Blood Hold - Chapter 1

Grace was in the middle of her morning routine when Rikki arrived at the office. The coffee aroma tantalized Rikki's taste buds. She wished she liked the taste as much as the smell. As it were, Grace knocked-back the whole pot, while Rikki guzzled Diet Mountain Dew.

"O-si-yo (hello), hoe-down." Rikki ragged on Grace, speaking in Cherokee. She was wearing a red bandana shirt - it reminded Rikki of a hillbilly hoedown with hay bales and fiddles.

Grace held up a finger and continued de-bugging the office with the Super Sweep equipment as she did each morning. Rikki was paranoid with good reason, at least every other month they found a phone tap, a listening device or tracking devices on their vehicles. Grace was fixated on the lights that began to bounce, a bug was discovered. She bent at the waist to look underneath the coffee table, mounted underneath was a wireless audio transmitter.

"I said hellooo..." Rikki sensed dread on Grace's face then she caught the sight of the lights blinking on the Super Sweep. "Aaahhh crap, I spilled my coffee! Grace, nu-la (hurry), help me with this!" Rikki yelled as Grace pointed down at the coffee table.

When Rikki spilled her imaginary coffee, it was code for 'time to pow-wow in the equipment room'. High-tech electronic locks kept the equipment room secure. If you weren't Grace or Rikki, you weren't getting in.

"Geeze Louise, I can't believe you just spilled that whole cup of coffee. I'll get a towel." Grace played along.

Rikki entered the codes to unlock the equipment room door, and then did a little jig to the sound of the locks that hummed then clanked as the deadbolt receded.

"I love that sound," Grace responded to Rikki's dance with a whisper.

"Me too...it's so definite and official...we're like real private dicks." Rikki joked about her long career as a private investigator and bounty hunter with Grace at her side as the voice of reason.

The lock made its final adjustment. Rikki raised her arms and shook her hips for the grand finale. Grace couldn't help but giggle as they bolted inside and shut the door. The back wall of the equipment room was lined with shelves stocked with every gadget imaginable.

Rikki's motto was "You're Only As Good As Your Equipment." Across the room a countertop held three desktop computers and two laptops, each with its own specialty. On another wall was an over-sized sofa where Rikki had spent more nights than she cared to admit.

As Rikki fumbled around for

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