His arm draped around her neck. The way his deep sienna eyes always came back to hers as he was calling upon the guiding constellations of stars for his life. The way he could barely drag his eyes from her to consult them and learn the way.
He was torn between two lives. One, in the form of the woman that could save his soul....the other, in the form of the anti-venom outiside these terrible woods that could save his weakening body.
And as they wandered through twisting shadows...trees eclipsing the moon...the barbed ground below snapping in haunting rhythms as they tread...Gabi's mind was ripped asunder too. It occured to her that every scenario her bewildered imagination conjured up of how this night would end was the same. Without Antonio. Without him in her world...or anyone's.
She knew she would fight the latter with everything she had...he was going to make it out of here, no matter what. But if they did find the path back to civilization...their journey together was over...again. The harsh light of the emergency room, a vice around her heart as he said a quick goodbye and left...she would fumble with the key in the loft door, try to hide her flighty eyes as she explained why she was home so late...the circumstances....and how they could be downplayed to Ricardo's satisfaction. But he would understand....of course he would! He wouldn't want his brother to die......but..... if he was in her arms all over again.......what then?
Abruptly, she turned, a sudden whirl of her hair and Antonio was gone.
Gabi: Antonio??? Antonio?????!
She stumbled into a shadowy figure in a chair, leaping back as a haunting slant of whitish light came over his face.
Husband dearest.
Ricardo: You were expecting maybe...someone else??
Gabi: Ricardo......thank God you're here, you have to help me...a snake bit Antonio, and we have to get him--
Ricardo held out his hand, revealing a small vial of blood-red fluid.
Ricardo: (grimly) This what you need?
Gabi: Yes! Thank you, thank you, I knew you loved us, Ricardo....here, let me see it....
He clamped his hand shut as hers recoiled in surprise.
Ricardo: Love you? Hmm....last I heard, Brother just won't stand for my...deplorable treatment of you. Sure "love" is the right word for that, baby?
Gabi: Ricardo, please....give me the antidote.....
Ricardo: Let's see...love...noun. Ain't that the...tingly feeling you get whenever you're graced by the presence of T? Didja get it when y'had your lips all over him while you were...*ahem*..."sucking the venom out of his shirtless stigmata?" Of course that's what you were doin'. Do you feel it now...knowin' there's nothin' you can do to save the one y'love?
His hand darted about like a bee, just out of her reach.
Gabi: Give it to me!!
Ricardo: How does it feel to be powerless, Gab? Funny how the word "forgiveness" never seemed to come outta my mouth, did it? But I sure as hell know how to make y'work for it, day and night...don't I? I just pull the leash.
She seized him by the wrists and glowered at him...her voice dropping a few pitches.
Gabi: DON'T..you talk me like that, do you hear me??! Stop it!!! Just stop it!!! Put it in my hand...or he's gonna die!!
Ricardo: Gonna? (claps slowly) Braa-vo. Excellent grammar. Didn't y'ever learn the past tense, Sweetheart?
Gabi: (her voice shrinking) ......Past...tense??
Ricardo: Why d'ya think I'm here? Least I could do was pay my respects.
As she backed rigidly away from him...she bumped into something solid... a cold stone beneath her shaking hands...she turned around and knelt at a zombie-like speed to the ground...forcing her vacant eyes to look....at the dark gravemarker....
She swallowed a lump of welled tears...jarringly chilled to the bone...her hands scraping at the inscpription as her eyes turned to liquid.
Gabi: No.........no!!!!!
Ricardo: Very reassuring to know there'll always be six feet of seperation between you two crazy flirts. But y'both got your wishes, right? You got to bury the past...and he's lookin'...oh, I dunno, a lot more grounded in his religion, wouldn't y'say, Gab?........eh-heh-heh.....a-hah-hehhh.....oh, I tell ya'.............
With her head in her hands, she drifted backwards...her rhythmic chantings of "No" overshadowed with Ricardo's laughter....
