Isabella walked into the small grocery on the corner of 5th and Oxford.  Martina Giovanni was sweeping up a small mess near the front, a toppled display it seemed.  The older woman’s weathered face pulled up into a warm smile at the sight of her.  

“Gavin loved the steak, just like you said he would.”  Isabella looked around at the broken glass on the floor, but she didn’t comment on it.

“If he liked that, wait until you see the roast I held back for you!”  Martina remarked brightly.

Isabella walked to the meat counter in the back of the store and tapped the bell.  A few moments later an elderly Italian man came out wearing a butcher’s apron.  The tremor in his hands was almost hidden by the way he wiped them on a small kitchen towel. 

In Italian, she spoke, “Your wife says you held back a roast for me?”  

The man nodded and walked out of sight for a few minutes leaving Isabella alone to look over the wide variety of deli meats and cheeses on display.  When he returned the old man came around the counter with a roast in a wicker basket filled with large potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery.

“What’s all this?”  She asked him in Italian.

“My wife thinks it’s the steak, but it’s always been the roast.  She cooks all day, the lamb and the vegetables simmer in its own juices, makes the whole house smell of it - of her love and care for me.”  The old man winked.

“You do realize he’s already proposed marriage, right?”  She chuckled.

“Never stop reminding him that you love him, that’s the secret to a long and happy marriage.”

Isabella took the basket and touched his trembling hand as she did.  She said nothing merely held his gaze a moment longer than was necessary, nodded and made her way to the front of the store.

“Benito seems stronger.”

Martina nodded.  “Every day he puts another between him and the bottle.”  She says with a forced smile.  “He will overcome.  I have faith.”

“I have no doubt.”  Isabella said, her gaze drifted back to what remained of the glass jar display.

“The work of some foolish boys.”  Martina explained.  

Isabella nodded.  “Boys will be boys.”  She said paying for her roast and making her way out onto the street again.
 

“I’m just saying I think we should consider sourcing the flowers locally,”  Isabella said from the backseat.  “They’ll stay prettier longer.  I mean, we’re not talking about a simple bouquet, we’re talking about 10,000 red roses.  This is an ocean of flowers.”

The woman beside her was just in from France, a wedding coordinator who was handling all the planning on site in Paris.  This kept Isabella from having to fly to the location personally and left her open to being able to stay home with Gavin and her crew.

As the car came into her neighborhood, Isabella looked around, out the windows listening to the wedding planner drone on, “We can probably find a florist who can supply the roses, but they won’t be cheap.”

“I’m not worried about cheap.”  She said watching the small groups of men standing on the street talking to one another, and the small crowd just ahead on the street corner near Giovanni’s market.  “I just want it to be flawless.”

The wedding coordinator scribbled something onto her notepad, but Isabella’s eyes were locked on the market as they passed by.  Police men were there, the front window was covered in paint, the words:  ‘GET OUT WOP!’  were written in foot high letters.

“Son of a…”  Isabella cut off just before cussing.

The wedding coordinator looked up concerned.  

“Patches, let’s get Ms. Ludwig back to her hotel.”

“Don’t you want to go over the flight arrangements?”

“Just handle it.  You’re being paid enough.”  She pat the back of the front seat.  “Let’s make it quick, Patches.”

“Yes, Ms. Luciano.”  the woman in the front replied as she accelerated, leaving Giovanni’s market far behind them, but not forgotten.
 

“I don’t know what you’re looking for me to do, Ms. Luciano.”  The officer picked his teeth with a wooden pick and kept his voice quiet - respectful, but just barely.

“Look, you can’t tell me you don’t know who these kids are.  You’ve walked a beat in this neighborhood for how long?”

“I’ve been in and around Fifth Street for fifteen years now, but this place is crawling with no good hoods… more moving in by the day if you ask me.”  He glared at her, his implication clear.

“Careful, Officer Adams, you don’t want to end up offending anyone - especially someone who has gone to such pains to become your boss’ friend.  Now, how about you just promise me you’re gonna go by the Giovanni’s Market a little more.  Maybe just keep an eye out for them a little more than usual.  They’re a nice old couple and they got enough problems without some young punks giving them grief too.”

Adams sighed.  He knew this was really only ever going to end one way.  So long as his boss was in Jack Mezzo’s pocket, anything Mezzo’s crew asked had to be paid some lip service.  Adams might not be seeing the benefits of being a friend to the Race Street Company, but everyone above his paygrade did and they’d be plenty pissed off at a slob like Adams if he made trouble for them.

Isabella put a hand on Adams’ shoulder.  “Thank you.”  She said firmly, slipping a small bundle of bills into his pocket to soften the blow to his pride.  “I hope we can work together like this more in the future - for the good of our neighborhood.  We have to live here in peace, together, you know?”

Adams hesitated at the sight of the cash and then, surprisingly he pulled out the bills and handed it back to Isabella.  She’d never met a cop who wouldn’t accept a small thank you bribe before.  

“I can’t.”  He thrust the cash at her.  “I won’t.”

