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From: "Wine Maker" <wine_maker@eknifeshop.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Finding Elvis Chapter 11 (FF, Slow, Romantic Mystery)
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Date: Tue, 02 May 2006 07:10:01 -0400
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An Erotic Vineyard Mystery. A romantic mystery that starts slowly, but
the passion builds as the plot unfolds. Homicide detective Lieutenant
Shauna Hawkins is in Vegas with her friends Ted and Lisa and has to
find out just who got married last night. As a lesbian, that might be
awkward. A series of dead bodies makes it a lot more serious. This has
a real plot and three dimensional characters. It's more than just a
wanker.

Read this story on several sites and vote on each for me. Voting for my
stories encourages me to write more. Remember to vote for each chapter
on Literotica and on the last chapter on Storiesonline.

http://storiesonline.net/auth/Wine_Maker

http://english.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=560253&page=submissions


Chapter 11: Cleaning the Kat box
(c) 2006 by Wine Maker

"What?" Gretchen exclaimed. "That's preposterous. Why the hell did you
do that?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," he said with a shrug.

I leaned my elbows onto the counter. "But, did you kill them?" I asked
quietly. Admittedly, there were a few people that killed and that I
missed as suspects, but David just never pinged on my radar. Frankly, I
wondered if he was one of those who loved so deeply that he would
confess to a crime he did not commit. I had seen it more than once.

"Oh, yes," David said with a nod. "Not that that cretin in the DA's
office believed me." He looked at Gretchen and took her hand. "That
woman your father married after your mother died. She killed your
mother. I know it wasn't suicide. I've known it all these years, but I
just could never do what needed to be done. Not, till that night."

Tears streamed down Gretchen's stricken face. "I don't believe you.
You're lying to try and protect me. You couldn't hurt a fly and we both
know it." I nodded to myself; Gretchen's words confirmed that David was
indeed someone who loved Gretchen deeply enough to try and take the
fall. The question was whether he _was_ trying to take the fall, or if
he really was the killer.

I had to find out. "If that's why," I said, "then tell us how you did
it. And why do it with Cartwright there?"

"I saw Cartwright man-handling Gretchen earlier at the party," he said
quietly. "I saw Kat send him over to Gretchen, and I knew she was
trying to ruin her life. Again. After all the announcements, I saw them
go upstairs, and I stopped by the kitchen. With everyone going in and
out, it was simple to slip a knife into my jacket. Then I followed them
upstairs."

"So you decided to kill them both?" I asked. "Right there on the spot?"

"That's right," he agreed calmly. "I found them arguing in the room
upstairs, in the bathroom. I was into the room before they saw me and I
stabbed Cartwright before he knew I was there. Then I killed Kat while
she stared at me in shock. It was in revenge for my sister."

I reached under the table, took Gretchen's hand and suppressed a smile.
The details I had seen at the crime scene told me Kat went down first,
and like most cops, I trusted my instincts. "What direction was
Cartwright facing when you stabbed him? Where did you hit him with the
knife? And Kat?"

"I stabbed him in the chest, just like Kat. He was facing me in the
doorway. Kat was behind him after he went down."

I did smile then. "I know why the DA sent you packing, David. The crime
scene details tell a different story. What if I told you that
Cartwright was stabbed in the back and Kat had her throat cut?"

He looked at Gretchen and shrugged, seemingly unruffled by my
revelation. "It all happened so fast. Maybe he was facing away from me
and I only thought I stabbed Kat. You're right, that's what happened.
I'll have to amend my story with the DA."

Gretchen laughed and cried all at once, relief and anger warring on her
face. "Liar! You are such a liar! That isn't what happened, and you
didn't kill anybody!"

David deflated. "Why can't a man just confess to a crime and be done
with it?" he grumbled. "Why the hell do they need all these stupid
details? Can't you just accept I did it and move on?" Then he yelped as
Gretchen kicked him hard under the table. "Yeow!"

"You're just saying this to try and take the blame away from me,"
Gretchen said, suddenly fully angry. "Goddammit, you're all that I have
left of Mom, and you want to do this? I won't let you!" She leapt to
her feet, yanking her hand out of his, and the chair she'd been sitting
in crashed to the floor. "I won't let you!" Her hands were clenched
into fists and her eyes streamed tears. "You take it back!"

