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ass off at the predicament that Veronica had found herself in. “Don’t worry, Big V, we’ll keep

this little incident between you, me and Johanna. I don’t think that Ross will be overly thrilled if

he hears what happened to you. Still, I don’t think you’re going to sing like a songbird when I

remove this.” She removed the gag from Veronica’s mouth, and was about to untie the ropes

around her wrist when Veronica’s ear splitting scream cracked through the otherwise still and

quiet room.

“
LOOK BEHIND YOU!!!
” Veronica finally managed to spit out. Whirling about,

Samantha nearly dropped her mouth open and felt her stomach lurch.

“Okay, this is bad! Very, very
BAD!!!
” She turned back to Veronica and pulled out her

trusty Celtic dagger from her boot. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m going to use it to cut your

bonds, not you.”

She quickly sliced through the ropes, and then felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck

from the God-awful noise that reverberated through the room. It sounded like a lion’s roar, but it

was so loud that it literally made the cage shudder beneath them. She groaned feeling nauseous.

“Samantha? I’m waiting for you. Why don’t I see you?”

“Because, Johanna, I’m sort of stuck in the middle of something right now.”

“I don’t like the sounds of that. What kind of a
thing
are you stuck in the middle of?”

“It would seem that the Anasazi Triad left a little bit of a calling card behind for us.”

“Well, take care of it, and get your ass out of there.”

“Easier said than done. The calling card happens to be a New San Francisco Tiger.”

“I’m coming in after you, you can’t take that on alone.”

“I have Veronica with me. She’ll help.” She freed Veronica’s legs, groaning when

Veronica took a step forward and nearly landed on her face. “Strike that one. Veronica definitely

won’t
be helping me. But not to worry, I should be able to take down Giant Kitty here all by

myself.”

“Samantha, I don’t feel comfortable about leaving you alone.”

“I’ll be fine. Right now…you need to help me from afar.”

A huge sigh filled the com link. “In that case, you’re going to need time. I’m going to

open a link to Dylan, Tyler and Ross and see if they can help me in getting this bomb

deactivated. What did you say, Eleanor?”

Samantha grunted, as she carefully settled Veronica up against the wall of the cage.

“You stay put. You can’t do anything in your condition, and I don’t really feel like watching

Giant Kitty have you for a little nighttime snack.”

“Queenie, you’re really getting on my nerves.” Was it just Samantha’s imagination or did

Veronica look a little green?

“Don’t get started with me, Big V. We’re in this mess because of your inflated head. If

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you hadn’t gotten the brilliant idea to go after one of the most powerful triads in the known

galaxy, then I’d still be back on the
Excalibur
living the high life.”

“Well,
excuse
me, for going after one of the biggest prizes in history.”

“Yeah, and instead of capturing the
prize
you found yourself in the middle of a surprise.”

The elephant sized tiger roared again, and finally broke free of its metal chains. “Oh look, now

my life starts to get
interesting!
” She turned, just as Veronica tried to stand up. Her legs

wobbled like jelly beneath her and she fell into a slump. Samantha frowned. “I have it covered,

Veronica. What did they do to you?” Her heart thudded.

Please, God, she didn’t really know if she wanted to know. She’d heard a great many

tales about the darker side of the Anasazi Triad. Their practices in the way of torture and the

occult would make a hardened criminal shake in their boots. And Veronica had decided to cross

them. Her mouth grew dry.

“What are you going to do now, hot shot?” Veronica asked. “You can’t take that

monstrosity down on your own.”

“Big V, there’s a time and a place for your big mouth, and right now, isn’t the time nor

the place. And by the way, thanks for the vote of confidence in my stellar abilities. What I
plan

on doing is saving our butts. If you have any other bright ideas feel free to share.”

Samantha pulled out her electric whip, and snapped it through the air. Then, with her

other hand, she reached for two of her homemade grenades. Out of the corner of her eye, she

saw Veronica stagger to her feet.

“I can help,” Veronica muttered, swaying slightly. Samantha had to give her credit. The

woman’s grit sometimes rivaled her own.

Giant Kitty lunged for them, and nearly took a bite out of Veronica, when Samantha

activated her Bo staff. It grew to its full size, and she threw it so that it would lodge lengthwise

in the cat’s mouth. The large tiger tried to snap her Bo staff in half, but since it was reinforced

with the strongest alloy known to humankind, Giant Kitty’s strong jaws could not break it.

“Chew on that for a while, pussy cat,” she muttered. She hooked her whip back onto her

belt, and moved forward to help Veronica. “Lean on me, Big V.”

Veronica slumped against her and Samantha grunted beneath the formidable weight.

“You know, Big V, you might want to consider laying off of those French pastries for a while.”

“Oh, go blow it out your ass!” Veronica’s hiss blew the wisps of hair off of her face.

“As ever, you are the epitome of culture and class.”

“Samantha, we don’t have time to chit chat.”

“Oh, and here I thought we could have a party.”

Just then, the Giant Kitty swung toward them with one of her massive paws. She broke

the line that the cage was hanging from, and they went careening through the air. They both

rolled to the other side of the cage. Samantha let out a muffled cry when she hit the metal bars.

“That will definitely leave a mark in the morning.” As soon as the cage stopped rolling,

Samantha sprang to her feet, and reached out toward Veronica.

She half-ran, half-walked back to the place where the trapdoor was located. Thinking on

her feet, she shot up one of her grappling hooks, and smiled when it latched onto the floor above.

“You first,” she said, watching as the tiger struggled with the Bo staff. Thankfully, the

Giant Kitty hadn’t decided to follow them, deciding instead to free herself of the damnable Bo

staff first. It would not take the cat long to somehow figure out how to get rid of the staff and

Samantha had to outwit the feline in the time they had left. Hearing the cat roar in triumph, her

heart stopped. She could do this.