Isabella was torn between respecting the man and worrying that he couldn’t be controlled.  Unsure of what to make of him she nodded and took the money back.  “A man of principles.”  She said softly.

“I get paid for my job, Ms. Luciano.”

“Not well enough.”  She threw out.  To this Adams had no reply.  He knew damn well she was right, for all he did - for putting his ass on the line, the pay was shit.

“Just the same.”  He said.  “I’ll come by and check on the Giovanni family from time to time - but I ain’t giving them anything I wouldn’t do for no one else.”

“Of course,”  Isabella said.  “You’re a good cop.”

He scoffed.

“I’m serious.  Too few of those around these days Adams.”  She stepped back towards her car.  Patches opened the backseat passenger door.  “You take care of yourself.”

“You too.”  Adams said watching her disappear into the vehicle and then drive away.

“Think he’ll do it?”  Patches asked.

“Yeah.”  Isabella said, almost shocked at her own thoughts on the matter.  “He’s one of the weird ones… I’ve heard about his sort but only ever met a couple.  Paul was one for a lot of years until his wife died.”  She sighed.  

“Think that will be the end of it then?  He’ll nick the boys?”

“I’m worried that Mrs. Giovanni is underselling the situation.”  She said looking out the window at the run down buildings and hoodlums on the streets corners as she passed them by.  “I don’t think it’s a bunch of foolish kids.”

“Who do you think it is?  And why wouldn't she tell you the truth?”  Patches asked.

“Pride, maybe?  Shame?  I don’t know, but this is the what… the fifth time they’ve been hit to one degree or another?”

Patches made an affirmative noise.

“I’m starting to think I need to find out.”

"They just boys.  You really don't need to make a fuss."

Isabella followed Martina down the aisle.  "I won't make a fuss - I'll just ask them to leave you be.  Just give me a name."

"I told the police already, I don't know them."

"I'm not the police and telling me isn't the same as telling them.  I won't make problems for you - I solve problems.  You have to believe me.  These sorts of things don't just disappear."

Martina turned and put a hand on Isabella's cheek and smiled at her.  "You're such a sweet girl to worry, but these things... they aren't new to Benito and I.  It was the same in the old country, worse in many ways, we are tougher than we look.  I don't want you getting mixed up in these things.  It's too dangerous."

Isabella tried very hard not to roll her eyes.  The woman couldn't be blamed for not knowing who she was, what power she had, or how street thugs were her bread in butter.  To this sweet elderly woman, she was a young girl about to become a blushing bride... a woman learning from her elders how to be a good wife.  How could she be expected to know?  And what would shattering Martina's view of her accomplish other than to shatter the relationship they had?  

"I'm stronger than you know."  She tried.

"Of course you are... you're going to make Mr. Byrne a good wife and mother of his children... dozens of them.  The two of you will come here with your strollers pushing the babies and I'll give them sweets.  THAT is your future, not worrying about ugly things like terrible young men and their foul mouths."

"I've heard worse."  Isabella picked up some cans and helped the woman shelf.

"Gah!  You shouldn't have... your papa must worry so about you!  Speaking of which, when will I get to meet this handsome young man of yours?  Even with that house help of yours he employs, he must worry."  Isabella looked at Patches and Linval apologetically.  Of course, that's what the elderly Italian would think of the two of them constantly driving her about and carrying her stuff.  "He should spend some of that fortune of his to take you to a nicer neighborhood really... somewhere with a pretty yard for your children to play in."

"I like Fifth Street and I like you and Benito which is why I'm here asking these questions... look, if you tell me about these boys, I'll... I'll bring my fiancee by.  Gavin and Benito can talk about it and decide what if anything can be done.  Surely you can't turn that down?" 

It was galling to think that she might have to ask her 'husband' to come to deal with this; but if it made the old woman comfortable she knew Gavin would humor them - if only to find out who these punks were.

Martina finally nodded.  "Your Gavin and my Benito... they can talk about this.  If Benito wants to tell Gavin & make a plan with your young man then, I won't argue." 

Isabella lit up and kissed the older woman's cheeks.  "Thank you."

"Bah!  I think you're making mountains of molehills... this is nothing compared to what we saw in Sicily.  We will do as we have always done... we will endure.  Now, take your bags and get going.  Your young man will be home soon and imagine his face if you didn't have dinner on the table!" 

Isabella didn't correct her friend.  If she knew Gavin's hours or that Gavin wouldn't have noticed if dinner was late... well, it would only confuse matters.  Clearly, Martina had a very domestic view of her and Gavin's home and while it was wholly incorrect, Isabella couldn't help but be just a touch fond of the fairytale the woman had so lovingly crafted.  The cute suburban home, dinner on the table every night, Gavin always home at the same time... and a baby; none of these things were in the cards and that wasn't entirely tragic, all things considered.  Isabella might have enjoyed making Gavin smile with a home cooked meal on a regular basis... but she was no domestic Goddess, she was far more comfortable with a gun in her hand than a frying pan after all.  Still, that was no reason to ruin the woman's view of her.  It was a sweet story, even if it was pure fiction.  

