More Than Life
7
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thought it would. an>Ian>I first worked on the
plot, wanting to make sure that I knew what I was doing because this is really the
opener to the rest of the ‘intrigue’ that’s going to take place, but once I was
done with that, there still seemed to be something missing.
This didn’t make it past my betas
this time, simply because I finished writing it TODAY,
and really wanted to get it out to you all.
So, I’m sorry if there’s any mistakes I didn’t catch.
Author’s thanks at the end.
************************************************************************
The heels of Tessa’s shoes clacked
loudly against the marble floors of Winston and Harnel.
air conditioning on even in the winter.
Tess wasn’t a big fan of that, seeing as how she was often cold, but she
had to admit that it seemed in character with the lofty ceilings and pristine
white curtains that framed the large windows.
Puttingse tse thoughts out of her head, she walked up to one of the
person was busily shuffling through papers.
She took a seat, ignoring the feeling that was trying to convince her
that she wasn’t going to be able to pull this off.
need to act as if I know more than he does and as if I’m used to having people
do as I tell them without question. I’ll
just pretend I’m Dr. Schroeder, and I’ll be fine, she assured herself.
at Boston Memorial while she’d been doing her internship in general rotation,
able to make nurses ‘hop
with a single glance. The
woman was a legend.
When several minutes went by without the man addressing her, Tess
cleared her throat, lifting her brows expectantly.
“Welcome to Winston and Harnel.
right with you.” Tess had to fight from
rolling her eyes at the man’s arrogance; biting back the comments her voice
wanted to make. In a place like this,
everyone was important, and everyone was rich.
This guy was probably the third son of some millionaire, and so was
therefore incapable with working with the public at all, but she was still
stuck with him.
The man finally looked up from his paperwork, a patronizing smile on his
face. “Welcome to Winston and
“Barillo. Teresa Barillo.”
“Ms. Barillo, then. Please, how
can we be of service.”
s'>
Tess noted that the man’s eyes were already sliding away to other people
– clearly, he’d rather be doing something other than working.
dollars from one of my private accounts.”
That got his attention back to her.
Quickly.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Tess straitened
her head, managing to look down her nose at the man as if she were unimpressed
with him . . . which would be the truth.
“I need to make a withdrawal of –”
“Yes, pardon me, I just wanted to make sure I
heard correctly.” The unfortunate man
assumed he was dealing with one of the bank’s more prestigious clientele, and
so therefore immediately became ingratiating.
“Please, may I get you anything to drink before we continue?
Coffee? An espresso?”
“No, I’m fine, thank you.” Tess
crossed her legs, and settled herself more comfortably.
rate. She certainly hoped that the
cabbie was still waiting for her when she got
done. “Is it going to make a difference
that the money I need to access is in offshore accounts?” she asked, wanting to
speed along the process as much as she could.
The man across from her froze in what he was doing, and just looked at
her for a moment. He swallowed,
moment? I think I should get our vice
president.”
Tess waited for the man to come back, and when he did, it was with a
woman in an expensive business suit and alligator skin heels.
president of Winston and Harnel.
withdrawal from an offshore account.”
The woman held out a hand for Tess to shake, and she did so, silently
sizing the other woman up. “Please, if
you’ll follow me to my office, we’ll get that underway for you.”
cabbie, whose accent had almost sounded exaggerated.
familiar.
Worries for another time, Teresa.
Get your head in the game and pay attention to the nice lady.
your attention to protecting yourself from everyone who’s out to use you.
“Thank you Ms. Powell.” Tess
stood and followed the other woman to her office, taking a seat in one of the
armchairs in front of a large mahogany desk.
“I didn’t think vice presidents handled customer’s themselves.”
The other woman smiled. “I
haven’t been a VP that long. And when
someone is withdrawing as much as you are, then the bigwigs prefer that one of
the many VP’s handle it instead of someone like Michael.”
her computer. “Now, down to
business. There are some formalities to
follow. You’re going to need to sign
some papers, and I’m going to have to see a few pieces of identification.”
Tess dug her driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate out of
her briefcase, handing them over as the other woman slid several documents over
the surface of the desk.
“I see that you don’t have an account with the bank.
“No. I’m not sure how long I’ll
be staying in
wish to stay.