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Samantha turned around and again pulled out her homemade grenades. She took out her

electric whip with her other hand. “Come on Kitty, let’s dance.” She snapped the whip through

the air, drawing on the well of power deep within her. It crackled through the air, haloing her and

the rope in a violet glow. The cat froze, stunned by the wealth of power emanating around her. It

roared again, making Samantha’s ears ring.

“That’s not very nice,” she murmured, reaching out with her mind to touch the cat’s

mind. Images flashed through her brain of Veronica being beaten black and blue by the Triad. A

man stood in the shadows with white hair. His psychic power made her feel queasy. She

struggled against the suffocating sensations and tried to bring herself out of the psychic haze.

“Have a blast with what happens next, Kitty,” she murmured, retracting her whip she

attached it back to her belt. Veronica had scrambled up the rope aided by Samantha’s rush of

telekinetic force which propelled her the rest of the way up. Pain throbbed behind Samantha’s

eyes. She hadn’t been exercising her powers properly and as a result, she was badly out of shape.

Putting her abilities through this sort of workout was literally making her head sore.

“I’m up,” Veronica called down, sticking her head through the trapdoor.

“Yeah, and I’m still down.” The giant kitty let out another huge roar that made the hairs

on the nape of her neck stand on end. Her stomach churned.

“Well, grab on, and I’ll hoist you up.” Veronica’s anxious face bobbed in front of her. By

the looks of things, Veronica was trying her best to keep a calm visage. Samantha attached the

other end of the grappling hook to her belt, and made sure that she kept her hands free. She’d

need them, since the shit was about to hit the fan. The gigantic cat still lunged toward her. Its

jaw was open and she aimed and then chucked the grenade straight at the wildcat. Using her

powers, she put the grenade on a direct continued course.

“Pull me up,
NOW!
”

She stared up at Veronica. Her face contorted with effort but she didn’t have the energy

required to hoist up Samantha’s weight. With the foggy look in V’s eyes she doubted the woman

would recall what Samantha was about to do next. Veronica knew she had powers but she’d

never shown her the full extent of those abilities and she didn’t know if Veronica would be able

to handle full disclosure in the state she was in. Seeing Samantha erect a telekinetic force field

with her mind was one thing, knowing that Samantha could do what she was about to do next

was another. She sent out a burst of energy toward Veronica charging Veronica with enough

power to pull her up.

Veronica did exactly as she was told, and Samantha was up beside her in no time.

Veronica started to run toward the exit, and Samantha was hot on her trail. The disorientation

grenade would only put Giant Kitty down for a few minutes. After that their asses were grass,

and Giant Kitty was the lawnmower.

“What time is it?” Veronica asked. Samantha glanced down at her watch and felt ice

lodge in her heart.

“Time for this building to go
KABOOM!
” she cried. They wouldn’t make it, the

Romanelli bomb was set to go off in two seconds. “Johanna?” she questioned. But her ears

were met with static, and her heart fell. She was hoping that she’d at least be able to say

goodbye to her sister. She’d been in grave trouble before, but this situation was unlike any she’d

ever experienced. Well, there had been the time when the Moonlight Bar had been bombed.

What was she thinking?
She could get them out of this fix. She always had, and she wasn’t

about to stop trying now. After all, she was Samantha Cassidy, the ever-renowned Queen of

Danger.

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“Get down, Veronica!” Samantha screamed. She lunged forward, knocking Veronica

off of her feet. Samantha activated her personal electrical force field just as a volley of

explosions went off. She hoped the force field would hold since she didn’t have the energy to

reinforce it with her own abilities. Seeing what had happened to Veronica and then giving

Veronica the telekinetic boost had almost drained her right down to zero. The blasts shook the

hallway, and Samantha was afraid to open her eyes, for fear of what she might see.

“What do you think you are doing?” Veronica demanded. Samantha was still sprawled

on top of her. Gingerly, she opened one eye and then the other, only to stare into Veronica’s

wide angry eyes.

“Hey, Big V, don’t get any ideas, I don’t like the cozy situation we’re in anymore than

you do.” Samantha rolled off of Veronica and sat up. She expected to see the rubble from the

building strewn around her, and yet the building was completely intact. “I don’t believe it!”

“Well, I do,” Veronica said, pointing toward a yawning hole in the side of the building.

Johanna was peering anxiously down at them from
Eleanor
.

“You okay?” she asked, resting her eyes on Samantha.

“I seem to be. I’ll check to see if everything is where it’s supposed to be later on.”

Johanna gave her a brilliant smile, and then the smile faded from her face, when she was

thrown forward. One hell of a blast had connected with
Eleanor
. Samantha scrambled to her

feet, and along with Veronica they ran toward the hover car called
Eleanor
. They skidded to a

halt just below
Eleanor
, and Samantha craned her neck to stare up at the star filled sky. By all

accounts it should have been a simple, calm night. Instead, there was a small fleet of hover cars

bearing down upon them.

“Remind me to smack you upside the head when we get out of this mess,” she said

rounding on Veronica.

“How stupid do you think I am?” Veronica shot back.

“Stupid enough to bring down the full wrath of the Anasazi Triad on our heads!”

Samantha retorted. Biting her lip, her eyes scanned over the swarm of Triad hover mobiles that

were flying toward them. The simultaneous whine of weapons charging filled her ears.

Now, they were definitely in for it.

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Samantha gripped the edge of the metal and rope ladder that
Eleanor
had lowered. She

pushed Veronica up ahead of her, and waited while Veronica groggily clambered up the rungs.

Samantha was next, and she stepped up onto the first rung just as
Eleanor
shook beneath another