and walked away.

Taylor knew she should enlighten Sienna, that she in fact was the Taylor Dean Sienna was looking for, that yes, Taylor Dean was a Ms. and not a Mr. as so many people would assume, but she admitted with a smile to herself she was having a bit too much fun with the misunderstanding at the moment.  

 

 

Chapter 3

 

            Both woman had been involved with brushing and dusting since they returned from the store.   Taylor was keeping a close eye on the young woman, but was amazed at how quickly she picked up on things, and at the efficiency she worked at.  After many hours had passed, both women made their way back to the large tent.

Sienna took off a hat she had bought, and threw her sunglasses inside of them as she tossed them gently aside on the floor.  

“That was great! I hadn’t expected to do any of that, but I appreciate you letting me help at all.”  Sienna wiped her brow as she sat down on a stool.

Taylor smiled and said “I normally wouldn’t have let a stranger in, but you seemed to have taken to it quite quickly.”

Both woman regarded each other for a few minutes in silence as Taylor stomach gave way to a loud noise, not be unheard!!

Taylor laughed and said “I guess that signals dinner time!”

Sienna sat still for a moment and then laughed, “To be honest, I’ve never been so glad to hear a noise like that!” 

As if by magic, a young man entered carrying a large tray of something.  He set it down with out a word and then promptly left again.

Sienna watched him go and then looked back at Taylor, “Almost as good as room service!” she said with a smile.

Taylor began fixing their plates as Sienna then noticed the changes that were made in the tent.  There seemed to be double a few things, but not quite taking up anymore room.  There was now a second cot, another pair of stools to sit on, and one more table set up with Sienna back pack placed upon it.

Taylor handed Sienna her plate and then began to fix her own.

“Smells good.” Sienna said.

“Wait till you eat it first, and then tell me if you still think it is any good.” Taylor said as a matter of factly.

Sienna took a small hesitant bite.  Waiting for her taste buds to identify something exotic, just as her brain kicked in she began to smile and said, “this taste oddly like hamburgers!”  She looked at Taylor, waiting for an explanation as she now took a much larger bite of the meat patty.

“It’s  actually camel, not cow.” Taylor said as she took a bite of her own.

Sienna stopped chewing, having processed what Taylor just said, and then began chewing happily.  “It still taste very good.”  She smiled as she swallowed.

“Don’t get used to it.  You are just lucky you showed up on the day you did.”  Taylor said as she leaned back against a post and propped her long legs on the edge of the table.

“You only eat meat once a week?” Sienna asked.

“No.”  Taylor took another bite and licked her fingers.  She picked up her cup to take a drink and then solemnly said, “Normally the camel chases us for miles, we all end up to exhausted to eat.”

Sienna’s eyes widened at what was just said and barely choked down what was already in her mouth as she clasped her hand over her mouth and laughed whole heartedly.

Taylor’s smile was hidden behind her cup she was holding to her mouth.  God, how it felt so good to hear laughter.  It wasn’t that her crew didn’t laugh or joke around, but something in the way Sienna laughed, it just made Taylor smile outright, even despite herself. 

Both women settled in for the night.  Each claiming their cot.  After numerous check ins and a few mock glares, Taylor finally put the lantern out and wished Sienna a good night. 

Sienna shot up from a deep sleep.  It was completely dark where she was, she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face.  She touched her face to be sure her hand was there to begin with.  Her bearings kicked in, and she took a breath remembering where she was.  She lay back down, but then realized how incredibly cold she was.  She curled up more on the cot, and then tried to get settled again. 

Taylor had heard Sienna move around earlier. “Sienna. Sienna!”  Taylor was saying her name, but not getting a response.  When a response wasn’t heard, Taylor went over and lit the lantern for a brief moment.  Taylor gasped at what she saw.  In the soft glow of light, Sienna looked like a pure angel.  “So beautiful” Taylor muttered under her breath.  I hope whoever is waiting for her appreciates how beautiful a woman she is.  Upon a closer look, Taylor also knew something was very wrong and serious.

Sienna’s lips were a slight tinge of blue.  Taylor knew from experience that there was only one way to warm her up.  Taylor walked over and grabbed her own blanket off her cot, put the lantern back out and the crawled onto Sienna’s cot and leaned in close behind her.  She affixed the blankets and made sure that Sienna was wearing her socks.  Taylor wasn’t sure if Sienna felt the movement, or just had instinctively rolled over, but they were now face to face.  Taylor held her breath for a moment. Waiting.  Listening.  When nothing happened she figured Sienna just instinctively rolled over.

“I’m doing this to save your life, nothing more.”  Taylor said aloud.  Even having said it out loud, it still didn’t make Taylor wish it could truly be for something more.

Sienna’s mind registered a strange but familiar smell.  She was about to dismiss it when she realized her hand brushed up against something that was neither the cot or the blanket.  As she opened her eyes to look around, she realized there was no way she was going to see anything anyways.  She was not about to get out from under the blankets and trip over everything she could possible could to find the lantern.  Instead she lay still and urged her memory to recall where she knew that smell from.

It wasn’t an unpleasant smell, Sienna mused.  It was more like faded musk.  Like a scent that gets carried upon the wind.  You sense it for a moment, and then its gone.  Sienna wasn’t recalling where the smell was from, so she moved her hand slightly again.  She felt another hand.  She grazed her fingertips alongside the hand.  Going on pure assumption she whispered “Dr.?  Dr. is that you?”

Taylor had instantly awoken when she felt Sienna’s hand first brush her own.  She knew Sienna’s eyes weren’t adjusted to the darkness so she didn’t fear being seen looking at her.  Sienna’s hand had awoken more than just her sleeping form.

Taylor had been out in Egypt for about four months now.  She was used to sleeping alone, to no one touching her.  Taylor fought to keep her breathing even.  To keep her mind rational. To fight off every urge to just take this woman in her arms and kiss her deeply.  With every breath in, Taylor reasoned with herself for rational thought. 

She’s a kid.

She’s innocent.

She’s young

She’s married.

That last thought hurt Taylor, but she knew there was no reason why it should.  She’s a stranger that’s going to be leaving. End of story.  You enjoyed her company, her laughter, don’t make it anything more than that. 

Taylor quietly whispered as to not scare Sienna.

“Yes, Sienna it’s me. Let me explain why I am in your cot.”

Taylor felt Sienna moving and braced herself for two different outcomes.  One, she was either going to be slapped, or two, pushed out of the cot.

The outcome that came however, was nothing she had ever expected.

Somehow Sienna had managed to wind herself even tighter against Taylor.  As Taylor went to ask what was she was doing, she heard Sienna quietly say “Please stay.”

After a few long heartbeats Taylor and Sienna had both drifted off into sleep once again.

Sienna woke to some startling bright light in the tent.  She was about to say turn off the light, when she realized that it was just the sunlight coming through the white tent.  She knew the Dr. was no longer on her cot, even with out turning around.  She opened her eyes and looked around.

The Dr. was hunched over a table writing something.

“Morning” Sienna said.

Taylor’s hand froze, but she didn’t turn around.  Taylor’s voice caught within her own throat, my god, does she sound so sexy and amazing.  Taylor resumed her writing and finally choked out “Morning.”

“I slept pretty good last night, did you?”

Apparently not bothered by the events of last night Taylor felt the knots in her shoulders release themselves.

“Yeah, pretty good too.”

Either not willing to talk about it, or having forgot about it Taylor was relieved at not having to discuss it.  How you are supposed to explain to a stranger, that even though you knew it was completely inappropriate, that holding them close felt better than anything could ever be imagined.

Each woman busied their selves with their own thing.  Sienna was running her fingers through her hair and putting it in a loose braid when she asked, “Do you think I will have a chance to talk to Mr. Dean today?”

Taylor looked at Sienna and her heart broke at the wide smile and innocent eyes.  She simply answered “I’m sure there is a good possibility.”  After all, it was only half a lie.  How could someone get mad over half a lie.

 

 

Chapter 4

 

Even though the artifact they had uncovered yesterday wasn’t the historically shattering piece they had hoped for, they did still in fact uncover something of great importance.

By the time the women reached the dig site the crew had made quite an impact.  There was a remote tent set up around the artifact, to keep the sand from depositing itself back onto the artifact.  In fact, the crew did such a wonderful job, you could literally walk down and around the artifact. 

Sienna knew that she was part of history, even just a small museum part, but was still glad to be able to witness it first hand.  Things were always better first hand.  Sports. Natural disasters. Comediennes. Sienna believed that is why she was trying her hand at journalism, because she got to see all of particular columns first hand.  This thought made Sienna wonder why the Dr. hadn’t asked about her, or for any credentials for that matter.  Then her immediate next thought was and where am I going to run to with any information?  And if my credentials weren’t up to the standard, would she have Mr. Dean throw her in jail?  Nah. She was being silly.   Besides, the lady opened her tent to her and this site, that had to say something.  Lost in her thoughts and not paying attention like she should have been, Sienna tripped over some rope attached to a stake in the ground.  She went tumbling forward expectant to hit the sand pretty hard when she felt strong but soft arms around her waist. 