-
- -
- -
- -
Tess had been right.
her identity to everyone’s satisfaction – everyone being the FCC, the treasury,
and whoever else might getir nir noses out of joint by her ‘little’ withdrawal
– and another forty-five after that to actually get the money transferred into
an account she could easily access.
Not that I know what I’m going to
she thanked Vice-President Powell and gathered her things to leave.
really want anything to do with it.
It’s nothing more than blood money, a fortune amassed by the addiction
of others. It doesn’t seem right to
spend it, but it doesn’t seem right just to let it sit around forever either.
Well, you could start by paying your cabbie.
Tess looked towards the street as she exited the building, momentarily
blinded by the bright winter sun.
Surprised, she saw that the cab she’d come in was indeed still waiting
for her. And even more surprising, there
was something familiar about the way the cabbie was leaning against the
exterior of his car, arms crossed over his chest and legs crossed at the
ankles. I know him from somewhere.
Nice to see that you can be paranoid without my help, the voice
said caustically. Don’t be ridiculous.
life.
The voice was right. Of course it
was right. The only person she knew in
morning.
Look at it this way – it saved you the embarrassment of another morning
after.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked the cabbie.
any ‘morning after’ could be more awkward than the last one.
“Two hundred, not counting the fare for the trip here.”
Tess nodded and pulled five one-hundred dollar bills out of her
purse. “Can you take me to the nearest
rehab center?”
“Rehab?” The man’s tone was
disbelieving.
“Yes. Rehab.”
/spa/span>What are you planning, Teresa?
What better way to spend the money
than to use it to help the very people – or at least the population – that it
came from. Not to mention, it would make
Father furious if he were still alive.
Using ill-gotten wealth to help rehabilitate drug addicts.
customers.
“Whatever you want, lady. Climb
in.”
Tess climbed into the car, shaking her head a bit at the man’s
manners. God, he’s bossy.
-
- -
- -
- -
Sands looked in his rearview
mirror, checking the traffic and on his passenger.
we should have worked on disguises as well as fighting tactics and target
practice, he thought as he watched Tess as she looked out her window.
eyes, but it’d disappeared before she could follow her intuition to its natural
conclusion.
He’d been somewhat concerned that it’d taken so long for her to leave
the bank. It was still early on in the
game, but there was no proof that her family were the only people looking for
her. Minor cartels with reputations to
build or axes to grind against the Barillos could just as easily come after
her. And
la niña forgot to wear her surveillance gear.
Perhaps I need to stress that it’s for her own
safety as much as it is for gathering information.
himself waiting outside for her, but he’d told himself that he was only doing
his job. It wouldn’t be good for his
record if the mission folded before it even got started.
alive, at least long enough to get her over the border.
And part of that meant finding out why she wanted to visit a rehab
center. That and he was curious.
“Sight-seeing or checking in?”
“Excuse me?” Tess turned away
from her window to meet the cabbie’s eyes in the
rearview mirror.
“Why d’you want to check out a rehab
center?” He barely remembered not to
call her chiquita, or niña, or pequeña . . . the game was still afoot, and he
wasn’t ready to give it away yet.
Tess briefly wondered why the man was being so talkative now when he
hadn’t been earlier. She was also struck
by the strength of his accent again, but brushed it off.
out the window.
Too easy.
You sure you don’t want me to take you to one of those celebrity rehab
joints? They’d cater to your likes
better –”
“I’m not checking myself in.”
This guy is too inquisitive.
Either ignore him, or creep him out.
Sands smothered a grin at the defensiveness of her tone.
The rest of the ride was completed in silence, Sands thinking his own
thoughts, and Tess trying to solve the puzzle of who
her ‘cabbie’ reminded her of. When they
reached the rehab center, Sands pulled over.
“You want me to wait again?”
“Yes, please.”
Tess got out of the car, looking around.
The neighborhood was rundown, but not exactly threatening.
turn around. That insight was all she
needed to put some resolve in her spine.
Walking into the center, she found that the front desk was
deserted. Which was
what she wanted, now that she thought about it.
Quickly writing out a check for $95,000, she put it into an envelope she
found on the desk, then wrote a quick note, letting whoever was in charge know
what the money was meant for. Then she
left, not wanting to be caught by anyone.
She almost made a clean escape.
At the last moment, someone came out of a back room.
