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> Part 1
> Part 2
> Part 3
> Part 4
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> Case 28 - Starting Over Part 5
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> The house Keiko tracked the kidnappers’ car to was pretty much as she expected.  An older home, fairly small, in a dense neighborhood of Garden City.  The car in question was parked in the driveway, right in plain view.  Sean waited in her car a few houses down, just out of view, in case the kidnappers were watching her at the bus station and knew what she drove.
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> The wind was blowing, separating some of Keiko’s hair as she walked toward the house, then hesitated for a moment, realizing that if her approach was seen, they might flee - or worse, kill her.  Instead she slipped between the houses, intend on sneaking through the back door while their guard was down.
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> Getting inside was easy enough.  Criminal types were usually arrogant about their own power and didn’t bother to lock up because no one would dare invade their home.  She simply opened the back door a crack silently, made sure no one was within view, and slipped inside.
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> Of all the unbelievable cliches, Keiko actually caught them clustered around the dining room table with a pile of cash between them.  They were counting the neat bundles of money, and the duffel bag which contained it had been carelessly tossed onto the floor.  There were six of them total.
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> “Give me a break,”  Keiko whispered to herself as she watched from the kitchen.  She looked around the room for some kind of distraction and found one.  She turned on the water in the kitchen sink and stretched the spray head from the kitchen faucet as far as it would go to the doorway.
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> As the men in the dining room stood to investigate the disturbance Keiko hosed them all down with icy tap water.  They started dusting themselves off in confusion - she guessed they thought the worst about what they were being hosed off with.
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> “You’re not getting the money back!”  one of them yelled as he overcame the confusion.  “Stupid ack--”
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> His words were choked off suddenly as a small hand pinched off the most vulnerable part of his neck, so he couldn’t speak and his face began turning red.
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> “I doubt you’ll be able to kill me before his brain starves,”  Keiko warned the others before they moved.  As she predicted, two of them were pointing guns at her.  “I came to deliver a message.  Stay out of the kidnapping business or you all die.”
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> One of the two armed pulled the trigger, but Keiko had let go of the now desperately gasping red-faced man to twist his wrist so the bullet lodged in the ceiling.  She twisted it back and squeezed - the gun fired again, and the other armed man screamed and covered a rapidly bleeding neck wound.  She kneed the first armed man in the groin and slammed his head hard enough against the dining room table to crack the wood.  Naturally he fell unconcious.
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> There were sirens approaching.  The last three men eyed the guns, but were too scared to pick them up.  “What the hell are you?”  one of them asked.
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> “A former killer,”  Keiko said coldly, emphasizing the last word to send chills through them.  All three of them turned and ran to the front door without bothering to grab any of the money first.  As they ran, Keiko called after them, “You don’t have the stomach for this business!”
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> She calmly sat down at the dining room table and began gathering up the money spread onto the table, as the bleeding man screamed, the red faced wheezing man tried to catch his breath, and the unconcious man lie still on the floor.  She ignored them all, even as police crashed through the front door with guns drawn.
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> “I’m not armed,”  she told the police calmly.  She looked at the two injured men and added, “And neither are they, now.  I’m a private detective working for the family of a kidnap victim.”
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> Sean then walked into the house confidently.  “She’s okay,”  she told the officer pointing a weapon at Keiko and ordering her to stand.  He put his hand on the gun and gently forced it down.  “Keiko, that money is evidence.”
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> “Very well.”  she sighed.  “I need a receipt so the family can claim it from evidence later.”
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> He nodded, and waved for one of the officers to approach.  “Can you please get me an evidence kit?”
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> The officer nodded and raced outside.  Two other officers began hauling the injured men outside.
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> “You did okay, Keiko.”  Sean sat next to her at the table and smiled.  His smile turned warmer when Keiko reciprocated.  He gently placed a hand on her arm.  “Not a single death.”
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> “Killing is easy,”  she whispered.  “Making people fear death is more difficult.”
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> The money was counted again, this time with Sean and two officers in witness.  The receipt was filled out detailing exactly how many of each denomination was there, and the total amount.  Once Keiko was satisfied she left the officers and Sean to process the crime scene.
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> Or so she thought.  As she approached her car, she heard Sean running toward her.  She stopped and turned, her back to the car.
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> “You want to go to dinner?”  he asked.  He put his arm around her waist gently.
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> Keiko thought for a moment.  She still had to deliver the receipt.  Or maybe she could call and tell them she had it.  “I need to make a phone call first,”  she said.
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> “Okay.”  Sean slowly wandered across the street to wait patiently.
