Chapter 2

The alley's quiet was shattered by the crash of trash can lids.

"Bubba?"

A small girl, her blonde hair tied back with a ragged red ribbon, held out her hands, squatting down on her thin legs as she looked behind the battered tin cans. "Bubba? Come here kitty, kitty." Her little voice was sing song high as she peered into the shadows. Her clothing was just as ragged, tattered dress barely covering her thighs, a ratty coat covering bony arms. "Bubba? Where are you, kitty?"

"Does she belong to you?"

The little girl twirled so quickly around she almost fell and caught her balance against one can. Her eyes were huge in a thin, pale face as she stared at the small red haired woman in gray leather who held the tiny orange kitten she'd been hunting for.

She nodded, uncertainly, afraid to speak. Rayne held the kitten out to her, pulling her back for a moment when the little girl stepped forward.

"Do you live around here?"

"My ... my momma said I shouldn't talk to strangers, lady." She eyed the pretty woman holding her pet, leery but wanting her kitten back. "Can I have Bubba?"

"This is Bubba?" Rayne stroked the soft orange fur, listening as the kitten started a deep rusty purr. "She doesn't look much like a Bubba to me, she's much too pretty. More like a..." she watched the little girl carefully, "Lily, maybe?"

"That's my name," the little girl smiled coming closer and losing some of her wariness. "You think it's a pretty name?"

"Oh yes," Rayne said, finally handing over the kitten to her tiny owner. "Very pretty. And so are you."

Lily cuddled the kitten in her thin arms. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rayne, Lily." She squatted down, getting closer to the little girl's level. "You shouldn't be out by yourself this late at night, honey. Where's your momma at?"

The little girl turned and pointed behind her. "She's down there. We got us a box and a sleeping bag," she said proudly.

It almost broke Rayne's heart, hearing that this little scamp lived in a box with her mother. "Wow," she managed to say.

"Yeah, and my momma's gotta job for tomorrow. She said that if I'm good and stay in the box while she's gone, she'll buy peanut butter for me."

How do you respond to something so sad? But at least there was something she could do. Rayne's head tilted, her ears tuned in. She smiled again and turned the little girl around. "Your momma's calling you. Is her name Tammy?"

Lily nodded, looking down the alley where she could see the shadowed figure of her mother.

"Okay, Lilly. I need you to do me a favor." She waited until she had the child's attention. "Can you give this envelope to your momma? You've gotta be a big girl and not lose it though." She handed the thick envelope to the little girl and then gave her a gentle push in the direction of the worried parent.

Lily ran, the white envelope clutched in one grimy fist, her other hand curled carefully around the orange kitten who's head bobbed with her every step. "I'm here, momma. I'm here," the tiny girl said, holding the envelope out to the drawn, worn looking woman who stood with one hand at her throat.

She took the envelope automatically, not glancing at it as she crouched down to her daughter's level. "Baby, you know after dark you have to stay close to me. Those men, the bad ones? They're out at night, baby. You scared momma." She hugged the little girl, careful of the tiny kitten that purred and curled deeper into the child's embrace.

"I saw a pretty lady, momma. She told me to bring that envelope to you and helped me find Bubba cause he runned away again."

Her mother glanced down at the envelope, noting her name upon the now grimy surface. She pealed back the flap with all the care of a woman opening a package of scorpions and looked inside.

"Oh!" she gasped, staring down at the thick stack of green bills. She pulled a few out with shaking hands, unbelieving what she was seeing. "Who gave you this, Lily? Where's the lady?"

Lily pointed behind her then turned to look at the empty alley. "She was back there, momma. She was real pretty. And real nice."

Tammy stared down at her daughter and then back up the alley, guilt telling her she should find the "pretty and nice lady" and return the money to her. She ran a finger through it, mentally counting the bills and calculating quickly in her head. With what was in there and what little she'd been able to save from the few jobs she'd managed to pick up, Lily and her could buy bus tickets back home to Michigan and leave the Big Apple behind. There would even be enough left to start them over somewhere, back home, with an apartment.

Quickly making her decision, she turned, glancing behind her once and took Lily's hand, leading her away from the filth of the alley that had been her playground for years. With tears in her eyes, of thanksgiving, she headed towards the box that had been their home for the last few months to wrap up what few possessions they'd been able to keep. They were going home.

Rayne stepped quickly from the shadows she'd concealed herself in, feeling a warm glow settle inside of her. One more debt paid, one more off the list of burdens she felt. This money for Tammy and Lily had been hard won, taking more time then the last. The street people were becoming more aware of her activities, the "marks" not quite as susceptible or easy to spot. And Tony was becoming a menace.