“No, I was just leaving. Thank
you.” With a curt nod for the blond who
was watching her curiously, Tess fled the building, more relived to get back
into the cab than she’d thought possible.
At the last moment though, she turned and went back inside the
building. “Excuse me,” she interrupted
the desk clerk. “I know this is an odd
question, but were you raised around here?”
“Yes ma’am. Born and bred here in
“Thank you.” This time when she
left, Tess went directly to the cab and climbed in, with more than a little
relief and vindication. Relief to be
able to go back to somewhere that would be relatively safe, and vindicated on
two counts: she was helping the people her family took advantage of, and she’d
figured out who her cabbie reminded her of.
“Now where to, lady?”
“Back to my hotel . . . Sands. By
the way, I like the wig.” Tessa’s
vindication turned into disgust as she realized just how long it’d taken her to
unravel this particular puzzle. “Was
there a point for disguising
yourself, or is that how you get your kicks?” she asked, not really wanting an
answer.
Sands was a bit taken aback by the hostility in Tessa’s voice, but hnt
nt
with it. “Think of it this way, if I’ve
taught you a lesson, then this little trip was a success.
matter how much money you made off with.”
“And what exactly was I supposed to learn, oh master of disguises?”
“Always be aware of your surroundings, listen to your instincts, and
never leave your room without your surveillance equipment, or I’ll be forced to
tail you. Which
wouldn’t be safe for either of us once we get this little operation underway.”
Bite me.
window. He was right, of course.
minute surveillance equipment weeks ago.
She knew exactly how to wear and disguise it, just as she knew how
important it was to wear it.
government was sure it needed, the sooner she’d be able to go home.
You are going home.
was, by the time she reached
tiny video cameras had to be second nature.
Which meant wearing it now, even though there was no
cause for it. “I’ll take care of
it when I get back to my room.”
“See that you do.”
-
- -
- -
- -
As Tess approached the door to her
hotel room, she heard the phone inside start to ring.
her. The only people that knew she was
when she saw what time it was.
Hurriedly unlocking her door, Tess stepping into the suite, dropping
purse and tote on the floor. Jogging
across the room, she picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Tía!” a young voice crowed, making Tess smile.
about a month ago, begging to be allowed to talk on it whenever she could.
unattended, running with them, merrily pressing buttons and babbling in a
mixture of English and Spanish, nearly all of it unintelligible.
“Hola, baja.”
time, alternating between English and Spanish and smiling when the girl managed
to answer simple questions in both languages.
After about twenty minutes though, the girl suddenly said, “Cora wants talk
to you.”
“Ok, baja.
Be good.”
tía.” And then the phone switched hands.
“Tess?”
“Yes, Cora.”
There was a brief pause before the other woman said, “I tried to call
you last night. Around five this morning
for us.” There wasn’t any accusation in
the other woman’s voice, but there was concern.
Tess froze, the pen she’d been idly clicking falling from her hand.
remembered quite well what she’d been doing at three.
Tess wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to say.
any explanations to this person – she was her own woman, capable of making her
own choices. The other part of her said
that Cora had every right to judge, because Tess herself wasn’t sure she’d done
the right thing by seeking Sands out the night before.
necessarily the right thing.
early?”
“Marcos was had just had a nightmare about the day his parents died.”
Tess closed her eyes, in shame and regret.
simply because I can’t control my hormones.
“Is he there?”
“Yes. But I need to ask what you
were doing. You’re a light sleeper,
except for when you’ve been relying on your meds to get through the day, and if
you’re doing that already, then I’m not sure you should be doing this.”
Tess nearly collapsed in relief.
Cora thought she’d been in some sort of drug induced comatose
state. She didn’t suspect that her
employer was sleeping with a man who might or might not be the enemy – the
worst person to be sleeping
with. At least with an enemy, you
kill you both for it.
And speaking of killing. . . .
bedroom, picking up the locket that contained a tiny microphone.
forgotten. “I’m fine, Cora.
for a walk.” The clasp was being
difficult, but Tess finally got it on, noting that her closet door was
ajar. Which was odd,
because she remembered closing it quite vividly.
to press rather firmly to get the door to stay shut.
so far as to tug on the handle to ensure that it wasn’t going to pop open.
“Look, Cora. Can you call me back
in a half an hour or so? Or have Marcos
call me? There’s something I need to
deal with.”
