" He took another puff on the cigarette, saw that it was burned almost down to the filter. He dropped it on the carpet and crushed it with his toe."An... she had to die for that? Because she liked being beautiful and attractive to men?" It was the way she used that attractiveness. There's no excuse for a bitch like that, I was a happily married man. I had children. She made a little game of breaking up my life. She swayed her hips in my face, and when I was helpless and she knew it, she started. Emilee twitched the tool, slicing the thin web of skin between the two fingers.A loud pounding on the door broke through the tension. Emilee paused, eyes blazing, and her grip tightened, almost crushing the girl's digit.Then she let go. The hand flopped to Renee's chest bonelessly. The woman swung herself off the girl, set the knife carefully on the naked stomach, and walked to the entrance.The thumping continued unabated until the door was thrown open."What?" said Emilee tightly."We had a. “Yeah, it was. What happened to your friends?” he queried.“Well, they couldn’t find their butts with both hands. They had all been drinking hard and not stopping!” She stamped her boot clad feet in emphasis.He remembered that she didn’t drink, but evidently it was a touchy subject with her.“What are you going to do?” he asked.“Ride!” She answered, then hesitantly added, “With you?”“Cool!” Was his response.He got off his bike and they walked around to loosen up. Carolann stayed close near his. As they sat, the couple noticed Aesha standing nearby and turned to regard her. The husband looked at her a little oddly, but that was likely because he’d never seen an Artucian before and just shrugged. The wife however, almost glared at the warrior woman, eyes roving up and down before giving a dismissive sniff.“You waiting for someone too?” the husband asked in a conversational tone.“Yes. Deputy Willem,” Aesha answered honestly.“And why are you waiting to see if he’s OK?” the wife growled.