Taylor had stopped to talk to one of the crew when she was about to mention to Sienna to be careful of the rope and stakes that were close to the ground. But the warning never escaped her lips as she saw Sienna start to stumble.  Had Taylor not been so close already, she probably wouldn’t have gotten to her in time.  But she had, and she was thankful. Not only because she didn’t want to see the young lady hurt, but how wonderful it felt to hold her again.

Sienna went to pull herself out of the Dr.’s arms, but when she looked into those violet eyes, she didn’t know why she ever wanted to leave.  Her mind knew she was to say thank you and pull away, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why her body wasn’t cooperating. As if it was suddenly just the two of them, she heard the Dr. say “Are you alright?”  The voice seemed husky, dry, down right sexy to Sienna’s ears.  She swallowed hard but her voice was no where to be found, so all she could do was nod her head.

Taylor kept shaking the notion that there might be something between the two of them.  As crazy as it seemed, when they were close, it was as if only the two of them existed.  Taylor had been in love once before, a long time ago.  Recently, she had also been in lust, more times than she could recount.  But she couldn’t quite figure out why this seemed like something else completely.  Then as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she heard her mind say because she is straight and married and too young.    With all her self musings, Taylor realized she hadn’t let go of Sienna’s waist.  Sienna was just standing there, perfectly balanced, patiently waiting for Taylor to remove her hands.  Taylor thought it best to looked concerned and not embarrassed for holding onto her too long and simply asked with a smile “You are sure you are alright?”

Sienna was mesmerized watching the Dr. lost in some thought.  Her eyes changing colors as if watching a live human kaleidoscope.  Sienna knew it was probably something that happened often, but not too many people were able to catch it, much less experience it up close like she had, sensing it had all happened in a matter of seconds. 

“Yes.” Sienna finally answered.  But what she realized just then was that she was saying yes to so many more things.  Yes, she was alright from her little mishap, only embarrassed.  She was saying yes, please keep your hands on me, somehow.  Yes, please stay close to me, always. Yes, I’ll follow you, anywhere. 

Just then a gust of strong wind and sand caused everyone to freeze as they all anticipated the fall of the tent.  When the gust just as quickly stopped and the tent still stood, everyone gave an audible chuckle and continued with what they were doing. 

The digging had continued and soon the crew found a small opening.  As the crew went ahead and dug out the sand, Sienna, Taylor and one or two others followed behind.  The crew had thought they came to a dead end when it seemed the sand before them became hard as cement.  The small group was quiet for a moment all thinking how this could be.  Sure, many tombs had false ends to elude people, but this was much too early in the labyrinth for that.  Sienna had been looking straight ahead behind the diggers, to see if there was a sign or something to point them in the right direction, when she noticed a few granules of sand slowly pour out from the left side of one of the diggers. 

“I know that I am not an expert by any means and simply a guest on this excavation, but am I wrong to assume that many of these tombs tunnels veer off the right and left?”

Taylor looked at the diggers as each of them pivoted on their foot, respectively turning their backs to one another.   The digging began once again.  Taylor took a step forward and then turned around abruptly to face Sienna.

“Thank you so much for that.”

“What? It wasn’t a big deal.”

“I hope whoever you have back home realizes how amazing you are.”  With that said, the Dr. turned and followed the tunnel to the right.

Sienna narrowed her eyes and tried to recollect if she even talked about having anyone at home.  She didn’t recall saying anything.  Having been completely bewildered, Sienna followed the tunnel to the left.  Instead of beating herself up over endless questions, Sienna simply thought I hope whoever you have at home knows you are amazing too.

She quietly followed behind the digger, she realized they had slightly turned to the left, and then a few paces more, abruptly to the right. 

Sienna thought she was hearing voices, but then concluded it just must be echoing somehow.  It was strange how clearly she could hear the Dr.’s voice.  Her imagination must be working some over time. But she couldn’t understand why the voice suddenly seemed to be getting louder.  Just then, right before her eyes part of the wall crumbled down.  She gasped, frightened at first, and then laughed as she saw the two diggers facing each other, and then embrace in a mocking long time hug.  As she laughed, she saw the Dr. wave at her.  And she thought she may have imagined it, but maybe she winked too.

The crew did a number of these box type figure 8’s for quite some time.  There seem to be about 4 in row.  The crew decided that was enough digging for one day and began to do their logging and note taking on what they had unearthed so far. 

Taylor and Sienna walked closes with one another taking it all in.  Both thrilled by such history surrounding them. 

As Taylor took notes and logged information.  She would slightly peek at Sienna as she seemed to capture her surroundings with her eyes, almost as if her eyes were taking pictures, for her to recall on later.  She watched a slight smile come to her face, knowing she was able to experience this all first hand.  Taylor was even more self amused at the fact that Sienna had seem to have forgotten all about Mr. Dean.   The crew made their way slowly out of the dwelling and back to their respective tents.

 

Chapter 5

 

            Sienna was the first to enter the tent.  Her sense of smell was bombarded by fresh fruits.  Citrus of all kinds were laying on two large plates.  Covered in saran wrap to keep from the bugs.  Taylor didn’t think it was possible for Sienna’s eyes to widen anymore then she saw at the dig site, but she chuckled to herself when she clearly knew she was wrong.  Neither woman wasted any time to start eating.  Both of them knew they were quite hungry from the days adventure and hard work. 

Sienna, now feeling a bit more relaxed decided to ask Taylor some questions.

“Can I ask you some things, about archeology?”  Sienna asked Taylor between bites of fruit.

Taylor frozen in thought for an instant wondered how much she could really answer before revealing that she was in fact Ms. Dean, and Mr. Dean that Sienna was hoping to interview.  She decided to just see where the questioning would take her.  “No, I don’t mind, what’s your questions?”

“Are you ever afraid that a site is going to cave in on you?”

“Not usually.  The crew here is very knowledgeable. The diggers usually are quite in tune with the structure of the dwellings around them.  Except, maybe for today.  It wasn’t like them to not realize all the bends and turns some of these have.”  Taylor chuckled, recalling the diggers.

“Are there always the same people, in your crew?”  She licked her fingers of the citrus juice.

Taylor sucked in a quick breath at the site of Sienna licking her own fingers, and about choked on her own orange slice she had just popped in her mouth. 

“Ah….most are the same, it all depends on when people are free.”

“What do you mean free?”  Sienna stopped chewing and looked directly at Taylor, obviously waiting for an answer.

“Free.  As in if they have time available.”

“So this isn’t a government aided dig?”

“Well…”  How could she possible answer that?  She funded the entire project, these people in essence worked for her.  She paid them to be here.  How could she answer that with the type of work she does.  Shaken out of her thoughts, Taylor took a deep breath and said, “Listen, there is something I should tell you…”

Taylor was cut off by a man yelling outside the tent. 

Both women eyed each other curiously as if to say “What’s going on?”  They each set their plates down and went outside to see the cause of the commotion and there was a young man holding what appeared to be a satellite phone.  He handed it to Taylor.

Sienna tried not to eaves drop, but didn’t know what else to do with herself. 

She heard the brief replies Taylor was saying into the phone.

“This is she.”

“But why can’t someone else..”

“Yes.”

“No. I understand.”

Taylor handed the phone back to the young man and told Sienna to go back inside the tent.

Sienna reluctantly went back inside of the tent.  She waited for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably only about 15 minutes.  When Taylor didn’t come back in, Sienna stepped out to find out her.  She didn’t see Taylor or the man that had held the satellite phone.  Too curious to just wonder back into the tent, Sienna set out to find some information on her own.  Preferably about one Mr. Dean. She asked a few of the men around.  They had all just shaken their head at her.  English was not their native language.  She had about given up hope when a young boy tugged at her shirt sleeve.  In a deep accent Sienna couldn’t place, she barely made out the boy saying “Mr. Dean?”

Sienna nodded yes to the boy.  The boy motioned for her to follow him.  They both approached a much older man.  The boy must be translating to the older man that she was looking for Mr. Dean.  The older man patted the boy on the shoulder and smiled.  The boy looked again at Sienna, smiled and then left.

“My son tells me you are looking for….”

“Mr. Dean.” Sienna supplied, relieved to have found someone who spoke English, even in broken bits.

The man looked hesitantly at her.  Sienna waited patiently, assuming he was trying to figure out how to translate something before he spoke aloud.

Amused by his own thoughts, he shook his head and  chuckled.  He looked up again at Sienna and said,  “Taylor Dean is no longer in Egypt.”

Shocked, Sienna exclaimed “What?!”

The man chuckled once more and said “Why is it you are confused, you were with Taylor when she left, were you not?”

Sienna had walked back to the large tent in a complete daze.  She kept replaying part of what the man had said to her “..you were with Taylor when she left..”  Taylor. She. Left.