Leaving the shop Isabella noticed the door to the shoe store next door was wide open for the first time since she'd moved into the area.  She walked over and peaked her head in, shadowed by her bodyguards.  

"Can I help you?" A young man said.

Isabella smiled.  "I was wondering if you might know something about the terrible attack on Giovanni's Market earlier this week?"

Blood drained from the young shop keeper's face, his eyes as wide as saucers.  He was too quick to reply, "No.  I'm afraid I don't."  

Isabella stepped inside wordlessly, pulling the door closed behind her.  Outside Linval and Patches took up posts as they could hear the lock on the door engage and the 'open' sign flip to 'closed.'

Gavin had come home late again last night, but before Isabella could even think about unloading all that was on her mind, her fiancee surprised her by whisking her off to go for dinner and dancing on board a ship.  For hours Isabella was distracted by the environment, the other guests on the ship, and her handsome fiancee and all thoughts of the days events were forgotten. 

Back at home, Isabella stirred in the early hours of the morning, before the sun itself had risen.  Gavin was getting up out of the bed.  She reached for him and took him by the hand.  She opened her eyes ever so slightly and saw his naked form silhouetted by the moon shining through their floor to ceiling windows.

"Didn't mean to wake you."  He whispered.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back later this afternoon, but I've got to..." 

"What you GOT to do is get back into bed with your future wife so she can say goodbye properly."  She whispered, tugging on his arm gently. He gave her that smirk that she treasured so much and, relenting to her charms, he came back down into the bed for just a little while longer.  

Exhausted, Isabella didn't feel him slip away the second time, once again forgetting to mention her desire for him to meet with Benito.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

Isabella sat up, the sun shining in on her.  That knock was authoritative and it was coming from the door to the stairs.  Which meant it wasn't family or friends who the doorman might have let up via the elevator.  

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Ms. Luciano!  Open up." 

Isabella threw on a housecoat, grabbed her gun, and went to the door.  She peaked through the eye hole and saw Officer Adams in street clothing.  She opened the door and without hesitating, she asked, "What's happened?!?"

Isabella, dressed in a practical shirt, slacks, long coat to hide her weapons, and hair pulled up into a french braid going down her back walked up a long set of rickety stairs.  Linval was behind her and behind him, Officer Adams. 

Outside Patches kept a lookout, her daughter safely with a trusted babysitter in the neighborhood.  Bella had no illusions that she'd be home quickly and so it was necessary to put the girl somewhere safe.  A note had been hastily scrawled and left on the counter for Gavin to find.

Something that couldn't wait has come up.  I may not be home until tomorrow.

Love you,

-Bella

Reaching the top of the stairs she stopped and listened.  Outside the autumn wind was blowing hard.  It was a cold day and they'd been checking buildings like this one, full of homeless people huddled up in corners, all afternoon.  The smell here wasn't pleasant - old piss and stale booze... rotting food, and dirty flesh all mixed together in a horrible cacophony. 

Graffiti covered what was left of the walls, and dozens of men were laying about the room under makeshift blankets.  Since prohibition had begun, more and more scenes like this one were littered all across the face of America.  Men so destroyed by alcohol (and the lack of it) that all drive was sucked out of them.  All life, bled out as surely as if they had slit their own wrists and just laid down to die.

And there in the farthest corner, after hours of searching for him lay, a soot-covered Benito, unmoving.  Isabella prayed he was just sleeping and not dead.  She rushed to his side and knelt down, throwing aside the empty bottle of hooch that lay under his arm.  This caused him to stir and moan.  

"Wake up, Benito!"  She said to him in Italian.  

Linval and Adams stood behind her now, watching for trouble.

The old man sobbed. 

Isabella took hold of his shoulders.  "This is no time to fall apart man... pull yourself together!"

"Martina... my sweet flower..."  He cried in Italian.

"She needs you now."

The old man shook his head, 'no.'  

"Damn it, man!  She's alive and she needs you!"

"No.  She can't be.  I saw her... her skin - OH GOD HER SKIN!"  He wailed.

Isabella went to the floor.  Reaching over with all her strength she pulled the old man's frail body up and tight to her.  The smell of char clung to him and soot was now her staining cream colored coat.  

"Shhh!"  She rocked him as if he were a child.  "We'll get you clean.  Get you some coffee, then take you to see her.  She's sleeping at the hospital.  She'll sleep for a long while, the doctors are keeping her asleep, but she's alive.  She's alive and she needs you now, more than ever Benito.  You got to dig deep.  Be strong for her Benito.  Be strong and tell me who did this."

Benito wept.  "It's my fault."

"No..." Isabella said softly.

"I should have paid them."  he kept on in Italian.

"What's he saying?"  Officer Adams asked.  Isabella disregarded the man who did not share their heritage or language.

"No.  I should have stepped in sooner, I should have known they would have pushed back while Don Mezzo was moving to South Philly.  I should have seen this, let me make it right.  Let me carry the burden of vendetta for you.  Let me make sure this never happens to you again."

