THANKS FROM THE AUTHOR!

"…my two best detectives." Captain Joann Beaumont was finishing up firmly when those two detectives in question knocked on her office door.

Being called to the Captain’s office in the middle of an already bad day was nothing new to Detectives Levon Lundy and Joseph LaFiamma, two of Houston’s finest.

Though what was new was the odd vibes in the office that day and the unusual strain in their Captain’s normally mellow voice.

"What’s up, Joann?" Lundy asked after Beaumont had admitted them.

Lundy, a native Texan and Joann Beaumont’s former partner, soon saw the problem was the young, lean, brown haired man standing in the office.

Joann saw the look that passed between the young man and her ex-partner but ignored it for now, choosing to address Levon’s partner. "Shut the door, Joe." She ordered before sitting back down behind her desk and returning her words to the youth, "Derek, I talked to the Governor this morning and he asked or rather he ordered that Joe and Levon, by name mind you, be assigned to this case. They would have gotten it anyway."

"The Governor of Texas asked for us specifically?" LaFiamma blinked at this bit of news.

The dark haired Italian ex-Chicago cop had been in Houston for well over two years now and still had a hard time understanding a Texans’ mind. "Why would he?" he asked out loud, feeling his partner suddenly tense as their captain passed them both a set of pictures. "Hello, who is she?"

"Your new assignment." Joann replied catching Lundy’s look and the young man’s frown. "By the way Joe and Levon, meet Derek Young. He’s the local vice president of Harrison Enterprises. He’ll be your liaison."

Young, in LaFiamma’s opinion, was the typical H.E. executive since he’d dealt with his share of them in Chicago. He was tall but probably no older than 20 at the latest with short crew cut blond hair and green eyes that were colder than most of the H.E. boys. ‘This boy isn’t right.’ Joe told himself while making a mental note to watch the young man when his mind returned to business. "Why the contact with H.E.?"

"Because your assignment, Morgan Harrison, is their president." Joann responded adding as she tapped a file. "Morgan’s a freelance government agent now since she left the field full time about a year ago. Now, someone’s trying to kill her."

"When wasn’t there?" Lundy sighed, ignoring the sudden sharp look Joe shot him and sat down to listen to the rest of the speech.

Joann Beaumont, a 5.6 redheaded spitfire in her officer days, just gave the 6’6 blonde Texas detective a warning look as she went on. "In the last 2 months, nearly 14 attempts have been made on her life. Mostly just to scare but a few came closer and she’s been hurt. How bad isn’t known but it must be bad for her to agree to protection until the person or persons are caught. That’s where you and Levon come in, Joe."

"H.E. usually protects its own. Where are her people?" LaFiamma asked, looking hard at the photo of the young woman with eyes so blue he’d swear he’d seen her somewhere before.

"The Queens Court Raiders are in Turkey on a job and won’t be back anytime soon." Derek replied to this one with more than a little Texas accent in his obviously unhappy voice. "But, as I’ve been telling Captain Beaumont, this arrangement won’t work because you can’t handle my boss on your own and ‘HE’ won’t touch this case." He added giving a pointed look toward Lundy as he addressed LaFiamma.

The Italian cop frowned at the tone but caught the look on his friend’s face. "Why wouldn’t he?" he demanded starting to get annoyed with this kid. "If she’s our job then…."

"Because it’s no big secret how Detective Lundy hates my employer. How he’s hated her for the last six years." Derek shrugged, smirking slightly as he went on. "It’s just too bad she’s his cousin."

"His what?" LaFiamma stared at his partner for a few seconds not believing any of this. "You have a cousin that just happens to be one of the richest women in the country and never saw fit to tell me about it?!"

"It never came up LaFiamma." Lundy sighed, knowing he’d never hear the end of this one and could still hear the accusing tone in Derek’s voice as the lanky detective chose to finally address Joann. "I can’t be on this one Joann. You know that and you…"

Captain Beaumont held up a hand to halt all the complaints being thrown her way. "First off Levon, the Governor insisted and he’ll get what he wants. Second, you haven’t seen Morgan in 6 years and that was over something stupid. Deal with it because she’s still a star government agent and the Feds want her alive.

"Derek, stop yelling because you have orders from Kelly Robinson, H.E.’s very own top dog, to cooperate with these two no matter how much you may not want to. Morgan'’ flight lands in less than an hour and someone has to be there to meet her." Joann declared firmly in her best and most warning tone, raising her eyebrows to invite any further arguments. "Well?"

Lundy looked ready to argue but suddenly took his well worn tan Stetson and left the office without a further word to anyone, including his partner.

"Lundy!" LaFiamma scowled after him, finally giving up and turned to his boss. "I’ll meet her at the airport. You.." he glanced at Derek. "Meet us at Chicken’s and either have a good place for her to stay or the name of the creeps trying to kill her." He ordered, silently adding to himself. ‘And maybe my partner will come down off his high horse and show up or this job is going to be over real quick.’

"Great. Well, maybe I will have a few leads for you." Derek returned after a few muttered curses. "Though, exactly what do you plan to do, Detective LaFiamma, without your partner and an unknown amount of enemies after your assignment?" he threw the question as he was leaving the office, pausing to look back. "Ask yourself if this wasn’t the case you would have been better off ignoring."

LaFiamma met the cold stare of the young executive without flinching or backing down. "Nope, because I know Lundy will come around sooner or later. You just be sure to be around later kid, cause for the V.P. of the company you sure aren’t very eager for us to protect your boss."

"I’m sorry Joe. I thought Levon, after all this time, would’ve accepted the case." Joann apoligized after Derek had left. "I really did try to change the Governor’s mind but he was dead set on having you and Levon on this case."

