I told them not to spare the Tabasco.”They finished their sandwiches. “My lips are burning,” Nichelle said as she tossed her wrapper into the tr...sh.“I love feelin’ the burn,” Kit replied. He faced her and they embraced. “So, what should we do since we have the place to ourselves?” Nichelle smiled, kissed his lips and wrinkled her nose.“I’ll go use the bathroom. I don’t need a chaperone ... hell, I could walk to it naked.” He regarded her with narrowed eyes. “Say -- you wouldn’t be wearing that. I want what is bestfor Sam. No matter how he feels we will support him."Jaimie nodded then said, "Then you two need to talk with Sam. And do itsoon. He needs you more than he will admit."She left as they walked into the room where Sam was sitting with hishead down on the table. James was the first to speak saying, "You don'thave anything to fear. You can tell us anything. I promise what youhave to say won't cause you to be forced out onto the streets or makeus love you any less."Sam looked up. I wasn’t smart enough to quit while I was behind, so I just plowed on ahead. ‘I noticed it. It isn’t my imagination. You aren’t happy about something and I’m just trying to find out what it is,’ I said in my most conciliatory voice. She looked at me and was about to say something, and then got up and stomped up the stairs to our bedroom and slammed the door shut. Great! I handled that perfectly. My guts were churning, and I felt like hell. I got up, put on my windbreaker and walked out the. On the other hand, he didn’t appear to have a job of any kind, but he wore silk shirts and had two hundred dollars on him. The shooter hadn’t taken the money, so the murder wasn’t just a simple robbery gone bad. Tony must have really pissed off somebody. The lab had lifted two sets of prints off the pistol. One belonged to Tony and probably confirmed it was his piece. From what I’d found out about him, that figured. Tony wouldn’t be the kind to carry something bigger, even if some people would.