That’s all her mind could wrap around.  That was all her mind was willing to tell her at this very moment.  Sienna had half hoped it was some type of joke.  That the Dr. would be standing inside of the tent laughing at her upon her return.  However, as Sienna entered the tent, it was just like she had left it.  She sat down on the cot and put her head in her hands.  So many questions started to fill up in her mind.  Why didn’t she just tell me who she was?  Why didn’t she just say she was Ms. Dean?  Why was she always smiling?  Why did she seem so happy out in the desert?  Why did I enjoy her company so much? Why did I love having her sleep next to me? Why did she watch me so much?  Why did she think I had someone waiting at home?  Why am I so sad to know she didn’t even say good bye to me?  So many questions that she knew would now go unanswered.  Frustrated, she grabbed her small backpack and the few items she had bought at the store and set out to make her way back home. 

 

Chapter 6

 

Taylor hated leaving Sienna like that, but it was unavoidable.  The call she had received needed her immediate attention.  She was miffed the company called her in.  They had promised her one full year off.  She was only six months into it.  It had been 10 years prior since her last vacation and she knew she was going to pull out all the stops for this one.  Which she had.  She had numerous calls out to get a crew together, to locate a site that hadn’t been mulled over previously, to get the financial means in order.  And now, this.  One call to bring it all crashing down.  She knew her crew would remain professional and finish what they could and then pack up.  She knew that. But she was still left with disappointment.  The president of the company was the only one who had known her number to the satellite phone, so when it was handed to her, she knew it was of utmost importance.  Still, she couldn’t help but be upset.  Just when fate had stepped in and brought her some excitement.  Someone.  A beautiful someone.  She wished she had had time to explain so many things to Sienna.  Then again, how likely would it be that the two would run into one another again?  Taylor’s cell phone vibrated and startled her from her thoughts. 

Taylor unclipped her phone and spoke sharp into it, “Dean.”

She clipped her phone back in place and waited for the information to arrive over the fax.  Taylor was set up in small private jet.  Once in the air, she had showered and changed her clothes.  She was now every bit of a professional.  Crisp white blouse, stunning black jacket and pants.  Her hair still in a tight tail for the duration of the flight.  She heard the small tone from the fax signifying the transmission was complete.  Taylor picked up the pages of information and went back to her seat.  She poured over the pages carefully and slowly.  She knew if she read too fast or her mind started to wonder it would get her into serious trouble. In more ways than one.   The information before her gave her an escape from thinking about Sienna.  Such beautiful eyes.  Well, it almost provided an escape. 

Even though Taylor loved her work, it sometimes rattled her that people could be capable of such malicious things. 

The file she was currently studying was of a man.  Actually he reminded Taylor of something more like a chameleon.  At first site, the man seemed quite professional and dignified.  He wore business suits, had an engaging smile, and even had a background in business.  She was sure that the people who did business with him, never knew what kind of man he really was.  How immoral, egotistical, and downright repulsive.  And that wasn’t her personal opinion of the man, that was her professional opinion.

Taylor was completely engrossed in her files and her reading she hadn’t acknowledged she was close to the states once again. She cocked her head a bit as she heard the crackle of static from the overhead speakers as the captain gave information they were making there decent and due to land in roughly 20 minutes. 

Taylor was excited about her assignment, she loved putting away evil people like this man.  She loved the challenge of getting under their skin, giving them a taste of their own medicine, and having the courage to see it all through.  She often felt like she was on a supreme treasure hunt.  But instead of finding monetary value at the end of her search she found redemption in doing a job well done.  Her contacts were all planned and her schedule all laid out.  Now it was up to her to make sure she could catch the eye of man in question and keep his interest long enough to capture him. 

 

Chapter 7

 

6 months later

 

Sienna was in the local grocery store when she caught a glimpse of woman she thought was Taylor.  She shook her head to herself that that couldn’t be, even though her own heartbeat was telling her differently.   She walked quickly to the aisle the woman had turned down, but when she got there, no one was around.  She walked another two aisles over, still no woman.  She laughed at her own silliness and went back to her shopping. 

Sienna was out in the parking lot when she saw the same woman again.  She quickly walked with her cart over to the woman, even though her car was parked in entirely a different area. 

“Taylor?”

No response.

“Taylor! Is that you?”

Sienna saw the woman freeze as she was placing a bag inside the back of a large SUV.

Maybe she just can’t hear me  Sienna thought.

Sienna placed her shopping cart where it would not roll away on it’s own and tentatively reached out to touch the woman’s arm.

Before Sienna could touch the woman’s arm, she found herself engulfed in a tight embrace. 

Before she could stammer she heard the woman talking to her.

“Please, if you value your life at all, just place your arms around me like we are old friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time.”

Sienna’s eyes widen but she did as she was told. 

My life?!

Old Friends?!

Sienna plastered a smile on her face as she said through gritted teeth, “No explanation just like last time, huh?”

The woman pulled away but kept her hands on Sienna’s arms.  “It’s so good to see you again my dear, I’m sorry I can’t stay and chat, but I have to get going home to put these groceries away.”

Sienna took those few moments to study the woman. Maybe it wasn’t Taylor after all.

This woman was loud, had entirely too much make up on, and wore more than necessary jewelry.  Sienna was about to say she was sorry, that this was a case of mistaken identity until she stumbled on those violet eyes.  There was no mistaken those eyes.

The woman quickly hugged her again and sped off in her SUV.

Sienna stood there in the parking lot and watched the woman go.  She shook her head to herself and headed to her own car.  “Crazy woman!”  She said to herself.  Sienna made her way home and put her groceries away. She was about to settle in for the afternoon when she remembered she had a small assignment from her boss. 

 

Chapter 8

 

Sienna hated last minute assignments, but she knew there was no getting out of this one.   She was assigned to do a brief interview with Mr. Radkin for the social section of the paper.  Mr. Radkin was a highly professional man. Known for his business ethics as well as his many community charities he was chairman of.   He was a slightly older gentleman in his early 50’s.  He had prestigious awards as well as high noted graduate degrees.

 

Sienna figured this would be an in and out assignment, and tried to change her attitude for the better.  She pulled up to the rather large house and pulled a third of the way into the driveway.  She didn’t’ want to block any one in or out of their own house.  She looked herself in the mirror once more and took a deep breath in.  She let out her breath slowly.  She mentally focused her mind and grabber her small bag to bring along with her.  Some people didn’t like being interviewed on a tape recorder, so she always brought along writing utensils and a large notebook as well.   As she made her way to the front door, she started recalling the time she had to interview this elderly woman twice, the first time the woman didn’t want to be recorded, and Sienna did not know to bring her notebook supplies with her.  She then had to go back a 2nd time and write down some of the information she had forgotten.  The lady was nice enough about it, but Sienna felt like a complete failure as a journalist and didn’t ever want to repeat that again with anyone.  Just as she was finishing her thought the door opened and caught her off guard.

Sienna found herself staring at a large man. Tall and muscular. He had gray hair, but few wrinkles.  He stood about 6 feet 2 inches. He had one black slacks with a burgundy sweater over a collared shirt.  He wasn’t large in that bully type of way but he was a bit intimidating.

The man cocked his head slightly to the right side. As if to silently ask a question.

Sienna’s mind and body finally caught up with one another as she said “I’m so sorry, I didn’t knock, and I most certainly didn’t expect for you to answer the door yourself!”

The man smiled seemingly quite amused and offered the woman a handshake.

“I would presume you are Sienna, from the GlobeBlotter?” The man asked.

“Yes, sir, that would be me.”  Sienna smiled brightly and shook the man’s hand.

He invited her in and pointed the way to the den.  Before he closed the door, he squinted his eyes as he scanned the neighborhood and the smile was gone from his face as he shut the front door. 

 

Sienna remained standing as she didn’t know where Mr. Radkin would be the most comfortable.  She quickly glanced around noting the elegant paintings, the expensive vases and the many many books that aligned an entire wall along the den.

Mr. Radkin clapped his hands together loudly, seemingly not wanting to scare the woman by speaking right away and offered to take her jacket from her and place it in the hall closet.  When he entered back into the den he told Sienna to take a seat, as he did so himself. 

“Do you have a preference how you would like to be interviewed?”

“The recorder is quite fine my dear.”

Sienna smiled as she pulled out her recorder and set it on the small coffee table that lay between them.  She pulled out her note cards and began the interview.

 

Some time had passed and Sienna had quietly stopped the recorder and had asked where the bathroom was.  As she made her way down the long front hall, she realized that Mr. Radkin had gone off topic many times, but the man seemed so engaging that she found herself not minding at all.  She had no other appointments this afternoon and figured there was no harm in listening to the man.  She reached the first door on her right and turned the knob to open the door, as she did she saw a quick flash of a lady’s gown slip out of the corner.  She stopped and looked around briefly and realized she turned right when she should have turned left.  She stepped back out and closed the door and began to walk across the hallway towards the bathroom. 