"Not a problem, chief. I’ll pick this girl up. You just try and find my partner for me." LaFiamma took another look at the young woman in the photograph, still struck by the blue of her eyes and wondered what could’ve happened between his partner and her to cause such a coldness in Lundy, the proverbial laid-back Texan in LaFiamma’s view. "Tell him that I’ll be at Chicken’s Place and would appreciate his appearance at least once to figure out exactly what I’m supposed to do."

As LaFiamma left for the airport, Joann sat back in her chair and wondered what else would happen since this case wasn’t starting well at all and, also, wondered if she shouldn’t have warned Joe that his partner wouldn’t be the only cop in Houston not happy to see Morgan Harrison return.

While waiting for the plane from London to arrive, the tall athletic 6’6 police officer had time to review the file he’s been given and most of it bothered him. A lot.

He’d known that Morgan Harrison, the owner and president of the international corporation of Harrison Enterprises, was young. Twenty-five years old but with a life of someone much, much older.

The file read that the reclusive young woman had been a full time agent from the age of 5 or six until about a year ago when she and her top subsidiary had quit to become freelance agents mostly for the United Nations. Also the girl was described as stubborn, fiery in temper and very independent.

"So what happened that would make her accept protection from relative strangers?" he asked out loud frowning as he remembered his partner. "Cousin, huh? His mothers’ sister’s baby girl, huh? Well, that’s something we’ll have to talk about right after I punch him out for dropping this case in my lap and…" he stopped when he seen his assignment, momentarily forgetting all else because the photo he’d been given was definitely out of date.

Morgan Harrison, at 25, was tall and slender, with what she’d been told was a nice figure since she usually hid it under loose clothes, long auburn hair pulled away from bright blue eyes that were dull from lack of sleep and well hidden fear. She’d resisted the idea of coming to Houston up until the last attack and she’d finally given into Kelly’s long distance orders to go someplace safe until he could get the globe-trotting, world class mercenary/subsidiary of the Queens Court Raiders home. ‘Except is Houston any safer?’ the ½ British young woman silently asked when a voice caught her attention.

"Morgan Harrison?" the voice, she seen, belonged to a tall, dark haired man in his early to mid 30’s with deep green eyes, styled black hair, an obvious Italian accent and well made suit of dark blue and loafers who was leaning against a black Cobra.

"Depends on who’s asking, mate." She replied warily, her hand automatically moving toward the 9mm Browning Hi-Power under her jacket.

"Detective Joseph LaFiamma, Houston PD." He held out his badge to her, easily recognizing her wary stance. "Your protection this trip."

The former federal agent looked at the badge and back at the man in front of her before relaxing slightly and handing the badge back to him. "A Chi-Town cop on a Houston beat. Sam Houston and Davy Crockett are both probably rolling over in their graves."

LaFiamma blinked, not only at the unexpected British accent but also at the joke she offered. "No more than I usually am, ma’am." He replied unsure exactly how friendly to be as he extended a hand toward the carryon bag she carried. "This it?"

"Yeah, I figured anything I needed I can get here." Morgan allowed him to take the bag and toss it in the little car’s trunk. "Your car? Man, you must have a bloody hard time getting Levon in this thing." She grinned at the mental picture that brought but still caught the surprised look he gave her.

"You know who I am?" he questioned, surprised by that considering his partners’ obvious dislike of this girl. "That I’m…."

"My cousin’s partner?" Morgan finished for him, looking over from the passenger seat at the handsome faced cop. "Detective, we may not be on the best terms right now but I still like to keep tabs on Levon and the infor-line I have said that his partner, these past two years, was a Chicago transfer named Joseph LaFiamma. So unless there are two Detective Joseph LaFiamma’s working in Houston, you must be him. Right?" she grinned to cover the sudden wave of emotion that threatened to show. "Besides, I know who the Governor wanted for my ‘bodyguards’ and I also know that Levon won’t take this case. That left you."

"O-kay. So you know more than I thought but Lundy is on this case. He’s just working the information angle, trying to get a lead on who might be trying to kill you." The ex-Chicago cop prayed he was right but he had a strong hunch that the girl beside him didn’t buy that anymore than he did. "Maybe."

Morgan laughed at his muttered afterthought trying to stretch in the cramped car without breaking a stitch or causing the pain to come again from wounds she’d rather forget.

At that she turned her attention to the young cop beside her, trying to determine if what her sources had said about him were right and equally curious as to how he and her overly Texas cousin hadn’t managed to kill each other within the first week.

"so, where are we going Detective?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence in the car.

"Joe." He corrected. "Or LaFiamma. Anything but ‘Detective’. We’re going to Chicken’s Place to meet up with your snot nosed vice president."

Morgan noticed his obvious dislike of Derek Young, a feeling she’s had for several months. "I like going to Chicken’s. His food’s great."

"From the way Lundy and the Captain talked I thought you hadn’t been here for a while." LaFiamma spoke carefully as he’d already caught the way she tensed whenever his partner was mentioned.

"Business usually has me and the boys here a few times a year and I try to get to Chicken’s whenever I’m in town." Morgan replied, glancing out the side mirror automatically for tails and not really aware when her voice dropped lower. "Whenever I knew Levon or his buddies wouldn’t be there at least."

LaFiamma easily turned the fancy car into the near empty lot of Chicken’s Place. The one place where he and Lundy usually spent most of their time, either off duty or on.

"Damn." He swore after getting out of his car and not seeing Lundy’s pickup anywhere in the lot.

"I knew he wouldn’t be here." Morgan spoke quietly as if knowing what the detective was searching for as she eased herself from the tiny car and coming around to lay a hand on his arm. "Don’t be mad at him Joe. Levon’s hated me for six years now so I’m used to it and he’s cop enough not to endanger you by bringing personal problems into a case. Now, let’s see what Chicken’s got for lunch."