I stood up and enfolded her in my arms. "Shhhh. It's okay, Baby. He
won't get blamed for this." I stroked her hair softly and kept her
there with me. Today had opened my eyes to the fact that there was a
woman Gretchen carefully hid away from the world. A younger, more
vulnerable one that hid behind the hard shell the world saw.

Without warning, I found myself holding that hidden Gretchen, as she
collapsed into my arms, her face burying itself in my hair. The emotion
inside her came boiling out, and she cried. Her sobs tore at me in a
way I never expected, had never experienced and had no defense against.
Her pain ate at me, and I cried with her. This wasn't right. I was a
cop and cops didn't cry like this. At least I didn't. Still, the ache
inside me called back to her pain and we held each other.

Then David pulled Gretchen out of my arms and held her. A flash of
anger and jealousy ripped through me, but I forced it down. I might
love Gretchen and be married to her, but David was her family in a way
I would never be. Blood and water. Inside and outside. I was used to
being the outsider, but for the first time in a long time, it hurt.

"I'm sorry," he told Gretchen, taking her face in his hands. "I was
trying to save you. I didn't want to hurt you." He was crying himself.

I turned away from them, hiding my face from her. I didn't want
Gretchen to see me this way. I knew inside it was wrong, and she didn't
need me adding to her problems. Right now, I had to be strong for her.
I knew that, but it didn't make it hurt any less. I poured a cup of
coffee and swallowed hard, finding a cloth to wipe my eyes.

When I had my face under control, I turned and watched them hang onto
each other, using my coffee cup as a prop to keep my hands busy. They
were speaking to each other, but too softly for me to hear. I had never
been as close as they obviously were with any of my family. My parents
had always been distant, even before they had known about my sexual
preference. After, they had grown cold and even more distant. The
little girl in me would have cut off her own hand to be loved by
someone the way that David loved Gretchen.

I needed to get out of here, away from the raw emotion still spilling
from them. The way I was feeling wasn't right, and I had to stop it and
wash my face. I set my coffee down on the counter and handed Gretchen
the rag on my way past her. "Here you go. I need to use the can, so
I'll be right back." I said it with my head turned so that she couldn't
get a good look at me, but also so I wouldn't have to see the love on
their faces.

Locking the bathroom door behind me, I ran some water and splashed my
face. The woman peering back out of the mirror at me had eyes red from
crying and pain lines all around her mouth. The eyes could stay, but
the lines had to go. I grabbed a towel and held it to my face, my hand
guiding me to the toilet to sit on the closed lid. One deep breath
followed another as I forced myself to distance these feelings. Hot
tears burned my eyes and fought my control. I was such a heartless
bitch to feel this way.

The rattle of the doorknob startled me so much I almost dropped the
towel. "I'll be out in a second," I said, wiping my eyes again.

"Hawk, what's the matter?" Gretchen asked, her voice muffled by the
door. "Let me in."

I got up and straightened my clothes. A glance in the mirror told me
that my face was composed enough. I unlocked the door and opened it.
Yeah, I looked better than Gretchen did, but not by much.

"I was just cleaning up."

Gretchen blocked my exit and held my shoulders, looking into my face.
"There's more to it than that. Was it me? Did I upset you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I..."

"Stop," she said, her eyes sparkling dangerously. "I don't want you to
do what David did. Don't lie to me. Never lie to me."

My hard-fought control went up in a puff of smoke. "Don't you dare
accuse me of lying," I snarled, pushing her back, fighting for the
hallway. Trying to, anyway. She forced me back into the bathroom and
slammed the door behind her, falling back against it.

"Then don't make me call a spade a spade," she sparked back. "I can
tell there's more to this and I want to know what upset you."

"Well, I don't feel like talking about it. It's not anything you did.
It's my own problem, and I'll handle it myself."

"Bullshit," she spat. "If it affects you, then it affects us. Then it's
_our_ problem and _we_ need to talk about it."

I gritted my teeth and stepped into her personal space, poking her
generous breast sharply. "That's a big, steaming pile of bullshit, too!
_You_ feel free to hide behind your whoring around to hide something
you don't want to talk about. You don't think I saw it in the store?"

