PART 5
Callisto drove out of town planning her next assault. Since the two cabins were down the same road she figured on blocking the road to limit escape routes. She was planning on scouting out both cabins carefully; it wouldn't do to make another mistake. Although she took pleasure in a good kill, she wanted to kill the right ones. In another time and place, she would have enjoyed toying with the two, stalking them and maybe a little torture.
Turning onto the dirt lane, she started scanning for a pull out to hide the car. She was disgusted by the condition of the road by the time she reached the turn off for the first cabin. The road was a well maintained fire road with the tree line cut back 25 feet from each side of the road. If she wanted to block the road and or hide the car, she was going to have a lot of work to do. Tire tracks suddenly cutting off the road would give Xena a huge hint something was up and knowing Gabrielle she would want to look and make sure no one was hurt.
"Damn it to Tartarus," she snarled. As she continued down the road, the second cabin came into view but a locked gate prevented any further travel. She sighed as she looked down the trail. Trying to decide what to do next, she heard a car on the trail.
"Oh Hades, I need to get out of sight."
She couldn't move the car in time and soon a truck pulled up behind her
. She watched the occupant sit there. The sun was reflecting off the window in such a way that she couldn't see who or how many were in the car. Callisto moved a mirror to the side more and noticed the Forestry emblem on the cab.
'Some luck I suppose,' she thought to herself as she got out and strolled back to the truck.
"Hey there little lady, car trouble?" the ranger asked as Callisto walked up to the window. She smiled sweetly and looked in the cab for a partner. She decided she had several options now: kill the ranger and ditch the truck, let the ranger "help" her with the car, or give him a story about looking for some friends who were staying out at the cabins. The third option seemed the best for the moment so she went with it.
"I'm supposed to be meeting some friends out at their cabin, but I don't really know which one. They don't seem to be around and I don't have a number to call them at. My directions said to take this track but didn't mention there were two cabins. Do you happen to know anything about two women, one tall and dark haired the other shorter and blonde?" she asked as she trailed a fingertip along the ranger's arm.
The ranger gulped and stuttered an answer, "Well now I don't know everyone around here but I do know the cabins in the area are not occupied right now." He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. 'Funny, I get that feeling only when around a crazy animal.' he thought to himself. Surely this was the suspect in the murder/kidnapping the Sheriff had sent out the bulletin about earlier. Same height, coloring, weight he noted trying not to let his nervousness show.
"Oh really, how disappointing. I drove all the way out here and now I don't know where to look." She pouted and ran through her head the information the real estate agent had given her.
"You could always check in at the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff will know if your friends are in the area yet. They know everything that goes on around here. Well if there is nothing else ma'am, I'll escort you back out to the main road since this is private property." The ranger tipped his fingers to his eyebrow in a salute and waited for Callisto to get in her car. She smiled at the ranger and turned around. She was about to spin around to shoot him but stopped when she heard him reporting into the base station on his radio about assisting a motorist on the trail. She growled and stalked back to her car. The ranger backed around and followed Callisto back to the main road. When she entered the highway, she gunned the engine and spun off down the road.
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Xena and Gabrielle pulled up behind the cabin and sat quietly. The mountain air was still and heavy, the sound of the car dying on the meager breeze. The cloud of dust that had followed them down the track finally caught up to them and settled on the windshield causing a glare. Xena frowned and pulled the door handle to open the door. She was at the top of the steps when she realized she was alone. Gabrielle had yet to get out of the car. Puzzled, Xena turned around and stopped at the passenger window. At the small tap on the window, Gabrielle started and rolled down the window.
"Something on your mind little lady," Xena asked with a drawl as she leaned a hip against the car. Gabrielle looked up and couldn't help but smile at her partner.
"Why no Agent Hausmann, I don't have anything on my mind at all. I'm just sitting here thinking of ways to apprehend a dangerous criminal." Gabrielle said as she poked an elbow out the window and leaned on it. "I could go with the 'just spread 'em' line along with a good old-fashioned hands-on frisk or I could just slap the restraints on and then go with the frisk or…." Gabrielle drew a fingertip along Xena's forearm causing goose bumps to trail up her arm.