 

Sienna’s mind occasionally wandered as Mr. Radkin talked.  She knew the house was rather large, but why did he answer the door himself, and why hadn’t anyone even come by, to offer them a drink or to even say hello.  Sienna knew Mr. Radkin was a confirmed bachelor, not only from what she picked up in the tabloids, but because she had status information from the internet as well.  But there was that woman from the other room?  Then again, she did go into the wrong room, maybe it was nothing she was to know about.  She focused her attention again on Mr. Radkin and smiled politely as his story was coming to a close. 

  

Sienna thanked him profusely as she gathered up her materials, and told him how much she enjoyed the interview.  They both made their way to the hall closet.  Mr. Radkin went to reach for her coat as he heard a noise and quickly excused himself.  Sienna’s eyes followed him down the hallway.  She herself didn’t hear anymore noises and proceeded to get her jacket from the closet herself.  Something grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the closet.  Practically standing inside it, she heard someone say “We really have to stop meeting like this.”  Even before the person spoke, she knew it was a woman she was pressed up against.  She could feel her curves, the soft skin of her hands, but most of all, she knew the smell that lightly tickled her nose.

Sienna’s big brown eyes met violet ones once more.

“What are YOU doing here?”  Sienna meant it as a question but it came out as a low growl.

Taylor didn’t answer.  She was caught up in the fact she had now seen Sienna twice in three months.  Ah. Sometimes fate can be a funny thing. She mused to herself.  Taylor was enjoying the closeness of their bodies, even under these circumstances.  She had thought of Sienna often, more than she cared to admit.  She purred into Sienna’s ear, “I should be asking you the same thing.” 

Sienna stepped back slightly, to break the contact of their bodies.  Had this been under any other circumstance it might have been quite a sensual moment. 

Sienna’s sensual side gave way to anger at the moment as she looked up at Taylor.

Everything about her outward appearance was different.  Her hair full of curls and body.  Plenty of make up on. Jewels in all the right places.  An elegant peal gray gown, simply caressing her body like a satin sheet flowing in the breeze. Her face seemed drawn, and her eyes tired, even though there was still a small sparkle in the violet eyes.

Confused, Sienna asked “Why are you dressed….”

Her statement was caught off by Taylor putting her index finger to her mouth.  “Shh!” Taylor quietly hissed.

Sienna stepped close again and repeated “Why are you dressed like that?”

“I can’t get into that right now, but you need to get out of here. Now.”

Sienna showed her refusal by crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her weight to one side.  She arched one eyebrow just so emphasize her defiance.

“I’m not kidding Sienna!”  Taylor grumbled.

Sienna simply blinked at Taylor.

Both woman stood staring at each other for a minute or two.

Taylor almost laughed at her own thought of the tumbleweeds that should be rolling by right now.  But now was not the time to make jokes.  Even though Taylor knew this, she couldn’t help but almost feel giddy in the woman’s presence.

Sienna took a step forward again and poked her index finger into Taylor’s chest, “If you think I’m leaving again without some kind of explanation from you…”  Her statement was caught off by Taylor whipping her around and feeling her jacket being put on.

From behind her shoulder, Sienna simply heard Taylor whisper “Please trust me.” 

Sienna was about to snap around and ask why she should after all that has happened.  First Egypt and then the store and now this.  Why should she?  As her mind was shifting through which statement to yell at Taylor with first, when she felt herself being gently guided by the small of the back out into the hallway once again.

Sienna was startled to come face to face with Mr. Radkin.  He was not smiling, nor was he mad. It was a look she couldn’t quite identify.

Mr. Radkin pinned Sienna with a stern glare as he pushed the door to the closet closed.  He came forward as the door was shutting towards Sienna, but then simply stopped.  His eyes casually focused now on Taylor.

“Ah. Sydney, there you are. I see you’ve met our darling journalist?” His smile was back on his face as if it had never left.

Taylor simply nodded and finished closing the closet door.  She quietly took her place next to Mr. Radkin and folder her hands together in front of her.

Sienna stood there a bit shocked but noticed the pleading in Taylor’s eyes. 

Sienna was trying to figure things out in her head as she heard Taylor speak.

“Yes. I was helping her with her jacket.”

“Oh. Why yes. Thank you my dear. I ran off quite rudely as I heard a noise and thought that it might have been you, in an accident or something.”

Sienna saw Taylor make something of a mock smile towards Mr. Radkin.

Mr. Radkin caught Sienna’s puzzled look and said with pride “This is…”

“Sydney, Yes. I heard.”

Mr. Radkin smiled and continued to say “ Yes.  Sydney Adair, my number one gal.”

Sienna’s journalism abilities made every bell, whistle, and alarm go off in her head and she gathered her professional face and simply nodded.

The quiet moment was noted and felt by all three.

“Well, Mr. Radkin, again, it was a pleasure, I thank you so much for the interview.”

“Of course my dear.”  He took his arm from around Taylor and began walking with Sienna to the front door.   Sienna wanted so badly to look again at Taylor, but she knew she could not. Not with the quick wit of Mr. Radkin standing so near.

 

Sienna made her way back to her car and started the engine. She didn’t disengage it from park as she sat there thinking the events through her head.  So why was Taylor in her neck of the woods and why was she going by the name of Sydney?  Sienna was shaken from her thought by a small crashing sound from inside the house.  She didn’t get out of her car but simply looked towards the house.   She heard no other noise, and decided to go back to the newsroom to see what she could piece together of this weird puzzle that was forming before her. 

Chapter 9

 

Taylor quietly picked up the shards of glass that now lay upon the floor that Geoffery had thrown against the wall.  His harsh words of I told you to stay out of site! were still echoing in her mind. Taylor glanced to her left arm muscle, yeah, his handprint of where he grabbed her was going to show up soon.  She discarded the shards of glass in the wastebasket and decided she had better change into something that had sleeves. 

As she walked back through the front hallway to go up the stairs, she saw Sienna’s car drive by down the road.  She missed the woman greatly, even only after seeing her for those few moments, but she knew the young woman was better off far from this place.

 

Sienna was busy looking through some microfiche film gathering what she could about
Mr. Radkin.  Every social event he attended he had a different woman at his side.  All were beautiful of course.  Well dressed, the make up, the jewelry everything was perfectly in place.  The only thing out of the ordinary Sienna did notice, was that the same woman was never at his side twice.  

“Huh.”  Sienna mumbled out loud.

“What’s up, Doc?”  Khym had asked as she came around the corner.

Khym and Sienna were as close as you could be, for two journalists working under the same boss.  Khym was a very exotic looking woman.  Indian in decent but very American in her attitude.  She didn’t seem to have any shame nor any rules she followed.  She was a journalist that got in, got her story, and got out, and on to the next one. She didn’t obey the typical rules and broke many of them to get whatever story she was working on.  She was even accused of punching a police officer in the face so that she could get the inside scoop on a jewelry heist.  The cop had been guarding the back entrance way and since it was just he and Khym right then at the time, it became a he said she said battle of wills.  Even to Sienna, Khym never admitted or denied the acquisition.  She simply smiled and winked.   It was all simple to her.  Their boss had begun moving her to some under cover assignments little by little.

“What? Oh. Hey Khym.”

“Hey. What are ya fishin’ for?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“You’ll know when..”

“You find them” both women said at the same time. It was on ongoing stale joke between a lot of investigative journalists.  You don’t know what you are looking for, but when you come across it, you know that that’s it.

“You are search for things on Mr. Radkin?”  Khym noticed some of the copies lying on the printer from the micro fiche film.

“Yeah.” Sienna replied with a sigh.  “But as you came around the corner, the only thing that seems out of place is that he never shows up with the same women twice.”

“Well would you with his reputation?”  Khym said with some venom in her tone.

“What do you mean Khym?” Sienna pinned a glare at her friend.

“Well.” Khym dropped the copies back down on the printer.  “When I was under cover for..”  She paused briefly. “We’ll call him X.   When I was on assignment with X he knew your man quite well from the sounds of it.  But you know me, I was there to do my own job at the time..”

“yeah I know.” Sienna chuckled “Yeah yeah?”  she motioned her hand to keep Khym going with her story.

Khym shrugged and said, “Mr. X said that your man right there likes to keep the women he sees under his thumb.”

Sienna creased her brows together thinking that wasn’t much of a lead or anything else, just as Khym rounded the corner again and she saw Khym thumb press hard onto the face of Mr. Radkin in one of the copies. 

“And I mean, under his thumb”  She pinned Sienna with a stare.  Then as fast as she appeared, she was gone again.

Sienna looked down the copy where there was now a smudge print that made up
Mr. Radkin’s face.  She thought of the noise she had heard night before she left Mr. Radkin’s house.  Her eyes big and her heart beating fast.

“Nooooooo.”  She forced out in a breath.

 

Chapter 10

 

Taylor was standing in the large master bedroom getting ready for a charity event that evening.  Her pearl white even gown snug against her body.  Her shoes perfected with diamond straps at the ankles.  However, she was having trouble putting her necklace on.