She looked completely taken aback for a moment and then poked me back,
a matching snarl on her face. "That was before you and me and has
nothing to do with anything you did. And I'm not a fucking whore and if
you call me one again, I'll kick your skinny cop ass. Do you fucking
hear me, Hawk? Do you fucking hear me?"

With my face an inch from hers, I laughed mirthlessly with an intense
pressure building inside me. I knew I was making a mistake, but at that
moment, I didn't care, and couldn't have stopped myself if I had. "Oh,
I hear you. What makes you think it has to be about you? Does
everything have to be about you? Can't I have my own pain? Does the
world have to be all you, you, you? I can take care of my own damn self
without a fucking therapy session every time you think I have to share
my goddamn feelings!" Fresh tears spilled from my eyes, and I shut up
to try and hide. Hide the pain they represented.

Gretchen wasn't having any of that, though. "Then if it's not about me,
tell me what it is?" she demanded.

"I..." Wiping away hot tears, I spun away from her. "Crap, this is so
stupid. I was fucking jealous."

"Jealous?" she asked incredulously. "He's my uncle. I never slept with
him!"

I laughed and the tears escaped my control. "Not that." I was on the
razor's edge of hysteria. I took two gulping breaths to pull myself
back from that edge, and then barely more in control said, "I never had
any family that loved me like that. Never. It just hit me all at once
and it's really fucking stupid." It came out angry and bitter.

Gretchen spun me around and I flinched, more than half expecting a
slap. Instead she threw her arms around me and squeezed me with gorilla
intensity. Part of me struggled briefly and then the floodgates opened
and it was her turn to hold me while I cried. Her movements mimicked
mine earlier, her hands caressing my hair, her voice whispering in my
ear.

"That's over," she said so softly I almost couldn't understand her.
"You have a family that loves you now. I'm your family, and I love
you."

"You keep me out, too," I sobbed. "This isn't fair, Gretchen."

"Somebody once told me that life wasn't fair, but you're right," she
admitted, kissing my wet cheek. "We're the same, you and I, hiding our
hurts behind a tough and worldly shell. I'm worse off than you and for
almost the same reasons." She wiped her own face. "I don't want to talk
about it either, Hawk, but you're my wife, and you deserve better than
that from me. We'll talk about this later, when we have more time. I
won't promise to tell you everything, but I do promise not to lie to
you. Will you promise me the same, Hawk? Promise with me that we'll
never lie to each other."

I swallowed and nodded. "I promise. No lies with you."

"Now, we need to go out and finish talking with Uncle David," she said
pulling back and opening the door. She paused. "First, though, there is
one last thing I need to do to clear the air. Will you try to
understand why and not get pissed off right away?"

Warily, I nodded, wiping my eyes and tossing the towel on the counter.
My makeup was a loss.

Gretchen gave me a tender smile. "I love you." Then she slapped me. It
wasn't really hard, but it caught me completely off-guard.

"Owwww! What the fuck?" I asked, holding a hand to my stinging face.

"Wife or not, _nobody_ calls me a whore. Don't ever do that again," she
said firmly, pointing a well-manicured nail at my nose.

The anger that had been building swerved in a direction I wasn't
expecting and didn't exactly welcome. I was still angry, but now I was
aroused, too. This was too much like foreplay now. I _really_ needed to
figure out why I was reacting this way to rough stuff.

"Okay, I won't, but you better not ever slap me unless you're ready to
deal with the consequences," I replied with a shark-like smile.

Gretchen's eyes grew huge, and she fled toward the kitchen with me hot
pursuit. She never had a chance, really. I took her around the waist
within five feet and took her down. With an "oof" I landed on top of
her and pinned her voluptuous ass to the carpet, crouching over her
stomach. I leaned over and licked her neck.

"No working me up where I can't have you," I purred.

She laughed and I found myself joining her.

"Am I interrupting," David asked dryly from the door to the kitchen.
"Do you two newlyweds need a room?"

I looked up at him and smirked. "No, not if she can stop hitting me,
and hitting on me, in public." Since I had her pinned, I kissed her
deeply and thoroughly before climbing off her breathlessly. Then I
helped her to her feet and straightened my clothes. We looked - mussed.

I sighed. "We'll take care of that room thing later. For now, if we're
all finished with the theatrics, let's sit back down and get on the
same page." I gestured for David to proceed us and followed him with
Gretchen, our arms wrapped around each other's waist.