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> She called Ron.  He left the office already, so she left him a message - that the money had been secured, given to the police for evidence, and she had the receipt.  As she hung up, she smiled at Sean and warmly invited him across the street.
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> “So how’s your social life going?”  she asked him as she walked around to the passenger side.  She asked with a sly smile, implying instead that she referred to his many girlfriends.
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> “Nowhere, actually,”  Sean replied quickly.
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> Keiko’s mouth hung open at that response.  “You lie!  No one?”
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> He shook his head and smiled at Keiko.  “I saw you changing and improving your life and...I guess after all the trouble I got into...you’re not around to look out for me so much, so I have to be more careful.”
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> She shrugged.  “I can’t say I’m not happy to hear that but...you have to live your own life on your own terms, Sean.  You can’t wait for me to look out for you.”
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> “But you’re so good at it.”  Sean pointed out with a slight smile.
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> “Where are we going for dinner?”  Keiko asked, changing the subject.
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> “I don’t know yet,”  Sean replied with a shrug.  “Want to go somewhere casual or stop at home and change first?”
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> “Casual is okay,”  Keiko replied quietly.  “I had too long a day to make a big deal of dinner.”
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>
> ---
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>
> “I only wish I could have seen it,”  Sean told Keiko over dinner.  They both were having spaghetti at a neighborhood Italian restaurant.  The first part of the dinner was spent with Keiko telling a recap of what happened inside that house before Sean arrived, prompting that response from Sean.
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> “Hmm?”  Keiko asked as she sipped iced tea.  The two of them were finishing up their meal.
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> “What you did in that house,”  he explained further.  “When I was working with you...I didn’t always approve of your methods but I always had a front seat to everything you did.  This time I missed it.”
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> She smiled mysteriously and munched on some bread.  “I discovered something interesting about that today,”  she said.  “And it’s part of the reason I’m so happy.  I discovered that I’m no longer a dangerous killer at heart.  I have to...act to be that person convincingly.  It almost makes me laugh later on.”
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> “Keiko, I always knew that.  I know the real you.”
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> She tilted her head slightly.  “I’m starting to see why you have so many girlfriends,”  she said.  “You’re so good at flattery, at making me feel happy, making my accomplishments that much sweeter.”
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> “It does have its perks,”  Sean admitted.  He took the check from the waiter and thanked him.  Before he could reach for his wallet, Keiko was already counting cash.  “Now wait a minute--”
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> “I’m going to get a pretty decent bonus for my first case as a private detective tomorrow,”  she explained.  “Let me celebrate a little.”
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> “Maybe I wanted to take you to dinner to celebrate and reward you for it.”  he pointed out truthfully.  He smiled as Keiko relented and put her money away, and left his own money in its place.
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> By the time they left the restaurant it was the end of a fairly long day, and pretty late.  The drive home didn’t take very long, and Keiko occupied herself by checking voicemail - there were no messages - and listening to music on the radio.
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> She sighed when they finally arrived at home.  “It’s been such a long day, I never thought I’d be so happy to get home.”
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> ---
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> It was much later in the evening when Sean finished watching a movie.  He was sitting on the couch with one arm across Keiko’s shoulders, a nearly empty popcorn bowl in front of him.  
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> At some point during the movie Keiko tossed a blanket over herself.  Later on, curled up under the warm blanket and leaned against Sean, she drifted off.  She awakened when he moved.
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> “Sorry,”  she whispered.  She looked at the clock below the television - it was just after midnight.  “I suppose I should go to bed.”
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> “Yeah, me too.”  Sean replied.  “I have to go to work tomorrow still.”
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> She stood, and stopped to get her bearings for a moment, before heading to the stairway.  “Good night, Sean,”  she whispered as she went upstairs to her room.
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> “Good night,”  he responded, calling after her.  He walked to his ground-floor bedroom and shut the door.
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> It was about ten minutes later, while Sean was flipping through channels on the television in his room, that the door opened.  Keiko entered wearing dark green sweats as pajamas.  Her feet were bare.
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> “Something wrong?”  Sean asked, sitting up.  He expected the worst.
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> Without speaking a word, Keiko walked across the surface of the bed and then kneeled, skillfully slipping under the covers and moving herself close to Sean.  She began kissing him gently.  He responded in kind.
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> She knew it was impulsive to do that...but she felt he had been so kind, so giving, so loyal lately, that he deserved it.  And after helping that family recover their child, and ensure their safety, she was in a cheerful and giving mood.
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> It was something both had been anticipating for some time.  As much as they both needed sleep, neither of them got much of it that night, though they would wake up happy.
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> -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
> --    reprinted without permission.  
> -- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
> --    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.