Gabi shook back into her skin, drawing a ragged breath as she clung for the solid figure beside her, ice in her skull...the soft suede of his coat was like the ledge of a building as she fell back into her surroundings, the terrified gasps beginning to cease.
Antonio: Gabi! What's the matter?? My God, you look like you just fell into your own grave! Are you alright?
He soothed her coal-black hair as she tried to fling the vicious imprint of the headstone from her mind.
Gabi: I.......I thought I heard another noise. Did you hear that?
Antonio: The only thing I hear is you hyperventilating! C'mon...what's wrong......I feel it like a pain when something's bothering you, Gabi...I always can.
Gabi: We have to keep moving, Antonio...
Antonio: Alright. Then we'll walk and talk about what's bothering you.
Gabi: (wryly) Are you sure you can do both without falling flat on your face?
Antonio: Depends if that was a reference to the weight of the subject or a slight against my overall intelligence.
Gabi: Can't say I have much over you in that department, considering we're both lost in the middle of the woods.
Antonio: True.
Gabi: How's your arm?
Antonio: Subject changing, huh? Alright, then....I'll tell you if you tell me what's the matter.
Gabi: My question first.
Antonio: Alright. It feels like it's been bitten by a sharp-toothed reptile. OK, I'm done, now on to what's really important.
Gabi: And you aren't???
Antonio: If I can't take away what's hurting you inside, than no.
Gabi: No, okay? You want to know what's bothering me, then that's it! It's you...always having to be a martyr for me, to sacrifice yourself for me. I don't want you feel like you don't matter unless I'm okay. You do...more than you'll ever know and...it hurts when you become my shadow, but you always do, even now with your own life on the line!! I don't need your "wind beneath my wings" Antonio, I need you flying right beside me, alright?? Can you do that?
Humbled by her words, he felt a rush of heat across his face and a thundering in his chest...he looked down, knowing if he met her eyes at that moment, he would do something that neither of them would regret.
Antonio: (softly)....So...uh.....what're you doing New Year's Eve?
Gabi: (smiles) Subject changing, are we?....OK....I've got a better question. What's your New Year's resolution?
With a smug grin, looked back up at the clusters of stars and they turned on their next hopeful path towards the time share.
Antonio: I don't know...maybe to stop eating Rosario Jewelie-Crunch for breakfast every morning so maybe I can have a good day for a change?
Gabi: (laughs) Oh, that's interesting!
Antonio: And you?
Gabi: A predictable one, I guess. To make up for what we did to Ricardo.
Antonio: That was most likely the one I decided on too....but...here, now....I don't know if I'll ever find a way to make up for the way I feel, Gabi....
Gabi: You....you didn't hear the revised version, Antonio...
Antonio:....Revised..?
Gabi: To stop leaving things unfinished in my life.
They started to draw in closer as they walked....the darkness of this horrible night succumbing to the light they sought in one another...sliding closer....
Antonio: (nervous) Uh.......you mean, like...home improvement...type things.. or...
Gabi: Relationships....
Antonio: And....what exactly is..this...our, relationship.....?
Before the answer that was pounding in each of their swollen mouths could consume them...Antonio suddenly started to sway.
Gabi: What's wrong??? What's the matter???
Antonio: ...Nothing, I.....just felt a little dizzy, that's all.
Gabi: Hold on, Antonio...we're almost back at the house, I can feel it now...we'll get you to the hospital, I promise! This night from hell will be over before you--
Before he knew it, Gabi was no longer under his arm, but descending with a shrill scrape of rock to the slant of a deadly embankment to nowhere.
The dark-haired man in uniform gave a boasting nod to his partner as he jimmied open the airport locker.
Ruiz: Bingo. Learn from the master, Spaz!
Spence rolled his eyes as they peered inside.
Spence: Are you sure the only guy on the force we should be worried about is Ricardo?
Ruiz: Guess we'll have our answer soon enough.
He pulled a mysterious envelope from the dark corner of the chamber and opened it.
Ruiz: Copies of the counterfeit documents. Dammit, Ric...what's the deal? (Starts to close the door)
Spence: Wait! I think there's something else in there.