David slumped back into his chair, his momentary chipper mood
evaporating. "What now? I tried to help and that didn't work."

"I'm sorry, David, but that wasn't helpful," I said firmly. " I
appreciate that you thought you were helping Gretchen, but we don't
need that kind of help. First, it gives the DA another card to play in
front of the jury: 'Gretchen was so obviously guilty that her own uncle
tried to cover for her.' Second, there is still a murderer out there
and having a fall guy just lets him or her off scott-free."

David looked stricken. "I never meant to hurt you, Gretchen," he began.

I held up my hand. "That's water under the bridge now. We can't change
it. We can only fix this by finding the real killer." I shook my head.
"Look, with so many people in that building, it could have been almost
anybody. So as I told Gretchen earlier, it all boils down to motive.
Cartwright killed Kat. Of that I'm pretty damned sure. The real
question, then, is who killed him and was he the target or just in the
wrong place at the right time? The killer didn't bring the weapon to
the scene, either Kat or Cartwright did, and I'm leaning toward
Cartwright. Someone came in, found him over her body and took the knife
and stabbed him. Pretty ballsy."

I rinsed out my cup, poured us each another cup of coffee and sipped
mine, leaning against the counter. Now that we were back to talking
about murder, my stomach settled and the uncomfortable emotions slipped
back into the background. I shuddered a bit at the thought that they
weren't going to stay there, but I knew Gretchen and I needed to air
them out. Just not right now.

"Either Cartwright never saw his killer," I said after taking a sip to
refocus, "or he trusted him or her. The blood patterns suggest to me
that Cartwright was either turning away from where Kat fell or had
already done so. That CSI report would be really helpful right about
now."

"How can we get it?" Gretchen asked. "Can't my lawyer demand to see
it?"

"Oh, he can demand it," I snorted, "it is exculpatory evidence, but
that doesn't mean we'll see it any time soon, or even see all of it,
for that matter. If it was Houston, I'd have a source on the inside to
leak it to me." I smiled at Gretchen. "That's a big part of what I do,
having a network of sources and stoolies to dig where I can't to get
information. Here, I've got nothing." I tossed my hands in a throwaway
gesture to emphasize my point. "I can't think of a way to get a copy
out of there, but if I do, we'll give it a whirl then."

"Now what?" Gretchen asked.

"Now we say our goodbyes and go look through Kat's office. She might
have pissed off someone other than Cartwright to the point they were
willing to kill her, and Cartwright just beat them to it. Or,
Cartwright and Kat could have been in something together that torqued
someone enough to kill them both." I shrugged. "We may not find shit,
but we won't know if we don't search the Kat litter."

David chuckled. "Kat litter. I like that."

Gretchen rose to her feet and hugged her uncle tightly, not allowing
him to stand. "I'm still pissed at you," she told him, the mildest hint
of anger in her voice, "but I love you anyway. Don't worry. Hawk will
sort this out."

When she let him go, David stood up and held out his arms to me. I
started at him, uncertain of what to do and Gretchen pushed me into his
hug. Awkwardly, I hugged him back. At least he didn't kiss me.

Back in the Hummer and on the way to Hans' place, Gretchen and I eyed
each other from our respective seats. I wasn't ready to talk, so I kept
my mouth shut. It looked to me like she felt the same way. Devon must
have sensed our need to be quiet, because he didn't even make a single
rude comment about the goodie bag. That fragile peace felt like thin
ice over a frozen river, but I thought it was strong enough to last out
the ride.

It lasted until we pulled up to the gate to the property. "Is that..."
Gretchen started.

"Stop the fucking car!" I shouted at Devon. He stood on the brakes and
I popped out my door before we were even fully stopped.

Parked right there, beside the gate, was fucking Elvis, Leo Giovanni,
leaning against the door to his piece of shit car. His grin at seeing
me lasted right up to the point I punched him in the mouth. With a
squawk, he bounced off the door to his car and fell over sideways. Then
I started kicking him, though he used his arms to good effect in
blocking me.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Stop!" he shouted.

Strong arms grabbed me and dragged me back from the bastard before I
could give him the ass-kicking he so _richly_ deserved. A glance told
me it was Devon.

"Let me go," I growled. "I still have the rest of my can of whoop ass
to hose him down with." Belying my words, I didn't struggle to get
loose.

