Dumas winced when Mari moaned in pain.  If he hadn’t needed both hands to keep a tight grip on his captive, he would have reached towards her -- wanting to comfort her, wanting to ease her distress.  But his expression hardened when it became clear that they were dealing with the ‘other’ Mari.  She had some nerve, demanding help from him as if he owed her anything besides a punch in the face.  Dumas wished he could just let the bitch get shot.  A bullet in the gut would be a shorter and less agonizing pain than what she’d done to him that morning.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, the other Mari shared her body with someone Dumas cared about, so he had to protect her too.  Dumas shook his head when Mari’s captor made his demand.  “Let her go.  As soon as she’s walking towards me, I’ll release your man.”  Even if the thug agreed to those terms, it would still be an extremely risky situation.  Other than firing first, there was very little Dumas could do to keep the man from shooting both of them once he surrendered his hostage.  But what choice did he have?<br/><br/>Too focused on Mari and her captor to hear Chester’s approach, Dumas only noticed the magician when he felt a rush of motion going past his right side, followed by the unmistakable crackle of a zap gun.  Dumas watched with great satisfaction as the thug went down.  And of course, saving the day wasn’t enough -- Chester also needed to make a wisecrack.  Dumas snorted in response.  “Actually, her lying has improved a great deal.”<br/><br/>Now that Mari was safely outside the building, Dumas needed to decide if he should carry out his original plan.  However, before he had more than a few seconds to ponder that question, the sound of approaching sirens made the choice for him.  “”Listen,” he snarled at his captive.  “Tell your boss he’s finished with that woman.  If anyone in your organization ever contacts her again, either to hire her or harm her, we’ll be back.  I know we can’t destroy you.  But we can be a damn nuisance.”<br/><br/>Releasing his captive, Dumas shoved him toward the door of the building.  Then he grabbed Mari’s arm.  “Let’s get the hell out of here before we all end up in jail.”