Ruiz: ....A tape? (looks it over) Uh oh...something tells me this ain't a copy of Pam and Tommy Lee.
Spence: Yeah. Unless Ricardo's bizarro list of extra-curricular activities has something to do with breaking into the adult entertainment industry.
Ruiz: I wouldn't rule out anything, muchacho. Come on, we'd better get back to the station and watch this.
Spence: Hey, wait, the airport control office probably has a VCR.
Ruiz: And the rookie has a brain! Right behind you.
As the men in blue hustled away...a man in black, collared with white appeared not far behind, strolling to the locker like any patient man of God would.
Ricardo: (to himself) Good evening, Father....time to bestow a few more gifts.
He gripped the duffel bag that contained the gun...the deadly instrument used to strike him dead.....perps identified...."Antonio, Gabriella.....how could you...?"
His expression soured like hell when he tugged open an empty locker.
Ricardo: Wha....oh, nno. Helllll, no. I musta--yeah. Must be the wrong--no, it's the right one....omigod.....??
What could've happened??? His eyes like golf balls, he stuck his head into the locker as far as possible....no, he was right the first time, completely empty...a loud gonging resounded as he banged his head on the way out.
Ricardo: Oof!!! Aw......
A pudgy little janitor with huge trifocals was mopping the floor, and looked over in curiosity.
Janitor: *Ahem*.....can I help you with something, Father?
Ricardo: (rubbing his head) A-Actually, er, my son, you can. I think my locker's been broken into, s-some sort of, ungodly scoundrels have violated the 3rd, uh, 5th, the "Thou shalt not steal" commandment!
Janitor: You're kidding! (squints) Oh...well, you're in luck, your Eminence! Some police officers that might be able to help you are coming right this way!
Ricardo turned his bulging gaze to the quickly approaching faces of Spence and Ruiz in the busy crowd of airport flyers.
Ricardo: Ho-ly!!!
His legs refusing to cooperate for a moment, Ricardo stumbled, ducking behind the row of lockers as the puzzled janitor looked on.
Ruiz: I told you the airport central was this way, Spaz!
Spence: (sighs) Yeeah, yeah.......
His spine a frozen rod against the lockers, Ricardo watched them....carrying his precious cargo away.
Ricardo:.......what the hell are they doin' here..? It's too soon....how did they.....oh man, I gotta switch to plan B, or....or is this plan D....?..Dammit, if I don't get this gun in their possession, I'm toast!...
Oscar Ruiz flashed his badge at the airport control center.
Ruiz: SBPD. Investigation in process. You got a place where we can play this tape?
Within minutes, the two were huddled around a small TV monitor in the busy room.
Spence: Alright, bud. Let's get some answers.
They glanced with raised eyebrows at a blank screen after they popped it in.
Ruiz: Hmph. Looks like somebody didn't be kind and rewind.......Spence? Yooo-hoo, tower to Spence?
Spence: Uh....Houston, we have a problem???
Gazing out the window of the central command center with marble eyes and gaping jaws, the CHiPs wannabes saw quite an eyeful..........
On every flight departure screen in the airport.
The terminal agents looked at them in absolute horror.
Man: You imbeciles!! That's the wrong VCR!!
Spence: We didn't do it..?!
Ruiz: Whoa, whoa, just hit stop, man! Shut that damn thing off!
Spence: No...aw, no! It's jammed in here! I can't stop it!!
Man: And this is what our tax dollars are paying for???
Every passer-by in L.A.X. was completely still, looking up. Ice cream toppled off of cones, flyers were walking into walls, unable to tear their eyes from the sudden onslaught of sensual blobs.
Little old lady: (smiling) What time is the flight to that place?
Ruiz: (blank-faced) Well color me blue and call me a movie star...
Two men of the cloth wandered about the airport, oblivious at the moment to the stupor around them.
Father O'Brien: Excellent flight, eh, Monsignor? Safe in the ever-gracious hands of God.
Monsignor: (looking up) Oh.....my......it can't be....it isn't possible!!!