‘Oh yeah. Lundy you are in so much trouble.’ Joe swore silently while following the girl into the bar & grill. Amazed by her strength of will to keep all the pain in but he still saw the hurt in her eyes and not all of it was from the injuries she was hiding either.

"Yo, Chicken! You here or what?" he yelled over the jukebox playing in the other end of the place.

"Where else would I be at the end of the dinner rush, Joseph?" the deep voice, well saturated with a strong Southern accent, brought with it a large black man in a greasy apron, silver gray hair at the temples and a huge smile for the Italian cop. "Now, a better question would be, where’s your part…" he paused at seeing the smaller form just behind Joe and his smile got wider. "Well now, if it isn’t my favorite girl."

Clarence ‘Chicken’ DeWitt had owned his eatery in Houston for well over 20 years and had seen many things and many people come through his doors but never had he thought he’d ever see Morgan Harrison looking so pale and withdrawn and in the company of this particular officer.

"Morgan Elizabeth, what are you doing home and where are those incredibly tactless mercenaries of yours?" he asked after lifting her up in his massive arms to greet her like usual but instantly felt her tense and seen LaFiamma wince. "Trouble, huh?"

"Just the usual." Morgan smiled forcing her breathing to go normal after nearly freezing at the touch. "Kel and the boys are over in Turkey blowing things up. Until they get back, I’m supposed to be in his protection." She gave LaFiamma a grin. "I really doubt he’ll last a day with me."

LaFiamma snorted and refused to be baited by that open invitation. "I can stand your boys in Chicago so I think I can deal with you, kid." He retorted, looking at Chicken almost hopefully. "You seen either my partner or her jerky v.p. around today?"
"No to both." Chicken answered heading back to the kitchen. "You two grab a booth and I’ll bring out some food." He yelled back, while muttering to himself. "One of them looks like she could use it."

After picking at one of Chicken’s spicier lunches, Morgan sat in a well padded booth waiting while LaFiamma called the station to talk with Captain Joann Beaumont and she could tell from the way his expressive Italian features kept getting darker that he wasn’t liking what he was being told.

"Bad news?" she asked innocently after he’d sat back down swearing under his breath.

"No. Just great news if you like being told that no one knows where your partner is, you have unknown people trying to kill your new assignment who is said partner’s cousin, he’s acting like a major jerk and my liaison with your company is also two hours late." LaFiamma drank the glass of wine she slid across to him before taking a deep breath in order to calm down. "I’m fine. You o-kay?"

The question obviously caught Morgan off guard because she blanked out on him for a couple seconds. "Wow. You’re the first person besides Kelly who actually asked me that but since you did, it really depends on how much I think.

"Actually, most of my pain right now is coming from the knowledge that this is going to get between you and Levon and I really don’t want that since you’re about his only real friend anymore." She declared, staring into the deep dark pool of soda in her glass as if seeing something there.

"We’ve been through worse." He assured her, watching her eyes and noticing how her fingers kept fidgeting. "Want to tell me why you and Lundy don’t get along? He’s always been really calm and agreeable. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him act so cold toward anyone but the people who killed his wife or whenever someone mentions that Federal fiasco of a couple years…" LaFiamma stopped when those blue eyes across from him snapped up with a fire he hadn’t seen before. "Morgan?"

Morgan had started to frown. "They told you about that already, huh?"

"I heard it a few times from some of the older guys down at the station but Lundy refuses to talk about it." LaFiamma shrugged, leaning back in the booth and tried to remember what he’d been told. "I’d only been here a few weeks when the local FBI office got involved in a case involving a Mexican drug-lord and the whole office started acting funny. I asked around until finally a guy in homicide told me of a case about…."

"Six years ago. "Morgan supplied quietly, fingers tightening around the glass as her stomach also clenched.

Joe nodded, completely absorbed in his tale to notice. "Yeah, thanks. Anyway, this guy said this Federal team outta Washington came in with top level clearance to help on some case involving terrorists or something. Must have been political because the cops were ordered to work with them but something went wrong, the Feds screwed up and 5 cops got killed…Morgan?" he looked up at her strangled curse to see that Morgan was looking ready to either run or kill him. "What?"

"You were told that these Feds were so overrated that the Houston cops took the fall for their mistakes. That the team leader was too inexperienced to know any better and endangered those men needlessly." Morgan spoke tonelessly, staring at the table instead of the cop across from her. "You never heard how those Feds uncovered a police conspiracy to kill the mayor and the Governor elect. All you heard was how ineffectual the Feds were, how stupid and immature they were and how the Houston police were the ones who suffered the disgrace, right?"

LaFiamma blinked at her, mind finally catching up to her and beginning not to like what was being said. "That’s about it." He agreed slowly, frowning. "How’d you.."

"Because you’re looking at the team leader of that ‘fiasco’, Joe." Morgan replied, looking up at him and seeing the surprise in his eyes. "It was my team in Houston protecting the Mayor and the Governor-elect against a possible terrorist threat during a fund-raiser. My team who discovered just how deep a threat we were facing and my team who took the ultimate fall. What else were you told, Joe?" she asked, memories resurfacing from those days and the bitterness with them. "Exactly what did Levon tell you about that case?"

"Lundy only said it was a stupid mess and good men died. His friends from what I could tell." LaFiamma stated, watching the girl closely. "You and Lundy were on the same case?"

"My cousin never liked what I did but he coped. He didn’t like me and my people being in command of that case any more than his buddies did but we were the Feds, we were in control. Or so we thought." Morgan actually laughed bitterly. "From the bloody beginning it was all messed up and at the end…." She shrugged.

LaFiamma began to see things, remembering things said at the station about that job six years prior. Things his partner wouldn’t talk about and the things he’d heard whispered behind his partner’s back.

