Part 6, the conclusion

"She's still out." The bodyguard commented, letting the dark head fall forward again.

"That's a little too long for a tap to the skull, especially for one with such a hard head. Come on, Tessa...I know you're awake." Meridio's voice said evenly and Tessa knew she could no longer play possum.

"You bitch." Peter muttered as Tessa looked up and winked at him.

Meridio slowly came forward until he was standing in front of the seated woman. Tessa had her wrists and ankles handcuffed to the heavy metal chair. She'd seen plenty of these chairs in the days when torture was an every day occurrence. The dark-haired woman smirked up at the man above her.

Meridio hit the woman hard with his fist. It connected with her jaw and the man heard the satisfying sound of pain come from the woman. The blow rocked Tessa's head back, but she tried to act unaffected by the powerful strike. She locked her pale blue eyes on the man and spit the blood in her mouth down on his shoes. Punishment for the willful act was swift and three more punches followed in quick succession. She now had blood coming from her mouth and trickling from her nose. It wasn't broken yet, but a few more hits like the last one and she knew it soon would be.

Tessa knew that she was gone. She'd tried, but at least she would die with honor, she had repaid the hahré in her attempt. Now all she had left was to die, but she was never going to give Meridio the satisfaction of thinking he'd won. He might kill her, but he'd never succeed at breaking her.

"All this because I fucked your daughter?" Tessa commented dryly.

All three of the hired men looked up at Meridio. When they saw the look on his face, they knew what Tessa said was the truth. Alex tried to look as surprised as the others did, but he knew what had been going on all along. Peter and Stefano looked at the ground instead of up at Meridio. Andreas looked around in embarrassment. Tessa grinned as she hit her mark. The man was losing face in front of other men and that was never a good thing for a mángas.

"She spread her legs so damn fast for me...she never even knew I was using her." Tessa felt her head snap back two more times as Meridio punched her, then crossed the floor to a sink and began to wash his hands.

The older man obviously felt his control of the situation was beginning to slip. The longer he stayed here, apparently the more Tessa would embarrass him. He suspected that the enigmatic woman had seduced his daughter and now he had the confirmation. Cassandra was about to realize, however that there would be consequences for her actions. As much as he loved his daughter, he would still have to show her that disloyalty came with a price...a very high price.

Meridio put his suit coat back on and walked toward the door.

"Meridio!" Tessa called and the older man stopped and turned.

"Casey was the best fuck I ever had." Tessa grinned up at him.

The man's eyes narrowed and his gaze went cold. "Kill her...make it last a very long time. By the way, make sure she tells you where the invoices are before she dies." Meridio smiled back at the dark-haired woman and walked out the door.

The sunlight glared in their eyes as Meridio stood there, half in and half out the door. His attention seemed caught by something outside. He looked back at Tessa and if looks could kill, the dark-haired woman would already be lifeless. Meridio glowered outside again and, raising his hands slightly, backed into the warehouse.

Casey held her Beretta in front of her and kept it leveled at her father's chest as the man continued to back up. Tessa had to blink her eyes to figure out if her mind was playing tricks on her or not. Oh, Casey...baby, you're going to get yourself killed. Please don't do this.

"Cassandra, do you really expect me to believe that you would kill me?" Meridio asked his daughter as Alex, Peter, and Stefano all three pulled their guns.

"Father...knowing the things that you've done in your life...I'd just be a chip off the old block wouldn't I? Besides, I really don't think you're prepared to say, with absolute certainty, that I won't shoot you, are you?"

Meridio looked in his daughter's eye and damn if he couldn't tell for sure. That dyke bitch had brainwashed the girl but good.

"Cassandra, you don't understand who Tessa is--"

"I understand that you killed her father! I was there...I saw it!" Casey tried to calm the tremor in her voice.

"Yes, I did, but that is what she wants revenge for. She has only been using you to get to me. Casey," Meridio rarely used his daughter's nickname, but the man honestly wanted to get through to his child. "Even if you kill me, one of them will put a bullet in Tessa's head. She'll still be dead. Ask her...ask her now. She knows she is a dead woman, she has nothing to lose."

Meridio saw the flicker of doubt in the green eyes and knew he was getting through to her.

