Katie looked down at the floor, "What I need to tell you can't be said on the phone."

"Okay, let's have a seat," Rainey said, motioning to the dressing chair in the corner for Katie, and taking a seat on the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Katie sat down, looking around the room, obviously trying to find the right words. Rainey waited patiently. In a moment, Katie began, "I don't remember the accident or much of what happened just before it. I must have fallen asleep. At that time in the pregnancy, I was so tired. I had been on my feet all night. Really, the last thing I remember was JW handing me a bottle of water when we got in the car."

She looked around the room again. Rainey knew not to say anything. Katie was opening wounds she must have tried so terribly to close, for the last six months.

Katie swallowed hard, "I woke up in the hospital. I was told right away, I had lost the baby boy that I had carried for six months. I was in so much pain they kept me doped up for days. When I finally came home, I couldn't sleep, so they gave me more drugs."

She was approaching a difficult part of her story, even though Rainey could not think of anything worse than the loss of a child. Yet, Katie swallowed hard before she continued.

"JW begged forgiveness for the accident, which I didn't have the strength to blame him for. He tried to make me comfortable. He dutifully gave me pills around the clock and was by my side always. I didn't notice him. I couldn't feel anything. The doctors prescribed more drugs. I was dead inside."

Rainey's heart broke for Katie. She knew that feeling all too well, she had experienced it after the attack, a deadening numbness enveloping her being. It was her mind's way of not letting her feel the depth of her pain.

"I stayed drugged for weeks. It wasn't for the physical pain, which had passed. I just couldn't function. I barely moved. I had to be helped to wash, to eat, simply to get out of the bed. I really don't remember much from that time. Then one night..." she paused, "one night, I woke up with JW on top of me."

Rainey held her breath. She did not want that image in her mind. She concentrated on shutting it out.

Katie continued with much difficulty, the tears flowing steadily now, "I was under heavy sedation and barely remember it. I couldn't move my arms and legs. I was unconscious as far as he knew and he was raping me."

"Oh my God, Katie, I'm so sorry," Rainey softly said, her own eyes beginning to well up.

Katie went on, "I blacked out. I woke up the next day and began to remember. I started refusing to take any medication, from that moment on, and when I was strong enough, I told him I knew what he had done. I despise him and I've told him so, and I will never trust him again."

Katie let that sink in, and started to pull herself together. She said, after a moment, "Our marriage is finished. I agreed to stay until this proposed Senate campaign is over, but now I'm leaving as soon as I can get a divorce lawyer and file the papers. I am done with JW Wilson. I told him that this afternoon, before I left."

That was a lot of information for Rainey to process at one time. She was horrified at JW's behavior. Rainey had assumed the distance between them had been caused by the accident and the loss of a child, a common occurrence in couples where that happened. She would never look at JW the same way again. Katie had every right to hate him. It took a lot of courage for Katie to tell her about this. Rainey wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be all right one day, she would see. She was frozen there on that trunk with Katie sitting across from her. She knew nothing she could say would erase the pain Katie was feeling. Only time could do that.

Rainey stood up and crossed the room to Katie. She stopped in front of the chair and Katie stood up. Rainey wrapped her arms around Katie and held her close. Katie fell into her arms and laid her head on Rainey's shoulder. They stood there in the embrace, Rainey just holding Katie as long as she needed to be held. No words were needed. They understood each other completely.

Rainey waited for Katie to release their embrace, before she let her go. Katie took a step back and looked up at Rainey.

"I needed you to understand why I reacted the way I did and to apologize for it," she said.

Rainey brushed a stray hair from Katie's brow, saying "No apology necessary."

Katie put her arms back around Rainey's waist. She said, "Now, about the other elephant in the room."

Rainey smiled down at her, "One thing at a time, okay. I want to give you all my attention and I can't right now. Katie, you're not safe here."

"My god, there's an arsenal in this cottage. I think I'm pretty safe here," Katie laughed when she said it.

"For today, yes, but tomorrow they all go away." Rainey could not let anyone know what was happening with the tactical team, not even Katie. "You're going to hear some things on the news attributed to Danny and me. All I can say is don't believe everything you hear."

Katie's jaw dropped, "They're going to leave you alone as bait. What kind of fucked up plan is that?"

"I can't talk about it, but I'm fine with the plan and I'm sure we'll catch him. Then we can go on with our lives," Rainey said.

