Samantha felt like all the oxygen had been removed from the room. A sharp pain in her chest felt like her insides were being ripped apart. Blake made her feel good things. Made her feel alive inside, but she had to let him go. She needed to ensure he was not robbed of his right to live, more than she needed to be selfishly indulgent. She desperately felt the need for some space. She wanted to get on her motor bike and keep on riding until the road came to an end, but she had to put up with bloody Trent.  Perhaps she should check out that factory in Vanderbijlpark.  The R59 route was a beautiful road to open up a motor bike, a definite therapeutic journey to ease her woes.

She hurriedly typed up a schedule and handed it to Trent, informing him she first wanted to stop in Yeoville, then she would head to Vanderbijlpark and also a list of three other sites she wished to visit.  He seemed satisfied that she was no longer blowing any steam. Samantha was about to clip on her helmet, when Trent touched her arm.  She looked up at him lowering her helmet.

'What's going on with you and Blake? He stormed out of here in a huff,' he asked with concern.

'I don't question you about your personal life so butt out,' she warned.

'Sam___' Trent persisted unwisely, 'you were happy and care free when you were with Blake.'

She glared at him icily.

'Don't throw away what you have with Blake, Sam,' he pleaded, 'these past few days you were like the spontaneous Sam I knew when Brad was ___.'

'And where is Brad now?' she yelled, switching on the ignition, and revving on the accelerator, denying Trent any more opportunity to be heard.

Samantha slid into the traffic before Trent could finish clipping on his helmet.

He knew where she was going. She was not going to wait for him.  That was the very reason she gave him the schedule.  She was going to open up this baby to full throttle and forget about Blake.

And damn you Brad, for ___ for___.

For what?  Was it his choice to leave her alone?

Did he ask to be gunned down?

So is she going to stay single and save the world until the day she dies?

Samantha stepped on the accelerator, spotted Trent in the distance, behind her, about six car lengths away. She cut through the traffic, maneuvering through the gaps from one lane to the other. It was a good feeling the wind hitting into her chest, and the speed pumping up her adrenalin.

Samantha slid off her bike. She clipped her helmet onto the handle bar. Her ever observant eyes conducted a clandestine scan of the sleazy area. The air was rancid with a combination of decaying matter, discarded food and urine. It smelt putrid.  Rubbish had not been collected for weeks it seemed. She studied the entrance to the run down hotel. Broken windows on the upper level, drainage pipes almost collapsing, the building had not seen paint in about one hundred years. Just the slum, a skunk like Tobias would favour. Her elbow brushed against her firearm reassuringly. People were streaming in and out.  Some looked like drug pushers, working ladies, clients of working ladies.  How desperate could anybody be to pay to use this filthy excuse for a hotel?  Samantha had almost forgotten about Trent, until she heard him skid and brake next to her.

'Do you have a death wish?' he demanded.

'You're my body guard. Keep up, or get somebody else who is fast enough,' she tossed indifferently.

'Is there anybody who would be able to keep up with you when you ride like a lunatic?' he raised his voice

'You can throw your toys out the cot later, right now I want Tobias,' she stated, her eye trained on the sixth floor balcony.

'Sam, we're here without back-up,' he cautioned.

She dragged her eye from the window to look at Trent, 'I don't need back-up, not for Tobias. He may have a woman in there, and at most two nannies looking after him,' she smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

'You always take things for granted.  You could be wrong,' he countered.

'What if I'm right?' she challenged.

Trent shifted uncomfortably.  She hardly ever made a wrong judgment call, and she always had a plan in that dainty little head of hers.

Samantha removed her weapon, corked it and decisively walked towards the hotel's front door.

'Sam!' Trent hissed.

'Guard our bikes, I don't think you're going to be much help to me,' she flung at him.

'Not on your bloody life Senior Superintendent,' he sneered, raising his own firearm.

Samantha grinned, 'we're taking the stairs.  I'll bet my right hand, nothing in this building, can pass a safety test,' she avowed.

'I'm going in first,' Trent declared.

'I am the Commanding Officer. You will take your place behind me.'

