Fandom:	Houston Knights
Series:	Other Authors
Rating:	NC17
Pairing:	Joe/Levon
Archive:	Starwinder's
Title:	The Chicago Package
Author:	Etch
Standard Disclaimer: Houston Knights belongs to Jay Bernstein and Michael Butler and Columbia Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. This is fan fiction, written out of love for the shows. I am making no money off this. I have no money so please don't sue me. Any original characters who may appear in these stories are the property of the author.

CHICAGO PACKAGE
By Etch

LaFiamma was silent on the flight back to Houston. He'd left his brother Markus on the flight line waiting for his plane that already had Lance Baker onboard. The brothers had hugged, said a few words and departed. Joey conversed with the Colonel in command of the Rangers and they both agreed it would be a waste for the Rangers to go. However the Colonel knew some Navy S.E.A.L.S who were in Houston for a reunion who probably would be glad to help, Joe gave the Colonel Hummer's phone number.

Sergeant Harold "Hawk" Feldman positioned opposite LaFiamma as he was for the flight over intently watched his commanding officer. He'd seen LaFiamma under fire and up against insurmountable odds before, but he'd never seen him in a situation that pitted the man against his own family, then just back away. Who was this woman LaFiamma called Aunt Teresa anyway, Hawk thought.

Joey sat with his eyes closed, his head back against the hard metal wall of the helicopter. Not one muscle twisted to even indicate that he was alive. "You want to know why I didn't put up more of a fight to keep Roberto from taking her, don't you?" LaFiamma said breaking the silence between them.

"Yes sir," Hawk replied, gulping back unasked questions caught in his throat.

"Aunt Teresa helped raise me after my father died ... and after my mother died. She's the matriarch of a mob family, Hawk. I've seen her cast the deciding vote on family affairs that have cost people their lives -- and she's saved some from losing their lives. With the nod of her head Roberto could have killed everyone in that room before you ever had a chance to draw your weapon. Lucia's lies will cost every officer there their career and probably their marriages. She's not worth seventeen people dying."

After a few minutes of silence, Joey muttered quietly, "Damn, I loved her. I really loved her."

00ooo00

Joe got the chopper pilot to do a low hover over Smith's property before going to an open field near his property. The hover was just what the Marines needed to distract and confuse the unfriendlies that hadn't already been captured. With extra help from the SEALS all were transported to a waiting immigration van.

Joe thanked the chopper pilots for the ride and he and Hawk hiked the half-mile back to Joe's house. The two arrived just as Hummer and Shadow were stripping off their gear and getting ready to relax. They started to greet the Major, but Hawk waved them off. The two Marines watched Joey take the stairs two at a time up to the bedrooms. The house shook, as he slammed the double doors to his master suite shut.

"What the hell happened?" Hummer quizzed cornering Hawk in the kitchen.

"Come on, you can tell us!" Shadow pleaded, his eyes gazing upwards as though he was watching Joe through the ceiling.

"I can't tell you! I can't! Did you know he has the authority to kill any of us on the spot if we so much as say one word about any mission we've been on? Did you?" Hawk gasped, pushing open his bedroom door so he could begin to undress.

"This was a mission, man. And I hope to god I never ever have to go through what went down tonight ever again." Hawks reiterated stripping off his jacket, then his shirt.

"Did he say ANYTHING on the way home?" Shadow asked, glancing upwards as noise from LaFiamma's bedroom carried down into the kitchen.

"Yeah, he said ... quote, 'Damn, I loved her. I loved her so much,' unquote." Hawk replied shaking his head. "You think we should go up and see what's happening? Sounds like he's taking the place apart."

"What can we do?" Shadow gruffed, also glancing upwards. "He could order us to stand on your heads, and we'd have to do it. Lundy's the only one...the only one...who's going to call him?"

Hawk walked to the wall phone, ran his finger down a list of numbers until he came to Lundy's, then dialed the number. Levon picked it up on the first ring. Hawk explained what was going down and Levon said he was on his way.

No one seemed to notice that the crashing sounds had stopped overhead, or that LaFiamma was now standing tight against the wall with a pistol in his hand. Joe knew his Marines. Knew Shadow could push until Hawk might break. He didn't want them to know about his sons yet. Not yet.

"Come on, Hawk, tell us something!" Hummer pleaded coming up behind his friend as Hawk hung up the phone. "What happened to Lucia? Did you meet more of his family? What?"

"I CAN'T TELL YOU!" Hawk screamed turning fast, almost knocking Hummer to the ground, and seeing LaFiamma for the first time. First Feldman saw the look on his C.O.'s face. Then he saw the gun Joe was holding.

"Don't you turkeys understand! The Major has the authority to kill me if I say anything about his brothers or Aunt..." Hawk shouted wildly, his eyes glued to the gun that Joe held to his side that now moved upward in his direction.

***C-L-I-C-K!!!***

Sam and Hummer automatically reached for guns they weren't carrying, whirling to meet the man that threatened them from behind.

"Major?" The two chirped in disbelief.

"Another word Feldman and you'll be in front of that firing squad I told you about." LaFiamma groused roughly walking from where he stood to the middle of the kitchen.

Levon roared to a stop and barreled out of the Jimmy heading for the kitchen door. He figured it would be unlocked so he just walked in ... straight into the barrel of LaFiamma's gun.

"LaFiamma? What the hell you doing?" Levon squawked in stark surprise.

"Back off Lundy! This isn't your business." Joey growled his eyes on Hawk.

"Yeah, well I'm making my business. Shit man, what happened in San Ann-tone?"

"Every man that goes on a mission with me knows that it can't be discussed EVER! And if Hawk says one more word I will personally deliver him to that firing squad." Joey replied sarcastically dropping the pistol back to his side.

"In case you two brain deadbeats don't remember the rules," Joey growled into Hummer and Shadow's faces, "I suggest you pull out your code book and see just what exactly goes down if you disobey the rules. Now go up to your rooms and don't come out until noon. GO!"

Joey waited until they left before turning his attention to Hawk.

"Joe? You said you were going to read the Chicago Package when you got back." Levon said trying to divert his partner's attention away from Hawk.

"Did I?" Joey remarked his tone softer. Trying hard to swallow his anger LaFiamma turned his eyes back to Hawk. "In your bedroom - strip to your shorts and wait for me."

"Yes Sir!" Hawk answered literally jumping as the phone next to his shoulder began ringing.

Reaching around his Marine, nodding for him to leave, Joe answered the phone.

"Bobbie? What's the trouble, you tired of her already?" Joey blinked as his older brother began telling him the things that Lucia said she couldn't do.

LaFiamma burst out laughing. It was just the tension breaker he needed. "Let me tell you big brother, that little whore can do it ways you and I never thought of. She can swallow your double dangle in one gulp. She can do a 69, a 99, a twist, or handle two at a time! Sex toys make her wild and the shorter her hair the wilder she is."

Joey listened, his conversation going from English to Italian and back again. "Roberto -- you still have that place up in Wisconsin with that double fish pool? No, the one that makes it appear that you're swimming among the sharks. Take her swimming, big brother. She hates water except in the shower -- give her a demonstration if you have to."

LaFiamma laughed as his brother said he was having trouble with someone but didn't want to eliminate him in the usual way. "As I said, Bobbie, you'll be surprised at what she can do if she realizes she has no way out. She's played all of us for suckers, and she's still doing it. Yeah, spiked would be good. Pink or purple tips if I remember right. Love you too - take care."

Joe hung up the phone and just stood facing the wall. "THAT BITCH! THAT STINKIN' DIRTY BITCH!" Joey roared.

Lundy stood in the kitchen not moving. He knew his partner would go through a grief process losing Lucia, but what he'd just heard and now saw wasn't what he had expected to happen.

"Major?"

Joey turned and looked up to see Hawk standing in the doorway of his bedroom wearing nothing but black and white striped shorts.