Geoffery walked up behind Taylor and said, “Sydney, my love, let me help you with that.”  He grazed her shoulders and neck more than necessary and Taylor bit her tongue from wincing at the man’s touch. 

“Oh, Geoffery. I did not want to bother you with such a silly matter.”

Geoffery smiled at her reflection in the mirror and pat her shoulders.  He kissed her on the check.  “I’ll be waiting down stairs.”

Taylor nodded and smiled.

Taylor had spent 3 months with this man and knew that was code for you better get your ass down there within the next five minutes.  Taylor had gotten two beatings from this man already.  One because she was late to an event that had nothing to do with her schedule.  She explained to Geoffery there was a fire down town and she had to go 8 city blocks out of her way to get to the event.  Geoffery didn’t care.  That night, after the event he beat her senseless in the very bedroom she was now standing in.  He had broken one of her ribs, sprained her ankle, and knocked out a tooth.  It had all happened so fast, that by the time she thought to fight back, he had already walked out of the room. About an hour later, he came back up to the bedroom as if nothing at all had happened.  The second incident left her with some internal bruising, but a sharper wit.  She caught on that apologizing to him would cease the attack.  She knew she couldn’t complain to her superiors because they would immediately pull her from the investigation.  She wanted to nail this evil so there would be no question for his parole. Ever.  In hindsight of course she knew she should have taken pictures, but with a man like him, his IQ and all his spies within the city, she knew it wasn’t possible. Even if she took Polaroid’s, she knew there was no way to hide them, even at a local bank in a safe deposit box was out of the question.  She knew her best tactic was to log the information as best she could in a series of cryptic notes. 

Taylor double checked her reflection once more and grabbed her sheer shawl and clutch and made her way down stairs.

Chapter 11

 

Before the valet came to the car door, Geoffery turned to Taylor and took her hand “This is a very special night” he kissed her hand “for the both of us.”

Taylor smiled and nodded as was her standard response to this man.  Of course, what she really wanted to do was torture him senseless.  Beat him, choke him, stick him with sharp objects, cut him into pieces limb by limb.  But with a quick sigh, she knew that would make her no better than him. She would simply find another way to torture him.

 

Sienna hated dressing up, but knew with out a doubt that Taylor would be at this event with Mr. Radkin.  She had seen two other papers that had a photo of them together, at different events.  If this man was a predator like Khym had suggested, then she needed to talk to Taylor and let her know. At least, that was her plan. 

“If I can get her away from Mr. Pain-in-the-ass, that is.” Sienna said to no one in particular.   Sienna wore a silk black dress that simple hung straight down from her shoulders.  She wore her hair up in curls with some small strands hanging loose.  She made an appointment at a salon earlier that week just to have her make up applied.  When you are the face behind the scenes, make up isn’t necessary.  That’s what she had explained to the make up artist.  Or maybe that was what she was telling herself.

 

Taylor and Geoffery slowly made their way into the event.  People stopped to greet them, photos had to be taken, hands to shake, polite nods and fake laughter to appease all those around them.  Taylor caught some of the odd looks that were given in her direction.  She noted them but didn’t bother to question as to why.  She knew some of these people had their own agendas and she wasn’t about to take on more than she could handle at the moment.

 

Sienna moved about the room as if she was invisible. She got a few nods and some genuine smiles, but for the most part people left her alone.  She was happy with that.  She could stay focused and not have anyone disturb her by trying to make polite conversation.

After about an hour, she noticed a small commotion at the entrance way.  She craned her neck around some other people and caught a glimpse of Taylor and Mr. Pain-in-the-ass.

Sienna heartbeat quickened and she quickly pondered how she was going to approach Taylor and warn her of this man.  She didn’t doubt she was going to do it, she only questioned herself on how to do it.  Maybe she would just keep a careful eye on Taylor until she slipped away to the bathroom. 

Yeah.  That seemed logical.  She thought to herself.

Sienna  couldn’t believe it was almost two hours later until she noticed that Taylor was walking towards the bathroom area.

It’s about time! Sienna mumbled to herself.

“Excuse me?”  An elderly woman had turned around to Sienna.  “Were you talking to me dear?”

“No, no. I’m so sorry.  I was just mumbling something silly to myself.”

“Ok dear.”

Sienna looked up again, having lost sight of Taylor.  She briefly sighed with the thought of losing her so quickly, but knew the bathroom was the only place she would go with Mr. Pain-in-the-ass glued to Taylor’s side.   Sienna quickly but discreetly made her way to the bathroom.  She opened the door and stopped at the large mirror.  She looked her reflection over and reapplied some lipstick.  As she did, she cautiously look at the three unoccupied stalls.  She slammed her lipstick back in her purse and swiftly turned around to face the stalls.

Unoccupied?!?!?!?!  What?  Where the hell did the woman go? She can not vanish into thin air!  She slammed one foot against the ground and uttered “You have got to be kidding me!” loud enough to hear, had anyone been in the room with her.  As she stalked out of the bathroom she looked down the long hall.  The opposite end of the hallway there were some double doors, but the chain that was around the handles was still quite in place. So there was obviously only one place to go. The way she had come. She shook her head to herself and decided to head back out to the main event area and start her watch for Taylor again. She was not leaving until she spoke with her.

At that thought, Sienna felt herself being yanked into a small room.  She couldn’t even make a sound as she found her body being pinned to a wall and her lips being enveloped by another’s.  Soft. Warm. Luscious lips.  Sienna felt her arms being pinned behind her back, but instead of being alarmed, she was quite turned on.  Her mind fought with her body.  Push away!  Turn your head! Fight back! Resist! At the very least, she should at least open her eyes and find out who this was. Damn. Maybe she didn’t care!  What an amazing kiss.  Strong. Sensual. Powerful. Passionate.  She never had experienced such a kiss. Maybe she could just enjoy a minute longer and then slap whoever it was once it was over.  The person wasn’t pawing at her, so maybe she could let it linger a bit more.

Sienna reluctantly opened her eyes, but quickly found out that didn’t matter.  Where ever she was, it was completely dark.

“Sienna.”

“Taylor?!”

“Yes.”

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Sienna yelled.

Taylor had let Sienna’s arms come out from behind her back at this point, but was still holding her hands.

Taylor was still caught off guard by the kiss.  Not that she hadn’t been planning to kiss Sienna since she first saw her in Egypt, but because she didn’t expect to feel so much from one kiss. 

Taylor slyly smiled and said “I was kissing you.”

Sienna heard the smile but quickly composed herself.  “Yeah. We will talk about that later, but…”

“No.” Taylor cut her off.  “You listen.  You shouldn’t be here. It’s not good.”

“What are you talking about, half of high society is here!”

Silence.

“What Taylor? You don’t consider me high society? Afraid I won’t blend into the fake people like you do?!”

That statement had hurt Taylor, but she knew it was because Sienna didn’t understand.

“So you pull me into some dark room to make me aware that I don’t fit into high society?!”

Just then the door came flying open and both women were startled by the light that was now seething into the small room. 

Taylor’s eyes focused more quickly than Sienna’s had and she knew the looming shadow in front of her was Geoffery.  She pulled Sienna behind her and stood there facing Geoffery. 

Geoffery looked at the two women in the small room.  Scared like two little kids whose hands got caught in the cookie jar.  Scared like two little girls in their bedroom who get caught while practicing their adolescent kissing. Two women who weren’t their weight together to be using up his precious time like this.   Geoffery took a small step toward both of them and extended his hand out.  “Sienna. So nice you could attend the party, please due stay and enjoy yourself.  My darling Sydney and I have an emergency we need to attend to.” 

Taylor willed her heart to slow down. Good.  At least he will leave Sienna out of this. She told herself as she took Geoffery’s  hand. 

Sienna simply leaned back against the hallway wall and watch them walk away. Shit! Shit! Shit!  I don’t want her walking away with that evil man!

 

Chapter 12

 

Taylor sat quietly in the passenger seat as Geoffery drove towards the house.  His driving was usual.  Calm. Quiet. Collected.  She knew the rage would start once they entered the house.  Taylor took the time to try and figure out how he had found her. Them.   She knew Sienna had been yelling, but it wasn’t that loud and the door had been shut with the light off.  Damn, Sienna had looked so beautiful in that silk dress, with her hair up and make up on.  Taylor caught the corner of her mouth edging up and she pushed the thought back quickly.  Geoffery’s hand appeared in front of her face, palm up.  She placed her hand in it and tried her best to smile at him.

“Remember, I told you this was a special night for us?”

Taylor simply nodded.

“I meant that even before I found you in the room with that little journalist.”

He began to chuckle softly as he said, “Sydney, my dear, if you had wanted to bring another woman into our bed, all you had to do was ask me.”

Taylor had to swallow the bile that was now entering her throat.  If he thinks he is going to get anywhere close to Sienna again, she didn’t care if her cover was blown if it meant saving Sienna from this pure evil.

Taylor looked out the window and prayed for the night to be over quickly.

 

Chapter 13

 

“Pick up! Pick up!”  Sienna yelled into the cell phone.  She finally heard a raspy voice at the other end.