Devon held on and just laughed. "Hawk, you need Devon to protect you
from yourself! I just hold on here a bit."

"Just watch where you put your hands, if you want to walk away with all
your fingers," I said. He just laughed again, and I turned to give him
a cold stare. He just grinned, shaking his head. I was growing soft, I
thought to myself.

Gretchen stepped up beside us and crossed her arms, glaring at Leo
dangerously. "You've got about ten seconds to convince me not to turn
Hawk loose on you and then join in myself. You turned our lives upside
down, and now you're here to what? Gloat? Do you realize how much
trouble you've caused us, you sonofabitch?"

Leo sat up slowly, wiping off his split lip. "You sure don't hit like a
girl," he complained at me.

"Let me go, Devon, so I can show him what a bitch-slap really is. I
promise I won't hurt his candy ass _too_ bad," I assured Devon. Devon
laughed again, but didn't let me go.

"Five seconds to pain," Gretchen told Leo.

"Okay! I'm sorry!" Leo exclaimed, raising his hands to ward off
violence. "I didn't know who you were. I thought you were working for a
guy I owed some money to and that it would be a kick to hitch you up."

"I'll show you a kick," I muttered and shook myself loose from Devon,
though I didn't go after Leo just yet. "Is that it? You're sorry? That
means _so_ fucking much to us. Thanks."

"I'll make it up," Leo said somewhat desperately. "I'll do whatever I
need to do to make this right. My wife was already pissed for talking
her into doing this, and then she read that those two people died. She
told me that if my prank had anything to do with it, she'd leave me!
I'll do anything! Just tell me what I can do."

I started to tell him that he could go to hell, and that his wife would
be better off if she left him, but Gretchen waved a hand and cut me
off.

"You want to know what you have to do to make this right? I'll tell you
what you can do to get a full pardon from Hawk and me ," Gretchen said.

"Fuck him!" I snarled. "I don't..."

"Hawk," Gretchen interrupted, "listen first! You might like this." She
turned back to Leo and squatted, bringing her face closer to his level.
"Here's what you have to do to get that free pass you're looking for,
Elvis. I want the police file on this murder case, including the full
crime scene report. All of it."

Leo blinked. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Gretchen shrugged. "That's your problem, not mine. You told us not to
play with the master, so here's your chance to amaze and astound us.
Prove to me that you're the best con artist in the world by getting
what I need to clear myself. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

Standing up, Gretchen didn't wait for a response from Leo or me before
walking back to the Hummer and climbing in. I think both Leo and I were
about equally stunned. I recovered before Leo, spat on the ground and
jerked my head at Devon. "We're outta here."

Leo was still sitting on the ground, staring at us stupidly, as we
drove through the gate and to the house. I looked at my wife with new
respect. "That was good. No, that was better than good. We come out
ahead whether he gets the stuff or not. I like it."

She grinned back at me, breaking the ice that had formed on the drive
here. My heart did that little flippity-flop only Gretchen could get it
to do. "I learned hardass from the best," she said humbly. Then her
smile was back and she added, "besides he really pissed me off."

I laughed all the way to the front door while Gretchen gave some
instructions to Devon, and he drove off. She bounded up the steps
beside me and it was like it had been before the fight.

"I let Devon go for the day," she told me. "Either we'll be here for
the rest of the day, or we'll find another ride." She glanced at her
watch. "Dinner will be served in about an hour, unless the schedule
went totally to hell. If so, we'll just have to make something for
ourselves."

"That gives us some time to make a start on the Kat Box," I said with a
smile. I opened the door and almost bounced off Lurch. "Jeeze, don't
you ever make noise? Gretchen, can we please make a bell a required
part of Lurch's uniform?"

Ivan sniffed. "Your hearing disorder isn't my problem, Miss Shauna," he
said, echoing Gretchen's turn of phrase from outside the gate. That
gave me a sudden insight that chilled me to the bone. I had no idea if
I was completely off my rocker or not, but I suddenly realized that if
she had been estranged from her father as a girl, Lurch must have
filled at least some of the father role for her. My throat suddenly
dry, I swallowed as he continued. "What _is_ my problem, is what to
tell Vanessa about your dinner plans. Is it too much to ask for you to
call?"

