 
No Lady and Her Tramp

by

Kristie Leigh Maguire

and

Mark Haeuser

Published by KLM Books at Smashwords

Copyright Kristie Leigh Maguire and Mark Haeuser 2003

Discover other titles by Kristie Leigh Maguire at <https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/kristieleighmaguire>

Smashwords Edition, License Note

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this book may be produced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book, except for the minimum words needed for review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to places or persons, living or deceased, are the invention of the author.

Book Blurb

A quirky hysterically hilarious read that is down and dirty!

The steamy, very descriptive sex in _No Lady and Her Tramp_ puts Harold Robbins' books to shame. The one thing Mr. Robbins' books did not have is the humor that illuminates in this work of art.

_No Lady_ is one woman's accounting of the trials, tribulations, and antics of her life, and all of the other colorful characters (some even use the politically incorrect term of trailer trash to describe them) who live in President Park, a run down trailer park in Grapevine, Kentucky.

You may find the palms of your hands sweat, among other things, from the titillating sex that fill the pages. You will also find yourself laughing aloud, as humor runs consistently throughout the book.

These two authors, Kristie Leigh Maguire and Mark Haeuser, by putting their talents together, have written a very funny book laced with pure, unadulterated steam.

Dedication

To all the romance readers around the globe who wanted a romance book that was just a little different - this book is for you!

And to all the people in the world who are just going about their daily lives the best way they know how - anything is possible if you dare to dream!

Don't get mad! Get even!

Acknowledgements

Our deepest gratitude goes out to author Janet Elaine Smith for her invaluable support and encouragement throughout the writing process of this novel. We extend a very special thanks to Janet for her title suggestion, _No Lady and Her Tramp_.

Prologue

Beth Ann flung her black nylon jacket, complete with the Kut-N-Kurl insignia from the beauty shop where she worked, onto the chair. She flipped first one high heel into the air, then the other one. She had no idea why she insisted on wearing them, except it was part of her "image." Not that she had any image to protect. People gossiped about her on a daily basis. You know how it is in a small town; everybody knows everybody else's business. Only what they didn't know about her wouldn't hurt them. But you can be sure it would shock them. Oh, yeah, Beth Ann with the big boobs, as the men down at the local bar and grill where her husband hung out every Wednesday night was always good for speculation. _If only they knew!_

Beth Ann grinned, then ran a hand through her hair. She glanced into the big gold-framed mirror, deciding that her hair was about due for a new dye job. Her natural color was sort of a washed-out dishwater color, so she colored it once a week, and it had been two weeks now.

"Billy Ray?" she called out. "You home yet?"

The only reply she got was dead silence.

"Billy Ray?" she yelled again, cursing as she stubbed her toe on his pile of empty beer cans. Either he was working late, which he often did down at Rusty's Automotive Service and Sales, or he had already left for the Amtrak Bar and Grill. His ritual for Wednesday nights was as regular as hers. He would go to the Amtrak, intending to "just drink a few beers with the guys," and come home after two o'clock-when they locked the place up-so soused he could hardly stand up. It always tickled her that the Amtrak had never come anywhere near them, but they had spent a pretty penny on trying to get it there, so the Amtrak Bar & Grill was built as a reminder of just how futile life can be.

Beth Ann was much more righteous with her Wednesday night activities. She would get cleaned up after a long day at the Kut-N-Kurl, then head off to the Second Baptist Church. The Second Baptist Church was just about as well named as the Amtrak Bar & Grill. There was no First Baptist Church. Never had been, and never would be. If a new one ever came in, it would be the Third Baptist Church. She would faithfully ask for prayer for Billy Ray, that he would "mend his wicked ways" and leave his drink alone. She had become suspicious that lately he was doing a whole lot more than just beer, but she didn't have any proof of it yet, so at least she didn't openly accuse him of peddling drugs in the public arena of the prayer meeting.

As soon as the last "Amen" was uttered, Beth Ann would head out the door, straight to Richmond and the St. John's Catholic Church. No, she wasn't a hypocrite. Not to her way of thinking, anyway. She went there not to worship. No, they did that far too differently for her. She was happy in her Baptist ways. All she needed from them was the Wednesday night Bingo game. They had the biggest payoffs in town. And she really needed that big one tonight. Things had been spinning in her head at an uncontrollable speed and all she needed to get started was a computer. If she had that, she could finally get them moved out of that damned trailer park. Life there wasn't fit for a beast, much less a man, and certainly not a woman. The things that happened there were so far beyond belief that if she wrote them into her book, everybody would be sure they were pure fiction. Everybody, that is, except the people who lived the life. The ones who walked the walk. Oh, they would be sure to recognize themselves inside the steamy pages of her novel.

She grinned like the cat that had just swallowed the canary. This was her little secret. She patted her purse, which was sitting on the car seat beside her, as she sped around the corner so she wouldn't be late for prayer meeting. People always whispered about the "why's" and "how comes" if someone showed up late.

***

Billy Ray came home and stumbled into the trailer house, knocking the pile of empty beer cans helter skelter. "Why the hell can't you pick this dump up, woman?" he bellowed. When there was no response, he glanced up at the big round kitchen clock. _Damn! 7:15! Hell with the shower. I'll miss all the fun_. He ran outside, jumped into his pickup and headed for the Amtrak. He probably would have gotten a ticket for speeding but the local sheriff was probably already home, reared back in his Lazy Boy Recliner, beer in hand, watching TV. He wasn't known for his dedication to duty.

"Start the party!" the bartender yelled. "Billy Ray's here."

A round of drinks was poured for everybody. For Billy Ray, like always, it was a beer. Only difference in his drinking habits was that on Wednesday night, his beers came from the tap instead of from the can.

Billy Ray was the life of the party. All it took was about three drinks under his belt and he was loose as a lizard. It didn't matter who bought the first round of drinks after he came in, but it was a guaranteed thing that somebody always did.

***

"I can't believe it!" Beth Ann repeated over and over again on her way home, her purse tucked between her legs, hoisting her already too-short skirt even higher. "Gotta keep you safe, baby," she said, patting her purse with one hand and steering with the other.

She glanced up at The Computer Discount Outlet Store. The manager, who she knew intimately well-if you get my meaning-was just locking the front door for the night.

"Yes!" she shouted, veering into the parking lot and laying on the horn like she was on her way to a fire. "George!" she yelled out the window as she kept rolling it down. "George! Wait just a minute!"

George turned to look at the oncoming car and smiled, rubbing his belly like he was starving for something-and it sure wasn't a hamburger! "Whatcha need, little lady?" he asked. He chuckled to himself; _now_ _that ain't no lady!_

"Can you open up for me? I need you to help me. I've gotta have it tonight," she said, her voice coming out in a high pitched squeal at the mere thought of what she was about to do.

"I asked you, whatcha need?"

"I've got to get me a computer. I need it right away."

"You sure you know how to run one of them things now?" George asked her.

"Sure. After that computer course you gave me, I know I can operate it. Simple as 1-2-3. I can do anything I need to do on it."

"What's your hurry?"

"I've got me a project," she explained, not wanting to reveal her plan.

"And you want me to be part of that project?"

Beth Ann looked him up and down. "Oh, yeah, you'll fit into my plan just dandy."

"So let's get it on," he said, trying to imitate that judge who used to be a boxer that had his own TV show.

"Not tonight," Beth Ann said, grinning at him.

"Geez!" George mumbled. "How'd I let that one slip by?" He really hadn't meant to say that. It just sort of slipped out. Like a lot of things that happened when Beth Ann was around; they just sort of _slipped out._

***

Beth Ann was working away at her computer, sitting at the kitchen table, when she heard Billy Ray drive in. She looked at the clock: two-fifteen. As regular as clock work. Yeah, you couldn't count on Bill Ray for many things, but you could set your clock by what time he got home on Wednesday night.

"What you got there, little darlin'?" he asked, his words running together like melted butter.

"I got me a computer," she said, beaming proudly.

"Wha'd you do? Rob a store?"

"I don't steal nothin'!" she yelled back at him. "You know me better than that!"

"So where'd you get it?"

"I won it, fair and square."

"You won a computer? How'd you do that?" he asked, not really caring, but asking anyway.

"I won the jackpot at Bingo tonight. A thousand bucks! So I went right over to The Computer Discount Outlet Store's and bought me one."

"What are you gonna do with a damn computer?"

"I'm gonna write a book," she said. "It's gonna be a best seller."

"Sure it is, baby," he said as he crawled into the living room and fell onto the couch. In less than two minutes he was sound asleep.

"You're gonna be my ticket out of this world," she said, rubbing her new possession affectionately. She glanced up and down the street in the trailer court. She could see the lights on in several of the windows. She knew, just from observation, exactly what was happening behind every one of those closed doors. "Oh, yeah, baby," she said, still rubbing the computer. "We're gonna go places together. Just you and me."

She watched as the lights in the kitchen went out at Melody's place. They were followed by the lights flipping on in the bedroom. "Amos is out with his eighteen wheeler," she said softly to herself. She began whistling the tune from 'Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses'. She knew what was going on there, and it didn't have anything to do with either eighteen wheels or a dozen roses.

She clicked off the lights and crawled into her own bed. She'd been in her baby doll pj's for hours so all she had to do was climb into the bed-alone. Some things never change, she thought, and then realized that if she had her way, her whole world was about to change.

"Goodbye, President Park!" she said as she fluffed her pillow and rolled over.

Chapter One

Thursday, March 2, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Who was that seen coming in again late last night from the big city of Richmond? Who has been seen making regular runs into Richmond, always on a Wednesday night after prayer meeting lets out down at the Second Baptist Church? What has she been doing? What is she hiding from us? What was that mysterious big box she had in the back seat of her car as she was seen driving through town on the way home after her 'Richmond run' last night? What color will her hair be next week? Inquiring minds want to know!

The sheriff was called out last night to another incident down at President Park. Seems that Troy Finkmyer got just a teeny weenie bit plastered down at the Amtrak Bar and Grill last night and decided to give his wife a few more bruises after he staggered home. When the sheriff arrived, Mary Jo was sitting on the front steps of her trailer, holding an ice pack to her bruised face. She refused to press charges, said she ran into the door - again!

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Beth Ann threw the Grapevine Gazette down in disgust. _That damn Shirley Snodgrass! That Shirley thought she was Grapevine's answer to Hollywood's Hedda Hopper! You might know you couldn't get away with nothing in this damn little hick town with that Shirley watching everybody like a hawk._ _Inquiring minds want to know, indeed! Huh! You just wait till next week when that old Shirley comes into the Kut-N-Kurl for her regular monthly dye job! Wonder how old Shirley will like it when she looks in the mirror after I get through with her and sees the purple hair she's gonna get_. Beth Ann laughed as she fluffed up her freshly dyed Champaign Ice colored hair. _That ought to teach her to make fun of my hair color! That Shirley wouldn't know style if it came up and bit her on her big fat ass!_

Beth Ann teetered over to the kitchen table in her red high heels and smiled as she patted her newly purchased computer, her pride and joy. "Me and you are going places, baby," she whispered. "Those nasty old busybodies here in Grapevine will find out that I'm not just a dyed blonde bimbo. That fat assed old Shirley will really have something to put in her gossip column when my book is published!" She glanced at her watch. Better get her ass in gear. Melody would be at the shop for her perm in less than half an hour.

Beth Ann grabbed her Kut-N-Kurl jacket off the hook by the front door and hurried out to her 1969 black Mustang setting in front of the trailer. She got in and twisted the rearview mirror down and applied a fresh coat of Crimson Coy lipstick as she turned the key in the ignition. The engine sputtered, coughed and died. "God damn you, Billy Ray! Some fucking auto mechanic you are! Why the hell can't you at least keep my car running?" she banged on the steering wheel in frustration. "All you ever do is drink beer and hang out with your buddies!" she yelled. "I might as well be single for all the hell good you are to me! Now I'm gonna be late for work!" She got out and slammed the door and kicked it with a well-aimed red high heel shoe. "Damn stupid mother effing car! Damn piece of junk!"

Weren't no use even trying to go back in the trailer to wake up that damn sorry Billy Ray. He hadn't moved a muscle since he passed out on the couch last night after stumbling in from the Amtrak drunk as a skunk. _If he thinks I'm gonna wake him up this morning so he won't be late for work, he's got another think coming! I don't give a shit any more_. She opened the back door and picked up the wrench she kept on the floorboard. She yanked up the hood and banged the battery cable. _Wish that was Billy Ray's damn head!_ She got back in the car and cranked it again. This time the engine sputtered to life. She threw the wrench back into the back seat and squealed rubber as she backed out of the driveway. Gravel flew as she tore off down the road towards the Kut-N-Curl, tape deck blaring out 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine'.

She lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. _Gotta get me one of them fancy shmancy pen names,_ she thought as she rolled the window down a crack. _What can I call myself? Beth Ann Dixon just don't have the right ring to it. How about J'Lyne Jones? That has a nice ring. No, I don't like that. Jones is too plain to go along with a fancy name like J'Lyne. I like J'Lyne though. Sound classy like my novel is gonna be. Maybe I'll just go by the one name like Madonna does. Naw, that'll never work. Gotta have a fancy last name if I'm gonna use J'Lyne. Ain't nobody here in Grapevine got a fancy last name._

Beth Ann was in the middle of giving Melody Jackson a perm when it hit her like a bolt of lightning out of the clear blue sky. She jumped up and down, squealing, boobs flopping around inside her black nylon uniform like two pigs in a poke, as she danced around the shop. Melody jumped up out of the chair like she had been shot, perm rods flying every which way.

"Bethany Dickerson!" Beth Ann screamed in a high-pitched squeak. The customers in the shop gawked at her like she had lost her mind. "I got it! That's it!" She smiled at them mysteriously. _Ain't gonna tell them nothing about what I'm doing right now_. She stooped down and starting picking up the perm rods off the floor. _Nope, what they don't know won't hurt them. Plain old Beth Ann Dixon just don't cut it but Bethany Dickerson had a real nice ring to it, she grinned. When she started signing all them autographs after her book was published, Bethany Dickerson was close enough to Beth Ann Dixon to remember and not sign the wrong name in the book. Yep, that was it! She was gonna be_ _Bethany Dickerson, famous author_!

Chapter Two

"..... and that is the weather for this Thursday..."

Billy Ray fell off the couch, hitting his head on the coffee table, as he fumbled for the snooze button on the clock radio. _What the hell?_

"Fuck!" he swore, peeking through one eye. That damn Beth Ann had left him passed out on the couch last night. The pounding in his head did not mix well with the light drifting in through the open shades.

"Damn it, Beth Ann!" He knew she had opened the blinds on purpose. Slowly he opened his other eye and peered up at the clock on the wall above the TV.

"Damn!" he swore again. It was close to 8:00 am and he was already late. He had three oil changes and a brake job to do today before noon. He needed a little lift.

He stood, staggering across the living room, aiming for the bedroom door. He was almost there when his foot became entangled in one of Beth Ann's black satin bras.

"God damn!" he screamed out as he went flying towards the wall off balance. He raised his arm just in time to catch most of the blow across his forearm, but his face still hit the metal duck Beth Ann had hung on the wall. It had sharp edges and he felt it slice across his cheek. Blood ran from the wound as he reached down, tearing the bra from around his ankles.

"If she would just clean up this place," he mumbled, tossing the bra into the pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the bedroom. Wiping more blood from his face, he staggered down the hallway and headed for the bathroom. Why in the hell did he stay so late at the Amtrak last night? There had not been the usual crowd to keep him. Stepping into the bathroom, he reached up and pushed aside the ceiling tile. With his fingers, he found the plastic baggy and pulled it down.

"Just a little snort to clear the head," he whispered.

He poured a small pile of the white powder onto Beth Ann's makeup mirror, examined it and poured on some more. With quick movements, he used his razor blade to cut out a few lines. His head pounding, he placed the straw in his nose and snorted deeply. The cocaine sped up into his nose and through his system. He took three snorts per side and then put the baggy away.

"Better hit the shower," he mumbled, feeling better already. He knew from watching The Discovery Channel that the drug was now entering his mucus membranes and entering his system. He should be good as new by the time he got out of the shower.

Fifteen minutes later he was dressed and jumped into his old Ford pickup. On the seat, he found his Colt .45 and three empty magazines. _Oh shit!_ He rubbed his eyes. They had been shooting at that possum last night off of the back deck of the Amtrak.

"Lucky bastard," he said firing up the Ford. "Not one of us even touched him."

It had all started after Nub Meeker went outside to take a leak. The bar was crowded, so it was far quicker to simply hang it from the deck. Soon he was back in, yelling that there was a possum out there in the weeds and he had seen it clearly. Of course Thelma Williams had called out that she would cook it up for them if someone went out and shot it. Everyone, of course, looked at him. It was well known that he had more guns than a K-Mart sporting goods section and he always carried one close by. He had stepped out into the lot and retrieved his Colt from the glove box of his truck and loaded it.

What happened next was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life. The bar crowd poured out onto the deck to watch the timely demise of the feeding possum. Trent Barker, the owner of the Amtrak, turned on the high intensity floodlight he reserved for poaching deer. With the crowd at his back, Billy Ray took his place and put his sites onto the soon-to-be dead animal. As they chanted his name, he took a careful bead and fired!

The flying dirt did little to hurry the demise of the possum that continued to eat whatever it was dining on. After the first full magazine, Billy Ray was angry and the crowd was rolling about laughing. Hell, Trent even offered to buy another round of beer as Billy Ray reloaded.

The second magazine did little more than cause the rodent to scurry away a bit into the open field. Now the crowd roared! There was no way Billy Ray would miss the possum in the open. By the time the weapon was empty, there was no sign of the possum who had run away uninjured, and Billy Ray stood alone on the deck. He had missed every shot.

"Come on," Barker offered out of the bar door. "I'll buy you a beer."

Dejected, Billy Ray placed the empty gun in his coat pocket and went inside.

Now, as he drove to work, he realized he had two major problems. One - the possum had ruined his image as a dead shot and killer of small animals. This was really bad. Two - he was out of bullets and driving about town with an empty gun. This was a complete catastrophe! What if some crazed druggie tried to car jack him like they did in the big city?

_Aw, hell! Ain't never happened here anyhow._ Shaking his head, he drove the last two blocks to work.

***

"I'll be heading home, Billy Ray. Lock up, okay?"

Billy Ray glanced up from under the Buick and waved to old Rusty, the owner of Rusty's Automotive Sales and Service.

He glanced at his watch. It was time for The Crew to arrive. The Crew, as they were called, was a group of hard-drinking construction workers who stopped by nightly to polish off a few cold ones before heading home or to the Amtrak.

At 4:15, Gordy was the first to arrive with a case of Pabst under his arm. He walked past the Buick just as Billy Ray finished the muffler job. He was stuffing beer into the old refrigerator as Jack and Pinto walked in, each with a case of Budweiser.

"Howdy, Billy Ray," Jack greeted as he handed him a cold can of Bud.

"Good to get this day over," Billy Ray replied, popping the top and taking a drink.

"Heard you lost your better judgment last night," Pinto said as he lit up Marlboro. "Out back of the Amtrak."

Lighting his own cigarette and smiling, Gordy chuckled. "Yup. I heard that possum not so much as shivered."

"Over in Orange County, bragging to his relatives they say," Jack chimed in with a mocking smile.

Billy Ray just shook his head; this was going to be a long night!

"And I also heard that Beth Ann got herself a computer," Jack announced. "What in the hell she gonna do with that?"

Billy Ray shrugged. "I don't know fer sure," he replied.

"Porno." Pinto began to chuckle loudly as he blew smoke into the air.

"Yeah," Gordy piped in. "My brother had a good marriage until his old lady got one. Next thing he knew she was talking on it to some slick dude from Texas and zap!" he snapped his fingers. "She left him and headed there like that."

The group shared a nod. They had all heard the story.

"Oh shit!" Billy Ray moaned. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a couple of Percocets and popped them into his mouth.

"Yup, the old lady gets a computer and you put on that dazzling shooting display. Hell, this town ain't had this much news for months!" Jack was laughing loudly and the rest joined in.

But Billy Ray could not see one funny thing in any of this!

Chapter Three

Thursday, March 9, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Seems that a certain lady (we won't name any names!) didn't make her regular Wednesday night run to Richmond last night after church let out down at the Second Baptist Church. She was seen hurrying towards home soon as the last Amen was said. Didn't even stick around to shake the preacher's hand. What is she up to anyway? She's sporting a new hair color this week, flaming red. What color will it be next week?

The volunteer fire department was called out last night to President Park. Wasn't much of a response as most of the volunteers were down at the Amtrak getting snookered. Seems Troy Finkmyer had a fire in the shed out back of his trailer. The boys managed to hook up the garden hose to the faucet out back and save the shed. The shed suffered smoke damage and Troy suffered minor burns on his hands. What's Troy doing out in that shed anyway? Inquiring minds want to know!

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

"God damn that Shirley!" Beth Ann slammed her coffee cup down so hard on the kitchen table that coffee splattered everywhere, drowning out Shirley's words in the Grapevine Gazette. "Why the hell can't she let me alone in that piddly ass little gossip column of hers!"

Billy Ray came stumbling into the kitchen. "What the hell you yelling about, woman? Can't you see I got a headache here?"

"If you'd lay off some of that frigging beer, you wouldn't have a headache all the time, Billy Ray. Just look at you, ain't you just a sight for sore eyes this morning! Hell, your eyes look like a roadmap. When you ever gonna learn?"

"Get off my back, Beth Ann! You don't look much better sitting there with coffee all over your lap. Why the hell ain't you dressed for work already?"

"I ain't going to work today, Billy Ray. Where the hell is your mind these days? Don't you remember this is my Thursday off?"

"Whatcha going to do today, Beth Ann? Play with that fancy shmancy computer some more?"

"I ain't playing with it!" she screamed. "I'm writing a novel!"

"You can't write no novel, Beth Ann," Billy Ray laughed. "I don't know how come you ever got the notion in your head that you could write a novel. Who the hell do you think you are, Danielle Steel? Whatcha writing about anyway?"

"It ain't none of your frigging business what I'm writing about, Billy Ray! I ain't gonna tell you. All you do is make fun of me and I'm just plain getting sick of it. If you don't watch out, I'm gonna trade you in on another model. Your beer belly ain't the most attractive thing to look at in bed. I'm wanting a real man around here. When's the last time you gave me a little nooky, anyhow? There's plenty of other men out in this world that wouldn't mind satisfying me!"

"Yeah, they're lined up down the street waiting till I leave and then they're gonna come in her and fuck your brains out, ain't they, Beth Ann? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You ain't no prize catch yourself, sweetheart! You're getting just a bit on the plump side here lately."

Beth Ann threw the paper at Billy Ray. "Get your ass on outa here and get to work before I smack you one, you lousy excuse of a husband! You think nobody wants me, huh? You'd be surprised how many people wants a piece of my ass!"

Billy Ray grinned as he walked over behind Beth Ann and grabbed her ass with both hands. He nuzzled her neck, whiskers scraping her, as he whispered in her ear, "You just better not give anybody but me a piece of that ass, Beth Ann. That ass is mine and don't you forget it."

Beth Ann twisted around in his arms and glared at him. "Don't think you can get off that easy, Billy Ray. I'm mad at you, now you just let me alone!"

"Aw, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of you. You just go ahead and play around with writing that novel if that makes you happy. Hell, I might even give you a surprise tonight when I get home from work." He winked at her suggestively and laughed.

Beth Ann slapped at his arm and laughed. "Oh hell, Billy Ray, get on outa here and go to work. You know I can't stay mad at you. I just might have a surprise for _you_ when you get home from work tonight. Never can tell," she grinned.

***

Beth Ann lit the candles and turned out the lights as she heard Billy Ray's truck roaring up the driveway. _Hope he ain't too damn drunk for his surprise. I read about this on one of them romance forum boards today and it's damn sure worth a try. Gotta do something to spice things up around here. Me and Billy Ray been sadly lacking in the romance department for a long time. I'm horny as hell and I'm gonna get me some tonight if it kills me!_

She heard him open the door and she jumped out from behind it and yelled, "Surprise!"

"God damn, Beth Ann, you scared the shit outa me! Damn it's dark in here. What's going on? Did you forget to pay the electric bill again?"

"Naw, Billy Ray, I didn't forget to pay the electric bill. I told you I just might surprise you tonight and here I am!"

"Damn, Beth Ann! Where'd you get that black skimpy thing you got on? Jesus Christ, look at you! Wow! Hot dog, we gonna get laid tonight, ain't we, sweetheart?"

"If you ain't too drunk to get it up, we will!"

"Just let me go get a shower and wash this god damn grease off me and I'll show you I can get it up!"

"Well you better hurry, Billy Ray, or I'm gonna start without you!"

"Whatcha mean, you'll start without me? How you gonna start without this?" he laughed as he cupped himself in his hands and held it up to her.

"Oh you'd be surprised what a gal can do without one of them things, Billy Ray. I been reading all about it on my computer. A gal can do a lot all by herself!"

"You gonna show me whatcha can do without Old Pete here, Beth Ann?"

"I just might!" she laughed. "I'm learning a lot here lately!"

***

Beth Ann was lying in the bed when Billy Ray came in out of the shower. She smelled that imitation Polo she had bought him at Wal-Mart in Richmond before he got near the bed. _Damn, he don't have to drown himself in that stuff! Hell, he won't even be able to smell my imitation Escape that I bought myself he's got so much of that crap on._

The light from the candles flickered off the white blinds on the windows throwing mysterious shadows into the bedroom, as Billy Ray walked up to the bed, buck-naked. Beth Ann sat up and propped the pillows behind her head and grinned. Old Pete was poking out in front of Billy Ray like a bird dog that had just caught scent of a nice juicy quail.

He stood there in front of her, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Now whatcha going to do with this, baby?"

Beth Ann pulled that little black lace nighty off over her head and her boobs glistened in the candlelight. She cupped them in her hands and laughed. "Whatcha gonna do with these, Billy Ray?"

Billy Ray crawled into bed. "Hell, Beth Ann, maybe we can figure out something to do with'em." He straddled her with Old Pete staring at them boobs with his little single eye. Tears were beginning to form in Old Pete's eye.

Beth Ann leaned down and licked the tears off Old Pete with her tongue. Old Pete jumped. Beth Ann laughed. "Why don't you put Old Pete right here in between these boobs, Billy Ray, and let's see what we can do."

Billy Ray took Old Pete in his hands and slid him in between Beth Ann's boobs. Beth Ann cupped her boobs in her hands and held them around Old Pete as Billy Ray worked Old Pete back and forth between them boobs. Beth Ann leaned her head down and took Old Pete's tip in her mouth and helped him out. Billy Ray groaned. "God damn, Beth Ann, that feels good!"

"Yeah, Billy Ray, I can see it's feeling too damn good. You get off me right now. I ain't about to let you cum without me tonight! I want some too!"

"Aw hell, Beth Ann, I ain't gonna forget about you. I just wanted to have a little fun!"

"Well, you're having too much fun, Billy Ray. Now turn your ass around and lets do something else."

"Whatcha want to do now, Beth Ann?"

"You just turn your ass around and I'll show you what I want to do!"

Billy Ray turned around in the bed with his ass end up by Beth Ann's face. Beth Ann took Old Pete in her mouth and sucked on him, up and down, and licked her tongue in little swirls. Billy Ray's hips bucked as he grabbed Beth Ann's head and pulled her closer. Beth Ann spit out Old Pete. Billy Ray groaned, "Now why the hell did you stop this time, baby?"

"You think you just gonna lay there and get all the enjoyment, Billy Ray? Now you get busy down there or I'm gonna get up and leave you here all by yourself!"

"Oh hell no you ain't, Beth Ann! You're ain't gonna leave me hanging now!" He nuzzled her with his mouth and his tongue found her.

She squirmed and wiggled closer to him. "Now that's more like it, Billy Ray!" She took Old Pete back into her mouth as Billy Ray went to work with his tongue. She was hot and panting and her insides felt like they were on fire. _Been a hell of a long time since I felt this good!_ She could feel she was fixing to explode. She locked her legs around Billy Ray's head as her insides started quivering. She almost swallowed Old Pete as she felt as her climax starting. Billy Ray grabbed her ass and held on as she bucked and jumped under his tongue. Old Pete slipped out of Beth Ann's mouth as she screamed out in joy and she reached down and grabbed Billy Ray's head to her and damn near pulled him bald headed as she hung on for dear life.

"Ouch, Beth Ann, god damn! Let go of my hair!"

Beth Ann laughed. "Shit, you know how to spoil a wet dream, Billy Ray. Get your ass up here on top of me and fuck my brains out. You just now got me warmed up!"

Billy Ray crawled on and poked Old Pete in. Beth Ann was so wet that he went in easy as pie. Beth Ann locked her legs around Billy Ray's and they began moving together, slipping and sliding, round and round, up and down. Beth Ann grabbed Billy Ray's ass and held on as she moved with him. _Damn, sex with him was still good!_ She clawed at him with her Crimson Coy fingernails and he yelled, half in pain and half in delight.

"Damn this feels good, Beth Ann!"

"Damn tooting, Billy Ray! We still got it, baby!"

"Hold on, Beth Ann, Old Pete's about ready to cum!"

"Any time, baby, any time! I'm ready too!"

"Here we go then! Hang on, honey, here we go!" Billy Ray cried out.

Beth Ann hung on and they rode the roller coaster ride together and came out on the other side, limp as a dishrag. Billy Ray collapsed on Beth Ann.

"Get your heavy ass off me, Billy Ray!"

They rolled over in bed and snuggled up as outside the music blared from the trailer next door.

Chapter Four

Beth Ann was up and out of the house before Billy Ray even raised an eyebrow. He rolled over in bed and suddenly realized she was gone. "Damn, I wanted another round of that," he mumbled before he checked the time. "Shit! It is already 9 am."

He swung his legs to the floor and tried to clear his mind. What in the hell had she tried to do to him last night? Smiling, he realized that it had been pretty damn good and it was better not to ask too many questions. Staggering, he managed to pull on an old pair of sweat pants - the ones with the hole between the legs, his favorite pair that was just now getting broke in good. He made it into the hallway and to the kitchen with little problem. Strange as it was, his head was real clear today. He didn't even stop for a dose of coke or percs. _Shows what a good woman can do. The right one can make you and the wrong one can break you._

He was running this through his mind when he heard the sound of the lawnmower.

"Son' bitch!" he exclaimed, snatching his pack of cigarettes from the counter. "This is Friday, it ain't supposed to be happening on a Friday!"

He vaulted from the front door of the trailer and hit the ground running. His nuts popped from the hole in his raggedy sweat pants and he had to stop and poke them back inside his pants.

"Damn! I ain't got time for this!" he swore.

Glancing down the street, he saw Nub Meeker coming his way as if his ass was on fire. He had a case of Bud strapped to the back of his Honda 400 motorcycle and a look of dismay plastered across his face. From the back yard he heard the sound of the grossly overweight Theodore 'Teddy Bear" Swiggums as he raced around to where Billy Ray stood.

"What in the hell is going on?" Teddy Bear demanded as he huffed and puffed, trying to get air. Across the driveway Nub had slid into the lawn and tore up half of the grass before hitting that old pile of tires and almost wiping out.

"Ya," Nub screamed. "I was almost headed for work. Who changed the goddamn schedule?"

Billy Ray shrugged. "I don't know, boys. She ain't supposed to be out here today. Tomorrow was the regular grass cutting day."

In unison they turned as the sound of the lawnmower grew louder. Down the street she came, like a princess in white. Patty Louise Coleman, the daughter of the caretaker for President Park.

"Oh my Gawd!" Nub was shaking. "She is wearing that white mini dress and halter top!"

"No shit!" Teddy Bear grabbed a beer and sat down in Billy Ray's lawn chair.

Billy Ray watched her as she wiggled that tight ass down the street and for some strange reason it just did not interest him this morning. _Whoa!_ He shook himself hard and added a slap to the side of his head. _Patty Louise in a halter and mini and I'm not interested? Was Beth Ann that damn good last night?_

"Better have a beer and settle down," he told himself. "A man should not rush into such things." And that was when the thought hit him. Was Beth Ann on that damn computer talking porno to some slickster and getting all horny, expecting him to be her love slave?

"Shit no!" he muttered, shaking his head as he scratched his belly. "Beth Ann could never find some guy like me. Sheeit, last night proved that." Popping the top on his Bud, he sat down and joined the fellas as they watched Patty approach his lawn.

Turning off the machine, she smiled a she approached the table. "Morning, fellas," she greeted.

"My Gawd!" Nub muttered under his breath. "I swear there is sweat between them two ripe breasts of hers!"

"I seen it too!" Bear added. "Damn! For a young innocent type, she sure does know how to put it on display."

As they talked, Patty walked straight up to Billy Ray and leaned over. "So can I mow your lawn, Billy Ray?"

Billy looked from her eyes to her chest. He could just see the point of a hard nipple under her halter. Usually this would have caused him quite a stir, but today it just was not working.

"Uh, sure go ahead," he answered.

"For five dollars?"

"Ya, sure," he answered.

She hopped away smiling and Nub took a serious look at Billy Ray. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

Billy Ray shrugged. "I ain't rightly sure. Last night Beth Ann had a surprise for me."

"She clobber you again with that old baseball bat?" Bear asked.

"Naw," he answered. "I came home and she had candles and what not. Next thing I know she was seducing me, like one of them dudes on the Soap Operas."

"Hell, that ain't nothing fancy," Nub interjected. "Heard she does it for all of the boys downtown at the Kut-n-Kurl."

"Does what?" Billy Ray asked, as if snapping awake.

"Seduce them."

Billy Ray was on his feet in a split second. The lawn chair fell backward and hit the concrete just as his fist slammed across Nub Meeker's jaw.

"Don't be talking like that about Beth Ann!" he warned picking up his chair and sitting back down.

Nub rubbed his cheek. The blow had hurt and he had seen stars. "Well damn it, Billy Ray, what was that for?" He had run down Beth Ann for years to Billy Ray. What was different now?

"I just don't want to hear it," Billy Ray said. "She told me last night I am the only man in this town who makes her crank turn," he crunched his beer can, "and I think it is about time you boys see me for what I am."

"What is that?" Bear asked raising an eyebrow.

Billy Ray stood and puffed out his chest as he leaned back slightly and half closed one eye. "I am a goddamn super stallion!" he announced. He twisted slightly to do one of them bodybuilder poses and his nuts dropped from his sweat pants.

"Gawd! I want to puke!" Nub exclaimed, swallowing hard.

Bear nodded, agreeing. "This is about all of the macho bullshit I can take for one day."

Stuffing his balls back inside, Billy Ray sat down. "Serious, boys. I don't want to hear no more shit about Beth Ann. After last night, I think we may be onto a new and different path to happiness."

"What?" Nub asked blinking.

"Heard it on The Discovery Channel," Billy Ray admitted. "When couples find that they are really more interested in each other than what is on the other side of the fence."

"Huh?" Bear turned, reaching for another beer. "What in the hell are you getting at?"

"Like the old bull and the young bull," Billy Ray explained. "Run down and screw one or walk down and screw them all. Except I can stay home and screw the best one in town."

As he was talking, Troy from trailer 24 drove by, his sinister-looking ferret face peering at them from his car.

"Well, old bull, better watch that one right there," Bear warned. "I hear he's been making all of the rounds in town."

Billy Ray's fist slammed the table. "He better not be at my gate," he warned.

"What you gonna do? Shoot him?" Nub asked with a mocking grin.

"Maybe," Billy Ray nodded.

"Better practice," Bear said. "Nub told me about the other night."

"Hey, shut up!" Nub said. "Patty is done in the back and coming around the front now."

They sat in silence as she mowed the front lawn and gave them a real good show. Nub and Bear were overjoyed. Billy Ray, however, just sat there.

"Troy Finkmyer, huh?" He began planning right away. "I will take care of that little commie pinko, mommy's boy," he swore. "Nobody is going to get Beth Ann while we are rediscovering the blossom of our love." He stood as Patty made her way down the street to another victim.

"What you going to do today?" Nub asked.

"Got me a transmission job today at noon," Billy Ray answered. "Rusty knows I ain't worth a shit on Fridays anyway." He shrugged as his eyes glanced down the lane to where trailer 24 sat.

"Damn son of a bitch!" he whispered under his breath.

Chapter Five

Thursday, April 20, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

The members of the Second Baptist Church had quite a scare this past Easter Sunday. A certain someone who hasn't been seen at church in a coons age walked in, holding on to the arm of his lady, who was sporting a brand new purple mini dress with a matching wide-brimmed straw hat sitting on top of her freshly dyed mahogany-colored hair. The Members held their collective breaths in anticipation of the roof caving in as the couple sashayed down the aisle and sat down on the second pew, pretty as you please.

The sheriff was called out to President Park again last night. Seems there was a horrific fight between two of the male residents of the park. Seems the one 'gentleman' accused the other 'gentleman' of 'sniffing round his back door after his ole lady'. We won't name any names here, but the lady in question is sporting a brand new short pixie hair-do of a certain mahogany color.

What is going on in President Park? Inquiring minds want to know!

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

"God damn you, Shirley! You old cow! When in the hell you gonna let me alone?" Beth Ann screamed as she threw the Gazette down in disgust. "And God damn you, Billy Ray," she yelled as she jumped up out of her chair, tipping it over backwards to the floor as she marched around to where Billy Ray was sitting, nursing his black eye. "What did you have to go and get into a fight with Troy for? It's a wonder the sheriff didn't haul you both off to jail. Would have served your ass right if he had!"

"Now, Beth Ann, calm down," Billy Ray mumbled from behind the ice-filled washcloth he was holding up to his swollen eye. I got too bad a headache this morning to put up with you yelling at me."

"You ain't heard yelling yet, Billy Ray! I'm just getting started good!" Beth Ann screamed. "You know that damned sneaky Troy is dangerous. You could have been killed! It wouldn't have surprised me one little bit if he had of pulled a knife on you!"

"Well, I ain't no slouch when it comes to fighting either, sweetie! I would have showed ole Troy a thing or three if that damn sheriff hadn't showed up when he did!"

"You better be glad the sheriff showed up when he did, Billy Ray. What the hell good you gonna be to me if Troy cuts you up? Just when I thought we might be getting on the right track with our marriage, you go and pull some fool stunt like this. What the hell was you and Troy fighting about?"

Billy Ray threw the washcloth down and jumped up. "We was fighting about you, Beth Ann! You! That damn Troy has been telling everybody here in town that you are sweet on him! I ain't gonna stand for it! You are my ole lady and I ain't sharing your favors with nobody!" Billy Ray yelled. "Oh, God, look what you made me do now, Beth Ann!" he groaned as he held his head in his hands. "I told you I got too bad a headache for this yelling this morning. I'm gonna take my ass back to bed. Now you just get off my back! I was defending your honor!"

"My honor! _You_ were defending my _honor_! Since when did you care about my _honor_?" Beth Ann yelled. "You think I don't know how you talk about me to your buddies? Always running me down and gawking at any woman that walks by. What the hell you care if I sleep with half the guys in Grapevine?"

"Yeah, I admit I've done that in the past, sweetie. But me and you are turning over a new leaf, ain't we? I'm your stud muffin now, ain't I, baby? We been getting it on pretty good here lately. You been seducing me and driving me wild with them little new ideas you been coming up with. Where'd you learn them things anyway, Beth Ann?" Billy Ray asked suspiciously.

"What does it matter to you where I learned them, you big ox? You been enjoying everything that I've done to you, haven't you? I ain't heard no complaints from you. I been learning lots of stuff on the internet on my computer. You'd be surprised what I've learned. I ain't even begun to share it all with you."

"What you writing in that book of yours, Beth Ann? You putting any of that erotic stuff in that book?"

Beth Ann laughed. "You ain't gonna know what I'm putting in that book till I get through with it. And you don't worry about what I'm learning off the internet. Hell, I'm just doing a little research for my book, Billy Ray. It ain't like I'm going out and screwing every Tom, Dick and Harry here in town. I'm giving you the advantage of my newfound learning. You oughta be glad that it's you I'm sharing it with, Billy Ray."

