The Thief

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Quin raced after the Snake relentlessly. He followed him through alleyway after alleyway. He knew that both his and the beautiful detective's lives hinged on not letting the henchmen get away. Quin withdrew his knife from the hidden sheath in his sleeve. He paused to line up his throw and released.

"That goddamn bastard!" Tamera seethed, "I'm gonna...... do something so horrible to him they'll come up with a name for it." He left her there with no answer or explanation for the cops that came only two minutes too late.

After hours of questioning, she just wanted to leave the rest of the world behind her with a nice longsoak in the bath. She even broke out the nice bubble bath things from their prison (better known as the linen closet). The water was nice, warm, relaxing, oh so bubbly. She slipped in the tub, moaning in relief and slowly allowed her head to submerge completely in the water.

There was an echo that she heard in the water that made her freeze. Slowly and quietly, she lifted her head out of the water and opened her eyes.

A man in black stood by the window with his back turned to her. As silently as she could, she grabbed the back scrubber and stood up. With a sudden war cry she leapt from the tub, intending to bash the intruder over the head.

Unfortunately for her (or fortunately for him), the intruder was none other than Mystique. He instinctively turned around and blocked the overhead strike with his left and thrust his hand outward with his right. The back scrubber glanced harmlessly off his arm and Tamera fell back in the tub. The end result left him a bit splashed on his pants and Tamera with a lot less bubbles in her tub.

She looked up at him in complete shock. "What the hell are you doing here?! And more importantly, where were you?!"

He let out a small chuckle, "Missed me already? I came back to answer your question, but if you don't want me here..." he trailed off, moving to leave.

"Wait!" she cried and stood up in the tub. He paused and looked at her, all of her. She blushed and sank back in the bubbly water. "Stay. I want to know. But umm first, could you hand me that towel?" Mystique said nothing,but she could only imagine him smiling, as he turned away from the window. He grabbed her towel and handed it to her with his back respectfully turned away.

Tamera quickly swiped it from him and covered herself, "OK. You can look."

"You sure? That towel seemed awfully short." Mystique said with obvious humor in his voice. Tamera's ears turned red as she maneuvered out of his way and into her bedroom, slamming the door before he could enter.

"You know, I could just pick this door lock right?" Quin asked, enjoying this way too much. He had just killed a man to protect her identity and needed the humor in his life. The least she could do is provide it.

He heard something heavy being leaned against the doorframe on the other side and couldn't help but smile a real smile. He stopped, not remembering the last time he had done such a thing.

"So you're actually going to answer my questions? Just like that?" Detective Pierce asked, oblivious to the inner turmoil happening outside her door.

Quin gave his head a little shake to clear his thoughts, "Well, I'm not going to tell you everything, I'm going to give you five questions to ask me. It's not like you can call someone. My partner conked out the landlines and I have your cell."

"AHA!" she crowed triumphantly, "I knew you had a partner! There was no way you could've done some of those jobs on your own! Only problem is, no one's ever with you. So he's your techie right?" She spoke quickly, moving the thing from the door and unlocking it to greet him. She wore a nice elbow length shirt and boot-cut jeans.

Quin flogged himself for giving up too much as he tried to formulate an answer, "Uhhh, " failing to find a way to deny her claim he settled on, "that will will be one of your questions and yes he or she is my "techie" " he said with air quotes.

Tamera rolled her eyes, secretly pleased to get one up on the criminal. "Yeah, but how many women could actually stand your ego for more than five minutes?"

She lead him into the kitchen where he spun around and cornered her between his two powerful arms and the counter. Mystique gave her an intense look and made his voice go husky, "You'd be surprised."

Tamera leaned in as well, deepening her voice, "Mmm..." She could've sworn she heard his breath catch as he stiffened." "Retirement homes beware."

He took a step back which was enough for her to slip out of his hold and retreat to the fridge, "Want anything?"

"No thank you, I have a feeling you'd drug me." Mystique said, semi-seriously. She smiled a little and poured a cup of water for herself.

"So," she began, seating them at the table, "where to begin?"

:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x

so sorry its been a while! but i hope to have done better and i have edited the first two chapters slightly about the mask so you might want to read that again!