"Dirty cops working both ends against the middle." He murmured, seeing her eyes lift only slightly. "Cops always hated to see any Federal involvement cause it reminded them of that case. I’ve heard that 3 detectives from our office got killed by the Feds….A uniform cop told me once that Lundy never should have let it go so far and that he could’ve stopped what happened if he’d have had the guts to stand up…he stopped cause Lundy came in right then.

"You were in command of that case. Cops probably resented taking orders from feds but especially from a girl only 19 years old." Joe suddenly looked at her. "The cops were behind those killing that brought your team to Houston, dirty cops who had the perfect cover until you showed up and uncovered too much, right? That’s what’s going on here, right Morgan?"

Morgan stared at him unspeaking for a few minutes before giving him a look that reminded LaFiamma of his partner whenever Lundy was forced to agree with him. "Detective, you see things a bit more clearly than most cops I’ve dealt with. Especially on this subject." She muttered sourly, waving a dismissive hand at the sudden thoughts he’d brought on.

"My team, the Queens Court Raiders, and I came to Houston ready to investigate terrorists even though it never made sense to us why terrorists, even Mexican drug runners, would focus on such low rung people. Two bookies, several well placed and high lever hookers and finally the killings moved up to the inner circle of Houston’s political ring." Morgan began, figuring if he was going to be involved in this than she’d better at least tell Joe the reasons she’s not well liked by Houstons cops.

"Levon, he and I were close Joe. I grew up idolizing him and he tolerated me. Treated me more like a sister than his little cousin and I guess the only real problem we ever had was my choice of careers since he thought government work was too dangerous for a ‘little girl’, but we coped, so long as I was never near him after getting hurt than he was a worse mother hen than any of my other family."

LaFiamma could sympathize with that since he’d wanted to kill his partner on several occasions after being hurt. "So, what happened that changed that?"

"His friends happened." Morgan scowled, hating the memories that came. "His friends caused problems for me from the minute the Chief announced we were in charge of the case. I knew Levon didn’t like it either but it was my job and I did it. The ‘Raiders and I worked day and night keeping things under control but Lewis and Martin just damaged whatever good we did." She stopped suddenly, eyes clouding over in thought. "The killing continued, the Mayor was yelling and Kelly was getting ready to start killing cops but then we got a break…I thought so at least."

Charles Martin and Robert Lewis, LaFiamma knew, were two of his partner’s best friends on the force. Or had been until their deaths six years ago in a bungled raid attempt on a warehouse.

"Did this Kelly kill Martin and Lewis?" he asked warily, careful not to upset her since he’d already seen this subject was a touchy one.

Morgan didn’t answer right away. "The one thing about government work I never liked was the lying. The good guys lie more than people who are supposed to be the bad guys. No, Kelly didn’t kill them. I did."

That response stunned the Houston cop into silence unsure of how to respond as the girl pushed herself out of the booth in order to pace.

"That warehouse was supposed to be a deathtrap for my people but…I got wind of the truth in time for Kelly and the boys and to turn the tables on the guys inside, hired thugs, and put an end to our job." Morgan explained, keeping her back to him as she went on. "Levon never knew the real things that happened that day because I had gotten Caroline to keep him home that day so he wouldn’t be involved. He never knew half of what the job meant to me or the things that happened during it, like why I wasn’t with Kelly at the warehouse or the real reasons behind my ending up in the emergency room."

LaFiamma sat still and waited, no doubt that she was telling the truth because he’d seen enough dirty cops in Chicago to know what they could do and he knew that other cops would never believe it unless hard evidence was given.

"They gave Lundy a different story than what happened?" he guessed, sure he was right before he seen her tense. "Levon’s a good man but he wouldn’t turn on someone he cared for unless he was told something or shown something really, really bad."

Morgan slowly came back to the booth, sitting down to look at his deep green eyes as if judging how much she could tell him. "They told him me people were the ones who sold out, that I sold them out and when he couldn’t get in touch with me to get the truth he assumed the same thing. Levon believed that I’d sold the cops out and put my Queens Court Raiders up to murder those cops."

"They lied." Joe replied quietly but certain.

"Darn bloody straight they lied!" Morgan snapped, sighing. "Sorry. They told him I’d been paid off to kill those cops because they knew the truth. Levon couldn’t reach me because his buddies had made sure that he wouldn’t be able to. I was attacked the morning of the warehouse raid, drugged and held for I don’t know how long until…short of it Joe is that when I escaped I killed both those lying dogs, managed to contact Kelly and then woke up in Houston General three days later listening to the aftereffects as Kelly yelled at the Governor about cover-ups and such rot."

"Did you ever tell Lundy the truth?" LaFiamma asked even though he was sure that his hardheaded partner never would’ve have listened to the girl.

Morgan blinked past the memories a few times before shaking her head. "I tried to talk to him on the phone because he wouldn’t come near the hospital but he hung up and when I tried to go to the station, well lets just say that wasn’t a good idea. Finally, I went out to the ranch…he wouldn’t even listen. We fought, said a lot of stuff and I was still too hurt to fight much with him so I left Houston and haven’t seen Levon since. At least not in person, face-to-face." She shrugged, glancing at the clock to change the subject before she revealed the rest of what she knew to the dark haired detective. "So Joe, looks like it’s just you and me. Where to?"

"Whoa, why did you leave Houston without making him understand the truth?" LiFiamma refused to be sidetracked that easily. "Someone should have been about to…"

Morgan sighed obviously reluctant. "Joe, I loved my cousin and even though I knew he hated me I wanted to protect him. He was friends with those slime, brothers-in-arms so to speak, and to tell him all that happened in those two weeks not to mention the other times I’d visited, assuming he believed me at all, it would’ve hurt him." She declared adding in a quieter voice as her eyes took on a haunted look. "Plus, it would have put him in danger if I hadn’t left."