"It ain't every Tom, Dick, and Harry that I'm worried about, sweetie. It's that damn Troy right here in President Park just four trailers down from my back door that I'm worried about. And he's been telling everybody that you are sweet on him."

"Billy Ray, now you are just being plain stupid. I wouldn't give my little treasures to Troy if he were the last guy on earth! That damn little weasel! I don't trust him any further than I can throw him. He's up to something in that damn shed of his out back of his trailer and I just know it! You damn well better not be involved in any of his activities either, or I will kill you."

"Now, Beth Ann, you know I ain't involved with nothing Troy is doing in that shed of his out back. I ain't stupid you know!" Billy Ray whined.

"Well you are involved in something, Billy Ray. I don't know what it is, but it damn well better not involve drugs. If your ass is hauled off to prison for dealing drugs, you don't think I'm just gonna be sitting here patiently waiting on you when you get out either! My sexual libido is hotter than ever and I ain't waiting on you while you're in prison."

"Your _what_ is hot? Your _sexual libido_? Where'd you learn words like that, Beth Ann? _Sexual libido_. I knew something had been hot around here lately, but I didn't know you called it _sexual libido_ now," Billy Ray laughed. "You sure are beginning to think you are hot shit now, Beth Ann, just because you got one of them computers and say you are writing a book."

"Damn you, Billy Ray! Can't a person try to improve themselves around this hick town? I'm gonna show everybody in this effing place one day that I ain't as dumb as everybody thinks I am! You just wait till my book gets published! I'm gonna leave Grapevine and if you ain't careful, I just may leave your ass here with all the rest of them no good hicks around here."

Billy Ray sidled up to Beth Ann and tried to pull her into his arms. "Aw, come on, baby. I ain't making fun of you. Now you know you wouldn't leave me behind. You been enjoying what I've got to give you too much to leave my ass behind."

Beth Ann slapped him away. "Yeah, I've been enjoying what you've got to give me, but you ain't the only guy in the world that's got one of them things, you know. Plenty of guys in them chat rooms been wanting to take me into a private chat room. Hell, I just make take me an online lover."

"Now what the hell is an _online lover_ , Beth Ann? How the hell you gonna get screwed through any damn computer?" Billy Ray guffawed.

"You'd be surprised what you can do through that computer, Billy Ray," Beth Ann smiled mysteriously.

She walked over to the door and opened it. She turned back to Billy Ray. "That computer is fast becoming my very best friend," she laughed as she went out and slammed the door extra hard behind her.

Rubber squealed and gravel flew as she tore out of the driveway in her Mustang.

Chapter Six

Sunday afternoon at the Amtrak was usually pretty quiet. Oh there would be plenty of customers, but they were generally nursing hangovers and watching the NASCAR race.

Teddy Bear leaned heavily on the bar as Pinto and Jack were playing rap poker for dollars. Just as Jeff Borden passed Dale Garrett in the forty-first lap, Billy Ray walked through the door. He appeared mad and Teddy Bear fished a cold can of Bud from the cooler.

"Here have one on me to feel better."

"Thanks," Billy Ray took a healthy pull on his can. "Goddamn rough night and this morning ain't much better."

"Heard you got your ass whooped," Pinto called over from his corner of the bar.

Picking up his beer can, Billy Ray walked their way. He sat down heavily just as Jack rapped out and took another dollar from the stack.

"Again?" he asked. "Might as well make it fifteen even."

Pinto nodded. "Might as well." He fished a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Snapping his Zippo closed, he looked over at Billy Ray. "I wouldn't show my face if I got whooped by Troy Finkmyer."

Billy drained his beer and crushed the can. "I did not get whooped," he defended. "He sucker punched me when the cops showed and I got distracted." He reached for another can of beer. "Them damn blue and red lights. They kind of blinded me."

"What you gonna do now?" Teddy Bear asked leaning across the bar top. "You can't just let this go by."

Before Billy could answer, Gordy walked through the door. He studied Billy's face before shaking his head. "Opened your mouth again, didn't you?"

Billy just shook his head. Bear was right. He had to do something about this.

"I need a plan," he announced. "I got to catch that son of a bitch Troy Dingleberry in the act of romancing on Beth Ann."

"Sure, make it legal when you go and shoot him," Pinto agreed.

"Count me in." Jack said as he rapped again and took another dollar from Pinto's pile.

"You were in the army, Gordy. Any ideas on how to go about this?"

Gordy stepped to the bar and took the can of Pabst Bear had placed there. Holding it in his hand, he adjusted his faded Vietnam vet hat and thought a second.

"We need to run a little counter surveillance," he said. "I got the stuff at home to do it. I'll have to run back and pick it up."

"Hey, I was in Vietnam," Jack said. "How come you didn't ask me for my advice?"

"You were a truck driver," Pinto pointed out. "And your only confirmed kill was the hood of your truck!" He chuckled loudly, draining his beer. "Hey, Bear! Bring us a round," he called out.

Bear brought out fresh beers as they gathered around the table.

"How we gonna do this?" Billy asked.

"Well, we know he drives a cab, right?"

"Yup. For Affordable Cabs."

"We also know he lives in President Park. What I suggest is that when he goes to work later today we follow him and see what he is up to," Gordy explained.

"Good idea! We will catch him in the act," Billy Ray agreed.

"Do we have a contact that can covertly keep an eye on him? Someone who will let us know when he leaves for work?"

Billy nodded. "Nub Meeker lives a couple trailers away. If'n he is still sober by that time, I imagine he could let us know."

"Good," Gordy drained his beer. "Then we meet back here in one hour."

"Hey," Pinto leaned back in his chair. "Should we synchronize our watches or something?"

"Yeah, that is what they do on television," Jack agreed.

"Hell, these damn digital watches, we would be all day trying to figure that out. Just be here in one hour."

***

The plan was set into motion at exactly 3:30 pm. Nub Meeker called the Amtrak and passed the word on to Bear that the pigeon (Pinto insisted on using code words since they didn't synchronize their watches) had flown the coop. Upon receiving the message, Bear hopped into his truck and drove to the Affordable Cab garage, where he waited for visual confirmation that the pigeon had arrived.

At exactly 3:50 pm, the target pulled into the lot and walked inside. Bear made a note of this in the small notepad Gordy had given each man. He had stressed the importance of documentation while involved in a secret operation like this. Gordy had also stopped at Radio Shack and purchased walkie-talkies. He maintained that they were to be in radio contact at all times. It was imperative, he explained, because a sneaky no-good woman stealer like Troy would be hard to catch.

At 4:00 pm, right on schedule, Troy left the garage with his cab. Bear keyed his radio. "This is the Bear. The pigeon has left the cage."

"Okay," Gordy answered. "Now pull off about two blocks and follow him.

"Roger that." Bear pulled on his mirrored sunglasses and old fishing hat. _"Got to disguise myself."_ He failed to remember that his truck was plastered with Amtrak stickers and everyone in town knew it. Slowly he pulled out into the street and started after Troy.

"Well, here we go," Gordy said, putting the radio down. "See anything yet?"

Billy Ray shook his head. He was peering through the spotting scope that Gordy had mounted on an old rifle stock. He could see right into the Kut-N-Kurl but he could not see Beth Ann.

"Sure she went to the shop?" Gordy asked.

"I think so. Of course she sped off in a huff. I guess I can't be sure."

"Well, if that wife-stealing little bastard is after her, we'll catch him."

"I hope so," Billy Ray admitted. "With our love just blossoming like it is, I ain't taking no chances."

"Don't worry. We'll catch him," Gordy smiled. "And when we do, I'll fix his wife-stealing ways."

Pinto stalked into the heavy foliage of the trees along the lake. If that son of a bitch Troy was screwing Beth Ann, he would bring her here. He gave one last look around before putting down his cooler and lawn chair. Just because he was on a stake out did not mean he had to be uncomfortable. He opened the cooler and pulled out a sub sandwich and a can of Budweiser. Propping his legs up on an old tree stump, he sat back and keyed the radio Gordy had given him.

"I'm in place," he announced.

"Okay," Gordy answered. "Lay low and wait. The pigeon is on the move."

"Jack, you there?" he asked.

"Yup, right out side the Kut-N-Kurl."

"Good." Gordy could not see Jack's truck from where he was. "If he shows up and Beth Ann leaves with him, you're in charge of pursuing them. Billy Ray and I will follow at a distance."

"Gotcha," Jack answered.

***

Shirley Snodgrass clicked away at her typewriter as she listened to the police scanner. She had another article due for tonight and little material to work with. Actually this was a pretty quiet town. Thank God for that bitchy Beth Ann and her tramp loser husband Billy Ray. They usually provided her reams of material all by themselves!

"Car 4?"

"This is car 4. Go ahead, Marilou."

"We have a suspicious person sighting here in town, Dick. Seems Mrs. Lewis was walking her cat and trying to snoop on her neighbors when she noticed that there was a truck running down at the Kut-N-Kurl. She claims there is an equally strange man inside of it smoking and drinking a can of beer."

"Don't sound too strange to me," the officer said.

"Well, Dick, she also claims that there is someone on the roof of the hardware store with a rifle."

"Now that could be suspicious. I better get over there."

"Ten-four, car 4."

"Better call the Sheriff's Department and have them start a car this way too."

"Ten-four, car 4."

Shirley could not believe her ears. Hard real-life news! Snatching her purse and her hand-held tape recorder, she was headed towards the door!

***

Bear was hot on the cab's tail as Troy pulled up to the front of the Kut-N-Kurl. He honked and then drove to the rear.

"Shit, I can't see back there!" Billy swore as he lowered the rifle-mounted spotting scope.

"Hold on," Gordy cautioned. "This is the only way in and out of the alley. We'll see him when he leaves." He keyed the radio. "Jack, get ready to take over the pursuit. Teddy Bear, back off but hang near us when we leave. If they make it to the lake, we will converge on them at Pinto's signal."

"Sounds good," Jack answered.

"Okay, here we go."

Less than five minutes later, the cab reappeared. It exited from the alley and turned west, the direction of the lake!

"Bastard!" Billy Ray snarled. "If he thinks he's gonna take Beth Ann to the lake.... Hell! I took her there on our honeymoon!"

"Time to move." Gordy headed down the ladder to his truck, Billy Ray at his heels.

***

"Car 4."

"Go ahead car 4."

"Cancel that second car, Marilou. There is nothing going on here. I found a spot where there were some cigarette butts and empty beer cans, but no man or truck."

"Ten-four, car 4."

"Clear me off of this call. I am heading home for supper."

"Ten-four, car 4."

"Damn!" Shirley clutched her portable scanner. "What does it take to get some real news in this town?" She turned onto Fifth Street and was about to head for home when it happened. Troy Finkmyer drove by with a female passenger. A mysterious female passenger wearing sunglasses and a flowery headscarf.

"What is this?" she asked, feeling her reporter's curiosity kick in. "Maybe that slutty tramp Beth Ann and Troy are having an affair?" As she considered this, she saw Jack drive by in his truck and wave. He was that good-looking construction worker she liked. Plus it was rumored he had some money. She forgot about Beth Ann for a second until Gordy sped by with Billy Ray beside him. It was when Teddy Bear followed that she knew something was up!

"Inquiring minds want to know!" she screamed as she cranked the wheel and followed them!

***

"What do you see?" Gordy asked. They were assembled around his truck, waiting to hear what Pinto would report.

"Well, he parked and got out and climbed into the back seat. It definitely is that runt Finkmyer. I can't see a lot because the windows are steaming up. Wait a minute," there was a pause. " I can see an ankle and I can hear a woman moaning!"

Gordy looked up at the men around him, crushing his Pabst can and tossing down his cigarette. "That is all we need boys. Time to go down there and settle this!"

With the men in the back, Gordy floored it and they squealed down to the water's edge. As he slid to a stop, Billy Ray and Jack jumped from the back of the pickup, followed by Teddy Bear.

"Get him!" Gordy ordered as he opened the hood of his truck. Billy Ray threw open the rear door of the cab and grabbed a booted ankle. Before he could pull on it, a second boot flew from inside and crashed into his teeth. He flew backward and landed hard, tasting blood in his mouth.

"I got him!" Jack yelled out as he pulled Troy from the cab.

"What the hell?" the pigeon demanded as he was dragged, pants half down, across the gravel of the lot.

Getting back to his feet, Billy Ray noticed that Bear had one arm and Jack had the other as they half dragged, half lifted Troy to his feet.

"Hold the little bastard!" Billy Ray ordered as he stepped forward. He wanted to punch the little shit in the mouth. He was aiming up a good punch when Troy's boot crashed into his groin.

"Oh shit!" he screamed as he fell to the ground, holding his jewels. "I think he castrated me!"

"Bring him here," Gordy directed.

Rolling on the ground and trying not to puke, Billy Ray looked up. Gordy stood there with the hood of his truck open and a set of jumper cables in his hands. Meeting Troy's eyes, he touched the two ends. Sparks flew and jumped into the air.

"Tie him to the grill," Gordy ordered, tossing Pinto the roll of duct tape.

***

Shirley slammed to a stop and jumped from her car. "Goddamn, Beth Ann with her panties down to her knees. I need to get a picture!" She rushed past the men with her box camera in hand. "Sorry, Beth Ann, but inquiring minds want to know!" Stepping to the car door she snapped the picture.

In triumph she smiled, but the face that looked back did not share her delight!

***

"Car 4!"

Dick was just getting out of his car at home.

"Yes, Marilou?"

"We have a report of several men fighting and screaming at the lake. The caller says there are several cars involved."

"Okay, Marilou. I am on the way." Waving to his wife, he headed back out of the driveway.

***

"You can't do this!" Troy screamed as Gordy touched the jumper cables again. A stream of bright sparks followed the loud crackling of the raw voltage.

"Yes he can." Billy Ray struggled to his feet. "For trying to romance and screw my wife!"

"Beth Ann?" Troy's eyes shot wide open. "I ain't touched her."

"Bullshit! She would prove it right now but she is still in the car. Probably hiding her face in shame." He pointed to Gordy. "Light him up!"

Gordy stepped forward with the cables in his hand.

"Just a second!" Shirley Snodgrass stepped forward. "He is telling the truth. He was not with Beth Ann."

"What? Who then?"

"Step over here fellas." As a unit they followed her to the car.

"What the hell?" Gordy asked.

"What now?" Pinto asked scratching his head. "It ain't Beth Ann."

"I know," Jack said, a plan forming in his mind. "Follow me."

Dick pulled into the lake parking lot. He took a second to absorb what he was seeing before he keyed his radio.

"Marilou, you ain't gonna believe this!"

Next to the open doors of the cab was Troy Finkmyer. He was taped with duct tape to a park sign. His pants were at his knees and his mouth was taped. The most disturbing part of it all though was the life sized rubber doll. Redhead, it looked like, with a flowered headscarf and sunglasses. She was taped to him in a lewd rendition of a sex act.

"Didn't know he liked it doggy style." Dick waited a second and chuckled, wiping his eyes. "Just when I think I have seen it all!"

Chapter Seven

Beth Ann quickly hit the disconnect button on her computer screen as she heard Billy Ray's truck coming up the driveway. She jumped up and scurried over to the stove, lifted the lid on the pot of turnip greens she was cooking and gave them a stir. She turned as Billy Ray walked in the door.

"What in the hell has happened to you, Billy Ray? Whatcha been up to now?" she asked as she observed his beat up appearance.

Billy Ray hung his head. "Aw, me and the boys got into a little scuffle down a the late, Beth Ann," he mumbled.

"You and the boys got into a fight? What was ya'll fighting about? I thought ya'll were all best buddies?"

"Naw, Beth Ann, me and the boys wasn't fighting each _other_. I said we got into a little scuffle but it wasn't between me and the boys. It was that damn no good Troy Finkmyer. It was him, that little weasel-faced, no good, wife-stealing bastard!"

"Whose wife did Troy steal?" Beth Ann asked in amazement. "Who would _have_ that no good Troy Finkmyer? Hell, even his own wife don't want him! Mary Jo was telling me the other day she was thinking of leaving his no good ass."

Billy Ray mumbled something behind his hand. Beth Ann couldn't understand a word he was saying. "Say that again, Billy Ray. Quite your mumbling and speak up."

"I said I thought it was you. I thought it was you with Troy," Billy Ray answered sheepishly.

"Me?" Beth Ann screeched. "You thought _I_ was with Troy? Damn, Billy Ray, I knew you didn't have a very high opinion of me but I didn't know you thought that bad of me. Haven't I told you I wouldn't sleep with Troy Finkmyer if a nuclear bomb was dropped and he was the last man left standing on earth? Damn, Billy Ray! How could you think that about me?"

"Aw, Beth Ann, don't be pissed at me. I don't feel so good. My nuts hurt where Troy kicked'em."

"If you don't straighten up around here, Billy Ray, you ain't gonna have no nuts. I'll cut'em off. I'm tired of all your drinking and fighting and running after other women. I ain't gonna put up with it much longer either!"

"Aw, baby, you know you can't live without me. Haven't we been getting along good here lately?" Billy Ray asked as he came up and tried to put his arms around Beth Ann.

"Get away from me, Billy Ray! I can't stand the sight of you right now! I'm pissed and royally! Yeah, we been getting along better here lately but no thanks to you! It's been me putting all the effort into improving our relationship. All you been doing is enjoying the fruits of my labor!"

Billy Ray laughed. "Now, Beth Ann, don't tell me you ain't been enjoying it too! We ain't had sex this good in years. Besides, I ain't been looking at no other women since we started turning over a new leaf in our marriage."

"Oh yeah? You ain't been looking at no other women, have you? Well what about Miss Angelface Patty Louise Coleman? You gonna stand there and tell me you have stopped eyeing Miss Ass Wiggling Lawn Mowing Patty?"

"Well hell, Beth Ann, give a man a break. You can't expect me to become a new man overnight, now can you? Whatcha expect me to do when she comes flaunting it in my face?" Billy Ray asked. "Shit, baby, I said I was turning over a new leaf. I didn't say I was dead!"

Beth Ann glared at him with a look that would have killed a possum at a hundred paces. "Get out of my kitchen, Billy Ray. Go get in the shower and wash your nasty ass. You stink!"

"Aw come on, Beth Ann, just give me a little kiss to let me know you still love me," Billy Ray pleaded.

Beth Ann picked up the cooking spoon and swung it at him. It smacked him on the arm and he howled in pain. "Get outa here, Billy Ray, before I smack this spoon upside your head!" she screamed.

Billy Ray decided it was time to beat a retreat. As he walked into the bedroom, he looked back at Beth Ann. She had sat back down at her computer. He heard the sound of it being connected to the internet before he shut the bedroom door behind him.

***

Beth Ann typed, 'Are you still there?'

The answer came back. 'Still here and waiting on you to come back online.'

'Do you still want to take me into one of those private chat rooms?' she typed back.

'I sure do!' came the answer.

'I've made up my mind. I'll do it then. Meet me there tonight in two hours,' she replied.

'All right! I'll see you in two hours, baby.'

Beth Ann disconnected and turned the computer off.

She went over to the stove. She took the cornbread out of the oven and dished up the turnip greens. She smiled to herself as she set the table. After a day like today, she knew it wouldn't be long after supper before Billy Ray hit the sack.

She could hardly wait.

Chapter Eight

Beth Ann jumped three feet off of the bed as a terrible crash rang through the trailer.

"Oh my Gawd!" She flung aside the covers looking for Billy Ray. "Billy Ray, something is going on!" she screamed in alarm. Reaching across the bed, she knew immediately he was not there. "What the hell!"

She slipped from bed, pulling her old bathrobe around herself. One large round breast slipped free but she stuffed it back inside. _Damn! Maybe there is a burglar outside and Billy Ray went to see already. Damn! What if the bastard got my baby?_ She reached for the baseball bat that was propped up against the wall. Clutching it in two hands, she crept down the hall as another loud clanging caused her to jump.

_Good Lord!_ Swallowing hard, she made her way down the narrow hall of the trailer and into the kitchen. There was more loud banging and then she was sure she heard a man moaning!

_Damn! It sounds like Billy Ray_. She stepped to the door. _I bet the burglar has him in some kind of chokehold karate thing!_ Bracing herself, she gripped the door handle firmly _. I got to save him._ From outside, the moans grew louder.

_I got to protect my man._ With a firm grip on the bat, she tossed open the door. What she saw caused her to freeze. Her breath stopped as she took in the sight before her! On his old weight bench lay Billy Ray. He was bench pressing and groaning with every repetition. Besides that he was wearing his old faded sleeveless bowling shirt and a pair of stained cut off shorts.

"Billy Ray!" she exclaimed.

He glanced her way, racking the barbell. "Damn it, Beth Ann! You ruined my surprise."

"What surprise?" she asked, suspicious.

"I started working out again," he explained. "I want to be ripped and muscular for the reawakening of our love." He sat up, swallowing hard and shaking his head. "Now you found me out."

"But baby," she shook her head. "You have two more hours of sleep before you have to go to work."

"I know," he admitted. "But I have been watching that body building on TV and I think it is time ol' Billy Ray got back in shape."

Beth Ann shook her head. "Damn! I never would have guessed that you would do this for me, baby." She tossed the bat back into the trailer. "I guess I had better get a hot shower going then."

"Hot shower?" he asked confused.

"Well hell yes, baby. Every athlete needs a good shower and rub down after a workout."

He smiled as her round firm rear disappeared back into the trailer.

"Maybe there are some good things about this working out stuff." He stood, feeling pretty damn good right suddenly. With a sly smile, he followed his beautiful and voluptuous wife into the trailer.

"You know I am sorry about the other night," he said as he lathered up under the hot water. He could hear her through the shower curtain rummaging through her beauty kit. Stashed among her hair coloring kits and hair maintenance products were her hot massage oils.

"It is okay, baby," she replied. "I kind of lost my head at first, but I cooled down later." Of course she didn't add that her cooling down was that spicy talk on the computer. She paused. That young fella said he was eighteen. Hell, that was an old man in this town if'n he was still single and all. "I decided that it was pretty cool having you and your friends out defending my honor." _Now where was that damn oil?_

"Well, sweet baby," he said as he soaped up around the purple bruise at his groin, "I really didn't believe it anyway. Hell! Even when old Shirley Snodgrass showed up yelling your name, I didn't believe it."

"Who?"

Billy Ray froze! He had heard the change in her voice.

"That no good bitch was there too?"

Billy Ray winced. How could I have said that?

"Well, yes, baby. You see, she showed up yelling that she had finally caught that slut Beth Ann and that inquiring minds want to know! Hell, she was almost embarrassing as she pushed Pinto aside trying to get her stupid box camera into that car."

On the other side of the curtain, the rustling of the beauty box had stopped. It was the warning sign Billy Ray missed as he tried to save what was left of his possible early morning jump.

"Damn, baby! Just because I told her you was writing this book and she said you was nuttin' but a damn hillbilly slut that rode the short bus to school. Of course then she asked what I had ever seen in ya."

It was the last word he got out. Something crashed through the shower curtain and into his already split lip. He saw stars as the pain of the old wound reawakened. Flinching, he tried to back up but he slipped in the tub. He crashed back into the large rack of shampoos, conditioners, and moisturizers Beth Ann kept in the corner of the tub. Before he knew it, he was on his ass, which burned since he had scraped it bad last night at the lake after Troy kicked him.

With soap and shampoo running into his eyes, he glanced up as Beth Ann flung aside the shower curtain.

"If I ever hear you talking to that bitch again, Billy Ray, I swear I will make what that woman on Jerry Springer did look like a weenie roast!"

He swallowed hard. "But baby, I didn't talk to her or nothing! Hell, I wouldn't have even known she was there except she offered to help me ice down the family jewels."

Like Mark Maguire swinging for the fence, Beth Ann's eyes grew wide and she gripped the weapon she was holding. At the last moment, Billy Ray identified that it was the toilet plunger. It did little good knowing what it was as it slapped down across his forehead and snapped in half.

"If that bitch comes near you," she warned through clenched teeth as she motioned with the remaining handle, "I will first use this on you and then shove it right through her nosy ass!"

Billy Ray tried to clear his eyes of the burning soap. "Goddamn, Beth Ann! Why did you hit me with that?"

"You no good bastard," she snarled. "Worrying about you with them other bitches is one thing, but Shirley God-damn Snodgrass?"

From where he lay in the downpour of water, he swore she was trembling and shaking. "Baby, I never had no other bitches or Shirley."

The end of the toilet plunger just missed his head as it crashed against the side of the shower. "I'll take thirty pounds off of her fat ass for this!" Beth Ann swore as she stormed from the bathroom.

"Thank God!" Billy Ray tried to stand up, but slipped again.

"And here is your goddamn oil!"

The bottle shattered over him and he felt the rain of water and oil mixed with glass.

"Son of a bitch," he swore quietly, praying she had left the trailer. "If'n I had not slipped again she would have given me a second black eye!"

***

He headed off for work and stopped at the Stop & Go for gas and one of them tough breakfast sandwiches. There was no goddamn way he was going to eat anything that Beth Ann cooked. The last time she was in this mood, she fixed everything with Ex-Lax or Pepto Bismol. He didn't know if he was constipated or had diarrhea, for Christ sakes!

"What happened, honey?"

He flinched. It was just little Zoie May behind the register. He flirted with her every day. What in the hell was wrong with him?

"Nuttin'," he answered, heading for the door.

It was just the beginning of his day. He had conflicting images in his head. One was of Beth Ann blowing through the doors with a shotgun. _Oww!_ The second was the thought of that stinky little Troy Finkmyer telling about kicking him in the nuts. And third was the thought of Shirley Snodgrass naked! That almost made him puke up the breakfast sandwich, which had sucked anyway.

After three brake jobs, it happened. Mrs. Desiree Pauline Deveraugh pulled in with her Lincoln.

_Oh shit!_ Billy Ray rubbed his throbbing head. She was about the worst woman for him to see right now. It was well known that besides being the richest thirty-year-old married to an eighty year old in town, she was also fricking hot!

"Oh Billy Ray?" she cooed, gliding into the garage in her white blouse and skirt. She was also carrying that little mutt dog she always had with her.

"Yes, Desiree?" he asked, wiping the oil from his hands.

"I need my oil changed," she announced, gliding her tongue along her lips.

Is she teasing me?

"I will be down getting a cut and style at Beth Ann's, so hurry." she said before slipping out the door of the garage.

"Damn!" he cursed. "That bitch is a teaser."

He could not tear his eyes from her ass as she strolled away. He noticed that she paused at the end of the block before turning towards the Kut-N-Kurl. Looking back, she met his stare and winked.

"She wants me," he admitted with a groan. "What am I going to do? Beth Ann wants to kill me and all of these women want me! Hell, what a torment!"

It was the end of the day and with a sigh of relief Billy Ray, walked into the Amtrak.

"Beer," he said pulling up a barstool.

"Shit!" Teddy Bear shook his head. "I better buy one for ya. I swear you look like someone busted your ass again!"

"Shut up!" Billy Ray warned. He reached for the beer, wanting to get that first cold taste to his lips. It was all he had wanted since noon.

"Hey, Billy Ray! Where is the slut?"

He froze. It was Shirley Snodgrass and she had her damn tape recorder!

"Come on good-looking, big boy," she said in a soft seductive manner. "Inquiring minds want to know."

Billy Ray turned slowly and stared at her. "Get away from me, devil woman!" Without even sipping his beer, he bolted, heading for the door.

As he slammed outside, he hit Jack and Gordy on their way in.

"Come on. We're buying," Gordy invited.

"No damn way!" he replied, hopping into his pickup and peeling gravel towards home.

They made their way to the bar, shaking their heads. "That was weird," Jack said.

Teddy Bear agreed. "Didn't even sip from his beer."

Shirley Snodgrass saw Jack and made her move. "Hey good-looking," she said quietly. "I have an inquiring mind and I want to know."

"Know what?" Jack asked, draining half of his beer.

"If it is really as big as they say." Her eyes strayed to his crotch.

"Well, baby, hang around," he said. "After a few more, you may get better looking and besides, I like small-breasted women."

"Small-breasted!" she screamed. "You bastard!" With a jerk of her wrist, she tossed her tap beer into his face and ran for the door.

As it slammed, Teddy Bear handed Jack a rag and shook his head. "Getting weird around here," he said.

The door opened and Pinto staggered in. "Hey! What's wrong with old Shirley? She got into her car and flipped me off before squealing away."

"Don't ask," Teddy Bear warned. "Inquiring minds don't want to know!"

Chapter Nine

The early morning light came filtering in through the partially open blinds into the bedroom. Beth Ann opened one eye and peeked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Shit, it was only 5 o'clock in the morning. She could still get a little shuteye. Her first appointment wasn't till 10 o'clock. She had booked that fat assed Shirley to get her monthly dye job and then Mary Jo was coming in for a trim. She didn't have any more appointments after that, so she was free after she finished with them.

She rolled over and snuggled up to Billy Ray's back. He shifted in his sleep as he felt her weight against him and then settled back down to sleep. Beth Ann listened to him as he started to snore again. She chuckled as she thought about him doing his work out yesterday morning. Boy, was he a sight trying to lift those weights. He was so out of shape it was pathetic.

She had been noticing a change in Billy Ray here lately. He didn't seem quite as frisky around other women as he usually was. He seemed to be more interested in their marriage than he had been for several years. Maybe it was paying off, all that stuff she had been learning on the internet about how to improve a stale marriage. God knows their marriage could use all the help it could get. Their interest in each other had been getting less and less the longer they stayed married. Not like when they first met.

Boy, when they first met they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Did it in the back seat of Billy Ray's old jalopy all the time and every other place they could sneak off to. Hell one time after everybody had left after cheerleading and football practice, they did it under bleachers standing up. They had been hot to trot all right back in high school.

Beth Ann remembered how Billy Ray had looked back then, all those muscles and hard body from all that football practice and all. She had just loved to feel those muscles in his arms when he made a fist and showed them off. All the other gals had been after him too but she had been the one who was wearing his high school ring.

She hadn't been no slouch back in high school either. She had been head cheerleader and had a body that was built like a brick shithouse. Pinto and Gordy had been panting after her, and even that damn Troy tried to get her to go out with him, but she hadn't been interested in any of them. She had eyes only for her baby, her Billy Ray.

She reached down and scratched her stomach. She felt her stomach and hips with her hand. God damn but she was getting fat and flabby. How in the hell had she and Billy Ray let themselves go like that? Well it was damn time to do something about it. Billy Ray had already started trying. She couldn't let him get fit and leave her fat, flabby ass for one of them other women!

She rolled over again and squinted at the alarm clock again - 5:30. Hell, she had time. She scooted out of bed quiet as a mouse and pulled the covers back up over Billy Ray. She opened the closet and pulled out her old jogging suit, slipped it on and tiptoed into the kitchen. She turned the coffee pot on and went and peeked out the kitchen window.

The street was quiet. Hell, wouldn't nobody else be up this time of morning anyway. Most everybody in President Park was off on Saturday. It was a good thing too because most of them had a rip roaring good old time on Friday nights and wasn't fit for man or beast on a Saturday morning anyway. It had been after midnight last night before she could get to sleep what with all that music blaring out from the trailer across the street. Damn young couple that lived over there must have invited people from all the surrounding counties to that damn party of theirs.

She looked over at her pride and joy setting there on the kitchen table. She was going to have to get it off that table and put it somewhere else. Billy Ray was bitching that he was tired of eating around it. Said it was like they had somebody else at the table with them all the time. She laughed. _If he only knew!_ Maybe she could get an old desk down at the flea market and set it up in the bedroom. Hell, she didn't want it in the bedroom though. She had to have her own little space if she was going to ever get anywhere with that stupid book she had told Billy Ray she was writing. Things hadn't been going so good on it here lately. _Maybe Billy Ray was right when he told me I couldn't write no book. But that wasn't what Stefan said. He said he liked what I was practicing with him in that chat room! He said I wrote real good. Hell, I'd bet the farm his name ain't Stefan no more than mine's J'Lyne like I told him. Who ever heard of anybody named Stefan except on that stupid butter commercial anyway?_

The coffee pot gave its last gurgle. She poured herself a cup and stirred in the Coffee Mate. She grabbed her pack of Capri's and her lighter and headed out on the back deck. The sun looked real pretty coming up over the trees. It had been a long time since she had been able to just sit and watch the morning arrive. Hell, life wasn't so bad after all. She had her Billy Ray and he wasn't half bad when he tried. And besides that she was going to write that damn novel if it killed her. She _was_ going to be a famous author and go to all them book signings and all. Heck, maybe even Stefan would be at one of them. He said he was an author too. _Wonder if I would know him if I was standing beside him? Bet he don't look nothing like he told me! He's probably got a beer gut just like my Billy Ray!_

She took the last sip of her coffee and went back inside. She tiptoed into the bedroom and Billy Ray was still sawing logs. She crept back out of the bedroom and closed the door. She quietly let herself out the front door and was off down the street in the early morning light. She kicked at the beer cans laying in the street. _Damn punks! Can't they at least keep them in their own yard!_

***

Beth Ann staggered up the front porch and let herself in the front door. She was winded and gasping for air.

Billy Ray jumped up. "Where the hell you been, Beth Ann?"

Just then she heard a roaring sound out in the yard. She looked out the door and saw Nub cutting across the grass on his motorcycle, tearing up the yard as he roared up to the porch. She saw Teddy Bear running down the street towards their trailer fast as his fat little legs could carry him. Gordy and the whole damn Crew was right behind him.

She looked at Billy Ray. "What the hell is going on around here?" she yelled. "What the fuck you up to now?"

"What the fuck am _I_ up too? What the fuck _you_ been up to?" he screamed back at her.

Before she could answer, the boys all came running in the front door.

"We'll help you find her," Gordy yelled.

"Where you think she went this early in the morning, Billy Ray?" Teddy Bear gasped.

"Billy Ray, come on!" Nub said. "You get on the back of my motorcycle and we'll go hunt her down!"

"Hunt _who_ down?" Beth Ann yelled over the racket. "Who's missing? What's happened?"

They all turned and looked at her standing there in her old jogging suit, sweating like a pig, her hair tucked up under Billy Ray's old Budweiser baseball cap.

"Beth Ann! Where you been?" Jack asked. "Hell, Billy Ray called me up in the wee hours of a Saturday morning telling me you done gone and left him! We was all going to track you down for him."

"Billy Ray, how could you do this to me?" Beth Ann screeched at him. "I ain't been no where. How come you think I went off and left you anyway?"

"Well, Beth Ann, just what the hell was I supposed to think anyway? I got up and was going to surprise you and make the coffee this morning. I come into the kitchen and it's already on. I couldn't find hide nor hair of you anywhere in this damn trailer. Then I went out onto the back deck and saw your cigarettes and your empty coffee cup out there. But no you! What was I supposed to think? You either left me or you got kidnapped one or the other and I damn sure don't know anybody that would want to kidnap you."

"Well I wasn't kidnapped for sure, Billy Ray. And I didn't leave your sorry ass either. I was out jogging!" Beth Ann answered.

"You! Jogging? Yeah right, Beth Ann. Tell me another one. You ain't been jogging in years!" Billy Ray yelled.

"Well hell, Billy Ray. You was lifting weights the other morning and you ain't lifted weights in years either! You don't think I'm gonna let you get all slim and trim and muscled again like you used to be back in high school and I'm gonna stay fat and flabby do you? I don't want one of them other women getting you. You are mine! You are my baby!"

Billy Ray grinned. "You damn right I'm your baby, Beth Ann, and don't you forget it either. You just come with me and I'll show you how much I'm yours."

Billy Ray looked over at the Crew as they stood gawking and shuffling from one foot to the other. "Uh, boys, I think ya'll can run on home now. My Beth Ann has been found!"

Chapter Ten

Sunday mornings had to be the best part of the week as far as Billy Ray was concerned. He hit the weights quickly today, pumping the shit out of his shoulders. With Beth Ann jogging and him pumping iron, the whole trailer court thought they were nuts. He didn't care though. He was loving this new interaction in their relationship. Just last night on one of them talk shows, they were discussing that very topic.

Slipping into the bathroom, he stripped out of his sweats and checked his upper body in the mirror. "Soon," he muttered. He just wanted to get back some of that old muscle he had always carried. It did feel good, though, and after just a few days he was feeling more of the pump from the exercises.

Sliding back the shower curtain, he turned the water on, waiting for it to get hot. When he felt it was right, he slipped into the shower and reached for the soap. As he lathered up, his mind drifted off to the picture he had of Beth Ann back in school. _Damn! If she wasn't the hottest thang!_ He smiled suddenly, feeling himself becoming aroused. _She had skills too. Suck a beach ball through a garden hose and never run out of breath._ With a chuckle, he remembered the first time she wore a pair of them thong underwear things. He was sure he could have flossed his teeth with them.

He had shampoo in his hair and his eyes closed when he felt the rustling of the shower curtain.

"Morning, baby."

It was Beth Ann, running her hands over his soapy body.

"Morning." he answered, swallowing hard. He had been daydreaming about that thong and was fully erect.

"You been waiting for me?" she cooed softly, her hand moving between his legs and gripping him hard.

"Oh, baby!" He heard the soft moan escape from his own lips. His legs grew weak and he leaned against the side of the shower. Shampoo ran into his eyes as he tried to peek through it. Beth Ann was on her knees before him and stroking him gently but with a damn firm grip.

"I ain't gonna waste this," she said as her mouth was suddenly on and over him.

He clutched the curtain rod and almost tore it from the tub. Her practiced lips were driving him into a cloudy world of passion.

"Beth Ann! Oh, baby, you are the best!"

She smiled as she picked up speed, her mouth gliding up and down like a piston on a five hundred horse V-8 engine!

Feeling like he was about to explode, he tensed. Beth Ann stopped and rose to her feet.

"Do it like you used to, baby," she said, turning away from him and leaning into the shower wall. He could see her large round boobs as they flattened against the tub side. Her round rear was up in the air waiting for his attention. Desire burned through him. She could still get him wilder than a punch-drunk sailor.

His hands on her hips, he guided her backwards until he entered her. "I want you so bad!" he moaned over her shoulder.

She stood a bit straighter and he could feel an increase in the pleasure he was feeling.

"Yes, baby! Harder!" she urged over her shoulder. "You wild stallion, Billy Ray! Give it to me!"

He was trying to. As a matter of fact, he was giving all he had. They rocked together like rutting animals, until Beth Ann screamed his name and clutched the tub. He also felt his own orgasm as it ripped through his body.

He collapsed back against the wet side of the shower stall as she stood, her eyes twinkling.

"You are still the best," she panted before sliding from the shower.

Billy Ray felt like his heart was about to explode. They hadn't done it in the shower for a damn long time.

"I love Sunday mornings," he whispered, reaching for the soap again.

***

"I'll be right back." Beth Ann waved as she trotted to her Mustang. Billy Ray waved back as he finished loading the charcoal into the grill. It was football time soon and the boys would be rolling in. Beth Ann was going for beer and snacks. She had actually offered, which she usually didn't do.

From across the trailer park, he heard Nub Meeker fire up his motorcycle. Before he finished stacking the charcoal, Nub was headed his way.

"Hey, buddy!" he smiled as he slid to a stop. "How's she hangin'?"

Billy Ray chuckled. He was not going to tell Nub about the beautiful sensual shower of this morning.

Before long Pinto, Jack, and Gordy had showed up and they were unloading the coolers of beer and food.

By the time Teddy Bear rolled in, they were just popping the tops on their first round.

"Heard the news?" Teddy Bear asked dipping into a cooler.

"Nope," Nub answered dropping into a lawn chair.

"What's happening now?" Billy Ray asked, adjusting the rabbit ears on the television.

"Well, Shirley Snodgrass was just down to the Stop and Go. Boy, is she pissed off at Beth Ann this time!" He shook his head. Her hair color turned kind of streaky looking orange after Beth Ann did it yesterday."

"Well, she knows Beth Ann don't like her that much. Why in the hell does she keep going there?" Billy Ray asked.

"Nosy," Pinto suggested. "Everyone knows that the beauty shop is the biggest gossip hall in town."