Never in my life had I had anyone - not friend, lover and certainly not
my parents - expect me to call and tell them if I was coming home for
dinner. This was so outside my range of experience, I deferred to
Gretchen.

She bowed her head and nodded, almost like a child caught being bad.
"You're right, Ivan. I should have called. I..."

He rested his hand on her shoulder momentarily. "Don't be concerned,
Miss Gretchen. You're under a lot of stress. I had expected someone
else to take some initiative and think ahead." He glanced at me and
sniffed again. "I was obviously attributing too much forethought and
courtesy to the whole issue."

That pissed me off. "Like we don't have more important things to worry
about than your bleeding cooking schedule. Should I just call you and
give you our itinerary for the day, every day and adjust it as we go?"
I asked sarcastically.

"That will work acceptably well," he sneered at me, turning on his
heel. "If you can manage to remember. Dinner will be served in one hour
at seven pm sharp. I won't ask that you dress up, but I do expect you
to at least dress."

"Why that..." I said as I started after him, balling my fist as he
escaped through the door toward the kitchen.

Gretchen laughed and held me back. "Hawk, he's baiting you! That's a
good thing! He only teases people he _really_ likes."

I turned and gave her the gimlet eye. "It looks like he feels about me
like I do him," I said, not wanting to admit that I enjoyed a good
rivalry. "He just wants to bait me. You don't really expect me to
actually call that old mummy every day, do you? I'll shave my head
before I just give in to him."

Gretchen laughed and started up the stairs. "It's going to be fun
watching the two of you spar."

I followed her, finding my eyes naturally gravitating to her shapely
ass. The sway of her hips was almost hypnotic. I was suddenly hungry,
but it wasn't for dinner. I needed to distract myself, or we wouldn't
get any searching done upstairs. "What's with him and you, anyway? You
two look bonded in a way that's just creepy."

She stopped at the second floor landing and waited for me. "After Daddy
married Kat, I pulled back from him, and Ivan was the only adult I
would have anything to do with. I followed him around and he helped me
through adolescence. I suppose I picked up a lot of his ideas and
values."

"So," I said with a sudden wicked smile, "that explains some of your
more spectacular differences from society as a whole? Ivan laid the
foundation and gave you the direction for your life? I would never have
imagined he was a supporter of your work."

Her mouth dropped open and I danced past her with a laugh. "You!" she
said and chased me up to Kat's office. It was still in the same
disarray that we'd left it hours ago. The subtle smell of arousal
permeated the air, still. I stopped dead in my tracks and took a deep
breath, a low fire rekindling in my belly.

"We don't have time for that," Gretchen said with a laugh. "If you're a
good girl, we can try out your new toys tonight."

Slapping my hand over my mouth, I stared at her. "Crap! We left them in
the Hummer!"

She shook her head and pointed into the room. "You start looking, and
I'll call Devon before he gets too far away. I'll just have him drop
the bag back off."

"Oh, no," I said with a headshake. "He has to bring it in and put it
somewhere safe, somewhere Lurch can't find it. I do _not_ want _him_
poking through it." I cocked my head to the side as a thought suddenly
occurred to me. "On second thought, you're right. Have him drop it off,
and make sure he delivers the bag to Lurch personally. That's a much
better idea. You're a genius!" I gave her a quick smooch and turned
back into the room to start looking while she laughed harder and called
to make the arrangements.

The search of the room took most of the hour and I still couldn't
believe how badly we'd trashed the joint. Broken crystal, fallen
furniture and disarrayed paper littered the place. Thankfully, most of
the paper was still in the filing cabinets. I had to get Gretchen to
help me set the fallen one upright.

The interesting moment came when we broke into the locked desk. There
were several file folders with detailed notes, receipts and even
pictures of her meeting with several men at various places, including
some motels. The men included Cartwright.

"Blackmail material," I said, looking at Gretchen. "That's enough of a
reason to get killed. The question I have now is, why? She had access
to more money than all of them put together."

Gretchen pointed to one of them. "That's the Governor. The others are
political figures of one kind or another. I'll bet that whatever it was
she was getting, it was about power, not money."

I looked at my watch and pointed to the door. "Time to go wash up for
dinner. We need to eat well, because I think we might be needing our
strength tonight." I grinned devilishly and visibly shivered at the
possibilities.

With a matching smile, my wife led me out of the room to clean up and
dress.

-- 
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reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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