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Disclaimer/Warning: This work is not mine. Contacting the original author is impossible, but I like to think they would be okay with my posting it here for as many people to see as possible. This work is NOT complete and it will NEVER be complete. I'm sad too.

With that said, enjoy.

- - -

One of the buildings, for the martial arts school, had been completed. The instructors and I were the only ones with access, but I had it to myself later that afternoon.

The forms or katas are an expression of who you are in your body. Jason's were my vision of perfection; a blend of speed, power, and elegance I could not match. My forms were too powerful, because in my mind the hordes came and every strike had to be a killing blow: a knee destroying a monster's face, a hand strike breaking ribs, a kick crushing a larynx.

Every movement was my desire to kill them. Instructors tried to teach me how to be a pool of stillness so that a form would come closer to the ideal, but the hordes were always waiting.

"You cannot lie in here," the sword master said from behind me.

I finished and turned around to bow to him. He returned it, gesturing in front of him, before kneeling. I took the position he requested.

"So many students try to be something else in here," he said.

"But so many students are something else in here," I said.

"No, David," he said shaking his head. "Those students are something else out there."

I capitulated the point with a nod.

"The katas are the only place you can be free?" he asked.

"I do not understand," I replied.

"Your power," he said. "I only see it at moments like this. You hold it back against others."

"They can't absorb it," I said shrugging.

"Even with the sword, against me?" he asked.

"The sword is different," I told him. "I was taught that first I must learn how to do something before I apply my strength to it."

"It would be a weakness to rely solely on strength," he said smiling.

I nodded again, hearing the echo of Jason's advice.

"Have you ever been able to fight with all your gifts?" he asked.

"Gifts?"

"You hide it well, but it is impossible to lie in here, David," he said gesturing around the room. "Your body is a sword as finely crafted as the steel I treasure. I've never met anyone, even masters, who are as comfortable in their own body."

"I've been to war," I told him. "Surviving requires not holding back."

"But you had to have honed those skills."

"My brother was nearly impossible to catch in the open," I said turning my head. "I had to rely on strength to beat him."

We sat quietly for a few minutes before he set two practice swords in front of me. I looked at them curiously and then at him.

"It's time to change your sword style," he told me.

"I don't understand."

"You've put some focus on practicing with the left hand as your lead," he said. "If you had done it justice, you would be as good with either hand."

I waited for the rest.

"We are not taking advantage of your physical abilities," he said. "Two swords would be better for you."

"That is not the traditional style," I pointed out.

"Tradition has to become tradition, David," he told me.

"Tradition becomes tradition for a reason," I reminded him.

"Most of them for good reasons," he agreed. "But not one of those reasons apply to you, or my desire to learn from teaching you."

I picked up one of the swords.

"You will start by training with your left," he instructed picking up the other one. "You have not given it enough time. When you have achieved balance, we can proceed."

The sword master stood up and walked to the center of the floor to stand ready in a guard position.

I opened the door to my house and came to an immediate stop. There were pieces of expensive luggage lined up where someone entering would be sure to see them. I could hear voices in the living room, too many voices.

Jason's humming annoyed me.

I walked into the living room to see the girl sitting with Anna to her right. The girl tried to stand up as soon as she saw me, but Anna's hand on her forearm stalled the movement. The girl looked at Anna before settling back down.

I looked around the room; the girl, Anna, Robert, Roderigo, Samantha, Stephanie, Melisa, Doris Alex, Simon and a male Sibling that I did not recognize stared at me.

"Are those her bags?" I asked.

Melisa nodded without meeting my eyes.

"And they have everything she owns in them," I stated.

"I..." the girl started to say, but Anna interrupted her.

"Shh! It's okay, child."

"Yes, that's everything she owns," Melisa said looking at me.

"How did her stuff get here?" I asked.

"Iane dropped her off," Melisa told me.

"I would say kidnapped her," Roderigo said in a vastly amused voice.

"Legally, the term is not correct," the male Sibling said. "Katherine came willingly; her mother signed guardianship papers and has full knowledge of her daughter's present location in this house. Even if Katherine's father chooses to protest, this is a custody battle."

I looked at him.

"We have signed affidavits about the imminent threat of sexual abuse to Katherine," he finished.

"A lawyer?" I asked.

"Iane had him stowed in a hotel room with the papers for Katherine's mother to sign in hand," Samantha said. "You were right, Anna. The best I could have done was broken her, which would have been the worst thing I could have done also."