Xena growled and jerked the door opened. Gabrielle laughed and dodged under Xena's arm before darting into the house. She didn't get very far up the stairs when long arms wrapped around her waist and she found herself being carried up the stairs.
"I'll show you the proper way to apprehend a dangerous criminal," she heard rumbling from the tall woman behind her. She felt a shot of excitement travel from her ears to her libido as Xena carried her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed face down.
"First you have to restrain the subject," Xena purred as she gathered Gabrielle's hands together behind her back and held them with one hand. Gabrielle moaned when Xena's knee slid between her legs and pressed against her crotch. The heat and moisture was already soaking through her jeans as she pushed back against the muscled thigh that slid against her.
"Then you have to carefully check all pockets for sharp objects." Xena leaned back to rub and squeeze the firm ass below her. She growled and slid her hand to the front of Gabrielle's pockets for more 'searching'. Xena felt the powerful sensual urges emanating from her partner and almost flipped her over right then, but knew Gabrielle liked this. She pulled the bard up to her knees and slid her long fingers into a front pocket and reached for the heat and wetness of Gabrielle's sex.
"Sometimes a strip search is needed if contraband is suspected in areas that are difficult to search." With that Xena unbuttoned the jeans and slid her hand down Gabrielle's stomach. The tension in the body under her gave Xena the motivation to reach lower.
As she did, she leaned in and whispered in the ear before her, "Sometimes a body cavity search is necessary." And with that Xena slid a digit into Gabrielle's center.
"Oh damn Xena, don't you stop," Gabrielle grated out as she leaned back against Xena and rode the thrusting fingers that filled her. Xena let go of Gabrielle's hands allowing her to pull the shirt up over Gabrielle's head and left it wrapped around her biceps. With both hands now free, she had access to her favorite body part. She slid a hand under the sports bra, grasped a breast and pulled her lover back against her. Xena started rolling a nipple under her fingers as she stroked Gabrielle's sex. Gabrielle reached back to grasp Xena's hips and rode the waves of ecstasy that her partner coaxed from her center. When she could hold on no longer she let her arms drop and be cradled by the woman behind her. Xena turned around, sat down on the bed and pulled her lover into her lap so Gabrielle could catch her breath.
"Ummm, that was some technique, Agent Hausmann. Will I be able to try out these techniques on you?" Gabrielle asked as she kissed the neck she leaned against.
"I think we can schedule another hands on session soon," Xena replied as she raised her chin to allow better access for Gabrielle.
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Callisto paced around the motel room, chewing on a fingernail. The ranger had interrupted her carefully planned out afternoon. She had gone back to the track confident the ranger had gone off to do ranger things but had seen the truck there each time she drove by. Frustrated, she ended up back at the motel in full psycho mode. Even thinking of a couple different ways to "play" with the ranger didn't cheer her up.
"Well, maybe the local-yokel
sheriff can help," she muttered to herself after the hundredth trip around the bed. She loaded up her weaponry and left to pay the sheriff's office a visit.
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Gabrielle was prowling through the kitchen looking for something decent to eat. All the food in the cabin was either frozen TV dinners or freeze dried meal packets.
"Eww gross. How can someone eat freeze dried instant lasagna?" she muttered as she poked through the packages in the pantry. "Xena?" she called out with her head still buried. Not getting a reply she turned around and ran into her warrior.
"AHHH!" she jumped back and cracked her head on a shelf.
"Damn it, don't sneak up on me like that!" Gabrielle scolded as she slapped away Xena's hands that reached out to keep her from falling back into the shelves again. The knock on the back of her head smarted and made her head spin.
"Sorry about that, I just got here when you turned around." Xena tried to catch the hands that were batting at her. Finally she was able to draw Gabrielle into her. Running her hands across the back of Gabrielle's head she gently tried to ease the aching spot.
"Now I'm going to have a headache," the bard grumped. She laid her head against Xena's chest and let her rub the knot already forming.