"Ask her, Máhtia Mou," Meridio said softly.

Tessa watched in horror as Casey lifted those green eyes to look in her face. Please understand, baby...this is the only way for you to get out of this, Tessa thought to herself.

"Niko?" Casey asked quietly.

"You're a beautiful woman, but that's all you were to me, Casey. You were just a way for me to get closer to Meridio."

Casey's brow knit in confusion at her lover's words. Suddenly she didn't know whom she should believe.

Meridio saw the perfect opportunity presenting itself. How better for his daughter to take her place within his organization and to vindicate herself in her father's eyes? He smiled slightly when he looked into the dark-haired woman's eyes and saw that Tessa was realizing what he had in mind also.

A stab of pain clutched at Tessa's heart when she comprehended what Meridio had in mind. If she hurt the young woman enough, wounded her to the heart, would Casey shoot her? Part of Tessa's brain thought it would be a sweet release in comparison to what Meridio already had planned for her, but the other half of her couldn't let Casey bear the unspeakable pain that would follow from that action. She needed Casey to know that she was only saying those things for the small blonde's own protection.

Tessa caught the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and watched as Alex stepped closer to her, giving himself what appeared to be a clean shot at the bodyguard and Stefano, who stood on the other side of her chair. It could be just wishful thinking on her part, but at least if she could get Casey to understand what she was really about, the young woman would be prepared to help Alex and take one of the men standing beside her out of commission.

"Cassandra, I didn't want you to know you had been used in such a vile way by this woman. I know she has humiliated you, but there is a way for you to pay for the hurt."

Meridio was speaking in low dulcet tones that seemed to be having a hypnotic effect on the small blonde. Casey stood looking at Tessa with dismay, then anger etched across her features.

"Who is to say, Cassandra, whose bullet will end your pain."

Tessa watched the young woman and saw the suffering swirling within the green depths, and then she saw Casey's gun hand twitch slightly. She knew she was only going to get one chance and it came to her in a blinding flash.

"Don't tell me you actually believed me all those times I told you I loved you." Tessa said with a sneer.

Casey's brow knit together and Meridio held his breath as he watched the young woman's gun hand raise until the barrel of the pistol was pointed in Tessa's direction. The young blonde's next movement was so quick that if you blinked your eyes, it was over. In a fraction of a second Casey raised her other hand to the pistol, spread her stance open, and pointed the gun at Peter Tsigaris.

The popping sounds the Beretta made echoed in the open warehouse. Casey fired two rounds in rapid succession, one into the bodyguard's kneecap and the other in Stefano's hand as he made a move with his gun. The young man's movements seemed slow in comparison to the precise actions of the small blonde. The bodyguard tried to reach for his pistol and Casey quickly put another round into his other leg. Both men howled in pain as Casey whirled and caught her father standing in exactly the same spot, frozen in place.

"You've sealed your fate, my daughter." Meridio said over the moans of the fallen men. "I'm afraid Alex will have to kill both of you now."

Alex stood with his revolver still in hand, but he seemed to be hesitating, weighing his options. Reaching into his pocket he removed the keys to the handcuffs and released the dark-haired woman.

Tessa's legs were a little shaky when she first stood, but once the blood circulated a bit, she seemed as steady as ever. Casey ran into her arms and the taller woman squeezed her tightly.

"I thought you said you couldn't shoot." Tessa said.

"I said I don't like guns...I never said I couldn't shoot." Casey said with tears in her eyes.

The small blonde ran over to the sink and wet a towel, bringing it back over so Tessa could wipe her face of the blood.

"It's okay," Tessa said softly to Casey's concerned look. "I've been used as a punching bag before. Alex, do you have my gun?"

"Here," Casey reached to the small of her back where she'd tucked the Glock into the waistband of her jeans.

Tessa accepted the pistol and slowly walked over to where Meridio was still standing. The dark-haired woman raised the gun and the man never flinched, only closed his eyes as the barrel was pressed against his temple. She stood there like that until he opened his eyes and spoke to Casey.

"You're going to let her do this, Máhtia Mou?" He asked his daughter.