Cora agreed, and Tess hung up the phone, looking at the closet
door. For a second she wavered between
opening it the rest of the way, or leaving the room and going for backup.
another room in the hotel. All she had
to do was ask for help.
Do it from outside the room, her voice urged.
Tess nodded absently, backing out of the room.
sensation of being watched had elevated.
It could be paranoia . . . but it was better to be safe than –
Before she could even finish the thought, a cord dropped over her neck
and she found herself jerked against a large body.
tight, cutting off her air supply and sending panic racing through her veins.
She struggled, trying to get her fingers underneath the cable that was
now cutting into her throat, throwing her head back to both try to do some sort
of damage to the person behind her and to loosen the pressure on her
windpipe. Neither maneuver was
successful. Her head thumped against a
rather solid collarbone, telling her that her attacker was taller than she was,
and all she managed to do with the cord was break off several nails.
the sounds of her struggle were having a hard time making themselves known
through the throbbing of blood in her ears.
Her lungs were screaming angrily, but there was nothing she could do
about that.
With struggles growing weaker by the moment and knees that were on the
verge of collapse, Tess tried to get her attacker to release her, but nothing
worked. Even her voice was quiet,
leaving Tess alone in her own head.
I don’t’ want to die alone,
she thought irrationally, just before she was swung around by nothing more than
the pressure on her throat. Her legs
collapsed and she managed one last desperate gasp before falling to the ground,
senseless except for the extreme loneliness that’d overtaken her.
-
- -
- -
- -
Sands entered his hotel room,
nearly disgusted with himself. The damn
woman was getting to him. But that was
the point. She’d been getting to him for
months now, if he cared to admit it.
Which he didn’t.
Yawning, he resisted the urge to throw himself on couch and take a
nap. Last night’s encounter with Tess
had been nice – disturbing in a sense, but nice – but it hadn’t left him with
much time to sleep. Especially since he’d
needed to be setting things up before the sun rose if things were to go smoothly
today. Which they had.
Sands didn’t trust things that went off with a hitch.
Rubbing at eyes burning from exhaustion, Sands went into the bedroom and
turned on the small TV on his dresser.
It wasn’t the one that came with the hotel room.
from the four or five cameras he’d put in Tessa’s room.
bathroom – he did have some decency.
Each camera operated on a separate channel, so he had to flip through
them.
Hallway outside the room – clear.
Entryway – clear.
Dining area – clear.
Tess was in the living room, on the phone.
the special radio that was supposed to pick up signals from her bugged jewelry
– silence. “Damnit, niña.
the dresser, Sands tuned into Tessa’s phone conversation.
“I tried to call you last night.
Around five this morning for us.”
The housekeeper. Sands sat back
and wondered what Tessa was going to say to that comment.
There was a moment of silence, stretched a moment too long to be
comfortable, then she said, “Why did you need to get a hold of me that early?”
So, his little niña wasn’t going to fess up to where she’d been.
the other rooms as he listened to the two women.
They talked of mundane things, and the other rooms were
“Shit!”
Grabbing his gun, Sands ran from his room, racing down the hall to the
stairwell.
There’d been a man in Tessa’s room, garrote stretched taut between two
fists.
Bursting into the stairwell, Sands could feel seconds dying away with
each impact of his feet on the risers on the stairs.
but he suddenly knew he wasn’t going to make it in time.
died. He was going to fail on the first
assignment he’d gotten in a year, and it was all –
He threw open the door leading from the stairwell with such force that
it slammed into the wall and rebounded back at him, but he was moving so fast
that it didn’t even clip him. Three
steps and he was at the door to Tessa’s room.
He didn’t bother to test whether it was locked or not, simply shooting
the lock off for time’s sake. The door
flew open and Sands entered the apartment.
Sounds of a weak struggle came from the hallway that lead to the bedroom.
Not bother to be amazed by the fact he’d gotten here before the man
could kill Tess, Sands entered the hallway with gun raised.
Attacker and victim were facing away from him, but not for long.
woman with him, surprise on his face.
Sands didn’t leave him enough time to change his expression.
at least a foot, he simply aimed and fired, a small
hole appearing in the man’s forehead.
Both fell to the floor, silently.