LaFiamma stared at her before understanding. "Someone threatened Lundy." He nodded then asked the question he figured neither Morgan nor Lundy would want to answer, or maybe even know. "Did you leave to protect him or yourself?"

"Both actually." The girl responded upon realizing that Joe wasn’t going to budge until she answered. "The night after Levon and I had fought at his ranch, my apartment was…’visited’ by several ‘well intentioned’ officers who put it quite plain that since my cousin’s career on the Force was so important to him that it would be a shame if it was cut short if I pushed too many issues. I left Houston to keep him alive and because it hurt too bloody much to see the hate in his eyes. Now, can we get going?" she demanded

LaFiamma swore soundly to make his partner pay for this but finally had to agree that it did indeed look like they were on their own right then and he didn’t have a clue as to even where he should take the girl that would be safe.

"Chicken, tell me soon-to-be-dead partner that he better be here tomorrow morning for a real long heart-to-heart talk." LaFiamma shouted to the cook before taking Morgan by the arm and heading for the door. "You can also tell him that I’ll have ‘OUR’ assignment with me at ‘MY’ apartment since Derek, the wonder nerd, never showed."

Chicken was hard pressed to keep from laughing at the anger in the other cop’s stressed out voice but did manage to nod. "If I see him, I’ll tell him Joe." He promised then called as an afterthought. "You two be careful."

"I’m always careful." Joe returned with more cheer than he felt right then as he and Morgan crossed the parking lot toward his car. "Derek was supposed to come up with a safe-house for you but since he hasn’t and I can’t locate my partner, looks like I’ll crash on my sofa tonight and you can have the bed. Alright with you?"

Morgan started to reply that she actually had very little choice when her overly hyper sixth sense started buzzing in the back of her head and she glanced around at their present surroundings until she caught sight of something up above them on Chicken’s roof. ‘Blast!’ she swore silently realizing where the muzzle of the rifle was aimed. "Joe!" she shouted, years of battle instincts taking over as she lunged at LaFiamma and shoved him out of the path of the bullet right as it fired at him. "Move!!"

LaFiamma had been silently figuring out how to handle a whole case on his own with no partner and probably little to no cooperation from other cops in his department when he felt the girl stop moving and had just been turning to see what was wrong when he heard her shout his name just as a bullet whizzed by his shoulder, tearing through the fabric of his jacket and then he was rolling as Morgan shoved him out of the path of the rest of the barrage.

"I hate this city." He muttered finishing the roll to end up behind the Cobra and pulling his two .45 caliber Colts from under his jacket when he realized Morgan wasn’t with him. "Oh, good God." The ex-Chicago cop groaned when he found the girl. Standing in the middle of the parking lot yelling at their unseen assailants. "Morgan!!"

Months of constant attacks and nerves had finally taken their toll on the young woman and this attack just pushed her temper and her patience past their limits.

"Alright, that is it!! You blokes think you’re so bloody tough while you’re hiding somewhere! Well, how about coming out and facing me in the open for once if you want me dead so badly!! Bleedin’ cowards, hiding from one lone girl and…HEY!!"

LaFiamma had grabbed her around the waist, careful of any injuries, and pulled her back behind his car. More than a little surprised that neither of them had been shot full of holes in the process. "Have you lost your mind?!" he demanded incredulously, now well aware of Lundy’s exasperation toward him every time Joe tried some stupid stunt. "You could’ve been shot! Were you?!" he asked both questions in the same breath while looking Morgan over quickly for signs of blood but saw none except his own.

"No." Morgan replied more calmly now, sheathing the 9mm Browning Hi-Power he hadn’t known she was carrying. "This was another game. If they would’ve wanted me dead, the shooter wouldn’t have missed me and shot you." She leaned back against the car suddenly very tired as Chicken ran out after hearing the shots and calling the police. "This was just to let me know that whoever’s doing this knows I’m here."

"Great, so much for our vaunted security." LaFiamma muttered starting to shove his guns back in their holsters when the pain in his shoulder seared, making him remember that the bullet had done more than skim past him. "I am hating this job more and more every minute I’m on it."

Morgan looked over at him with a sad smile, standing up shakily and extending a hand down to him. "Yeah, I know. So am I, mate." She sighed hearing sirens approaching and wondering how exactly to get out of this one with no one but herself getting hurt worse. "So am I."

Joseph LaFiamma barely listened to his superior as he split his attention between the perky, freckle-faced paramedic who was cleaning the slight graze on his left shoulder and the young woman sitting on the hood of his Cobra frowning into his cellular phone.

"Joe!!" Joann snapped to get the Chicago native’s attention. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Somebody shot at us." LaFiamma deadpanned nodding his thanks to the medic while pulling his jacket on with a wince and heading towards his car. "I never heard or sensed anything. She did. My question is how did these jerks find us so fast, Captain?"

Joann had been wondering the same thing since she’d first gotten the report of the shooting at Chicken’s. "I don’t know Joe." She admitted glancing at the Forensic experts who were wondering around the scene. "She get hurt?"

"Only by her past." Joe muttered, asking. "You heard from Lundy yet?"

"He hasn’t been back to the station but I left word with Annie to tell him what happened if she saw him." Joann replied when a string of angry German caught their attention. "She’s mad."

LaFiamma rolled his eyes as Morgan Harrison squeezed her eyes shut in frustration before refocusing on the phone. "No. Ric I’m appointing you vice president until further notice. Shut the companies in the area down, pull any of our deep cover operatives out of their covers because they might’ve been blown and warn the local subsidiaries to watch their backs." She ordered swiftly and with more confidence than Joe had heard from her since they’d met (a few hours earlier).