Father O'Brien: (gasps) Great Apparitions of Lourdes!!!
Monsignor: I would like Father Torres....in my office...now!!!!
His mind reeling in thoughts of dammage control, Ricardo approached the quirky janitor again...unaware of the mass-televised attack of the tape. He tugged the zipper of the duffel bag and sent the pistol tumbling to the floor in front of him.
Janitor: Father! What're ya' doing with a gun ??
Ricardo: (Come on, Ric, look as dopey and unconvincing as good old bro! ) Well, I uh, you see, uh....
Janitor: I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something about this.
He took off the Coke-bottle glasses and a flash of gold stunned Ricardo's eyes....a badge.
Janitor: Lenny Nuddnitch, Federal Marshal! You're under arrest for concealing a weapon in a high security zone!
OK, so Ricardo dropped the duffel and ran like hell, or at least as fast as his buckling legs would carry him.
Janitor: Stop!!! Stop that priest!!!
Ruiz and Spence were still frozen in front of the glass window as a blur of Ric whizzed by...the duo dumbfounded by the multiple incarnations of Gabi....entangled with Antonio.
Ruiz: Hey, Spence....?
Spence: ....Uh-huh.....?
Ruiz: ...Ya think we just found Ricardo's motive for a possible manslaughter?
Spence: OH, yeah....it's got Othello written all over it.....
Ruiz: I'm putting out the APB. Let's hope he didn't get to Antonio and Gabi afterall.......
As Ricardo sprinted away, he happened to look up....and was suddenly accosted by the turquoise-tinted visions of his nightmares.
What the--?!? Aw naw, naw, anything but this!!!!
It was everywhere! The indestructable hyper-kiss. Her spine-melting grin. That dirty smirk of his. Drawing him closer. Kissing. Still kissing....never letting each other go........
He bolted out of the airport as if he was a time traveler that had seen a horrible vision of the future.
Rocks skidding beneath her foot, Gabi's whole body dropped violently as she slid, a shriek of fear echoing from the sharp crest of the cliff.
Antonio: Gabi!!!!!!
He fell to his stomach on the edge, lunging for her at the steep place she had stopped...for now.
Her fingers flailing, she tried to pull up.....another horrible sound of skidding rocks beneath her feet as she braced the ledge.
Gabi: ....I can't pull myself up!!! Antonio, be careful!!
He was dangling dangerously forward, his feet almost in the air.
Antonio: Grab my hand...come on...you're so close I can almost reach you.....aggh.....come on.....
Gabi: No!!! Listen to me......save your strength, Antonio, you're getting weaker....the venom!--
Antonio: I don't care about the GODAMN venom, Gabi, I don't care if it rushes right to my brain, or if I fall off trying....you're not leaving me!!!!!
He felt his every self-restriction melting away, his eyes ablaze as he strained to reach. OK, so maybe this wasn't the smartest moment to be displeasing God with a sudden streak of vain words.....but no. If God would do this...take this extraordinary woman from everyone's lives to punish him for a broken vow and a bruised ego....if He'd leave him to watch his life, yes, HIS LIFE in its purest and only definition slip away from him.....he wanted no part of Him.
A gust of wind russled her ink-black hair as she glanced with a ration of morbid curiosity over her shoulder into the depth of the ravine below....she let out a soft moan of despair.
Antonio: No, Gabi, no....I hate to use a cliff-dangling-cliche, but don't look down, OK??? Just let go with one hand....really slow....and reach me........I know you can....just keep your eyes on me.
Gabi: Believe me, that's not the part I'm having a problem with, Antonio!! Aghh....OK......OK, here we go.........
She concentrated with everything she had on his rigid hand.....released one of hers from its death-hold on the rock and stretched out to him....his overcast eyes looked like they were about to burst....his whole body and soul would if he couldn't do this....he clamped his quivering hand around her wrist.
Antonio: I have you......I have you, Gabi........
And like a horrible vision that would tear him from sleep in the night, her arm plunged out of her jacket sleeve, a sound like falling hail as she crumbled further away, her legs fully airborne as she clung to anything solidly possible.