"I know a retired Air Force Colonel in Chicago that Lu lived with when she first enlisted. He's the one who taught most of what she thrives on. If you have a Chicago phone book I could find his name."

"Yeah, I've got one." Joey said breaking into a jog and heading up to his bedroom. In seconds he returned with three thick sections of Chicago area white pages.

Of course the name was in the last book that Feldman looked in. Joey looked at the name then up at Hawk. "You sure this is the man?"

"Yes sir. Why do you know him?"

"Oh yeah. I know him!"

LaFiamma returned to the phone and dialed Roberto's 800 number. "Bobbie! Here's a name and a number of someone Lu used to live with...one of my Marines here said this guy taught her everything she thrives on. You're not going to believe who it is....Shane MacAllister. Yeah. Yeah. Knowing her, bro...I'd do both. Okay."

Joey hung up the phone and slowly turned. He looked from Lundy to Hawk and back again. "Levon, why don't you go up and find the Chicago Package, maybe put the bedroom back together. I'll be up in a few."

"I got a feeling I'd better...."

"I'm not going to hurt him, Levon."

"You sure."

"I'm sure."

As soon as Levon was gone Hawk dropped to his knees and placed his hands behind his head. He saw the anger in the Major's eyes, knew he was going to be drop-kicked or slapped so he figured if he started out on the floor he wouldn't have far to fall.

Joey edged by him, touching his shoulder. "Get up Hawk. On the bed, come on."

"Sir?" Feldman questioned not understanding why the bed was being turned down. He'd spilled names he should be punished or something.

"I'm not going to shoot you. Come on. Shorts on or off -- lay down, face up." Joey said weary from the night's stress.

Still fully clothed, LaFiamma moved onto the bed, spreading Feldman's legs Joe moved between them. Feldman shivered as the man he loved touched each knee that began to walk fingers up his thighs to his rib cage and nipples.

Hawk's hand reached behind him grabbing the bottom of the headboard as LaFiamma's thumb and finger began to tweak the soft aurora flesh around the nipple.

A soft moan escaped Feldman's lips when a tongue and teeth tugged one nipple then the other. Hawk swallowed, his whole body wanted more but he didn't dare ask. Didn't dare push.

"What do you want of me Hawk?" Joey rasped anxiously thinking more of his partner waiting for him upstairs than the wanton man under him.

"Whatever you'll give me, sir. A touch -- a suck -- a fuck -- whatever you want, I'm yours. I've always been yours. I've never belonged to anyone else." Hawk moaned wishing the pleasure would never stop.

"What about when you were married?" Joey asked his tongue in a wandering path down the middle of Hawk's chest to his navel.

"She -- she couldn't compete with you, sir. I loved you too much. Talked about you too much. Called your name even when she and I made love. We divorced after only a year. I just wanted you...just you. Even if you never touched me again, I just wanted to be nearer to you. Just having you look at ...... AARGGH!"

The word was guttural, indistinguishable, it came from deep within Feldman's throat and was heard throughout the house, as Joe's mouth touched, then swallowed Hawk's hard swollen penis. The eruption came fast and was over before Hawk wanted it to be. It was definitely better than being shot.

Joe moved off the bed, reached for the coverlet and draped it over Hawk. Walking to the end of the bed, LaFiamma stood and waited until Hawk's breathing was more controlled, until eyes opened to look at him.

"I apologize for what I did in the kitchen, Hawk. I lost control. I'm sorry. I'll try not to let it happen again."

"If -- if this is the way -- you apologize sir -- you can apologize anytime." Feldman rasped his voice ragged with passion for the man he loved and didn't want to leave.

"You want more than this though - what is it?" Joey asked seeing the look of a lost soul in Hawk's eyes.

"It's not my place to ask for it," Feldman replied his face, eyes looking down away from Joey's gaze.

"You're a man who loves a man who loves you back. Ask."

"I - I just would like to be able to go to sleep with my arms around you - or your arms around me - knowing that in the morning we're still in the same bed. I don't need suckin' and fuckin' all the time. Just the comfort that - that you're there." Feldman replied sheepishly as if asking for the moon.

LaFiamma just stood there. Stood and looked at the Marine lover he'd just given a quick blow job too. Am I pushing too hard, Joe wondered? Expecting too much, more than they want to give.

"I can do that. But to do that - you'd have to move into the master bedroom in that walkout basement apartment. You've changed since our threesome with Levon. You still have your edge, but it's a softer edge now. You've always been a perimeter man ... and residence in the apartment would cover all the points of the house except here. Think about it." LaFiamma said turning toward the door.

"Can I move over there tonight?" Feldman answered with a grin. "Sir?"

Turning, Joey laughed when he saw Hawk was already out of bed.

"Okay Hawkman, do it tonight. And - for me - find those padded handcuffs we used to use. I like the fact that you're my prisoner with no place to go. Don't be surprised, Feldman, if your wish comes true." Joey replied with a smile.

"Wish, sir?" Hawk gasped not understanding the words.

"About being the Captain's main Marine."

"You know about that?!" Hawk answered his eyes wide.

"I'm your C.O. It's my business to know what my Marines are thinking, wanting and doing."

Joe watched Hawk's mouth open and close. "You'd better check out the apartment before you move over there -- AND Feldman -- change that damn lock you missed!" With that LaFiamma opened the door and was gone.

Feldman stared at the closed door. His shoulders shook as he visualized LaFiamma's arms around him as they dozed together.

00ooo00

As Joey came to the top of the stairs he heard voices in Shadow's room. He knew instantly that Hummer was there and they were hashing about ways to control him. Joe burst through the door with such speed that the two Marines jumped to their feet and plastered themselves flat against the wall.

"So - you two disobeying orders - AGAIN?"

The Marines gulped looking at each other than at LaFiamma. "You're both taller and heavier than me, you could take me out in a second -- why don't you?"

"We've seen you fight Sir. You're quick - you go for pain - you're lethal. We wouldn't win." Shadow remarked quietly wondering what was coming next.

"Even if we did win," Hummer mumbled, "you're an officer - we're enlisted. It's a court-martial offense to strike an officer, let alone your C.O."

"Hummer's right in his observation that we will never be equal in rank. I'm your commanding officer and always will be. This is my house - you are my quests - and I control whether you stay or leave. I want both of you in bed. In the morning you can shower then back to your room and read those books you have in your hands. Read them good. If you intimidate Hawk again, pressing him to give information you know he can't give, you will get a lot more than what he just endured."

Joey turned on his heel and walked to the door pausing only for a moment, he looked back and said, "I apologize for my behavior in the kitchen. It was a bad time in San Antonio... one hell of a night." Then he was gone.

Joey stepped into his bedroom. Looking around he was amazed, everything was picked up, straightened up and back in its proper place. "Lundy?"

"In the closet."

"What the hell you doing in here?" Joey asked as he began to take off the rest of his clothes. "Damn, Lundy, I hope I never have to go through a night like this again."

Using the wall, Levon pushed himself to a standing position. "Found this on the floor," the Texan said, holding up the butt end of a rawhide whip. "Nice leather work, hand woven, turquoise. Must have cost a fortune."

"Got it for free. Won it actually. You're right it is nice. Old too." Joey said stepping out of his shorts.

"This one is different than the one you danced with... shorter too. You ever used this on anyone." Levon asked, looking at the smooth enticing flesh of his naked partner.

"Damn, you're beautiful, Joe!" Levon gasped as the Italian walked past him to hang up some clothes.

"I'm wasted, Lundy. Can we just go to bed and read that package in the morning? No loving - just sleep."

"I ain't been cooling my heels up here for nothing LaFiamma! We're doing more than sleep. I've watched you with your Marines. Watched them drool all over themselves when you walk by. I want some of that hot Italian flesh rubbing against this white Texas flesh. Don't have to perform for me, Joe. Just want you."