The old man blinked back tears and looked at Isabella and it was as if he was seeing her for the first time.  Isabella felt the illusion that Martina and Benito had built up about who she and Gavin were melting away in the same way as Martina's soft elderly flesh must have melted in the flames.  Tears welled in her eyes as the innocence of it all gave way to the brutal truth.  The man's lip stiffened as understanding seemed to settle upon him.  Trembling he took hold of her hand and pressed his lips hard to the giant diamond in her engagement ring.

"No, no, no... this is not why I brought you here!"  Adams said trying to step towards her, Linval put his massive hand on Adams' shoulder and stopped him.

Isabella nodded at Benito's gesture of loyalty and then she looked up to Linval.  "Get him clean and sober then take him to the hospital so he can be with his wife."

"Tell me who did this Isabella.  I'll have men there in minutes, we'll arrest them... they'll stand trial and go away for a long time."

"I'm afraid that's not enough, Officer Adams."

"It's precisely enough!"  Adams said indignantly as Isabella stood. "It's what we do in this country.  It's this sort of vigilante violence that just begets more and more... it never ends!"

"WRONG!"  Isabella snapped, grabbing Adams' sleeve pulling him away from Benito poking a finger hard into his chest.  "If someone doesn't take a stand, there will be another and another... for 15 years you've been a cop and before you there were others and others before them and it doesn't end.  It never ends.  Don't you see?  At BEST men like you are treating a symptom.  You people... you're not interested in fixing the real problem, even those of you who are out there collecting scum off the streets.  To say NOTHING of the criminals you work for, so there will always be another them... there will ALWAYS be another ME!"

Adams stared at her, stunned at either her indignance or her willingness to admit what she really was.

Somehow Isabella brought her fury under control, "So long as evil exists the best you get to do is pick which ones you can tolerate best... demons like these vile fucks who hurt Martina or Dragons like me."  

Adams smoothed out his sleeve as Isabella released him.  He stared at her for a long moment as Isabella watched Linval gently helping Benito up off the floor.  "What will you do?"  He asked quietly.

"Careful Officer..."  She said softly.  "If I tell you that, you fall from a lofty place and I don't think you're ready for that.  At least not today."  She turned to look at him.  "You should get back to your investigation into the arson.  You found the old man... he's alive, now try to find the people who did it."

Adams' brow furrowed.  "Even though you're going to..."

"Do what?  What will I do?  You know nothing because I've said nothing Officer, and Benito named no names... if you must question him then you'll need to find another Italian to translate because I won't be a part of it.  I'm sure you got someone downtown though.  And of course, you could question people in the neighborhood."

"We both know that no one there will talk."

Isabella nodded.  "That's right, but you're a good cop and that shouldn't stop you from asking or people will be suspicious.  So... get back to work, Adams.  Who knows, maybe the absolute inhumanity of this crime will compel their better angels."

Adams sighed.  "More likely they'll be too scared to speak."

Isabella watched Linval taking Benito down the stairs.  "Probably." She said sadly.  "Fear is one hell of a motivator and what these savages have done will have created a lot of it."

Adams grew very still and he spoke so softly, Isabella barely heard him at all, "I looked you up."

Isabella chortled.

"When?"  She asked as the last sight of Benito disappeared down the stairwell causing her to look back to Adams.

"Yesterday."

"Figured you would have done it sooner."  She said dryly.

"They say you were a Mafia Don.  That's not a job you just quit.  How the hell does something like that happen?"  He looked more curious and confused than accusatory now.

"Never forget how little you know about me and why I do what I do, Officer Adams.  It's safer for everyone that way."  She began walking towards the stairs, calling over her shoulder.  "Good luck in your investigation."

Isabella stared at the building across the street, seated in the driver's seat of her car.  Patches got into the passenger seat and rubbed her hands together, desperate for some warmth.  

"How the hell do you tolerate this terrible weather?"

"I'm afraid your first winter is going to be a hard one."  Isabella said with the barest hint of a smile.  "So, how many?"

"Less than a dozen.  Certainly no fewer than six.  Probably too many for us to handle alone."  

Isabella chuckled.  "I've been in worse situations."

"How did those end?"  She asked. 

Isabella remembered her and William carrying Gavin's near lifeless body out of the rubble, bleeding the whole way from a useless arm.  She also remembered laying atop Gavin's body, trying to lift it, begging him to get up so they could escape - only to fail utterly.

"Not good."  She admitted.

"We could take Linval off watching the Giovanni couple or your Wolf is surely back by now.  We could go get him... that would even things well enough.  These people don't look like the sort who have as much experience as you and he both do."

Isabella scoffed, "All men become lions or sheep when their life is laid before them... men with guns usually choose to be lions, at least until enough of them fall."  She sighed.  "Gavin has been in enough gunfights to last a lifetime, and to be honest, so have I."

"So will you stalk them... take them one at a time?"  She asked in her thick Jamaican accent.

"I could, but the point isn't just to kill them."  She said staring at the building.

"If an eye for an eye isn't the point, what is?"