Antonio: NO!!!!!!!
Tears were streaming down both their faces now.
Gabi: I can't hold on anymore......I can't.......you still have a chance, Antonio. Take it, go....you have to get the antidote..........
Antonio:..........For WHAT, Gabi??? For WHAT without you?????.......
Gabi: There's something I have to say to you, Antonio....something I have to say before I.......
Antonio: No!......
Gabi:.........I love you....Antonio.....and I don't want you to go on thinking that what I felt for you was never real.......that when I held you and made love to you it was just an illusion......I wanted you, I chose you, I LOVE you and don't you ever forget that, Antonio........ever......!!
Just as her fingers began to straighten out one by one, their bearings on the edge lost as she struggled to hold on.......Antonio's whole body nearly went vertical in the air as he made one last grasp for her......dizzy, replete......her hand was in his. It was in his.
His every muscle screaming in protest, he pulled her to him, her bloodied hand scaling the rock as if it was a dream.....as if she had already died.....one agonizing tug later and they were twisted in each others' arms......a thrashing against their ribs, they gulped the air as they crushed each other.
Antonio: I love YOU......and don't you ever forget THAT, Gabi....for as long as you live.....
Clothed in a shroud of black, Jude Cavanaugh approached the door of the time share cottage ready to pounce, with a leather-clad Annie in tow.
Annie: Let me guess, honey...you've gotta prove to me how brave you are and bust the door down when it's probably not even locked.
Jude: Me??? Annie, Annie, Annie....I'll have you know I'm the perfect cavalier, even when it comes to stakeouts, see?
He rapped on the door.
Jude: Avon calling!!!
One quite impressive jujitsu kick later, the door blasted open as Jude grapsed for his gun, turning it towards every ominous shadow in the cottage.
Jude: F.B.I.!!!!
Annie: *Tsk, tsk*....a fabulous entrance in vain. There's nobody here!
Jude: (looks to the window) No....but someone made damn sure their bullets had a way in.
The picture window looked like a shattered waterfall....with a tell-tale hole.
Annie: Omigod.....that matches Vanessa and Michael's story about the gunshots.....but where are Antonio and Gabi??
The back door was swaying with the wind.
Jude: My guess is they ran like hell. Dammit!! When I get my hands on that psychotic son of a--
He noticed that Annie hung her head at the onset of his words.
Jude: (Softly) Hey....Annie, Annie....what's wrong? Why do you keep getting all quiet when I bring up Ricardo?
Annie: If you believe I'm capable of having it, guilt, I guess. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now, Jude.
Jude: What...?
Annie: He saved my life this year.
Jude: You're kidding! What, from some expired half-and-half at the Java Web??
Annie: Close enough, babe. But the Ricardo you're seeing now...he's not the one I know and love....
Jude: It's hard to believe, Red, but I trust you on that. Is that why you wanted to come with me?
Annie: I need answers...we all deserve them. You know, he was always the one guy in the world that did those unattainable 'right things,' Jude. God, did he want to reform me, Jude. He used to say, "Oh, Aannie, why are you always scheming, oh Aaannie, why are you always plotting?" And then, he goes and pulls something straight out of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" on the people he cares about the most?? It just doesn't make any sense! There has to be something else to it...
Jude: I know...but you can't let the past cloud the here-and-now, Annie. It sounds like the guy you knew has done a total 180...and the people he claims to love are in serious danger!
He lead the way out the back door into a clearing of trees as Annie slunk behind him. He crouched to the ground and a worried expression washed over his face.
Jude: Two sets of footprints leading into the woods. Just great...if Gabi and Antonio ran...we might never find them.
Annie: No, don't say that, Jude...I mean, Antonio's a regular boy scout. He'll keep her safe...hehh...or maybe vice versa. Under the Suzy Homemaker act she's quite the tough little bitch herself. A wannabe me!