"That's what Hawk said .. just want you sir, just want you. Well I'm wanted out. I just want sleep. You want sex Levon you'll have to go to one of them - Hawk or Shadow, they'll be glad to satisfy your needs. I need sleep partner. Just sleep."

Lundy watched his partner lift the sheet and literally fall into bed. Joe was asleep before his head hit the pillow. [Shadow or Hawk .. he offered me his most trusted men. I want more than just a suck off. Need to be held.]

Lundy turned the light off in the closet, then the bedroom and quietly closed the bedroom door. He hadn't gone but two steps when Shadow's door opened and Sam asked him to come in for a minute.

"Is he all right, Levon? We've seen him angry but never like this. I mean - he threaten to kill Hawk on the spot. Hummer and I know it was partly our fault, but the Major wasn't backing down. Hawk's usually the one who can defused him but ... we're worried about him. He's been a cop for eight years and now suddenly he's thrust back into the Corps. We know it has been hard on him. We - we don't want him to lose it ---- we don't!"

Levon pulled the man to him, hugging him, fingers working out the knots in the shoulders. "You aren't going to lose him, Sam. Until we know what went down tonight. We just have to give him space."

It was Sam who started the kissing, the unbuttoning of clothes and Levon didn't resist.

Feldman packed his gear in seconds. He hadn't really unpacked except for what he worn tonight. He meandered through the kitchen down the short stairway to the lower level then headed for the apartment that was on the westend of the tri-plex. He stared at the door realizing too late that he didn't have a key to get in. On a whim he tried the doorknob and found it open.

Entering the apartment he found the kitchen to be small, compacted, U-shaped with all the necessities. He liked the round table with a lazy susan in the middle that took up most of the breakfast nook. It had a standard living room with sofa and chairs, a TV, and books. It was the bedrooms he made a beeline for. The first looked like a kid's room with bunkbeds, a big dresser and a chair. The second had a double bed with some kind of a lace cover over it. Frilly curtains, matching white dressers and not much else. Hawk pushed open the last door and before him was a spindled brass bed, pillows piled in the middle and a handmade quilt. "This is it!" Feldman exclaimed.

Upstairs in Shadow's tree house, Levon and Sam were too involved with each other to hear the noise of Hawk's movements under them.

00ooo00

The noise of a door slamming shut bolted Joey upright in bed. He listened but heard nothing else. He was just getting comfortable and pulling the blankets around him when he heard it again. This time he got up, walked to the window and looked out. The moonlight showed him nothing. He walked out of the bedroom and stood on the landing and listened. All was quiet. Shaking his head, Joey walked back into the bedroom, as he started to get back in bed his hand reached out to touch the Chicago Package. His hand stopped in mid-air. The clasped envelope was closed when he went to bed. He remembered touching the clasp. Now it was open, wide open.

LaFiamma looked around. "Grandma - you telling me I need to read this now?" The word 'now' echoed in Joe's head. He turned and walked into his large closet found a pair of sweatpants and stepped into them. Picking up the package he headed to the comfortable chair they had found Lance Baker in. His only stop was at the refrigerator for something to drink.

"How do you do it?" Joey asked the air around him, as he reached in and took the one bottle of root beer that was on the top shelf. Root beer manufactured and sold only in Chicago.

"One of these days, Granny - you're going to have to tell me about this Sicilian and gypsy blood that goes through this Italian's veins."

Joey opened the package and let the letters fall into his lap. About ten or so were rubber banded together. The others were just loose. All looked like they had been opened and resealed.

"Smith you bastard! I bet you opened and read every one ... then used it against the man. What a deranged man you were! Why didn't we see it?"

Joey gathered up all the loose envelopes and put them back in the larger one. He decided to read the ones secured with a rubber band first. He felt there was an urgency here to free someone or something.

LaFiamma looked at the first envelope. He could tell by the marks on the flap that someone, probably Smith, had used a sharp object to open it. Using a fingernail, the flap eagerly gave way to his touch. Joey glanced at the signature before reading the printing - Michael Littlehorse.

"CAPTAIN - PLEASE! PLEASE RE ENLIST! PLEASE! SMITH IS A MAD MAN! A MAD MAN! WE CANT EVEN TELL U WHAT HE PUTS US THRU IF YOU ARENT HERE. PLEASE DON'T LEAV US A LONE WITH HIM. PLEASE."

Joey laid his head back against the chair, tears welling in his eyes. He could almost hear this American Native screaming these words. An Indian who barely spoke. Who was a great trusted Marine. "Damn," Joey said under his breath, "Is Littlehorse among those in the pool?"

Joe smoothed the wrinkles out of the paper and set it under the telephone. Taking the second letter he noticed that too had the same marks of being forced opened and was resealed. Joey reached into the larger brown envelope to check those envelopes. Most seemed to be intact. Some were not.

Joey looked at the envelope in his hand and noticed some minute letters in the upper left-hand corner. Looking at them more closely he saw they were the letters r and g.

"Captain. I aint never writ a love letter before. Aint really been in love with anybody til I met you. I know my heart pounds in my ear every times you look at me. And that day you pulled me out of the line of fire and yours arms were around me holding me till I stopped shaking. I wished you wouldn't ever let go. Not ever. Just hold me for the rest of my life. Safe in your arms with your fingers playing with my hair. My pee was so hard after that I couldn't walk. That's why I sat down after you left.I hope you get this letter. General Smith said to tell you are true feelings so you would come back. I don't like that man.

"Oh, R.G.," Joey whispered in a barely audible voice. "What abuse he must have put you through. I'm sorry. I really am."

Joe stared at the handwriting on the third envelope. It was Shadow's. LaFiamma was always amazed at Sam Jones' beautiful cursive handwriting.

"Captain LaFiamma.

LaFiamma glanced at all the envelopes that were in the rubber band. All were from his main squad. The Marines he picked when he, himself, was going out on a mission ... Littlehorse, Hummerstein, Jones, Feldman, Gregory, Robinson, Darnell, Lakewood, Cooper and Birdman. Joey hadn't known the whereabouts of Mike Littlehorse for sometime. He prayed that Mike wasn't in the pile of bones in Smith's Washington pool.

Joe fished through the envelopes until he found the initials H.F. in the upper left-hand corner. LaFiamma remembered his anger at finding another man fucking Hawk. He remembered pulling the other off his Marine, grabbing Feldman by the ankles like he was a prize deer and dragging him through the middle of the barracks to the showers. A noise behind Joe alerted him to the fact he wasn't alone.

"Hawk?"

"Yes sir. Thought I heard something. Was just checking to make sure Baker wasn't back in the house."

"What happened to Mike Littlehorse?"

Feldman paused in his answer. "'bout three weeks after those letters were collected he was transferred out. Nobody's seen him since. We even had Gerald try to trace him. He never arrived at the base he was transferred to. But he's not listed as AWOL either. You don't think that Smith...."

"Yeah, lover I do... probably in Smith's pool with others that criticized the Colonel. Want to sit with me?" Joe asked quietly.

"Just checking on things, Major."

"Mind if I curl up next to you later?"

Feldman's face showed such glee he almost didn't answer. "Yes sir. I mean.. no sir."

A broad grin spread across the Italian's face. "Just make sure you don't lock me out...by the way, did you change that lock yet."

"I - I - ah... can't find my key. It fell into my duffel bag..I..ah," Hawk stammered. Things were going so right now I'll be back on the limb.

"You can look in the morning. I'll be there shortly. Not going to read all of these tonight." Joey said feeling now that Mike was the one who had to be found and identified.

LaFiamma waited for Hawk to leave before opening his letter.

"Captain Joseph LaFiamma:

LaFiamma folded the letter into fourths and slipped it into the small coin pocket of his sweat pants. Gathering up all the envelopes except Littlehorse's letter, Joey put them back into the brown envelope, then rose up out of his chair.