"To send a message.  I want to let all of their kind know that there's a new boss in town.  She's not going to tolerate their run of the mill bullshit and violence.  Starting today no business owner in this neighborhood is answerable to anyone but me or Jack Mezzo.  That's the message.  Anyone trying to run a racket in this 'hood, who isn't him or me... is going to suffer whatever fate I come up with for these guys."

Patches nodded.  "Claiming territory."

"A dangerous game for someone not even made yet."  She admitted.  "Too greedy for someone of my low station in this thing of ours."

"Perhaps another sound reason to involve Gavin?"

Isabella drew a breath.  She knew Patches was right.  Gavin was a Boss.  Gavin could claim turf and tribute Mezzo without anyone batting an eyelash but she'd promised the old man she'd do this, and that promise was a sacred one.  It was something that resonated through her blood for generations back to the very soil of the old country.  She had to do this herself.

"I've got some leeway.  So long as all my profits go up to Mezzo, I don't think he'll put the screws to me.  This is personal.  I don't care if I never see a dime flowing out of the coffers of 5th Street.  I just want these people safe - Gavin & I call this place home, your little girl plays in these streets... I won't let this continue here.  Friends of mine would never do shit like that & I sure as fuck won't let it pass.  Intentional or not, there must be a response to this sort of barbarism, and it must be crystal clear - anyone who dares harm people protected by me, or Godfather Mezzo, will pay dearly."

Patches adjusted herself in the seat, "So... what WILL you do?"

Isabella leaned back in her seat.  "For the moment, we wait.  I need someone... I'll know who when I see them." 

And so the long waiting game began.

Gavin sighed as soon as the phone woke him up. Linval had to explain the situation to him three times before he understood it, but once he was fully awake he moved quickly.

It was a fine line. If Bella showed up on one of his jobs unannounced, he'd... be pissed? grateful? More pissed than grateful, probably. Depends on the circumstances.

He trusted her to handle his own business, and he didn't want her to think otherwise. But at the same time...

He grabbed the trombone case in his closet, slipped his M1911 in his shoulder holster, and checked the knife on his calf. He'd just... take a walk. On the rooftops. In the area. And see what happened.

Darkness had fallen over the city only a few hours ago, but this place was like midnight.  Streetlights seldom worked and there were very few businesses that stayed open late in this area of town.  So, one really could only see shadows and outlines and the mind tended to play tricks on itself in darkness - especially if you were already unnerved. 

Kneeling on the pavement a young man shivered, not just from the cold, but with fear.  A woman holding a gun to his head made him watch as another woman poured gasoline all around the base of a now quiet building, a building whose residents he was intimately familiar with.  They were as close to family as anyone that he'd ever known and he wanted with every fiber of his being to scream out a warning to them.  When he'd tried, a short while ago, it ended with him pissing himself in terror.  The woman with black and white skin had put a gun into his mouth and forced him down into the dirt, swearing she'd show him his brains before he could die, and he believed utterly that she would.

The other woman, who seemed to be in charge, had been silent - just watching as he'd been collected and forced into submission.  The stare she had seemed to pull in all the light and let nothing back out again.  Her hair was like shadows made tangible and he swore when she moved that she didn't make a sound at all.  It was as if she wasn't human at all. 

A part of him wished this was a nightmare, that he'd wake up in his bed safe and sound, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.  Gasping for breath, trying to cry as silently as possible, the young man kept his eyes on the building just as he was ordered to do.

Isabella looked back across the street and could make out the outline of Patches holding the 'witness' just where she'd instructed.  She'd picked the boy because unlike all the other men she'd seen all day, he was still young and maybe he'd be too scared to turn her in but wise enough to make sure people knew what she wanted them to know... that, and perhaps, he was young enough to change his ways. 

Isabella couldn't make herself right with killing a child wholesale no matter what he'd been involved in and, in truth, maybe because he reminded her a little too much of Santino.  A deep pang of guilt hit her for not the first time this week.  She wondered what trouble the boy might be in right now.  Was he trying to survive on the streets with a group just like this?  Would they take Santino, who had the blood of Cosa Nostra in his veins, and turn him into an honorless dog as these men had done to that poor boy?

Wordlessly she began crossing the street back to where Patches and the boy were waiting.  A cold wind kicked up, flaring her coat out to either side of her as she moved.  She could hear the boy whimpering louder now as the red-gold glow of flames began to cut through the darkness they cast her shadow long across the ground.  With each tongue of flame lashing at the black abyss around them, her shadow seemed to take on a life of its own, almost dancing.

She had been able to exact the Giovanni family's vendetta almost without a word and if no one woke, perhaps she'd be able to do it without firing a shot either.  She could just watch this dilapidated building burn to the ground and it would be done.  If someone woke, if any man inside dared to exit rather than face the fate which they had so callously chosen for Martina, she would be waiting.  Reaching into her car she pulled out her gun and made herself ready, never seeing the man on the rooftops who had watched her work.