"Iane has spirit," Anna said. "It's not a bad thing."

"Stowed?" I asked the lawyer.

"We had him ready for something like this," Robert answered. "It was a surprise when he showed up in town a couple of days ago. After it became clear that your Crest Siblings were involved, we decided to allow you to handle the situation."

He said the last with smugness.

"So you knew?" I asked Melisa.

"No," she denied.

"Are you telling me that Iane would do this without informing my First?" I asked.

"She told me after," Melisa admitted.

"After?" I asked.

"After you left," she whispered.

"Specifically, Iane waited until I left?" I asked.

Melisa and Doris Alex nodded together.

"How did she tell you?"

"She called me," Melisa said. "The papers were already signed, and Katherine was packed. Iane needed to know that she could drop her off without you being here."

"And you did not know anything about this?" I asked her.

The question caused silence.

"What do you mean by know?" Doris Alex asked smiling.

"I've taken the same philosophy classes that you have," I replied.

"Melisa doesn't really know Iane, David," Doris Alex defended.

"I've taken the same philosophy classes that you have," I repeated.

"I knew Iane wouldn't leave Katherine there, like you seemed willing to," Melisa said staring hard at me.

I put my hands behind my back and stared back until she looked away.

"Am I glad I got out of bed this morning," Roderigo said close to laughing.

"So you knew?" I asked my Crest Siblings.

"We didn't ask any questions," Doris Alex said.

Melisa shrugged.

"Is the other one here?" I asked.

"Even Iane would not dare," Melisa answered.

"But would you?"

"No," she replied.

I looked at Doris Alex, who shook her head.

"You had to expect something like this, David," Anna said. "You haven't fucked Iane yet."

The girl gasped.

"Ouch!" Samantha said. "Tough to keep any of them in line without regular sex."

"Does anyone really believe fucking Iane or just making her give me head would have made a difference?" I asked looking at the ceiling.

No one answered the question.

"Where is Iane?" I asked.

"On a plane to Australia if she's smart," Stephanie said jokingly.

I looked at her, and she tilted her head to return the look.

"Iane is very intelligent," Doris Alex said.

"I'm right?" Stephanie asked laughing.

"Iane always headed for Australia when she had to hide from... ," Doris Alex said with shrug and a look at the girl.

"Which ones did she have to hide from?" I asked.

"And I thought Iane was the only one with a list of people that she thought were better off not breathing," Anna said looking at the redhead.

"Which ones?" I asked again.

"Only a couple were missed in the last round," Doris Alex said. "Iane probably forgot about them."

"An educational attempt to distract me, and I will take care of them in the future," I said. "But when will Iane be returning?"

"In a month or two," Melisa told me. "What's the point of being bad if you don't get punished for it? Plus like Doris Alex, she can't go very long without touching you."

"You really need to finalize the ceremony, David," Doris Alex advised.

"Would it have prevented her from doing this?" I asked.

"Not Iane," Doris Alex replied. "But then she wouldn't have run."

"Is that what she is doing?" I asked. "Running."

"I'd like to run right now," Melisa breathed.

I looked at the girl. Her eyes moved from person to person trying to absorb every word that was being said. Those brilliant blue eyes rested on mine for a second before looking away.

"So why bring her here?" I asked.

The girl popped out of her seat too fast for even Anna to stop her.

"Sit down!" I ordered.

She dropped back so fast it seemed like someone pulled the rug out from under her feet.

"Obedient," Roderigo said to no one in particular.

"To her knight in black armor," Robert added.

Roderigo gave him an annoyed look but did not say anything else.

"Why here?" I asked again.

"You legitimize a custody battle," the lawyer answered.

I looked at him.

"Being Katherine's older and wealthy biological brother, you allow a judge the freedom to listen to the claims of abuse," he said pedantically. "With the mother having signed guardianship to you, possession may just be nine-tenths the law with sworn testimony about what happened in that house."

"Possession is ten-tenths the law if there are no other claimants," Roderigo commented.

"We have a child present, grandson," Anna admonished.

"They know Katherine is gone," Melisa said looking at me nervously.

"Who?" I asked noticing Roderigo's wide smile.

"The father and brother," Doris Alex answered.

"How do they know?" I asked but feeling like I already knew the answer.

"They called while Iane was helping me pack," the girl said. "She said I was to tell you that they said some very nasty things to her."