Tears spilled from Casey's eyes as she took in the sight. She said nothing, but even she knew that not answering was as good as saying yes.

Tessa pulled back the stiff hammer and poised her finger on the trigger. When she fired the shot she watched as Meridio's body jerked forward. She continued to watch as he realized the round had been fired over his head. He spun his head between Casey and Tessa in disbelief.

Tessa grabbed his collar and although he was several inches taller than the dark-haired woman was, he surrendered to the rough treatment easily.

"Know this, Meridio, She is the only thing that is standing between you and death today." Tessa growled and the older man knew Tessa meant his daughter. "It's over...go home." She said and motioned for Casey to join her.

The small blonde ran into her arms and they began to walk toward the exit. Tessa stopped in front of Alex and held out her hand, offering a smile to the young man.

"I owe you, my friend." The dark-haired woman said quietly.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Nikki, cause I'm going to be needing a job, considering I just pissed my life away here."

"Wherever I go, you'll always have a place, Alex. You may have to improve your English a little considering we're not too welcome here in Greece anymore."

Tessa put an arm around Casey and they continued on their way, Meridio, not looking like a man who had just been defeated, called after them.

"You'll have to run for a long time, Cassandra. My partners will not take kindly to this and it will be a long while before you can stop looking over your shoulder."

"I'll take my chances, father." Casey replied dryly, pressing her body closer to Tessa.

Meridio looked up at the sound of tires bumping along noisily on the old wooden dock. "That must be them now." He smiled and suddenly Tessa understood why the man looked so smug.

"The Turks!" She grabbed Casey's hand and they ran for the far door.

"I'll take the sedan, maybe we can split them up!" Alex shouted as they burst out into the sunlight.

Two cars were heading their way. The second vehicle stopped and Meridio exited the warehouse and entered the auto. Casey tossed the keys to Tessa and they ran for the red convertible.

"Where the hell is Jack?" Casey shouted.

Gunshots rang out and Tessa heard the glass of a taillight exploding as the bullet shattered it. Casey felt a deep searing pain in her thigh and she stumbled just as she reached the car. She fell into the vehicle as Tessa was gunning the engine. The dark-haired woman fired a few rounds and shattered the windshield on the first car. Looking over quickly at Casey she saw the dark red stain spreading across the small blonde's jeans.

"Jesus Christ, Casey, you're shot!"

"I'm okay." The young woman said between clenched teeth.

Tessa pushed the sportscar as fast as it would go and began losing the heavier weighted sedans up through the twisting gravel roads to Agios Stéfanos.

I'm going to try to outdistance them by the cliffs, that way Jack can get to us by the road or the sea." Tessa explained, wondering how the hell they were going to get out of this one, but hoping Casey couldn't hear the fear in her voice. "Use your belt and tie it tight around your thigh like a tourniquet." She added.

There was only one car following them now, the other must have gone after Alex, who headed off in the opposite direction. The dark sedan was closing in, having made up the lost time on the straight-away portion of the road. The next turn was a hairpin and Tessa purposefully sped up, knowing the larger car wouldn't be able to make it. She cut the steering wheel hard to the right, stepping on the accelerator the whole time. The larger car spun off the road and landed in the soft sand near the edge of the cliffs. Its back wheels spun around creating a high-pitched sound as they turned without finding purchase in the slippery sand. By the time the men were jumping out to push the car back onto the road, Tessa was already gone.

They sped towards a small village and just as they hit the edge of the town, a small child ran into the road that Tessa's car was careening down.

"Shit!" She spun the wheel and locked up the brakes to avoid the boy. The momentum of the vehicle caused it to flip over once before landing upright again.

The dark-haired woman never even remembered being thrown from the car, but she couldn't have been out long as the boy was still standing in the road. She shook the cobwebs from her mind and tested her arms and legs.

"Casey?" She looked around, jumping to her feet and searched the area.

The small blonde had been thrown further from the car and she screamed in pain as she rolled over. Tessa dropped to her knees and with only a quick look could tell the young woman's leg was broken in more than one place.

"Don't move, sweetheart." Tessa tried to think what to do. Any minute the Turks would be coming up the road. "Casey, this is gonna hurt like hell, but we have to get out of here."