"Also, call down to Arlington and tell Jamie Russel to get his tail up here to help you. Call over to the Astrodome while you’re making calls. Ryan Smoltz should still be in town, get him to help you maintain control cause once this hits the streets all hell will break loose." Morgan paused as the phone spoke and her blue eyes hardened. "You find him, I want him alive. Alive Ric, not healthy but alive."

"So, Derek get lost?" LaFiamma asked curiously, not liking the new pain he saw in her eyes. "Morgan?"

"He hasn’t been back to the office since this morning so that means that Derek is either already dead or…he will be as soon as I find him." Morgan declared quietly sliding off the hood and feeling her legs begin to buckle.

LaFiamma quickly caught the girl’s arm, surprised to find it trembling. "Easy, sport. You’ve been through too much today."

"Joe, take Morgan inside while I deal with the press and see what our boys have found." Joann ordered firmly, figuring the quickest way to get LaFiamma to do something was to make it an order. "I’ll be in soon."

Morgan was unusually quiet as she allowed herself to be led back into Chicken’s. "She won’t find anything but what Derek would want them to find." She finally muttered, shock from recent days beginning to set in.

"Say what?!" Joe did a double take, staring at her. "You think your V.P. was the guy shooting at us? Why?"

"I saw the light reflecting off the scope of his rifle Joe." She replied, explaining at his still unsure look. "Derek has a special rifle he uses for sniping, special made from the boys in Atlanta. It works great in the dark but in the daylight the thing reflects everything. Kelly was always yelling at him about it and that’s how I knew you were in danger."

"Why would he use a gun that would let him be seen?" LaFiamma asked, completely confused by this point.

"Part of the game, y’see. Let me know my one of own is gunning for me and then wait for the next bomb to drop." Morgan responded, crossing her arms on the table and laying her head down on them to watch Joe through sleepy eyes. "Mind warfare on top of the physical damage already done. Very modern torture."

That reminded LaFiamma of something else that had been bugging him. "Exactly how bad are you hurt?"

"More than you want to know about Joe." The girl yawned, not about to answer that and have the already stressed detective freak out on her. "I’m fine."

As LaFiamma made some remark about doubting that Chicken was in the kitchen silently observing the pair and doing some serious doubting himself when he heard his back door open and close.

"Well. I was beginning to wonder if you were at least going to show up to check on your partner after he got shot." The big black man commented sarcastically, aiming the remarks behind him without turning. "Real big of you Levon."

Detective Levon Lundy nearly winced at the blow of guilt his long time friend threw at him but instead jerked off his hat in order to run his fingers through his wavy blond hair in frustration.

"Don’t start on me Chicken. I’ve been kicking myself all afternoon for dumping all this on LaFiamma but what else could I do?" he demanded.

"Face it like a man. Face your cousin instead of letting Joe deal with your personal problems, an assassin and a scared young woman who is still trying to act like your hatred doesn’t hurt." Chicken returned, jerking a thumb toward the front of his place. "There is a lot you don’t know Levon. Things about that case 6 years ago and things from before that she’d never tell you because they’d hurt you."

Lundy glanced out the window that separated the kitchen from the restaurant to see his partner sitting across from a pale faced beautiful young woman whose auburn hair was falling into half closed blue eyes and he knew he wouldn’t have recognized her now if it wasn’t for the blue eyes.

"Sweet Jesus." He whispered, hating himself more for not realizing how much could change in the 6 years since he’d seen his cousin.

Morgan, he remembered, had been 19 years old with dark blond hair just turning to the reddish hue it was now and he still recalled fixing or braiding that hair when she’d been a child. She’d always been fair skinned but now her well defined features held an almost white color, a sickly color that said just how bad she must be hurt.

Slender but lively when he last saw her with the largest blue eyes that, even though she’d seen too much, still held a childs’ naivete. That was his last memory of his cousin, of a girl who was more like a sister to him.

Now as Lundy looked at this fully grown up young woman, a girl he still thought of as a baby, he saw that only her eyes hadn’t changed in the six years they’d been apart. But now they seemed almost lifeless as they watched LaFiamma gesture with his good arm.

"Six years is a long time to hate Levon." Chicken replied softly, touching the younger man’s shoulder. "especially over lies and especially when she’s about all you have left beside your grandmother, Joseph, you’d better stop waving that arm!!" he hollered out sternly when he noticed Joe.

LaFiamma threw the cook a sour look. "I’m using my good arm." He grumbled. "I’m Italian so gesturing when I talk is in my nature."

"Is it also in your ‘Italian’ nature to get shot five hours into the job, LaFiamma?" Lundy asked lightly as he forced himself to move out into the restaurant and face a part of his past he’d dreaded for six years. "What is it with you? Can’t I leave you alone for one day without you getting yourself shot up?"

Joe’s head whirled at his partner’s voice more than a little surprised and also relieved to see him there. Not that he’d ever admit that to anyone.

"You forget your way here or what?" he demanded gruffly to cover his relief, throwing a look at Morgan and seeing that she’d tensed at her cousin’s appearance. "We had to do all the work as usual."

"Way I hear it told out front is that she did all the work." Lundy returned while trying to ignore the wary fear in his cousin’s eyes and not wanting to show too much concern for his partner. "You’re the only one I see here that’s hurt. I thought you were supposed to be protecting her."

LaFiamma wasn’t sure why he rose to the obvious bait his partner threw. "No, Lundy. ‘WE’ were supposed to be protecting Morgan. Y’know, ‘your cousin’, whom you haven’t called by name yet or even looked at fully." He snapped.

"O-kay boys, that’s enough." Morgan interjected before a fight could ensue. "Behave or neither one of you gets to argue with Kelly when he calls after Ryan tells him about today."