"Grandma! I need your help in finding Mike here. I got a feeling he was sold into slavery. Slavery somewhere in the U.S. Maybe some other Marines, soldiers are there too. You need to give me some hints, so we can bring him home .. no matter what shape he's in." Joe reached to turn off the light on the table next to the chair, then thought better of it. He was almost at the apartment's door when he had the strongest urge to call his brother Markus.

Markus growled at the ringing phone inches from his ear. Turning he saw that it was his private line. Only family would call him at this time of night. He quickly answered it and was surprised to find his youngest brother on the other end.

Joey's question woke him instantly. //If someone wants to sell an enemy into slavery, in the US, who would he go to, where would it be?//

Markus listened intently as Joey explained his worry and his want to find Marines that had been in his outfit that General Smith hated, disposed of, but were never declared dead and aren't listed as AWOL.

"Joseph... just slow down, will you? Do you know what time it is? Okay, okay. Yes, I'll put out some feelers. You looking for anyone in particular? Littlehorse? An Indian? This guy wouldn't be strapping tall with hair down to his shoulders, would he? Yeah Joey, I know where he is, and you ain't gonna like it one bit, little brother." Markus ran a hand through his hair. How does he tell a kid brother that another brother bought his man and others for a private brothel just for people who hate American soldiers.

"What I'm going to tell you, Joey, is something you can't repeat. And when you raid the place, you can't tell them who your informant is or how you got the information. When I saw your Indian a couple of years ago.... A guest had taken a whip to him pretty bad. But I know Roberto still has him."

Markus' hand yanked the phone away from his ear as Joey screamed Roberto's name. A scream that in Joey's house brought Hawk to his side as well as Hummer, and two naked lovers named Shadow and Levon.

"It's not too far from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Hold on and I will give you the exact address. But Joey -- don't give any cops there the tip that you're coming. One of the Chiefs of Detectives pays special for an Air Force captain that's been chained to the wall for years. And please don't ask why I've allowed it to go on - I walk a tightrope in my business. Sometimes you have to look the other way."

Joey's housemates stood silently watching the lines of pain and anger form on his face. LaFiamma took Mike's plead and wrote the address Markus gave him on the back of it.

After hanging up the phone, the foursome watched as Joey's breathing increased. Hawk, who was standing the closest, suddenly stepped back. Seconds later LaFiamma raised his hands, screamed at the top of his lungs then beat upon the back of the chair in front of him.

Half turning to Hawk, Joey said, "it'd be better if he was in Smith's pool."

Levon watched a transformation take place in front of his eyes. Now he knew why Joanne Beaumont was afraid of losing LaFiamma to the Marines. Joe's body stiffened, his jaw tightened, he had a completely different air about him as he began giving orders.

"Hawk! Shadow! Pick up Gerald. Bring him here! Don't take no for an answer. Hummer - wake up R.G., tell him to bring the laptop and all of Smith's journals that are marked with a B. Lundy - who do you know in the Dallas-Fort Worth area? Don't you have a friend who is an investigative reporter? I want him on the phone or here in person, and I want it now." LaFiamma demanded sharply picking up Littlehorse's note, folding it up.

Levon is the only one in the group who dared ask, "why?"

"Why?!" Joe shot back. "Because there is a private prostitute ring near the Dallas airport that is using American GI's as slaves for others who hate American soldiers. And one of those slaves is a Marine of mine that has been missing for seven years. He was seen at this place two years ago. I want him back even if I have to put my brother in jail to do it!"

"Roberto?" Levon asked, already knowing the answer from the look on his partner's face.

"Yeah, my stinking, rotten, brother, Roberto!" LaFiamma growled.

"My friend's in town doing research at the University. He called me while you were in San Antonio. I'll go to the hotel and pick him up. Call him from the lobby, he wouldn't be able to back out if I'm there waiting for him."

00ooo00

Gerald, R.G., Shadow, Hummer, and Hawk watched LaFiamma pace. Watched his anger build. Gerald had ventured to ask a question and LaFiamma barked at him to sit. Finally Lundy arrived with his reporter friend, except as the man entered and glanced at LaFiamma, Joey said sharply, "THIS is your friend?!"

"Levon! You didn't tell me your partner was a LaFiamma!" The man who looked like he stepped out of a Marlboro ad remarked, stopping to face Joe.

All waited for the ensuring fight. Lundy turned back ready to play referee, not knowing what to expect.

"See you're still wearing the hat I got'ya," Joey said his tone softening.

"I tried to lose it. It kept finding its way back," the Marlboro man answered.

"You willing to risk what's going down here?" Joe asked stepping closer.

"You willing to arrest your brother and take a possible hit from your family?"

"Yea - Georgie I am. Damn straight I am!"

"You two KNOW each other?" Lundy exclaimed in amazement.

"I interviewed Joe in Germany after he was rescued in Lebanon. Up to a couple of years ago, we've kept in touch. Miss those anniversary get togethers, Joe." George Linden said with a smile. A smile that Hawk and Shadow understood immediately.

"Levon tell you anything?"

"A bit? And I brought some photos. Your man might be in them. Last year we had an undercover man go into this place as a client. He flew in a couple times a month for about three months, then we had him transferred and he hasn't been there since. We can pull him back if you want. He was a big spender. They'd make room for him if he called on short notice -- say a stopover of a few hours in route elsewhere." Georgie said dropping his briefcase on the floor, squatting to take a large envelope out of it.

LaFiamma motioned George and Levon to sit, and all gathered on the floor in a big circle. George started handing out photos, telling everyone that if they spotted someone they knew to put the photo face down in the middle of the circle.

Linden handed some one way and some the other. Three photos were handed to Levon who looked at them and passed them to Joe. As Joey looked at the first photo he saw Hawk turn a photo face down in the middle. Joe passed the first two photos on and stared wide-eyed at the third.

Lundy's soft voice next to him said, "Joe - this Littlehorse?"

"Yeah," was all LaFiamma could muster as he stared at a black and white photo of the swarthy Michael Littlehorse, his hair still cascading down over his shoulders, a face worn and in pain.

"Major? Couple more from our outfit too. Jingles bunk mate - Ratherford. And that young kid who we all thought got lost in the marsh - he's here."

The pictures were passed to Joe who stared at them, then looked up at Gerald. "You know about these?"

"No. I didn't! Honest! I wasn't responsible for everything he did. He had other sources, other people he dealt with. God, Joey -- I would never sell Littlehorse into a place like this. Never!" Gerald croaked obviously feeling the pain they all saw in the faces in the photos.

"George, how long will it take to put this together? Especially since some of the cops in your city also frequent this place." LaFiamma asked seriously.

"Joe - first we have to find out where they meet! It's a different place than it was two years ago. The rest can be put together quickly if you got the manpower."

"I know where they meet!" Joey answered tightly.

"YOU KNOW WHERE THEY MEET?" Georgie Linden gasped leaping to his feet.

"Hey, you're not the only one with sources, you know," Joey said getting to his feet too.

"Put everyone we know in one pile. Gerald, how many of those Marines that came for Paresely could we count on for this? What other manpower do we need? We have a civilian kidnapping military personnel here. FBI? Defense? Who?"

"What about Admiral English?" Hummer asked assisting himself and Hawk to their feet.

"George? You know English or General Callahan the new Ops commander." Joey asked walking into the kitchen for something to drink.

"Don't know Callahan. English seems to be an honest guy. Heard he was in Houston, which is one of the reasons I came down. In fact that is the reason I chose the Hilton because he was suppose to be staying there."

"And he isn't?"

"The hotel said he was invited to stay at the home of Thomas Baker."

"Shadow - Hummer! Take the van to Doctor Baker's new place. Bring Baker and the Admiral back." LaFiamma barked as he walked to the kitchen.