Tessa was right and when the dark-haired woman scooped the small blonde into her arms, Casey screamed in agony again. By the time the Tessa was moving toward the home in front of them, the young woman had passed out.

Tessa didn't wait; she kicked open the door and shouted the first thing that she knew would bring help. "There are Turks after us!"

Two young men jumped up to help her and an older woman motioned for her to bring Casey into a back room. Tessa watched as a gray-haired man pulled a pistol from the top drawer of a bureau, he closed the door and peered through the shutters.

Casey regained consciousness and wished she were still knocked out. The pain wasn't nearly as bad now that she was still again. The bullet wound was bleeding worse than ever and when she looked up she saw that Tessa had a large open cut across her cheek and the blood ran down the side of her neck, soaking into her shirt. The tall woman's arms were a mass of scrapes and cuts, but she smoothed back the hair on Casey's forehead and smiled at the blonde like none of this was even happening.

"Do you have a phone?" Tessa asked, knowing what the answer would be before the old woman shook her head.

"I do." Casey attempted to reach into the large pocket on her jacket, but gave up in pain.

"Here," Tessa leaned over the young woman and fished through the pockets. She brought out the phone and three packets of papers that she could only stare at. "Holy shit, when did you get these?"

Casey gave a weak smile as Tessa stared at the invoices from her father's office. "Well, there was no one there and I figured if some were good, then all of them must be better."

Tessa kissed her forehead and punched Jack's number into the cell phone.

"Where the hell are you two?" Armstrong shouted.

"I could ask you the same question. We're in a small village just at the edge of the cliffs, past Agios Stéfanos, first house on the corner. Look Jack, Casey's hurt, she needs to get to a hospital right now. She's losing a lot of blood." Tessa turned away from the small blonde and muttered the last sentence.

"We can have the chopper there in two minutes, we're at Meridio's estate. Your mother is safe and we just picked up a guy named Alex who says he helps you."

"Yea, he's with me." Tessa replied.

"Oh great, another one. Where are the invoices, does Casey still have them?"

"She's got the whole damn bundle in her hands, which means you don't get them till you get over here and pick her up."

"She's one hell of a girl, you know?" Jack shouted and Tessa could here the whine of a helicopter motor through the phone and knew they were taking off.

"Yea, I know." Tessa said, brushing the backs of her fingers against the small blonde's dirty cheek. "Just get your ass here and pick her up!"

"Where will you be?"

Tessa looked up just as the gray-haired man with the gun placed his fingers to his lips and motioned for silence. She could hear men's voices outside.

"I have something to finish up." Tessa responded and clicked off the phone in case Jack was tempted to call back about her cryptic message.

Tessa looked out the shutter and could see the men milling about the road, looking at the red convertible. She hoped it still ran and that the keys were still there. She walked back to Casey and that familiar pain clutched at her chest as she knew what she had to do and that Casey wasn't going to like it.

"Sweetheart," Tessa knelt by the bed and Casey opened her eyes, biting her lip against the pain. Tessa spoke in English and the old woman turned away as if understanding their need for privacy. "Jack's on his way, but those guys are outside and they're going to start busting down doors because they know we're here."

Tessa licked her lips and Casey knew what her lover was going to do before the dark-haired woman said it.

"And, you're going to try to draw them away." Casey whispered.

"Casey, I need to say something to you"

"No! Goddamn you Tessa Nikolaidis you are not going to tell me you love me now, and then go out there and let them blow you all to hell. I don't want to hear it until you get back and if you don't come back and tell me, I swear I'll never forgive you!" Casey was sobbing by this time.

Tears filled Tessa's eyes and she kissed the girl's forehead and smiled down at her, stroking the short locks of golden hair. "It's a deal." The dark-haired woman said and then she kissed Casey as if it would be the last time and both women felt it.

"I'm so proud of you, Niko...for the choices you made today," Casey said softly.

"I lived for so long with revenge as the only thing worth living for. You gave me something else to live for." She rose and pressed her index finger to Casey's lips, then she turned and was gone.

Tessa still had her Glock and checked the clip out of habit. Once the old man showed her where the door out to the alley was, she pressed the roll of bank notes into his hands. He shook his head, but she only turned and slipped out the door.