Not really wanting to let his partner off that easily, Joe debated on continuing until he got a good look at Morgan and knew that fighting with Lundy would just upset her more.

Lundy must have seen the same thing because he dropped his hat on the table and held up a hand toward his bummed out partner.

"Truce Joe. Actually, I was working on the case. Trying to figure out who could be doing this." He declared, eyeing his friend’s arm and the sling he wasn’t using. "You o-kay?" he asked with true concern, guilt doubling over the knowledge that his presence probably would’ve stopped LaFiamma from getting hit.

"He got shot." Morgan spoke up quietly while avoiding either man’s eyes.

"I did not get shot. It’s just a graze." LaFiamma corrected mildly, fingering the hold in his jacket. "Brat ruined a perfectly good jacket too. If I find him, I’ll kill him." He muttered, giving his partner a dry look. "Our boy Derek tried to kill his boss. Isn’t there some part of his contract that outlaws assassinating his president?"

Lundy stared at the Chicago native before finally looking at Morgan who was studying the scarred tabletop intently. "Thought he was acting funny earlier. When’s Kelly coming back Morgan?" he asked her curiously and feeling LaFiamma’s eyes on him. "Morgan, look at me."

"Kelly and the ‘Raiders are stuck in Turkey until their job is done. By the time they get here this will be over with, one way or the other." Morgan slowly raised her head enough to meet her older cousin’s eyes. "Hi." She greeted softly. "Joe said you’d come but you don’t have to stay."

"Oh, yes he does." LaFiamma cut in at this point. "He’s not leaving me on this case alone. Someone else can work intelligence or clue finding. Our job is to keep you alive until this Kelly guy shows up. Who is he anyway?"

"The Queen’s Court Raiders are Harrison Enterprises main subsidiary." Lundy answered, a small smile forming as he watched his partner and added. "They’re also world class mercenaries."

LaFiamma groaned at this news. "I knew I shouldn’t have asked." He sighed, hitting Lundy’s arm for full attention. "With Derek either dead or on the wrong side we have a real big problem, partner. We need someplace safe to keep her but since these guys know we’re on the case both our places might be bad in the way of bullets flying and my landlord hates gun battles in his apartments. Got any good ideas under that hat Lundy?" he asked curiously while watching Morgan from the corner of his eye.

Morgan listened silently while the duo batted ideas back and forth. Occasionally she’d glance toward her cousin, wanting to say something to him but so afraid of starting a fight that her nerves couldn’t take right then.

"The ranch is the only logical place that we know for sure is secure." Lundy was saying, taking his hat out of LaFiamma’s reach since his partner always liked to use it to store peanut shells. "It’s big but all we’d have to watch is the house. The boys could run a sweep to make sure nothing nasty has been set up in the meantime."

LaFiamma snorted. "These the same boys whose vice president just tried to use us for target practice?" he asked. "How do we know the rest of them haven’t sold out?"

"Ryan’s team is from Arizona and he’s been with my company for years so I know that Ryan wouldn’t sell out." Morgan put in suddenly from where she’d had her head laying back on her arms to listen to the quiet, mostly argumentative, planning session. "The rest of the boys here in Houston were hired by Kelly and me personally while Derek, well he just sort of slipped through the cracks."

"Doesn’t seem to matter where we go. These guys are going to find us." Lundy remarked seriously, frowning. "Too many people want you dead."

"Including you?"

The quietly made question caused utter silence to fill the room as LaFiamma nearly choked on the mouthful of peanuts had had and Lundy just sat perfectly still, knowing that this moment had to come sooner or later but he still hadn’t been prepared for the girl to ask such a question with total and complete calmness.

"Ahh, Lundy? Could I talk with you a second?" LaFiamma asked, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to clue his partner in on a few things. "Now?"

Lundy just waved him off and Joe swore because he knew things were about to get much worse for them as Morgan finally raised her head enough to fully meet her cousin’s blue eyes.

"Do you Levon?" she pressed curiously, hoping to keep the pain and shaking from her voice. "Do you still want me dead?"

"I…I never wanted you dead Morgan." Lundy finally managed to reply, seeing the long buried hurt in her eyes along with all the new and wanted so much to take it all away for her but not knowing how. "I was angry and hurt that night and I might’ve said a lot of things that I shouldn’t have but I never wanted you dead. You’re my family, for God’s sake. We have problems to work through but I’d never see you hurt." He stated hesitating only slightly before touching her face and feeling her tense. "Whatever happened that day in the warehouse, whatever caused your people to…" he broke off when she suddenly jerked back and LaFiamma nudged his shoulder a little harder.

"Lundy we REALLY need to talk." He hissed, knowing the girl was only a few steps from running now and any mention of the incident 6 years ago would just make her bolt faster.

"No. Let it go Joe." Morgan broke in, blinking suddenly and knowing what had to be done. "It doesn’t matter. It’s been six years that I’ve lived with his hatred and the knowledge that I did nothing to cause it but protect him. They were his friends, he still believes that and what they told him and I don’t feel like fighting with him over things he’d never believe anyway so let it drop because whatever else happens tonight won’t be your responsibility."

Both Houston cops exchanged glances. "What exactly is going to happen tonight and since we’re your protection I think it is our responsibility." Joe returned warily, not liking the tone in Morgan’s voice or the look in her eyes.

"By the end of tonight, this will all be over." She responded quietly, standing slowly and interrupting any argument by raising a finger. "No. I knew it was a mistake coming back to Houston because I knew Levon wouldn’t get involved. He believed the lying scum buckets he worked with. He trusted them and after 6 years it’s too late to change his mind or what happened.