Joey opened the refrigerator hoping his deceased gypsy grandmother had left him another of his favorite root beers. She hadn't.

"Hey, Joo-eee! Where do you find this root beer down here?" George exclaimed bending down to pick up a six-pack of brown bottles.

Joe returned to the cupboard to get some glasses and placed four small juice glasses on the counter. "This stuff is priceless. I've been saving it for a long time. You can't buy it down here. So this is all you're getting." And with that he gingerly filled each glass.

"Dang, LaFiamma this stuff is good!" Levon cried as he savored each drop.

"Nothing better than home-brewed root beer, Levon. This is brewed in a little place outside of Chicago, and only sold in Chicago. Your family drop it off, Joe?"

"Must'a. Haven't seen it before now."

Hawk looked at the bottle. "This is the same as the one you had down there when you were reading the letters."

"Go down and get that bottle, will you?" Joey asked, knowing the bottle would not be found.

Hawk returned empty handed. "Major! I can't find the bottle! It was on the table by the light when we left, and no one's been down there...."

"No one that you can see," George remarked with a laugh. "Grandma LaFiamma up to her old tricks again, huh?"

"Must be," Joey said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Who's Grandma LaFiamma?" Lundy asked finishing off the last of his glass.

"Dang good root beer from a brewery that's been closed for fifty years!" Joey said pouring everyone another round.

"WHO'S GRANDMA LaFiamma?!!" Lundy repeated, sipping his root beer this time.

"One of Joe's grandmothers. She and her husband decided to make their own root beer and did it for about five years, until the City of Chicago found out they were doing it without a business license. And then the health department found out they were doing it in their cellar. And then the cops closed them down. No one knows what happened to the stash of brewed beer that was in the cellar."

"Maybe she stopped by when no one was home," Levon offered looking from Joe to George and back again.

"Oh she stopped by all right Levon. Trouble is she's been dead for thirty years or more." LaFiamma answered with a smirk.

PSSFFT! Out came the beer the Texan had just started to swallow. Straight onto Hawk's bare chest.

"Thanks a lot Lundy!" Feldman roared looking around for a towel and taking one that Joe took from a drawer.

"The van's back," Joey yelped, "take this root beer along. It might not be here when we come back. Into the living room, let's go."

Hawk and Levon were just settling into a couple of chairs when Hummer walked in the front door followed by Admiral English, Doctor Baker and Shadow.

"What's this?" English cried at seeing LaFiamma alive and well.

"Come in Admiral. Doc. Join us please." Major LaFiamma replied gesturing toward the living room.

"What is going on here, Major!?" The Admiral demanded, "Why were we rousted out of our beds in the middle of the night?"

"It's well past midnight Admiral. Couple more hours you'd be up and out for your run. Believe me, if there was any other way to do this, I would."

"What's this reporter doing here?" Baker asked curtly taking a seat on the far end of the sectional.

"How do you know he's a reporter?" LaFiamma questioned a sudden feeling of misjudgment coming over him.

"He interviewed you in Germany. Came onboard and asked me a hell of a lot of questions that were none of his business!"

Joey laughed, then turned very serious. "Admiral, how long have you known my aunt?"

"Your Aunt Teresa? I've talked with her several times on the phone when you were in the Corps. Whenever she read something about the Marines being in a tight spot she'd call to ask if you were in that tight spot. When you were captured, my office practically had to keep one line free just to receive her calls. The first time I ever met her face-to-face was in Chicago two days ago." English replied giving Joe a strange look. "Has she done something with Lucia that I should know about?"

"Admiral, I would safely say that right now Lucia wishes she'd been shot, fed to the sharks or shoved out of the plane. I don't know what they will do with her, other than use her for sex and that is what she seems to enjoy more than life itself. Had you met Roberto before tonight?"

"No! And I found him a bit strange."

"What about you Doc - have you ever met Roberto?" Joey asked.

"Rob--berto?" Doctor Baker's voice squeaked to a stop as he said the name.

"You have met him, haven't you? Did you try to get him to take Lance?" LaFiamma demanded as Baker took a position against the wall.

"Look, this man Roberto is a pimp! Someone referred him to me, someone I knew in the Navy. His places are suppose to be really clean and upstanding - if those places can be."

"George, give him the pictures we couldn't identify. You know any of these men, Doc?" Joey asked, walking to where Baker was standing, handing him the photos that he'd taken from George.

"Ah.. this one...and this one. The last I heard they're still listed as AWOL."

"They aren't AWOL, Doc," Joey replied calmly. "They were kidnapped. As were these Marines - show him the pictures Hawk. One of those photos is a damn good Marine from my outfit that General Smith took a dislike too. All these men were kidnapped, Doc - Admiral. Some of them, like this Air Force officer, have been chained to a wall or worse for years. Why? Knowing Roberto - for anything his client is willing to pay for -- sex, mutilation, whips, chains, pain! For the sheer pleasure of and use of someone who hates soldiers."

"What country are they in? I can get a task force together...." Admiral English began.

"They're in Texas, Admiral! Right here under our noses - a few blocks from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Air Terminal. We've already started to put together a unit to break into this place. And that includes Marines, Feds and cops. What we need to know is which side you gentlemen are on?" LaFiamma folded his arms across his chest and waited.

Baker and English looked at each other than back at Joe. "Are you asking us if we've betrayed our country and its fighting men by helping to supply Roberto..." The words caught in the Admiral's throat, he couldn't finish his sentence.

"That is exactly what we are asking," George replied taking the burnt of the verbal attack off LaFiamma. Turning to Baker, Linden asked, "would you agree to accompany us? These pictures were taken a year ago. No telling what shape these men or others are in now."

"Damn right I'll go with you!" Thomas Baker said moving off the wall. "I've seen enough soldiers in body bags to last a lifetime. Only one of those," Baker reiterated," "ever got up and walked out of one. Count me in!"

00ooo00

Twenty-four hours later, thirty men in navy blue jackets with POLICE written across the back in bright yellow, huddled inside two parked semi-trailers at the front gate of a tree lined drive. Levon's call to his FBI friend netted more than they all bargained for. The Feds had ordered the street in front of property address that Joe had been given dug up, hoping to find things that may be flushed away. Now those construction trailers held the Marines, cops and Feds that would soon storm the place. George had given the FBI more evidence than any of their informants had come up with. Forty more men with POLICE jackets were stationed around the perimeter.

Then Joey saw the car - the white limo that Roberto had specially made just for him. "This is Major LaFiamma. Here comes Roberto." LaFiamma said into a radio clipped to his jacket. "The limo he's in is bullet proof so let him get out and go into the house. Once he's inside give him five, then we hit hard and fast. Every room gentlemen! Every floor! Every man, woman or child you find bring them out to the cops on the outside. Then return to look again. Open anything that looks like a door. If you can't open it, break it down - just remember there might be a prisoner on the other side. After you search the rooms start taking the paneling off the walls. I know this man! We're not leaving until we find every person on the lists you were given."

Joey watched the limo turn into the drive and disappear through the trees. Looks like Lucia might end up with Markus after all, he thought.

The truck doors opened and the armed men piled out. Marines soon surrounded LaFiamma and much to the FBI's dismay they soon found that they were not in charge at all. The Feds were further confused when LaFiamma began signing and the Marines signed back.

"What the hell's he saying?" One agent groused wondering why he was even here.

A cop to his left replied, "LaFiamma is asking for a complete sweep. That means every closet, cupboard, every shelf, under every bed, behind every picture. Those Marines are going to have to account for every room they're in - what they saw - what they took. The Marines are going in first since most of the prisoners in there are military... we're just here to pick up the pieces or get those who somehow get out."

Joe gave in an indistinguishable word over his mike. The cops watched the Marines break into a jog, then followed behind them up the drive, then the cop broke off the drive to form a circle that soon surrounded the whole Victorian house.