It was a small village, but the two story stone houses hid her from view of the main road. The alleyway was only a dirt path, but it was lined with bushes and trees. She pressed through the line of bushes and ran the remaining distance to the convertible.

Jumping into the driver's seat, she thanked the Virgin that the keys were there. She revved the car and hit the gas, throwing dirt and rocks, and enveloping the road in a cloud of dust. She heard shouts behind her, then fired a few quick rounds from her pistol so they would know it was her. She coughed at the dirt in the air surrounding her, but figured that if they couldn't see the car well, they would think she and Casey were inside the vehicle. She smiled one of her feral, adrenaline stoked smiles knowing she'd just bought Jack the time to get his agents into the village. She refused to even think about the possibility that Casey wouldn't get to a hospital in time. She just knew in her heart that it wasn't the young woman's time.

The helicopter landed right in the middle of the street about thirty seconds after Tessa sped off in the convertible, the sedan quickly following her. Two paramedics hastily worked on Casey in the room of the house where they found her. They began IV's, shot her full of something for pain, and stopped the bleeding from the bullet wound at least long enough to get her loaded onto the helicopter.

Jack ran alongside and helped carry the litter as a sudden explosion, a fireball rising in the sky, rocked them all. Black smoke billowed up into the sky, as agents already ran back to give Jack a report.

"Two cars...looks like the rest of our Turks. They took a dive off the cliffs...not much left of them." The young man shouted over the helicopter's blades to Jack, who was inside the vehicle sitting next to the stretcher Casey lay upon. He looked down at the small blonde and just stared at her.

"No..." Casey moved her head back and forth. "Please...no." She pleaded as tears spilled from her eyes.

Jack didn't like this part of the job; in fact he hated it. He hated losing good people, but as badly as he felt he knew it was nothing compared to what Casey was experiencing. He squeezed her hand and was glad for the roar of the engine as it drowned out the heartbreaking sobs of the small blonde who had just lost her father and her lover in the same ill-fated moment.

Casey spent seven hours in surgery as the physicians worked to remove the bullet that was embedded in her left thigh and to repair the broken bones in her right leg. From her hip to her ankle, she'd broken the limb in six different places. The surgeons explained to Jack that the young woman would be in for a few more surgeries and she would more than likely walk with a limp for the rest of her life. She lay unresponsive in the Athens hospital, Olympia never leaving her bedside, for three days. Jack had the American government fly Casey's mother, Eva Meridio, to Greece so that she could be with her daughter.

Jack watched as Olympia and Casey's mother met again for the first time in twenty years. They cried and shared their pain and Jack shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable with women as well as their displays of emotion.

No one knew how to come right out and tell Casey about Tessa and her father. There were no survivors found at the crash site and the remains were charred beyond even dental recognition. The young blonde's behavior told everyone around her that she knew, however. Casey barely spoke and when she was able to eat solid food again, she just stared at the food in front of her until they had to restart her IV's just to be sure she was getting a little nourishment. Avery nice therapist came to see her three times a week, but Casey just stared out the window, unwilling or unable to talk about her pain.

Finally the doctors went to the mothers for help, for it did seem like Casey had two mothers. When one rested the other one kept vigil, and everyday they tried to get the woman to say more than three words in a row. Olympia would bring all of Casey's favorite food dishes to the hospital and occasionally the young woman would hastily take a bite or two, but just as quickly, her eyes would fill with pain and she would turn back toward the window.

Olympia walked into the room just as she did every day. This time she sat next to the bed in front of the window the small blonde spent all her time gazing out of, so Casey would have to look at her.

"Tessa would be very disappointed to see you behaving like this," Olympia said sharply. "Is this what my daughter gave her life for? Shame Cassandra."

It was the sound of Tessa's name that broke through Casey's pain. The sound of a name that she remembered as being the sweetest note she'd ever heard. Casey took in a ragged gasp and tears pooled in her eyes, spilling over the edges. And, as Olympia moved to hold the small woman in her arms, just as her daughter had done so many times, Casey released a cry of pain and anger and finally wept for her dead lover.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 545