“Yeah?”

“Khym?”

“You called me!”

“Khym, listen. It’s Sienna I need a super huge favor.”

Silence.

“Khym!!”

“Sorry. I was just thinking which string bikini to pack for the plane ticket you are going to buy me to Cancun.”

“Yeah. Fine. Whatever.  I need you to tell me anything you can about Mr. Pain-in-the-ass.”

“Who?”

Sienna realized that was a special named she used to Mr. Radkin all of her own.  “Mr. Radkin, what do you know about Mr. Radkin. Anything at all you can think of.”

“Well”  Khym took a deep breath.  “Like I said, there wasn’t too much. I was concentrating on my own story at the time.  What’s up, Doc?  We don’t normally do cross over stories or anything?”

“Khym, I think a friend of mine is in trouble.  Or she will be.”

“Oh girl please. If she caught his attention, she has enough money to buy her way out again.”

“Mr. Radkin caught us in a room together.”

“OOOO!  Do tell!!”

“No. it’s not like…”  Sienna almost bit her tongue as she shut her mouth.  Well, it kind of was like that she reasoned.

“Khym please.  I am headed over to his house right now.  Please. Just tell me what you know.”

Khym realized Sienna was being quite serious and took a deep breath.  “Fine.  Besides what I told you earlier. My sources say that he feels superior to women. That women are beneath him. That women are made up of the ground he walks on.  Sienna, I don’t like the idea of you going over there.”

Silence.

“Sienna?”  Khym looked at her phone.  The connection was still in tact.

“Sienna!”

 

Sienna pulled into a large supermarket parking area.  She had some spare clothes in a bag in the backseat she kept in a bag. Not solely for this reason, mostly because she never knew what type of an assignment she would be on.  But this occasion would do.  She changed out of her dress and in the midst of puller head t-shirt over her head she froze.

All the pieces had come flying into place.

All of Taylor’s warnings came back to her now.

The first time at the store …if you value your life at all… the second time at the house …you need to get out of here… the social event…You shouldn’t be here. It’s not good… and now after everything Khym was just saying to her.

“Fuck!”  Sienna yelled out loud. She pulled her T-shirt down.  She grabbed her cell that had fallen into her lap once things started to register. 

“You can’t call the police you idiot! They’ll hang up on your ass laughing!”  She said to herself.  “You can’t outright accuse some reputable high society citizen for….for…for what exactly?  Because my friend might be in trouble?!”  Hmm…Domestic violence.  She could make an anonymous call.  Nah.  “You’re a journalist, think like one!”  She yelled as she slammed her hand against the steering wheel.  She tossed her dress and heels in the back seat an started her car up again. 

“Khym, sorry for earlier, can you just meet me at the station?”

“Already on my way.  You diggin’ on so much about that Radkin guy made me interested! Whether I get credit to the story or not!” 

“Khym,” Sienna grumbled “It’s not for a story!  It’s personal.”

This time it was Sienna turn to stare at the phone and check the connection.

 

Chapter 14

 

Geoffery parked the jag in the garage.  He got out and went around to Taylor’s side. He opened the door for her and offered his hand to help her out.  She accepted and they walked towards the interior door and into the house.  Geoffery shut the door and leaned against it. He chuckled “Do you know why this is a special night for us, my dear?”

Taylor stopped walking but kept her back to him.  She shook her head no.

She heard two footsteps and heard him sneer, “This was going to be special because’”

the side of her head flew into the oak kitchen table. “This night,” he continued on as she barely caught her breath and her head then went into the front panel of the stainless steel fridge.  She felt  warm blood oozing down her face.  He screamed right into her right ear “You were photographed three times with me tonight!”  He punched her in the stomach.

He dragged her to and up the stairs by her hair.  Taylor crawled up the stairs like some twisted animal.  Partly on her feet and partly on her hands.  They reached the master bedroom.

Why always in here?! Taylor thought. Oh yeah, thick window panes, drawn shades and muted noise level.  Taylor landed on the floor in a thud and was swiftly kicked in her back. 

“You women disgust me!”  She heard Geoffery snarl.

“To think you were photographed with me three times, you should grovel at my feet with thanks!”

He pulled her up by the hair again.

“Instead,”

He ripped off her dress.

“You,”

He tore the earring from her left earlobe.

“sneak off with,”

He tore the earring from her right earlobe.

“some two bit tramp”

He back handed her across the face and she fell to the bed.

“into some closet!”

She knew this was the type of violence she had read about in his files.  She knew this was the evil she wanted to put away for life.  She knew she would fight or die this night. 

She couldn’t see clearly due to the blood in her eyes, but her mind was still sharp. She took the brief seconds she knew she had while Geoffery was screaming and caught some much needed breaths.

Taylor knew he’d come back to hit her, when she saw him draw back his arm and form a fist, she took a huge deep breath and rolled to her side, his fist connected with the mattress and not her face.  Simultaneously she used her powerful legs and brought his out from underneath him.  She heard the thud of him landing on the floor and she ran to the bathroom and locked the door.  She didn’t lock the door for safety, she knew he would bust through it but she knew it would give her a few more minutes to collect herself.

She turned on the faucet and washed off her face, she grabbed a pair of sweats that were folded in the linen closet and put those on. All the while listening for any type of movement outside the door.  She grabbed the hydrogen peroxide and large patch band aids and place them where she could.  She turned the faucet off and was surprised at the noise she heard on the other side of the door.

She didn’t get any closer to the door but simply concentrated more on listening.  Geoffery was laughing. 

“I knew this would be a special night!” he yelled out between his chuckling.  “This one has some fight in her, I like that!”  He busted the door down with a quick kick of his foot.

Taylor was leaning against the counter.  Her hands behind her back.  She glared at him.

Geoffery took two steps towards her. He looked like a wild dog.  Seething, drool coming off his lips.  Face red with anger and hate.  Taylor threw the glass and its contents of hot water at his face.  It was her chance for any kind of escape, at least out of the bathroom.

Out of pure reflex, Geoffery screamed and quickly rubbed his eyes.  Taylor ducked down and ran past him into the bedroom again.  She only managed two steps ahead of him as he turned and chased her out the bedroom. 

Geoffery lunged forward and grabbed at Taylor’s hair.  She was anticipating such an attack and leaned forward.  However, because they had both been running the momentum had only urged them forward as both of them toppled down the long staircase. 

Chapter 15

 

Khym was already at the station when Sienna arrived.  She had already started to gather past articles about Geoffery Radkin. She always thought the guy was a slime, but since she had no personal interaction with the man, she simply let things be.  Some people were just slime in her book. 

“Hey, thanks for meeting me” Sienna said slightly out of breath.

“yeah, yeah.  Now tell me what’s going on.”

Sienna plopped down on her chair and Khym pulled up another seat beside her.

“Ok, in  a nutshell.  Remember about 8 months ago I took over that assignment in Egypt?”

“Oh yeah,” Khym said laughing. “And you didn’t know it was a woman, you were thinking it was Mr. Dean?!”

Sienna mocked laughed and said “yeah.”

“Anyways,” Sienna continued, “after that fiasco, I thought I ran into MS. Dean again at the grocery store.”

Khym’s eyes widened. “So what?” She stated confused.

“I know, but this is what she said to me ‘If you value your life at all..’”

“You’re life!?”  Khym stammered.

“Yeah. I was confused too. But then when I went to interview Mr. Pain-in-the-ass, Taylor was there again and basically telling me the same thing!”

Khym sat back in the chair.  Obviously collecting her own thoughts.  “So, you think this Taylor Dean knows something about this slime ball?”

“That’s my guess.  When I was at the social event tonight, I tried to warn her and he caught us talking.”

“There is no harm in talk…”

“No.”  Sienna cut her off. “He caught us talking inside this small room in one of the hallways.”

Khym raised an eyebrow at Sienna “There’s more, isn’t there?” 

“um. Yeah.  We kind of were kissing, before he caught us.”  Sienna blushed a little, remembering the amazing kiss.

Khym smiled, and winked at Sienna but then was serious again.  “So you think he’s mad because you two were kissing?” 

“No.  I think he is a seriously dangerous man, and out kissing and talking had only added fuel to the fire,” she paused.  “So to speak.”

“Huh.”   Khym quickly got out of the chair and told Sienna she’d be back in a few minutes.

Sienna found a pad of paper and pen and wrote down what she knew already.  She knew she needed some type of visual map before things got more crazy in her mind than they already were. 

 

Chapter 16

 

Taylor was the first to move.  Winded and probably a concussion but she didn’t think anything was broken.  She glanced at Geoffery still sprawled out on the floor and wanted to squash him like a bug under her foot but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.  She knew physically fighting with him would only tire her out faster so she stumbled to the kitchen to get a large butcher knife.  Even with out her gun, which they wouldn’t allow her to have while she was undercover, at least the knife would hopefully help defend her while causing him all types of pain.  Please God. She silently thought. 