Standing with the cops, Levon watched as Joe and Hawk entered the house first. Two by two the Marines entered. First into the foyer, where a butler and maid were found, they were quietly issued outside. Marines moved off to the lower rooms where more housekeepers, cooks, and women in various forms of dress were found. All were ushered out into the hands of the police and Feds.

On the second floor LaFiamma had two men stand guard at the top of the stairs weapons ready. Signed for others to do the same on the next level. Hawk went ahead, touching each door and listening. Half way down the hall he turned looked at LaFiamma and mouthed the word - ROB BERT TOE. Joe silently pointed to each room Hawk had passed up, telling his men to enter with caution and take whoever they found down to the living room. To tag the rooms where a prisoner was found but couldn't be released. Silently LaFiamma moved to where Hawk stood. He raised his gloved fist and knocked.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DISTURB ME! NOW GET LOST!" Roberto LaFiamma shouted from behind the door.

"Ist your brather. He hurt!" Joey said in an exaggerated accent.

Under his breath Joe counted, "One. Two. Three." KICK! The door flew open with such force that when it hit Roberto it came back into Joe's face. Luckily Hawk had moved in and deflected it or Joe might have been the one knocked to the floor instead of his brother. Once inside the room, Joey saw who Bobbie was about to have. Two words in a language that only Littlehorse understood, brought the Indian out of bed and to his feet. Joey's nostrils flared. He clasped his hands together and hit his brother in the middle section. Before Bobbie could catch his breath, Joey did his famous little kick, the heel of his boot caught his brother directly in the balls and Roberto fell backward onto the bed moaning in pain.

Touching Mike's face, Joey saw the man had some of kind of a mask covering his eyes. Looking closer, Joey gagged at what he saw. It wasn't a mask, it was tape. Like duck tape. Gently touching Mike's chin, LaFiamma said softly, "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, Littlehorse. Just found out where you were today."

"Hawk, take Littlehorse down into the living room for Doc Baker to look at. And walk careful, Mike is blind. Then come back up here."

"My pleasure, Major!" Hawk said putting Littlehorse's arm around his shoulder.

Bobbie waited until the door was closed before he crawled on his knees to the end of the bed. Looking up at his baby brother, Roberto said, "So you want to bargain, do you? Don't have anything to bargain with now do you? Gave her a way didn't y...?"

Joey's fist caught Roberto square in the jaw, his other fist came up under his brother's jaw. Spinning on the heel of one boot, Joey lashed out with the second foot slamming it into his brother's shoulder sending him in agony to the floor.

"I'm closing you down, Bobbie! I'm taking this place apart piece by piece. Every piece of wall board. Every closet - Every brick - the only thing that's going to be left is the four corners, and I might just take them too. On your feet, you stinkin' bastard!"

Joey grabbed his brother and forced him to stand, then knocked him down again. "That and this!" Joe grunted, kicking his brother in the groin again, "is for every member of the family that's being arrested in Chicago right now. How many of them have you dragged into this little kidnapping scheme, I don't know, but it stops right here!"

"Chicago members?" Bobbie gasped wiping blood from his bleeding lip. "Joey you can't be serious? Nobody in Chicago knows about this! I'm pocketing the money I make here. I don't share it with anyone. They don't know about it! Oh god - are you having Teresa arrested?"

"Let's go, big brother. You're under arrest. Someone will read you your rights downstairs, I'm sure you know them by heart by now.." Joey said opening the door, ushering his brother out into Levon's arms.

"LaFiamma. The Marines found something in the basement. Want you down there before they open it." Lundy remarked, grabbing what was left of Roberto, ordering another officer to cuff him and read him his rights.

"What's down there, big brother? Is it booby-trapped?" Joey quizzed grabbing his brother by the throat and pushing him up against the wall. "Well, is it?"

"No. I -- I got a key for the door. Takes two men to open it. Solid steel." Roberto muttered.

"Who's behind it? Dead or alive?" Joe asked staring daggers into the face of his brother, who now knew it was best to cooperate.

"Alive, they're alive! The dead ones are in cold storage other side of the basement."

"Lundy, get this bastard out of my sight, will you?"

"Sure thing partner." Levon answered searching Roberto pockets for the keys.

As Joey descended the wooden stairway into the half-lit basement, Hummer greeted him. "Major! This door can't be opened."

"I got the keys!" LaFiamma answered holding up a ring of three keys. "Other side of the basement is a cold storage unit. Suppose to be bodies in it. Check it out, then get the medics down here for that and for those who are behind this door."

Joe watched as the large steel door was unlocked and two Marines slowly moved it open. Another Marine found a light switch, as light flooded the area inside four small cubicles were revealed. Straight in was the Air Force officer, his once proud uniform now literally in rags around him. His face swollen, his ankle almost embedded in the chain that held him to the wall.

"Hawk! Get Baker down here NOW!" LaFiamma shouted.

"Cap'n LaFiamma?" A weak voice in the last cubicle rasped. "Cap'n is that you?"

Joe moved, with another Marine at his side, down to the voice that called his name. "Ratherford?" LaFiamma gasped, gawking at the man strapped to a chair much like the corner chair that he put Hawk in. His arms and legs stretched out to his side, his cock and balls hanging out into the air.

"CUT THIS MAN OUT OF HERE!" LaFiamma barked sharply turning to inspect the other two cubicles.

"MAJOR! MAJOR LAFIAMMA!" A young Marine yelled coming to a halt just inside the steel door. "A man's been found upstairs. Shadow says its one of your men! He's not responding to anyone! Shadow thinks he might respond to you."

"Okay," Joe said nodding to the man. Turning his attention to his friend Captain Charlie Wallingwood, Joe said, "Charlie! Don't leave here until you are sure you've found everyone."

"Don't worry, Sir. The only thing left will be dandruff."

Joe looked at Wallingwood and smiled. Easy for him to say - he's bald.

LaFiamma followed the young Marine and was joined by his partner as they headed back up to the second floor. "You got family members calling you, LaFiamma. There's a barrage of press and TV cameras out in the street. Even got TV choppers in the air. English said to tell you that Callahan might be involved."

"Yeah, I bet I'll hear good from Aunt Teresa! I figured Callahan was involved soon as I saw Littlehorse. I saw him tape prisoner's eyes shut in South America. The men practically tore their eyelids off when Callahan's men set them free. I'm going to let Hawk and Littlehorse take that man down."

"Here we are, Sir." The man said knocking lightly on the closed door.

"Major," Shadow said upon opening the door. "It's the kid from the marsh. We found him strapped face down on the bed. Who knows how many times he's been fucked. He doesn't answer to his name or anything."

"His name is Marsh, right?" Joey asked watching Sam nod in agreement. "Anyone got night makeup on them?" LaFiamma asked of the four men in the room.

Three hands stretched toward him. Joe took one, opened the cover then knelt down in front of the half naked man.

"So, lit-till Marsh-an! You think you're really big enough - to be a Marine?" Joey blurted out bluntly, two fingers spreading a black smudge across Marsh's face.

Others in the room saw hints of something pass over Marsh's face.

"You really, really think -- a Marsh is going to make it - through this march in the marsh? Do you? You can't even hike ten miles!" Joey said, pronouncing every word distinctly.

Robby Marsh blinked at the man kneeling in front of him. He knew the man from somewhere. The man was dressed like a Marine. He was a Marine, at least he used to be a Marine. But this man had gold leaves on his shoulders. He didn't know anyone officer with gold leaves. Then he heard the words, "Captain LaFiamma" and saw the man in front of him turn and talk to someone next to him.

"Cap'nLaFiamma?" Robby's slurred words were barely audible, but to Joe and others present in the room it was like a shout.

"You're safe, Robbie," LaFiamma said softly, reaching up to touch the man's neck. "No one's going to hurt you anymore."