Before he could go on, the Mustang wheeled in and Beth Ann crawled out.

"Hey, boys!" She waved and smiled. "Here you go, baby. More beer and some extra thick steaks." She placed the bag and the case of beer on the picnic table. "You boys have fun now and enjoy the game."

As she disappeared into the trailer, Jack frowned.

"How come she is in such a good mood? Usually doesn't like it when we watch football over here."

"She's kinda takin' a new look at things," Billy Ray explained.

"Well she's gonna have her new mood ruined," Teddy Bear warned, pointing. "Here comes Shirley and she's drivin' pretty fast."

The beat up Pontiac careened around the corner with its worn and bald tires spinning gravel in all directions. Billy Ray dove over the picnic table and Teddy Bear hit the ground as she slid to a stop within feet of the grill.

"Where is that bitch?" she screamed, jumping from the car and slamming the door.

"Now just a minute!" Billy Ray said as he rose from the ground. "I am sure your hair can be fixed."

"I doubt it," Pinto chuckled loudly. "Looks ruined to me."

"Yeah, Shirley, better shave it off!" Gordy concluded with a nod.

"Gonna have to get one of them Dolly Parton wigs," Jack agreed.

Shirley stopped, meeting their smiles with hate-filled eyes. "I'll remember this, you son of a bitches," she glared. Her hands balled into fists as she stalked up to the trailer door and flung it wide open. "Beth Ann!"

"Oh, shit!" Nub rolled his eyes.

"Cat fight," Gordy said.

"Well we might as well get ready for the shit to fly." Billy Ray shook his head. "Beth Ann is going to beat the shit out of her."

"Give me five bucks on Shirley," Teddy Bear said as he reached for his wallet.

"I'll take that bet," Jack nodded.

***

Beth Ann was clacking away on the computer when Shirley screamed through the door. She looked up as the fat-assed gossip hound bolted into the kitchen.

"You no good bitch!" she snarled her fists balled in fury.

"What in the hell?" Beth Ann stood looking at the damaged mop that had become Shirley's hair.

"You did this on purpose!" Shirley accused.

"Maybe you should keep your sexually frustrated eyes and hands off of my man," Beth Ann countered. "I heard you been following him around up to the lake and at the Amtrak."

Shirley's eyes narrowed as they focused on the computer at the kitchen table.

"I heard you been writing a book. How come some slut who never left the third grade thinks she can write?"

Beth Ann felt her temper rising. "I figured since you think you can do it, anybody ought to be able to."

Shirley stepped around the table. "Let me look at it. Hell, we can overlook this hair thing. I want to see what your writing looks like."

"Well, okay, but don't be laughing now. I got about forty pages done and I like it pretty good."

Shirley stepped in front of the screen, bending down as if she was going to read. Suddenly her finger shot out and hit the delete button!

"Not anymore, bitch!" she sneered.

Beth Ann's eyes flew open wide. Her hard work was gone, erased in a split second. Her jaw snapped shut and her gaze settled on Shirley, who was smiling widely.

"Okay, if that is the way it is going to be!" With a tremendous battle cry, she launched herself onto Shirley Snodgrass!

From the lawn, the screams of combat mixed with the sound of crashing dishes and breaking glass. Just as Jack handed out a fresh round of beers, the door flew open and out shot Shirley Snodgrass. She missed the steps completely and landed on the concrete sidewalk. Like a leaping panther, Beth Ann followed. She dove off of the steps, landing square across Shirley's back.

"I'll kill you, you bitch!" she promised, filling her hands with Shirley's burned hair.

"Get off of me, you tramp!" Shirley screamed back as Beth Ann slammed her down hard into the grass. Shirley struggled to get up, clumps of grass and dirt covering her face.

She punched backward, her fist slamming into Beth Ann's cheek. The blow knocked her off Shirley, who struggled to her feet. She reached for Beth Ann and caught a hold of her shirt. There was a loud ripping sound and suddenly Beth Ann's right boob popped loose!

"Damn!" Nub shifted the tobacco in his cheek.

"Nice boobs," Jack agreed.

Without so much as a pause, Beth Ann punched Shirley straight in the mouth. Blood shot from Shirley's smashed upper lip and she went down to the grass.

"Get out of here!" Beth Ann warned. She covered herself with what was left of the shirt. "If I ever see you around my man again or hear your talking about me or anything, I will knock the rest of your teeth in!" She spun and stalked back into the trailer, slamming the door.

Not one word was spoken as Shirley pulled herself up and into her car. As she drove away, Billy Ray opened a pack of the steaks.

"Anybody hungry?"

Chapter Eleven

Thursday, September 7, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Seems there was a high old time over at President Park this past Sunday. We won't name any names here of course but seems two of Grapevine's 'ladies' had a 'little disagreement' amongst themselves over a 'certain gentleman' and something to do with 'fried hair'. All the residents of President Park gathered in the street for a front row view of this spectacular event with many of them placing side bets as to who would come out the winner in this 'disagreement'.

A certain someone has been 'indisposed' since this past Sunday's events over at President Park. The last anyone saw of her was when she was coming out of the doctor's office. She had on a black headscarf and was sporting two black eyes, a cut lip and a broken nose.

The citizens of Grapevine, Kentucky haven't seen this much excitement since 1986 when Albert Tucker led the protest march against the Amtrak coming to our fair town.

The column must go on. Inquiring minds want to know!

Mary Jo Finkmyer, filling in for-

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Beth Ann guffawed, spewing coffee all over the Grapevine Gazette as she read old Shirley's gossip column. She jumped up and did a little victory dance down the hall to the bedroom.

"Billy Ray!" she yelled. "You just gotta see this!"

Billy Ray poked his head out from beneath the covers and opened one sleepy eye. "See what, Beth Ann? Whatcha waking me up so fucking early for? I still got another hour that I can sleep before I have to be down at Rusty's. This had better be good, woman!"

"Oh, Billy Ray, it _is_ good!" she chortled. "Lookee here," she said, poking the newspaper up under his nose. "Just look at this!"

Billy Ray pulled himself up in the bed and propped the pillows behind his head. He took the paper from Beth Ann and started reading where she was pointing with one long red fingernail. He scanned through the column and saw Mary Jo's name at the bottom. He busted out laughing.

"You got that old bitch good, baby! Hell, she ain't even able to write that damn gossip column of hers. Teach that old fat-assed cow to mess with my baby!" he laughed. He looked up at Beth Ann. She was grinning like a hog knee deep in slop.

"Come here, baby, let's celebrate your victory!" he grinned as he pulled back the covers and pulled Beth Ann back into bed.

"Aw, honey, I ain't got time for this right now. I gotta be down at the Kut-N-Kurl in less than an hour."

"Well, you just call up the Kut-N-Kurl and tell 'em you're gonna be late this morning! I got something for you that won't wait!" Billy Ray cupped Old Pete in his hands and held it up for Beth Ann to see. Old Pete was stirring to life just looking at Beth Ann in that skimpy little baby doll pj set she loved to wear.

"Whooooeeeee! Look at Old Pete!" Beth Ann screeched. "I think he likes me!"

"You better believe Old Pete likes you, baby! Always has and always will!"

"To hell with the Kut-N-Kurl," Beth Ann laughed. "All them women just gonna have to go without their appointments. I got better things to do with my time this morning. Can't waste Old Pete when he's up and ready like that, and just for little ole me! I gotta have me some of him!"

"Well here he is, Beth Ann! Come and get him! All them cars waiting down at Rusty's are gonna have to wait a little longer to get fixed! Me and my baby are fixing to get it on!"

Billy Ray reached over and pulled that baby doll pj top off and Beth Ann's boobs stared him in the face. He reached out and grabbed one and pinched the nipple. She let out a screech.

"Damn, Billy Ray, that hurt!"

"Aw baby, I'm sorry. Let me kiss it and make it all better for you," he grinned as he took it into his mouth and sucked.

"I think it's feeling better all ready, Billy Ray," Beth Ann whispered. "But damn if I don't think the other one hurts now. Maybe you better kiss it and make it all better too!"

"Don't mind if I do," Billy Ray said as he switched his lips to the other boob. "Better now, baby?" he mumbled around a mouthful of booby.

"Naw, it still hurts. Better keep it up, honey," she laughed as she pulled his head closer to her and squirmed against him.

Billy Ray laughed and rolled her over and crawled on top of her. "I think Old Pete would feel all better if he had some place to hide, baby. You got somewhere he can hide?"

"I might if you'll get off of me and let me take off these pj bottoms, Billy Ray. Ain't no way Old Pete is going in there through them pj bottoms and you know it!"

Billy Ray rolled off. "Here, let me take'em off for you," he said. He started to pull them off and then he stopped. He scratched his head in thought. Hell, wasn't no time like the present to start in on some of them lessons he'd been learning on Beth Ann's computer when she was gone. He had a little surprise for Beth Ann too. You _could_ teach an old dog new tricks. He hadn't never even heard of some of them things he'd seen on that porn site.

He got up out of bed and started towards the kitchen. "I'll be right back, Beth Ann. Don't you go nowhere!"

"Where you going, Billy Ray?"

"You just wait and you'll see, baby," he called back down the hall.

She could hear the refrigerator door opening and Billy Ray fumbling around in there looking for something. What the hell was he up to now? She heard the refrigerator door slam shut and Billy Ray's footsteps coming back down the hall.

He was grinning as he came back into the bedroom and was hiding something behind his back.

"Whatcha got, Billy Ray?" she asked curiously.

He sat something down beside the bed. She peeked over the edge of the bed to see if she could see what it was. Billy Ray pushed her back down before she could see whatever it was. Her curiosity was really aroused now.

Billy Ray got back into the bed and leaned over and kissed Beth Ann right smack on the lips. He nuzzled her lips with his tongue and eased his tongue into her mouth. Beth Ann bit it.

"Damn, Beth Ann, whatcha go and do that for?" he yelled. "I'm trying to give you some good loving here and you go and bite me!"

Beth Ann laughed. "Well maybe I just better kiss it and make it all better for you like you did my boobies. Here, kiss me again and let me see if I can make that hurt all better."

Billy Ray didn't wait for a second invite. He laid a lip lock on Beth Ann in a heartbeat. Beth Ann took his tongue in her mouth and sucked the hurt away. They were both getting all hot and bothered now. Billy Ray climbed back on top of Beth Ann and tried to poke Old Pete in again.

"Damn! I forgot to take them pj bottoms off," he cursed as he rolled off again. "And I forgot all about them lessons I been taking," he mumbled to himself as he slid Beth Ann's bottoms off.

"Close your eyes, Beth Ann," he whispered as he slung the pj bottoms across the room.

"What for?" she asked.

"Aw, baby, just come on and do what I say. I got a little surprise for you!"

"OK." Beth Ann closed her eyes obediently. _Wonder what he was up to now_?

She heard something hissing like escaping air and then felt something cold and sticky on her belly. "What the hell?" she yelled.

"Keep your eyes closed, Beth Ann! This will feel good!"

She felt Billy Ray's tongue on her belly as he licked whatever it was he had squirted on her off. As his tongue trailed along her belly, it quivered and jumped at the sensation of his hot tongue and that cold whatever it was he had squirted on her. She couldn't stand it any longer. She had to know what he was up to. She opened one eye and took a peek. Whipped cream! That damn Billy Ray had squirted whipped cream on her belly. And he had the can in his hand and was fixing to squirt it in her hair!

She jumped up! "Don't you squirt that mess in my hair, Billy Ray! What the hell you doing anyway?" she yelled. "Whatcha putting that whipped cream all over me for?"

"Don't you like it, baby?" he asked. "When I was looking at that porn site, the gals all seemed to love for the guys to put whip cream on them and then lick it off."

"Well, I don't like it!" she yelled. "Whip cream ain't supposed to go down there!"

She stopped dead still and stared at Billy Ray. "What did you say, Billy Ray?"

"I said all them gals at that porn site seemed to like to have whipped cream squirted on them and then licked off," he replied.

"What porn site you talking about, Billy Ray? Where you been looking at a porn site? There ain't no porn places in Grapevine! You been on my computer, haven't you?" she yelled.

Billy Ray hung his head. He was in deep shit now. "Uh, yeah, baby, I been on your computer some when you wasn't here," he mumbled.

"I told you not to mess with my computer!" she screamed. "First that damn bitch Shirley deletes my all my hard work I been doing on my book and now I find out you been messing around with my computer too?"

Beth Ann jumped up out of bed and headed for the shower. Billy Ray watched in dismay as her ass disappeared into the bathroom and the door slammed shut behind her. He almost howled in disappointment as his joy at an early morning romp with his baby turned into a disaster. And those damn broads at the porn site had seemed to enjoy it so much! He couldn't believe how this morning's little adventure had turned out!

***

Beth Ann sashayed into the Kut-N-Kurl like she owned the place. _Come to think about it, I do own the place and don't have to apologize to nobody for being late. God damn that Billy Ray! Messing around with my computer like that after I gave him strict orders to keep his grimy paws off it! Hell, I wonder if he saw my 'special messages' with Stefan? Damn him!_

"Where you been, Beth Ann?" Imma Jean Meeker asked. "I went ahead and opened up the shop when you didn't come in this morning. Granny Jackson was waiting on the doorsteps when I got here."

"Well, hell, Imma Jean, that's what you got a key for, ain't it?" Beth Ann snapped as she set her purse down at her station.

"Well, you don't have to bite my head off, Beth Ann!" Imma Jean snapped back at her. "What's the matter? You and Billy Ray have another fight?"

"I found out that damn Billy Ray's been messing around with my computer when I ain't home!"

"What's so wrong with Billy Ray being on your computer, Beth Ann? You got something to hide on there? What are doing on that computer of yours anyway? I hardly ever see you anymore. Every time I call you up and ask you to lets do something, you tell me you're busy on your computer," Imma Jean replied.

Beth Ann looked around the shop to see if anybody was listening to hers and Imma Jean's conversation. Old Granny Jackson was under the dryer with them little white perm rods stuck all over her head and couldn't hear a word they were saying. Come to think about it, she probably couldn't hear a word they were saying if she was sitting in the chair right there in front of them.

"Thanks, Imma Jean, for going ahead and rolling up Granny Jackson's perm for me. Sorry I was late."

"No problem, Beth Ann. But you just got to tell me what you're doing on that computer all the time. As old fat-ass Shirley would say, " 'Inquiring minds want to know!' And I damn sure got an inquiring mind!" Imma Jean laughed.

"Promise me you won't laugh if I tell you!" Beth Ann demanded.

"Oh, hell, Beth Ann! It can't be that bad!"

Beth Ann leaned over and whispered in Imma Jean's ear. "I'm writing a book!"

Imma Jean looked at Beth Ann in amazement. "What did you say? I must have misunderstood you. Did you say you're writing a book?"

"Yeah that's what I said. I'm writing a book," Beth Ann replied. "And what's so unbelievable about that anyway? Don't you think I got sense enough to write a book?"

Imma Jean couldn't hold it anymore. She busted out laughing.

"Imma Jean, you promised me you wouldn't laugh if I told you what I was doing on my computer!" Beth Ann yelled.

"No I didn't! I never promised! I just said it couldn't be that bad what you was doing." Imma Jean put her hand over her mouth and tried to hold her laughter back. "But you? Writing a book? Damn, Beth Ann, you almost failed English in high school! How come you think you can write a book?"

"Now dammit, Imma Jean! I ain't as stupid as everybody in this hick hillbilly town thinks I am!" Beth Ann screeched. "Don't have to be no English major to write a book. All you've got to have is an interesting subject to write about and I for damn sure got an interesting subject I'm writing about. When I get finished with it, it's gonna be on the Top Ten Best Seller List and everybody in town's gonna be lining up for me to autograph their copy!"

"Well are you going to tell me or not, Beth Ann?" Imma Jean asked.

"Tell you what?"

"Dammit, Beth Ann! Quit teasing me!" Imma Jean yelled. "You know what I want you to tell me! Hell, we ain't been friends since practically the day we was born for you not to know what I want to know! Oh, hell you know what I'm trying to say." Imma Jean stomped her foot in exasperation. "Just tell me what your book is all about!"

"You're gonna have to cross your heart and hope to die before I tell you what I'm writing about, Imma Jean!"

"OK, OK! Cross my heart and hope to die! There, does that satisfy you? Now just tell me or I'm going to kill you!"

"I been in one of the private chat rooms with some guy named Stefan," Beth Ann whispered as she glanced over at Granny Jackson to make sure she was still under the dryer.

Imma Jean giggled. "Stefan? What the hell kinda name is Stefan? Only Stefan I ever heard of was that guy who does them stupid butter commercials on TV. You know, the one with the long blonde hair down to his ass almost."

"Oh, hell, Imma Jean. Don't nobody use their real names in them chat rooms. He thinks my name is J'Lyne."

"Well, what's that got to do with what your book is all about, Beth Ann?"

Beth Ann grinned. "What old Stefan don't know want hurt him. I been saving a transcript of our chats and I'm using them in my book. Damn, but you oughta see what I've got so far, Imma Jean!"

"But I thought that old bitch Shirley deleted whatever you was doing on your computer, Beth Ann. At least that's what Nub came home and told me after you and Shirley tangled last Sunday."

Beth Ann busted out laughing. "Well I got the last laugh on old Shirley. Not only did she give me a chance to whup her ass just for the general principle of it but now she thinks she erased my work. She won't be snooping around now trying to find out what I been up to. Bet she never even heard of floppy disks. I had it all saved on a floppy disk."

"Well, ain't you clever, Beth Ann!" Imma Jean said admiringly. "What's the name of this book of yours?" she asked.

"I ain't decided yet. Gotta think up a real good name for it. But I can tell you right now, it's got some hot shit in it!"

"You going to let me read it?"

"Naw, I ain't gonna let you read it! This is top-secret stuff I'm doing and ain't nobody gonna see it except a publisher till it's ready to be sold! Then watch out Grapevine! They'll all be sorry they've made fun of me all my life, calling me a dumb bimbo. I'm gonna show them! I'll be the one who ends up with the last laugh!" Beth Ann swore with her hand on her heart.

***

"Holy shit!" Imma Jean screamed.

"What? What?" Beth Ann yelled as she jumped up out of her chair.

"Damn, Beth Ann! Granny Jackson's hair is smoking! I forgot all about her under that dryer with that perm solution still on her hair! Looks like old fat-ass Shirley ain't going to be the only one in Grapevine with fried hair!"

"Jesus Christ Almighty!" Beth Ann screamed. "Get her out of that chair now and stick her head under the faucet before the whole beauty shop goes up in flames! Damn, Imma Jean, what have we done to poor old Granny Jackson? I'll be lucky if she don't sue my ass and I have to shut down the Kut-N-Kurl!"

Chapter Twelve

Beth Ann showered and dressed in silence. Billy Ray tried to talk to her before she left for work but his answer was an angry pout. He heard the gravel fly as she headed out of the trailer park.

"Shit!" he cursed, rolling onto his back. Old Pete was at full attention and he didn't look tired at all. "How am I supposed to get through the day now?" he asked himself.

Pulling on a pair of sweat pants, he stumbled to the kitchen. He reached into the refrigerator and snatched out a Mountain Dew. _Damn Beth Ann! How could she leave me like this?_

Reaching for a Marlboro, he plucked one from the pack and lit it up. He exhaled and rubbed his throbbing temples. The lust was on him now and it just would not go away.

"Damn!" he swore again. That's when his eyes landed on the white box on the table. The computer!

He stepped over to it and turned it on. "Don't want to satisfy me, baby? Fine! I'll find somebody who will," he vowed. He had the address for the site he wanted memorized: www.lovedoctor.com. He punched it in and waited while the brightly colored front page appeared.

_Oh, yeah, baby!_ He scanned the selections and settled on Major Melons. He hit the mouse button and the screen flashed to a picture of a blonde woman with huge breasts.

"Oh, my God, yes," he sighed, starting to get excited again. He clicked on her and soon the screen was covered in smaller thumbs of the same woman in different poses and outfits.

"Oh, my God! That is just unbelievable!" he moaned and soon his free hand was on Pete. He had not masturbated for years, but this morning the pressure was too damn much. Slowly he stroked himself as he scanned picture after picture. Soon he was at the end of the layout but he was not finished with Pete. He clicked to another model. A black girl with large round boobs and a narrow waist. She had the littlest ass he had ever seen and it made Pete even harder under his palm.

"Oh, baby!" he moaned as if the model on the screen was really there with him. "Yes, come to big daddy." His grip grew firmer and he picked up speed. "Oh, yes, baby! Oh, yesss!" Pete spurted all across his stomach. Billy Ray collapsed back into the chair, his eyes half closed in a semi-relaxed state of release.

He opened his eyes and glanced across the kitchen. There stood Mary Jo Finkmyer at the screen door. Her eyes and mouth were wide open and her small fist was frozen in the motion of knocking.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Swallowing hard she shook her head. "No, Billy Ray, that was enough for one day," she replied in her squeaky little voice. "I had better go." She turned and vaulted from the front of the trailer steps. Billy Ray stood and watched her hurry across the yard as he wiped his belly off.

"Must have scared her seeing you, Pete, ole boy."

Just at the curb of her trailer, Mary Joe stopped and turned, looking back his way. He could have sworn she smiled at him before hurrying inside her own trailer. He shook his head. "Poor girl don't get enough at home so she has to go around window peeking." He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. "Probably never be satisfied again after seeing old Pete neither. Kinda feel sorry for her."

It never dawned on Billy Ray that he should have been embarrassed.

***

It was noon at Rusty's when he slid out from under Meredith Baxter's Camaro. She was back from her shopping and walked quickly into the garage.

"I was just over to Sears and I heard a little rumor."

He wiped the grease from his hands. "Is that right? What kind of gossip is going around now?"

She was a small petite woman but had a knockout set of boobs. He tried not to stare at them openly but it was hard.

She stepped up close to him, disregarding the grease on his clothes. "I hear you got some mighty big equipment," she cooed.

"Well now, Miss Baxter, I ain't so sure."

Before he could stutter out his reply, her hand went to his groin. She clamped a firm hold onto ole' Pete right through his coveralls.

"No other pants under the coveralls, hey?" she smiled up at him. "How about underwear?" Before he could stop her, she had the zipper half open and her hand wriggling into them.

"Miss Baxter!" He pulled her hand away and stepped back. "I can't be doing this. I am a married man!"

"Oh, hell, what Beth Ann don't know won't hurt her," Meredith replied, smiling seductively.

He gulped as she cupped her large boobs under her blouse.

"I hear you like big boobs, Billy Ray," she pulled up her shirt. "What do you think of these?"

Billy's eyes almost fell out of his head! He had wondered about those boobs for so long, and here they were!

"Damn!" he whispered in silent tribute.

"You want to play around, Billy Ray, you don't need no damn computer, baby. Just call me," she offered with a twinkle in her eye.

He tried to move but he was frozen in place, mesmerized by the luscious size and shape of those two boobs before him.

"What the hell?"

The voice snapped him from his reverie and he turned, seeing Rusty. "Damn, son, don't be doing that shit in here!"

"Oh, Rusty, it ain't his fault," Meredith said, pulling her shirt back down. "It was all me. I was trying to seduce him."

Rusty looked at Meredith as if she had lost her mind. "You were trying to seduce Billy Ray? What the hell fer?"

Meredith gave him a sly wink. "Betcha you'd like to know, wouldn't ya, Rusty?" She jumped into her Camaro, slamming the door.

"Send me the bill, Rusty, or better yet, have Billy Ray bring it on over." Slamming the car into gear, she roared from the garage.

"Seduce you!" Rusty roared in laughter. "Damn! I ain't never heard such a blabber of bullshit!"

Billy Ray shrugged. All he could figure was that it must be the working out he'd been doing. What if he became such a stud that he was irresistible to women? He would be just like one of them rock stars and have to have bodyguards to keep the women off.

"Damn!" He lit a cigarette. "Maybe they will want me to do that Diet Coke commercial next!"

It was 4:30 in the afternoon when he walked into the Amtrak. In a rush, Shirley Snodgrass appeared from nowhere and stuck her tape recorder into his face.

"Inquiring minds want to know, Billy Ray," she clicked the record button. "Don't Beth Ann take care of things properly at home? Why do you have to takes things into your own hands?"

"What in the hell are you talking about, Shirley? Get that damn thing out of my face!" He took a swat at the tape machine and it flew from her hands, landing on the floor.

"Damn you, Billy Ray!" she screamed, scooping up her prized possession. "It had better not be broken, you asshole!" Snarling, she ran from the bar.

"I need a beer." He waved at Teddy Bear who put a cold Budweiser down in front of him.

"Thanks for running her off. Damn nosy broad!" He shook his head. "Makes my customers nervous having her around."

"I agree. Beth Ann don't like her anyhow and if she hears about her talking to me, I might be a dead man."

Teddy Bear raised an eyebrow. "You might be anyhow. The whole town has heard about you jacking off to the computer. Hell, I hear Mary Jo Finkmyer said she never seen nothing like that in her life."

Billy Ray smiled. "She ain't seen one that big, you mean."

Teddy Bear shrugged. "I suppose so. But what about Beth Ann? What is she going to say about it?"

Billy Ray froze. He had not considered that!

"Damn! I had better get home." Slamming his beer down, he headed for the door.

"If she gets hold of a weapon, be careful." Teddy Bear warned.

With a nod, Billy Ray was out the door.

***

"Baby, you home?" He stepped slowly into the trailer. He had a bottle of the best wine the Stop and Go had, a dozen roses and a box of chocolate.

"Sweetheart?"

He heard the thump and then saw stars. He was only vaguely aware of hitting the floor. He managed to roll over and saw Beth Ann step from behind the door, a large black frying pan in her hand.

"That had better be the last time you screw with my computer, Billy Ray," she warned, shaking the pan at him menacingly.

It was at that moment that his eyes glazed over and he passed out.

***

Beth Ann flung the pan across the room. She really wasn't that upset at Billy Ray. _Hell, Mary Jo probably got a good show for the first time in her shut-in-little life._ It was more a matter of pride that she belted him over the head. _There's no way I'm gonna let them women in this town think I'd let it go without a reaction!_

She stepped over him and scooped up the wine and candy. He had landed on the flowers and they were shot. Opening the wine, she took a healthy slug. At least it was the better brand the Stop and Go carried: $4.39 a bottle.

Sitting down at the table, she turned on her computer. It was time to see if Stefan was on-line.

"Instant message!" the computer activated voice said.

Okay, time to go to work.

On the floor, Billy Ray lay unmoving as Beth Ann began to clack the keys.

Chapter Thirteen

'Have you been waiting on me, Stefan?' Beth Ann/J'Lyne typed into the computer and hit the send key. As she sat back and waited for her J'Lyne persona to take over, she glanced over at Billy Ray still passed out on the floor. _Boy, he was going to have a hell of a headache when he woke up! I told him not to mess with my computer! I don't care that he was jacking off. God knows I don't blame him for doing that after I got him so hot and bothered this morning and then left him high and dry. But damn, he was on my computer again after I have told him time after time to let it alone!_

The reply flashed onto the screen, Yes, I have. Where have you been? You weren't on at the usual time. Is something wrong, doll baby?'

J'Lyne typed, 'Oh I had something 'come up', but nothing that I can't handle! LOL'

'I bet your good at 'handling things', J'Lyne,' Stefan's reply came back.

'Oh I am the best, Stefan, the best!'

'I just bet you are!' the reply flashed.

'Bet you would like to find out, wouldn't you?' J'Lyne typed.

'I sure would! When are you going to send me that picture of you like you promised?'

'When I am good and ready! When are you going to send me that picture of _you_ like _you_ promised?'

'Uh, I have to get one made, J'Lyne. I don't have one good enough to send to you yet.'

'Now, Stefan, after all those adventures of yours that you have been telling me about, you mean you don't have a good picture of yourself? I bet you have been sending your picture to lots of ladies out there in cyberspace. Your picture is probably plastered on computer screens around the world.'

'Now, J'Lyne, when we first started 'talking' and I started telling you about my adventures, I didn't know that I was going to get so hung up on you! You can't hold that against me!'

'Well, Stefan, I like hearing about your adventures! It turns me on!' Beth Ann laughed. Telling Stefan that it turned her on to hear his 'adventures' always made him tell her another one. Well, hell, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. _If old Stefan only knew what I'm doing with the transcript of all his 'adventures', he would shit a brick!_

'You are my kind of lady, J'Lyne! Let me tell you about the time that I--,'

Beth Ann/J'Lyne sat and watched as Stefan filled the screen with his latest 'adventure'. She glanced over at Billy Ray again. He was stirring to life. Time to call a halt to this night's session with old Stefan.

'Ohhh, Stefan! I just loved hearing that one! I am all wet just reading it!' She was dying laughing! _How could Stefan possibly believe that I'm all wet reading his 'latest adventure'? Makes good material for my book though so I have to keep him going till I have all from him I want._

'Glad you liked it, doll baby,' came the reply. 'Same time tomorrow?'

'Same time tomorrow, Stefan! I just can't wait!' she cooed into the instant message box and hit send. She hit the save button and disconnected. Stefan disappeared from the screen and she turned off her computer.

Beth Ann went over and knelt down by Billy Ray as he lay on the kitchen floor. She pushed his black hair back out of his face and looked at the bump just past the hairline. It was going to be a doozy. She hadn't meant to hit him that hard. She felt kinda sorry for him now.

Hell, it was all her fault that he felt he had to take matters into his own hands this morning. He had been just trying to have a little fun, trying to bring a little life into their sex life, and she had gone and reacted like some dumb bimbo when he squirted that damn whipped cream on her belly and was headed for parts below. _Hell, I didn't want that sticky mess in my hair! Wonder what he was going to do after he squirted that shit down there? Maybe I shoulda waited and found out before I got all pissed off about it. Shit though! It wasn't the damn whipped cream that made me mad! It was him on my damn computer again! I'm so scared he's gonna find out about me talking to Stefan. And I gotta keep talking to Stefan till I get enough material for my book!_

Beth Ann's attention was drawn back to Billy Ray as he groaned and tried to sit up. She took him by the arms and pulled him into a sitting position.

He grabbed his head with his hands and moaned. He peeked out at Beth Ann from around his hands.

"Damn, Beth Ann! Why did ya go hitting me with that damn skillet for? Shit, woman, you coulda killed me!" he groaned in pain.

"Aw, baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard. I guess I just don't know my own strength after I been working out with you. Here, let me kiss it and make it all better, baby," Beth Ann whispered as she leaned over to kiss Billy Ray's 'bo bo'.

Billy Ray scooted back out of the way. "You don't get near me, Beth Ann! Not after what you done to me with that damn skillet!"

"Aw, come on, Billy Ray! I already said I was sorry! Now you're not going to hold that against me forever, are you, honey?"

"Beth Ann, did it make you that mad that I 'took matters in my own hands' this morning? Hell, baby! You wouldn't give me none! And after I tried so hard to spice up our sex live like you've been doing! I thought you would like a little adventure added to things around here. Ain't that what you been doing with me? Trying out new things? How come I can't try out new things too, Beth Ann?"

Beth Ann hung her head. "I'm sorry, baby. I guess I overreacted when you was coming at me with that damn whipped cream can and headed straight for my hair with it. I didn't want that sticky mess in my hair down there! What was you gonna do anyway?" she asked curiously as she glanced up at him.

"Don't really know, Beth Ann. I didn't finish looking at what they did after they squirted that mess in that woman's hair. I heard you coming up the driveway and had to turn the computer off real quick," Billy Ray mumbled.

"Well, baby, that's what really made me mad. You was on my computer again after I told you and told you to let it alone! It wasn't really the whipped cream that made me mad. It was you on my computer!"

"How come you're so dead set against me being on that damn computer of yours, Beth Ann? Whatcha doing on it anyway that you don't want me to know about?" Billy Ray asked.

"Now, Billy Ray, I told you I was writing a book," Beth Ann replied.

"Yeah, I know you told me you was writing a book, baby. But you got to be doing something more than that with that dadblamed computer. Every time I come into the kitchen and you're on that damn thing, you shut it down real quick like. Like you're doing something you don't want me to know about, like you're hiding something from me."

"Aw come on now, baby. I ain't hiding nothing from you! I'm just doing some research on my book, that's all. I just don't want nobody looking at what I'm doing till I'm finished with it."

"Well, that better be all you're doing, Beth Ann! You are my woman, have been since high school, and you damn well better not forget it either!"

Billy Ray stood up. His legs were wobbly and he had to lean against the kitchen wall for a minute while he waited for the room to quit spinning round and round. He looked over at Beth Ann as she sat on the kitchen floor looking up at him with those big sad eyes of hers. He hated it when she looked at him with them damn beggar kitten eyes. Made him want to go take her in his arms and hold her tight, protect her from the big bad world. _But hell, he was still mad at her!_

"I'm gonna go get in the shower, Beth Ann. Maybe that will help clear my head up."

He turned and walked from the room.

Beth Ann got up and went over to the coffee pot. She poured herself a cup, grabbed her pack of Capris and headed out the back door. The sun was sinking low on the horizon and she stood watching until it disappeared behind the trees. She went over and sat in the porch swing and lit a cigarette. She blew the steam away from the hot coffee and took a sip. _Damn, why are me and Billy Ray always fighting like that? God know I love him, have ever since high school._

Chapter Fourteen

Mary Jo heard the car pull in and she saw the reflection of the lights. With a quick glance, she could see it was Troy's cab. With a smile she wiped her hands. It would be nice to have him home early tonight. She heard the car door slam and the crunch of boots on the hard gravel. She straightened her dress and arranged her hair. If he was home early, she was going to be presentable.

"You goddamn slut!"

She saw the look on his face and heard the anger in his voice.

"Troy, what?" She raised her hands in defense but it was to late. Troy wound up and struck her as hard as he could with a closed fist! Poor little Mary Jo was tossed across the room and over the coffee table. She missed the couch and landed down between it and the table. Vaguely, she was aware of him coming her way as the taste of blood filled her mouth. She tried to feel her cheek but it hurt to even brush her fingers against it.

"Get up, you filthy little whore!" He was snarling like an animal as he grabbed roughly. Mary Jo heard her blouse ripping as she felt herself being jerked to her feet. Before she even scream, he hit her again and she spun to the carpet. Her vision blurred and she felt herself frozen in fear. What had she done to deserve this?

"You piece of trash!" he screamed above her. "Didn't you think that I would hear about this?"

"What?" she whispered through swollen and bleeding lips.

"You and that son of a bitch Billy Ray," he snarled pointing down to trailer sixteen. "I heard about you two down at Chong's Chinese Restaurant. They said you were playing with his dick! Jacking him off while you two were watching pornos on the damn computer!"

"No, Billy Ray, it wasn't like that, baby, I promise!"

"Bullshit!" he leaned down close to her. "I will teach you, you little whore. Roll over," he ordered.

"No, Troy, please, I didn't do anything."

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Troy peeled off his thick leather belt.

"I said roll over, bitch. I ain't playing around. If you don't do what I tell you, I'll take you back to your father and brothers. Shit, they are probably missing their favorite plaything right now!"

His tone and the sneer on his face broke her. There was nothing left to fight him with. She rolled over baring her backside to him. She felt her blouse ripped from her back. Next he reached under her and unbuttoned her shorts, roughly, and she could feel bruises already starting. They were pulled off and soon her panties were torn away.

"You little sinner!" He stood above her, poised with his leather belt. "It is for the righteous to correct those who have wandered from the path." With that, the first blow landed across her soft shoulders.

There was nothing she could do but bury her head into the carpet and pray it was short.

"I will not have my wife coveting other men!"

The belt fell again and she felt the tears flood into her eyes. The pain was intense, bitingly intense. Refusing to sob or cry out, she buried her face deeper into the carpet.

"You will not sin with other men!"

This time the blow was lower, across the small of her back and the most tender part. She winced and tears rolled down her cheeks. "No please, no more, Troy," she sobbed, trying to get him to stop.

"The sinner repents," he cried out above her. "I will drive the demon from her!"

Mary Jo shuddered, as Troy raised the belt and struck her, again and again.

By the time he stopped, she was a mess of welts, some of them bleeding. She couldn't sob or even cry out. She was simply breathing and relieved he had stopped.

"I will not put up with this from my wife," he said breathing hard. "Do not let me hear rumors like this again."

He replaced the belt in his pants. "And by the grace of God, get some fucking clothes on!"

He was gone from the trailer and Mary Jo lay sobbing. She was in intense pain, pain like she had never known. She tried to roll over but could not. The pain in her back and the back of her legs would not let her move. She could do nothing but lie there and cry.

***

"Goddamn woman," Troy muttered. "I am gonna get that Billy Ray if it the last thing I do. Shit, that bastard's wife is screwing half of the town behind his back and he has to be messing with mine. I hear he has hunnys down at the Amtrak. Why don't he just stay there?"

He headed for his shed, the small cheap one he had bought at the lumber store and assembled himself. He needed some fun, some entertainment, and a way to get his mind clear of all of this. _Fuckin Billy Ray!_

Paranoid that someone might discover his secret, he stopped several steps from the shed and peered around. You could never be too careful in a trailer park, too many nosy neighbors around. He unhooked his wad of keys from his belt and searched for the small golden one - his sacred shed key. One more time he glanced about. Nothing but a black haired mutt going through the Smith's garbage. Inserting the key, he opened the padlock and quickly ducked inside. He already felt better just being here, his little world away from the world.

Closing the door and securing it from inside, he clicked on the lights. There it was, his greatest secret. A brand new Gateway computer! It had cost him a half-year of over-time but he was convinced it was his gateway to the world. Especially now that he had found J'Lyne!

He hit the start button and as the computer hummed to life, he thought about her, or at least the mental image he had built of her. He was convinced that she was probably from a well-to-do family. Maybe from Boston, Hilton Head or maybe even Palm Springs. She had money and class that was for sure. He could just see her sitting at her computer chatting to him while sipping fizzy water or champagne and eating caviar. There was just something so sophisticated about her messages. She certainly would never have set foot into a place like President Park!

He sat down in his chair and reached for the fancy fedora hat he had bought. Checking in the mirror, he placed it at just the right angle on his head. Now for the final touch to his ultra-sophisticated-alter-ego Stefan, he reached for the black silk mask. With it on he was changed, taking on all of the super-powers of the world's greatest lover. He was Gable with Leigh in _Gone With The Wind_.

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," he whispered, standing in the doorway of J'Lyne's mansion.

"Baby," he heard himself say. "I am going to leave now. Cry all you want, I can't help it. There is a world out there beckoning to Stefan." With a dramatic gesture, he lit a cigarette and walked away into the setting sun. He walked to the curb and paused as he reached for the door of his Mercedes.

"But J'Lyne," he said as he puffed, blowing smoke from the side of his mouth. "I might be back, you can never tell, baby." In his mind this is where he climbed into his car and drove away. He was the hero leaving the beautiful J'Lyne behind. She of course collapsed into the doorway crying her eyes out. He looked back in the mirror feeling regret but understanding it is the way with his type. "I cannot love them," he reminded himself quietly.

The computer screen flashed to life and he snapped back to the present.

"I need you, baby," he murmured, punching the keys.

Soon the Internet was connecting and he was online.

"Shit, she's not on," he moaned. He wanted to talk to her tonight and tell her about his latest conquest as a great lover of the ages. Oh well, he decided to email it to her.

'I met her on the corner of 21st Street and Park. _(He didn't even change the names. She would never know about this town living in that rich world of hers.)_ She was young, 21 I think. I pulled up in my Jaguar _(translation: old piece of shit cab)_ and asked her to get in. She stepped in, sliding across the seat from me with a seductive smile on her face. She knew I was the great Stefan, she had heard of me. I drove her to a quiet little spot I had reserved _(the cheapest motel I could find three miles from town)_ and I popped the top on a bottle of bubbly (a six pack of Coors). She laid down on the soft overstuffed bed and slowly pulled her shirt up over her breasts.'