Gavin had climbed up the fire escape like a cat burglar once he'd selected his roof. Initially, he was going to let Bella know that he was around... but he didn't want that bodyguard of hers to shoot him before he could say anything. Not to mention the fact that they needed quiet. Instead, he moved into position on the rooftop, assembling his rifle and training it on the building engulfed in flame. 

It didn't look like Bella would need help... but better safe than sorry.

The blaze grew faster than Bella had anticipated.  She thought this would prove to be a boon.  The men inside would die faster, it would be over quicker, and likely she'd have to fire her gun at no one. 

The flames, the breath of the dragon she imagined herself to be, would be the instrument of their demise.  It was biblical because of the nature of their crime against Martina and her husband. Let them imagine their petty and brutal crimes would be revisited upon them by a dragon in the night, a creature without mercy or pity.  Perhaps then they'd think twice before preying on a neighborhood protected by Race Street Company and namely Isabella Luciano... no... very soon she would officially be Bella Byrne, an appropriate name if there ever was one for a Dragon.

Isabella smiled as she watched the flames growing and then, she noticed movement from within the building.  One man?  Two?  It was hard to tell.  They were trying to find a way out.  She could hear their voices raised up above the sound of wood straining in the heat, the popping, and crackling of the flames devouring the building.

"Be ready."  Isabella warned Patches. 

Patches nodded silently.

It seemed clear that the men inside, at least a few of them, were going to make it out. Bella had no way of knowing if they might come out armed and ready to fight, or if they would be half-asleep and disoriented.  She hoped they were as terrified by the blaze that might yet take their lives as the elderly couple they had nearly killed.

Just then, the door exploded outward and people began to emerge.

God damn it... 

The first man to exit the building was bent over coughing.  He sputtered for clean air and then stopped breathing, catching the first round from Bella's Colt M1911 in the chest.  The noise was unmistakable and left a painful buzzing in her ears.  The unmistakable discharge of her weapon let his compatriots know that they weren't just escaping a random house fire, but instead they'd walked right into their own execution.  This realization sent the other two in opposite directions as fast as their legs could carry them.

Isabella tracked one of them as best she could in the firelight.  Sure she had him dead to rights she squeezed the trigger.  A miss!  She exhaled, steadying herself and then pulled the trigger again.  The third bullet struck true, taking down a stocky blonde dressed in nothing but shorts.  Wheeling back to the front door of the house she scanned the darkness, not seeing the third man.

Where the fuck are you...  

Patches called out, "The dumpster!"

Bella heard what she thought might be Patches' gun hit the sidewalk and skitter away into the darkness, followed by the boy screaming, "RUN DANNY!  RUN!"  

Even as Isabella pulled up her gun again to shoot, she could hear Patches putting the hurt on their young witness, but she didn't dare spare a moment to see what had occurred.  Instead she tried to target a thin man with incredibly long legs.  His strides taking him massive distances in a short amount of time. As soon as Patches had called out his hiding spot, the street punk had bolted and was putting serious ground between him and Bella.  

Isabella moved to get a better shot, a quick dash down the sidewalk, realizing he was going to get into a space with serious cover she decided to take her chances firing while on the move - it was a difficult thing to do well in the best of conditions, but even harder by distant flickering firelight in the dead of night.  Squeezing the trigger twice just before the hoodlum would have disappeared from her line of sight.  She only stopped pursuing once she saw the thin man folded in upon himself and go tumbling hard to the ground with her fifth round ripping through his back.

The boy was making a fuss still, Bella was full of righteous fury having nearly allowed one of the men to get away.  She dashed back to where Patches was holding the thrashing boy by the scruff of his neck.  As her boss came near, Patches turned him round to face her. 

Isabella punched the young teen, silhouetted by the burning house behind and just across the street from her.

"Do you really want to die?"  She snarled into the boy's face, visibly shaking with rage.  "DO YOU!?!  That old woman's skin was so thin you could see her veins BEFORE you left her to FRY in that fucking grocery store... ARE YOU PROUD OF THAT?  DO YOU THINK THESE WERE GOOD MEN?  IS THIS WHO YOU ARE?  IS THIS WHO YOU WANT TO BE?" 

The boy stifled his cries. 

Isabella grabbed his collar with her free hand and found herself saying the same words to the boy that Lucy had written in her journal and despite all the anger she felt at the waste of this week here on 5th Street, her voice sounded more sad than furious as she told him, "You can do better than this.  You can BE better than this."

The sound of shattering glass startled Isabella.  Turning around she thought she'd find a window had finally given way in the heat.  Instead, she saw a fourth man had dove out a window and now was rushing at her, a machete in his hand raised high above his head.  

Patches cursed and dragged the boy with her as she went for her gun that was still laying somewhere in the darkness.  Isabella pulled up and fired one shot wildly at the huge man coming for her, the panic of the moment leaving her unfocused and absolutely caught with her pants down. 

The second shot winged the guy in his off shoulder but didn't slow him much.  He was coming for her and that had been the seventh bullet in her gun.  She'd need time to reload, but there was no time for that now.