“Damn it all.” Had he still been
too late? For a moment he’d been foolish
enough to believe that he’d gotten here in time to ensure Tess lived through
their stupidity, but apparently not –
Tessa’s legs moved weakly, one hand twitching as if trying to move
towards her throat. A strangled gasping
sound emerged from her, weak but audible.
With more relief than he cared to examine, Sands pulled his Swiss Army
knife from his back pocket, swiftly moving towards the form of the prostrate
woman.
The cord was tied tightly around Tessa’s neck, the flesh around it raised
and inflamed and bleeding in spots . . . but it was plastic.
Sands slit the cable, pulling Tess into a sitting position.
around her, but she didn’t fight him. Most
likely because she had nothing left to fight him with.
Unlike in movies, she didn’t gasp and immediately recover.
and her mouth was gaping as she tried to breath through a windpipe that would
be severely swollen. What she’d just
experienced would be the equivalent of getting the wind knocked out of her . .
. just ten times worse. Her body was
flooded with adrenaline, her muscles desperate for oxygen, her diaphragm
working convulsively to draw air into her lungs, but unable to do so.
“Just calm down, niña. Calm
down. Slow breaths.
Tess heard this somehow through the layered screams of her body.
She’d had a really bad case of strep throat as a child, where her throat
had felt like flaming sand paper, and it’d hurt to breathe.
breathe, but because she was unable to.
Her hands found fabric, or a clothed appendage orethiething, and they
squeezed, trying to transmit the panic she was feeling.
“Just relax. It’s over.
down, and it’ll be easier to breathe.
You’re going to sound like a frog whenever you open your mouth for a few
days, and you might have a scar from our friend’s crude tactics, but you’re
going to be fine. And if you’re not, I’m
going to have to kick your ass, because I can’t have wimps going into enemy
territory. It’d be a good way to not
only get you and me killed, but other agents.
Tess knew that voice, and at the moment, it was more beautiful than
anything she’d ever heard in her life, because hearing it meant she was
alive.
Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen as
Sands and Tess sat in the hallway.
Finally, twenty minutes after Sands had arrived, Tess was able to
breathe, if not comfortably, then reliably.
With this newfound ability, she managed to whisper, “You’re an ass,”
before coughing harshly. And the worst
part was, the words had barely been audible.
Once the spasm passed, she allowed Sands to help her stand.
man who’d aked ked her, but then she kept her eyes pasted on her feet as he helped
her into the living room. He sat her on
the couch, then walked over to where she kept her ice
bucket. There were several bottles of
water next to the container, and Sands grabbed one, picking up a nearby notepad
and pen as well. Going back to the
couch, he handed Tess the water, and stopped her when she tried to thank
him. “Don’t be an idiot, niña.
been today.”
When she didn’t even try to respond, or even look at him, he got
impatient. He couldn’t even see her face
because her hair had come loose in her struggle and was now curtaining her off
from the rest of existence almost.
Impatiently, he swiped it out of his way, only to reveal that Tess was
staring blankly at the floor, slow tears rolling down her face.
Ah, fuck.
a crying woman. Much less one that
didn’t want the rest of the world to know that she was unhappy. All the women
in his past acquaintance had as was wailed to wake the dead.
Tess wasn’t even really aware of what was happening around her, now that
the spike of adrenaline in her blood had mostly burned away and she wasn’t
fighting for breath anymore. Now her
nerves were shaking and making her tremble right along with them.
it. But she’d almost
Didn’t she have the right to some sort of display of female histrionics?
She was startled from these revelations when a pad of paper and a pen
were thrust under her nose. She looked
up to find Sands sitting on the coffee table across from her, much as he had
been the night before. The night before
when she’d been strong and sure enough of herself to seek him out.
them for comfort now, wanting to be held and shielded in the aftermath of
someone making an attempt on her life, but with Sands . . . .
Tess took the pad of paper from him, her eyes once again focusing on the
carpet. Sands didn’t bother to say
anything, not really wanting to step into the role of comforter, but he was
willing to hear what she had to say. Or
read what she had to write as the case may be.
Another half hour ticked by before Tess was ready to write anything.
I was dying.
Sands nodded. “I noticed.
Yes.
Silence reigned again.
Who would want to kill me?
Sands moved onto the couch next to her, shifting around until he was
comfortable as he ran over several differeneorieories.
unhappy with his lack of answers. He’d
have to get a team up here and let them take care of finding those answers for
him. “Well, a rival cartel perhaps.
at the territory now controlled by your family.