It took him twenty minutes to write out the encounter of this afternoon with Judge Applebee's daughter. She was 21 and in need of his special talents. Hell, it was well known that if any lady in town wanted a real 'ride', she called for a ride in Troy's cab. At least it was well known with certain ladies _. If their well-to-do and prominent husbands found out, holy shit, they'd kill me!_

Now he was telling his best and most secret thoughts to J'Lyne. It didn't matter. She lived somewhere a long ways away. Hell, he didn't know anyone named J'Lyne from close around here. By the time he had hit the send button, he was sweating. He had two problems right now - he was lonely and J'Lyne was not on and he was a still pissed at Billy Ray.

Where in the hell was J'Lyne? He had just talked to her on the company computer an hour ago and she promised to still be on. Damn it, he wanted to talk to her some more!

***

Billy Ray rolled over and moaned as Beth Ann poured some more cool water over his face.

"Come on wake up, baby," she whispered, leaning over him. He had been out a long time and she had wondered if he was drunk. She could not smell beer on him though, so she decided to try and rouse him.

"I am okay, baby," he responded as he rose to a seated position. "I am okay."

From outside the sound of screaming sirens drew their attention.

"Damn, I hope no one called the cops," Billy Ray moaned as Beth Ann helped him stand.

"I just hit you one time, sweet thing." she assured him.

Rubbing his head, he stepped out of the front door. "Damn, Beth Ann baby, they are going to the Finkmyer's again."

Beth Ann stepped out behind him. "I hope he didn't beat her up again," she shook her head in worry.

"Must have," he said motioning. "Here come the cops."

The squad car sped in behind the ambulance and squealed to a stop. From inside stepped Jack Jenson, a young, brash, and overly macho cop with a speech problem. He could not pronounce anything with a 's' or 'x' in it. When he said six it came out 'sitz'. Adjusting his gun belt, he headed into the trailer.

"Shit." Billy Ray rubbed his head. Following closely on the cop car came Shirley Snodgrass! "Now, baby, relax okay?" He turned to Beth Ann but he could already see the fire in her eyes.

"I warned that bitch," she sneered. "I told her not to come back here for a while."

She disappeared into the trailer and soon reappeared, this time with a rolling pin.

"I ain't gonna take this," she vowed, adjusting the weapon as she brushed past Billy Ray and headed across the trailer park. Rubbing his sore head, he had to follow her!

When they arrived at the Finkmyer's trailer, Beth Ann froze and dropped the rolling pin as her hand shot to her mouth.

"My God, Billy Ray," she whispered.

Billy Ray looked over her shoulder and saw Mary Jo lying on the stretcher. Shirley was beside her holding her hand. Her ever-present tape recorder was nowhere in sight.

As they placed her into the ambulance and drove away, Shirley locked eyes with Beth Ann. She straightened and walked over, right in front of the growing crowd.

"I know that you are Mary Jo are friends," she said suddenly. "And you know that I am her friend too. I propose we bury the hatchet for now. I want your help in getting that bastard Troy."

"How bad is she?" Beth Ann asked.

"Broken jaw, and her back is covered in welts. He must have beat her bad this time with that damn belt."

Beth Ann nodded, resolve settling into her eyes. "Okay, I agree. Let's get the bastard."

As Beth Ann and Shirley walked away towards their trailer, Billy Ray watched Jenson put Troy into his car.

Troy shot him an ugly look and Billy Ray flipped him off. He turned, following his wife and Shirley, shaking his head.

"I don't want to be you when you get out," he whispered at the disappearing squad car. "The only thing worse than one mad-as-hell woman is two of them joined together."

He shook his head. He needed a beer. He headed for his truck. The Amtrak was a hell of a lot safer than his home right now!

Chapter Fifteen

The pain was blinding as Mary Jo opened her eyes. The humiliation was even worse than the pain as she looked up and saw Beth Ann sitting beside the hospital bed. She closed her eyes again and hoped that Beth Ann hadn't seen that she was awake. She wanted to be alone, alone with the pain, the humiliation and the deep sadness that she was feeling.

What in the hell had she done this time to set Troy off? God knows she walked around on tiptoes all the time afraid to say or do anything that might rile him up. She had no friends to speak of. How could she? She could never have anyone over to her house, couldn't do anything with anyone, couldn't even talk to them on the phone because she was afraid of what Troy might do.

To start with when she had first moved to Grapevine after she and Troy were married, she had friends but they had slowly drifted away as Troy got worse and worse. Nobody could understand why she stayed with Troy and they didn't even know the half of what he did to her. She tried to hide her humiliation from everyone. She wanted no one to know how bad she really was. Surely she had to be a bad, bad person for Troy to beat her like he did! God knows he told her often enough how bad she was, how he hated to beat her but that he was doing it for her own good. Trying to straighten her out, he said.

She just couldn't figure out what had happened to Troy. He hadn't been this way when they first got married. She had thought he was her knight in shining armor come to take her away from back in the hills where she lived with her daddy and brothers. Her mother had died when she was very young, she only had her Daddy and brothers to love her. And love her they did! At least that's what they said they were doing when they would come to her bed at night - _loving her_. Somehow it hadn't felt like loving though. She was ashamed of the way they _loved_ her. She didn't know if any of the other girls she knew had daddies and brothers who loved them the way hers did. She was afraid to ask them. She had tried to tell her teacher one time but Daddy had lied when the teacher came calling. Daddy had beat her to within an inch of her life for talking to that teacher. He had said he would kill her if she ever talked to anybody about _that_ again. Said it wasn't none of their business what went on in _his_ house. He hadn't let her go back to school again either no matter how much she begged to go.

Then Troy had come along. He had come to buy some moonshine from Daddy and had taken a shine to her instead. He had told her she was beautiful. _Her beautiful?_ She knew better but it was sure nice to have someone think so anyway. Troy had asked her to marry him. She wanted to but she knew Daddy wouldn't let her. Boy, was she ever surprised when Daddy said yes. Must have had something to do with the baby she was carrying in her belly. Daddy told her that her baby needed a daddy and he damn sure couldn't be a daddy to her and the baby both!

She was glad anyway that Daddy had said she could marry Troy. Anything had to be better than Daddy and her brothers! And she did want to have a real daddy for her baby.

Tears slipped from underneath her eyelids and rolled silently down her cheeks as she thought about her poor baby. Troy had found out that she was going to have a baby and nearly killed her. He accused her of being a whore and a slut and running around with all the men in the hollow where she lived. How could she tell him that it was Daddy's baby? Maybe even one of her brothers' baby? She didn't know for sure. She just knew that she was going to have a baby, someone of her own, someone to love and to love her. She had lost the baby because Troy had just kept hitting her in the stomach and she couldn't stop him. Poor, poor little dead baby. Maybe it was better off dead though. At least it hadn't had to grow up with Troy for a daddy.

She would leave Troy if she could. But what would she do? She sure couldn't go back to Daddy. She didn't have sense enough to make it on her own. Troy had told her many times that she didn't have the sense God gave a billy goat. He had told her that she didn't even need to try to think about ever leaving him! He would track her down and kill her! She believed him too. He sure seemed like he was trying to kill her and she hadn't even tried to leave him!

A sob escaped from her throat and she couldn't hold it back.

***

Beth Ann jumped up from the chair and rushed over to the bed. "Oh, you poor thing, you!" she exclaimed. "Just look at your poor face!"

Mary Jo turned her head from Beth Ann's pitying eyes. She just wanted Beth Ann to go home and leave her alone. If it hadn't been for that damn Billy Ray jacking off at his computer when she had finally worked up enough nerve to go see Beth Ann, Troy would never have beat her this time!

"Do you want to talk about it, Mary Jo?" Beth Ann asked.

Mary Jo shook her head and wished she hadn't. The pain was so bad. Troy had never beat her this bad before.

"Here, let me wash your face," Beth Ann said as she went into the bathroom and got a washcloth and wet it with cold water. She came back to the bed and started wiping off Mary Jo's poor beaten face.

"No, Beth Ann," Mary Jo whispered through her cut lips. "Just please go home and let me alone!"

"Now, Mary Jo!" Beth Ann exclaimed. "I'm not going off and leave you alone here in the hospital!"

Mary Jo tried to sit up. A whimper escaped from her lips as the pain hit her. "Beth Ann, please understand," she begged. "I don't want you here when Troy comes!"

"Troy ain't coming here, Mary Jo. He's in jail! The cops came and took him away!"

"No! I've got to leave here." She struggled to sit up again and Beth Ann had to hold her to keep her from climbing out of the bed.

"Now, Mary Jo, you can't go no where! The doctor said you had to stay in the hospital for observation. Now just lay back down and rest easy."

"I can't, Beth Ann! I've got to go get Troy out of jail!"

"Why, Mary Jo? Why do you keep getting him out of jail? Why don't you just let his ass rot in there where he belongs?" Beth Ann exclaimed. "I just don't understand you, Mary Jo!"

"No one does, Beth Ann, no one does," Mary Jo whispered. "I had Troy arrested one time and he was home before I could even finish signing all the papers. The cops didn't keep him. They were his buddies. I thought Troy was really going to kill me that time when he came home! He got the gun out and I called the cops again. They came out to the trailer. Do you know what happened? Do you?" Mary Jo yelled the best she could through her bruised and cut lips. "He told them that he was just _cleaning his gun_! The cops just laughed and left, Beth Ann! Left me there with him all alone!"

"Well, you got friends, Mary Jo. We ain't going to let Troy beat on you no more!"

"Yeah, and what are you going to do to stop him, Beth Ann? Just what are you going to do! Nobody has stopped him all these years that I been married to him! What's changed now anyway that you say you ain't going to let him beat me no more? Where was everybody all these years that he's been doing this to me!" Mary Jo yelled. "Nobody has stopped him yet and nobody ever will! I wish I was dead!"

Beth Ann punched the call button frantically. Mary Jo was hysterical! She was going to hurt herself! Beth Ann waited for the nurse to come. No one was coming!

"Mary Jo, I gotta go get the nurse! Now you just calm down and stay in that bed! I'll be right back," she yelled over her shoulder as she raced for the door.

"Help, somebody help! I need a nurse in here!" she yelled out into the hall.

The nurse jumped up from the desk down at the end of the hall and came running. "What the hell is going on down here? What's all this yelling about? You know you can't be yelling like that here in the hospital!"

"Get the doctor, damn it, nurse! Mary Jo is going to hurt herself! She's trying to climb out of the bed!"

The nurse peeked her head in the door. Mary Jo was up! The nurse hurried over to her and forced her back into the bed. She turned to Beth Ann, "Go get that damn doctor now! I'll stay here with Mary Jo!" she yelled.

Beth Ann took off running down the hall frantically looking in all the rooms for the doctor. She found him at the next to the last room. She ran in and grabbed him. "Come on, Doc, you gotta come with me!"

"What are you doing, Beth Ann? Can't you see that I'm with a patient?" the doctor asked as he looked at her in astonishment.

"Doc, this is an emergency! Mary Jo is hysterical. The nurse is in her room now trying to hold her in the bed! Mary Jo says she's leaving! Says she's got to go get that mother fucking Troy out of jail!"

Beth Ann sat in the chair by Mary Jo's bed as she slept. She guessed you might could call it sleeping anyway. Mary Jo was still whimpering and tossing around in her sleep even after the sedative the doc had given her.

Poor Mary Jo.

Chapter Sixteen

'Stefan? Where are you, Stefan?'

Beth Ann stared at the screen but there was no answer from her Stefan. Damn! She had a couple of really juicy chapters finished and she wanted more. There was some kind of poetry in Stefan when he wrote to her. She felt as if he was reaching right through that screen and into her very heart. Not that she was attracted to him or anything. Hell, no! She had her love blossom, Billy Ray. No, there was just something in his words.

She reached for a cigarette and refilled her coffee cup. Her eyes fell across the words she had just typed and printed out. There was something oddly familiar with Stefan's latest exploits, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Oh, hell!" she shook her head as she lit her Capri. "I must be daydreaming."

But as she reviewed her work - editing they called it in the writing world - she felt like she knew these places he was mentioning. No, that couldn't be. She was sure that Stefan was a well-to-do man of the world. A lover and a gentleman. He would never know of the place or people in a small town named Grapevine. Would he?

"No damn way!" she muttered, blowing smoke into the air.

She sat back, feeling the satisfying high of the tobacco while she envisioned Stefan. She was sure he was tall and very handsome. Of course he had dark black hair, a pearly white smile and was built like that guy from the butter commercials. She chuckled, wondering what the gals at the Kut-N-Kurl would say if she strolled in with a man like him. Her dreams were pushed aside as she caught a glimpse of her wedding picture. Billy Ray was so young and handsome and she had been so pretty in that white dress. It had been a perfect day!

Putting out her Capri, she turned the computer off and decided to get Billy Ray's supper ready. He had planned to stop by the Amtrak tonight but he'd promised he would be home early. Of course the little wink she tossed his way when she lowered her robe and flashed him some skin didn't hurt either. She knew he would be hot and bothered all day and would be as good as his word at getting home. She had assured it!

***

Billy Ray stepped through the door of the Amtrak and headed for the bar. Gordie was already there and he pulled up a stool next to him.

"Shut off that damn music," Gordie motioned with his thumb over to the jukebox.

"Sure, been driving me crazy all day. Damn college kids." With a flick of the switch, Teddy Bear killed the box.

"What's happenin'?" Billy Ray asked, waving for a beer.

"Nothin' worth a damn." Gordie shook his head.

"Except for the news around town about Beth Ann and Shirley teaming up to get old Troy Finkmyer," Bear announced, placing a beer on the bar top. "Everyone in today was a'buzzin' about it."

Billy Ray sighed. "I know it sounds weird, but if you would have seen poor Mary Jo," he shook his head in added emphasis. "She was _really_ beaten up, fellas."

"That Troy is a mean little bastard," Bear agreed.

"I wouldn't want them two women pissed at me," Gordie chuckled, blowing smoke from his cigarette.

"I know," Billy Ray shook his head. "Two women who hate each other and now are united in a common goal. Scary, if you ask me."

"Hey," Gordie frowned, half turning on his seat. "Troy get out yet?"

"I ain't heard," Bear answered with a shrug.

"Better keep an eye on him, Billy Ray. He's sure to be pissed yet from what we did to him."

"Hell with him!" Billy Ray shook his head. "Besides, Beth Ann can take care of him."

***

'Stefan?'

Still no answer from him. Beth Ann shook her head and sat back, running her hand through her hair. Outside the sound of tires on gravel caught her attention. She stood and stepped to the window in the kitchen where she caught sight of the police car.

"Now what?"

Her breath caught as she watched Troy Finkmyer step from the passenger's side.

"How in the hell did he get out already?" She felt her hands ball up into fists. She wanted to take a piece out of his skinny ass right now! Ugly visions of torture and murder flooded her vision as she watched him bend over and smile into the police car. That is when she noticed it was Lizzie Porter, the town's one female cop.

"Bitch!" she murmured. She hated Lizzie since that time in school when she tried to get Billy Ray into the back seat of her daddy's car. When she had found out, she had caught that bleach blonde little slut and dragged her down the steps to the locker room. Once there she had pulled hair and punched that no good Lizzie until she couldn't even see straight. That was the last time she tried to talk to Billy Ray!

Troy was smiling sweetly and waving when Lizzie turned from the trailer park and headed off down the street. That was when Troy turned and made eye contact with her. Beth Ann could see the change in his face and the sudden mean look in his eyes. He straightened and rolled his shoulders as he turned her way, giving her his middle finger!

"Asshole!" she replied as she flipped him off right back.

With a sneer, he started across the park towards her.

"Son of a bitch!" she swore. The look in his eyes was that same glassy look he had that night he beat up Mary Jo. The same look like a damn rabid dog would have. She felt the breath catch in her chest. What should she do now? Billy Ray wasn't home yet and even if he drove a hundred miles an hour, Troy would be here before he could get home.

"Bastard ain't getting' me without a fight!"

She headed for the couch and slid her hand under it. Her manicured brightly painted nails raked the hard cold steel object underneath. Pulling it from under the couch, she checked the safety. It was ready to go and she stood, calming her nerves. Billy Ray had taught her how to shoot years ago and it looked like she may have to put it to use now.

"Come on, you in-bred bastard," she invited. "I got a present for you."

With the Beretta 9mm in her hands, she headed to the front door.

"Good day, ma'am."

Beth Ann almost shot them both dead. It was two of them religious folks with their pamphlets that say "Love the Lord" on them.

"You folks best be leaving," she warned, bringing the handgun up. Troy was almost in the front lawn now and he was picking up speed.

"You damn slut!" he yelled, his fist in the air. "I'm gonna teach you like I did Mary Jo!"

"The hell you will!" Beth Ann replied, with her finger on the trigger.

"You got no business giving her foolish ideas!" He reached for his belt, intent on using it on her too.

"Get out of the way!" she warned the strangers again.

"Good God Almighty!" the man shouted as he pushed the woman from the trailer steps.

When Troy pulled his belt from his pants, Beth Ann squeezed the trigger!

The bullet flew straight into the side window of the evangelist's car, shattering it.

"I'll kill you for shootin' at me!" Troy screamed. Beth Ann shot again and dirt flew up from his feet.

"You bitch!"

Beside the steps, the man and woman were trying to crawl under the trailer skirting.

Beth Ann fired again as Troy dove over the picnic table. Splinters flew as the bullets chewed into the painted wood. Troy tried to get to his feet but slipped and fell face first into the charcoal grill. He rolled as another bullet narrowly missed his body, sending dirt and grass into the air.

A loud sound broke through Beth Ann's haze as Nub Meeker sped around the trailer on his motorcycle. He had seen what was going on and wanted to help Beth Ann out.

Beth Ann was past the point of thinking, however, and fired at the fast moving bright object. Nub was sent reeling as he flew from the cycle. It slid across the lawn and right into the car of the two evangelists! Before she could stop herself, she fired again. This time she hit the motorcycle, punching a hole squarely through the gas tank. In horror, Nub crawled behind an old fender Billy Ray had left in the yard.

With a bright flash, the two vehicles both exploded!

Beth Ann dove back into the trailer as the blast shook it violently. Outside she could hear Troy screaming. Poking her head around the corner of the door, she could see him rolling on the ground. His clothes were burning and there was blood all over him.

"Damn!" she shook her head. Glancing around, she caught the eyes of the two evangelists.

"Howdy!" She waved the gun at them. Neither of them offered an answer as they watched Troy smoldering on the lawn!

***

The sirens wailed as the police cars and the fire trucks sped past the Amtrak.

"What in the hell is going on?" Teddy Bear asked, looking out the window.

A screech of tires sounded from the parking lot and Shirley Snodgrass, scanner in hand, sprinted through the door.

"Billy Ray, you'd better get home! Beth Ann has been shooting at Troy Finkmyer and there has been an explosion!"

"What? That bastard better not mess with my Beth Ann!"

In the blink of an eye the bar was empty as everyone headed for President Park!

***

By the time the boys reached the trailer park, it looked like a small war zone. The fire was out, but what appeared to be a black car with Nub Meeker's motorcycle smashed into it still smoked.

Troy Finkmyer was being tended to on the lawn. He had been hit by several large pieces of metal in the small of his back and his upper ass cheeks. It was clear he wouldn't be sitting down soon.

The police had done a quick investigation and believed the two holy rollers who claimed that Troy was the angry one out of control and Beth Ann was just defending herself. Of course Nub had agreed with that, adding that had Troy not been attacking her, he would have never been involved either.

Troy tried to claim he was the victim, but no one believed him at the moment. Except of course Lizzie Porter, who promised she would kiss it and make it better later.

***

"You okay, baby?" Billy Ray asked, taking Beth Ann in his arms.

"Yes, honey," she said, snuggling next to him but still shaking a bit.

"Sheeit!" Teddy Bear shook his head. "She shoots better than you do, Billy Ray."

"Yeah," Billy Ray beamed as he kissed her. "I guess maybe she does!"

"Of course you know I will need this for my article," Shirley said, patting her on the back.

Beth Ann nodded as she held onto Billy Ray.

"I taught him good," she said. "No good bastard!"
Chapter Seventeen

Thursday, September 28, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Bad things have been happening over at President Park! Bad, bad things! We _will_ name names here this time!

Mary Jo Finkmyer is in the hospital, beaten to within an inch of her life! The cops arrested her husband, Troy, and took him away in handcuffs. According to an eyewitness, Troy didn't go peacefully. He was kicking and screaming as the cops led him away. The eyewitness claims that Troy was yelling, "The cops won't keep me locked up for long! I know too much! I'll be back and you all had better watch out when I return!" For those of you who want to visit or send flowers to poor Mary Jo, she is in St. Jude Hospital in Richmond.

There was an explosion over at President Park yesterday afternoon. Strange happenings going on over there. A reliable source reports that Beth Ann Dixon killed Nub Meeker's motorcycle and a cop car! Beth Ann drilled Nub's motorcycle with Billy Ray's trusty Berretta 9mm. Seems our Beth Ann is a better shot than Billy Ray - she killed the motorcycle and the cop car with one bullet! Both vehicles went up in flames! Two evangelists narrowly missed being injured by hiding underneath Trailer No. 16. Troy Finkmyer was once again on the scene. Seems he was true to his word about the cops not keeping him locked up. Troy was the instigator behind the latest strange events at President Park. He came after Beth Ann and 'was going to take care of her just like he did Mary Jo," an eyewitness reported. Troy got the worst end of the deal (pun intended). It will be a long time before Troy can sit down comfortably after the doctors get through digging the shrapnel out of his 'sitting down place'.

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Beth Ann spewed coffee all over the table as she guffawed over Shirley's latest column. Damn but that Shirley was good at writing that stupid gossip column of hers! She still didn't like old Shirley but hey, gotta give compliments where they are due!

"Billy Ray," she yelled, "come here! You gotta read this!"

No answer. "Billy Ray, where the hell are you? Come read old Shirley's latest gossip column!" she yelled again. Silence. What the hell? What was that damn Billy Ray up to now? The last she had seen of him, he was still laying in bed. Said he wasn't going in to work today. Said he needed a day off. Well, hell, she needed a day off too but somebody had to work around here! Them damn bills just kept coming in whether anybody worked or not! It sure was romantic to eat by candlelight when the mood was upon them but not to have to because the electric bill hadn't been paid!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Beth Ann dove under the kitchen table! Who the fuck was outside her trailer shooting now? Had that stupid mother fucking Troy come back after her?

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Beth Ann crawled out from underneath the table and crept over to the window. Nothing in the front yard. The shots rang out again! Sounded like it was coming from the back yard! She crawled over and peeked out the back window.

That damn Billy Ray was shooting at something! What the hell was going on? She couldn't see what he was shooting at. She stood up slowly and looked out the window again. Nothing!

She raised the window and yelled out, "What's wrong, Billy Ray? Whatcha shooting at? Has that damn Troy been sneaking around here again?"

Billy Ray turned, Berretta in hand, and grinned at Beth Ann. "Hell, Beth Ann, that damn Troy is still in the hospital getting that shrapnel pulled out of his ass! In the same damn hospital as poor Mary Jo too! Just two doors down from her! Ain't that just ironic?"

"Well then what the hell you doing all that shooting for, Billy Ray?"

"Awww, baby, I'm target practicing. The gang's been teasing me about you being the better shot in this family. Can't have it said that I can't protect my woman, now can I?"

Beth Ann laughed. "I did do pretty good, didn't I, Billy Ray? All that target practicing you used to make me do must have paid off. Hell, I killed Nub's motorcycle, the cop car, wounded Troy and almost shot them two damned evangelists! Not bad for a damn blonde bimbo, huh?"

Billy Ray looked at her admiringly. "Not bad at all, baby, not bad at all! I'm damn proud of you, Beth Ann!"

"Aw shucks! T'weren't nothing!" Beth Ann laughed as she held up her forefinger and blew away the smoke from the imaginary gun.

***

Beth Ann picked up the phone and dialed Shirley's house. Damn, but it seemed strange calling up old Shirley. Hell they had been enemies for so long! Couldn't even remember why. Just the way it was. But they were on a mission together now. Had to save poor Mary Jo from her evil husband. _God, I hate that damn Troy Finkmyer! That sneaky little weasel faced bastard!_

"Hello?" she heard from the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Shirley, it's me, Beth Ann," she answered.

"What do you want, Beth Ann?"

"Well, hell, you don't have to bite my head off, Shirley! I thought me and you was going to team up and try to get that mother fucking Troy Finkmyer!"

"Oh yeah, right. Old habits are hard to break, Beth Ann. We have been enemies for so long it's hard to think we are on the same side now."

"Well same here, Shirley! I still don't like you but we don't have to like each other to accomplish this mission. Somebody's got to put that Troy away before he kills Mary Jo."

"I agree, Beth Ann. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, my Billy Ray gave me an idea this morning!"

"What?"

"He said that Troy was still in the hospital over in Richmond. I think today would be a good day to snoop around that damn shed of his out back of his trailer. If we wait, he'll be out of the hospital and back home. I have some appointments at the Kut-n-Kurl but I'm gonna call and cancel them. Want to join me in a little snooping, Shirley?"

"Great idea, Beth Ann! I just know something is going on out in that damn shed of his! We gotta find out what it is! Inquiring minds want to know!" Shirley laughed.

Shit, that damn Shirley's so bad after all!

"Well get your undercover snooping clothes on and get your ass on over here to my trailer, Shirley! We got work to do! We're on a mission!"

Chapter Eighteen

Troy took a second glance at the scribbled writing. It was the latest installment he would send to J'Lyne when he was bailed out.

"Damn!" he cursed, checking his watch. He had called Mrs. Friedmont two hours ago for that cash. If she wanted to continue riding in his cab, she'd better learn to be prompt. He was sure he would have to provide services for her in exchange for her posting his bail.

He smiled. That would be okay by him. Mrs. Friedmont was a wealthy and well-maintained widow. Her husband had been the eldest son of the lumber tycoon Ross Friedmont. Ross, Junior, however, had been found dead after a mysterious hunting accident in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Now a widow with more money than God, Jessica Friedmont played whenever or wherever she wanted and damn what the Baptists thought about it!

Her favorite plaything was Troy and he took advantage of it every time he could.

She knew, as did most of the town, about his wife but she didn't care about that either. In fact she enjoyed and preferred married men in her bed.

Putting her out of his mind, he refocused on the notes he was making for J'Lyne. This was a fresh story - replaying his encounter with that sweet little Bessy Coltrane, the daughter of the new school principal. Just eighteen, he had swooned her off of her feet last week and into his cab. A few six packs later and a short drive to the cabin by the lake and he had her head in his lap. Literally, as she gave him some of the best head he had ever experienced! Yes, she had turned out to be a damn nympho in sheep's clothing and he had enjoyed every minute of her young sweet body.

"My sweet J'Lyne will love hearing of this," he assured himself. He relayed every slight detail. He knew how J'Lyne liked the juicy stuff. The more intense and kinky he made it, the more she seemed to eat it up. He could picture her now, in her estate along the ocean somewhere as she read his emails.

"I bet she gets off on them," he whispered to himself. He could feel his manhood stirring as he thought of her. Sitting in her high-backed chair, he just knew she was wearing white lace. One hand on her keyboard and the other in her panties as she read his words.

He chuckled as the deputy stepped to his cell door.

"Okay, Troy," he said unlocking the door. "Bail is posted."

He smiled. It was time to meet Mrs. Friedmont.

She turned away from the window as he rolled over in bed.

"I've missed you."

He smiled as his eyes ran over her large round breasts. She was standing in the window, allowing the slight breeze to rustle against the silky robe she wore. He could catch glimpses of her pubic hair and he felt his erection growing. Mrs. Friedmont was a very sexy mature woman; any man would have wanted her. As she walked to the bed, Troy sighed. In his mind he became Stefan, the lover of many women!

She pushed him back while straddling him. Her hands folded around his head and with a sudden burst of strength, she pulled him into her breasts.

"Make me hot!" she demanded.

He ran his tongue across her hard nipples and he heard her moan softly. This reaction caused his own desire to rise even higher. He reached his hands around her firm round ass and pulled her even tighter to him as he sucked her nipples. His hand strayed to the spot between her thighs; she was hot and wet. He had rarely seen her this excited this fast.

"It is the growing talents of Stefan!" he told himself.

She was so turned on that the slightest brush of his hand caused her to shiver. Reaching back, she tore the sheets away from his waist and revealed his hard manhood. Adjusting herself with a quick movement of her slim hips, she lowered herself onto him.

"Yes," she panted, impaling herself onto him.

He winced as her painted nails bit into his shoulders.

"Yes, Troy!" she called out, tossing back her long hair.

His hands on her hips, he met her glazed look. "Call me Stefan," he directed.

Through her panting sighs, she smiled. "I like that," she leaned down, her hot breath on his neck. "Oh, yes, Stefan!"

Hearing his secret name for the first time, he felt a tremor pass through him. He grew even harder and the blood rushed to his brain. He felt as if he was the greatest lover in the world!

"Oh, my, Stefan!" she called out louder, her breaths in great gasps of air. "I love it, Stefan! Give it to me, Stefan!"

This was it. His fantasy coming true! If only this was his secret love J'Lyne on top of him!

***

"Okay," Shirley slipped on her black gloves. "I'm ready."

They stood in Beth Ann's kitchen, keeping an eye on Troy's trailer.

"How do I look?" Beth Ann asked, adjusting her scarf.

Shirley rolled her eyes. Beth Ann was dressed in her best imitation black leather coat, shiny black stretch pants and matching black headscarf. The fact that her trademark, blonde-teased hair, hung out of it did little to deter her.

"So much for being undercover," Shirley shook her head.

"Well, I can be fashionable even while spying," Beth Ann argued. Holding up a pair of shoes, she frowned. "Does one wear heels or flats while spying?"

"How about tennis shoes?" Shirley pointed out.

Beth Ann considered this. "Hell, no, Shirley." She did settle on the flats though, slipping them on.

"What do you suppose we are going to find?" she asked, adjusting her large boobs under her shiny black imitation-designer blouse.

Shirley shrugged. "I ain't got a damn clue, but there has to be something in that shed of his. I have a snoop here in the trailer park that reports he spends a lot of time there."

Beth Ann froze. "You got a snoop planted here in President Park?"

Shirley bit her lip. She didn't want Beth Ann to know that. "Yes, I guess so."

"You sure are a bitch, Shirley."

"Well, I can't help it, Beth Ann. Hell, inquiring minds want to know!"

Beth Ann shook her head. "I guess so," she relented, clipping on two of her finest imitation Gucci earrings.

"Let's go before somebody shows up."

Dressed in black, one fashionably and the other in a simple sweat suit, they started across the lot.

***

Nub Meeker was working on the engine of his new motorcycle. Well, almost new. It was a dandy 1984 Kawasaki 440. He had bought it off of Peter Drexel down at the Amtrak last night for three hundred bucks. A damn good deal, he thought at the time.

Changing the oil, he glanced up. Across the lot he could see two women. The second was obviously Beth Ann; you could see that blonde hair clearly. Ahead of her, he recognized Shirley Snodgrass; the camcorder in her fat little fist gave her away.

_What in the hell are they up to now?_ He was almost going to get up and ask until his eyes caught the burned up remains of his cherished Honda. _Hell, no! Whatever them two is up to, I don't want none of it!_ Tossing his wrenches aside, he went into his trailer for a beer _. Better not to know at all!_

***

Next door to the Finkmyer trailer, Janet Higgins put her binoculars to her eyes a second time. She watched the two figures cross the lot and snatched up her pencil.

_Let's see here, 10:00 am on Tuesday. Two mysterious-how do you spell that? Oh, hell! I'll just write it close._ She scribbled quickly in her notepad. "I got to find out what is going on here," she told her cat as the feline rolled about on the recliner. "I think there may be something weird happening."

Buttoning up her housecoat, she pulled up her knee-high socks and slipped into her worn shoes. Quickly she checked her hair and pushed the loose ends up under the hair net and the curlers. It was time to get on the job. Shirley Snodgrass counted on her to keep an eye on President Park and no one could ever say Janet Higgins was sleeping on the job!

"Stay here, Stripes," she directed the cat. "Momma has some work to do."

With her notebook and binoculars in tow, she headed out the door.

***

Across the lot, Nub stepped from his trailer, tossing the empty beer can into the growing aluminum pile. With a loud burp, he scratched under his left arm and froze! Across the lot he could see that nosy Janet Higgins in her housecoat and knee-highs as she followed Beth Ann and Shirley.

"I never should have gotten out of bed this morning," he told himself. "I better get another beer!"

***

Following Shirley's wide ass, Beth Ann almost tripped as they crossed the Finkmyer's lawn.

"Be quiet!" Shirley whispered.

"Oh, Shirley, it is goddamn day time out here. Who in the hell do you think we are hiding from?"

Shirley paused. "I don't know," she shrugged.

"Me?"

The voice caused the two women to jump.

"Jesus Christ, Janet!" Shirley swore. "Why are you sneaking up on us?"

"Yeah," Beth Ann added. "Almost made me pee my pants."

Janet shrugged. "I was just doing like you told me, Shirley. I was reporting mysterious happenings and all."

Beth Ann glared at Shirley. "This is your goddamn snoop?"

Shirley nodded.

"Hell, she is about legally blind!" Beth Ann giggled.

"I see well enough to keep up on you and Billy Ray," Janet replied.

Beth Ann stopped giggling. "Old bitch!" she swore under her breath.

"Come on, you two; let's get to work." Shirley stepped to the front of Troy's shed.

"Damn big lock on that door," Janet observed.

Beth Ann opened the duffle bag she had been carrying. "Let me at it with this." She held up one of Billy Ray's ball peen hammers.

"Yeah, Beth Ann, give it a whack!" Shirley agreed.

Beth Ann wound up and struck the lock with all of her strength. It didn't break or even budge. Hell, she barely left a mark on it!

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath. "Let me try again."

This time she hit it a bit off center. The hammer flew away and out of her hands, landing in the soft dirt.

"Damn! It won't break!" Shirley scratched her head.

"My damn fingernail did, though," Beth Ann said as she examined the damage. "One of them expensive designer ones, too."

"Oh, hell, Beth Ann, everyone knows you wear the cheapest imitation of a 'good' anything they make," Janet said.

Shirley nodded in agreement.

"So what, anyway? What are we gonna do now?"

The three women looked at each other, but no one really knew what their next step should be.

"Oh, screw this!" Shirley said. "Let's get out of here before somebody sees us."

"Oh, all right," Beth Ann gave in. "But Janet, you keep an eye on Troy Dickless and he if he does anything suspicious, you give us a call."

"Oh, I will," Janet nodded seriously. "I will be on top of it all."

***

That night Troy arrived home and he could barely wait to get his newest adventures off to J'Lyne. He ran to the shed but as he neared it, he stopped cold. Someone had been messing with his secret place!

_Who the hell?_ He looked about. It could not have been Mary Jo; she was still in the hospital. He looked across the lot, from trailer to trailer, until his eyes settled on Beth Ann's.

"Okay, you little slut," he growled. "Mess with my shit, huh?" He spun on his heel and headed back for his cab. He would send his message to J'Lyne through the computer at work. And as far as that fucking Beth Ann, he would get even with her yet!

Chapter Nineteen

Beth Ann stared out the kitchen window as she sat at her desk. She could see the trees out back and, if she leaned forward and a little bit to the right, she could see that damn shed of Troy's. She leaned back and swirled around in her brand new office chair - _Well OK, the damn thing wasn't brand new but it's new to me. I bought it down at the Goodwill Store. Rumor was it had belonged to old lady Freidmont but who gave a shit if that horny bitch had used it first!_ \- and looked around the kitchen. Looked mighty damn strange without no kitchen table in it. But hell, she had to have a place to work, didn't she? It had been getting mighty old working off the fucking kitchen table and her papers getting spattered with grease off the fried chicken! Hell, her and Billy Ray ate in the living room if front of the TV most of the time anyway. Billy Ray was going to have a shit fit though when he came home and seen what she had done. _Fuck him! I'm gonna be a famous author and need my space!_

She picked up the growing stack of papers on her desk and smiled proudly. Her novel was growing. She was really writing a book! Just look at all them papers! She separated out the last chapter she had just finished writing and started reading it again to see if it was as really good as she had thought when she wrote it. She had gotten the idea for it from something Stefan had sent her. She smiled as she read. It _was_ as good as she had thought.

I heard your vehicle pull up into the driveway. I quickly went into the bedroom, dimmed the lights and turned the music down low, barely hearing it - just a refrain drifting across the room. I went over and sat on the edge of the bed, leaned down and whispered, "He is here, keep quiet and don't let him know you are here. It is his birthday and this is my gift to him." I barely heard the soft laugh and the reply, "I think he is going to be really surprised at this!"

I met you at the door. I smiled at you and whispered, "Happy birthday, my love." I hugged you and kissed you lightly. You kissed me back, trying to deepen the kiss. I pulled away from you and smiled. I took your hand and led you into the dimly lit bedroom.

I had incense burning - seductively spicy, expensive incense from the Far East that I had bought when I was in Japan. I had been saving it for a special occasion and this sure was a special occasion! Far Eastern music was playing softly, tantalizingly, as it filtered across the room to us. The lights were dim, just enough light for us to barely see each other. I had on my robe, your favorite one - the silky red one with the dragon on the back that I bought when I was in Thailand.

_I led you on through the bedroom and into the bathroom. The garden tub was filled with bubbling water, the scent of the Patchouli oil fragrance with its musky, spicy, sexy, unique smell filling the room. On the side of the garden tub were three small_ _glasses filled with saki, the Japanese rice drink. You look at me with a puzzled look on your face, as if to ask, why three glasses? I did not answer your look._

I stood in front of you and pressed my body against yours. Again you tried to hold me, kiss me, but I pulled away again. I shook my head slightly and winked at you.

I unbuttoned your shirt and pulled it off. I unfastened your belt and your pants, my look indicating for you finish undressing. I looked at you in the dim light, admiring your well-muscled body. I ran my hands over your body, lightly, teasingly, my fingernails scraping your skin.

Your cock jumped up in reply and my attention was drawn to it. It was standing up so proudly looking at me, wanting me. I kneeled down before you on eye level with it. I reached out and touched the tip of it with my finger, ever so slightly. It jumped again and tried to follow my hand as I took it away. I leaned forward, barely licking it with the tip of my tongue. I took the tip of my tongue and inserted it into that little hole at the end of it, lightly, teasingly. You moaned and pulled my head closer to you, trying to get me to take you into my mouth.

I looked up at you in the dim light. The look of desire on your face was wonderful - your eyes watching me, your teeth biting your bottom lip to keep from begging me to take you into my mouth. My desire was growing by leaps and bounds - wanting all of you in my mouth. I opened my mouth and barely took you in - you pushed, wanting me to take all of you. I pulled away, taking you out of my mouth. I cupped your balls in my hands, squeezing them slightly. I leaned forward again and your cock was there - wanting my mouth, begging for my mouth. Instead I nuzzled your balls, smelling your slightly musky smell of desire. I licked them, took one in my mouth and sucked. You almost cum. I pulled away, not wanting you to cum just yet. I stood up; you were trembling with desire for more, begging for more!

I whispered, "Get in the tub."

You got in, settling back into the hot, bubbling, fragrant water. I sat on the edge of the tub, leaned over and kissed you.

" _I will be right back; be sure to keep your eyes closed. I have a surprise for you," I whispered. As I left the room, I glanced back at you. You were leaned back against the tub, your eyes closed._

I came back into the room; you still had your eyes closed. I went over to you and lightly ran my finger over your lips. You opened your eyes and looked at me. My friend stepped into your line of vision.

My friend had on a matching robe to mine only hers was dark blue. You looked at me and smiled. My friend and I sat down on the edge of the tub.

I picked up the saki glasses, handing you one and my friend one. I took the other.

" _A toast," I smiled, "a toast to my lover on his birthday."_

We downed the saki, the fiery liquid burning all the way down to our stomachs as we swallowed. We put out glasses down. You looked at me, wondering what was going to happen next. I winked at you, looked over at my friend and smiled.

My friend and I stood. I untied my robe and it slid off my body to the floor. I turned, untied my friend's robe, and it too slid to the floor. We both stood before you, naked.