Tony Delgato was a shark in more ways then one. He had his fingers in most of the illegal activities in this end of the city, from real estate scams to money laundering, drugs to prostitution, Tony hadn't found a business yet that he didn't enjoy. As long as it wasn't quite on the up and up that is. Even half of the cops on the beat were in his back pocket.

He was a big man, with a huge belly that he covered in cheap knock offs of the expensive designers. Dark hair that was always slicked back with hair oil from out of the fifties, he had a baby face that he tried to toughen up with a pencil thin mustache. His pudgy, doughy cheeks almost hid brown eyes that shone with lust whenever money was involved with what he was doing. Thick lips smiled when he heard the screams of the people who were late on their "payments" as they were reminded forcibly that Tony was not someone to ignore.

Rayne had seen him more than once. She'd even been close enough to smell the over powering stench of the cologne he used to cover up his strong body odor that came from too much garlic and too little washing.

He held on to his empire, not only through the money that he made illegally, but because of the loyalty of one man. Jeff Gantry, known more by his street name of Angel. He wasn't called Angel because of his blonde hair and blue eyes and almost eerie good looks, but because those who saw him perform Tony's orders say he acted with the icy calm of a Dark Angel of death. The name stuck.

Rayne had crossed the big man too many times for him to ignore. Could she help it that one of the people she'd been moved to "finance" their way out of the hell their lives had become was Tony's best pony and favorite punching bag? Was it her fault that the girl had wanted out of the nightmare of her existence to the point she was willing to do almost anything to get away from him, including taking the money that Rayne had stolen, buying herself a bus ticket and getting the fuck out of Dodge?

The girl had been terrified, jumping at every shadow. And Rayne had stayed with her during it all, finally loading her on the bus and watching as it pulled away from the curve. She'd gotten a Christmas card from her, postmarked from somewhere in Oregon, no return address. The girl was getting married and blessed Rayne for her help.

She grinned, cockiness showing in her attitude and the glint in her stormy gray eyes as she thought of how she had thwarted Tony then. She turned up the alley to head to the park, thinking about stopping at a coffee shop along the way. A good jolt of caffeine to wake her and she'd be ready for the rest of the night's adventures.

Two figures stood just outside of the glow of the street light, their hulking forms shadowed against that beam. Rayne stopped, bending quickly to yank her butterfly knife from it's sheath at her ankle. She hadn't heard them. The thought scared her. She'd gotten sloppy enough that she hadn't heard them coming.

"Come on, bitch. Tony wants to see you." The bigger of the two stepped forward, his hand held out to grab Rayne's shoulder.

Her thumb loosened the clasp at the bottom of the handle and with a quick flip, she had the blade out and slid it easily through the leather covering the man's arm, slicing into flesh. He jumped back, and Rayne crouched, keeping both men in her eyesight as she prepared to fight. "I ain't coming that easy. Tony can go fuck himself."

The men circled her, making it more difficult for her to keep an eye on them. One would make a move, reaching out and jumping back just as quickly as the silver blade flashed in the dim glow of the street lamps. They were playing with her, she knew it, they knew it. And when it got serious, should could be in for some trouble.

Tony had never sent two after her before. He'd always been confident that one man could handle the petite beauty in leather who was haunting his streets. She'd always managed to evade or fight her way out of any confrontation. But with these two, she knew Tony was getting serious.

"Are you guys through fucking around yet?" she taunted, flipping her knife around to try to lure them in. If she could hurt one bad enough, she might have a chance. "I ain't got all night, you know."

"Yeah, we've heard what you've been doing. Tony's been getting complaints. Your robbing his patrons and causing him loss of revenue, little girl." The big man with the blood slipping down his arm chuckled evilly. "He and Angel ain't happy. Especially that Angel."

"How nice for him. Maybe he just needs to get laid." Rayne kept her gaze steady even though mention of Angel made her nervous. She couldn't let them get to her, she couldn't let them get the upper ... what?

She felt the nudge, a slight shift of consciousness and cursed roundly. Not now! She fought it, even as she tried to keep her eyes on the two men. Oh, God, not now. She felt herself fading.

Tara stared down at the blade she held in her hand. It had blood on it, looking black in the dim light of the alley. She looked up in confusion at the two men standing one in front of her, the other behind her and just off to the side. She could see blood running in rivulets down the arm of the bigger of the two to drip on the ground.