When Ray got home from work Vince was waiting for him. "Bad news, my man. Someone broke into your apartment today. I was alerted when the sensor I planted in there went off."

Ray wasn't as upset about the intruder as Vince had expected. He looked despondent, dejectedly shaking his head.

"Was it that little punk again?" Ray threw his leather jacket onto the couch.

"No! You're not gonna believe this. It was some insane ninja chick all dressed in black." Vince lifted the front of his shirt displaying the angry red mark on his chest. She hit me with some sort of jacked up street taser."

Ray opened his fridge and pulled out a cold beer. He wasn't really listening. He waved Vince off the subject. "Man don't talk to me about women right now."

Surprised Vince looked over at his friend.
"What's the matter? Is something wrong between you and Tonya?"

Ray nodded his head miserably. "You could say that, she broke up with me." Vince was truly surprised by the news. "Man, I'm sorry dude, I thought you two were solid."

"Me too. God this sucks! Now I know why you've been happily single, living your own life for the last five years."

Vince nodded, sipping his beer as he recalled his own devastating breakup from a five year relationship.

"Yeah, when Melissa and I split up it was brutal. She broke my heart and left a major dent in my bank account. I've learned something about women since then Ray. You can tell a lot about them by what they wear on their feet. That girl always wore candy stilettos, even to church."

Ray privately thought it was time for Vince to move on and get back into the dating scene He wasn't getting any younger. He kept the thought to himself.

"I always thought Tonya and I were gonna settle down and have kids. The sex was smoking hot."

"Ray, she's a Victoria Secret model. Those kind of women don't settle."

"Tanya was different. She wasn't shallow and she loved kids. Do you think I can sell the ring back to Clyde? I mean it's just a bad memory to me now."

Vince hesitated. "Something's up with this ring." He lifted it up into the light scrutinizing it carefully. "I'm curious why some 007 chick with some kick ass technology was trying to lift it out of your apartment. What's the story behind that? Tell you what, I'll buy it from you and take it back over to Clyde myself. That way when you and Tonya makeup you won't be crying about getting her another ring."

Vince pulled a check out of his pocket, carefully filled it out, then handed it to Ray.

"Looks liked you already thought this whole thing through." Ray commented, pocketing the check.

Vince took sip of his beer, remembering the way the woman's green eyes had locked with his before the pulsing shock wave hit him in the chest.

"I sure did. As for that thief, if she wants this ring, she'll have to go through me now."

********************************************
Ritz Carlton Hotel  August 18, 2017. 8:30PM

Larissa was in her hotel room at the Ritz drinking champagne and Googling Vince Calleti. She was using the frustrating ancient technology of 2017, a Toshiba laptop.  She wanted to know who this nosy neighbor was who had messed with her ring acquisition.

Great Osiris! Scanning the search results, she saw he was ex military. A Navy Seal to be exact. That would explain his inhuman response to her stun sensor. And the way he had so rudely man handled her.

God she wished she could go back in time, find his parents and make sure he was never conceived. That would teach the obnoxious interloper. Frowning, she silently berated herself for the thought. Purposefully changing the past would also have major ramifications on her own future and possibly tie her to his timeline. The law of space time shouldn't be used to launch a personal vendetta. She hunched forward on the laptop. The fact that there was now a slight glitch in the job only made her more determined.

I'll teach you to mess with me, Mr. Frogman.

She lingered a bit on the masculine features of his face, before closing the screen. She sighed remembering the feel of his hand on her wrist when he grabbed her, the heat coming off of his body in waves. She felt herself involuntarily shiver with desire. Men in the future were soft and logical, all of their male wildness engineered out of them. For a moment she wondered if this man caught her alone, what would he do to her in bed.

Recovering her professional focus, she pulled out her hand held and pinged the ring's location. She frowned, noting it was in transit along 5th avenue. What the hell?  She'd better hurry with the acquisition. The ring was no longer residing at the Renoir Apartment building.