"RAENI!"  Isabella screamed out, praying to God the other woman had gotten to her gun in time because if not a brawl with a man three times her size wielding a machete was bound to be incredibly one-sided!

Gavin had been watching the scene unfold just over the edge of the roof. He was silent, as usual when he was working, and he made sure that the scope of his rifle didn't reflect down to the women he was following. Them catching a glint from it and shooting in his direction would certainly put a damper on his day. 

When the fire started, the monstrous shadow of Bella was cast against the building behind her. Gavin stared for a moment before grinning and training his rifle on the doorway of the burning building. People had a tendency to run outside in these situations... often with guns. After a moment, he saw Bella drop three of them. The sound of shattered glass drew his attention, and he sighted the man through his scope.

He was inclined to let Bella handle her own problems, but when the guy didn't go down... well, he didn't think she'd mind the assistance. 

Gavin felt the familiar calm wash over him as he exhaled and pulled the trigger. The man took two confused steps before he dropped to the ground, and Gavin put another round in him just to be safe.

He stood up and held his rifle away from him and waved cheekily. He didn't want to draw too much attention... but then again, there was a giant building on fire so... he simply shouted down to the women.

"Hi!"

He grinned.

Isabella's heart thundered in her whole body shook.  The giant man's first foot lifted up to step upon the curb but before it could be placed down, bringing him mere feet from Isabella, the unmistakable crack of gunfire caused her to gasp and hold her breath.  Crimson blossomed out the man's backside and rained down on the pavement like water running from a faucet.  The wound was clearly fatal and still he came forward two more steps before his machete fell to the pavement with a clatter.

Bella looked back to the boy and Patches, who was shaking her head 'No' in confusion.  She didn't even have her gun in hand yet.  Then a second shot caused the man's body to jerk where it lay in the gutter ever so slightly.  Now she was frantic to locate the unknown shooter.  Bella looked all around until her eyes met with a shadowy figure standing up on the rooftop. 

He, a man by his build, was holding his rifle out to his side.  He was clearly submitting and he wasn't here to kill her.  Before she could ask who the hell the person was, he revealed his identity with an all too perky, "Hi!"

Isabella gave a forced exhale and chuckle.  Relief washing over her.

Patches chuckled as well, still holding the boy tight as she gave words to Bella's thoughts, "Your Wolf..."

She agreed, nodding at her bodyguard's words, keeping her eyes upon Gavin waving down at them.  Isabella wanted to fall over with relief.  To relish the moment, but there was still the matter of a fire and soon someone would come, there were dead men, and of course... she looked at the young man.  There was no time for cooling her heels.  

"Nice shot.  I'll see you at home soon!"  She called out to him.

Only after Gavin had disappeared from sight did Bella tell Patches, get him to the car.

"You said you'd let me go if I watched!  I swear I'll do whatever you want!"  The boy begged but Patches did as she was told.  Bella, took another look at her (and some of Gavin's) handy work.  None of this would undo the damage that had been done to the 5th Street community or the Giovanni couple, but perhaps it would prevent future criminals who weren't under Mezzo from coming in to raise this sort of hell ever again.  At least, she could hope.

Epilogue

Patches pulled up to the curb.  Eric, the boy in the passenger seat, looked confused.  

"This is your stop."  She said as she put the car in park.

"You really are just letting me go?"

Patches shrugged.  "You could try to run, but I think we both know how that would go for you.  Pretty sure you realize now how far my boss' reach is... she's got friends in high places all over this thing of ours, and maybe if you're smart then one day you will too.  Just do what she asked you to do and do it well.  Trust me when I say, being her friend has its advantages."

Flashing colored lights lit up the car's interior with reds and then yellows over and over giving a surreal feeling to the moment.  The boy looked out the window nervously.  

"But if you forget what she told you..."  Patches warned, "Our paths will cross again."

He nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat, "I won't forget."

"Then that's it."  

Eric opened the door and stepped outside, a part of him wanted to run like a rabbit looking for the safety of a hole, but he knew the woman with the strange accent was right.  Where could he hope to run and with what money?  The Dragon was going to pay him better than he ever made on his own and the work she had him doing was far less terrible to be sure.  

As he closed the door behind him and his captor's car pulled away, leaving him all alone on the southernmost corner of Fifth Street in Philly, he thought about what it was he was tasked to do and what it meant for his days to come.  He had two jobs now. 

The first was the easiest.  Everything he saw, everything he heard, it all was to be reported back to the Race Street Company.

The second was to make sure that everyone who wasn't a cop knew damn well who had taken care of Danny's gang for shaking down the businesses on 5th Street & burning those old people.  He was supposed to let folks know and to warn them away from pissing off the Dragon ever again.

So long as people knew who took care of this neighborhood now, and so long as he brought in all the information he came across, he'd always have a safe place to sleep and food in his belly.  Anything less, and the Dragon promised she would find him again and send him to join Danny and his friends for his part in what happened to Giovanni's grocery.  