We turned, putting our arms around each other and hugged, our hands caressing each other, our mouths meeting in a slow lingering kiss. We looked over at you - you were watching us, a look of intense desire on your face. You wanted us to join in you but you had an equal desire to see what we were going to do next.

We stepped into the tub, my friend and I, sinking down into the water at the end of the tub opposite from you.

I looked over at Lacy - her long black hair pinned up, her deep blue eyes sparkling, her breasts floating on the water. She was beautiful. I reached over and caressed one of those large breasts, pinching the nipple. I leaned over and took it into my mouth, sucking gently as my other hand found her other breast. She ran her fingers through my hair, pulling my head close to her. She lifted my head, leaned down and kissed me - our tongues tangling as we kissed, moaning in our desire for each other; our breasts were smashed together as we embraced.

We pulled back, smiling into each other's eyes tenderly. It felt good to be together again. It had been too long since the last time we had managed to make love with each other and we wanted each other badly.

We looked down at the end of the tub where you lay in the water, watching us. Your cock was rising up out of the water with just the tip poking out. Lacy and I looked at each other and laughed. We could wait; it was your birthday and we had a gift for you.

We moved down to the end of the tub where you were. You looked from one to the other of us. I smiled at you.

" _Baby, I think it's time I introduced my friend to you. Brad, this is Lacy, my best friend, my very special best friend."_

I looked at Lacy and grinned. "Lacy, this is my lover that I was telling you about. He is very special to me."

" _Nice to meet you, Brad," Lacy whispered._

" _Nice to meet you too, Lacy. Verrrry nice to meet you," you answered._

Lacy was the exact opposite of me. I was fair skinned with short blonde hair and light blue eyes. Lacy was of a slightly darker complexion, had long black hair and deep blue eyes. Our bodies were different too. My breasts were large but Lacy's were even larger. My waist was small and my hips flared out in an hourglass figure. Lacy's waist was larger but her hips were smaller than mine. Other than her very large breasts, she had a slightly boyish figure. But never fear, she was all woman!

We lathered the soap in our hands and began washing you - caressing your body, teasing you. I leaned down and kissed you, my tongue playing with yours. The kiss deepened into a tongue-sucking, passionate, endless kiss. I tried to pull away but you grabbed me, pulling me close, not letting me go this time.

Lacy's hand trailed down your body, past your stomach and lingered at the juncture of your thighs. She took your hard cock in her hand and began playing with it - moving her hand on it, up and down.

I managed to pull away from you and Lacy's lips took my place at your mouth. I gently removed her hand from your cock and straddled you.

I stopped with your cock at my entrance, took it in my hand and rubbed it against my pussy- your cock giving me the lubrication that the water had stolen from me. I eased down on you - you filled me, I could fill you throbbing and hard in me. My inner muscles answered you. I began moving on you, riding you, up, down, around in circles, fast, slowing up, varying the speed of our movement.

You pulled Lacy close to you, hugged her to your body, her breasts flattened against your chest. I reached up and rubbed her back, my hand trailing down her body. I found her mound, my fingers tangling in her hair. I discovered her little sensitive spot and ran my finger over it, hearing her gasp into your mouth. I massaged it in little circles - then my finger found her entrance. I inserted my finger into her - she was so wet. As I rode you, I moved my finger around in her.

I felt you tighten up - you were almost ready. I felt Lacy's muscles grabbing at my finger as I worked her. My climax was building - almost there!

Suddenly I felt you, your scalding hot juices exploding in me; it triggered me and I cum too, my juices flowing out onto your cock, joining in with your juices. Lacy squirmed against my hand; I felt her juices flowing onto my hand, her muscles contracting.

I was lost in sensation, pure unadulterated lust - flying, falling, it could have been eternity, it could have been only a moment, I don't know.

I was drained and collapsed against your chest. Lacy rolled over to your side; you held her within the circle of your arm while you other arm went around me, pulling me close to you. I was relaxed, satisfied at last. You were still in me, soft and spent.

I looked up at you and smiled. You leaned down and kissed me gently, then turned your head and softly kissed Lacy. We lay in the water, the fragrant bubbling water. I felt you stroking my hair.

" _Happy birthday, my love," I whispered._

***

_Shit, look at the damn time! We're gonna be late!_ Beth Ann picked up the phone and dialed.

"Shirley, are you ready for us to go pick up Mary Jo at the hospital?" she asked.

Chapter Twenty

Troy drove into the small gravel driveway and stepped from the cab. He had stopped at home for supper tonight because Mary Jo had promised to cook something he really liked. Besides he was a bit low on cash and didn't want to pay to eat somewhere else. It took every bit of strength he could muster to walk in and make nice with her. After all, the damned bitch had begged for her beating. It just wasn't fair that he was the one who had paid for it all. Two nights in jail and getting shot at by that bitch Beth Ann! Damn! It was almost too much for a man!

"Hi, Troy," she smiled in a quiet, subdued way. "I made your favorite - pork chops and gravy with mashed potatoes."

He smiled, but even he knew it was a weak attempt. "Sounds good, Mary Jo," he answered, tossing off his hat and slipping into his chair.

"Want a beer, honey?"

He nodded. "Sure. I don't need to be sober to drive that damn cab. Maybe I won't even go back in tonight."

A slight hint of a smile crossed her face. "Maybe we could watch the late movie together."

He almost laughed at her, but the sight of her standing there, wringing her hands in her apron and waiting for his answer got to him.

"Yeah, maybe we can," he answered as she handed him a cold beer. "How long until it's ready?"

She checked the contents of the steaming pots. "About a half-hour, honey."

He sipped from his beer and stood. "I got some work in the shed. Be back in time to eat though."

"Okay, honey."

She was speaking to his back. He was already out of the trailer door and heading for his sacred computer.

"I swear, she just don't get it," he mumbled as he removed the lock from the shed door. He had replaced the dented one with a brand new heavier-duty model. Whoever had tried to get in would never succeed the next time, and if he caught the no good son-of-a-bitch, they were freaking dead! Looking around behind him, he stepped into the shed.

_Oh, it has been a long day._ He sighed, reaching for his cape and fedora. _It's time for old Stefan to light up the cyber waves, or space, or whatever they call it._ He sat down in his folding chair and slid the brand new rose-tinted glasses onto his face. He had seen a pair just like them in an old disco movie and decided Stefan should definitely have some. He took a moment as the computer hummed to life to sit back and check himself in the full-length mirror. Adjusting the fedora so it was tilted just right, he decided that the glasses were the ultimate touch. _I have to say, old boy, you are the hottest thing I ever did see._

He had a special message for J'Lyne tonight and couldn't wait to get clacking away on the keys. This story involved the very sexy wife of Dray Kasten. She was only two years younger than Troy and had a tremendous craving for sex. She claimed that Dray had pretty much lost what sexual prowess he had possessed and didn't as much a take a gander at her anymore. Now Troy had a problem with this philosophy; you see, Dorothy Kasten was freaking hot!

_I can't believe that old boy don't want to climb all over her._ He shook his head as he punched in J'Lyne's e-mail address.

He paused a bit; if Dray ever found out, he was sure it would be ugly. Dray was 6'6" of solid muscle and nasty attitude. He worked for the railroad and drove spikes all freaking day. Troy wondered if he even used a hammer or just his fists.

Piss on him. I been giving Dorothy all she can handle. Hell! She probably would have left that dummy by now if it wasn't for me poking her.

Cracking his knuckles, he began to compose the latest great exploit of 'Stefan the Lover'.

'My dear J'Lyne,

I met her in the late morning. She was standing on the side of the road as I cruised by in my dark green Jaguar convertible _(can't say it was the cab)_ and stopped, opening the door. Of course I could see the length of her thigh as it was revealed in the slit of her skirt.

"I need a ride," she said in a cool tone of voice.

"Slide in, sweet mama," I invited as I lit one of my Cuban cigars. "I will drive you to any destination you request."

"You don't have to go to work?" she asked.

"Of course not, my dear, for I am Stefan, the great lover of many women." Blowing smoke, I smiled at her. "I make it my job to love women."

Of course she was impressed and we drove to my nearest secret retreat in the secluded foothills of the Swiss Alps. _(That ought to impress J'Lyne.)_

We lit a fire and snuggled on the love seat as we sipped the finest brandy _. (Of course it was Cold Duck and we sat on the edge of the motel bed.)_

And, my dear J'Lyne, when I made love to her, she begged me for more. In her gasping, heavy breath she begged me not to stop. As a gentleman, of course I complied. I brought her to many shuddering orgasms until she lay upon the bed, a great quivering mass of flesh.

Oh, dear J'Lyne, I shall finish this story later. How did you like my last story, my love? Did you enjoy the two women and the very lucky man in the scene? I pray that you did. I must go now, but I will tell you more soon.

Stefan'

He sat back, delighted with his brief work. From outside he could hear Mary Jo call and he hit the send button.

_Another fine Stefan adventure_. He chuckled as he removed his costume and headed into the house.

***

"So," Gordie said as he drained another Pabst. "Rumor has it Beth Ann is writing a book."

Billy Ray stopped, his beer halfway to his mouth. "I guess so."

"What's she writing about?" Pinto asked.

"I don't know. She don't show me none of it," Billy Ray shrugged.

"Why not?" Teddy Bear asked, leaning heavily on the bar top.

Billy Ray blinked; he didn't know.

"Go get a chapter or so and bring it back here," Pinto suggested.

"Yeah," Teddy Bear agreed. "I want to hear what she's come up with."

Glancing around, he saw the looks on their faces. Some were curious and some were daring him.

"Oh, all right!" He slammed his beer down on the bar. "I'll be right back."

When he wheeled into the driveway, he noticed that Beth Ann was still gone. Of course, he remembered, she had her late night tonight. He dashed into the trailer and hurried down the hall to her new computer room, or office, as she referred to it. He saw a stack of papers on the top of the printer and snatched them up.

_This looks like her latest._ He carefully placed them inside a folder and stuffed them under his arm. As he drove back to the Amtrak, part of him was aware that he might be doing the wrong thing. What if she was really terrible and the boys all laughed at her? Of course he would never hear the end of it. On the other hand, maybe it was really good. Swallowing hard, he drove into the parking lot and hoped for the best. A weaker man would have simply left right then and there, but Billy Ray decided they would never see him run. Besides, he was kind 'a proud of Beth Ann, whether her writing sucked or not, at least she was trying. And that was a hell of a lot more than he could say about most of the losers in this town!

He took his place back at the bar as Teddy Bear placed a fresh Bud within his reach.

"Okay, boys. Gather around," he announced, holding up the papers.

Soon they were around him, holding their beers and listening as he opened the folder and picked up the first page.

" _I heard your vehicle pull up into the driveway. I quickly went into the bedroom and dimmed the lights and turned the music down low, barely...."_

After he finished, he placed the pages down carefully.

"Jesus Christ!" Pinto swore softly.

"Yeah," someone else echoed. "I never even drank from my beer the whole time he was reading."

"Shit! We didn't know she was that damn good!" Teddy Bear shook his head, collapsing back onto the barstool. "I think I need a cigarette."

Several of the women that were seated across from him wiggled in their chairs. "I would barely believe that kind of writing from Beth Ann," one said. "She can barely read the back of a cake mix box."

"I thought so, too," another woman agreed. "But I guess she has been foolin' us all along."

Billy Ray reached for his beer. He had gotten pretty dry with all of this reading.

"I think I'm gonna go home and see my wife," Pinto said sliding from his stool.

"Yeah, me too," another man agreed.

Billy Ray frowned as he glanced from the folks around him to the papers under his arm. Beth Ann's words had an effect on them! As he finished his beer, he started to wonder if maybe his wife _could_ become a great author!

***

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Beth Ann cursed under her breath as she searched her new desk. The last chapter had disappeared!

"If someone has been messing with my book, they're going to die, slow and painfully as possible," she promised.

Outside she heard the crunching gravel and saw the lights from Billy Ray's truck.

"Hey, baby! I'm home!" he called out. She heard the slamming of the screen door.

"Oh, Billy Ray!" she cried, hurrying to the kitchen. "Some no good bastard..." She froze, seeing the folder of papers in his hand. "Oh, this had better be damn good!" she snarled.

Billy Ray smiled widely as he handed the folder to her.

"You ain't gonna believe this," he announced, walking to her and giving her a wet sloppy kiss.

"And you ain't gonna live if you don't do some fast talkin', mister."

He didn't flinch at her words and as she looked closer, she could see a strange glazed look in his eyes. "What in the hell is going on?"

"Well, the boys down at the Amtrak were kidding me about your book. I wanted to defend your honor, baby, so I took this part down and read it to them."

She stepped back, regarding him like a cat watching a goldfish in its bowl. "And?"

"They loved it, baby. Your writing had them caught like deer in the headlights!"

"Oh, bullshit!" She shook her head.

"Yeah, baby. Hell, Gordie didn't drink from his beer the whole time I was readin' it and Pinto went home early to his wife."

At this Beth Ann froze. "What? Pinto don't ever go home early, Billy Ray."

"Tonight he did."

She stared at the pages in her hand. "Goddamn!" she whispered. "If I can make Pinto go home early, I can do anything."

Billy Ray caught her in his arms again. "That's what I figure, baby. And guess what? They all want more!"

Beth Ann felt her knees weaken. "I better get going on it then," she agreed.

"I'll call for a pizza, baby. You get right on in there and go to work."

Beth Ann felt tingles along her spine. She couldn't believe this was really happening to her!

Chapter Twenty One

Beth Ann hit "save," closed out the file and turned her computer off. She groaned as she leaned back in her chair and stretched. Her back was killing her _._ She glanced at the kitchen clock as she stood up and put the pages of the latest chapter in the file and locked it away in the desk drawer. _No way that damn Billy Ray is gonna get at my precious papers again without my permission!_ Damn! The clock read 1:43 a.m.! No wonder her back hurt! She had been sitting at the computer for hours. It was really strange how time just slipped away when she was working on her novel. Her Beth Ann personality just disappeared and the persona of Bethany Dickerson just took her mind over. It was like she was two separate people - plain old dumb blonde bimbo Beth Ann Dixon and famous author Bethany Dickerson. _Better not mention that to anyone around Grapevine! They would be sending the men in the white coats over to net me and take me away to the funny farm!_

She walked into the living room. The TV was still going strong but Billy Ray was not. He was asleep on the couch, watching TV through his eyelids. He always said some of his best sleep was when he was watching TV.

Beth Ann grinned as she thought about how surprised Billy Ray had been that the guys down at the Amtrak had liked her book. He said they had all been panting for more! Damn that did her little ole' heart good to hear that! Hell, she knew her book was good, but now she had verification of her hard work! _Now maybe old Billy Ray won't think I am just playing around on the computer!_

She covered Billy Ray up with a blanket and left him asleep on the couch. She was too keyed up to go to bed, even though she was exhausted. Her mind was still racing and, if truth be known, her body was still tingling from writing that last steamy chapter. She was so turned on from writing that latest sexual escapade Stefan had e-mailed her about! _Too bad Billy Ray's asleep! If he was awake, I'd fuck his brains out!_

She went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Damn wasn't there anything in there to drink but Billy Ray's stupid old beer? She wanted _something_ to drink but it sure wasn't beer! She shut the refrigerator door and opened the pantry door to see what was in there. She spied the hot chocolate mix. _Yeah, that sounds good! Just what I need to relax._ She put on the teakettle and went to change clothes while the water was heating up.

When she came back into the kitchen all bundled up in her flannel pjs and her favorite fuzzy robe, the teakettle was whistling. She made the hot chocolate, grabbed her pack of cigarettes and headed out onto the back patio with the steaming cup of hot liquid. Didn't want to wake up Billy Ray. He needed his sleep. He was being so sweet to her now that he thought she might actually have what it took to become an author!

_Damn, it's cold out here! Wouldn't be long till we have some snow!_ She shivered even through the warmth of the flannel pjs and the warm fuzzy robe. The steaming hot cup of chocolate felt good to her cold hands. _Maybe I oughta go inside and grab a blanket to snuggle up in. Aww shit, I'm too tired to move._

She leaned back and tried to relax as she sipped the hot chocolate. _Full moon tonight. All kinds of weird things happened when there's a full moon. Never failed. Speaking of weird things, that damn Troy is about as weird as they come! Poor Mary Jo had to live with the son of a bitch!_ _I'd have killed that no good bastard long ago if it was me married to him!_ _I wouldn't put up with no shit from him like Mary Jo does!_

She got up and walked over to the railing, leaned over and looked down through the back yards to that fucking shed out back of Troy's trailer. _Wonder what that no good bastard is up to in that precious shed of his?_ _I know he ain't up to no good out there! I'm gonna find out what he's up to if it's the last thing I do! Might be, too, if that fucker catches me snooping around! I bet he wouldn't think twice about killing me! He's just plain out old mean!_

The shed was in total darkness. Not that there was any windows in it for light to shine through anyway _. Bet old Troy doesn't know that I can always tell when he's out there in that shed at night anyway._ She laughed. _Bet he don't know about that little crack in the vinyl siding on the side of the shed facing our back yard._ The crack was just big enough to allow a pinprick of light to come shining through. _Hey, now that's a thought!_ _Wonder if I could make that little crack just a teeny-weeny bit bigger?_ _Just enough to peek through it, but not big enough for Troy to notice! Do I dare? Hell, nobody ever called Beth Ann Dixon a chicken!_

She set the hot chocolate cup down and put out her cigarette. _Hell, time was awasting!_ She went back into the kitchen and rummaged around in the junk drawer trying to find something she could use to make that damn crack bigger. _Nothing!_ _Hell, I'll just use the biggest butcher knife I've got then. That oughta work!_

She grabbed the butcher knife and the little penlight flashlight that she had found in the junk drawer and went back out onto the patio. Still dark over in Troy's back yard. _Do I dare do this?_ _God, I'm trembling I'm so scared! But as old fat-assed Shirley Snodgrass loved to say, 'Inquiring minds want to know!!'_

She inched down the patio steps and across their dark backyard in her best James Bond style with the little light of the flashlight shining out before her. _I'm on a mission!_

All right! Made it to the edge of their backyard with no interference! Just had to get safely across Imma Jean's backyard and then she would be in the enemy territory! _Damn good thing there weren't no fences separating the backyards in President Park!_

Her fuzzy slipper caught on something and down she went, flat on her face! _What the fuck was that? Damn, I lost the flashlight!_ She groped around in the dark searching for it. _It's a wonder I didn't stab myself with that stupid butcher knife!_ Her hand felt something, but it was too big to be that little penlight flashlight. _God damn fucking rake!_ _Who was stupid enough to leave a goddamn rake out in the yard, just waiting for somebody to trip on it? I can't find the flashlight! Should I go back to her trailer and forget about this stupid mission? Hell, no! I've come this far and I ain't_ _about to quit now!_ She sat in the darkness wondering how to proceed. _Shit, I can see in the light from the full moon!_ _Don't need no damn flashlight to complete this mission!_

She got up and brushed the leaves off her fuzzy robe and glanced around. Still no sign of life; all was quiet in the neighborhood. Finally she reached the edge of Imma Jean's yard. She crossed over into enemy territory. The thrill of adventure filled her as she snuck quietly through Troy's backyard in her best spy fashion.

There was the shed! She reached out and touched the vinyl siding, trying to find that little crack in the dark. She cut her finger on it and almost screamed in pain! _Fucking shit! God damn that hurt!_ She stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked the blood away trying not to cry. _Spies don't cry!_

She set to work with the butcher knife. Little by little that old crack was getting bigger. Just a little bit more and she would be able to see inside!

Something cold and wet touched her foot and she screamed! _What the fuck was that?_ The lights came on in Troy's trailer! All the dogs in the neighborhood, including the mutt that had licked her foot, set up a howl! The lights in Imma Jean's trailer came on. _Fucking shit, the lights in all the trailers are coming on!_ She was caught! _Troy will kill me if he caught her messing around his precious shed!_

She threw down the butcher knife and ran for dear life back towards the safety of her trailer and Billy Ray! First thing you know, she was flat on her face again, laying in Imma Jean's backyard, fuzzy slippers lost. _God damn fucking rake! I'm gonna kill that Imma Jean!_

She looked back and here came Troy at a dead run, flashlight and gun in hand!

"Billy Ray! Billy Ray! Help me!" she screamed desperately. "Oh God, help me!" _What the fuck have I gotten myself into this time? Oh Billy Ray, come save me, please! God, if you'll get me out of this jam, I promise never to set foot in Troy's yard again!_ "Billy Ray, wake your ass up and get out here and save me!"

Chapter Twenty Two

As the piercing screams echoed through the trailer court, a sequence of events was set in motion that would rock Grapevine for weeks.

Janet Higgins was the first to hear the spine-chilling screams. She clicked off 'The Late Show' and bolted for the window. In her hurry to get her nose into the middle of the action, she tripped over her sleeping cat and lost her footing. Slamming hard into the small desk by the window, she broke her fall but not before striking her face against its sharp corner. Slightly dazed but determined to be in on the action, she climbed to her feet, feeling warm blood in her mouth.

_No time for pain,_ she reminded herself. _Inquiring minds want to know!_ With Shirley's war cry emblazoned across her mind, she peered out the window. There was Beth Ann sprawling about Imma Jean's lawn with her bathrobe on and her bare-assed legs thrashing in the air!

I ain't sure what this is about but I bet Shirley'll want to know!

Snatching her note pad and special box camera she reserved for news reporting, she headed for the door. Before bolting outside, she paused long enough to hit the beeper Shirley had given her!

***

Beth Ann rolled around but could not get her damn legs free! The rake was entangled in her robe and caught in her legs. She couldn't stand up without tripping and she sure as hell couldn't get it untangled. Her slippers were gone and she was covered in grass and mud.

"God damn it, Billy Ray!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Getting both hands onto the rake handle, she tugged. Something sharp bit into her ass!

"Ouch, damn it!"

It was the rake's teeth - their blunt edges driving through her imitation Lauren robe and into her round but firm rear end!

_Oh, this is pissing me off!_ Angry, she glanced at Troy's trailer. The lights were on and she could see him by the door - a flashlight and a pistol in his hands!

Troy glared across the lawn to where Beth Ann rolled around trying to get to her feet.

_Finally I got that bitch,_ he sneered _. Caught her trespassing and now I got the right to shoot her down!_ He paused. He needed some evidence that she was on his property! His eyes searched the dark lawn. There it was, a fuzzy slipper just on the end of his property line!

"Okay, bitch, now I get even!" Snapping on the flashlight, he started across the lawn. As tangled up as she was, he would be able to walk right up and put her out of her misery!

***

Shirley Snodgrass had just filled her tank with gas at the Stop and Go when her beeper went off. The number came up.

'911-12.' That was her code for an emergency from Janet at President Park. Sprinting for the store, she bolted through the door.

"How much?" she asked the startled clerk.

"$16.50."

"Here." She tossed a twenty onto the counter.

"What about your change?" he asked.

"I ain't got time, sonny! Inquiring minds want to know!"

Confused, he watched her bolt out of the store and across the lot. It was a grotesque exhibition because she waddled more than ran. Her fat ass wiggling around turned his stomach.

_That will give me nightmares._ He shrugged, pocketing the money.

***

Nub Meeker was about twice the legal alcohol limit as he turned into the driveway at President Park. For most men it would have equaled the puke-and-pass-out stage. For Nub, however, it was simply time to get home and have a few more before bed. Rounding the corner of the lot, he headed for his trailer. It was growing colder and soon he would have to bundle up to ride his new motorcycle. The Kawasaki was running smoothly, purring like a kitten. Happy with himself and buzzing nicely, he started down the last lane towards his trailer. Imma Jean was surely in bed by now and he would be able to slip in and watch a little television before bed. Rolling up into his driveway, he put down the kickstand and allowed the bike to settle onto it. As he glanced up to turn off the headlight, he caught an eyeful of bare skin and pink bathrobe.

"What the hell?" He stepped from the motorcycle and stumbled across the lawn. "Beth Ann? What you doing over here in your pjs?"

"Nub, thank God someone came! We gotta get! Fucking Finkmyer is heading this way with a gun!"

"Who? What?" Nub blinked and looked across the lawn to where Troy was sneaking their way. "Oh, shit, Beth Ann, I see the crazy bastard!"

With a sudden urgent need to escape, he reached down and tore the rake away from under her.

"Oh, shit, Nub look what you did!"

Nub swallowed hard as he stared at the teeth of the rake. Caught up in them were the remains of Beth Ann's pajama bottoms!

He glanced down, seeing a flash of imitation-something-pink panties. "Oh, shit, Beth Ann! I'm sorry. Shit! Don't tell Billy Ray. Oh, please, Beth Ann, I didn't mean it!"

Beth Ann rolled her eyes. "If we don't get out of here, Billy Ray will be the least of our worries, Nub!"

Remembering Troy and his gun, Nub nodded. "You bet, Beth Ann, I'll get you out of here."

***

At the exact moment Nub reached to help Beth Ann to her feet, the events of the evening were about to heat up. Not even the eruption of a volcano would have matched the frenzy of the next several moments.

***

Janet rounded the corner of the Meeker trailer to see Nub standing over Beth Ann. She also saw that Beth Ann's pajama bottoms were missing and were lying in a bundle next to them. She froze in her tracks! She had just seen that piece on Jerry Springer, 'When neighbors become victims,' and she quickly formed an opinion on what was happening.

"Rape!" she screamed in a bone-chilling tone that raised the hair on every dog in the trailer park. In her best 'Police Videos' voice she called out. "Someone call the cops! I'm going in!"

At the ear-splitting scream, Nub froze with Beth Ann half way up to her feet. "What was that?"

"Get me up, Nub!"

He nodded and started to pull her up just as a dark yellow legal note pad crashed down across his head!

"Run, Beth Ann!" Janet screamed. "Don't worry about me! I took that self-defense course at the YMCA!"

Beth felt Nub let her go and she fell backwards, landing hard on her butt. Above her, Janet was on the attack. Nub tried to cover up but the legal pad was a yellow blur in the yard light. In her blue housedress and knee-high socks, Janet was thoroughly thrashing Nub as he stumbled backward trying to retreat.

"Run for it!" Janet ordered again as she delivered a crashing blow to Nub's nose. He stepped backward, tripping over the lawn sprinkler and landing hard on his back. With a cry of triumph, Janet backed up to stand over Beth Ann protectively, her legal pad high in the air in case Nub stood.

"Make a break for it!" Janet urged a second time.

Before Beth Ann could explain, Troy rounded the corner of the trailer.

"Okay, Beth Ann, I got you now!" he screamed as he sprinted across the lawn.

***

Inside the trailer, Imma Jean awoke and stumbled to the window. Someone was screaming and there was a terrible noise outside. When she reached the window, she gasped! Nub was outside sprawled on his back. Janet Higgins, in her housedress, was standing over Beth Ann, who appeared half-naked, and Troy Finkmyer was in her yard with a damn gun!

Drawing the only conclusion she could, she reached for the phone. It was clear that Troy was after Beth Ann again and poor Nub and Janet must have rushed to her aid. It was also apparent that Troy had shot Nub and was fixing to finish off both Beth Ann and Janet, who were witnesses! Trembling, she dialed 911! As the phone rang, she wondered why there was yellow paper all over her yard.

"You trespassing bitch!" Troy called out as he raised the pistol, prepared to get rid of her nosy ass!

On the ground, Nub stared at the pistol and wrapped his arms over his head.

Beth Ann let out a loud cry of fear and Janet simply froze. Troy was about to pull the trigger when the squeal of tires pierced the night!

***

Shirley was almost to President Park when the scanner came alive on her seat.

"Car 12, car 13, car 14. We have a man with a gun at President Park! Proceed in emergency response mode. Troy Finkmyer has a gun and has shot one Nub Meeker. The caller says he is now after Beth Ann Dixon and Janet Higgins."

Shirley's eyes narrowed as she stared at the trailer park ahead. The cops were too far away to stop that bastard but she wasn't! In an act of determined response, she kicked down the accelerator of the big car!

With a sliding turn that would have made Burt Reynolds smile, she headed into the trailer park. Speeding down the lanes of trailers, she headed for Imma Jean and Nub Meeker's trailer. As the headlights flashed across the Meeker's lawn, she saw that the scanner was right! Nub was down and Troy was heading for the women.

"Not yet, you bastard!" She jerked the wheel and headed straight for the running form of Troy Finkmyer!

***

On the ground, Beth Ann looked up and saw the speeding car. It jumped the curb and headed straight for Troy Finkmyer. Troy saw it coming and ran for the first cover he could find - Nub's motorcycle! He vaulted it and slipped, falling onto the gravel driveway and tearing holes in his jeans. Angered beyond reason, he raised up over the motorcycle and fired a shot at the car. There was a loud sound of braking tires and flying gravel. The car skidded to a halt just before it slammed into the Kawasaki!

"Inquiring minds want to know!" Screaming the only battle cry she could think of, Shirley bolted from the car, her video camera in her hands. Dashing around the motorcycle, she charged Troy, who was still staring at the headlights that were less than two feet from his face. Blinking, he glanced up at the fat-assed woman who raised the video camera over her head.

"This one is for Mary Jo!" With a crashing blow, she drove it down over his head!

Troy grunted once before rolling over and passing out.

The shattered camera in her hands, she met Beth Ann's eyes as the cops started to pour into President Park.

Chapter Twenty Three

Thursday, October 19, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Seems the residents of President Park just cannot stay out of trouble. This latest incident takes the cake. Grapevine has never seen anything like it! It was almost beyond belief. I don't think I would have believed it myself if I hadn't been an eyewitness to the events.

A night of unbelievable chaos rocked President Park this past Tuesday night. To most of the residents of President Park, the first sign of trouble began when all the dogs in the neighborhood set up a howl that would have made the dead rise. The people of President Park, in all manner of dress and undress, flooded out of their trailers in the wee hours of the morning to see what was the matter. They were treated to the shocking sight of Beth Ann Dixon in her fuzzy robe minus her pj bottoms and slippers, Janet Higgins in her night dress and knee high socks screaming RAPE to the top of her lungs, Nub Meeker down on the ground and feared wounded, and Troy Finkmyer with gun in hand hiding behind Nub's motorcycle.

Beth Ann Dixon, Nub Meeker, Janet Higgens and Troy Finkmyer were hauled off to jail for questioning. Imma Jean Meeker said she heard Troy screaming, "I'm going to kill that bitch!" as he was escorted away. Imma Jean added that she heard Beth Ann yelling, "All I wanted to do was to see what was in that fucking shed of Troy's!"

Troy was booked for illegal possession of a loaded gun. Nub Meeker was booked for disturbing the peace. Janet Higgins was booked for assault and littering. Beth Ann Dixon was booked for trespassing upon Troy Finkmyer's property and indecent exposure.

All charges were dropped due to conflicting statements by the eyewitnesses, which included every resident of President Park.

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Beth Ann groaned as she sat at her desk, coffee cup in hand, reading Shirley's latest column. She was still finding it hard to believe that she had spent the night in jail. All because she had thought she was James Bond. Well, no more spying for her. Her spying days were over. Hell, it was all she could do to show her face in town after everyone had seen her almost bare assed nekkid! _And that damn Billy Ray had slept though it all. Never could count on Billy Ray for nothing. Some defender of damsels in distress he had turned out to be!_

Well she had learned her lesson. It was going to be strictly going to the beauty shop and working on her novel from now on. Leave the spying to the experts. _But I just know that damn Troy is up to no good in that shed of his!_

Beth Ann turned her computer on to check email one last time before heading off to the Kut-n-Kurl. No mail. Wonder where in the world that Stefan was? Haven't heard from him for several days. She missed his emails telling her all about his latest exploits. He would probably die if he knew she was rewriting them and including them in her book. Some of his exploits sounded really familiar, like they were about some of the people who lived in Grapevine. No way though. The world's greatest lover, Stefan, would never set foot in a hick town like Grapevine. Oh no, he cruised the international scene. At least if you believed what he wrote, which of course she didn't. She had her own ideas about Stefan. Instead of being the world's greatest lover, he was probably the world's greatest liar. But she didn't give a damn as long as he fed her ideas for her book. She was using him just like he was using her only she thought she was getting the better end of the deal. She was going to end up with a number one best selling book and Stefan was going to end up with egg on his face. He was probably a dirty old bald headed man with a great big beer gut instead of the handsome debonair person he pretended to be. _Serve him right!_

Beth Ann teetered over to the mirror in her black stiletto high heels to check her make up and fluff up her hair. She smiled as she admired her new hair color. She had mixed up her own recipe at the beauty shop and it had turned out to be a fantastic color, sort of like the underbelly of a fox with that reddish sheen streaked in with the blonde. She grabbed her new imitation fox skin coat she had bought at the Goodwill Store in Richmond and pulled it on. She tottered over to the door and gave one admiring final look at herself in the full-length mirror _. Oh boy, that coat looks good with my new hair color!_

She opened the door and the cold air blasted her in the face, making her wish she could go back inside and work on her book instead of having to go give Granny Jackson a perm. She carefully proceeded down the steps and the icy driveway to her car. _Damn windshield's covered in ice. Well I'm not about to scrap it off and ruin my new black leather gloves_. She got in the car and cranked it up. It spit and sputtered and finally muttered to life. She turned the defroster on full blast, got out, shut the car door and headed back inside the trailer while the car warmed up.

She poured herself another cup of coffee and pulled out the latest chapter on her book to look over it while she was waiting. Imma Jean had been begging her to bring some of her writing to the Kut-n-Kurl and read it to her. _Might as well, can't hurt anything. Hell that damn Billy Ray's already read a chapter to the gang down at the Amtrak, might as well let Imma Jean hear some of it and see what she thinks._ She put the papers in a folder and went to the sink to pour out the rest of the coffee. _Got to get to the Kut-n-Kurl whether the ice is melted off the windshield or not. Granny Jackson's probably already there waiting on me._

She glanced out the kitchen window as she rinsed out her cup and put it in the drain. _What the hell was that?_ She wiped the condensation off the window for a better look _. Is somebody out on the patio?_ Damn sure looked like it and it couldn't be Billy Ray. He had already left for Rusty's.

She tiptoed over to the back door and put her ear to it to listen. _Sounds like footsteps out there!_ She looked around for something to use to defend herself. Nothing within reach and she wasn't about to turn her back on that door to go look for something. She pulled off one of her black stiletto heels and looked at it. _Yeah, this'll make a great weapon. Give whoever was out there a jab in the eye with that heel and that would teach them to come around messing with Beth Ann Dixon!_

She raised the shoe over her head and yanked the door open. Troy Finkmyer fell through the door and landed flat on his face on her kitchen floor. She brained him with the shoe as she let out a blood-curdling yell. Troy threw his hands up over his head to protect himself as she brained him again. He grabbed her by the ankles and down she went, flat on her face on the kitchen floor with Troy.

He made a grab at her as she slithered away from him. All he got was a handful of hair off that imitation fox skin coat as Beth Ann rolled under her desk to get away from him. She sat up and almost knocked herself out on the desk. The phone fell off the desk and she caught it just as Troy grabbed her foot. She kicked out at him and caught him in the nuts. As he doubled over howling in pain, she frantically punched in 911.

"Help, help," she screamed into the phone. "Send help right way! This is Beth Ann Dixon in President Park and that damn Troy Finkmyer has broken into my trailer and is attacking me!"

"Hold onto the phone, don't hang up," she heard from the other end.

_Like hell I'm gonna hang onto the damn phone when that Troy is right here in my kitchen trying to kill me._ She threw the receiver down as Troy made another lunge at her. _Shit, I gotta get out from under this damn desk._ She was trapped. She kicked out at him again and this time her foot connected with his shinbone. She shoved her chair at him and as it went flying across the kitchen floor, she made a roll for it and got out from under the desk. On her hands and knees, she searched frantically for a weapon. She spotted her letter opener on her desk. Just as Troy got within reaching distance of her again, she raised her arm with that letter opener in her hand and brought it down with all the force she could muster. It went right through Troy's boot and his foot into the kitchen floor, neatly pinning him there. Troy screamed bloody murder as he tried to pull that letter opener out of his foot.

She had to do something to keep him there till the cops showed up. She rolled her chair back over and shoved Troy down into it. She went over to the kitchen junk drawer and got out the roll of duct tape. She came back and wrapped that tape round and round Troy and the chair like she was wrapping up a big old Christmas present. Troy was still screaming. Well she wasn't going to stand that racket one minute longer. She slapped a piece of tape across his mouth. All she could hear was muffled screams now as Troy looked at her with hate filled eyes.

She dusted off her hands, fluffed up her hair, smoothed down her fox skin coat, and found her missing shoe. She pulled up a kitchen chair close to Troy, sat down in it and calmly waited on the cops to show up.

Ain't nobody going to get the best of Beth Ann Dixon! Especially that damn sneaky snake Troy Finkmyer. Guess I showed him a thing or three!

Chapter Twenty Four

"What in the hell is going on out here?" Billy Ray asked as he stepped from the bathroom wrapping a towel around himself. "And what in the hell is he doing here?" He pointed to Troy who was struggling to get out of the tape he was trapped in.

Beth Ann glared up at him over the steaming coffee cup. Her hair was a tussled mess. He could see patches of the new fox coat missing. As a matter of fact it was hard to tell the difference between her hair and the coat. As she sipped from her cup, he noticed she had one of her stiletto shoes clenched tightly in her other hand.

"Now you show up!" She rolled her eyes at him in a look of disgust.

"Well, baby, I was in the shower," he explained. "What happened?"

"This asshole was stumbling about outside and when I caught him he attacked me," she explained, pointing with the shoe to Troy. "I had to defend myself and whacked him a few good ones with this." She held her weapon aloft and he could see the heel was broken. "Now I need a new pair," she sniffed.

"He attacked you?" Billy Ray's eyes narrowed as he glared at Troy. "Son of a bitch, baby, I ought to turn him into a piñata." As if in emphasis, he picked up the baseball bat beside the kitchen door. Gripping it in both hands, he stepped over to Troy.

"Ya, baby, whack him with it!" Beth Ann's eyes gleamed as she watched him. She placed her coffee cup down on the table. "Or better yet let me do it."

Billy Ray shook his head, extending his palm to her. "Stay seated, Beth Ann. I am going to do a little detective work here myself." Reaching up, he tore the tape from Troy's mouth.

"Owww! Billy Ray, you asshole!" Troy screamed in pain.

"Now Troy," Billy Ray said as he motioned with the bat. "You shut up or else I am going to give you a whack with this bat." Troy glared at him but didn't say a word.

"What in the hell were you doing coming over here and attacking Beth Ann?"

"I wasn't attacking her, Billy Ray. I came over to try and make a peace offering. See after last night, Mary Jo figured we should put an end to this so she baked a pie and told me to come on over with it."

"What pie?" Billy Ray asked.

"I dropped it on the porch outside when Beth Ann opened the door and I fell in. Before I could explain myself, she was putting that shoe upside my head. Damn it, I ain't healed from that fat-assed Shirley whacking me with that camera last night yet!"

With one eye on the prisoner, Billy Ray stepped to the porch door. Sure as hell, there was a crushed apple pie, still steaming, on the small deck.

"Shit, Beth Ann, he is telling the truth."

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" she countered. "I figured he was coming here to get even with me."

"Well, I wasn't," Troy sneered. "Try to come over and be neighborly and all and you start assaulting me with that damn shoe!"

Billy Ray held up his hand again. "Both of you shut up. Troy is right, this has been out of control and it is time is stopped." He walked over and pulled out his pocketknife.

"Ya, Billy Ray," Beth Ann urged with a sadistic smile. "Slice his throat. That will put an end to all of this."

Billy Ray shook his head. "No, baby, I am going to cut him loose. Now stay where you are at and don't hit him. Troy," he turned meeting Troy's eyes. "if you misbehave, I am gonna beat the hell out of you with this here bat, understood?"

"I swear I want to talk peace treaty."

Billy Ray poured more coffee. They had just sat down the scream of tires pierced the air!

"I'm a coming, Beth Ann! Hold on, honey!" With a crash, Shirley Snodgrass burst into the trailer, a waffle iron gripped in her hands.