He glared at her, not able to argue back.

Samantha and Trent made quick work of stealthily climbing the stairs to Tobias' sixth floor suite.  He'd been a long staying guest at this hotel for the last three months, and his regular predictable pattern had not altered either. Every day he went out after breakfast, came back after fourteen hundred hours for a siesta, and left again at eighteen hundred hours and only returned between four and six of the next morning.

Samantha raised her weapon in the air as she stood outside Tobias door. She already had a layout of the floor plan of his suite.  She signaled to Trent, that she'd move to the right once inside, he nodded acquiesce.  Either she was going to disturb Tobias' sleep or disturb his extracurricular activity, she hoped it was the former. As Trent kicked the door open she dived to the right into his room.  It was not his sleep she was disturbing as a voluptuous redhead, screamed from fear.

'Put some clothes on sweetheart,' Samantha threw her the dress lying on the floor, 'and leave the room, my business is with Tobias,' she had her firearm trained on him. Samantha was very surprised that his goons were nowhere to be found. But then perhaps he did not like an audience, the man had one likeable quality. Tobias grinned at Samantha, his filthy yellow teeth in full view, as he casually tucked his arms under his head.

'I've been waiting for you sweetheart,' he mocked, 'what took you so long?' He purred, not even attempting to stop his lover from leaving him as she hastily slammed the door on her way out.

'I thought you'd want to savour our reunion,' Samantha threw him an icy smile, as she nodded to Trent to search the entire suite.

'Ah, I've been looking forward to our reunion sweetheart,' he flashed his corn teeth again.

'I've come to take you in Tobias.  Such a pity you're not going to enjoy that two million in your bank account,' she offered him another icy smile.

The smile disappeared from his face, a very worried look replaced it.

'With all that money, I thought you'd upgrade from this dump you've called home for the past three months.'

His eye brows shot up, as he glared at her in surprise.

'I was busy with bigger fish than you Tobias, but I'm sick of you causing damage to my personal property,' she informed him calmly.

'What makes you think it was me?' he challenged.

'Actually I did not.   I thought perhaps your goons do your dirty work for you, until I saw this,' she flung him a photograph.

Tobias glared at a photo of himself using  a nail file to pick her garage door, he shut his eyes in resignation.

She saw his hand move ever so slightly.

'This will be about the time, you tell me if you are armed, Tobias, for I never miss, and I guarantee, your life will be over in the next five seconds if you  give me reason to pull the trigger.

'Why don't you come have a look, sweetheart,' he invited, the wicked grin returning.

She knew he was naked under the duvet.  There was no way in hell, she was lifting that cover. Samantha cupped her weapon with both hands, directing it at his forehead, her finger on the trigger.

'You won't kill me in cold blood sweetheart,' he mocked, 'you've been trained to uphold the law, and to fight fair, and you don't know if I have a weapon.  So you won't be pulling the trigger,' he stated confidently.

'Trent!' Samantha yelled.
Tobias laughed boldly.

'Frisk him,' Samantha instructed , 'I think he's armed under that duvet,' she cautioned. Her knees buckled into position, her finger ready on the trigger.

Trent looked at her in confusion, how could she tell if he was armed?

'Tobias, it does not have to end this way, but if you force my hand, I'm aiming straight for the spot on your forehead,' she offered him a lifeline.

'Do you have a weapon Tobias?' Trent yelled, hoping the scum who consider his life to have some value.

But as Trent moved towards the bed, Tobias' hand swiftly moved under the duvet.

'Get out of the way Trent!'  Samantha yelled, as she pulled the trigger and instantaneously threw herself to the left of the room.

Only one shot went off in the room, and the bullet landed neatly on Tobias' forehead.

'Trent!' Samantha rose up quickly, ensured that Tobias was not going to present any surprises, and went to check on Trent.

'You okay?' she dropped down next to Trent.

'How did you know?' Trent squeaked.

'I don't.  I need you to make sure,' she shut her eyes, 'otherwise I've killed a defenseless man.'

