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She had left the book on the sofa in the parlor She went back in to es wouldn’t be da it, but he was nowhere to be seen

She sat, reading the page that had been left open

It was about the legal execution of Eli S Beckett, and the witnesses he had dragged into court

As she was looking at the page, David caentle brush and kissed the back of her neck

"To day for you You need your sleep"

She turned in his ar about sleep?"

"No Yes Eventually I h…"

"I do believe it’s early"

"Great"

She went up the stairs quickly, letting hiht, she closed her door carefully, and had to turn on the lights to keep frohts still on, she saw hi his due on the bed, and she started to laugh, and juain, it was thein the world to becohter, and then with passion, and then with tenderness

It was late when she rose at last to turn out the lights, and they finally fell asleep

The city was like so that breathed, as real and vital as any man or woman who had ever lived It was the tempest of the past, the craziness of the present, the promise of the future

It was his city

He loved it as a parent loved a child

And his people had borne the injustice of others, when they should have had free run What was fair, and as not? Beckett had fired many a cannon, he had set ain…

And yet he had been so self-righteous!

Ah, well…

The bitterness assailed him as he watched the house, and yet he continued to do so, despite the torture it brought hiht, his jawline hurt, his teeth hurt, he was grating on them so hard And still he stood, covered by the shadow of the trees, and he watched

He saw her silhouette

Saw as she disrobed

The drapes were drawn, but she was there, curved and lean and glorious

And he saw Beckett Saw him rise to take the naked woether

Saw the, feel the thunder of their hearts

Hatred burned through hihout tis never really changed, nor did people Beckett had been self-righteous and superior years ago, and he was the same now But time came round and round, and the evils done in the past could and would be rectified now

Beckett had brought death and destruction to his people But he knew that it was all one He knew that it was his duty to bring real justice to his city

And the tie was a gaestion that he was anything but completely mentally fit; his calm, cool action and meticulous machinations proved that That he could wait, that he could play the gahed aloud There were those who enius-a enda as deep and important as the spirit and the universe itself, and the brilliance to move about as if he were invisible He knew more about life and death and tiood that it was almost-criminal

Katie O’Hara was so beautiful

She rose, and he could see the perfection of her silhouette on the drapes, the curve of her breasts, the lean length of her torso, the exquisite stretch of her legs…

He iers itched to touch her

Her death would be spectacular She deserved the true iht went off at last, and he turned away

14

They’d barely woken up before the phone rang

In fact, it was quite a jolt Katie’s eyes had just opened, and David’s had just opened, and she was thinking that it could be a lovelysound of her phone, and when she saw the caller ID, she answered

For a ang’s all here!"