"You never should’ve gotten shot Joe. This is my life, my problem and from this moment on I’m relieving you both of this case. My death will not be your responsibility. Joann!"

Captain Joann Beaumont had been entering Chicken’s when she heard Morgan call for her and immediately knew something was wrong when she seen both her detective’s faces. "Morgan, what’s the…."

"You can tell the Governor that while I don’t like his involvement in my personal affairs, I’ve taken my… I’ve taken Levon and Joe off this case and that they are not to be held accountable for anything that happens to me tonight. I will not endanger them." Morgan declared firmly, pausing to reach into her jacket and remove a small gold pocket watch. "I forgot to leave this the last time. It’s yours Levon. Remember it?"

She laid the watch on the counter closest to her cousin before turning to his partner and halting his argument in mid yell. "You’d be in way over your head Joe. You’ve already been shot because of me and don’t blame him because I’d do this even if Levon and I were still close. Even if he didn’t hate me for selling his ‘brothers’ out. Play nice and take care."

"Morgan, wait a—" Joann started to follow when she stopped and glared at both men. "Just what the Devil happened here?" she demanded.

LaFiamma swore and started after the girl when a hand grabbed his jacket, stopping him.

"Let her go." Lundy told him opening the watch and indeed remembering it. "She knows what she’s doing."

"No, she doesn’t!" LaFiamma snapped back angrily, jerking his arm free. "She’s a walking target already! Hurt and scared, but all she was concerned with is protecting us! Protecting you!

"You’re something Lundy. You preach forgiveness to me toward the things in my past and in yours but you still hate your own cousin for things you don’t even know about!!"

Lundy met his partners’ blazing eyes with his own. "Don’t go there, LaFiamma cause you don’t know nothing about…"

"I know that your buddies gave you a sack of lies about Morgan and her people on that case six years ago. That ‘Federal fiasco’ that everyone in the department still talks about in hushed tones." Joe snapped not caring if their Captain was there or if he was stepping into something that he had no business. As far as he was concerned, their business had just fired them and walked out to her death. "Did you ever talk to Morgan about what happened that day, about what Lewis told you happened or did you just start yelling at her like you’re yelling now?"

Chicken had come to see what was going on and stopped Joann from interrupting the two men. "Joann, it’s time he learned." He told her.

"I need them as partners not enemies, Chicken." Joann argued well aware of how her ex-partner would take anything LaFiamma tried to tell him about that case and his friends.

"You know as well as I do that without us protecting her Morgan doesn’t stand a chance of making it through the night!" LaFiamma was yelling now, grabbing a hold of his partner’s shirt. "Lundy! Morgan never sold anyone out because she couldn’t have. Your good friend, Detective Martin, had her drugged and held prisoner while his pals were supposed to kill her team. Martin lied to you!"

LaFiamma knew the blow was coming and managed to avoid most of it, taking the fist just on the side of his chin and staggering only a few steps but didn’t back down from the angry Texan. "Martin and Lewis had sold out and wanted Morgan out of the way so she wouldn’t blow their scam. When killing her didn’t work they used your temper to get it done. That and their buddies scaring her off by threatening you and you were too stupid to realize it. She loves you still even though she knows you hate her guts and she’s the one who suffered the most, from you and from whatever those sick animals did to her that day.

"You live with the guilt, pal." He finished pulling away from his partner and reaching for his jacket. "I really don’t think you hate her as much as you like to think or as much as she thinks but it won’t matter because we both know that Morgan will be dead by the morning. You can live with that too!"

Silence settled over the restaurant after LaFiamma stormed out, the sound of his 427 Cobra squealing its tires all that was heard as Lundy slowly closed the pocket watch and reached for his hat.

"Levon." Joann Beaumont hesitated as her friend looked at both her and Chicken with a look she’d never seen, emptiness. "Joe’s upset. He’s got a temper worse than any Texan alive when he gets it going, you know that."

"Was what he said true, Joann?" he asked in a monotone, still remembering the look of hurt and fear in Morgan’s eyes both tonight and the night they’d fought at the ranch when she’d finally confronted him about what he’d been told about what happened in the warehouse, about what happened to Charlie Martin and Rob Lewis and why she’d killed them, why those other cops died. "What don’t I know about? What is my cousin protecting me from?"

"The truth Levon." Chicken finally replied, shrugging. "But the truth is no good if you can’t accept it and Morgan knows that. She knew that a long time ago that you had chosen your career over her. I guess I knew that the day I found her sittin’ in that booth over there, about 8 years ago, with her mouth busted open and one eye nearly swelled shut after she’d had a run in with a few cops outside the station while visiting you. Cops have a long standing hatred for Feds, especially women, and the Houston cops have always resented Morgan due to her age and her Presidential clearances. You never saw because you never wanted to, son."

Lundy stared at his friends in silence before turning away. "I’ll be at home Joann." He told his superior quietly. "If you need me you can reach me there>"

"Great, now what do I do?" Joann demanded aloud. "I’ll be lucky if those two don’t kill each other, the Governor will be wanting my blood if anything happens to Morgan and god only knows what’ll happen when the ‘Raiders hit town again."

"Don’t I know it." Chicken agreed but had more confidence that the boys could work through this fight to do what was right.

The only thing he wasn’t sure of if they’d do it before it was too late. ‘I hope so cause this town can’t stand the Queens Court Raiders on the warpath again.’

"Joann, he needs to know about the rest." Chicken called to the woman as she was leaving. "It ain’t right that Morgan has to suffer because of what Martin and his pals did. Not only that time but all the rest."

Beaumont glanced back and nodded tiredly. "I know but I don’t think any of us are prepared to deal with Levon when or if he ever learns about that." She went out the door already hearing the Governor and the Mayor when they learned about this. "I should’ve have retired."

 

 
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