Katie was about to protest, but Rainey silenced her by kissing her deeply. She surfaced for air and said, "Katie, if I'm what you want, you have me. Just let me finish this."

Katie searched Rainey's eyes. Rainey tried to let her know that she had regained control. She was a highly skilled Special Agent and she was prepared to do what it took to end this. Rainey would not be caught off guard, not this time. She had a goal and was focused on it. Kill this motherfucker and put it to rest, all of it.

Rainey did not speak the words; she just squeezed Katie a little tighter and whispered, "I'll be alright, I promise."

Katie took her hands from Rainey's waist and put them gently on Rainey's cheeks, her eyes still searching back and forth between Rainey's. She must have seen what she was looking for, because she pulled Rainey's mouth to hers and kissed her as passionately as Rainey had ever been kissed. It left Rainey weak-kneed and breathless. It had the same effect on Katie. They let go of each other and caught their breaths.

Katie smiled up at Rainey. A grin began to form and then took over Rainey's face. Katie got the giggles, which caused Rainey to erupt, too.

When Katie could finally speak, she said, "If what comes next feels anything like that last kiss, I can't wait to find out what it is."

You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife. They had to get out of that room, before God knows what would happen. Rainey suggested they go back to the main room and sit with Mackie for a while. They watched some submarine movie with a B actor playing the part of Steven Segal. Katie and Rainey sat together on the couch, while the videos from outside flipped by in succession on the picture in picture screen. It was a constant reminder of why they were really there.

They sat on opposite ends of the couch with their legs side by side on the cushions. Katie got a chill and Rainey pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, draping it across their legs and torsos. Katie took the opportunity to tease Rainey incessantly, rubbing her legs against Rainey's, under the covers. The sensation was electrifying when Katie slipped her foot inside the stretched out elastic around the bottom of the legs of Rainey's sweats, running her toes along Rainey's calf. She stopped moving and left it there, burning a hole in Rainey's leg.

Rainey could not tell what was happening in the movie. She was so tense with sexual desire she could barely breathe. The two-hour movie ended, after an eternity to Rainey. Roger knocked on the door and Rainey got up to let him in. It was ten o'clock and time for a shift change. The agents following Katie wanted to know if she was ready to go back home.

Rainey spoke for her, a little too quickly and with tension in her voice, but Roger did not seem to notice. "No, she's staying here tonight and going home in the morning."

Katie winked at Rainey. Rainey hoped no one noticed. She was not ready to let the world know that they were... well, whatever they were, she was not sure.

Rainey and Roger made decisions about where everyone would be for the evening. Two agents would stay in the main room to monitor the videos, while the others patrolled the area outside. They would switch off from time to time, so Rainey gave Roger the code for the alarm. She could change it later, when this was over. With that taken care of, she did not have to get up and let them in and out during the evening. Rainey had no intentions of coming out of the bedroom once she and Katie had locked themselves in. She did not know exactly what was going to happen next, but Katie had her so wound up, Rainey knew she would not be able to control herself once they were alone.

Rainey sent Mackie to bed in the Master bedroom, and Junior joined him in there on a pallet Katie helped make for him on the floor. The agents were all settled in the main room and Katie made sure they would spread the word about the leftovers in the refrigerator. Rainey put out paper plates and plastic utensils and pulled a trashcan out close to the table, where Katie had set up some of the cut vegetables and dip she brought from home. Rainey knew what pigs agents could be and wanted the trashcan clearly visible.

When everyone was in their places, Rainey and Katie went into Rainey's room and locked the door. They flew at each other, Katie more aggressive and hungrier than before. They kissed all the way across the room, Katie leading Rainey backwards, until she pushed Rainey down on the bed. Rainey sat with her feet on the floor and buried her face in Katie's chest, as Katie stepped between Rainey's legs. Katie removed the ever-present shoulder holster and laid it down on the table next to the bed.

Katie pulled Rainey's head up to look into her eyes. She whispered, in a sultry voice, dripping with desire, "Something that feels this right can't be wrong." She bent her head and kissed Rainey softly again.