Marsh fell forward into Joe's arms who held him while he sobbed. "Let it out, son. Let it all out." Joey soothed, as a medic came and draped a blanket around them. Lundy and the medic waited for thirty minutes until finally Joe moved. Marsh panicked the minute the medic came toward him.

"I'll take him down," LaFiamma replied quietly, talking to Marsh as they walked. Marines, cops, even Feds moved out of the way of LaFiamma and his charge, as Joe walked with and half carried the man that had barely made weight to get into the Corps. The picture of Joe carrying out this Marine would be on the front page of every newspaper around the world by morning.

Reaching one of the parked ambulances, Joe assured Marsh several times that he was safe and that LaFiamma would come to the hospital.

"Sir -- I didn't get lost."

"I know. Littlehorse didn't get lost either."

"Littlehorse was here too? I - I saw Ratherford once - long time ago. He lipped off to some big Italian guy and was dragged from the room. When the man came back with blood on his hands, I figured I better do what they said. I - I think I know what the POWs endured now. Where- where are we, sir?" Marsh asked glancing around at the people milling about.

"You do what the medic says...I'll be in to see you later."

LaFiamma waited until the ambulance was on its way before turning to Hawk. "What have we got so far?"

"Twenty-four found alive. Thirteen in cold storage. The housekeeper has family being forced to work in Roberto's New York brothel. Found some girls, used mostly for cleaning the rooms, and cleaning up the men between clients. Two were snatched off the streets of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The rest answered ads, and once they were in the house weren't allowed to leave. Your brother's ranting about the family putting a hit on you for arresting Aunt Teresa. The cops are telling him if he doesn't come clean he can forget about seeing daylight. The second team is in the house taking the paneling down. Haven't heard if they found anyone yet."

"Where is my dear big brother?" Joe asked looking around to see what activity was going on outside.

"That police car with the armed guards around it."

"Lundy, have him brought into the house. The kitchen will do. Don't give me that look, just do it. The guards can come along."

Roberto was calm until he saw Joe. "KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME!" Joe's brother shouted. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE! YOU'RE COPS - HEY WHERE YOU GOING?"

"Roberto. Roberto... where is that brotherly garbage you're always giving me." Joey cooed into the face of his biggest brother.

"Who else in the family is involved in this kidnapping scheme of yours, huh? You're not going to an Illinois jail here, bro. You're going to a Federal pen. Maybe even Leavenworth." Joey said in an evenly monotone voice.

The word 'Leavenworth' got Roberto's attention. "Teresa and Mikey knew nothing about it. Honestly, Joey they didn't. Victorio is the one who started it. When he died of a heart attack I took over his operation. Your Colonel Smith supplied the men, I supplied the clients. I nurtured them, kept them well fed. They last longer that way, you know."

"What about the four in the basement? They weren't well cared for."

Bobbie looked at his younger brother. "I couldn't do anything about them, Joey. I couldn't. A high paying client who had a contract with Victorio owned them. I just found out today who that client was, that's why I came down here. The person that owns those in that steel dungeon is our girl - Lucia!"

"Lucia?" Joey gasped disbelief crossing his face.

"Yea, little brother - your ex-wife and my new slut!" Bobbie remarked with a sneer.

"What the hell would she want with....?"

"She's a nymph - worst I've ever seen, and I've seen a few. She craves it! When Smith split the two of you up, she started collecting her own men. Had them stashed here and there around the world. When one wore out, she'd find another one. I don't know all the details, Joe. She just threw this in my face this morning."

"Where does Callahan fit into this?" Joe asked evenly, seeing Admiral English behind the group of four cops.

"Ah, General Callahan. He's the one who taped your Indian's eyes shut! He's a bastard, Joey. A real mean one. Littlehorse has been like that for two years. Guess Littlehorse recognized him and the General wanted to make sure he didn't see anyone else he sent to have him. I didn't know how bad it was - really Joey, I didn't it - not until I tried to take the tape off after Callahan left." Bobbie said, his voice tired, shoulders slumped. "The family's going to put a hit out on you, you know that."

"So what else is new? I think, though, big brother, you're the one that's in trouble here. Setting up shop and keeping the money for yourself. There are other family members besides me who have been in the service - none of them are going to take kindly to what you've done here. And Vic's family - you know what's going to happen to them."

"Joe?" Lundy said from behind his partner. "The cops want him back now."

"In a minute."

"What about Lucia? If she goes before a jury in her little girl dress all sobs, you know she'll get off. Markus had a special spot for her. You willing to write me a verbal release turning her over to him."

"Got paper? That woman is bad luck. I'll be glad to get her out of my house. I hope Markie can handle her." Roberto said taking a note pad from Admiral English.

LaFiamma stood back against the wall silently watching his brother writing a note to release the bitch that started this all. Glad though that Lu was finally out of his life. Glad that his mysterious dead gypsy grandmother worked the way she did.

"MAJOR! COME QUICK! LITTLEHORSE HAS GONE BERSERK!!" Hummer screamed running into the kitchen, sliding to a stop inches from LaFiamma.

"Is Callahan out there?" Joey said unmoving.

"Yeah, he just arrived with a carload of people." Hummer replied not understanding why his Major wasn't already out the door.

Lundy watched as Joe unclipped the microphone from his shoulder, held it a couple inches from his face and began to speak into it in a very tight controlled voice. "Attention! This is Major - LaFiamma! Any Marine - who was in Columbia -when a Special Ops officer - taped a prisoner's eyes shut. That officer - has just arrived! That officer - did this - to Littlehorse. Detain him and anyone who is with him!"

A CNN reporter and cameraman were trying to get conversation with a Marine when LaFiamma's word 'Attention' came over the Marine's mike. They watched the man freeze. Watched his eyes blaze fire as LaFiamma's words filled the air around them. Before they could question the Marine, he was off on a split-second run.

Five Marines took General Callahan to the ground. Many more surrounded his entourage.

"Levon? Anything else?" Joey asked his partner as he clipped his mike back onto his jacket.

"We found some skeletons in the walls. I don't think Roberto even knew they were there. Once the rest of the walls are taken down and the basement is hosed down, the house is being turned over to the fire department for a training house."

"Be best to burn it to the ground. Thanks partner," Joey said, his voice etched in weariness. "I'm going to accompany Littlehorse to the hospital. You come by later? Oh, you might alert Houston. There's going to be some assassins looking for me. Not only my family - but also the clients that came to this place."

"According to Admiral English, you're going to have more Marines assigned to you than you have cops under you." Levon watched his partner roll his head with disgust. They both knew the two of them could neutralize anyone who was sent.

"We ever going to get back to being cops, Levon? This military jazz is getting to me. I could use a nice peaceful fight with my partner."

"Does sound good at that. Seeing you here today -- now I know why Joanne is worried about losing you to the Corps. These men jump at you every command. Hang on your every word."

"Cause I'm an officer, Lundy. If I was a Sergeant, I'd be just another grunt like them."

"But you're not, Joe. And that's what makes you different. You're not only an officer - you care about your men, and they know that." Levon replied urging his partner outside. "Come on, the ambulance with Littlehorse is waiting for you. The man refuses to leave until he sees you."

"Yeah, Michael Littlehorse always was stubborn. Half-Indian, half French Canadian - probably what kept him alive. God, imagine being in this place for seven years."

Just before LaFiamma went through the front door, Levon caught his arm. "Joe. What's happening out there? What went down in here? It's being played around the world. The picture of you carrying out Marsh is already on the front page of papers."

"So much for keeping my mob family out of the press, huh, cowboy?"

"I think, partner, you just discovered who was more important in your life, and it ain't them."

Joey looked at his partner. "They're still family, Levon. We'll see where they stand after all this calms down, and heads stop rolling. Try and tell the Admiral that you and I can handle whatever comes our way. I don't want any Marines following us around besides the three we got now."

