He started to cough and sputter. "Okay, okay, you took us. But, my dear lady, I'm afraid that I cannot vouch for your proficiency with firearms since I have never seen you do more than wave one around. But in case you haven't noticed, there happens to be a rattlesnake sitting up just about a hundred feet to your right."

Annie spun around, raised the gun, and fired, all in one motion. The rattlesnake dropped like a ton of bricks. Annie calmly walked over to the dead snake, picked it up, brought it back to Fish, and asked, "How about that? Have you ever seen a three-eyed rattler before today?"

"Can't say that I have. Look, we were just following you to make sure nothing happened to you. We were trying to protect you, for God's sake."

"Oh, how sweet of you, Mr. Fish," Annie cooed. Then she snarled, "Does it look like we need protection? Maybe you should think about hiring us."

"What makes you think we need protection?" Nikki asked.

"Because you're going into a snake pit, that's why. I can only guess why you're here and who hired you. You think those bad boys at the Babylon are going to let you take them? Get real."

Nikki laughed. "We took you, didn't we? Not that it's any of your business, but we have backup in town. It's time for you to get real. I say we take these guys back to that empty building, tie them up, and get on with what we came here to do. These wusses are amateurs and not worth the effort we're expending on them. Let's vote."

"Seven to zip to go back to the abandoned building," Alexis said, after all seven hands shot into the air.

"Ladies, ladies, please. We need to be reasonable here. I've known for two days that you were coming. Rena. . .well, let's just say she's a very good friend. She was worried about you and wanted me to. . .watch over you. If I had an ulterior motive, I would have called the cops day before yesterday and sat around to wait to collect the massive reward that's on your heads. I didn't do that, I won't do it, and neither will my men. For whatever it's worth to you, I cheered you on when you. . .uh. . .were in your active mode. I can see now why you're in such demand, but again, you don't know the people you're dealing with. When big money like this is involved, there are no rules."

"Why should we believe anything you tell us?" Yoko asked.