Jeff stood in the shower with a big stupid grin on his face. He soaped without direction thinking only of Jessica and their wild encounter on his poor sofa. The water pounded his face and body and he found himself actually singing. He shampooed his little bit of hair and pasted some conditioner on what was left, rinsing it after he'd washed and then he turned the water up hot and just stood beneath it, luxuriating.

The sudden draft made him open his eyes and he ducked his head from under the spray to see the curtain pulled back. He laughed at first then quickly sobered as he realized the woman staring at him with the large gun wasn't Jessica.

"Wha . . .?"

"Out . . . big boy." The smirk made him blush angrily and he turned off the tap and stepped out, grabbing his towel.

"Who the hell are you?"

"A new admirer." Zee waved the gun toward the door and Jeff padded out, dripping, with the towel wound tight around his waist.

Jessica sat on the sofa with her head down and one hand on her cheek. When she looked up he could see she'd been crying and her face was red on the one side. Carver sat on a chair beside her, a smug smile dancing at the corner of his mouth. On the seat beside him was a bag and Jeff could see the tip of some money.

"Hello again . . . Mike." He laughed a mean laugh and sat up straight. "After all the fuss and bother you guys gave me I decided that before I disappear for a while, I'd extract a little payment from my biggest nuisances. I also thought you might like one last look at what all the fuss was about."

He opened the bag and tipped it toward Jeff then glanced at Zee who was listening with a bored posture and expression. "Okay then, care to do the honours, Zee?"

"I think in the interest of cementing our deal that maybe you should do this one." Zee pointed at Jessica. "I'll take Mister Clean here." Zee gave Jeff a brilliant smile and blew him a kiss.

Donald looked unhappy with the suggestion but he also knew that with Zee it wasn't an idle one, she was giving him an ultimatum. He stood and held out his hand for the gun and Zee just gaped at him.

"What?"

"You think I'm giving you this?"

"I don't have one, what am I supposed to do . . . ?" He saw her face set and he winced visibly.

"Aw Zee, no, c'mon. Why make such a long thing out of this. Just do it and let's get outta here."

"I'm waiting, Donald." They all heard the threat in her voice and suddenly there were three people in the room concerned about their well being.

Jessica watched him carefully as he fidgeted beside her, his fingers flexing as he shifted from foot to foot. She knew what the woman meant for him to do and she was not going to just sit there and let it happen. Donald grunted something and turned to face her and as he did she shot out a hand and grabbed his crotch, twisting and squeezing as hard as she could.

Donald let out a whoop that made all of them blanche and he threw his arms out in distress trying to back away from her grasp, knocking over the table lamp and the dish of Jeff's beach pebbles. Zee laughed and walked to the side, aiming the gun at Jessica.

Jeff whipped of his towel and flipped it like they used to do as kids in the shower rooms. It snapped against her wrist and the gun flew out of her hand as she turned in surprise to catch the next flip right on the chest. Her face screwed up and she grabbed her breast, hunching over in pain.

Jessica meanwhile had wrestled Donald to the floor, still keeping her vice-like grip and adding a knee to the mix. With one hand she reached back and grabbed the bag pulling it down beside her. Zee screamed something and bent down for the gun but Jeff snapped the towel again and this time it caught her on the side of the face and she slipped and crashed to the floor.

"Get the gun!" Jessica yelled.

He jumped over Zee's legs and bent down to pick up the gun when her foot came up and connected with his rump sending him headfirst into the wall. Jeff dropped both the gun and the towel and sprawled on his side beside the small end table, his eyebrow split where it met with the baseboard.

Jessica punched Donald in the throat and his eyes bulged as he clutched at it, gurgling. She crouched around and made a dive for the gun, reaching it at the same time as Zee.

"Tough luck, honey." Zee managed as she wrestled for the weapon.

"Not luck, Honey, skill." Jessica grabbed her wrist and with a deft twist, snapped it clean.

Zee cried out and fell over on her back, her skirt riding high over her thighs and her hose splitting in long rivers of nylon. Jessica picked up the gun and went to Jeff, helping him to his feet with difficulty.

"Maybe I should use the handle," she laughed as she propped him against the wall and retrieved the towel.

"You are a sick lady, Jessica." He patted the towel against his swelling eyebrow and wandered over to where Donald was turning purple, still clutching his throat. "I think he needs some assistance."

"They both do. Call 911." Jessica gestured Zee to her feet and shoved her onto the sofa then picked Donald up and pushed him down beside her.

"Should have left well enough alone, Donald. You and your new girlfriend are not going to like the next several years."

Zee cradled her wrist against her breasts and smiled weakly up at Jessica. "No need to waste what we've accomplished. You and I-and your friend-could make a very nice deal before the police come." Donald stared at her in disbelief. Had she just left him out? Jessica shook her head and smiled back.

"What deal could you possibly make us?"

"We've got the stones and the money. Answers the question don't you think?"

"You mean a fifty-fifty split for us to let you go?"

Zee nodded and widened her smile. Donald erupted, sputtering and swearing, his voice impaired by the swelling of his throat, and he lunged across the sofa at Zee. Jessica stepped forward but the reaction was so swift she actually missed it. Zee's good hand met Donald's throat with a vicious Karate chop that saw his head loll to one side and his whole body slump like a wet noodle.

"Much easier now. You can give this to the cops," she nudged Donald, "take your half and Bob's your uncle."

"You haven't left me much to give to the police. He's dead."

"The better to support any tale you care to spin."

"I don't think so . . . what is your name anyway?"

"Not one you want to know." Jessica froze as she felt the tip of the knife on her thigh.

Jeff came back from the phone in time to see Zee taking the gun and standing up.

"What the . . ."

"You have to learn some new expressions there, Jeff," Zee smiled and stepped clear of both of them.

"Now what?" Jessica felt humiliated to think she'd been tricked so easily.

"I'm out of here."

"I meant about us."

She grinned and adjusted her broken wrist. "Well if you can't think of something to do with that, you should reconsider your goals." Both women looked down to where she pointed and saw that Jeff's towel wasn't covering the intended parts. "I've got what I want already and doing you two wasn't really that pressing an obligation."

She waved the bag she'd retrieved from the floor and smiled again as she backed her way to the door. "Can't say I enjoyed it all but some of it was eye opening." With a parting laugh she slipped through the door and was gone.

Jessica called her office and within moments Jeff's apartment was swarming with Crime Scene Investigators, Homicide Police, R.C.M.P. Investigators and once again Jeff and she were put through grueling interviews with reports up the wahoo for Jessica to complete before they were finally allowed to leave.

Donald Carver was bagged and carted out by the Coroner's people and Jeff's apartment was sealed as a crime scene, so in the interest of expediency they headed back to Jessica's place. Jeff drove because he needed to feel he was doing something constructive; up to this point it seemed that Jessica was the take charge and proactive person.

"Who was that woman anyway?" He asked.

"She's a paid assassin that we've been trying to pin down for years."

"Years? How old can she be?"

"Gretta Zetterling is thirty-nine and has been in business for at least nineteen years that we know of."

"Christ." Jeff signaled for a lane change and slipped up the inside of a poky van. "Why can't you catch her?"

"Why did the chicken cross the road. Jesus, Jeff it's not like we haven't tried. She's a real pro and has a lot of experience behind her."

"She was quite attractive actually." He offered. Jessica's look steamed the windows.