Major Joseph LaFiamma stepped out onto the front porch of the battered Victorian mansion. His eyes scanned the grounds in front of him. Cops, Marines, a few FBI men and a huge array of television cameras were scattered about. "Wished you'd told me about this part, Grandma," Joey whispered quietly as he jogged down the steps. Over his mike he heard "ATTENTION!" and was startled to see all the Marines fall into a line from the porch to the waiting ambulance. Bet this will make the papers too, Joe thought as he broke into a jog toward the man squatting behind the ambulance.

"Michael!" LaFiamma yelped as he approached. Joe watched in amazement as Littlehorse, blind, with open wounds on his back, sprang to his feet and saluted his commanding officer.

Joe returned the salute and said quietly, "you're gettin' in this first aid wagon if I have to put you in!"

"Yes SIR!" Came the sharp retort, a hand reaching out toward one of the medics.

"It's against regulations for you to ride with us Major - but he says he won't leave unless you're here, so you might as well hop in." Paramedic Dick Richardson said motioning LaFiamma into the back.

00ooo00

A few hours later, Joe leaned against the wall of the hospital waiting room watching the Play of the Day - him.

"Joe? Brought you some food. Chinese for you. Chicken for me. Hungry?"

"Thanks partner," Joe said moving away from the wall, taking the brown bag his partner held out to him. "I'm starved."

"What's the word?" Lundy asked, settling into a vinyl chair and breaking open the container that held his fried chicken.

"Ratherford, and the Air Force officer found in that steel dungeon have already been airlifted to Walter Reed Hospital." Joey replied slowly putting together chopsticks and unfolding the tub that held his dinner.

"Not sure about Marsh. Mentally he is unstable. Who wouldn't be with what went down in that house? Certain hospital personnel come toward him and he freaks out. Doc Baker said Marsh has some designs painted on him - front and back. Almost like someone dressed up as a doctor then pretended to cut him apart."

"Joe, we know there are some strange people out there. People with sex fantasies don't always engage in the act themselves. Other things turn them on." Levon replied between bites on a drumstick. "What about Littlehorse?"

"Michael Littlehorse. Now there's a man. The only man in my outfit who never asked for sex. We're taking him home with us, maybe someday his family might claim him, but I doubt it. Hummer's camped out in his room now. He's going to move into the apartment with Hawk - that in-law apartment on the lower level. Callahan didn't just happen along. Those men with him were there for Michael. He was Callahan's special stud. Only used on a monthly basis, but when he was used, it was brutal." Joey explained lovingly touching his partner's arm. "That blond girl with the frizzy hair told me some of the things they used on Littlehorse. It was her job to clean him up between men."

"Clean him up??" Lundy gasped almost dropping his chicken.

"Callahan arrived on a monthly basis always bringing officers from another country. They stuffed sex toys up his ass, down his penis, whipped him, gagged him..." Joey swallowed tears filling his eyes, "Damn it's a wonder he even survived this long."

"What about the tape on his eyes?"

"An eye doctor is flying in from California. A specialist, I guess. Doctor Baker called him personally. Baker said it would be a long tedious operation but he thinks they can remove enough of it for Mike's eyelids to open and close. Littlehorse has had shoulder length hair for as long as I've known him. He got a deposition from the BIA not to have his head shaved when he enlisted. And they didn't! Right now it's cut above the ears, which had to be done to get the tape out of his hair. He's not a happy camper."

Suddenly down the hall came a crash, a scream and a yell.

"What the hell was that?" Lundy yelped dropping his chicken but catching it before it hit the floor.

"That, partner of mine, is Littlehorse! That is why I am still here instead of snoozing in some nice comfortable hotel bed."

LaFiamma dropped his Chinese dinner and dashed for the hall, with Lundy right behind him. Down the hall came a wild man, half-naked, and his hospital gown flying in all directions.

"SERGEANT LITTLEHORSE!" LaFiamma barked sharply, standing directly in the path of the man charging down the hall. "YOU ARE GOING TO BE A PRIVATE IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!"

Levon watched Littlehorse stop and cock his head to listen.

"If I have to tell you to get into that hospital bed one more time, I will personally tie you down myself! You want to see again? Your hair had to be cut! Get back to bed! " Joey barked harshly standing his ground against his man who in spite of his injuries was hefty and bigger than his C.O. "NOW! Littlehorse!"

Lundy did all he could to keep from laughing. Littlehorse snorted, much like Levon's own horse Fooler when he didn't want to do something but knew he had to. The man's head shook, then he turned and calmly walked back to his room.

00ooo00

Two weeks later, LaFiamma and the girl with frizzy hair, named Laura Riddley stood at the end of Littlehorse's hospital bed and watched as Doctor Baker slowed peeled off bandages from Michael Littlehorse's head. The lights were low in the room because Baker knew the eyes would be sensitive to light for a while.

"Open them slowly," Tom Baker instructed, motioning Joe and Laura to the side of the bed.

Mike opened his eyes and focused on Laura, then LaFiamma. "May-jor? Am I AWOL?"

"No Sergeant Littlehorse, you are not. Callahan's been putting your paychecks by direct deposit into your Oklahoma bank account. You got a wad of money piled up there." Joey said, then putting his hand lightly on Laura's head. LaFiamma looked from one to the other then said, "Laura Riddley - Michael Littlehorse. Littlehorse, this is the lady whose taken care of you, and if you don't hug her I will!"

Baker and LaFiamma smiled at each other and left the two alone.

00ooo00

"Doc, you got a guru here that knows the answers to everything?" LaFiamma asked in all seriousness.

"You got problems, Joe?"

"Yea - I got one big, big problem. Half of me wants to stay in the Corps, half of me wants to get back to being a cop."

"From what I've seen over the last two weeks Joe. You are one hell of a Marine. When your words can stop a man like Littlehorse dead in his tracks, you've got power and respect. But I also know you and Levon are the best detective team in Houston, and there are a lot of people who want to see that duo clean up the southwest neighborhood." Baker said motioning Joe into a doctor's lounge for some coffee.

"And from what English told me, that neighborhood will never be the same once you and Lundy, and Handsome's Hooligans gets done with it." Doctor Tom Baker continued stirring cream into his coffee.

"Handsome's Hooligans? Handsome's Harem? Who the hell picks out these names anyway?" Joey asked slowly sipping the steaming coffee.

"Hooligans because you were daring, smart and took no guff. And you turned some misfits into starched, rough and ready Marines. Harem...? Couple of your Marines look like they would love to have a gold ring in their nose ready to be pulled in any minute."

"Gold ring? Doc! No more coffee for you!" Joey blurted, giving himself a reminder to talk with his escorts about their looks.

"Joe, Reservists around the country are weekend warriors. Don't see why you can't be too. Pass it by Lieutenant Beaumont. Bet she'd be more than happy to agree. Especially when she finds out you want to return to being a full-time cop."

"Thanks, Doc, hope this advise is on the house," Joey replied seeing Lundy standing in the hall. "Looks like that other half of me is itching to get back into the harness too. Let me know when Littlehorse and Laura can come home. I'm offering them a part of my house."

"The apartment, huh? What about her parents? Don't they want her back in Iowa?"

"Her father watched the news and figured if she was still alive she must a whore. Her mother just cried over the phone. Littlehorse is going to ask her to be his wife - they've been together for four years already, neither one can go back to their other life...."

A war hoop was heard down the hall. "Guess that means Laura said yes," LaFiamma replied with a grin.

00ooo00

Walking out into the hospital corridor, LaFiamma touched Lundy's shoulder, "What do you say we get back to cleaning up the town, partner?"

"Thought you'd never ask!" Levon replied with a grin, turning to walk shoulder to shoulder back to check on Littlehorse before they headed back to Reisner.

THE END