Jude: Well...considering who her uh, mentor is...if skinning a mink for an emergency fur accessory is Gabi's idea of survival skills too...they're in deep trouble. I've heard stories about the San Karma woods, Red...that people go into them and never come out.
Annie: (rolls her eyes) Yeah, yeah, Greg, the idol is taboo, and a year later their footage is found. Come on, Blairboy. We'll just go after them!
Jude: Annie, wait!
Suddenly, Jude's cell began to ring, and they both stopped dead in their tracks.
Jude: Cavanaugh here. Yeah. Uh huh....no...you found what???...Oh my God....that explains everything......oh no...it's all coming together now. Listen, I need a search party at the time share yesterday --lifeguards, paramedics, farmgirls from Kansas, whoever you can find, A.S.A.P.! Now that we know what we're dealing with there's no shortage of possibilities. Ten four, Ruiz.
Annie: What? What did they find??
Jude: Ohh......they found footage alright. 24 Hours of Animal Mating Rituals...starring Antonio and Gabi Torres.
Annie: N-o!! You're kidding me!?! Oh God...so that's why he.........it's revenge....he has it out for them, Jude.....
Jude: I know, Red. And we're gonna find them.......
Ricardo slammed the rickety door of the fishing villa behind him like a criminal that had reached the safehaven of his hideout. He stood against the closed door with an agitated look on his face for a moment and sighed.
Ricardo: Ohhh man.....it's Miller time alright.
Leaning on the open refridgerator door...a sudden sense of relief passed through him. It was done. And even though it drove him crazy not knowing if the murder weapon was in Spence and Ruiz's capable hands (Well, maybe that was an overstatement)...they had the papers. And the tape....*bleccch*...was obviously in their possession too. But would it be enough? To convict them.....?
Convict them. His detective's psyche analyzed the word as he lay down on a brittle futon couch. Gabi...she could probably get off with a lesser sentence...women always could. She could play the victim and--at the very least--get slapped with aiding and abetting...possibly be sent to some sort of asylum like a bad Winona Ryder movie. But of course, any kind of mental intervention could only be a plus when it came to old Gab!
But Antonio...he was the trigger. Blood of his blood....flesh of his flesh that had "slaughtered" his own big brother. He was headed for life without parole....but..the verdict could get much worse, he contemplated with a sudden uncomfortable swallow......much worse........
~~~~~~~In a darkened, smoke-filled room.....Detective Torres dons a long, hooded robe as he tightens the leather tourniquets around the young man's arms....executioner, securing his little brother in the electric chair.
Ricardo: Antonio Torres....I hereby sentence you to death for the murder of...eh-heh- heh...me.
Antonio: Ricardo....please....don't do this....I know you hate me for what I did....but I don't deserve to die! Not like this, please!!!
Ricardo: Aw, come on, T. It's just like when we used to drag our feet across the carpet and shock each other when we were kids. Well, with a little more 'oomph' than Mama's tangerine shag rug, of course.
Antonio: But I'm innocent! .......Help!!!! Somebody help me!!!!
Ricardo: Nobody suffers like you, Antonio. Go ahead. Plead your case. Swear to "Gaad" you didn't kill me. Oops! Can't exactly call on the Big Guy as a character witness, can ya'? See, now you know what it's like to be screamin' at the top of your lungs, an' nobody can hear you. You oughta know what I went through with my little stroke of bad luck...after all, you caused it.
Antonio: Caused it??? You know, that's exactly what I like to do in my spare time, Ricardo. Just walk right into people's carotid arteries and hinder the blood flow to their brains.
Ricardo: Ooh-hoo, Mama shoulda named you Aleck, smart ass. You did , and ya' know it.
Antonio: It wasn't my fault....or Gabi's fault, Ricardo! I didn't want you to be hurt...I do love you! But I love her too...I didn't want to spite you....I didn't set out to fall in love with her....not ever...but I couldn't fight it...
Ricardo: We-hell....maybe you shoulda thought o'that when you said "I do" to the Madonna. And I ain't talkin' the Material Girl.