Then Katie did something Rainey was going to remember for the rest of her life. She slipped out of Rainey's arms and stepped back a few feet. Rainey was not sure what was happening, and then Katie slowly pulled the Carolina blue tank top she was wearing over her head, and tossed it away. There was a thin, faint scar about six inches long running down Katie's stomach. It must have been from the car accident. Rainey barely noticed it, because of the blue lace bra Katie was wearing. Ladies lingerie had never had the affect on Rainey that this particular little lace number was having. Katie then unbuttoned her pants, sliding the zipper down ever so slowly and then shaking the shorts from her hips, she let them fall to the floor, revealing a matching pair of blue lace panties. Katie was so beautiful it took Rainey's breath. Rainey stopped breathing completely when Katie stepped back between her legs, and placing her hands on Rainey's shoulders, pushed her down onto the bed.

Katie straddled Rainey and crawled up her body. Rainey pulled the smaller woman down on top of her, arching her back into Katie with unfettered desire. She wanted this woman so much; she felt she was going to orgasm from just the feel of Katie's soft skin on hers. Then it all came to a screeching halt when Katie tried to lift Rainey's shirt. Rainey stiffened and grabbed at the bottom of the tee shirt, holding it down against her abdomen.

Katie stopped and looked deeply into Rainey's eyes. "It's okay, baby," she whispered. "You are beautiful and I want to feel your body against mine."

Katie gently placed a hand over the one Rainey was tightly gripping the tee shirt with. Slowly Rainey relinquished her hold on the tee shirt and allowed Katie to pull it over her head. Katie bent and began kissing Rainey's scar, following it down to just above her belly button and back up, to her chest. The sensation of Katie's soft lips against her skin was almost more than Rainey could handle, she trembled uncontrollably as she lay back against the mattress. When Katie's mouth closed around her nipple, Rainey moaned and arched off the bed.

That was it. Rainey stood up with Katie still in her arms. She threw back the covers and laid Katie down on the cool sheets. Rainey took off her sweat pants and climbed in beside Katie, pulling the covers up over them. As soon as Rainey was lying down, she reached for Katie and pulled her back on top of her. She fumbled with the bra snap, having never undone one from this angle, and finally released Katie's perfect breasts and pink nipples, hardened with excitement.

Katie was light as a feather to Rainey. She pulled Katie's body up higher so she could take one of Katie's nipples into her mouth. Katie arched her head back and smashed her breast against Rainey's mouth, beginning to grind her hips into Rainey, in a steady rhythm. Rainey spread her legs and Katie slid between them. Rainey pushed back against Katie's hips, growing with desire with every rock of the rhythm they created together. They kissed again so hungrily, each woman was moaning with pent up passion.

Katie then pulled herself up and straddled Rainey on all fours, never letting her lips leave Rainey's. She took one of Rainey's hands and shoved it into the front of her panties. The hair between Katie's legs was soft and fine, and wet. Katie began to grind against Rainey's hand, her breath coming shorter and faster against Rainey's lips. Rainey parted Katie's hot labial lips and moaned loudly when she felt the wetness on her fingers. She instinctively knew what to do. Katie stopped kissing her and buried her face in Rainey's hair, on the pillow. She rocked back and forth against Rainey's fingers until she came in a crashing orgasm and fell onto Rainey's body, jerking with each wave of pleasure.

Rainey felt like she had climaxed with Katie and when Katie' s hand slipped between Rainey's legs, it didn't take long for Rainey to reach a mind blowing orgasm, holding onto Katie so tightly, with each wave of spasm Katie moaned with her. They lay there spent, each breathing fast, trying to get a deep breath. Rainey held Katie there on top of her, Katie's face buried in her neck. They lay like that until their breathing slowed.

Rainey, finally able to talk, simply said, "Wow."

Katie said, "I hope they didn't hear us," with a wicked grin on her face.

"Maybe not that time," Rainey said.

Katie teased her, "Oh, you think there will be a next time?"

Rainey rolled Katie over onto her back and looked down at the beautiful blonde in her arms. She smiled a devilish grin and said, "Oh, I know there will be a next time."

They spent the night alternately talking, making love and falling asleep, only to wake up and make love again until they were too exhausted to open their eyes. During those few hours, there was no Y-Man, nor FBI agents in their world, only the two of them cocooned in each other's arms. Rainey fell asleep with Katie in her arms and slept like an angel for the rest of the night and into the morning. No terror invaded her sleep; only visions of making love to Katie entered her dreams, carrying her peacefully through the night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

Rainey awoke to Katie kissing her face softly. She opened her eyes to see Katie's big blue eyes sparkling in front of her. She was gorgeous. It was the way Rainey wanted to wake up for the rest of her life. In just a few short days, Rainey had done what had been unimaginable to her. She never thought this would happen to her again, because after the attack, she could not or would not let anyone beyond the walls she had built around her heart. She had begun to fall in love.