Troy seen her coming and ducked under the table, almost tipping everything over.

"Shirley, stop!" Billy Ray stood, trying to block the wild-eyed woman.

With her mind locked into the panic mode, Shirley didn't think. Instead she reacted! With a mighty swing, she cut loose with the waffle iron. It landed across the side of Billy Ray's head with a dull thud.

"Shirley!" Beth Ann's shrill scream tore through the trailer as Billy Ray dropped to one knee. He caught himself on the back of a kitchen chair, where he hung like a punch-drunk sailor.

"Shirley, stop it!" Beth Ann shouted as she tried to grab Shirley's arm. Flinging herself over the top of the table, she knocked over the coffee. It poured directly on top of the stack of papers in her folder.

"My chapter!" she screamed in alarm. It was too late though. The pages soaked up the dark brown liquid. Horrified, Shirley glanced from the table to Beth Ann.

"I am so sorry!"

"God damn it!" Beth Ann cursed as she clenched her spike-heeled shoe. With a mighty leap she cleared the table, knocking Billy Ray aside and throwing herself onto Shirley Snodgrass! Like two rolling alley cats, the women flew from the front door of the trailer and out into the lawn!

By the time the cops arrived, they were met with the spectacle of the two women, one with a shoe and the other with a waffle iron, circling each other warily.

"Oh my God!" Janet Higgins screamed as she hurried across the street. She had her box camera, the special one Shirley gave her for breaking news, clutched in her fist!

As the local cops waded in trying to separate the women, she snapped away!

Inside the trailer, Troy peered from under the table. "Billy Ray, you okay?"

Billy Ray tried to stand. Shit, he was wobbly as hell! "I think so."

"See why I wanted to make peace?" Troy stood, helping Billy Ray steady himself.

"Fighting with these damn women will get you killed!"

"Ya, no kidding." Billy Ray agreed.

A half hour later it was settled. Troy had come trying to make peace, carrying a pie as an offering. Even smashed, Billy Ray decided it was good enough for breakfast as the cops settled down the two women on the lawn. Drinking coffee, he sat with Troy on the steps as Beth Ann and Shirley shook hands and hugged. After all, it was really not Shirley's fault. She had heard the report over the scanner that Beth Ann was being attacked again and simply came to the rescue. For the second time in twenty-four hours. And Beth Ann remembered that she could reprint her chapter, so that was not a big deal either. As the cops drove away, Beth Ann noticed the windshield on the damn Mustang was even cleared off now. Hell it could be a good day yet!

Stepping back into the kitchen she picked up her coffee-soaked pack of Capri's and found a dry one. Sitting down, she lit it. The hell with old lady Jackson; she would just have to wait. First, Beth Ann was going to have a cigarette!

***

When she finally wheeled the Mustang into the lot behind the Kut-n-Kurl, she was an hour late. As she pulled over to her regular parking spot, she froze. "God damn it!" she cursed. Someone had parked there already! As a matter of fact, the entire lot was full! Now this was bad, she decided as she drove to the main street.

"What the hell?" she muttered. The entire street was full of cars too. Driving down the block, she finally found a spot. Pulling in she parked, only bumping the car behind her twice.

She had no clue why in the hell the street was this full this early and as she put her sunglasses on, she paused long enough to light a fresh cigarette. Walking two whole blocks in her new imitation Gucci shoes would be a real test of her endurance but she was determined to try!

Walking to the front door of the shop, she paused. Women were standing in the entryway. Puzzled, she opened the door and pushed her way in. When she entered the small waiting area she froze! The entire beauty shop was packed full of ladies waiting to get their hair done!

"Beth Ann, thank God!" Imma Jean burst through the crowd. "I called all of the girls in and have been trying my best, Beth Ann, but I simply wasn't ready for all of this!" Her voice was on the verge of hysteria. "When I got here this morning, they were already lined up outside! I even had to smuggle Granny Jackson in ahead of some."

Beth Ann couldn't quite grasp what was going on. "Imma Jean, what is this all about?" she asked.

"I don't know," Imma Jean shrugged. "Well, maybe I do. You see, some of the ladies were talking and they said they had heard of the book you are writing. It seems that a few of them heard from their husbands, who had been at the Amtrak the night Billy Ray read it, that it was damn good. Now they all come by to see if you were going to read anymore here at work." She paused before shooting Beth Ann a sly grin. "Rumor has it that some of them husbands who heard your writing got so hot and bothered they went home and romanced their wives."

Beth Ann felt her stomach jump. "Oh really, Imma Jean? Oh that is simply wonderful!" Holding her head a bit higher, she waded through the crowd to the back room where she removed the folder from her bag. "Got to put you somewhere safe," she whispered. "I may give the girls a bit of what they want later," she decided, "but not until they have all been cut, permed and styled." Stopping at the mirror she brushed back her hair and straightened her work smock. It was time for the world to get ready for Beth Ann Dixon. Like a maestro preparing to play Mozart, she cracked her fingers and headed out into the shop!

Chapter Twenty Five

Billy Ray got up and poured himself and Troy another cup of coffee and sat back down in his Lazy Boy recliner.

"Now, Troy, I want to know the truth about your little visit to Beth Ann this morning," he said as he leaned forward and looked Troy straight in the eyes. "Don't think I buy a word about this peace making thing and Mom's apple pie."

"But, Billy Ray," Troy stuttered, "you helped me convince the cops that I was just being neighborly. What'd ya do that for if you didn't believe me?"

"Cuz I didn't want nobody hauled off to jail again, Troy. Been enough of that here in President Park in the last few days. Now that my little darling Beth Ann is gonna be a famous author, we can't have her with no more police record."

"But I told you, Billy Ray, it was all Mary Jo's idea. I sure didn't want to come off over here to visit Beth Ann with no apple pie and peace offerings. But Mary Jo said enough was enough and to settle it with Beth Ann."

"Aw shit, you think I'm believing a word you say, Troy? You ain't never done nothing Mary Jo asked you to do," Billy Ray replied in disgust. "Whatcha come to the back door for? Besides that you knew Beth Ann would most likely be gone to the Kut-n-Kurl by the time you paid your little visit over here. Now you'd better tell me the truth before I get out that old baseball bat again!"

"OK, OK," Troy said, holding his hands up in surrender. "You win. Hell no, I didn't come over here to make peace with Beth Ann. I wanted to see if I could sneak in here and read some of that book she's writing. I heard some of the fellows telling about you reading a chapter of it down at the Amtrak the other night and I wanted to see it for myself. Hell, I knew she wouldn't let me read it even if I asked her even in my most polite way!"

"You damn right she wouldn't let you within a mile of her precious manuscript! She hates your guts, Troy. But you coulda asked me and I might have given you a sneak peek at it. But hell no, you come trying to sneak into my house when you knew nobody should have been here. You are one low down miserable excuse of a man, Troy! A man's house is his castle and you done violated my castle. I ought to whip your ass!"

Troy hung his head. "Aw, Billy Ray, I'm sorry. I didn't mean no harm to you or to Beth Ann either for that matter."

Billy Ray just sat and looked at him in disgust. "Troy, as I said, you are one poor excuse of a man. I don't believe a word you say so you might as well just shut your trap. Any man that would treat his wife the way you do poor Mary Jo is just plain out sorry in my book. Why the hell do you beat on her all the time like you do? That little gal ain't never treated you wrong as far as I can tell."

"Well she asks for it. She don't mind a word I say to her. She's just begging for a whipping!"

"God damn, Troy! Mary Jo is your wife, not your kid! How come you think she's supposed to mind you? You ain't her daddy, for God's sake!"

"No I ain't her daddy, Troy. But her daddy did worse to her than beat on her. I rescued her from all that by marrying her. Seems to me like at least she would be grateful to me for doing that for her. She sure didn't have no kind of decent life before I came along!"

"Maybe she didn't, Troy. I don't know nothing about all that and I don't want to know nothing about it. All's I know is she's been a damn good wife to you since ya'll been living here in Grapevine. But you sure ain't been no good husband to her!"

"Well you are a fine one to talk, Billy Ray, about being a good husband! You don't think I ain't seen you flirting with all the women here in Grapevine between the ages of 15 and 80? I've heard you run Beth Ann down more times than one. You sure ain't no model husband yourself, Billy Ray!"

"Yeah, but I ain't never laid a hand on Beth Ann like you do with Mary Jo! Besides that, you ain't seen me flirting around with no women in the last several months. Me and Beth Ann done turned over a new leaf in our marriage. We been getting along great, just like we did when we first got hitched up right after high school."

"Well that's just fine and dandy, Billy Ray, but that still don't give you no right to preach to me about how to handle my marriage."

"You're right, Troy, it don't. But you just better mind your p's and q's about beating up on Mary Jo anymore. Me and Nub and the rest of the gang got our eyes on you. We even get a whiff of you laying a hand on Mary Jo again, we gonna take you down to the lake and teach you a lesson. Now you get your ass out of my house. I gotta go to work."

***

Beth Ann closed the door to the Kut-n-Kurl and locked up for the night. She was about as tired as she'd ever been in her life. Never in all the time she'd owned the Kut-n-Kurl had she done so many women's hair. And all of them begging her to read them some of her book. She smiled in pride as she teetered through the dark down the icy street to her car. She was on her way to fame and fortune!

Chapter Twenty Six

"How did it go this morning?" Mary Jo asked.

Troy glanced up at her, smiling as best he could. "Pretty well," he lied. "Me and Billy Ray came to an understanding about things."

He noticed her face had a relieved look on it as he put his coat away from work. She was making supper and he walked over to her kissing her quickly on the cheek. She jumped, startled at this surprising show of affection.

"So we can start being friends with our neighbors again?" she asked.

"Ya sweetie," he grabbed a beer from the fridge. "I ain't gonna be their best friend but I think we can all get along now." He walked to the door. "How long until we eat?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Okay, I'll be in the shed in you need me."

She watched him walk outside. He was in a real good mood and that was strange for him. Well she sure as heck wasn't going to complain! Times had been strained enough around here and she was glad for any excuse to relax a little bit. Across the lot, she could see Beth Ann's Mustang pulling into their driveway. She had always liked Beth Ann and envied her too. That darn woman was a successful business lady with her very own shop and all. Besides, she was a very creative beautician and a real pro when it came to coloring hair. Everyone knew it and she often heard the ladies speaking in the grocery store about Beth Ann and her perms.

"I wish I had big boobs like she does," she murmured to herself, glancing down at her relatively flat chest. Oh, she wasn't really flat chested at all; she just didn't have them knock-your-eyes-out bazookas like Beth Ann. And of course Beth Ann had Billy Ray too! He had to be the best looking man in Grapevine! She had heard more than once that the local ladies had considered him a real knockout back in school. At the thought of Billy Ray, she felt her cheeks redden a bit; it was hard to erase her mental picture of him from that morning when he was playing with himself. She had tried not to look but after she saw it, she couldn't tear her eyes away. No wonder Beth Ann could write such a sexy book as they were saying; she had the perfect man to study with!

She stepped back from the stove, feeling herself suddenly sweaty, her heart pounding. "My lord, it is hot in here." She stepped to the front door and opened it, allowing the fresh air wash over her. "Oh my goodness." She felt as if she were on fire! Between her legs, she felt herself moistening and her body began tingling. "Oh my dear lord," she muttered. She had been having unclean thoughts about Billy Ray and now she had driven herself into a state of lust! Under her blouse, she felt her nipples harden, her stomach grew tight and she felt the tingling starting to spread across her lower belly.

She started to pant as she crossed the floor to the hallway. "Oh my God." She bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door closed behind, her locking it with trembling fingers. Her strength was almost gone and she collapsed against the sink as her body came alive with a surge of desire she hadn't felt for a long time!

"Oh my God!" she moaned quietly as she felt her hand tear open her jeans. She was too far gone to care if it was the devil that had gotten into her or what as she slid her hand down inside of her panties. She felt herself; damn, she was terrible wet! Shaking, she inserted a finger and began to gently rub. Her free hand strayed to her belly, running across it and driving her deeper into passion. Locking her knees, she leaned heavily against the medicine cabinet. Her free hand trailed up to her hard nipples and she began to squeeze them, first gently, but then with more force as the passion flooded across her.

"Oh my God!" she cried out trying to keep her voice down as she pictured Billy Ray and his hard manhood. She rubbed herself harder, her hand making her even wetter between her legs. In her mind she pictured Beth Ann with her big boobs on top of him, riding up and down as he bucked below her. Her whimpering cries growing, she felt herself rubbing her private spot harder yet as she squeezed her nipples. Suddenly it happened, something she had not felt for a very long time, as the orgasm tore through her body!

She may have passed out for a few minutes, she wasn't quite sure. She opened her eyes, finding herself collapsed on the bathroom floor with her bra undone and her jeans halfway to her knees. Swallowing hard, she gathered her senses before climbing to her feet and fixing her clothes. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and it startled her! Gone was the old tired passionless stare. It had been replaced with a glassy eyed glare of desire!

***

_I fooled them._ He pulled on his Stefan outfit and sat down by his computer. _Well except for Billy Ray, but he only guessed the half of it."_

Troy watched as the screen blinked in front of him. He had walked over to see if they were home. He hadn't wanted to just look at Beth Ann's book, he had wanted to steal it! He was Stefan, the world's greatest lover, and if the rumors were true that the dumb-ass bimbo was writing the kind of book that drove men and women crazy, he had to read it right away! Who but he, Stefan, would know if this book were truly a work of great proportions? All day today the women of town were talking - in his cab, at the diner, even the secretary at the office!

No, it was clear to him that Stefan was the man who should be writing that book, not dumb-ass Beth Ann Dixon! Someone had told Connie Mather about it and she had called him for a ride. Now Connie had always been a very physical lover but on this day she almost tossed him from the bed! After they had finished, she explained that the chapter Billy Ray had read at the Amtrak had aroused her husband Red and he had come home with fire in his eyes. She also said that the more she had heard about it, she just could not wait for Red to get home that evening. Instead she had called for a cab ride!

Looking back on it, he cringed. Beth Ann Dixon couldn't tie her own damn shoes much less write a book, could she?

Hitting the email button, he clicked on 'compose' and started his latest installment to his love, J'Lyne. He had a particular juicy story to tell her about Doris Newton and their exploits last weekend. He would show that stupid Beth Ann Dixon. He would show her that Stefan knew more about love and sex than some dumb trailer park trash!

***

Billy stepped into the Amtrak intent on having a couple of cold beers before heading home. Beth Ann would be writing anyway so he might as well have a quiet moment with the boys. It didn't quite dawn on him that the parking lot was overly full tonight. As he stepped into the packed bar, he realized that something was up!

"Hey, let me to the bar." He shoved aside some stranger he had never seen before. "What in the hell is going on?"

Teddy Bear leaned across the bar and motioned to him. "You are the cause of all of this," he announced. "Been like this all day too. I been making money like crazy from all of these folks coming in here."

"I did this?" Billy Ray asked, confused.

"Well kind of," Pinto agreed with Teddy Bear. "All of these folks been asking if you are gonna read more of Beth Ann's book tonight." He leaned forward. "Are ya?" he asked quietly.

Billy Ray took the beer Teddy Bear handed him and shrugged. "I ain't got none with me."

"Shh!" Teddy Bear cautioned. "Don't let anyone know that. I'll keep telling them that you may be bringing some of it. That way they may keep showing up."

"Okay," Billy Ray nodded. "Go ahead and make money off of Beth Ann's work." He paused a minute. "Ain't they got laws against that?"

Scratching his head, Gordie grunted. "Not until it is published, I don't think."

Billy Ray shrugged. "I guess not then."

"It is weird though," Jack added from the corner of the bar. "That so many out-of-towners would show up just after you read one chapter."

"Ya," Billy Ray looked around. "I don't know if I like this. I ain't even famous yet and I already got the trouble them movie stars do. Can't go out and have a quiet beer without being mobbed by fans."

"I like it," Teddy Bear smiled "every time I open that cash register."

"I'm happy for ya," Billy Ray said but as he took a second look around at the growing crowd, he wasn't sure he was happy for himself!

Chapter Twenty Seven

Beth Ann pulled up into her driveway and shut the engine off. Lord, was she ever tired. Almost too tired to get out of the car and drag herself up the steps and into the trailer. Wasn't no sense in sitting out here in her car and freezing her ass off though. Damn heater had conked out and she liked to have froze to death on the drive home. She wished she had the money to trade that stupid Mustang in on a brand new car but she didn't. Besides Billy Ray would have a cow. The Mustang was his pride and joy even if she was the one driving it.

As she got out of the car, she looked over at stupid old Troy's trailer to see if he was lurking around anywhere. Huh, he thought he had her fooled this morning with his apple pie and good cheer story but she was smarter than to believe that trumped up story of his. She saw Mary Jo peeking out the window at her and waved. Mary Jo jumped like she had been shot and quickly disappeared from the window without even a return wave. Well what the hell had gotten into her? First time she hadn't at least waved back. Bet that damn Troy beat the shit out of her this morning when he got home. Wouldn't put it past him. That was one mean son of a bitch.

Beth Ann opened the door to the trailer and flipped on the lamp in the dark living room. Mother fucking Billy Ray wasn't home and she sure could use a foot and back rub. She kicked them damn black heels off and across the room. Her feet were killing her! Why the hell she insisted on wearing them heels to work she would never know. People around Grapevine expected it of her though. It was part of her image. Well, it was about time to change her image. Shi, she was getting to be a famous author and she needed to make over her image to fit the part. Bout time for a trip into Richmond and hit the really good thrift shops for some new clothes and shoes.

Lord, she was tired. Damn sure didn't feel like cooking supper for Billy Ray. Let him microwave a TV dinner or something. She was going to get a glass of wine and take a long hot bubble bath and to hell with Billy Ray. He was probably hanging out down at the Amtrak anyway and wouldn't be home till way later.

***

She turned on the water to let the tub fill up and poured in a generous amount of that new bubble bath she had bought at the dollar store the other day. Boy, that smelled good. What was the name of it? She held the bottle up to have a look. 'Original Radox Herbal Bath - to unknot those aching muscles and unwind tired minds - Milk Balm with Chamomile and added moisturizers', the label read. Well she didn't know nothing about no milk balm with chamomile and added moisturizers but she sure could go for the unknotting of those aching muscles and unwinding tired minds bit.

She pulled off her sweaty uniform and peeled out of her panties and bra and climbed in that tub full of Original Radox Herbal Bath and leaned back against the end of the tub. Oh hell, she'd left her stupid glass of wine setting on the back of the commode. Fuck! She stood up and leaned over the edge of the tub, trying to reach the glass. Her feet slipped out from under her and she tumbled out onto the bathroom floor. God damn, that hurt! She sat there bare assed naked, nursing her pride and her sore elbow where she'd banged it on the floor. What a fucking day!

She got up and grabbed the glass of wine and took a long drink. Damn glass was almost empty now, might as well go fill it back up. Besides that she had forgot to bring her cigarettes in the bathroom and she damn sure wasn't going to have no long soak and a glass of wine without her cigarettes.

She padded down the hall with her wet feet, leaving tracks on the cold linoleum floor. She was shivering. Should have a least grabbed a towel to wrap up in instead of just taking off down to the kitchen buck-nekkid.

She made it to the living room and had started across it to the kitchen when the front door opened. She stood there in shock as Mary Jo poked her head in the door.

"Damn, Mary Jo, don't you ever knock?" she yelled.

Mary Jo just stood there with her mouth hanging open and her eyes bugging out as she stared at Beth Ann.

"Don't you or Billy Ray ever wear clothes, Beth Ann?" Mary Jo asked in a squeaky little voice.

"Well, Mary Jo, it's like this. This is our house and we can do whatever we want to in it. Now what do you want? I'm freezing my bare ass off here!"

"I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry I didn't wave back at you a while ago."

"OK so now you've told me. Now go back home and let me get back in that tub. Next time you come over to my house, it might be a good thing to knock before you open the door if you don't want to catch me running around naked or see Billy Ray jacking off. Hell you just might catch us in the middle of the living room floor fucking like rabbits one day if you're not careful."

"I'm sorry, Beth Ann," Mary Jo mumbled as she back out the door and shut it behind her.

Beth Ann laughed as she walked on into the kitchen. Hell, Mary Jo had acted like she'd never seen a nekkid woman before. She poured herself another glass of wine, grabbed her cigarettes and headed back to the bathroom and that tub full of Original Radox Herbal Bath.

***

She heard something in the kitchen! Had that damn Troy sneaked in the back door like he tried to do this morning? She quietly got out of the tub and wrapped herself up in her terrycloth robe, tiptoed into the bedroom and grabbed Billy Ray's baseball bat. She snuck down the hall quiet as a mouse. Everything was just as she had left it in the living room, lamp still on dim and nothing else out of place. The kitchen was still dark. Maybe she was just being jumpy and hadn't really heard anything after all. She stood there a minute listening.

That was a noise in the kitchen! No mistake about it. Somebody was going through her desk. She could hear the drawers being opened. Somebody was trying to steal her book! Well they damn sure weren't going to get it!

She raised that bat up over her head and charged across the living room floor, screaming like a banshee as she ran. Her wet feet slipped and slid as she crossed the kitchen floor. She slid to a stop by her desk and swung the bat as hard as she could at the shadowy figure she saw bending over her desk.

Whack! Bat hit flesh and a man let out a yell. She raised the bat for another strike. A hand reached out and stopped the bat in mid swing.

"Damn, Beth Ann, what are you hitting me with that baseball bat for?" Billy Ray's voice said.

"Billy Ray! Is that you? I thought it was that mother fucking Troy again! What are you doing here in the dark going through my desk?"

She reached over and turned on her desk lamp. Billy Ray stood there with his head hanging down in shame.

"You better answer me, Billy Ray! What are you doing going through my desk?"

"Aw baby, now don't be mad at me. There's a whole gang of people down at the Amtrak. They want me to read some more from your book. They drove from miles around to hear it. Now I couldn't let them down, could I?"

"Well why didn't you come ask me if I minded you taking another chapter of my book down to the Amtrak to read, Billy Ray?"

"Beth Ann, baby, I did come in to ask you but you was asleep in the tub. I didn't have the heart to wake you up after the long day you put in down at the Kut-n-Kurl."

"That was mighty sweet of you, Billy Ray," Beth Ann replied sarcastically. "With all them people down at the Amtrak just hanging around hoping to hear you read from my book, I bet Teddy Bear is making a killing on selling them drinks while they wait. Now just what am I supposed to be getting out of all this?"

"Famous?" Billy Ray asked.

"To hell with famous, Billy Ray. It's supposed to be _rich_ and famous. Now you just march yourself back down to the Amtrak and tell that Teddy Bear that if he wants that crowd entertained with readings from my book, he can set up a time and pay me to come do a reading for him. He ain't going to get something for nothing out of all this!"

"You think he would do that, baby?"

"Well he's for sure making money off the crowd. He can share some of the wealth with me. After all, it's my book they want to hear. Now get your ass on out of here. I'm going to bed. I'm worn out after today."

Chapter Twenty Eight

It was warm and the slight breeze that blew at the hair across her shoulders smelled of fresh flowers. She took a deep breath, enjoying the aromas and the smell of nature. She lifted her arms and stretched, feeling fabulously free in a simple sundress, with no shoes or, as she realized, any underwear! It didn't seem to matter though as she walked among the wildflowers. The soft fabric of the dress felt good against her skin as it caressed her breasts and the soft inner area of her thighs. She felt free, unrestrained, and without the usual cares of the world.

She was Beth Ann Dixon and she was free! Glancing back across the meadow, she looked down upon her new house. Twenty rooms with four bathrooms and six bedrooms! In the garage out alongside the pool, there waited three brand new shiny cars and a fancy four-wheel drive truck. On the far side of the house along the lake, there waited a brand new fancy speedboat tied off to the dock. Her eyes roamed back to the garage where she could see the front of the shiny Jaguar convertible. She smiled to herself; she would drive it into town to meet with Shirley today. Yup, fat-assed old Shirley, now her agent, was working on the second movie in her new series "Trailer Park Wives".

She groaned, wishing them producers and such from Hollywood would stop calling about the next book. Damn, she didn't quite have it polished off yet! After seventeen books and four movies, you would think they would learn some patience, wouldn't you? Hell, they even wanted to put that guy from the butter commercials into her latest book and who ever seen a guy like that in a trailer park? She sure as hell hadn't!

"He's pretty to look at," she told herself. "But I bet he can't even get it up." Giggling at her joke, she stood and started off down the hill. Her twenty minutes were up. This is what it had come down to, twenty minutes a day to herself before she went back to being the newest world famous author. Flexing her fingers, she thought about that little incident on Oprah.

"Ain't my fault she was making fun of me," she decided again. Shirley, of course, had almost fainted when Beth Ann reached across the table and gave old high and mighty a good whack upside the head. "Even Oprah don't go giving me no shit," she had explained to the CNN news team. Instead of being a career killer, it appeared to have added to her fame. Now that guy from the wrestling show had called and wanted her to fight Oprah in the next pay per view!

Fame was beginning to get to her!

***

"Hey, baby, wake up."

"What?" She opened her eyes with a slight jump. She was not in any mansion either but back in her trailer with Billy Ray shaking her half to death. "Damn it, Billy Ray, let me sleep!" She shoved him away and pulled the pillow over her head.

"But, baby, I called Teddy Bear and he said he would give you a hundred bucks to come down right now and read to them people."

"Billy Ray, I am too damn tired." She shot up in bed. "A hundred bucks?"

"Yup. He said he kind of told them you were coming and no one will leave until you do. Come on, baby, get up."

She considered this a moment. She wasn't in no mansion but a hundred bucks would go a long way at them flea markets in town!

"Okay, Billy Ray, but on one condition."

"Just name it, baby."

"Call that fat assed Shirley and tell her to get down there. I want to see her face when she sees me reading to all of my fans!"

"I am on it, baby."

She struggled out of bed, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "I better get prettied up a bit before revealing myself to my public." Like a woman on a mission, she tossed open her makeup case. "Time to get to work!"

***

Thirty minutes later she walked into the Amtrak with her latest chapter clutched in her hands.

"Stand back! Let her through!" Teddy Bear roared as he shoved aside the crowd. "This is Beth Ann Dixon herself come down here to read to you all!" He motioned to a table set up on the small stage usually reserved for the country bands that played weekends. "Mrs. Dixon is a personal friend of mine so everyone shut up and be quiet while she reads."

"Personal friend my ass," she whispered as he led her in front of the crowd. "Give me my hundred bucks."

He stuffed the crisp new bill into her pocket as he motioned for her to sit down.

"That hundred ain't nothing compared to what I have been taking in today," he chuckled. "I'll make that back before you are done reading."

"Oh really?" she met his gaze. "I guess next time I am going to have to raise my rates."

If he heard her, he didn't respond but instead sped away to the bar.

She glanced out over the crowd. It was hard to believe that they were all here to hear her read!

"Would you like a beer?" Someone along the edge of the audience asked.

"Well thanks, honey," she said, taking the ice-cold glass of beverage.

After taking a good swallow to calm her nerves, she opened the folder that contained her chapter. You could have heard a pin drop as she pulled out the first page.

"Chapter six," she began.

***

Billy Ray couldn't believe what he was seeing. Around the room, the crowd sat spellbound as Beth Ann read her writing. He had figured there would snickers or maybe even a few grunts but instead no one spoke or even moved! He did, however, notice that several of the couples moved closer together as if her words were getting to them.

"She writes real good," a small voice whispered from behind him.

He turned and there stood Mary Jo Finkmyer, at least he thought it was Mary Jo. She no longer had that half-dead look in her eyes. Instead there was a low intense fire burning there surrounded by colorful eye shadow. Despite the coolness of the night, she was wearing a very revealing top that showed more than its share of her cleavage. He could even see her belly button and the tight jeans that enveloped her waist. Damn, she had a nice figure when she was inclined to show it off!

"Yes, she does." he answered.

"I bet that with a man like you around, it sort of inspires her, don't it?" she asked, a hint of challenge in her tone and her eyes.

Billy Ray felt a dry spot in his throat as he shrugged. "I don't know if that is all true or not," he answered. "But we have been rekindling our love and all. That may be what is helping her."

"I bet you are," Mary Jo said, slipping closer. He could smell her perfume and suddenly there was a brightly painted finger at his waist. She glanced up at him, smiling with a teasing curl of her lips. "I think you light her fire real damn good too," she purred, running her nail down across his groin.

"Mary Jo, I had better go over by the boys now." He turned and slipped away. That was not Mary Jo Finkmyer! Some damn alien or something must have come down to President Park and took the real Mary Jo away! He snatched a beer from the bar and drank it quickly. Son of a bitch, she had given him a slight erection running her finger down there like that!

"God, I hope Beth Ann didn't see that," he murmured as he finished that beer and grabbed another.

***

It was possibly the strangest twenty minutes anyone from Grapevine could remember. Beth Ann Dixon reading from her book while everyone sat quietly in the Amtrak. Even Shirley Snodgrass moved quietly through the crowd, snapping pictures without disturbing Beth Ann.

When she finished, she placed the last page neatly back into the folder and looked up. What happened next was a complete surprise! The entire room stood and began to applaud, whistle, and even cheer! She really didn't know what to do but she stood on quivering knees and raised her hand giving them a quick wave before stepping off of the stage.

"That was great!" Shirley said, clapping her on the back. "I want to interview you for my article and post a picture. You know I have never posted a picture before for 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine'."

Beth Ann nodded as Billy Ray came up to her side. "Get me out of here," she whispered, trying to keep smiling as around the room camera flashes were going off.

"Okay, baby, hold on." Tucking his arm around her, he led her to the door.

She was doing pretty well with all of this new attention up until they reached the door itself.

"Ms. Dixon?"

She looked around and could see a young couple wrapped around each other as they stood only a few feet away. The young blonde haired girl held up a leather cased book. "Would you please give me your autograph?"

She took the offered pen and autograph book, opening it with trembling fingers.

"What should I write, honey?

"How about to your good friend Liza Jean?"

Beth Ann nodded and scribbled down the note, topping it off with her signature. She handed it back to the girl who smiled widely as she hugged her boyfriend.

"Thanks, Ms. Dixon," she said. "I just know you are going to be famous some day and I will be able to tell my kids about this!"

As Billy Ray took her to the truck, Beth Ann realized that she had just been asked for an autograph! Suddenly the hundred bucks from Teddy Bear or the packed crowd didn't matter anymore. She had just written her first autograph and now it settled into her mind. She liked giving autographs! No matter what, she became more determined than ever to become what she desired most - a world famous author!

"Watch out, Grapevine," she muttered in the dark. "Watch out for old Beth Ann Dixon."
Chapter Twenty Nine

Beth Ann crawled up into the truck and snuggled up against Billy Ray as he fired up the engine and peeled rubber out of the parking lot of the Amtrak. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She put her hand on his leg, resting it just inside his thigh and close to his crotch like she used to do when they were in high school and went cruising around town.

She looked over at him in the dim light of the cab. As if he felt her looking at him, he turned and smiled at her. Her heart missed a beat. He could still turn her on with just a smile after all these years. Suddenly she felt like a teenager again. She felt like going up on Thunder Peak and parking like they used to do but it was too frigging cold. Billy Ray would freeze his balls off and her fanny would never be the same after being exposed to the frigid air.

But she was still riding high on the excitement of her success at the Amtrak. She was Beth Ann Dixon - no, she was Bethany Dickerson - and she could do anything! Besides, she just bet they could generate enough heat to keep them warm.

She leaned over and nuzzled Billy Ray's ear and wiggled her tongue in it while at the same time moving her hand closer up his crotch. Billy Ray jerked and swerved the truck, nearly mowing down a telephone pole in his surprise at Beth Ann's actions.

"Damn, baby, whatcha trying to do? Get us killed?" he laughed.

"Aw, Billy Ray, you used to be able to drive and me mess around with you at the same time," she grinned.

"Hell, doll face, that was a long time ago. I done sort of got out of practice of that kind of thing."

"Why don't we go up on Thunder Peak and park like we used to then if you can't drive and screw around at the same time anymore?" she asked.

"Up on Thunder Peak? Hell, baby, it's too damn cold and besides that, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. We both gotta get up and go to work in the morning."

"Boy, you sure know how to spoil a wet dream, Billy Ray. Here I am horny as hell and riding high on my success and all you want to do is go home and go to sleep!"

She scooted back over to her side of the truck as far as she could get without falling out the door.

"Aw, baby, now don't be like that," Billy Ray pleaded. "Come on back over here beside me again. I liked it with you all snuggled up against me like you used to do when we were dating.

"Uh uh, no way. You done gone and spoiled my mood now," she pouted. "Looks like I'm gonna have to depend upon old Stefan to keep me in the mood to write them steamy chapters in my book."

The truck screeched to a halt in the middle of the road. Billy Ray turned and glared at her.

"And just who the hell is Stefan?" he glared at her.

"Uh, did I say Stefan?" she asked. "I don't know nobody named Stefan. I think he's the guy who does that stupid butter commercial, isn't he? Yeah, that's right. I saw him on TV just the other day. Blonde hair down past his shoulders and the bluest eyes you ever did see. Yeah, that's who I meant, Stefan, the butter commercial guy."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Beth Ann. I know you better than that. Now you better tell me who this Stefan is that makes you so hot and bothered. I want to know right now!"

Beth Ann squirmed. How the hell was she gonna get out of this? Her and her big fucking mouth!

"Aw, Billy Ray, he's just some stupid guy in a chat room I ran across the other day. I ain't talked to him, honest. But I was sort of just eavesdropping on a conversation he was having with some gal in the chat room. Boy, were they talking hot!"

"Is that the kind of shit you mess around with on that computer, Beth Ann? And here I thought you spent your time on that computer writing that book of yours!"

"Well damn, Billy Ray! You visited some frigging porn site on it! That's where you came up with that idea to squirt that whipped cream in my snatch, remember? At least I ain't been visiting no porn site like you did!"

"You just better stay away from all them horny guys on that computer, Beth Ann! You are my woman and don't you forget it!"

"Your woman? Your woman you say? Well hells bells, Billy Ray, what about you being my man? Ain't you my man? But that don't stop you from flirting with every woman in Grapevine!"

"Now Beth Ann, you know I ain't been doing no flirting with other woman for a long time now. Not since me and you turned over a new leaf in our marriage and rekindled them old flames of ours that was about died out. I ain't had eyes for nobody but you, Beth Ann. You are still as beautiful to me as the day I met you."

"Aw shit, Billy Ray. You know damn good and well we been knowing each other since we was in strollers and our mama's pushed us along together." She laughed. "Heck, sweet thang, we slept together in the same baby bed lots of times."

Billy Ray busted out laughing. "Come on back over here by me, doll baby. Ain't no way we can stay mad at each other for very long."

Beth Ann scooted on across that truck and took her place by Billy Ray's side where she belonged. He let out the clutch and squealed off towards home as she snuggled up against him.

The slam of the truck door was loud in the silence of the late night air. Not a creature was stirring..... Wait there was a creature stirring! Beth Ann let out a yelp as she saw the shadowy figure.

She grabbed Billy Ray's arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Billy Ray," she whispered, "there's someone hiding over there behind our picnic table! It better not be that fucking Troy Finkmyer messing around here again!"

"I don't see nobody, Beth Ann," Billy Ray whispered back. "Are you sure it wasn't just Nub's dog?"

"Naw, it wasn't no dog! It was somebody!"

"You stay right here and I'll go investigate, baby."

Just as Billy Ray got almost to the picnic table, Mary Jo leaped up and made a run for it towards her trailer.

"Mary Jo, wait a minute," Billy Ray yelled. "What the hell you doing over here hiding behind my picnic table this time of night? I thought you was still down at the Amtrak."

Mary Jo stopped and slunk back across the yard towards Billy Ray. Beth Ann decided she wasn't going to miss out on this action and hightailed it off over to where the two of them were.

"Yeah, Mary Jo, how the hell did you get away from that husband of yours to go down to the Amtrak tonight anyways?" she asked.

Mary Jo hung her head. "He don't know I went down there, Beth Ann. I snuck off while he was out there in that shed of his doing whatever it is he does out there. But I just had to go to the Amtrak. I heard Imma Jean saying that you was going to be reading some from your book there tonight and I just had to hear it."

"Well, why you over here in our yard then?" Billy Ray asked.

If Mary Jo hung her head any lower, she was going to scrape her chin on the ground. "I'm so embarrassed. I didn't mean for ya'll to see me. It's just that you two always act like you love each other so much. I just wanted to look at you. That Troy don't never pay me no attention."

Beth Ann put her arms around poor Mary Jo and gave her a hug. "He is pretty damn mean to you, girl. But you better get inside your trailer before he finds out you been gone. He'll beat the shit out of you if he finds out you been down to the Amtrak."

"Yeah, I'm sure he would. I've about had all the beatings I can take this month, so I guess I'll go home now. But Beth Ann, I just want you to know how much I admire you. That book of yours is good. Real good. When it comes out, I'm gonna buy a copy and get you to autograph it for me."

"I will, Mary Jo. Now go on back inside. I'll see you tomorrow," Beth Ann replied.

Chapter Thirty

Shirley stumbled to the kitchen and made coffee. As it perked, she struggled to focus her thoughts. Why had she stayed so long at the Amtrak last night and drank those four glasses of wine? She never had more that two and now she was suffering from her pounding head. She had far too much work to do this morning to be hung over too. There was the next installment of 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' that needed finishing right now if she was going to get it into town by noon.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and plopped her ass down by the typewriter. Damn that Beth Ann was good last night! She could barely believe it herself when she heard the words and watched the effect they had on those in the bar. They had remained perfectly still and quiet, hinged on each syllable. She wondered if they ever followed her column that close!

Loading the paper into the typewriter, she thought a second, trying to clear her thoughts. Well when stuck, start with what is familiar.

'You've heard it through the grapevine!

Once again there have been strange happenings over at President Park! It would seem we have a local talent here in Grapevine that has been just waiting to....'

As Shirley typed away, she could not have realized how true her words were this very morning. There were strange things going on at President Park and in truth, those things were about to get even stranger!

***

"Baby?" Billy Ray reached for Beth Ann but she was gone! He sat up, looking at the clock. It was 9:00 am and time for him to get rolling too. But damn ole Pete was a risin' again this morning and he needed Beth Ann! Lying back, he realized that she was already gone to work.

"Damn, that's right," he remembered. "Imma Jean called."

It had been five minutes past seven when the phone rang and Beth Ann answered it. Imma Jean was on the other end and screaming in panic as she explained her current emergency to Beth Ann. He could clearly hear her shrill voice through the phone as she explained they had women lined up around the block waiting for them to open again this morning!

Beth Ann had taken charge immediately as she instructed Imma Jean to make coffee and call over to Patterson's Bakery. "Order a couple dozen doughnuts," she had said. "The fresh ones, not the two-day-old ones like we usually get. I will be one my way. Call a couple of the other girls in. Tell them it will be overtime for each hour they work before they were scheduled today."

"Fresh doughnuts and overtime?"

Billy Ray clearly heard the question in Imma Jean's voice.

"Yes," Beth Ann had answered. "And get them doors open and them women comfortable."

She had hung up the phone and bounced out of bed. That may have been the strangest thing he had witnessed yet. She had literally bounced right out of bed and hit the shower running! Beth Ann was a terrible morning person and she had never bounced out of bed during all the years he could recollect. She had showered and been out of the house before he was back to sleep. This also was not normal. Billy Ray knew things were changing around here and like that feeling he got last night, he wondered if they were for the better!

Swinging his legs off of the bed, he went into the kitchen, snatching a Pepsi from the fridge. He had a little cottonmouth from last night and a lot of dehydration from that love making session. By the time they had slipped back into bed last night Beth Ann was a sexual demon. She had almost torn off his best sweatpants trying to get at Old Pete. Poor boy, I think he was afraid of her. She had attacked him with such a lustful desire. He smiled as he thought about it. It had been like back in school in the back of his old man's car.

A knock on the door snapped him from his thoughts and he frowned as he stepped to the door.

"Billy Ray, open the damn door!"