Antonio: Vows?? You want to be the spokesperson for VOWS, Ricardo?? You've made a joke out of every law you swore to uphold. VOWS?? What about the ones you made to love, honor, and cherish her...until your fake death do you part???
Ricardo: Oh, you'd like to cherish her again, wouldn't you? To show her you're actually anatomically correct under your little white gown, huh? Ahh...maybe "correct" is pushing it. Now, "anatomically defect," that , my little man, I think suits you.
Antonio: Really. And I always wondered why detectives carried magnifying glasses.
Ricardo: Ohhh...I think that's enough out of you. You're nothin' to me. Expendable. I don't wanna hear ya' whine anymore, I don't wanna hear ya' go into detail about your sick little co-dependent relationship with Gabi. (Antonio gives him a confused look.) All I need...is to know you'll never be takin' anything away from me again for as long as you live. Whoops--time's up!
Antonio: Ricardo....Ricardo please!!
He tightened the leather straps harshly and clamped the metal headpiece to Antonio's skull.
Ricardo: Oh, and did I mention I'm also the officiating priest for the execution??? (makes the sign of the cross) Deus liebins abito adeverto celestus......
Antonio: ........No.......
He smudged two dark strips of electrical tape over each of Antonio's frightened eyes.
Ricardo: Theeere we go...don't want these falling out of the frockets...I mean, sockets...now do we?
Antonio: Ricardo!!!
Ricardo: Shhhhhhh...just close your eyes, little brother. Just like you wanted me to do....and it'll aaall go away........
His crazed laughter drowns out Antonio's blood-curdling scream as he flips the switch....~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a frigid sweat, Ricardo flew up on the fishing cabin's shabby couch as if he'd been electrocuted himself. A dream....it was only a nightmare........
And the scariest part of it had been him.
He caught a sudden glimpse of himself in a fractured mirror...he was still wearing Antonio's vestments. For a flash in time, Antonio's saddened reflection stared back....then morphed back into him....this terrible clone with a matching haircut.
The collar felt like a noose. He tore it off, as if to save himself.
Ricardo: No......I can't let him get to me....can't crack now.....I gotta find out what's goin' on before it really kills me!....
He flipped on an old black and white TV and waited for a sign.
News Anchorwoman: *Late-breaking news in the coastal haven of Sunset Beach. The search for Detective Ricardo Torres continues...to no avail.*
Ricardo: Yee-ss!
News Anchorwoman: *And the question that arrises in every shocked citizen's mind is........*
Ricardo: "How could his own wife and brother the priest do this?" COME ON, BABY! (takes a swig of beer)
News Anchorwoman: *What would drive a reputable L.A. cop to such a disgusting act?*
Ricardo: *Pppfffffffff!!!!!!!!*
Once the mist of brew settled, mouth agape...all he could do was stare at the TV.......
Gabi was alive....awake in a dying man's arms and couldn't let go........there was a stillness in her eyes as she eased from the desperate embrace and looked to him. She knew all too well what they were falling into......but of course, one of them would have to take responsibility for initiating it first.
It would be her.
Before he had the time to draw a breath of relief she mauled him with both hands and dragged him into her kiss with a force that thrilled and shocked him all at once. His body thawed and started to breathe again as she coaxed him into her mouth, and her breath was his....she belonged to him. There were no words left. To not express this with lips, hands, touches was the farthest thing from human.
They stopped....staring at each other in wide-eyed wonder.
Gabi: (softly) You saved my life.
Antonio: If....if I said you didn't have to thank me THAT way I'd be lying......
Gabi: I meant every word I said back there, every one.
Antonio: (whispers) I know.
Gabi: And I know the reason I'm here right now is so I can save you. I'm not gonna give up until you're safe.....never.....
Antonio: You're safe....that's all that matters. Me.......my God.....I obviously lead us so far off course from the house.........it's been almost an hour. Gabi.......I don't know how much longer I have..........
As a hot fusion of dark amber eyes took place.......Antonio remembered what had happened between him and Gabi the last time he thought he would never see the dawn again......................
To be continued.......