Page 2 of Special Agent Isabella

“Right. You sugar-coated the incident. Tell it to me straight, or I’ll ask Nora.”

“Nora’s a big worrywart. She’ll enlarge the whole scene until it’s like an invasion by the devil himself. Like I told you, a kid called Hewie got temperamental, then confrontational, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Eventually, some of the other kids convinced him to come back when he knew his own name and could speak English rather than gibberish.”

“And you’re worried he’ll be back tonight?”

“I know he will. He’s been hovering around the front. I noticed the skinny punk earlier. When he saw me at the window, he pulled up his t-shirt and showed me a gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Look, I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Yet I didn’t want to freak them out by sharing my concern and calling in the cops.”

Bella smiled with little humor. “You knew I’d understand and keep it to myself.”

“Of course, You’re my angel, always here when I need you.” Demi’s shy grin placated.

“And… what’s his name… your bro Tanner, was he busy tonight?”

“Couldn’t get a hold of him.” Demi’s eyes lit up at the mention of the man who also came running when she needed help. He too had a sincere wish to be involved. “He goes off the radar sometimes. This couldn’t wait.”

“Hey, don’t worry. He’d only piss me off and call me Izzie. I’m glad you reached out. How many times have I told you to? Both of us are here to help, you know that.”

“Yet you’re never here together. It’s like you do everything you can not to be in the same vicinity as Tanner. Why?”

Unable to explain her reasons, not wanting anyone to know of her secret dislike she’d been nursing for years, Isabella just laughed slightly and answered. “Even though we’re both employed by the Feds, we’re in completely different sectors. He works as a field agent mostly in homicide and after that last undercover operation where we had the drug crackdown, they’ve been keeping me busy in the office.”

“You almost died during that raid.”

“But I didn’t. We stopped the pipeline of drugs from Mexico, and I survived. Story over. And quit stalling. What happened after you saw the creep’s gun?”

“He mouthed the words “later bitch”. I figure he’s got it in for me because I wouldn’t allow him to come inside to look for some guy he was searching for. Not only was he drunk and abusive; he meant to hurt the kid. Who, by the way, wasn’t here. But Hewie wouldn’t listen.”

“So he got punchy.”

“Right, until Nora got some of the kids to step in and get rid of him.”

“But not until after he put his stinking hands on you.” Bella felt anger course through her body at the thought that anyone could hurt Demi. “See… it’s times like this you really need to call the police.”

“You know what happens when they come around. The kids fade away and many never come back. I just hate to force the issue to that extreme.”

“Instead, you let the assholes use you as a punching bag.”

Suddenly, they both heard the ruckus outside the front door and stood quickly. Demi looked at Bella and didn’t have to say the words, “he’s back.” She didn’t need to.

Bella already knew.

She walked over to peer out of the window and saw an unwashed youth in ill-fitting dirty clothes, brandishing a weapon. His drunken calls for Demi to show herself were menacing.

Knowing he could hurt someone who might inadvertently appear around the corner, or even one of the kids inside who were curious and looked out of an upstairs window, Bella said quickly, “Let me out the back door and don’t answer this idiot.”

In minutes, she came around from the side of the building and saw that Hewie had ramped up his feelings of injustice and was screaming stupidity toward the building. His vile words mixed with threats and gibberish were out of control. And Bella knew just how dangerous this made him. There’d be no talking him down. All she could hope for was a distraction so she could attack unseen.

Just then a man looked out from behind a vehicle that had been parked in front, and he yelled something at the teen. Hewie turned in that direction.

It was all she needed. Bella bolted from her hiding spot and attacked, settling on Hewie’s back to bring him to the ground. Her hand forced the gun up to be sure he’d lose control. When Hewie landed on his stomach, she drove the same hand down hard on the cement, intending for him to release the weapon.

Hoping to immobilize him, she soon realized the reality of the situation. He had the strength of a wild animal, all doped up, feeling no pain. The rebel flipped her over and came back at her like a crazed beast.

Applying her training, she sprung to her feet. Using a low roundhouse kick, she stopped his forward drive. Then she followed with a knee strike that again put him down. But only for a few seconds. He came back at her, punching, slashing, until she’d had enough. Driving her hand into his throat as a last resort didn’t work either. The punk didn’t seem to feel anything. They fought hard, him screaming cusswords in her face, spit flying from his mouth, and his fists trying to connect.

Suddenly, his hands grabbed at her throat, and she couldn’t block his hold. She brought her own arms up to dislodge his, but the steel bands held strong. Just as she intended to drop to the ground to force him down so she could use the movement in her defense, a man approached out of the dark.

If it wasn’t for the gun muzzle pushed into Hewie’s forehead, she didn’t believe he’d have stopped squeezing even if her intended move had worked.

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