"It’s not paradise," Cowboy sang in a reasonably decent voice, "but at least it’s got working plumbing." She flipped the omelet, hummed a few bars and noted that the coffee maker was full. Taking a deep breath, she yelled "Grub’s up!" and banged a spoon against the counter. May came into the kitchen toweling off her hair, wearing a long dress shirt, but no pants. Cowboy made a show of checking out her legs and wiggled her eyebrows at the blonde, who grinned back. When no Rally showed, Cowboy banged the spoon again and called her by name. Rally came out of her room, looking worse than she had when she went to sleep the night before. There were bags under her eyes, and her cheeks looked sunken. Cowboy gave her a hard stare and plunked down a plate with an omelet, bacon and toast in front of her. May was already chowing down, making happy eating noises. Cowboy seated herself at the table and sipped from a cup of coffee. "You weren’t kidding, you really are a decent cook." Minnie May was in ecstasy. "Is this home cooking, like your Mama made?" Cowboy grinned. "Nope - this is home cookin’ like the chef at the greasy spoon I worked at made." May laughed and swallowed some coffee. "Well, it’s good." Looking at Rally, who was moving her food around the plate, May commented, "If you’re not going to eat that…" Rally didn’t even look up, but pushed the plate across the table. "Go ahead." Cowboy glanced at Rally again, who avoided her eyes. She cleared her throat and said, "Miss May," May giggled at the name, "can I ask you somethin’? Where in hell did you learn demolition?" May smiled around a forkful of omelet. "My boyfriend, Ken. He’s the best." She paused. "At explosives too." Cowboy’s eyebrows rose. "But how did you know when to set off the explosion?" May finished her coffee and sat back with a sigh. "Oh, that. Piece of cake. They had me stashed in the trunk, but I had blown it open about five minutes after they put me in. When I heard Rally’s voice, I tapped a message on the car seat back. You remember how she insisted she needed to wear a seatbelt? She undid the seat catch then…when they took you out, I set the charge, freed Roy and we were out of the car before you were even kneeling on the ground. All I needed was for Rally to ask the question we use as a password." May beamed. "Pretty slick, huh?" Cowboy nodded emphatically. "Slick indeed." She turned to Rally. "You two work really well together. I’m impressed." Rally mumbled an agreement. May took a hard look at her partner and rose. "I’ll do the dishes later…I have to reload my emergency stash. I’ll be in my room if you need me." Pointedly, she left the room. Cowboy set her coffee mug on the table. "I meant what I said before, Rally. I am sorry." Rally looked up, her face serious. "We’ve got more pressing things to deal with. Have you read today’s paper?" Cowboy shook her head. Rally left the room and returned with the newspaper. Placing it before Cowboy, Rally took up the empty dishes on the table and carried them over to the sink. Behind her, she could hear Cowboy gasp and say quietly, "Aw, dammit to hell." Rally washed the dishes, and stacked them in the drain board. When she turned around, she wasn’t surprised to find Cowboy crying softly. "Sorry." Cowboy dashed the tears from her face. "I thought we got to her in time." She rose and walked out of the room. Rally looked back at the headline. "Double murder shocks city." The article outlined the unsolved murder of prominent property owner Jason R. Welt and Tribune reporter Lynda Day. They had been found in a docked boat - both naked, shot through the head. It was speculated that the deceased were having an affair and that the deaths were related to this. Rally sat and stared out the window for a long time. Eventually she heard footsteps in the hall, and Cowboy came back into the kitchen. "She was the reporter that was going to break the story, wasn’t she?" Rally said quietly. "Mmm." Cowboy agreed. "Good friend?" There was a pause. "An ex." Cowboy took a deep breath. "It was a while ago, though. I kinda wandered up this way to see how she was. We had dinner a few weeks ago. She was doing great. Good career, new lover, everything she could want. Even a big scoop, right on her doorstep. She was so excited about it." Cowboy’s voice softened. "Got me all fired up, just like old times, too. I wanted to help her…wanted to help her get that scoop." "And now?" Rally asked. "Now I want to shoot every goddamn finger off that sonofabitch who did it to her." Cowboy said grimly. "Not just his thumb." She paused. "Rall…I could really use some help." Rally smiled. "You owe us already. But you know - we have our own debt with that bastard. I’ll help." "We’ll help." Minnie May added as she entered the kitchen. "We’re partners, after all." She nodded at Rally, who nodded back. "I just got a call, I have to go out for a bit. I’ll be back by 6 tonight." She threw her purse over her shoulder. "Be ready then." The door slammed loudly in the house. "Going shopping?" Cowboy asked, gesturing to the front door. "Boyfriend - she was wearing heels." Rally smiled grimly. "I wonder what he’s doing in town?" she muttered. "Just passing through I sup…" She stopped and jumped up abruptly. "That’s it! They’re going to pull something big today - Ken’s in town and that means they needed him for something. C’mon Cowboy, we need to find him." Rally took two steps when a jerk on her wrist snapped her around to face Cowboy. "We need to talk." Rally pulled at her arm. "Not now, Cowboy, okay?" Her voice was pleading. "Let’s take care of this first." The tall woman didn’t let go. Rally pulled back, and slowly released her arm from Cowboy’s grasp. She turned to leave, as her hand slipped through the other woman’s. Grabbing her holster from the closet, Rally looked back at Cowboy, who stood forlornly in the hall. "C’mon. We have to hurry." Rally opened the front door and stepped out. Cowboy stayed put a moment longer, grabbed her gun and followed Rally out the door.
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