Samantha replaced her firearm back into the holster and walked to the window.  Somebody had already called for an ambulance and the police.

Was it for Tobias?

Could it have been his lover?

Oh boy!  If she'd blundered here, her Director was going to blow a gasket.

'Sam,' Trent called to her.

'For heaven's sake Trent the man is naked, do I have to?'

'Sam turn around,' he commanded.

She slowly turned around. Not wanting to see a naked Tobias, or a naked corpse for that matter, but when she turned around, Tobias' respectability was protected, only his hand was visible, clasped around a weapon with the finger ready on the trigger.  Samantha slid to the floor. Her head dropped to her knees.  There was nothing she could be thankful for, for though she had just killed a man in self defense, still, she had just ended the life of a human being.  Trent went to her, lifting her to her feet, and wrapped his arms around her.

'I wanted to throw him in jail,' she whispered, 'I did not want to___'

'It's okay,' he soothered her, 'Tobias had every intention of taking down one of us, and my belief is, it was you,' Trent consoled her.

'He placed doubt in my mind Trent.  I was not sure he was armed.'

'There was no doubt Sam,' Trent admonished her sternly, 'you are a trained cop. The signs were there, and you knew from his file, Tobias is always armed. Sam we gave him 3 warnings!'

If she kept a weapon under her pillow, even when making love with Blake, why wouldn't a criminal and a murderer like Tobias?  There were footsteps running up the stairs, and then two paramedics arrived, followed closely by uniformed policemen.

Trent dropped his arms from Samantha and walked towards the door.  He flashed his badge at the uniforms, who immediately relaxed their "ready to attack" pose.

Samantha joined them, introducing herself, and displayed her badge as well. Instantly her seniority was respected. She issued orders for crime scene and forensic investigators to be called in.  She informed the paramedics that the man was dead, and gave details of who he was. Trent filed a report with the uniforms.  Samantha hauled out her mobile and called her Director.

For the first time in the last four hours her thoughts went to Blake.  She wished she was calling him instead of Jeff Stanford.  It was Blake's arms she longed for right now.  How ironic was that?  In the last four years she had never thought about finding comfort in the arms of a man.  In fact in the recent past, she actually had not had a need for the comfort of a man's arms. She had actually been quite comfortable in her lonely self centered life. She had cast Blake out ... how she needed him now.  He had given her the opportunity to reconsider, but she had stubbornly rejected him.  And he was a proud man.  Blake Tresscott was not going to beg any woman to share his bed.

  'St Claire?' Jeff Stanford barked into her ear.

'Jeff,' she murmured, trying to recoup her thoughts, as she filled him in on Tobias' woes before he saw the "Breaking News" on Etv.

'You'd better go brief the State Prosecutor,' her boss instructed.

The minute Samantha cut her call, she observed Trent dial out on his mobile, and walk away from her.

'The report complete? Samantha questioned Trent.

Trent nodded, though one of the officers approached them and questioned Samantha to acquire her version of what happened, and was totally satisfied when her version had no deviations from Trent's.

'We free to leave?' Samantha verified with the officer and got an affirmative nod.

When Samantha exited the hotel, she found Boyd and Riley leaning against their vehicle.

'What are you two doing here?' she demanded.

They looked across at Trent.

'You're interfering with my staff again Trent?'

'Sam you and I are going by car to the State Prosecutor.  The boys will ride our bikes back to NPS,' he declared.

Samantha looked away.  Trust Trent to pick up on her emotional state.  Underneath that cold exterior he gave her, was a caring somebody. It was a long time since she'd actually taken the life of someone.  Trent was right, she was not in the frame of mind right now to ride her bike, or drive for that matter.

I wonder what Blake is doing?

'Boss, you okay?' Riley asked with concern.

'Why wouldn't I be?' she smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

'Sam?' Boyd touched her shoulder.

'Head back to the office you two,' she spoke softly, 'I will debrief you all, after I've met with the State Prosecutor.  Let's go Trent.'

Trent extended his hand to Riley for the keys, as Samantha walked to the passenger door.