She made her way to the kitchen and looked around, she saw the phone but knew that she would be dead by the time the police arrived.  She knew her best defense right now was to fight and hopefully wound him enough so she could make an escape.

 

Sienna’s boss came around the corner,
startled at first to see her, but then his entire face lit up.  “I don’t know why you are here, and right now I don’t care. I need you to go do something for me.”

Forced from her thoughts, Sienna looked up at her boss and was about to protest, but her boss ignored her and kept right on talking.

“John is at the hospital getting his broken ankle looked at, so you need to cover a happening story for me.”

“Why can’t someone else do it?!” Sienna stammered.

“You need to go to,”  He pulled up a crumpled piece of paper to his face to read it better “3303 Havenwood Court.  There’s a house fire.”  He looked at Sienna’s blank expression.  “I know. Nothing the fire department can’t handle, but something in my gut is telling me that there might be a story there.”  He looked at her hopefully.

“Isn’t…Isn’t that…Mr. Radkin’s house?” Sienna quietly said.

“What?  Yeah, Look at that.  I suppose that it is.”  Her boss chuckled. 

Sienna nodded absently as she  slowly stood up and began to leave.

“That a girl!!” Her boss yelled after her and he went back to his office.

Sienna got to her car and sat there a moment.  She sat breathing deeply for a few minutes and calming herself down.  She knew she couldn’t just take off driving in the condition she felt she was in.  Not with her heart beating as fast as it was.  She slyly smiled as she started her car and thought, as long as Taylor was alright, it actually worked out well, because now the police would be there on official business. 

 

Sienna vaguely remembered how to get to the house and only had to turn around twice.  She saw all the flashing lights through the trees and it made for an eerie scene.  Something right out of a mystery novel perhaps.  The mixture of blue and red lights sleeking through the trees, the puffs of black smoke snaking by on a cool breeze at the dusk of sunset.  She shook her head to clear her thoughts.  She couldn’t pull into the driveway, obviously it being blocked off by fire trucks, ambulances, and police.    She pushed her way to the front of the crowd that was there and just stared at the site before her.

The house was engulfed in red hot flames. Piercing tongues licking deliciously at their prey from the gates of hell. Hm? That might make a nice headline! Sienna thought, even though she didn’t give a damn about the story right now.  A motion from the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head away from the mesmerizing lure of the flames.  She pushed her way over towards one of the nearby ambulances.  She subconsciously placed her hand over her stomach, hoping to will is calm as she turned towards the rear of the doors.  A man was standing outside of it prepping some gear.  With an audible sigh of relief, Sienna almost smiled as she asked the young EMT “No one was injured?” 

“No, thank goodness.” The young EMT looked her over and then said “Are you related to anyone?” His voice trailed off as he pointed towards the house.

“No. Not related. But someone I care very much about was…is…”  She clamped her mouth shut.

The young EMT smiled and reached out to touch her arm.  He leaned in close to hear and said softly, “As far as I heard, no one was hurt.”   

“Thanks” Sienna nodded and let him get back to what he was doing.  She moved back towards the crowd just at the edge and all she could do was watch, just like all the others at the right side of her.

She thought of Taylor’s eyes. Her lips. All her warnings.  She didn’t want Taylor to be gone.  She wanted nothing more to hold her in her arms and kiss her again.  She touch her. To feel her soft skin.  To smell her.  To even argue with her. Anything that would bring her to this moment in flesh and blood.  She was shaken out of her thoughts by a man screaming.

“YOU!!!”   Geoffery spat at her.  He was being led, rather guided to the ambulance by two police officers on each side of him.  He stopped in front of her, but the men wouldn’t let him get any closer.

“You two bit tramp!!  I should have killed you when I had the chance. The both of you, together.  How sweet that would have been.  A two for one if you will.”  He struggled and broke free of the officers hold, but his arms were securely fastened in cuffs behind his back.  He stepped up to Sienna and glared at her, blood seeping from so many areas of his body she couldn’t even begin to count the wounds. “Go ahead, follow your bleeding heart, walk into the inferno and confess your undying love to that slut!” Geoffery laughed loud and obnoxious as he was hauled off again by the officers.

Sienna watched him go. Oddly she wasn’t afraid. She was angry.  She waited a minute or two and before she could even think about it, her feet were moving.  She came to the same ambulance she was at before and demanded of Geoffery “Where is she?!” 

Geoffery, standing at the back of the ambulance and getting some initial wounds attended to right away, never looked up and vehemently said “Burning in hell.”   He never saw the punch coming. 

 

Chapter 17

 

The ambulance pulled away with an unconscious Geoffery Radkin in the back.  Most of the crowd had left and there were only two police officers standing about.  A small handful of fire fighters were there and a few others still milling about. 

Sienna peeked at her knuckles from under the ice pack the EMT had handed her with a wink.  She ignored the pain for the satisfaction and returned to the few people that were still there.   Sienna heard the random ramblings of the crowd as she stood there helplessly.

“I heard he started the fire.”  One man said to another.

“I heard him encouraging the fire on!” Said another.

A woman spoke up and said she heard a lot of noise, like glass breaking and she was the one who called the police.  Sienna’s eyes darted to the voice, and she located the woman who was just speaking.  She made her way over to her.  Sienna touched the ladies elbow to get her attention and asked “Ma’am, may I speak with you?”  The lady looked at her and said “I suppose.”

They both stepped back out of the crowd a bit.

Sienna hesitated to identify herself as a journalist, but thought it might be best to be able to quote the woman instead of just demanding information.

“I’m a journalist from the GlobeBlotter, I was wondering if I could quote you on what you know about this house fire?”

“Oh! Of course you can young lady.  Do you have a recorder or are you one of those remembering types?” 

“I’m the remembering type.” Sienna lied.

“Well, like I was saying, I heard these awful noises like glass breaking, and I thought it was just kids playing around, you know how kids can be sometimes.”

A rambling type. Great.  Sienna silently groaned.

“So I looked outside and for some kids running away with their bats, or just running away, maybe they had thrown some stones.  But I didn’t see anyone.  My husband was out of the house playing golf.  Like he usually is.  So I wasn’t about to go out there all by myself! Heavens no!”  The lady chuckled.

Sienna smiled as politely as she could impatiently waiting for the important part of the story.

The woman obliviously continued on.  “So since my husband was not home I dialed the police and explained to them what was happening.  All the noises I heard, but that I didn’t see anyone. They took the information and said an officer was already dispatched in the area and he would be here within five minutes time.”

“So within those five minutes, the fire erupted?” Sienna inquired.

The woman was quiet for a minute.  Considering the question.  “I don’t have a time reference to give to you, but..”  She stopped speaking all of the sudden.  The lady moved Sienna and herself away from the crowd some more and then leaned in to whisper, “I know that lovely lady had been with him when they came home earlier in the night, but when the house was on fire and Mr. Radkin was yelling at the fire to Burn! Burn! Burn! It was probably my imagination but…”

“But what?” Sienna’s voice was sharper than she had anticipated and forced a smile for the woman.

The woman looked a bit nervous as she continued on “It was probably my imagination but I thought, as I was passing our two yards, someone ran into the bushes.  I couldn’t call to the person, the sirens and all, but I hope that was her who was running away.”

Sienna’s heart jumped at the pure thought of it.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much.” Sienna shook the lady’s hand. 

The lady smiled proudly and went back by the others.

Thank goodness for nosey neighbors!  She thought as she watched the woman walk away. 

 

Chapter 18

 

Taylor stayed crouched in the bushes even before she heard all the sirens wailing.  She didn’t dare run right now.  She knew she wouldn’t be in trouble by legal terms, but right now there was just too much to explain while she was still shaken.  She knew if anyone had seen her running, they would all assume she kept on running. She was counting on that.  She knew she had to stay still and silent until night could cover her like a soft blanket.  As she watched the blaze, she remembered the last few minutes inside the house.

 

She leaned against the kitchen sink with her back facing Geoffery.  She knew to him, that it would look like a weak move.  Her ears were keenly alert. She figured that he was too angry and hurt to think about being quiet and stealthy.  For such a tall man, it really did surprise her how cat like he moved at times. He stalked his prey, that was no surprise, but he was quite silent and that on occasion did surprise her.  She held the knife against the inside of the sink out his view.   She heard the footsteps. She heard him spat the blood out of his mouth. She caught the slight reflection in the window of his arm outstretched to get her from behind.  She pivoted on her heels and stabbed him in the stomach. She pulled the knife out and went to stab him again but he slightly turned and she stabbed the side of the island instead.  She yanked for the knife again, and just got it out when he lunged at her neck with both hands.  They both crashed onto the floor and the knife went skidding across the tile from the kitchen to the dining area. 

Geoffery managed to have her in a chokehold and was straddling over her. “Die you bitch!”  Geoffery spat at her along with some blood from his mouth. 