If the
it’s likely that some cartel out looking to make a name for itself
did as well. Perhaps someone wa
ga
grudge against your family, but that’s a little to
broad to be of any help. Someone who
took a dislike to you personally. Or he
could have been your ordinary, run of the mill, homicidal psychotic.”
Tess didn’t ask any more questions.
Instead, she took a slow slip of water, grimacing as it trickled down
her throat, coughing when it stopped.
Sands waited until he was done before asking, “Do you need to see a
doctor for that?”
Tess started to shake her head, but quickly thought twice about
that. No. I can take care of the flesh
wound at least. And a shot of cortisone
will help ease the swelling.
“Suit yourself.”
Silence.
I can’t stay here tonig/b>
/b>
Tess wrote.
Sands agreed. If one person with
some sort of unknown agenda had found Tess and
tried to kill her, then it wasn’t safe for her to stay here without increasing
security, and that couldn’t happen because it would give away the game.
If you’re up to it, we’ll move you down to my room while I take care of
some things up here, and then we’ll check you in somewhere else tonight.”
Tess thought about that. She
didn’t really want to move. She wanted
to sit here on couccouch for the next hour, or day, or year . . . however long
it took her to start feeling like herself again.
You need to get out of here.
Alright
Putting pen to paper once more, Tess wrote, I need my medical case from the bathroom.
“Don’t worry, niña.
and move them to your new room.” Sands
stood and pulled Tess to her feet.
“Where’s this case of yours?”
Bathroom cabinet.
Sands walked into the back of the suite, stepping over the body of the
man he’d killed with a grimace. He didn’t
like killing people. If he had to kill
someone, that meant he’d lost control of the game somehow.
his or someone else’s. It meant he
hadn’t been a good enough manipulator to keep all the pieces on the board.
if that life was determined on taking his own.
Or that of someone he wasn’t finished using.
And he was a long way from being done with using Tess, both for personal
and practical reasons.
-
- -
- -
- -
Three hours later, Sands didn’t
know any more than he had when he’d ushered Tess down to his room to clean up
and get some sleep. She’d been reluctant
to sleep, but he’d insisted, watching as she gave herself a
tranquilizer shot. Once he was
assured that she was out of trouble and locked in his room, he went back
upstairs.
While Tess had been tending his wounds, Sands had gotten a small team of
CIA agents to her room with no more than a few phone calls.
gone, the blood had been cleaned from the carpet, and people were searching to
find out how the man had gotten into the room without ,shooting off the lock,
himself. The rooms in this hotel all had
pass cards, and very secure ones, especially the penthouse suite.
had swiped a maid’s pass card or stolen one from the front desk – which was
nearly impossible because the lobby was always full of people and the front
desk watched by around the clock video surveillance.
With every answer that he didn’t have, get, or find, Sands’ temper
grew. Finally he’d called an end to the
fingerprints and face through the FBI database, the Interpol database, and to
INS. He wanted an identity by this time
tomorrow. Then he had someone start
packing up Tessa’s clothes, although he grabbed some sweats for her to change
into once she woke up. He wasn’t going
to move her until the morning, when her head would be clear of any drugs.
fast growing reputation for technical skills go over to the room they’d checked
out for Tess and start planting bugs – video and audio – and to set up a
command center in another room. One
checked out to a ‘Giovanni Tirado.’
The stakes had just been upped, and he was not going to be the one to
fold.
************************************************************************
Quotes:
none for this chapter, but I hope to see them return in the next.
Author’s Thanks:
to be quite honest, I don’t quite have the energy to do the detailed thanks I
usually do, but I do want you all to know that I appreciate and take to heart
each review that I get. With that said,
thanks go to: Kontara
Tracy6, C.J. Davis, normal
human being, Pixy, dissolved star, Crystal Symphony, Satisdee
(glad you’re back!),
With that all said
project I’ve been working on (another reason this took forever to write).
with Merrie, another author in the OUATIM and POTC fan ‘verses (she wrote
‘Darkness Rising,’ ‘Broken Wings,’ and ‘A Gilded Cage.’) that combines her
Jeffrey (Sands’ other side) and my Salida (Tessa’s voice).
“What would happen if Tessa’s voice ever met Sands’ voice?”
: // adultfan .
/aff /story . php
address without them.)