"One day you won't be a thug in the streets Eric.  Stay loyal to Jack Mezzo and one day you'll be a Made Man and no one will cross you.  You'll have the power and the money to protect yourself and everyone you care about too.  Just don't let me down.  Don't make me regret the decision to leave someone alive tonight.  I did that once before and didn't go so well... show me that guy was a one-time thing.  Do better.  Be better."

Eric would do better.  He would be better - better than Danny and better than every other thug he knew.  Maybe he'd even be better than the Dragon herself one day.  But for now, he would only be one thing: loyal.

Hands in his pockets he made his way down 5th Street watching for people he knew, keeping his ears open, ready to tell anyone who mattered that there was a new protector of the neighborhood and unless you wanted to end up a smoldering pile of ash, you didn't fuck with what belonged to the Dragon.

Isabella leaned on the door frame looking into a hospital recovery room listening to the soft sounds of machines and people quietly bustling about to and fro. 

In a metal frame on the opposite side of the room, lay the small frail body of Martina Giovanni with the majority of her body covered in bandages.  Beside her bed on a simple wooden chair, head resting on the edge of her bed & hand touching her uncovered fingertips with his own while they both slept, was her dedicated husband Benito.  Presumably sober and right here where she needed him, when she needed him most of all.   

"Thought I would find you here eventually, what with your guy finally having left."  

Isabella smiled but she didn't move from her place watching the elderly couple.

"Good Evening, Officer Adams."

"You can call me Kacey, when I'm off duty."

Isabella glanced at the man, again in his street clothes. 

Maybe Tara was right.  Maybe he is a little handsome.  

"Its not like you haven't met my family and it's not like I don't know who you really are."  He added.

Isabella nodded.  "I guess that means you and Tara had a nice time."

"Yeah, we did."  The way he said it made Bella smile.

"I'm glad."  She admitted.  "Really, I am."

"You know I heard there was another fire in the neighborhood tonight."  Adams offered.

"Oh?"  Isabella arched an eyebrow.

"Six young men are dead."  He said watching her closely.  "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Is this an interrogation... or a discussion between friends?  If you're going to keep seeing Tara, I feel like maybe we should make sure those lines are pretty clear whenever we meet up, don't you?"

Adams shook his head as if he had expected no less.  He looked into the room at Martina, "They say if she can make it through this week her chances for survival will go up to 70%."

"Yeah, but what kind of life will she have after what those bastards did to her?"  Isabella asked sadly.

"A life."  Adams replied.  "That's all any of us get.  I would think both our lines of work teach a man ... or woman ... that."

For a while, they stood there together, silently.  Then he asked, "Is it true you're paying for her medical bills."

Isabella just smiled and then switching gears suddenly she said,  "You know... she's a good woman."

"Of course."  Adams said, "Whole damn neighborhood thinks she's..."

Isabella cut him off with a correction.  "I'm talking about Tara.  Tara's a good woman and more vulnerable than you probably know at this point."  She looked at him from the corner of her eye.  "And I need to make very clear to you that I love her dearly."

Adams was silent.  He didn't push.  He waited to hear where this was going.

Isabella nodded to the Giovanni couple, "I barely know that nice couple in there.  They were just some kind people who treated me with respect, who thought the best of me & my fiancee - even when they had no good reason to; innocent people who deserved better than they got."  She turned fully towards Adams and met his eyes, "But I don't love them."

Adams nodded, seeming to understand that if she'd been willing to murder for people she barely knew, what she might do for Tara would clearly be far worse.  Adams didn't try to insist he'd never hurt Tara and Bella was glad for it.  She'd said all she needed to say on the matter and now, she'd leave it alone.  After all, she wasn't Salvatore.  She would let Tara make her own choices... and potentially mistakes.  

"I'm glad we had this talk, Officer Adams."  she said smiling at him.  "Take care of yourself.  I'll come by and check on them again soon." 

Coming to check on something, I ran into Isabella.. I hadn't seen her in what seemed like forever..but what was she doing in a hospital? I walked up to her and tapped her ever so slightly to inquire if everything was okay, and it really was good to see her, she looked okay herself. I really popped in the city for a change of scenery then disaster happened of course. Stupid driver of mine, I swear should be fired.. well shot really, would be more fun..( as a wicked evil grin falls upon my face, with that thought)

Isabella turned, startled to see Jewel at the hospital in Philly.  "Oh my God, Jewel!"  She gave the other woman a hug.  "Have you been?  Are you okay?  What are you doing here?"

Grinning and sorta laughing at Isabella... "Stupid idiot of a driver of mine had an accident, and ran some lady over. Gotta make sure it doesn't connect to me, and shoot that driver, and hire another.I am sure you knw how that goes. What about you, I am fine actually, thanks for asking."

"Some thugs in my neighborhood hit a local grocery store, burnt the place to the damn ground with an elderly couple inside... nice couple who has been helping me settle into life here in Philly."  She sighed.  "The man is okay but his wife... she's been burnt badly.  I came to check on her and see how she was doing.  She's not out of the woods yet but if she can make it through another day or two, her chances of survival go up by leaps and bounds.  So... that's something I guess."