She smiled up at Katie, who was leaning on one elbow, inches from Rainey's face. Katie smiled back. They lay there looking into each other's eyes, both answering the other silently. Yes, this had been the right thing to do.

Suddenly an expression of sadness crossed Katie's face. She whispered, "I don't want to lose you, now that I've found you."

Rainey pulled her tightly to her. "You couldn't lose me now, if you tried. I'd stalk you, you know," Rainey said, trying to lighten Katie's fears.

Katie asked, "When are they leaving you?"

"Three o'clock this afternoon. There will be media. You need to be gone by then. You don't want to be on the news," Rainey answered.

"I don't want to leave you, but I understand you need to be alert and focused," Katie smiled, sliding her hand between Rainey's legs.

Rainey moaned with pleasure and they made love, this time slowly, exploring each other's bodies with hands and mouths. Rainey investigated every inch of Katie's body and then brought Katie to a shuttering climax. Rainey thought that sex would be something she would have to work up to, but desire took over and it felt as natural as anything she had ever done in bed before. Rainey got as much enjoyment out of pleasuring Katie as Katie did.

They finally had to stop fooling around and get up, though neither one of them wanted to let the outside world into their secluded bubble. They showered together, which took longer because they could not keep their hands off each other. Rainey turned Katie around in the shower, pushing Katie's chest against the glass stall. She reached around, running her hand up Katie's thigh till Katie spread her legs and pushed back against Rainey, her hands braced against the glass. Rainey moved against Katie, both coming together even though Katie was not touching Rainey with her hands. Just the grinding action of her hips against Rainey's was enough to send Rainey into waves of ecstasy.

They finally got out of the shower and dressed. Rainey gave Katie a tee shirt and some gray cotton gym shorts. Both of which hung off the smaller woman, but Katie pulled it off. She rolled the pants up at the waist and tied the tee shirt up, looking as sexy as ever to Rainey. Rainey put on her standard black BDUs and black tee shirt and slid the holster with the Glock, over her shoulders. She was ready for battle. They kissed passionately one more time, at the door, before leaving their nest and joining the world, neither wanting to let go of the other one.

Katie finally said, "Please be careful, and when this is all over I want you to come for me, do you understand?"

Rainey smiled down at her sweetly, "There is nothing in the world that will stop me from coming for you and my only priority will be to make you happy for the rest of my life."

Katie looked deeply into Rainey's eyes. She hesitated a bit before saying, "I feel like I've been waiting for you all my life, like we've known each other before. I have fallen so hard for you, so fast, it's indescribable. As unbelievable as it sounds, at this moment, if you asked me to spend the rest of my life with you, I would say yes. I think you are my missing piece, Rainey."

Rainey's heart sent waves of electricity through her body. She loved this woman and before she could stop herself, she said, "Katie, I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes on you, but I didn't recognize what the churning in my gut meant, every time I saw you. Now, I know what falling in love was supposed to feel like, all along. Does that sound crazy to you?"

Katie did not hesitate this time, she answered, "I love you, too. Please be safe. Don't be a hero. Come back to me."

They kissed sweetly, one more time, then unlocked the door and went out to face the unknown together.

They fixed pancakes and sausages for breakfast, which the agents gobbled up in no time. Rainey was glad that Ernie's husband had killed some hogs and given her the mound of homemade sausages she had stored in the deep freeze, in the laundry room. Her dad had kept the freezer full of deer meat, from his and Mackie's hunting trips. Rainey did not eat deer meat and had cleared the freezer for the half a hog she bought from Ernie's farm. She gave the deer meat to a church, to give to the poor. No need to let it go to waste.

After cleaning up from breakfast, the whole time flirting conspiratorially, they snuck back into the bedroom for a passionate goodbye. Katie had to leave soon and it was breaking her heart and Rainey's. Rainey tried not to cry, but when she saw the tears on Katie's cheeks and felt her sobbing softly against her chest, Rainey's tears began to fall down her face, landing in Katie's hair. Rainey did not wipe them away. She just held Katie until her sobbing subsided.

Katie raised her head from Rainey's chest. She said in a hushed whisper, "I'm so scared to leave you, but I know I have to."

