<strong>Susan Cochrane<br/>On the yacht at a marina, God knos, where<br/>Not broke, but certainly naked, sticky, and confused</strong><br/><br/>The boat was not moving.  Why not?  Susan had drifted off to sleep feeling very warm, mellow, relaxed, contented snuggling in the afterglow with Jaguar Woman...<br/><br/>And now she was on her back on the bed, spread eagle.... and tied?  Tied.  She tugged experimentally at her bonds, quite a bit of slack, and her circulation was unimpaired.  Tied by an expert.  She grinned, Mari was certainly expert at a lot of things, no lie. How long had she been out?<em>  God, I have to pee! </em>She shifted in the bed, saw an empty hypodermic needle on the nightstand.... from her kit.  Drugged?  that explained the headache.  And she itched like hell.... her juice had dried on her snatch, her inner thighs, God God, the itching might have been what woke her up.<br/><br/>She shifted again, pulled at the ropes, looked at the binding thoughtfully, and with care, finally worked a hand free, got her other hand free and sat up.  With ankles still bound, she noticed something was taped to her chest, right over her heart.  Surgical tape.  She pulled it free, and went utterly still, her guts turning to ice.<br/><br/>A bullet.<br/><br/>Mari's parting gift, and a very clear statement that Susan was alive because the Brazilian hit woman had chosen to leave her that way.<br/><br/>So where was Emily?  This was her boat.  Emily... well, had probably left in a huff because Susan and Mari were in the clinch, so to speak.  And had not invited her.  Oh well, Susan was pretty sure that Emily was a hit woman herself and was going to ground....  "Gonna miss her anyway."  the Street Doctor muttered.<br/><br/>"Right.  First thing, untie the ankles.  then gather up gear, shower, dress, and try to figure out how long I was out and where the hell I am."  She undid her ankle bonds, saw her Medical kit bags on the couch... her .380 and knife lying beside them.  Well, how about that?  Her clothing scattered where it had been thrown.  She shrugged and dove into the head, scrambled into the tiny shower,  the water was not quite hot... how long had she been out?  A coldish shower cleared her mind, she dressed hurriedly, tied her still wet hair back in a ponytail, slung her bags on her shoulders and scrambled above deck to see what was up.<br/><br/>And was still thinking about Jaguar Woman.  "She fucked me, tied me down... and God damn it, she never did kiss me."