"For instance?"

"Their favorite word for women is cunt," she said in a stronger voice.

"And I'm sure that Iane had nothing to say in return," I sighed.

"She told them that she was bringing me here," she continued. "And that they should hurry home so they could give you lessons on how to deal with disobedient womenfolk."

Samantha laughed and put her feet up on the coffee table. She folded her hands behind her head.

"What's so funny?" I asked her.

"I couldn't have broken her," she told me. "I'm glad Iane is your problem. Good luck, by the way! You're going to need it. Although, I think I've finally figured out something."

"What?" Stephanie asked.

"Iane is insane," Samantha said. "So are Doris Alex and David, I almost feel sorry for Melisa, except she probably enjoys it."

"So they're coming back?" I asked ignoring her.

"We are keeping track," Roderigo said. "They're on their way home."

I turned around and walked to the doorway.

"I won't go back!" the girl insisted.

"David?" Melisa said worried.

"I'm having a conversation," I said impatiently.

Jason did all of the talking, and what he had to say made too much sense. I turned and looked at the girl.

"What did Iane tell you about those fairy tales your mother taught you?" I asked her.

She whitened and looked around room guiltily.

"What are you talking about?" Robert asked confused.

"She told me which ones are true," the girl said. "She also told me other stuff about the Society, and about you."

"What did she say about me?" I pushed.

"She said you were something called an Enforcer," she replied in a whisper.

"A perfect trap for you, David," Stephanie said in amazement a couple of seconds later.

"Taking the girl is Iane," Anna said looking at Melisa. "But this, no indoctrinated Sibling could think it."

"Iane was going to do it," Melisa responded tilting her chin up proudly. "There was no point in her efforts being wasted. I only pointed out that it would probably comfort Katherine to have her family legends explained."

"How did you circumvent the indoctrination?" Anna asked leaning forward. "It is meant to keep our secrets."

"I knew it could be gotten around," Melisa said. "It was easy after that; what Bloodline Sibling would dare deny an Ekaterina's blood right. Not a large step from giving it to them, is it?"

"Katherine can't be allowed to go back," Doris Alex said. "Not ever."

"Personally, I say you're going to end up killing all of them, Brother," Roderigo told me.

The girl's eyes widened at the open use of the term. Every Brother except me broke out laughing.

"I've heard stories about Kiera, Roderigo," Samantha said making a weak attempt to defend me.

"She only does it to assist in her disciplining," Roderigo said waving a dismissive hand. "I'm not so sure about these three."

"Katherine knows too much, David," Anna said finally. "Maybe not everything, but Iane made sure she would know too much."

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked.

"You won't be leaving," I told her.

She stared at me with the teenage desire to protest authority, but with hope strangling the words.

"Both of you, come!" I said pointing at Melisa and the girl.

I heard them behind me as I walked up the steps.

"You need to pick a room," I told the girl at the top of the stairs.

"What?" she asked confused.

"A bedroom, honey," Melisa said putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "You need to choose a bedroom."

I followed them as they walked from room to room. The girl showed interest in everything in Melisa and Doris Alex's room, but seemed too leery of the situation to do more than touch.

I stood in the doorway when they entered Stephanie's old room.

"I like this one," she said playing with one of glass items Stephanie left behind. "It's the smallest."

"You don't have to pick it for that reason, honey," Melisa told her. "You're welcome to any room you want."

"Why are these here?" the girl asked pointing to the rest of the glass decorations in the room.

"Stephanie liked to break them," Melisa responded.

"The woman downstairs?"

Melisa nodded.

"She used to live here?" the girl asked.

"Stephanie needed a safe place to stay for a little while," Melisa answered.

"And it's safe here," the girl said sitting down on the bed.

"Yes, it is," Melisa said sitting next to her.

"You shouldn't be mad at Iane," the girl told me. "She was just trying to help me."

I chose not to reply.

"You can't let them take me back, can you?" the girl asked.

"Your father doesn't have a say in your life anymore," I told her.

"And you do?" she asked raising her voice.

"Shush, honey," Melisa said. "It's okay."

"He's nothing to me!" the girl insisted.

"Right now, I am a way out," I told her. "That's all that matters, isn't it?"

She lay down on the bed and stared at me.

"I knew, David," Melisa said when the girl fell asleep. "If it wasn't Iane, it would have been Doris Alex. They're not built to think in these situations; the Bloodlines serve. I only made sure Iane did it the right way."