"What the hell?" He opened the door. "Mary Jo?"

"Billy Ray, I need a favor?"

"What can I do for you?" he asked aware she was staring at his crotch instead of at his eyes. He also noticed that despite the cold she was only wearing a small halter-top and short shorts. Her nipples were hard and straining against the fabric of her top.

Her eyes met his. "I need a gun, Billy Ray. I know you got a bunch of them. Could I borrow one?"

"What?" He didn't like the look in her eyes. "You ain't gonna shoot Troy, are you? I mean I know he has been a bastard and all but..."

"No, I promise I ain't gonna shoot him," she cut him off. "But I need to borrow one. Can I?"

Billy Ray thought about it for a second. They did have some kind of law against supplying a murder weapon to a person, didn't they? And if she went and killed Troy, he would be involved, wouldn't he?

"Oh the hell with it, sure I'll get you one," he said, stepping back inside. When he reappeared, he had his snub nosed .38 revolver.

"Okay, Mary Jo. It's all loaded and all you have to do is pull the trigger."

With a funny light in her eyes, she took the little gun and twirled it with her finger before shoving it down into the waistband of those tight shorts. "Well thank you, Billy Ray, I owe you one!" She winked and dashed from the steps heading for her trailer.

He watched her go and the vision of her twirling that gun like some western gunfighter stuck in his mind. Something told him that little Mary Jo had handled weapons before _. Damn, I hope she ain't gonna kill him._ That was when he remembered that he had bought that .38 off a guy at the Amtrak. _That's right, it ain't in my name._ Late for work, he headed back into the trailer and didn't think no more of it.

***

"Troy, wake the hell up."

"Huh, what in the hell?" Troy rolled over and there stood Mary Jo at the side of the bed, a gun in her hand! "Mary Jo, what in the hell are you doing?"

"Get up and shut your mouth!" she ordered. "If'n you don't, I am going to blow a hole right through you, Troy Finkmyer."

He swallowed hard. The tone in her voice and the look in her eyes scared him!

"Okay, hunny baby, I'll do what you want."

"You damn right you are going too," she snarled as he stepped from the bed. "I been taking care of you for a long time now, Troy. Cooking, cleaning and slaving away. Now you are gonna take of me a little too." She stepped forward, grabbing him roughly by his flaccid manhood and directing him to the living room.

"Baby, that hurts!"

"Not as bad as if I shoot it off, Troy. Now shut up and lay down!"

He got on the floor and stared up at her. "Baby, put the gun down," he pleaded.

"Troy, that little dick of yours ain't ready for no woman," she said. "Play with it a little get it hard!"

"But, Mary Jo!"

"I said do it! If you don't want to lose it, do it now!"

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. There was a strange gleam in her eyes and he didn't want to push her to hard. He started to stroke himself and right on cue his soldier rose to attention.

"That's better," she said, removing her top. "Better keep it that way too." She ordered, sliding the shorts from her waist and kicking them off. Troy gasped. She had not been wearing panties!

Straddling him, she kept the gun pointed at his head as she slipped to her knees.

"I want it, Troy, I want it bad. You are going to give it to me and don't even think of getting off before I do!"

Wide-eyed, he felt her as she lowered herself onto him!

***

In the trailer next door, Janet Higgins was just getting her trash ready to take to the pick up point. Tossing on her old coat, she opened the door feeling the morning air. It was cold but at the same time fresh and clean. She enjoyed it, knowing at her age she may not have many more. She wasn't that old but she liked to make folks think she was on the verge of going at any minute.

Clutching her trashcan in her hands, she headed for the street. Just as she placed the can in its proper spot, a small wind blew a piece of yellow notebook paper from the can and onto the Finkmyer's lawn.

"Damn it!" she cursed. "Better get that or Troy will be screaming at me for littering again."

As she hurried across the lawn, she suddenly heard muffled screams coming from inside the Finkmyer trailer! "Oh my God, I hope he ain't been beating her again," she whispered.

It was her job as trailer court snoop to find out! She approached the trailer slowly. There was an old pail laying on the lawn. If she stood on it, she could just peer into the front window. "I gotta make sure that Mary Jo is okay." Her mind set on the fact that it was her duty as a citizen to check on Mary Jo's condition, she propped the pail just so and climbed onto it. Carefully she peered over the ledge, hoping that Mary Jo was not badly beaten.

On the floor, she could see a naked woman. It was Mary Jo and Troy was under her. Their hair was streaked with sweat and they were locked into a wild breeding frenzy!

"My God," Janet gasped. Mary Jo was holding a gun, but at the same time her eyes were clenched tightly as she rode Troy like a bronco-busting cowgirl!

"Oh my God," she shook her head. "Oh my God!"

Inside Troy made a move and the couple rolled over with Mary Jo on her back and Troy on top. They didn't even pause as they continued their frenzied lovemaking. Mary Jo tossed the gun aside and her legs wrapped around Troy as her hands forced his head down to her heaving sweaty breasts.

"Yes, Troy!" she cried out loudly.

Janet swallowed hard. She shouldn't be watching but at the same she seemed frozen. She couldn't tear her eyes from the scene inside of the trailer and she couldn't get her legs to step off of the pail.

"Hey, you nosy old bag!" The wheezy voice snapped her back to life.

She turned around, seeing that old fart Dory Samuels from the other side of the park.

"You shouldn't be snooping in those windows," he called out, while blowing smoke from his pipe. "You want something to see, hunny, come on over to my trailer later."

"Shut up, you dirty old man!" she shot back, stepping from the pail. "And you just never mind what I am doing!" As fast as she could, she headed for her trailer and didn't stop until she was safe inside.

"Oh my God," she panted. "Oh my God!"

***

Across town, Shirley Snodgrass had no clue as she typed out her latest issue of 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine'. But there were strange things going on - very, very strange things!

Chapter Thirty One

Beth Ann clicked on her computer and hit the check mail icon. Right on cue, she heard that voice saying, "You've got mail." Maybe it was fan mail. Naw, weren't too many people in Grapevine had a computer. She couldn't think of hardly anyone but old Shirley who had one and she damn sure wasn't gonna be sending no fan mail.

She clicked the button and the window opened. It was an email from Stefan. It had been a while since she had gotten one from him. Maybe he had been off traipsing around Europe again like them jet setters were always doing.

She sat back and began to read.

'She held a gun to my head and demanded that I fuck her. What else could I do but oblige her? She was horny beyond belief. It must have been a while since that old Duke had given her any real loving. She rode me like one of those cowboys riding a bucking bronco.'

Held a gun to his head and demanded that he fuck her? Now who the hell did he think was going to believe that? Hell, this was too much even for old lover boy Stefan. And that Duchess he was talking about sounded an awful lot like Mary Jo, but strangely different in some kind of way. Naw, it couldn't be Mary Jo he was talking about. Hell, Stefan hadn't never set foot in some little hick town like Grapevine.

Maybe she better give up on Stefan. He was beginning to sound really weird. She'd heard of strange things happening from getting too involved with people on the Internet. She didn't want to become no victim to some Internet weirdo. She decided not to answer his emails anymore. That wouldn't stop Stefan though. He would just instant message her. She didn't want to talk to him no more. She clicked on the button and blocked Stefan from her instant messages. Goodbye Stefan!

She didn't need old Stefan anymore anyway. She was getting pretty good at coming up with ideas of her own. It had been a while since she'd used any of his ideas anyway. The last ones he had sent her had been just too strange and crazy to use. She wanted her book to be hot and steamy but she didn't want crap in it like he had been sending her lately.

She glanced at her watch. Time to get to the Kut-n-Kurl. She had more business than she could handle nowadays. If business kept booming like this, she would soon make enough money where she could go to a real fancy department store and buy clothes for her new look instead of having to shop the thrift stores. She could just picture herself prancing into Neiman Marcus and trying on all them fancy designer label outfits. No more imitation this and that, but the real thing for a change. She laughed. Hell, there weren't no Neiman Marcus in Richmond. She would just go to Sears or J.C. Penny's or Target. At least an outfit from there wouldn't never have been worn by anybody but her. Whenever she bought an outfit from the thrift store, she was always a little afraid that she would run into whoever had owned it before she got it. Now that would be embarrassing, even to her. So far she'd been lucky and it had only happened one time. She'd never forget old high and mighty horny bitch Mrs. Desiree Pauline Deveraugh telling her that the outfit she had on had once belonged to her.

She wheeled into the parking lot behind the Kut-n-Kurl and parked in her spot, the one with the little sign on it that said 'reserved for owner' that Billy Ray had made for her. It was still dark and the parking lot was deserted at this time of morning.

She was earlier than usual but she wanted to get everything set up. The shop was going to be packed with women for the reading she had promised to do this morning. All them women had been just begging to hear her read from her work and she had finally decided she would do it. But she was still Beth Ann Dixon and she hadn't let the glow from her apparent success as a writer over load her business sense. Oh hell no, Beth Ann Dixon wasn't no dumb broad. The price of admittance to her reading was an appointment at the Kut-n-Kurl. Wasn't nobody going to get something for free from old Beth Ann!

***

Beth Ann let out a scream as a hand reached out in the dark and touched her arm. What the fuck?

"God damn, Mary Jo! You scared the living shit out of me! What in the world are you doing lurking around the back door of my shop this time of morning? You know we ain't open yet!"

Mary Jo was shivering from the cold in her thin little ratty old coat. "I'm sorry, Beth Ann, I didn't mean to scare you," she managed to stutter, her teeth chattering from the cold, "but I wanted to see if you could do me a make over."

"This time of morning, Mary Jo? And without an appointment? I ain't got time to do you no make over today. I got a reading I'm gonna be doing this morning."

"Please, Beth Ann, I'm begging you. You know Troy won't never let me go to the beauty shop. But I managed to sneak away this morning while he was out in that stupid shed of his. I want a make over. I want to have my hair done the color of yours and I want you to show me how to use make up like you do."

"Well, what are you going to do when you go home with this brand new look, Mary Jo? You think old Troy ain't gonna notice that you look different?"

"I don't care no more, Beth Ann. I'm tired of being plain little mousy old Mary Jo. I don't care if he does beat me for getting myself a make over. He's gonna beat me for one thing or another anyway. What difference does it make what for? Might as well be over something that I want to do. Besides that. I want to hear you read from your book. I gotta have an appointment, Beth Ann. I just gotta!"

"Aw come on in, Mary Jo. Hell, you're freezing out here. Won't that damn Troy let you buy a nice warm coat? You must have had that ratty old thing for at least ten years now."

"You know he won't let me spend no unnecessary money, Beth Ann."

"Buying yourself a warm coat ain't spending unnecessary money, Mary Jo. Tell you what. Next time I go into Richmond to the thrift shops, I'm taking you with me and we'll really spend some of dumb old Troy's money. Now come on in. You can help me get things set up for the reading. Then tonight you can come over to my house and I will fix you up real fine. But I ain't gonna do your hair the color of mine. That's my own special color and ain't nobody gonna have it but me!"

***

Beth Ann looked out at the room full of women. All of them were looking at her with anticipation. She took a deep breath and picked up the stack of papers. She smiled as she began to read.

The moonlight streaming in through the partially opened blinds on the French doors and the light from the flickering candles burning on my desk as I worked was the only illumination in the room. The scent from the candles drifted in the air. French vanilla, soft and subtly sensuous.

You came up behind me, leaned down, trailing soft little kisses down my neck. I turned to you and you kissed my lips, so soft and tender were your lips on mine. I stood and you took me into your arms and held me close, our bodies pressed together. The clothes were a barrier between us, one we did not want or need at this moment.

Slowly you undressed me. Your eyes devoured me as I stood naked before you. I reached out and unbuttoned your shirt and your pants and you helped me undress you. I could feel your hard cock throbbing against my stomach and my muscles quivered in answer to your need.

You lifted me with your strong arms and I wrapped my legs around your waist as we leaned against the wall in my office. Your hands cupped my butt as I opened to you. You entered me, your hands holding me as we move together.

You kiss me with a hunger that is so deep it is bottomless. I return your kiss with all the passion that has been bottled up within me. Our mouths are hot and humid, our breath mingles together. It is a kiss that is so passionate that it makes my inner muscles clench around your cock, that rock hard cock that is making me feel so good as you drive into me. We are burning hot and sloppy wet in our need for each other.

I can take it no longer. I explode with my juices running down on you, scalding you, while remain with in me. My muscles clenching around you almost drives you over the edge but you hold back because you want it to last longer.

I am limp in your arms my climax was so intense. You brush back my sweat-drenched hair, whispering love words in my ear, as you stroke my back, calming me. Still holding me in your arms, you take me to bed - that bed that has been so lonely for me lately. It is not lonely now. We are in it together.

You ask me to get on my hands and knees and I obey you. I raised my hips for you to enter me. You slip in easily and began moving within me. You are in control now. You lean over and kiss my neck as we rock together in passionate rhythm and I get goose bumps running down my spine from you nibbling on that sensitive little spot on my neck.

I look back at you through glazed eyes and see you there behind me, holding me, controlling me, taming me with your passion. I want to be taken, fucked senseless, without thought or explanation. I am in intense need and you are giving me the release that I crave, have been craving for so long.

You kiss me as I have my head turned back looking at you; I bite your lip in my need and taste the blood. I lick the blood away from your lip with my tongue. Suddenly I am exploding again in the mindless, wondrous, intense pleasure of an orgasm. I can no longer stay up on my hands and knees. I collapse onto the bed with you still in me, on top of me, holding me. We both are drenched in sweat. I lay for a moment within your arms, catching my breath. My body is like a dishrag. You stroke me, giving me time to recover.

Then I hear you growling into my ear. It is my time now you say. I feel you still hard within me, throbbing, hot and wet from my juices. I reach down and touch you, feel you joined with me. You are slippery and hard. I smile at you, moving away. You grab me and try to bring me back. Patience my love, I whisper softly, I am not going anywhere.

I turn in the bed and there you are, right before my mouth, my mouth that longs to taste you, see what you taste like. I lick the tip of your cock with my tongue, swirl it around you as I hold you in my hand. My other hands cup your balls, squeezing them gently. I take you in my mouth. You taste like me; my juices are all over you.

My lips are around you with my tongue licking you as I move my mouth up and down on you. I hear you groan. I feel your hands on me, your mouth nuzzling me. Then I feel your tongue on me, on that little spot that is so sensitive to me. You nuzzle me, smelling me, embedding my smell into your brain so that you will never forget it.

I feel your finger go into me as you lick me, driving me wild with your tongue. It is all I can do to keep from screaming out and biting you as I hold you within my mouth. I pull you into me closer taking you deeper into my mouth, driving you almost to the point of no return. You are thrusting into my mouth, while your mouth works its magic on me at the same time. I can feel you getting tighter and tighter, ready to explode. I can feel my own orgasm coming.

I want us to come together this time. I want to give you pleasure that you will never forget.

I massage your balls and they are tight. You are almost there; I am almost there. I take my hand and explore while my mouth is tight around you, hot and wet as you thrust into it. My finger finds you, that forbidden little spot, and I insert my finger slightly. It goes in easily; it is wet from our juices. I move my finger slightly within you as I apply pressure with my mouth and my tongue.

You shudder. In my mouth, I feel your juices exploding and my body throbs in response. We are flying off into outer space, lost in sensation as our bodies throb and jerk together. Your juices are scalding my mouth they are so hot. Your orgasm is so intense that I cannot take it all into my mouth; it runs down onto my chin. I feel my juices flowing into your mouth.

We are holding onto each other tight, lost together in blackness, drenched in sweat and our juices. I still don't know for sure what you taste like as your taste is so mingled with mine that I can't tell one from the other. We are musky; we are salty; we are sweet.

***

Beth Ann laid the papers down and looked out at the room full of women. They were sitting on the edge of their chairs, a glazed look in their eyes. As she stood up, a burst of applause filled the Kut-n-Kurl. A deep feeling of satisfaction filled her as she looked out and saw the admiration in all their eyes. She smiled as she quietly exited the beauty shop.

Chapter Thirty Two

The wrench slipped and Billy Ray felt the sharp head of the bolt as it bit into his knuckles. He flinched, dropping the wrench and jerking his hand from under the motor. Blood rose quickly to fill the fresh wound and it ran down his hand as he closed his eyes. It was a small injury but one that would bring tears to your eyes.

"Better wash it out," he murmured, stepping over to the sink. Pumping the handle on the soap bottle, he lathered up. The red of the blood and the gray pasty color of the hand cleaner created a strange color. Soon it grew darker as the grease began to leave his skin and mix in. He paused, checking the wound through the goop of bloody and greasy soap. It was fairly deep but definitely not life threatening. And certainly not deep enough to get stitched up. It would have been a good excuse to stop by the Amtrak and have a beer if he had to go to the clinic. It had been a damn busy morning. Three brake jobs and a complete muffler and exhaust replacement. If he had beer here in the fridge, he would have stopped and enjoyed one right now. But he didn't so there was little point dreaming of it.

Things were getting real weird around here and he wondered briefly where it was all headed. The Amtrak was busy every night, the Kut-n-Kurl was overflowing its doors and most of the folks coming in here didn't really need the work done. Preventive maintenance, they were saying. That was right before they would interject a question about Beth Ann's book. A book that didn't have a name yet or a publisher.

"I hope my baby makes it," he told his reflection in the mirror _. "She deserves a little good luck."_

The slamming of the front door snapped him from his daydream and he finished rinsing his hands. Peering around the corner, he made out the bent over form of Claudia Schiffler, the librarian.

"Billy Ray!" she called out as she stalked across the garage floor. "I been hearing that Beth Ann is writing some kind of book. A pretty steamy book too from the talk of it all. Now as Head Librarian here in Grapevine, I should have been informed." She was waving her finger at him like he was still back in school and had brought a book back in late.

"Well hell, Miss Claudia," he said drying his hands, "it ain't even published yet."

"But what is she doing reading it around in taverns and her beauty shop?" Claudia planted her hands on her hips and glared at him over the top of her reading glasses. "She should be down to my VIP room at the library doing her readings."

Billy Ray considered this. Claudia may have a point with that, after all that was what you did at a library, right?

"Well, Miss Claudia, I can sure as hell mention it to her."

"Good and don't you go and be forgetting it now, Billy Ray Dixon," she pointed with her finger at his chest. "You never were to good at remembering." She turned and headed for the front door. "Don't you forget!"

With a smile, he promised her he would remember before tossing the paper towel away. The damn blood was still running from his knuckles as he searched for the wrench. Damn, it was under the car on the floor just where he couldn't reach it. Using his foot, he reached for the creeper and slid it under the car. Lying down upon it, he scuttled under the vehicle to where the wrench lay. From across the garage, the front door slammed again and he shook his head. It was getting to the point that he couldn't get a damn thing done around here!

***

From his vantage point under the car, he watched a pair of high heels as they crossed the floor and headed his way. The heels were attached to a pair of long muscular legs covered in black nylons.

"Holy shit!" he whispered to himself. He had always been a sucker for a pair of long well toned legs and, of course, black nylons.

"Hello?"

He rolled out from under the car. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, Billy Ray."

He blinked. It was Mary Jo Finkmyer. Today she was wearing heels and nylons, a short mini-skirt and a satiny blouse that was open low enough to reveal her cleavage. He noticed she was also bra-less and he could see her hard nipples straining against the light fabric of the blouse.

"A little cold out for that outfit ain't it?" he asked trying to look at her eyes and not her chest.

"Is it? I guess I hadn't noticed."

"What can I do for you, Mary Jo?"

"Oh, well, I wanted to bring this back to you." she said holding out his .38 revolver. "I won't be needing it anymore."

He raised an eyebrow as he took it from her hand and lay it inside of his toolbox. "Why not?"

"I got what I wanted and I just won't be needing it anymore," she repeated. "I come to an understanding with Troy."

"Ya didn't shoot him?"

"No," she shook her head. "I layed down the law though."

Billy Ray felt a bit disappointed, he had kind'a hoped she would shoot him, or at least nick him a little.

"I see."

"Yup, old Troy had to do what I said for a change. And you know something, Billy Ray? It felt damn good too."

She leaned back against the Pepsi machine, stretching out along it. He felt his insides tighten. She was damn good looking! How had he not noticed this exotic woman over the last few years?

"Care to tell me about it?" he asked leaning back on the fender of the car. Inside of his pants, that damn Pete was starting to grow restless.

"Well I used the gun. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had power, like I was in control. I got him out of bed and made him go into the living room. I made him strip like a slave for his master. Then I made him stroke himself while I watched. What do you think about that?" She stepped from the Pepsi machine her eyes locked onto his. "Would you do that?" she asked her voice low and quiet. "Would you do that for someone to watch? Would you have been doing it that day in the kitchen if you knew I was watching?"

She was close to him now, her perfume floating into his brain and blurring his vision. Inside of his jeans Old Pete was about to lose all control.

"I don't know, Mary Jo," he gulped, his throat suddenly very dry. "I guess if Beth Ann wanted me too I would."

"No, Billy Ray," she shook her head, her eyes boring into his. She was only a foot away from him now. "Would you do it for me if you knew I was watching?"

He never saw her hand move, he was not even aware she was that close as her hand moved below his waist and she grasped onto Old Pete.

"Mary Jo, what in the hell?"

"Don't move!" There was a quiet but strong conviction in her voice.

He could feel her hand moving against his jeans, rubbing the length of Pete through the fabric. And damn Old Pete, he was reacting!

"Oh my goodness, Billy Ray," she said quietly. "Such a large swelling must hurt."

"Ah well no but...." He was trying to explain but his voice was not working. The blood was rushing through his veins; her damn hand was driving him crazy! He felt her hands at his belt, heard it fall undone. He knew she had snapped open his jeans but something kept him from reacting. He had to stop her. He was married. He loved Beth Ann. Someone could walk in! Despite all of the rumors, he had never really cheated on Beth Ann and this was not the time to start! "Do something!" his mind screamed!

She was on her knees before him, her hand on Old Pete and a glassy look in her eyes. "I'll make it all better," she assured him.

He felt her mouth, wet and warm as it slid down over Old Pete, following her hand. "Oh shit." he groaned. His eyes blurred, he grew dizzy and felt weak. Below him, he could hear Mary Jo as she swallowed Old Pete. She was purring like a cat as she worked him up and down, her hand gripping him firmly as her mouth ran along his length, devouring him. He collapsed back into the car, feeling his knees start to go out on him. She was sucking him with more vacuum than a damn shop-vac!

"Mary Jo." He tried to pull her off of him, to make her stop, but he couldn't. Her hand tightened on him and her mouth was locked onto Old Pete like a pit bull. Her free hand was now massaging his balls and he knew he was going to explode!

In minutes it was over and he lay back against the car as she licked him clean. He was barely able to meet her gaze as she stood and licked her lips staring down onto him.

"Just like with Troy," she said. "I take charge now. No more little scared Mary Jo, ever. That old Mary Jo is gone. Now I am in control. I have wanted you since the other day and I took you. I made Troy get down and I screwed him like a bronco busting cowgirl."

"What will Beth Ann say?" he said shaking his head.

She shook her head, running her hand along Pete one more time.

"It is her fault too," she said. "Her damn book has gotten me hotter than a hell fire. Tell her if you want too, Billy Ray, I won't blame you."

She turned on her heels and left the garage.

"Oh my God, what in the hell just happened?" As he zipped up his pants, he realized he had to try and explain to Beth Ann!

***

Beth Ann was at the table when he walked in, sipping wine and having a cigarette as she read over her latest chapter.

"Hey, baby," she glanced up, smiling.

"Hi," he answered, feeling the sick feeling in his stomach. How was he going to explain? He removed the revolver from his pocket and returned it to the spot above the fridge where he kept it.

"What have you been doing with that?" she asked, putting down her pages.

"Oh I borrowed it to Mary Jo yesterday," he explained. " You won't believe what she did with it either."

"What?"

"She used it to force him to lie down and then she pointed it at him while she rode him like a cowgirl in a bronco busting contest, or something to that effect," he paused. "But, baby, there is something else."

"What did you just say?" Beth Ann jumped to her feet. "Did you say she rode him like a she was in a bronco busting contest?"

"Ya, baby, but I have something else to tell you."

"Don't worry about it," Beth Ann shook her head as she bolted to her computer room. "Whatever it is I don't care. Just forget about it!"

"But, Beth Ann, baby,"

"Forget about it!"

He leaned back against the counter, his stomach starting to loosen up a bit. "I guess if that is what you want," he said quietly, opening the fridge and reaching for a beer.

***

"Come on damn it!" She hit her email button and went to the recently deleted file. "There you are." She hit the button and the screen came up.

There it was in Stefan's last email.

'She held a gun to me head and demanded that I fuck her. What else could I do but oblige her? She was horny beyond belief. It must have been a while since that old Duke had given her any real loving. She rode me like one of those cowboys riding a bucking bronco.'

"What the hell is going on?" she asked herself. Did Mary Jo know Stefan too? Was she making this up? What the hell?

"I gotta find out," she said, determined. "Inquiring minds want to know and I am damn inquiring about now!"

Chapter Thirty Three

Beth Ann sat and stared at the message on her computer screen. This was just too much to be a coincidence. She had thought that Duchess had sounded a lot like Mary Jo when she had first read the email from Stefan and now here was Mary Jo telling Billy Ray basically the same story. But Mary Jo didn't have a computer and neither did Troy. So how could Mary Jo know Stefan? Had Mary Jo been sneaking over here using her computer while she was down at the Kut-n-Kurl working? Mary Jo had been acting kinda weird here lately. There was just something different about Mary Jo that she just couldn't quite put her finger on.

Or maybe that fucking Troy had been sneaking in here messing around with her computer and had told Mary Jo about Stefan's emails. She sure wouldn't put it past him. After all she had caught him trying to get in the back door when he knew that she should already be gone to work. She never had believed that stupid story of his about bringing over an apple pie and declaring a truce. Troy Finkmyer wasn't the type to declare a truce with anybody, much less with Beth Ann Dixon.

She had to get to the bottom of this somehow. She had thought she was rid of old Stefan once and for all when she had quit answering his emails and had blocked him access to instant messages with her. Now here he was coming back to haunt her. Hell, he may even sue her for plagiarism if he knew she had used some of his stories he had emailed her, never mind that she had totally rewritten them. And what's worse, she had tentatively named her book 'The World According to Stefan'. She shouldn't have named it that but it was such a catchy title. Everybody was always asking her what the name of her book was and she had to name it something.

Now here was Mary Jo spouting off the same tail that Stefan had talked about in his last email to her that she had read. God damn it! What the fuck was going on?

***

Beth Ann stood outside Mary Jo's trailer banging on the door. "Open the door, Mary Jo! It's too frigging cold to be standing out here. Let me in!" she demanded through the closed door. No answer. She banged harder and still nothing. She turned to go. Just as she was fixing to walk down the steps, she saw Mary Jo peeking out from behind the curtains at the living room window. She turned around and marched back up them steps and kicked the fucking door with all the force she could muster.

"Damn it, Mary Jo, if you make me mess up my brand new red high heels, I'm gonna kill you! Now let me in, dammit!" she demanded. "I ain't leaving till you open this door so you might as well go ahead and let me in."

The door opened a crack and Mary Jo's voice floated out. "What you want, Beth Ann?"

"Is this any kind of way to treat me after I gave you that makeover you wanted? And I took you to Richmond and showed you all my favorite thrift stores too, Mary Jo. Now let me in. Me and you gotta talk!"

The door opened a little wider. Beth Ann pushed Mary Jo aside and went in.

"I'm sorry, Beth Ann," Mary Jo mumbled with her head hanging down in shame. "I don't know what come over me. Did Billy Ray tell you? I told him it was OK to tell you but I didn't really think he would."

"Yes, he told me."

"Well it wasn't really his fault, Beth Ann. I kinda forced him to do it," Mary Jo whispered.

"So it _was_ you then," Beth Ann exclaimed. "I just didn't believe it when Billy Ray told me. How do you know him anyway?"

"What you mean, how do I know him? I been knowing him ever since we moved to Grapevine."

"You been knowing him ever since you moved to Grapevine? How did you meet him? I never thought he would step foot in this dinky little town. Or do you mean you been knowing him on the computer?"

"What are you talking about, Beth Ann?" Mary Jo asked in confusion. "You know I ain't got no computer and wouldn't know how to use it if I did have one. And what do you mean, he wouldn't step foot in Grapevine? He lives here same as you do."

"What are you talking about, Mary Jo? Ain't you talking about putting a gun to his head and forcing him to let you ride him like he was a bucking bronco?"

"Billy Ray told you that too? I didn't think he would tell you that. Anyways, that's why I borrowed Billy Ray's gun. Troy don't never give me none and for once, I was tired of it. I was horny and I was going to get me some one way or the other. I told Billy Ray that when I was down at Rusty's this afternoon."

"What did you go down to Rusty's for? Why didn't you bring the gun back over to our house and give it to him?" Beth Ann asked.

Mary Jo stared at Beth Ann. "You think I would seduce Billy Ray in your own house, Beth Ann? Heck, it was bad enough doing that to you anyway, specially after you done befriended me. But I just couldn't help myself, Beth Ann. I been wanting Billy Ray ever since I seen him getting it off at your computer that day."

"You done what?" Beth Ann screamed. "You seduced my Billy Ray? How dare you! It's bad enough that you been messing around with Stefan but now you are after my husband too?"

"Who is Stefan?" Mary Jo asked.

"Who is Stefan? Who the hell you think we been talking about? You told Billy Ray that you held a gun to his head and made him let you ride him like a bucking bronco. You just admitted it to me. You gone crazy or something, Mary Jo?"

"I don't know no Stefan, Beth Ann. It was Troy that I made let me fuck him. And Billy Ray tried to make me stop but I just couldn't. I unzipped his pants and when I saw that big old thing of his, I had to have it. I took it in my mouth and made it cum."

Beth Ann stared at Mary Jo. "What did you say?" she asked through clenched teeth. "You standing there telling me that you took my Billy Ray's family jewels in your mouth and he let you?"

"Billy Ray tried to make me stop, Beth Ann," she mumbled. "It wasn't his fault."

Beth Ann's arm shot out and her fist caught Mary Jo right in the mouth. She reared back and hit Mary Jo again with all the force she could muster. Her fist connected with Mary Jo's nose and blood spurted from the broken nose. Mary Jo whimpered through her broken teeth as Beth Ann stomped her foot with that red high heel just for good measure.

"Don't you ever come near me again, Mary Jo, or near my Billy Ray. If I catch you so much as looking over this way, so help me I will kill you!"

***

Beth Ann slammed the trailer door shut behind her and marched over to the refrigerator. She pulled the gun down that she had seen Billy Ray put up there earlier. She headed towards the bedroom. She could see Billy Ray in the shower. She marched over and yanked back the shower curtain. Billy Ray turned and looked at her. She cocked the trigger of the gun and pointed it straight at his family jewels.

Chapter Thirty Four

Two things happened at once; Billy Ray saw the gun in his wife's hand pointed at Pete in a very threatening manner, and soap ran into his eyes.

"Oh, Christ, I am blind!" he screamed covering Old Pete with his hands. He realized this was foolish, since the .38 would blow right through his hands and Old Pete!

"Billy Ray Dixon, I am going to blow that cheating little thing right off!" Beth Ann snarled.

Raising his leg, he hunched back into the shower. "Beth Ann, come on, baby, don't get all nuts on me!"

"Nuts! Goddamn It you ain't seen nuts yet! But you can bet your cheating ass I am going to blow yours all over the fucking shower!"

"Aww, baby doll, please. I didn't ask for none of this. And I was gonna tell ya but ya said to forget about it all because something else was more important. Shit, Beth Ann, I didn't mean to let Old Pete misbehave!"

The gun was still up and pointed at his privates but he could see through the slit in one eye that she was wavering.

"And besides, baby, Mary Jo kind of put a spell on me or something," he tried to explain. "With us renewing our love and all and with all of the working out and no drugs, Pete ain't been thinking too clearly. Hell, he gets hard if'n the damn wind blows and the leaves rustle!"

"You got big balls, Billy Ray, comparing our renewed love with you getting a blowjob from that little slut Mary Jo Finkmyer. That little bitch, what makes her think she can handle my man anyways?"

"Ya, baby, you know you're the best," Billy Ray added.

"You are damn right, you fucking little tramp," she stepped closer, ramming the gun into his belly just above Old Pete. "I am the best in this whole damn town. I got me things going on right now and I am stressed out. Know what I need, Billy Ray?"

He shook his head, afraid to open his mouth as she leaned over into the shower.

"A damn good stress reliever, and boy, you are gonna be it!"

She grabbed him by the back of the hair and led him from the shower. Dripping wet, she paraded him down the hallway and into their bedroom.

"Get down on the bed, you cheating bastard."

He did as he was told; Beth Ann had just enough trailer-trash redneck in her to kill him dead.

"Lay still too," she ordered. "That blowjob from that slut had better not of worn you our neither, or else I am gonna shoot that little critter right off."

Swallowing hard, he hoped that Old Pete wouldn't let him down. Above him, Beth Ann tore off her shirt and bra, revealing those large round boobs. He could see her nipples were already hard; damn she was getting into this! Next, she removed her skirt and tossed it aside, stepping from her panties.

"This is all you need to worry about, you damn tramp!" With a knee on the bed, she lunged at him, smashing the panties down into his face.

"Smell them, you cheating tramp!" she ordered. "This is the dominant female in this damn trailer park you are smelling. Better never, ever, think of any other woman again!"

The panties were damp and smelled of her strong sexual scent. He knew she was even getting wet over this game she was playing.

"I will teach you," she warned, reaching down and taking Old Pete roughly in one hand. "This is my little dick, do you hear me? Mine and only mine. If that slut wants it, she will have to kill me first!"

Billy Ray felt her strong hands as they closed over Old Pete. "Oh yes, baby!" he moaned, feeling that frisky Pete rising already.

"I am going to take care of Old Pete," she said. "He ain't never gonna misbehave again!"

Her mouth open, her head went over the top of poor Pete. She swallowed him whole and began to bob up and down with enough suction to pull nails. As she did this, she began to rub the cold steel of the gun up over his balls and around the base of Pete. Billy Ray realized that this was turning him on!

"Oh, baby!" he moaned loudly. "That is so damn good!"

"Oh, you getting ready to cum, baby?" she asked looking up into his eyes. "I don't think so. You see, as I said, I want mine tonight!"

"Oh my God, baby, I don't know if I can take this anymore," he gasped.

Her grip hardened around his balls. "You ain't gonna cum, Billy Ray; not until I say so!"

He looked down as she lifted her head and began to climb his body. Slowly and seductively, biting his nipple hard as she passed.

"Ouch, Beth Ann, Jesus Christ!"

"Shut up, Billy Ray," she cautioned. "You take it like a man and shut your mouth."

She was up over him now, her knees pinning his shoulders to the bed. "I guess I should have said open your mouth, tramp!"

He glanced up just as she lowered her self onto his face.

"Give it to me, Billy Ray," she screamed. "Use your tongue!"

He felt his arms pinned back against the bed as her hips bucked into him. She was mashing herself into him and he started to use his tongue on her wet hot hole.

"God damn it, Billy Ray, make me cum!" she screamed above him.

He couldn't move away from her. She had him pinned by the shoulders and the hands. All he could do was what she told him. Finding her sweet spot, he began to lick her. Rolling his tongue like a hard little dick, he shot it in and out of her and across her wet lips. He knew she wouldn't take this flickering sensation very long.

"Yes, baby!" she cried out above him, releasing one hand. "Use your finger baby; give me what I like!"

He inserted his finger, finding her g-spot. He knew that if he used both his finger and his tongue, she would cum hard and quick. Running his tongue over the upper part of her sweet spot, he ran the finger in and out, massaging that special little place. Suddenly he felt her thighs tighten around his head and he could hear her panting breath.

"Yes, baby, oh yesssss!"

She came hard and he felt the release as moisture flooded his face and cheeks. He smiled. Now it would be his turn!

She rolled off of him and onto her side. "Damn it, Billy Ray, that was awful damn good," she panted through her gasps for air.

"I know, baby, now it is my turn," he smiled.

She shook her head. "Fuck you! Baby, you cheated on me today and I ain't quite ready to forgive you yet!"

With that, she rolled from the bed and headed into the bathroom.

"I am going to shower now, Billy Ray, and if you know what is good for you, get down to Smokey's and get me some barbeque for dinner."

He watched her go, feeling his anger rise. Ole Pete looked like he was about to burst!

"Goddamn, this ain't right," he shook his head, climbing to his feet. "It just ain't right!"

He dressed quickly and left the trailer. In his jeans Old Pete was still hard as hell. What would he do if Old Pete never recovered? For some reason, he couldn't help but look down the lot to where Mary Jo lived. Shit, could he help it he was so damn hot that she couldn't control herself? Hell no!

Climbing into his truck, he prayed that Beth Ann forgave him quickly. He couldn't take much more of this!

Chapter Thirty Five

Troy donned his cape and carefully placed his fedora on his head. He reached for his rose tinted glasses and put them on. He turned and looked into the full-length mirror he had placed on the wall beside his desk. He smiled. Yes, there was Stefan staring back at him.

Stefan turned on the computer and clicked the check mail button. Nothing. He clicked the instant message button. J'Lyne was not online.

Damn that J'Lyne! Where in the hell was she? He hadn't been able to 'talk' to her for ages and she wasn't returning his messages. Who did she think she was anyway? She may be some rich society bitch but he was Stefan, the world's greatest lover! She should be grateful that he even gave her the time of day.

Fury filled his soul and his face darkened with the passion of it. He clicked the compose message button.

'You little slut! How dare you mess with the great Stefan? You can't hide up from me up there in your mansion by the sea! I will track you down, you little society bitch! I had thought you were different but you are just like all the rest of those rich society broads. Think they can use me to fuck them like their flaccid dick husbands can't do and then discard me when they no longer have a use for me. You will wish you had never heard of Stefan when I get through with you. The last bitch that used me and then tried to throw me away ended up in a coffin. I watched as the sad eyed mourners filed by that closed casket. She was in no shape to have an open one. Her once beautiful face was no longer very beautiful as she went to meet her Maker.'

He hit the send button and the message flew out over the Internet on its way to J'Lyne. He turned off his computer. He pulled off his rose tinted glasses and carefully laid them on his desk. He swiveled his chair around and stared in the mirror. He adjusted his fedora to just the right slant. The face in the mirror gave an evil grin and the eyes had a strange glow to them as they stared back at him.

He stood and his cape swirled around him as he headed for the door. He flung the door open and went out into the blackness of the night. He felt a fury like he had never known before. It consumed him as he thought about J'Lyne and that damn Duchess who had pulled a gun on him and made him fuck her.

He would teach that damn Duchess not to mess with Stefan. It was time she learned her lesson. He turned and went back into the shed and grabbed the gun he kept hidden there. He crept across the lawn of his estate and up the steps. He peeked into the window and there she was just like she said she would be. Waiting on him. Waiting on him to fuck her again so she could go back to that half dead Duke of a husband of hers. Well not this time. He would fuck her all right but she wouldn't return to the Duke this time. Oh no.

Stefan flung the door open and the Duchess turned and smiled at him as he entered.

"Troy, what are you doing in that ridiculous outfit?" Mary Jo laughed. "Halloween is over."

Stefan looked around. Who was Troy? Did the Duchess have someone else here in his own house? He didn't see anyone else.

"You bitch, can't you even call me by my right name? My name is Stefan and you are damned lucky that I would even consider fucking you."

Mary Jo stared at Troy. Where did he get that ridiculous cape and that little hat? She'd never seen them before. Had he lost his mind? He sure didn't look right. And calling himself Stefan. Did he think he was the guy on that stupid butter commercial?

"Troy, what in the world is wrong with you? Why are you acting so strange? And who is Stefan?" she asked.

"How dare you stand there and pretend you don't even remember my name!" Stefan snarled. "You sure were calling it out the last time I fucked you."

Something was teasing at the back of Mary Jo's mind. Where had she heard the name Stefan besides on the butter commercial? Wasn't that who Beth Ann had been talking about when she was over last night?

"Take your clothes off!"