"Very soon, you won't have to be scared anymore. You have to trust me," Rainey said.

"Okay," was all Katie could manage to say.

They went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on their faces, trying to erase the tearstains. One last kiss at the door and then Katie was gone. Rainey watched the SUV, with Katie in it, until it disappeared from sight. She stood there, staring out the window for a long time after Katie left. Mackie's voice jolted her out of her thoughts.

"She's something, isn't she?" he said, with a knowing grin.

He knew her to well to try to hide her true feelings and she was not afraid of disapproval from him, he loved her too much and she him.

Rainey answered him with a matching grin, "You have no idea."

Danny arrived shortly after, with the tactical team. The team commander talked with Rainey about the layout of the land and the best places to set up. The team used her kitchen table to put their equipment on and began laying a virtual net over Rainey's property. Mackie got the old wooden roadblock sawhorses from the back of the office and set up a command post of his own. He parked his Escalade across the road, just where it came out of the trees. No one would get by Mackie and Junior until Danny wanted them to.

It took all morning to set up the surveillance equipment. By noon, when they stopped to eat the barbeque take out provided by one of the agents, all the cameras were in place. The snipers' nests were located and prepared. Rainey warned all the agents to take lots of water and bug spray with them. If they did not, the mosquitoes and deer flies would eat them alive, if the humidity and heat did not get them first. It was approaching the longest day of the year, when the sun was at its closest to this part of the earth. The Carolina sun would shine brightly for nearly fifteen hours today.

All of the local television and other major media outlets had been leaked the story that something big would be happening out at Rainey's place of business. It was two o'clock when Mackie moved his barricades and the way was clear for the hordes of reporters sure to show up any minute. The first TV truck pulled up at two fifteen. Soon there were media people of all kinds, being held back on the road by several large men in black suits, and at least three helicopters flying over Rainey's house.

A big show was made by other agents of packing up electronic equipment and moving it to the SUVs parked in the driveway. Rainey stood on the front deck with Danny, having an animated argument, of course for the benefit of the press. By three o'clock, all the agents piled into the SUVs and made a very fast public exit from Rainey's property. Junior followed in Mackie's Escalade and the illusion had been cast. The media got tired of waiting for Rainey to come out and talk to them, so they left, thinking Rainey Bell was now alone, in an isolated cottage out in the woods. The media people had no way of knowing that the tactical team was in place and Rainey was anything but alone, in the little cottage.

So much activity had taken place since Katie left, Rainey did not have the time to let thoughts of her invade her focus, but now that the activity had come to an end, Rainey could think of nothing else. She went into her bedroom, just to be alone for a few minutes with her thoughts. Her face flushed hot when images of Katie flashed in her mind. Katie on top of her, her eyes locked on Rainey's, smoldering with desire. Rainey had never known that sex could feel like this.

Rainey had not really thought about sex much since the attack. In fact, the thought of it made her sick. Rainey had been around enough victims to know that was a natural response to being raped and as time went by, she would eventually get back to a healthy sex life. Rainey was in no hurry, until she met Katie. Craving Katie the way she did, Rainey never once thought of the rape while in bed with her. Though the attack was still vivid in her mind, the pain was a little more palatable today.

Rainey's phone began to ring on her hip. She answered it immediately without looking at the caller ID. Rainey was pleasantly surprised, when she recognized the voice on the other end.

"Rainey, it's Katie. Is everything okay out there?"

Rainey burst into a smile. "Yeah, we're okay. Nothing happening, probably won't till after dark."

"What do you mean, we?" Katie was confused. "I saw you on the four o'clock news. I saw all those agents leave, even Mackie left."

"Do you really think Mackie would leave me?" Rainey said to ease Katie's mind. "He's right out there, in his chair, watching the video feeds."

Rainey wanted to tell her the truth. There was no way this guy could get to her. Rainey was surrounded by armed SWAT guys and the virtual net would see the killer, long before he got within two hundred yards of her. But she couldn't tell Katie. She could not take the risk that somehow this guy would find out that a trap had been laid for him. No one knew what was going on, except Danny and the few agents that had been at the cottage. Even the local police had been fed the same story as the media.

"I'm so worried about you. I have been cooking all day. There are pies on every surface in the kitchen," Katie said.

Rainey laughed, which unsettled Katie even more.

"I'm serious Rainey, I don't know if I can take this."

"Hang in there," Rainey, said. "It will all be over soon."