"I made it necessary," I said. "I'll remember that."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You are as sorry about this as Iane is," I said. "At the end of the day, the three of you think this is the right thing."

"I wasn't talking about Katherine," she said stroking the girl's hair.

"Stay with her," I said. "She's going to need something familiar when she wakes up."

"Yes, Brother."

"Whatever I might have done to her," I said looking into Melisa's green eyes. "Iane should not have left the girl alone."

"She's not alone!" Melisa protested.

"You didn't take her out of that house," I said. "Iane gave the responsibility to me, but the girl doesn't understand that yet. All she knows is who saved her, and that's not one of us."

"Would you have left Katherine there?" Melisa asked when I turned to leave.

"Yes," I said.

"David!" she exclaimed.

I looked at her.

"I will live without parents all of my life," I told her. "The girl would have gotten over the death of her father and brother."

I walked into the living room and stared at its occupants.

"Whose decision was it to handle the girl in this way?" I asked.

"Your Crest Siblings', obviously," Samantha snorted.

She raised an eyebrow when I turned my eyes on her.

"The council decided that we had to take your reaction to finding out about Katherine and her mother into account," Robert said carefully.

"You are more valuable to us than the two of them," Anna said without meeting my eyes.

"There were other ways to handle the situation," I said.

"You make a lot of people toe the line, David," Samantha said. "That is your purpose in the Brotherhood, after all."

"So you would have left the girl there," I stated.

"No," Roderigo said in a hard voice.

I nodded at him.

"You have papers for me," I said to the lawyer.

He pulled them out of his briefcase and handed them over. I looked through them and smiled.

"Is this where the father signs?" I asked when I got to the last page.

"I don't think he'll do it, Brother," the Sibling replied.

"Yes, he will," I said.

"I'm an officer of the court," the Sibling protested. "If you plan to coerce him..."

"You are a Sibling?" Doris Alex asked him.

"Yes!" he replied with force.

"Then you serve the Brotherhood first," I said.

"Of course, Brother," he said nodding submissively.

"You're going to regret having my Crest Brother remind you of that," Doris Alex promised him.

The Sibling swallowed hard.

"In fact," Doris Alex continued smiling, "I have the perfect idea. You're going to deliver a message to Iane about David's displeasure with her, and then you're going to tell her how you talked back to her future Crest Brother."

"I didn't," he protested. "I only pointed out..."

"Will you correct Iane like that also?" Doris Alex asked.

Stephanie smiled widely making me look between the two women.

"Iane doesn't even like Siblings to speak out of Rank," Doris Alex explained. "I think it's a front; she just likes excuses to dig her claws into someone whenever she's bored."

"And she's bored a lot," Stephanie snickered.

"It's actually not a bad thing that Iane left," Roderigo said. "Considering Katherine can't help but see Iane as her rescuer, the Sibling's attitude might have imprinted strongly on Katherine."

"Iane's not that bad," Anna said relaxing backwards. "She does what's necessary, what else can you ask from a child?"

"Obedience," Roderigo replied.

"I'm sure that in her mind Iane thought she was obeying my needs," I said.

He snorted.

"Where are they now?" I asked sitting down and putting the papers on the coffee table.

"They'll be home in an hour, David," Doris Alex said handing me a pen.

I signed the papers and held them out for the lawyer. He checked them over before putting them in his briefcase.

"Have someone tell them I will be paying a visit to their home tonight to finalize custody of the girl," I said standing up.

"We will be paying them a visit," Roderigo corrected.

I shrugged before walking into my bedroom.

The woman opened the door and stepped out of the way to let us in.

"Are you the cunt that I talked to?" the older male standing in the doorway to the living room yelled at Stephanie.

"Excuse me?" she replied

"Shut the fuck up, and answer the question!" he screamed stepping towards her.

"Don't talk to her like that," Simon threatened stepping in front of Stephanie.

"Simon, heel," I said studying the two men in front of me.

They looked as much like each other as the woman and the girl, right down to the expanding waistline on the younger male.

"Hello, Katherine," Roderigo said smiling at the woman.

She returned the smile and then her facial features froze as she looked at the two men.

"Proof positive that some people shouldn't be allowed to breed," Michael said looking at the boy. "Bad genes do tell."

Doris Alex and the lawyer brought up the rear of our group.

"She was mine," I said to the girl's father.

"What?" he said stepping forward.