“You first!” Taylor was able to wheeze out.  She knew that kneeing him in the groin was out of the question, due to their current positioning.  There was no way her knee was going to make contact with the right area. All it would amount to would be more pressure on her neck. Thank god for all her combat training and instinctual reflexes.  She knew instead of trying to pry his hands off of her neck, her hands and arms were free to move about.  She put her hand towards her neck like she was going to pry his fingers away, and instead turned abruptly and poked his eyeballs.  She knew his instinct would be to cover his own eyes and she’d have a split second to use, to buck her hip and throw him off balance.  Her plan worked perfectly, as she bucked her hip, his head hit the corner of the island.  Just enough time for her to scramble to her feet.  She took off down the hall.  At the last minute, Taylor turned sharply and entered the den instead of going out the front door.  She knew his connections were slimy and that nothing would result by going to the police. He would simply turn it around to some domestic dispute, charges would be dropped, he’d smear her name…at least what he thought her name was!!  No, she couldn’t let this man hurt anyone else.  Had it been anyone else with less training, she knew the woman would have died long ago.  She knew she was running off of adrenaline.

She knew the den had two different areas to enter and exit. She had to be careful.  She backed up against part of the stone wall.  The fireplace.  She recalled how he had forced her to stand dangerously close to it on occasion so he could make love to her and feel her hot skin against his tongue and hands.  She grabbed the box of matches and began lighting and dropping match after match. 

 

Geoffery knew the front door didn’t open or close.  He knew she hadn’t run outside.  He began slowly making his way down the hall. 

“I believe you aren’t who you say you are.  You obviously have some kind of fighting background that I don’t know about.” He spoke louder than needed.  He glanced at himself for the first time and instead of being outranged by the sight of his own blood, it somehow seemed to push him on further.  It almost turned him on to know he had such a worthy opponent.  He’d only hope that his informants that did the background check on Syd..whatever the hell this bitches real name was would be half as fun when he went after them for the poor piss job they did. 

“I want to let you know, I’ve enjoyed this night tremendously, but it needs to come to an end!”  With that statement he rounded the corner and saw the small fires start to burn.  He laughed them off, knowing that his house insurance would cover everything.  He put a few of the smaller fires. Knowing he wanted to keep his awards and certificates.

 

Thank god men can be stupid. Taylor thought. She knew now that he was walking down the hall and towards the front door, this allowed her to exit the den through the sitting area and back into the kitchen.  She kept lighting matches as she went.  She knew he’d follow the small fires, and probably put a few out as she went.  She purposely went to the stairs, she kept two matches and light one more match and then threw the rest on the stairs in one sweeping throw.  The fire hurled through the air, it was actually quite a beautiful site to see.  The luminous glow of orange, blue, and red mingling with the cream colored carpet of the stairs.  She ran back to the dining room and grabbed the knife that had fallen earlier.  She fought with the stove and tried to cut the gas line with the knife.  It was a good plan, but didn’t work out, she couldn’t reach it.   She ran into the garage and grabbed the gasoline tank.  She splashed some in the garage and poured some more on her way back into the house.  She stopped and dropped the match.  She heard things being thrown around upstairs and knew she didn’t have more than a couple of seconds.  She went into the sitting area and doused anything she could until the tank was empty.  She used her last match and threw it into the gas. 

She could still get out by the kitchen and barely made it across the hall when Geoffery lunged at her one more time.  This time she landed on her stomach and he grabbed a fistful of her hair, trying to slam her head on the kitchen floor.  She still had the knife in her hand and swung blindly behind her.  She sliced through his one bicep.  She bucked her hips again and turned onto her back.  She stabbed him in the stomach again. 

“I won’t let you go!” He seethed.  “We will both die in this inferno you created.  Our death will be your fault.  You’ll spend eternity in hell where you belong!” 

“Anywhere with out you will be heaven!” She screamed back at him.  She turned the knife downward and knocked him out cold when the handle came in contact with his left temple. 

 

Taylor slightly shivered as she recalled the events.  She had ran out of the kitchen as the den area burst into flames.  She ran through the bushes and then ducked back into them just a few steps down.  It seemed like only a matter of seconds before the sirens were heard.  She had hoped he would die in the fire, but even if he didn’t at least this way he would be in the hospital first, and then detained for questioning.  Hopefully by then she would have had been able to get in touch with one of her FBI supervisors.

 

Taylor stuck the trees and bushes as much as possible, staying out of the neighborhood street lights and made her way to a small public restroom just outside one of the local parks.  She used the water fountain and cleaned herself up as much as she could.  She figured no one would look at her suspiciously since she was wearing sweat pants. So she decided to go through the motions and put herself into a light jog.  She was in a lot of pain, but she kept herself going by knowing that Geoffery Radkin would never be completely free again.  She may face some misdemeanors because of the last entanglement she had with him but in her mind, it was completely worth every cut, bruise and broken bone in her body to know he would never be free.  Sure, his money could get him out of jail, and he could fight to have his record expunged or even sealed, but with the internet age there was no way he was ever going to shake having almost killed an FBI agent.  

 

 

 

Chapter 19

 

Sienna waited impatiently at the elegant restaurant for her dinner date to arrive.  She couldn’t believe what a whirlwind the past week had been.  Life takes you on the strangest journeys sometimes.  She was smiling to herself but then jumped a little when a paper was thrown on to her plate at full force making the dishes loudly scatter underneath the weight.  Sienna looked down at the paper her mouth agape with pure shock.  The large headline read Double Life of Geoffery Radkin  with a large picture of the house fire next to it.  Underneath the title was Sienna’s name.

“I..I…I..” She stammered.

“What? Not tell me you made first page news?  I thought you weren’t going to sell me out Sienna?”  Taylor barely kept her emotions in check.

“Taylor, I didn’t! I didn’t even know my boss liked the article I wrote!”  Sienna finally looked up from the paper and her eyes filled with tears and she looked up at Taylor.

Taylor’s eyes were small and her face hard.  She agreed to have a meeting with Sienna, and Sienna only, giving her facts she knew she could divulge under the condition that Sienna didn’t sell her out.  Sienna promised.  Everything about that meeting had been purely professionally.  Their interview, where it was held, the length of it all.  Neither woman touched the other, and both were careful not to look at each other too long.  Not only was there another FBI agent in the conference room with them, Sienna would almost guarantee there were hidden cameras all over as well. 

 

All of it had been professional until Sienna had reached her car. There was an envelope on the windshield addressed to her.  It simply said meet me.

 

Chapter 20

 

Sienna shot up from her chair angry and hurt and turned to face Taylor with a finger pointing right at her face. 

“If you think for one minute that I sold you out, then we have nothing to talk about ever again!”  Sienna turned to leave and stopped in her tracks by Khym, her boss, some fellow colleagues and a huge chocolate cake all her way.  The cake read:  Congratulations Sienna, our fearless #1 reporter.  They started singing For She’s a Jolly Good fellow and Sienna backed up a few steps only to be stopped again by a very solid and warm body at her back side.  She barely heard Taylor singing as she felt her warm breath on her neck and ear.  Then Sienna felt Taylor’s hands wrap around her waist, but not before one of those hands pinched her ass.  Sienna smiled at her colleagues and then turned around in Taylor’s embrace.

She whispered “So you aren’t upset?”

“Never.”

Sienna was about to kiss Taylor when Taylor pushed her back around so she could cut her cake and thank her colleagues.  Sienna played hostess for a bit losing site of Taylor.  She found her later quietly tucked into a chair at a corner table reading the paper. 

“Don’t you want some cake?”  Sienna asked Taylor. 

Taylor peeked over part of the paper and said “What I want isn’t on the menu.” And then proceeded to read again.

Sienna dropped down into the opposite chair.  After a moment of silence she opened her mouth to speak but found nothing came out.

Taylor had assumed she went back to her little party and sighed as she folded the paper up.  She found Sienna kneeling at her side with a veiled look of shame on her face.

“As mad as I was…”  Sienna’s throat started to close a bit on her.

Taylor waited patiently for her to finish.

“As mad was I was at you for feeling like you betrayed me somehow, please know I never wanted you to be hurt.”  A few tears fell down her cheek. 

Taylor was in slight shock at what she heard that she didn’t even know how to respond. 

“I know I figured out most of it the night of the fire, except you being FBI and all, but what I don’t understand is how the archeology dig fit into play?  I mean, half way around the world and…”

Taylor cupped Sienna’s face with her hands and leaned in to tell her very sweetly,  “Sweetheart, you were the best thing that happened on that dig.”

Both women looked at each other intently.  Each knew there was so much more to say, so much more time needed to understand but they knew right now wasn’t the time or place for that. 

Taylor mischievously smiled and said “I have some chocolate and strawberries back at my place if you would like..”  

Taylor wasn’t even finished with her sentence when she saw Sienna bolt over to her colleagues and tell them thank you and good night. 

Taylor stood up with a chuckle and she retrieved both their jackets and met up with Sienna at the door.  She guided Sienna to her car and before she shut Sienna’s door she leaned in and huskily whispered “I’ll be Dr. Dean if you’ll be Naughty Nurse.”