There was already a media circus outside the State Prosecutor's office as Samantha and Trent parked their vehicle in the official parking space. Trent looked across at Samantha.  They were too late. Justin Scott was attempting to answer questions about a situation he had no knowledge about. The media was demanding to know why Tobias was killed, when he could have been hauled into court to face his charges. The media were also questioning if the Senior Superintendent had killed him in revenge, because Tobias had previously escaped from custody.

'Sam, perhaps we can come back to the State Prosecutor, later?' Trent cautioned.

'No. We must do this now,' she took a deep breath and opened her door.

As she climbed the stairs the media thronged her. Trent tried to precede her and keep the journalists at bay, but they were too many.

'Senior Superintendent is it true Tobias was unarmed?'

'Senior Superintendent did you attempt to arrest Tobias before you pulled the trigger?'

'Senior Superintendent did you kill Tobias in cold blood out of revenge?'

Samantha looked straight ahead as she cleared the last step before she got to the State Prosecutor's door. Trent held the reporters at bay, enabling her to precede him inside.

'You did not think it wise that I hear of Tobias' death from yourself instead of the media St. Claire,' the State Prosecutor barked.

'It's why I'm here Justin,' she spoke softly.

'Couldn't you have informed me, before they did?' he waved his hand to the circus outside.

'It happened less than an hour ago.  There was protocol to comply with, with the uniformed officers at the scene,' she stated.

'Sam, right now I only want one answer,' the State Prosecutor remarked, 'and think carefully before you answer me, because you could be facing suspension and an investigation from Internal Affairs depending on your answer.'

He knew he would get the truth from her. She was honest and straight as an arrow.  The State Prosecutor inhaled deeply then questioned, 'Was Tobias armed?'

'Yes,' she answered affirmatively.

'Of course he was armed,' Trent yelled, 'Do you think Sam is trigger happy? The damn son of a gun was lying in his bed, with the firearm in his hand, uncorked!'

'Save it Trent,' the State Prosecutor cut him of, 'I'm not Tobias' attorney.  You will have your day in court.'

'Well done St. Claire. Your job and mine are safe for now,' he raked his fingers over his face, 'but why the hell did you not respond to the media's questions?  It would save a lot of speculation.'

'You know Sam never peters up to the media,' Trent responded.

'Do you take this clown to bed with you as well?' the State Prosecutor yelled.

Samantha looked at Trent and half smiled, 'Justin, in all your years of feeding the media, has it ever satisfied their insatiable obsession for sensationalism?'

'So what is their insatiable obsession with you St. Claire?' the State Prosecutor quipped.

'Is the media the only ones?' Trent countered.

Justin Scott glared at Trent.

'Justin can we give you a report, or do you prefer to wait for the written one?' Samantha inquired.

'Best you two fill me in now,' he opened the inner door to his office.

'Coffee?' he offered, wrinkling his nose.

Samantha shook her head, 'no your coffee is worst than Scotland Yard's, but thank you,' she proceeded to fill him in on the details of what had happened from the time they stormed into Tobias' room, until she pulled the trigger.

'So where to now Sam?' Trent inquired as they exited the parking lot.

Into Blake's arms.

How she longed for his comfort right now. All she desired was the comfort of his arms around her.  She could recall the fragrance of his cologne, coupled with his very own scent that tinged her nostrils....and his chest was so comfortable.  If she could not be with Blake, she'd would rather be alone right now, but Trent was like a shadow.  No point in even wasting energy trying to get rid of him.

'We're going to Vanderbijlpark,' she stated.

'Sam, you've been through enough today, why not call it a day?' he suggested.

'I can drop you off at the office,' she flung at him.

Trent whistled softly, 'Sam how did you know about this place?'

'They mentioned it repeatedly on the tapes,' she whispered.

'So why haven't you impounded the containers,' he whispered back.

'Don't need to,' she smiled, 'every one of them has a tracking device.'

'So you were working in Durban,' he grinned.

'Amongst other things,' she murmured.

'Speaking of the other things___' Trent started.

'We're not.' She cut him off, 'right now we're collecting intel.'

