Misdirection

Stan took Selena's proposal as nothing more than a desperate joke, or perhaps a flailing attempt to save herself from his vengeance. But in reality it was only meant as a distraction. Selena wanted him to believe she was scared and desperate. She wanted him to underestimate her again.

"Til' death do you part, Selena? Richard would have expected you to at least shed a tear on his behalf."

"Richard never cared about me. He never appreciated me, not the way you do, right Stan?"

"It's not going to work."

Selena smiled. It already was working.

Part Nine

Small Talk

"Tell me what happened."

Stan may not have liked small talk, but he always enjoyed discussing his own exploits.

"Your husband gave me a choice. I could admit what I'd done or he'd torture me until I did. Neither option seemed very appealing, so I disarmed Tony and shot the both of them and threw them out the window. Their bodies are still laying on the front walk. I'll take you to see them when we get back."

Stan didn't know how to be subtle. But neither did she.

"So do you want to get married?"Part Eight

Silence

The drive back to the mansion house was long. Selena found it unendurable, but not because of what was waiting for her.

It was the silence she couldn't abide. She abhorred silence. She needed music or television playing in the background at all times or she'd fill the emptiness with whatever twitter occurred to her in the moment. Most people found the chatter annoying, but Richard had thought it endearing, which was odd, because for the most part he hated anyone who talked too much in his presence.

The fact Richard was dead made the silence especially interminable.

Part Seven

What Happened To Richard

Selena had little choice but to go back with Stan. She would just tell Richard that she'd gotten scared and didn't want to get caught in the middle of a war. Her leaving had nothing to do with her having betrayed the both of them to a competing crime boss. Why would he ever think that?

Selena slid into the Cadillac and told Stan to drive. "Don't try anything, or Richard will be even angrier than he already is."

"Richard's dead. I shot him myself."

Selena knew that if she didn't get away quickly, she'd be next.

Part Six

Advantages

It didn't have to be that way. Stan wanted her. Even now it was obvious. Maybe it had never been to Richard, who had been too busy indulging his taste for punishment. And everyone else was too scared to see anything but the inside of their own asses, but she knew it the first time he raked his eyes over her. Stan wanted everything that had ever belonged to Richard and that included her.

He could have sent someone else to fetch her back, but he wanted to find her himself. She would use his lust to her advantage.

Part Five

Natural Enemies

Richard Gunn was the head of the largest crime syndicate in the four corners area. He commanded a cadre of drug dealers, bookies, gun smugglers, and union thugs that was able to operate openly because he also owned a third of the police force and elected officials.

Richard was famous for his temper. He once scrambled the brains of the cook at his favorite restaurant because his eggs had been undercooked. He was surrounded by yes men and sycophants.

The only people brave enough to question his authority were Selena and Stan. This naturally made them enemies.

Part Four

Dirty Work

Selena took a cigarette from Stan with a nervous smile. It was likely too late to ingratiate herself. He knew why she was on the run and he was going to use the situation to his advantage.

Stan had worked for her husband for years. His job didn't actually have a title, but you could call him the chief enforcer. When Richard wanted to disappear someone, he told Stan, and Stan would get one of his goons to do the dirty work.

Selena had never liked Stan. And she had been the one to get him fired.

Part Three

Mistakes

Selena leaned against her wounded soldier of a car as Stan Brandanowitz stepped from his Cadillac and walked over to her. He was the reason she'd left and the last person on Earth she wanted to see.

"Need a ride?"

"No. I've got Triple A on the way. Thanks."

Stan smirked and offered her a cigarette. "You remember when we used to be friends, Selena?"

"We were never friends. You were just using me like you use everyone. Like you used Richard."

Stan stopped just as he was about to light his cigarette. Mentioning Richard had probably been a mistake.

Part Two

Just A Pinch

Her car broke down on the longest stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere. Selena popped the hood and even her rudimentary knowledge was enough to diagnose an overheated engine. It had been hours since she'd seen another vehicle.

Nowhere happened to be exactly between where she was headed and where she was running from. Selena had enough water to survive a couple days and enough cash to buy a plane ticket to paradise.

As the black Cadillac pulled up beside her, she wondered if she could trade the water and money for just a pinch of good fortune.

Part One

Reality Programming

The students were blindfolded as they entered the arena, and the roaring crowd left them nearly deaf as well. When the bell sounded indicating they were allowed to uncover their eyes, they found an array of weapons waiting for them.

The student combat drew the largest audience in recent memory. The republic was drawn to the spectacle of it all, the blood and the death and the lost innocence. And the drama. Only one lucky warrior would survive.

Not many people realize that Julius Caesar first sprang to fame as a winner on Rome's most popular reality show, Juvenile Gladiators.