"The woman who spoke to you," I clarified. "She belonged to me."

"You need to learn how to control your bitches, boy," he said taking another step towards me.

The strike to his throat dropped him. His son fell even faster from the kick to his groin.

The father chocked and coughed while rolling around trying to recover. He turned to find my 9mm ready to press against his temple. I pushed his head into the ground with the gun.

"Your continued breathing is handicapped by my lack of tolerance, and the belief, dear to my heart, that you should already be dead," I told him.

"You might need to use smaller words for these two, David," Stephanie said.

She had her foot on the boy's throat and was pointing her own 9mm down at his face.

"I do not like you," she told him coldly. "If you move, I will shoot you. They will not let me kill you, but that leaves a lot I can do."

"Single syllables," Doris Alex said after a quick laugh. "You still might be giving them too much credit."

"Grunts might not get the message across," the lawyer pointed out. "Plus this way, they might misunderstand and bang!"

The woman leaned against the wall the entire time watching me.

"Move them to the dining room table," I instructed Stephanie.

She gestured at Simon and Michael with her head. They grabbed each male's arm and guided him up. Stephanie walked behind them to ensure the Siblings' had an easy time of it.

"You shouldn't watch this, Katherine," Roderigo said to the woman.

She pulled her eyes from me, and nodded at him. We watched her walk into the kitchen.

I walked into the dining room and took a seat. The lawyer put the guardianship papers in front of me.

"Where's my little girl?" the man asked.

He regained enough courage to say it with a measure of strength. I turned to look at him.

"These papers make me the sole guardian of your little girl," I said. "The woman has already signed them, as have I."

"You kidnapped my sister!" the boy accused.

"The fact that we have a signed document from the mother and that she knew where we were taking Katherine makes this a custody issue, not a kidnapping," the lawyer corrected.

"You kidnapped my fucking daughter, and you're telling me it was legal," the father yelled. "That bitch had no right to give you my girl."

"Before she was conceived, Katherine belonged to us," Roderigo told them. "David makes this easier, but she was never your little girl."

"Regardless," I interrupted. "The papers have the woman's signature and my own. They only require yours to complete our transaction."

"We're not signing anything, you fucking cocksucker!" the boy snarled.

"Don't talk to him like that," Simon warned.

"And you must be the cock he sucks!" the boy said in challenge.

Simon had the strength to match his size, even if he was not my equal. He picked the boy up over his head and slammed him through the table.

"Don't talk about him like that!" Simon yelled standing over his victim and the remains of the table.

"What the fuck!" the man screamed standing up.

He had good enough instincts to turn his head when Stephanie stepped forward to plant her foot in his face. She caught him on the side of his head driving him to the ground.

"Shut up!" she hissed kicking him in the gut.

She stepped back and looked at me.

"You're still letting Simon watch wrestling?" she asked a few seconds later.

I shrugged.

"Samantha's going to be pissed at you," she continued. "It makes him excitable."

"But it's fun," Simon complained stepping back from his groaning wrestling partner.

"Are you done playing?" I asked him.

He gave me a happy nod, and his grin made Doris Alex laugh.

I reached down and picked up the papers.

"I know it's hard to understand," I said with Jason speaking through me. "But you're going to sign these papers."

"I'm not going to do shit!" the man spat.

"Our experience is different," Jason and I said. "We were once given the responsibility of getting something from a man like you, one with a son. We gutted the boy, pulled out his large intestine, wrapped it around his neck, and nailed it to the ceiling."

I looked up to find the best place, in case it became necessary.

"I promise that the shock will stop your son's screams," we continued. "But not yours."

He stared at me trying to find a lie in my words.

"You're what? Nineteen?" I asked the boy. "The same as that poor kid we had to kill."

"You're joking!" the man said whitening.

"Take his shirt off," I ordered nodding at the boy.

Stephanie pulled a knife from somewhere and stepped up to him. Simon grabbed his shoulders to keep him still, while she sliced his shirt open from crotch to neck. Stephanie grabbed the blade of the knife and held the handle out to me.

I sighed looking at the father.

"Do you do everything your bitches tell you?" he asked not believing I was capable of it. "I know it was that cunt that put you up to this."

"DAD!" the boy cried.

"I understand your point," I told the father folding my arms in front of me. "I have to admit that for the most part women run my life."

He sneered thinking he had won an advantage.