She ignored Trent's narrowed eyes.  She was also certain he wanted to shake the living daylights out of her, but he would not be allowed that indulgence.

'Sam half of China is parading around this factory,' Trent scanned his eye around the length and breadth of the factory.

'I counted twenty eight,' she laughed softly, 'go study your world geography on China's population. You're a bit outdated,' she pulled a face.

'You're an amazing woman, Sam,' he smiled, something Trent did not often do.

Couldn't you pick any other adjective?

'You're not getting fresh with me, are you Trent?'

'Heck no!  I like subservience from my woman,' he stated, 'besides you're not my type, and let's not forget how you assault me all the time.'

'Subservience hey?  What are you doing tomorrow morning at eight?' she questioned, mentally trying to ascertain how much man power she would require to bring this outfit to book.

'Why?' he asked suspiciously.

'I'm going to give you a crash course on the Stone Ages and the evolution of the Modern woman.'

'I hated history,' he groaned.

'No kidding,' she quipped, as she focused her camera on two individuals alighting a fancy convertible.

'Hey they're all dead. Why the hell do we have to study that garbage?' he replied defensively.

'I shall answer that question at eight o' clock tomorrow morning, but for now, I think my memory card is maxed out, so let's get out of here.  I have some planning to think about,' she whispered.

'I'm not doing no history,' he pouted.

'I see you're going to need English lessons as well.  Keep your head down,' she smacked his head.

'You see what I mean?' he turned around to sneer at her.

'Keep moving Agent Trent,' she pierced her finger into his midriff.

'Why do I put up with this abuse?' he whispered.

'Beats me why you're such a sucker for punishment!  You should quit.'

"I don't take instructions from you Senior Superintendent" she mouthed the words as Trent spoke them out.

She laughed as he just gawked at her.

'Boyd I want aerial shots as well as close ups of this factory from all directions,' Samantha handed Boyd her memory card. 'Riley, get me the Vanderbijlpark Chief of Police on the line, and lets all meet in my Den in an hour,' she instructed, purposefully walking into her Director's office.

'The State Prosecutor happy with you St. Claire?' her Director questioned before she barely got to his desk.

'Well, unfortunately the media beat me to his door,' Samantha sighed.

'So what happened with Tobias, Sam? You're not one to hastily pull the trigger,' he stated.

'He refused to surrender his weapon. As Trent approached him, he attempted to open fire,' she spoke softly.

'Sam do you know Tobias had a contract out on you?'

'What! No.  I thought he was trying to scare me of his scent.'

'It's why I assigned twenty four hour security detail to you.'

'You could have told me this earlier Jeff!' she yelled.

'Trent knew,' her Director yelled back.

Now all Trent's paranoia made sense.  No wonder he kept throwing a hissy fit every time she was unaccounted for.

Shame, poor Trent.

'So is the contract still valid?' she asked.

Her Director shrugged his shoulders, 'with Tobias dead, his assets all frozen, I don't think anybody will honour the contract, besides Tobias was trying to protect his own hide.  Your Chinese network is not yet aware that you are closing in on them.  So I don't think we need be concerned about the contract anymore.'

'Good. Can I get Trent of my back now?' she fished.

'No can do. Not until this Chinese business is wrapped up.'

'That's what I came in to talk to you about,' she dropped into one of his chairs.

'I'm going to put in a requisition for fifteen additional men for this operation,' she stated.

He stared at Samantha. For her to requisition that many additional officers, she must have a healthy respect for her assailants.

'You want to draw me a picture Sam,' he requested.

'They're a very professional outfit.  We counted twenty eight operatives today during the stake-out.'

'You're going to manage this Sam?'

'Are you trying to insult me?' she glared at her superior.

'I want you back in one piece Sam.'

'You will.' She replied, unsure if she could deliver such a guarantee.

'When is it going down?' he asked.

'In seventy two hours they plan  a synchronized distribution through three different border points out of South Africa.'

'I want to listen in on your dry run,' he instructed.

She nodded and exited his office.

                -end Chapter Seventeen