"How about we head back into town and get some real food at that diner? We need to let the Sheriff know what to do about Callisto anyway. We've had enough time to 'call the office and apprise them of the situation'."
"Ok, but you owe me a double chocolate malt," Gabrielle said with a pout.
Xena laughed and kissed her bard. "What ever Gabrielle wants, Gabrielle gets."
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The sheriff's office was down a side street half a block from the main highway. The front door opened onto a lobby that held half a dozen chairs; a counter with your standard file cabinets against the back wall; a couple of bulletin boards with the basic FBI most wanted lists, a couple of mountain cat sightings, the current fire danger status; a water cooler; and the usual gumball machine installed by a local charity. The counter had a swinging door off to the side that presumably led to the main offices down a hallway.
'Typical small town sheriff's office lobby,' Callisto sneered as she looked around. 'How Hicksville,' she thought to herself with disdain taking in the décor. She walked up to the counter and pounded on the bell that had the standard "For service, please ring" sign taped to the counter.
"I hear ya, be right there!" was called out from down the hallway. A deputy appeared, got a good look at his visitor and stumbled a step. He quickly recovered and walked closer to the counter but stayed back out of reach.
"Kin I help you?"
'Hmm, nervous are you? Why would you be nervous? Maybe word is out about me?' she thought as she leaned over the counter causing the deputy to step back. Her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath and smelt his fear. Nervous beads of sweat popped out on his upper lip as he tried to hide his trembling by caressing the butt of his weapon.
"Well I certainly hope so. You see, I'm looking for a couple of friends that I was supposed to meet up with. I had directions to this area and to the cabin we were renting but the cabin isn't where the directions say it is. Would you look at them and tell me where I went wrong?" she explained in what she thought was a soothing voice. She pulled out a sheet of paper the local real estate agent had given her and held it up.
The deputy gulped, looked at the paper and slowly reached for it. Callisto slowly pulled it back as the deputy kept reaching for it. Before he knew it he lost his balance and had to put both hands on the counter to keep from slamming his face into it. She grabbed his hands, pulled back and his face slammed
onto the counter top. Blood started flowing from a split lip pooling on the counter under his cheek. She kept his face pinned there with a forearm on the back of his neck.
"Now, let's get acquainted. My name is Callisto and I'm looking for two women. One is tall with dark hair the other one is short and blonde. I want to find these two and you're going to help me." She reached over his back and pulled his weapon, handcuffs and mace from his belt. With the muzzle pressed to his temple she ordered his hands behind his back and cuffed him. He sprawled onto his back with a crash after she shoved him from the counter. Sauntering around the counter she dragged her finger through the pool of blood left from his split lip. Looking at it she crouched in front of the deputy. He tried to squirm away from her but she grabbed his shirt and ran the bloody finger across his forehead.
"Let's say we go into your office and talk about just how happy you are to help me," she purred as she jerked him standing and shoved him down the hallway.
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Xena and Gabrielle were sitting in a booth at the back of the diner. Claudette had taken their orders, and Xena was scanning the people walking by outside the front window and Gabrielle was reading the local paper.
"Xena, look at this," she asked as she held the paper out with a trembling hand. Xena grunted and held her hand out to take the paper. She looked up and noticed the pallor on Gabrielle's face.
"What…." concerned now Xena scanned the page. It was the obituary page and John Dunham's listing was prominent as was a current photo. She scanned the notice noting he had an extensive family background with a few curiously familiar names. She felt she was missing something and looked up at Gabrielle with a questioning look.
"What's got you upset love?"
"The wife's maiden name. I remember my aunt talking about a female cousin being involved with the WAC program. She met a man overseas on one of her tours of duty. Everyone thought she was crazy because she always talked about finding her soulmate. The whole family joked about how quickly the two fell in love, that there was some mystical connection between the two. That was in the mid 40's just after WW II. His name is her maiden name. Evian Petros was my grandfather. If that's true, Isabel could be related to me. What if we eventually have descendants and what is the chance we cross paths? Agggh, my head hurts…" Gabrielle moaned and laid her head down on the table.
Continued...