"The pussy is awesome though," I said. "There's really nothing like having a woman think fucking you is the best way to say hello, goodbye, I'm sorry, I want this."

"Thank you, you're welcome," Roderigo continued.

"How was your day, you need to hear about my day," Doris Alex recited and paused. "Actually, I don't think that there's anything that I couldn't say with a blowjob!"

"Definitely more evocative than grunts," the lawyer chimed in.

"Now the one responsible for your present situation hasn't quite gotten to that level with me yet," I said. "But don't worry, she will be doing a lot of apologizing for this. Not that I think she needs to apologize; kidnapping the girl is Iane, and I find it hard to blame people for being themselves. Storing her in my house is part of her worldview so I can't blame her for that either."

"Her worldview?" Stephanie asked out of curiosity.

"My women think much better of me than I really am," I explained to the father. "I'm barely human, but they take that to mean that I'm above them, instead of the truth."

"What truth?" Doris Alex asked.

"I'm actually closer to someone like you," I told the father.

"You are NOT!" Doris Alex yelled standing up.

"Sit!"

She dropped back into the chair.

"Even this shit," I said tossing the papers into his lap. "That's not me. Fuck your signature!"

He tried to back away, exactly the way that Jason was doing. I stood up, drew the 9mm, released the safety, cocked the hammer, and put in against his forehead.

"If you're dead, I don't need your signature," I said. "That is a reason to kill you."

"Please don't!" he begged finally understanding.

"Shit!" Stephanie exclaimed. "He pissed himself."

I stared at him as he continued to blubber for his life.

"It is someone's opinion that your signature will make thing easier," I said. "I disagree, but I am willing to foster the illusion of being a better man for my women's sake and give you the benefit of the doubt."

Doris Alex edged around me to put a pen in the man's hand and guided it to the proper place among the papers.

"Sign them, or I'll kill your son," I said. "I'll ask you again after that, but I'll still kill you."

He could not follow my instructions fast enough. Doris Alex took her pen and the papers back. The lawyer inspected what she handed him and nodded with satisfaction.

"We're done," he announced.

Doris Alex gave him a look.

"Excuse me," he said swallowing. "The papers are fine."

"You did well," I told the father and his son. "You survived giving me a reason to kill you. I can't remember the last time that happened to someone."

"Are we done here then?" Roderigo asked looking bored.

"I'll send someone over about the table," I said. "Otherwise, we can go."

I gestured everyone towards the front door and headed towards it.

"David," the woman said when I opened it.

My grip tightened on the door, but I did not turn around.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

I walked outside and waited by the gate for the others. They came out a few minutes later. My headshake made the Siblings continue to the cars.

"This was handled stupidly," I told Roderigo.

Stephanie and he nodded agreement.

"Whose fucking idea was this, really?" I asked.

"The council," Roderigo said with a shrug.

"This doesn't feel like something Robert would do," Stephanie said amazed.

"No," Roderigo said. "I think he would have preferred killing first, and dealing with having to explain the Katherines to David later."

"Then?" I asked.

"The council has a head," Roderigo said. "He..."

He ran his fingers through his hair angrily before continuing.

"Joseph can be frustrating to work with at times," Roderigo finished. "He can't decide unilaterally how things are to be done, but he commands a lot of respect from the others."

"How should this have been done?" I asked. "In your opinion."

"The father and boy would have died the day I found out they were a danger to Katherine," he answered right away. "A fake life insurance policy and a chance meeting with the right man would have put the women under our control."

I looked around the neighborhood for a minute.

"Deliver a message for me to the council," I said. "They should think twice before allowing a Sibling to act where they will not."

"That sounds like a threat," Roderigo replied.

"You didn't act, David," Stephanie said. "Iane had to take the girl out of this house."

I turned to stare at her.

"Do you think Iane would have done that without knowing those two were already dead?" I asked.

Both of them took a step away from me.

"They've been on life support since you told me about the girl," I said.

"So you're coming back?" Stephanie asked me.

"Think it through, Stephanie," I said. "The mishandling of this shit makes their deaths traceable to me. Would you like the police knocking on my door thinking I killed them?"

"No," Roderigo answered.

"We have the signed papers, and other Enforcers," I said. "I would be expected to show the girl the benefits of money. Give me a date, and I'll take her on a very public shopping trip that will leave lots of store clerks with immense commissions as my alibi. Make it soon!"

"And the woman?" Roderigo asked.

I stared at him.