Mary Jo stared at Troy. Was he playing a game to teach her a lesson like she did him when she pulled the gun on him and made him fuck her? His eyes looked very strange. Sort of glazed over like there was nobody behind them.

"Troy, just calm down," she whispered. "Go on into the living room and I'll bring you a beer."

"Beer! You know I don't drink beer! The great Stefan drinks wine."

Mary Jo shook her head. Something definitely was not right with Troy. She started backing away from him towards the back door.

"Don't think you can run out on me, you bitch! You came here for another fucking from Stefan and you're going to get it!" Stefan yelled as he pulled the gun and aimed it at the Duchess.

Suddenly Mary Jo was more scared than she had ever been in her life. She had to escape! Troy had gone crazy! She turned and ran. Just as she yanked open the back door, she heard a loud noise. She felt a red-hot torch of pain in her back. She fell to the floor. She looked up and Troy was standing over her with the gun in his hand and a strange snarl on his lips. As she felt the darkness descending upon her, Mary Jo saw her mother standing there with her arms open wide. Her mother took her into her arms and embraced her. Mary Jo felt a peace fill her soul like she hadn't known in a long time. She smiled as the darkness became complete.

Chapter Thirty Six

As Shirley Snodgrass would later say in her column, heroes appear from strange places. For Mary Jo Finkmyer, it came in the form of snoopy old Janet Higgins.

Just as Mary Jo made the mad dash for her life, Janet had retrieved her cat from under the garbage pile at the Meeker's. She was cutting back across the Finkmyer's lawn when it happened.

Chewing out the cat, she was not paying attention to the yelling or the scream of fright from inside of her neighbor's trailer so she was unprepared for what she was about to encounter.

"Hello, Mrs. Higgins!"

Janet froze halfway across the yard. It was those church folks again and they were sure to want chat with her. In fact, the man and the woman were halfway across the lawn. He had his hand out and a fake grin across his face.

"Sure is a lot quieter than the last time we were out here," he said as they stopped a couple of feet from her.

She glanced about trying to find an avenue of escape. Across the lot, she could see Billy Ray and his buddies from the Amtrak working on a pickup truck. They would be of no help. How could she avoid the next few hours of church talk and coffee drinking?

Some might have said that the Lord answered her prayers; some may disagree.

Just as she was getting ready to bite the bullet and ask them inside, the Finkmyer's door shot open! Mary Jo screamed and bolted through it, as from inside a shot rang out!

The next few minutes are really a blur in the minds of those who were involved but as close as anyone can tell this is what occurred.

Mary Jo fell to the ground where she lay very still. Troy, in his Stefan outfit, filled the doorway. a gun in his hand. He was screaming threats at someone he called the Duchess and threatening to kill all of her flaccid, little-peckered lovers. He raised the gun in his hand and pointed it at the unmoving form of his wife.

The bible thumper screamed as he tossed himself onto the ground, throwing his female companion down along with him. His scream caught Troy's attention, who locked his glassy-eyed gaze onto Janet.

"You!" he cried out, stumbling down the trailer steps. He smiled as he realized the snoopy old broad who had beaten him with the notepad was right in front of him. He studied her, hair in curlers and covered with a scarf, old worn corduroy jacket over that stinking blue housecoat and her knee high socks stuffed into those ugly pull on boots. He sneered, the Duchess could wait; this was the hired assassin who had tried to kill Stefan before! And at her feet were the two holy people, probably Druids from an ancient religion! They were all here to stop Stefan!

As the crazed Troy raised his gun her way, Janet did not scream or freeze like the church folks. As a highly trained graduate of the YMCA self defense class, she went into action! Following the words of the instructor she used her available weapons.

He had taught them to scream (she had got an A+ on that one) and she did, just as loud as she could! Second, he taught them to adapt, overcome, and improvise!

Troy froze as Janet's crystal shattering scream tore through President Park. She used his moment of confusion to launch her counter attack. With as much strength as she could muster, she tossed the cat straight across the lawn into his face!

From across the lot, she could hear men yelling and boots running her way. She also realized that they would not arrive soon enough to save them from Troy. As Troy fought the hissing and scratching cat that had latched onto his shoulders, she found a stout stick in the yard. Suddenly Troy tossed the dangerous animal from his back and screamed a bloody oath as he leveled the gun. He fired three times, hitting the fleeing animal and killing it. His victory was short lived though as Janet vaulted the huddling church folks and slammed the stick down across his arm! The gun flew away, landing by the bible thumpers.

"Son of a bitch, you murdered my cat!" Janet cried out as she swung a quick return blow that caught Troy across the nose. Troy went down as blood spurted from his face. Janet swung again, this time smacking the stick over his head. It broke in two but Troy was down for good, rolling in the mud and blood.

"Grab the gun!" Janet yelled to the bible thumper as she held the remains of the stick in her hand. "If he gets up, I'll give him another one!"

"I got it!" the minister cried out. "What should I do?"

"Keep it away from this crazy bastard!"

He nodded, holding the gun pointed across the lot.

"He has a gun!" someone yelled as strong lights flooded the area mixing with the sound of squealing tires.

"Get that fuckin' Troy," Billy Ray ordered.

"I'll get that gun!" Gordie answered. He sprinted up to the churchman who held out the gun. Hell he didn't want it!

Gordie misread his intent though and thought the man was pointing it at him. He closed in, getting close to the minister. Grabbing the man's wrist that held the gun, he stepped in, delivering a crashing knee to the minister's groin area! With a scream, the man released his grip on the weapon and fell to the ground.

Across the lawn, Troy had tried to rise to his feet but Billy Ray hit him with a perfect flying tackle. They went back down into the dirt and Billy Ray delivered several good shots to the side of Troy's head.

"Hold him!" Pinto said as he ran up holding a Crescent wrench.

As Billy Ray pinned back Troy's arms, Pinto smacked Troy over the head, putting him down for good!

"Jesus Christ!" Nub Meeker shook his head as he came around the trailer. "I called the cops."

"Mary Jo!" Beth Ann ran past them to where the poor woman lay on the muddy grass. "She's been hurt!"

"Troy shot her," Janet informed them as she tossed the stick down.

Gordie stepped over, thrusting the gun into his belt. Kneeling, he ran his hand along her neck. "She ain't shot," he said. "She is full of wood splinters. He must have come real close."

"Look at him," Pinto said. "All dressed up like some dude."

"Strange," Billy Ray admitted.

"Mary Jo?" Beth Ann asked.

"Stefan," she said weakly, raising her hand towards Troy. "He was calling himself Stefan!"

Chapter Thirty Seven

Thursday, November 16, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Troy Finkmyer, a resident of President Park, was arrested Tuesday night and booked on charges of the attempted murder of his wife Mary Jo. Troy is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is capable of standing trial. Mary Jo is in the hospital at an undetermined location. Her condition was unknown at press time.

On a happier note, Claudia Schiffler, the head librarian of the Grapevine Public Library, has scheduled a reading by Beth Ann Dixon from her hot new book, _The World According to Stefan_. The reading will be held in the VIP of the library at 8pm on Friday, November 17th. The public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served after the reading.

Due to the Thanksgiving holidays, 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' will not run next week. I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Good God Almighty! She had forgotten all about telling old lady Schiffler that she would do that reading down at the library. And to make matters even worse, right there in black and white was the name of her book, _The World According to Stefan._ Beth Ann threw the paper down on the kitchen table in disgust.

What in the hell was she gonna do? There was no way she could keep that name for her book. Not now. Not after she found out that Stefan was Troy Finkmyer of all people! Who would have ever thought it? But the evidence was right there for all to see if they cared to look. Back there in that fucking shed of his. She had seen the evidence with her own two eyes.

After that fucking Troy had flipped out and they hauled him off to jail, she had snuck around the Finkmyer trailer to the back yard. The door to that damn shed had been standing wide open. She saw the computer on the desk and Stefan's rose colored glasses laying right there beside the computer. She remembered when Stefan had told her that the Duchess gave him those glasses. The evidence was plain to her that Troy was indeed Stefan. She hadn't had time to investigate any further because about that time the ambulance had screamed up into the front yard to collect poor Mary Jo. She had pulled the door shut hoping nobody would think to look in the shed what with all the commotion going on. So far she didn't think anybody had been back there in the shed.

Beth Ann walked out onto the back patio and looked across the back yards. All was quiet. Maybe she ought to sneak over there to that fucking shed and destroy the evidence. But wouldn't that be a criminal offense? She damn sure didn't want to go back to jail again. But which would be worse? Taking a chance on going back to jail or have everybody know she had been corresponding with that freaking Troy who had been masquerading as Stefan while she had been masquerading as J'Lyne? Jail was definitely the better of those two possibilities.

She had to have some help with this mission. No way she could afford to fuck this one up like she did the last time she tried being a spy. That time had ended her up in jail. Too much was at stake this time to take a chance.

She went into the bedroom and shook Billy Ray awake.

"Damn, Beth Ann," he groaned, "whatcha waking me up for?"

"You gotta help me, Billy Ray."

"Aw baby, can't it wait?" he mumbled. "I ain't ready to get up yet. Let me alone. I need to get a little more sleep."

Beth Ann shook him again. "Billy Ray, this is a matter of life and death. Now you gotta help me. I can't do this by myself."

Billy Ray sat up and looked at Beth Ann. "Life and death? Whose life and whose death? Don't tell me there's been another shooting!"

"Naw baby, there ain't been no nuther shooting. But there's gonna be one if you don't wake your lazy ass up and come help me!"

"Well whatcha need for me to do, Beth Ann?"

"I need you to go over to Troy's shed with me. I gotta destroy the evidence."

"Destroy the evidence? What evidence? What the hell you jabbering about now, Beth Ann?"

"I gotta get some stuff off that computer Troy's got back there in his shed," she replied, "and I need for you to stand guard at the door for me so's nobody will sneak up on us while I'm messing around in that frigging shed. If I went to jail this time, it would sure be worse than last time. Last time they just booked me for trespassing. This time they would get me for trespassing and destroying evidence in an attempted murder trial."

"What evidence you gotta destroy, Beth Ann?"

Beth Ann hung her head in shame. The shit was gonna hit the fan now, no two ways about it.

"I been emailing that fucking Stefan," she mumbled, "and Stefan turned out to be that crazy assed bastard Troy. I can't have nobody know about it."

"What the hell you talking about, Beth Ann?"

"Well to start with, baby, I couldn't think of no sexy ideas for my book. Hell, me and you was hardly even having sex at that time. Then I found this author guy in a chat room. He said his name was Stefan and he was an internationally known author. Course that perked my ears right up what with me wanting to be an author and all. He started telling me about some of his adventures as a lover. First thing you know, I was taking them stories he was telling me and rewriting them for my book."

"You done what?" Billy Ray yelled. "You mean them stories in your book ain't your own, Beth Ann? Jesus Christ, woman, I thought you had better sense than that!"

"Aw baby, that ain't the way it was. The stories are my own. I told you I rewrote them. The words are mine. It's just that the ideas came from Stefan to start with. That's why I named my book _The World According to Stefan_. But it's been a long time since I used any of Stefan's stories. The more I wrote, the better I got at coming up with my own ideas."

"Well you damn well better change the title of your book to something else, baby."

"But that's the problem, Billy Ray. I want to change it to something else but I can't now. That fat assed old Shirley Snodgrass has got it in her gossip column in this week's paper that I'm doing a reading over at the library tomorrow night. And she put the name of my book in there as _The World According to Stefan_. So you see, it's too late to change the title. We just gotta go over to Troy's shed and destroy the evidence. Now you get your ass up and come help me, by God!"

Billy Ray groaned as he climbed out of bed. Something was wrong with Beth Ann's logic about all this. But damned if he could put his finger on it at the moment. Goddamn, he knew he should have thrown that damn computer of Beth Ann's out in the trash pile! That damn thing hadn't been nothing but trouble ever since she came home with it!

Chapter Thirty Eight

Shirley sat back and sighed, the stack of reports and notes on the latest conflict over at President Park on the desk before her. Two whole weeks she had to relax over the Thanksgiving holiday. Her regular readers were well aware that she would not write her column until the following week.

But, damn, there was a lot of information flooding around town these days. It was almost impossible to keep up with it! And this latest incident with Troy Finkmyer! He may have been a menace to the whole town but he was the best friend a gossip columnist could have. This last bit about him yelling that he was some great lover while he charged about in a cape and fedora, who could even dream up such a story? Fact was better than fiction and when you lived around Grapevine the facts kept rolling!

Rising from her chair, she walked over to the cabinet where she kept her secret brandy supply. The bottle she kept around for medicinal purposes only. Well tonight she felt one of those medical emergencies and poured about two fingers into a glass. Taking a sip, she stepped back to the table but did not sit back down. Instead she picked up the yellow tablet paper with Janet's report. As she scanned it, she found it incredible that Mary Jo still lived. Troy had missed her and the flying debris only wounded her. The only true casualty, if you forget about the bible thumper who Gordy knee-dropped in the balls, was Janet's cat. The poor animal had taken a bullet for the cause. Janet reported that there was little left but hide and fur.

She was suddenly snapped from her thoughts as the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Shirley, boy am I glad I caught you!" It was her editor down at the Grapevine Gazette, David Mathers.

"What can I do for you, Dave? You know my column is in for this week and I don't write one for next week."

"Oh hell, Shirley, I know that." He sounded like she had pointed out the obvious, which of course she had. "But I got news for you girl, big, big, big news!"

"What?"

"I been contacted by the Enquirer!" he blurted out. "They been following some of your latest work and they are interested in you writing them a piece or two!"

"What?" She felt her knees go weak and the hand holding the brandy started to shake.

"Yes, Shirley, I ain't kidding! They got wind of that recent piece you did on the fight over at President Park, the first big fight with the shooting and all, and said it was a hell of a lot better than any damn alien sightings. They want to see another piece, something new, that they would like to use next month."

"They want me?" She could barely breath. The Enquirer was every small town gossip columnist's dream!

"Yes they do and I suggest you get to work. Whip'em up one they will never forget."

He hung up the phone quickly.

"Well, I'll be." She drained the rest of her drink. "Best get cracking here Shirley." She glanced a second time at the large stacks of papers on her desk. She had the information right here in front of her. All she had to do is let her mind run wild! She would do it! Maybe Beth Ann Dixon was gonna be a great romance novelist but old Shirley Snodgrass was heading for the Enquirer!

***

As Shirley went back to work, Beth Ann and Billy Ray were about to uncover one of the greatest scandals in the history of Grapevine. By the time they were finished, there would not be a house or family who would not be affected in some way. Inquiring minds would want to know and some of Shirley's best work was yet to come!

***

"Come on Billy Ray, get up and come help me!"

He rolled over, sliding his feet from the bed. Damn it, why did she have to do this right now? He was just dreaming about that chick from the bodybuilding show and he would have liked to finish.

"Oh okay, baby, I'm coming." He slipped on some sweat pants, an old worn sweater, and his beat up Nikes.

"Let's go then."

With a smile of triumph, she led him out the door.

"Okay, Billy Ray, we are gonna sneak over and get a look in his shed," she whispered.

"Uh, baby, why are you whispering?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I guess it is the thing to do when spying or breaking and entering."

"Oh shit, baby, let's just get your snooping done. Hell, all of the snotty stuff you said about Shirley over the years and here you go, being just like her."

"I ain't like her, Billy Ray, but I got to see to some things. There are things that could affect my future, our future."

"Oh damn, all right." He shook his head giving in to her. As they entered the Finkmyer's backyard, this still felt funny to him. What would that crazy Troy Finkmyer have that was worth a damn to Beth Ann? Hell, even if she told him some sexy things. He stopped dead in his tracks! Maybe she wanted to destroy evidence of their sexy talking? Suddenly he realized that if he caught her in a little sex talk with Troy, he could use it to his advantage! Yes, he could get her to feeling bad about cheating behind his back on the computer! With a renewed vigor, he followed her around the trailer.

"There it is."

He followed her finger. Yup, there was Troy's shed and the door was wide open!

"Okay, baby, let's go and get it done."

She pushed him ahead and, wetting his lips, he led the way. They entered the shed and Billy Ray felt a sudden weird feeling creep up his spine. It was as if this little shack held some kind of voodoo spell or something.

"I'll take care of his computer," Beth Ann said as she sat down and began to clack away on the keys.

With a nod, Billy Ray walked over to a small table where a black book rested on an old card table. Something about the book sparked his curiosity and he picked it up, thumbing through the pages.

"I found it," Beth Ann called out. "I found his emails and saved files." She pulled them up one by one and started to hit the 'delete' button.

Across the shed, she heard Billy Ray grunt in answer as he read.

"Holy shit, baby!" he gasped in a raspy whisper.

Beth Ann glanced at him, immediately recognizing the look of shock that was plastered across his face.

"What, baby?"

"Beth Ann, you gotta read this. Troy, or this Stefan, has been screwing the most wealthy and powerful women in town!"

"Huh?" She stood and walked over, taking the book.

"Right there, baby," he pointed over her shoulder. "Mrs. Morgan, Friday morning. Picked her up in the cab and took her to the lake, cabin 13 and we had our usual 'roll in the hay'. I feel sorry for her husband because she is so lazy in bed. Collected fifty-five dollars for the 'service call'. Look, Beth Ann, there are names, places, and a lot of other facts."

Beth Ann started to read the long list. There had to be every influential lady in town! Hell, most of them were her customers at the shop!

"He has been running a gigolo service!" She shook her head in shock.

"Yes, baby, and with the women he mentions here, it would destroy this town."

"But, Billy Ray," she looked up at him. "we gotta let this out."

He thought about it. There was going to be hell to pay.

"Let me see that again. There is the mayor's wife, daughter of the postmaster, wife and daughter of the judge. Shit, baby, I don't know if we want to be mixed up in this. I mean this could really destroy our lives too."

"How, Billy Ray?"

"I don't know for sure but there must be a way we can spill the beans and reveal this without being involved."

At that exact moment, he glanced across the lawn where Janet Higgins was taking out her trash.

"Don't worry, baby," he felt himself smile. "I got me a plan!"

Chapter Thirty Nine

As Janet rolled the garbage can out to the curb, she glanced over at the Finkmyer trailer. All was dark. Troy was still gone being evaluated to see if he was crazy and poor Mary Jo - she didn't even know where Mary Jo was at. Hell, they could have saved the taxpayers some money on evaluating that damn Troy though. She could have told them he was crazy as a bat and they wouldn't have had to put him in no hospital for evaluation. Nobody ever listened to a word she said though. Thought she was just some dumb old maid who had never been laid. _Oh if they only knew about my younger days. Wouldn't that just shock the shit out of everybody?_ Hell, one of these days she would show everybody in Grapevine that she was just as smart as that Shirley Snodgrass or that Beth Ann Dixon. Shoot, that old fat assed Shirley wouldn't even have a column to write if it weren't for her snooping around and collecting all the news in Grapevine to pass on to Shirley. _Damn I miss my cat! I could kill that Troy with my bare hands for shooting my cat! I'm gonna get even with him somehow if it takes me till hell freezes over to do it!_

She walked back up the drive to her trailer. _What the hell?_ Wasn't supposed to be nobody over at the Finkmyer's but she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of light in that shed of his. What was going on over there? Suddenly Janet was on the job. Wasn't nothing gonna get by her! Inquiring minds wanted to know and she sure wasn't gonna let them down!

In her best sleuth manner, she crept into the Finkmyer's back yard. Yes, that was a light in that shed! And the door was wide open! Had that damn Troy snuck away from that mental hospital? She crept up to the door and peeked in. Wasn't nobody in the shed. Then how come the light was on and the door standing wide open? She had to investigate this situation further.

She slipped into the shed and looked around. There was a desk and a computer! Heck, the only people she knew in Grapevine who had a computer was Shirley and Beth Ann. What was that dumb Troy doing with a computer? Wish she knew how to operate one of them things. Bet she could get all kinds of information for Shirley off of it. Shit, she should have been taking computer classes down at the YMCA instead of all that karate crap.

She stared at the desk and the computer. She couldn't pack the damn thing up and take it to Shirley. She didn't even know how to disconnect it. There must be something she could get on Troy though. She started going through the desk drawers. What was this? A little black book? Troy's address book? She opened it up for a look. Lordy, lordy, Miss Claudi! She had hit pay dirt. Shirley would pay her big time for this. She stuck the little black book into the pocket of her robe and crept out the door. She looked around. Didn't see nobody. Seemed she had got away with this little caper. She took off back towards her trailer and the phone at a dead run.

***

Beth Ann and Billy Ray peeked out from behind the bushes and watched Janet as she ran back towards her trailer. She had taken the bait. The fate of Grapevine was in the capable hands of Janet Higgins, super sleuth.

The shit was fixing to hit the fan now.

God help Grapevine. It would never be the same again.

Chapter Forty

The soft breeze of the sea blew against his long hair as he stood on the balcony. Below, the violins played and he could smell the intoxicating aroma of the city. Venice, a city built on its reputation of love!

He stepped back into the room where the small dinner for two waited. His great love, J'Lyne, would be here soon. One final time, he peered around the room making sure it was capable of meeting his standards. It was not an easy thing to do; after all, he was Stefan the world's greatest lover!

Candles, hundreds of them, cast romantic shadows upon the walls while dancing off of the thousands of red Roses that he had strewn about. It was a scene unlike any ever captured in Hollywood. He could see her now as she stepped through his door, her long blonde hair upon her shoulders as he led her into his room. He could just imagine her heaving bosom as she gazed with passion upon this perfectly sculpted night he had created for them to share.

He stepped to the table and checked the bottles of wine, the finest red wine in the city. They were chilled to just the right temperature and he could barely wait to allow the first one to breathe. With the wine, he had ordered lobster, relishes and the finest fresh bread. There would be no skimping on this evening, the night he would make love to J'Lyne!

They had been secretly lusting for each other for months, unable to satisfy the hungers they each felt. Now, on this night and in this place, they would finally become one.

He was freshly bathed and shaved, his entire body scrubbed and brushed until there was no speck of dirt left. He would not enter the bed of passion until he was polished and worthy. Worthy to be the lover of such an exquisite beauty!

He opened a bottle of wine, allowing the rich aroma to drift into his senses. Good wine was very much like a woman. One must appreciate it and taste it slowly. You must marvel and relish that taste for surely it is unique and cannot be duplicated. In his world, the world of Stefan, a man knew of such things. Oh and his prized J'Lyne, how he would slowly enjoy each and every inch of her. He would feast, first with his eyes and then with his hands, to be followed by lips and tongue. She would be the delicacy he would use to sweeten the taste of such wine.

"Oh yes," he said quietly. "I will cherish you."

***

"What in the hell!"

Troy snapped awake in time to see Nurse Haggerty, Hagar the horrible they called her, standing in front of him.

"You went and got yourself a little excited I see." Her eyes seared into his lap.

Troy glanced down and realized he had a tremendous throbbing boner!

"To bad you are in here," she teased. "I bet you could really put that to good use."

Troy peered at her through half medicated eyes. She was about five foot or so and about two hundred and fifty pounds. She carried herself like one of them women on the Bulgarian swim team. He was about to smart off when he saw that old familiar look in her eye. She knew his secret! She knew he was Stefan! He also concluded through his slight haze of medication, that she was a lonely woman who could be his if he worked her right.

"I could," he answered. "I could show you."

At his remark, she froze. She had been turning down his bed but now she lifted her head meeting his gaze.

"Is that so?" She seemed to regard him closely.

"Oh yes," he heard his voice changing. He was no longer Troy but Stefan! "Yes, nurse Haggerty. I could do things to you that would make your head swim." He even added a little wink at the end of that line. She smiled and he realized that she was vulnerable to his trap.

"Well, Troy," she cooed as she stepped over to him. "Is that true?"

He nodded, his smile growing larger.

She stopped beside his chair and reached down towards his lap. Without saying a word, she placed her hand in his lap right where his hard member had caused his gown to rise. Slowly she grasped him and he could hear her soft moan as she squeezed him.

"Oh, Troy, would you?"

Her hand was firm on him and he felt her grip strengthen. It felt so good!

"Yes, nurse Haggerty, I would." He smiled up at her, aware that her hand was now working up and down his hardened member. The medication they gave him fogged his brain but the rest of him appeared to be in great shape!

"I better check the door," she said and quickly she went to the room door closing the small set of blinds. "We need a little privacy."

With what he judged was a seductive smile, she crossed the room towards him with her hands under her scrub pants. She peeled them over her hips and Troy tried to hide the look of disgust he felt at her large thighs and stomach.

"I will take care of you," she whispered, stepping from the scrubs and straddling him. With one leg on each side of the chair he sat in, she slowly lowered herself onto him.

It went on for what seemed like hours. She was moaning into his ear as she rode him on the chair. He was sure the whole damn thing would collapse at any time. Finally he got his rocks off and she climbed off of him smiling.

"I will be back later," she promised with a wink. "Rest, baby, see you later."

He sat back trying to catch his breath. He didn't like being used by that fat hog but he needed her. It was necessary to gain control over her because he needed to get out of here. He would use 'Hagar the Horrible' to escape!

***

Peering out of the kitchen window Beth Ann and Billy Ray watched as their plan began to take form. Janet had found the secret book of the great lover Stefan, or the whacked out nut Troy, whoever you chose to believe he was.

"Trust old Janet to get the story out." Billy Ray chuckled as he opened a beer.

"Ya," she agreed. "She will be right on her way to Shirley-fat-assed-Snodgrass!"

"There she goes." He pointed out the window as Janet appeared. Dressed in her worn brown coat, she hurried to her beat up old Chevrolet. Climbing in, they soon could see the telltale sign of dark blue smoke roll from the tailpipe. "That old car still needs a valve job," he chuckled, sipping from his beer.

Beth Ann watched Janet wheel the old boat out of the trailer park.

"I would love to see the look on old Shirley's face when she gets her snooping nose into that book. Hell, there was the name of every well-to-do woman in town in there."

"If you just had an excuse to get on over there."

She froze. "But, baby, I do," she smiled, reaching for her coat. "I am still supposed to interview with her for the library reading." He caught her meaning and shook his head.

"You be behaving now, baby," he warned. "Don't be saying nothing you can't take back."

"I won't, Billy Ray," she promised as she hustled out the door.

Chapter Forty One

Thursday, December 7, 2000

"I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE"

Troy Finkmyer, a resident of President Park, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in the attempted murder of his wife, Mary Jo. Troy has been moved to the Kentucky State Mental Institution in Richmond where he will remain for psychiatric treatment. The whereabouts of Mary Jo Finkmyer remains unknown. It is rumored that she has moved back to her hometown of Mill Creek, West Virginia.

Janet Higgins has added a new member to her family. The mayor gave her a black Persian cat, which she has named Sleuth Foot. As you all know, Janet's last cat was killed at the shootout at President Park in which Mary Jo Finkmyer was almost mortally wounded.

Beth Ann Dixon's reading at the Grapevine Public Library was a huge success. It was standing room only. At the reading, Beth Ann announced that she had changed the title of her book from _The World According to Stefan_ to _Scandals and Sexcapades: The World's Greatest Lover)._ She also announced that she was going to use her real name on the book instead of the pen name of Bethany Dickerson _._ According to Claudia Schiffler, the Head Librarian, there was an agent from one of the top New York publishing houses in attendance. This mystery man was seen talking to Beth Ann after the reading. It is rumored that he and Beth were discussing a publishing contract. When questioned, Beth Ann just smiled mysteriously and said, "Wouldn't inquiring minds love to know?"

Beth Ann Dixon isn't the only one who has had good things happening. Yours truly, Shirley Snodgrass, was contacted by a representative of The National Inquirer to write an article. The National Inquirer representative liked my article so well that he has asked me to become a regular contributor. I do believe that I will have plenty to write about. Grapevine, Kentucky will soon become a household name all across the United States of America.

Inquiring minds want to know!

Shirley Snodgrass

Gossip Columnist

GRAPEVINE GAZETTE - Grapevine, Kentucky

***

Beth Ann chuckled as she read Shirley's latest column. Yeah, old fat assed Shirley would have plenty to write about for that National Inquirer. Hell, she had a little black book just full of 'scandals and sexcapades'. Old Shirley had decided to keep that little black book her own little secret; well hers and Janet Higgins little secret that is. _They don't have a clue that I know! They would just shit a brick if they knew that me and Billy Ray had arranged for Janet to just sort of find that little black book of Troy's._

Of course that hadn't stopped Shirley from sort of hinting to the mayor, Ned Adams, that she had uncovered a secret that would rock Grapevine to its very core. Old Ned had tried his best to bribe the secrets out of Shirley but Shirley had been too smart for that. She knew she could make a hell of a lot more money from the National Inquirer than what Mr. High and Mighty Ned Adams could afford to give her. Besides Shirley liked having power over somebody, sort of lord it over them like. That sort of thing made her feel important.

Janet had been another kettle of fish though. She had at least gotten another cat out of the deal when Mr. Adams had cozied up to her trying to learn the secret. Bet she would get a car out of the deal before it was over with too. God knows that old clunker of hers wouldn't last much longer.

There was one thing that Shirley hadn't found out though. She didn't know that Mary Jo had snuck into town last Thursday night. She had come knocking on their door in the middle of the night and had got Billy Ray to help her load up all her most prized possessions in a U-Haul trailer. Mary Jo wouldn't tell them where she was going though. She just said she couldn't stay in Grapevine. Not after all the shit Troy had put her through here and all the stunts he had pulled. Said it served Troy right to be committed to the insane asylum. He had been trying to convince her for years that she was the one who was crazy. Guess Mary Jo had the last laugh on that one after all. Troy was gonna be in that insane asylum a long long time and Mary Jo was free as a bird. And she hadn't even had to shoot Troy to get rid of him.

Beth Ann laid the paper down got up and poured herself another cup of coffee. She looked at the clock on the kitchen stove. Time to wake Billy Ray up. She had some unfinished business with that man and it couldn't wait any longer. She poured him a cup of coffee and headed off to the bedroom with both cups of steaming hot coffee.

She sat the coffee cups down on the nightstand and shook Billy Ray's shoulder.

"Wake up, honey bunny," she cooed. "Time to get it up."

Billy Ray groaned and pulled the pillow up over his head. "Lemme alone, Beth Ann. I ain't ready to wake up just yet."

Beth Ann leaned down and blew her hot breath into his ear. "Oh, Billy Ray, wake up, lover boy," she whispered.

Billy Ray pulled the pillow down off his face and opened one sleepy eye. "Ummm, what'd you say, baby?"

"I said time to get it up, lover boy. Me and old Pete got us some unfinished business to take care of."

Old Pete jumped up right on cue. Beth Ann gave him a little rub.

Billy Ray laughed. "Seems like Old Pete is awake and ready, baby, even if I ain't. Whatcha gonna do with him now that you woke him up?"

"Me and Old Pete is fixing to have us some fun." She pulled Old Pete out of confinement and took him into her mouth.

"Whoooee, baby, me and Old Pete like that!" Billy Ray groaned. "Do it some more!"

Beth Ann swirled her tongue around Old Pete's tip and gave him a little suck. She moved her mouth up and down. Billy Ray grabbed Beth Ann's head and pulled her closer, forcing her to take more of Old Pete into her mouth. Billy Ray was groaning and moaning. Beth Ann felt kinda sorry for him after the way she had treated him the last time they had made love. Left him hanging like that after she got her rocks off. She was sure gonna make up for it now though.

She let go of Pete and stood up. She undid her robe and pulled it off. She was nekkid as a jaybird underneath that warm fuzzy robe. Billy Ray grinned up at her.

"Come here, baby, and let me suck on them big knockers of yours. I know you like that."

"Damn right I do!" She leaned over and Billy Ray took a nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. "Ooooeee, baby, that feels good!"

"Wait a minute, sweet thang, and let me take these shorts off. We gonna have a high old time this morning, ain't we, baby?" Billy Ray grinned. He slipped the shorts off and threw them over in the corner of the room.

Beth Ann jumped into the bed and Billy Ray climbed up on top of her. Old Pete was just begging to be let in. Beth Ann spread her legs and in Pete went, slicker than a whistle. They began to move together, slow at first, then faster, then slow again. It was feeling mighty damn good.

The doorbell rang. Beth Ann stopped moving under Billy Ray.

"Awwww, baby, don't stop now, please! Me and Old Pete is just about to cum!"

"But, Billy Ray, somebody's at the door. I gotta go answer it."

"No, no, baby, please, they'll go away."

"Aw baby, I'm sorry. Just let me go see who it is and I'll be right back."

Beth Ann crawled out from underneath Billy Ray and put her robe on.

Billy Ray groaned. "God damn it!" he yelled. "I'm gonna kill that mother fucker. I don't give a shit who it is! Me and Old Pete are in misery!"

***

Billy Ray heard Beth Ann screaming! What the hell was going on? Who was messing around with his sweet Beth Ann? He jumped up out of bed and ran to the living room to see what was going on.

Hell, there weren't nobody there but Beth Ann and she had done gone plumb crazy! She was jumping up and down and shrieking like a magpie!

"Beth Ann, baby, what the hell is wrong with you? Who was that at the door?" he asked.

"It was the Fed Ex man, Billy Ray!" she screamed.

"Well what did the Fed Ex man want, baby?" he asked.

"He brought me this here letter, Billy Ray."

Billy Ray could see now that she was holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Well, let me have a look at it then."

Beth Ann handed the paper over to Billy Ray. Billy Ray read it and then slowly read it again. He sank to the floor.

"By God, baby, you did it!" he said in awe as he stared up at his wife. "You really did it!"

Beth Ann sat down beside him on the floor and took the letter back. She read it again, slowly, devouring every word.

"By God, I did, didn't I?" she said as she stared at that contract from that big New York publishing house. "It's right here in black and white. They want an exclusive contract for _Scandals and Sexcapedes: The World's Greatest Lover_. Little old Beth Ann Dixon is gonna join the rich and famous, baby!"

Epilogue

January 25, 2002

The TV vans, the radio crews, the newspaper reporters-they were all there. The little town of Grapevine, Kentucky had never seen the likes of it. And to think that it was all because of little old Beth Ann Dixon's book, _Scandals and Sexcapedes: The World's Greatest Lover_.

Trailer 16 was decorated with crepe paper streamers for the occasion. Red and green dye ran down the sides of the trailer as the falling snow saturated the crepe paper. A soggy hand-lettered cardboard sign proclaimed "Beth Ann Dixon - Grapevine's claim to Fame."

Beth Ann beamed as she looked out the window. She knew she should go out there, but in typical Beth Ann fashion, she wanted to wait until exactly the right moment to make her grand entrance. Just as the police car from the neighboring town came in, their sirens blaring and their lights blinking, she strolled out into the yard looking for all the world like the Queen of the Nile in her fake fox skin coat which matched her hair perfectly.

Lights glared as the cameras rolled. The reporters shouted questions, nearly cramming their microphones down her throat. She took it all in stride. After all she was Beth Ann Dixon, author of a New York Times best selling book.

She smiled as she held up a hand for silence. The crowd hushed when she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper.

"I have a statement prepared for all of you."

She winked at the New York Times reporter who had written that her book was 'the best thing since _Valley of the Dolls, Peyton Place_ and _Harper Valley PTA_ all rolled up into one volume' as she began to read.

"I want to thank all of you here in Grapevine for the part you have played in my success. Even though Troy Finkmyer isn't here with us today, I would like to thank him too. Hell, if he hadn't gone crazy and thought he was the 'world's greatest lover', I wouldn't have never used that phrase in the title of my book."

Mary Jo Finkmyer, back in town for the occasion and dressed to the nines in the new mink coat that her sugar daddy had given her, beamed with pride. Well hell, she was proud! If old Troy hadn't cracked up, she would still be with that mean son-of-a-bitch instead of living the life of Riley with old Mr. Higginbottom! She looked up at him and grinned. He snuggled her closer in his arms and kissed her on the top of her flame red head.

"I would also like to thank Janet Higgins. If she hadn't been the 'A-Number One Super Sleuth of Grapevine', I probably would have either been killed or locked up in jail and never been able to finish my book."

Janet let out a war whoop of excitement that could be heard three counties away. Her cat, Super Sleuth, jumped down out of her arms and hightailed it off across the yard towards the Higgins trailer. Janet didn't know whether to run after him or let him go. Heck fire, let that danged cat take care of himself for a change. She wasn't about to miss out on any of this excitement!

"I was going to give away a few of the secrets behind my book but I think I will let well enough alone on that score. The Enquirer's number one correspondent, Shirley Snodgrass, is taking care of Grapevine's little secrets well enough without any additional help from me."

Shirley never even looked up. She was too busy trying to hold the tape recorder on which she was recording every word for posterity and take pictures with her little box camera at the same time.

"And of course I have to thank my husband, Billy Ray, for all the support he has given me."

Beth Ann looked around. Where in the hell was that damn Billy Ray anyway? She didn't see him nowhere! He was probably at the Amtrak. He was having a really hard time dealing with all her success. She should have thought about it and had him up here on the porch by her side. They had grown to love each other in a way neither of them had ever thought possible. Maybe she should just leave all this hubbub and go on down to the Amtrak and have a beer with him.

"Lemme through!" Billy Ray's unmistakable voice bellowed as he pushed through the crowd. "I got somethin' for ya, baby," he said, waving a piece of paper in his hands.

Beth Ann reached out, taking a picture from him. "They done it just for you, honey," he beamed proudly.

She looked at the picture. There at the entry to President Park was a brand new fancy-schmanzy sign. 'President Park Estates - Home of Beth Ann Dixon', it read.

"Sound good enough for you?" he asked, grinning. "They was gonna charge everybody an extra $25 bucks a month for the cost of puttin' it up, but I told them I'd cover it all by myself."

Beth Ann stood on her tiptoes, which wasn't no mean feat considering that she was already on her tippy-toes from the high heels. She kissed him, first on the cheek, then on the lips. "Thank you, sweetie," she said, wiping the lipstick off his cheek.

"Think nothin' of it," he said. For the first time in his life, Billy Ray blushed as he said, right there in front of the TV cameras, the radio crew, the newspaper reporters and the big shots from the New York Times, "I'm mighty damn proud of you!" Then he picked her up in his arms and started towards the door of Trailer 16.

The reporters all ran after them.

"Are you going to move to a new house?"

"Are you going to leave town?"

"Will you travel to Europe?"

The questions flew fast and furiously. Beth Ann, still in Billy Ray's arms, raised her hand to silence them.

"I can answer all your questions," she said, winking slyly at them. "I am going to stay right here. If I moved someplace besides President Park-or President Park Estates-I wouldn't have anybody to write about."

She pulled off one high-heeled red shoe and threw it to the reporter from the New York Times, who had to drop his pad and pen in the snow to catch it.

"Here's you a little something to remember Beth Ann Dixon by," she winked, "and to show my thanks for all that coverage of my book you put in your newspaper."

Billy Ray kicked open the door of Trailer 16 and carried his sweet baby inside, locking the door behind them.

*****

The authors of this book thank you for your purchase. If you enjoyed reading _No Lady and Her Tramp_ , please recommend it to your friends.

**About Kristie Leigh Maguire** **:**

Kristie Leigh Maguire is the author of Second Chances, Affairs of the Heart: Desert Heat and Cabin Fever (Collector's Edition), Desert Heat, Cabin Fever, You've Got Mail from Japan, and co-author of No Lady and Her Tramp, as well as a contributor to several anthologies.

She was voted Best Up and Coming Author of the Year and her novel Desert Heat was voted Romance of the Year by the Affaire de Coeur Magazine Reader/Writer Poll. Her novels Cabin Fever and No Lady and Her Tramp placed in the Top Ten in the Preditor & Editor's Poll.

Kristie Leigh Maguire and her husband have lived all over the United States and many foreign countries while following his career. While living in Japan, she found it very difficult to find books to read that were written in English. This situation was intolerable as she was an avid reader and had been known to resort to reading cereal boxes if nothing else was available. Have you ever tried to read a cereal box written in Japanese? It was not a pretty picture. Ms. Maguire began writing her own books just to have something to read. She discovered a new passion in writing.

Although Kristie Leigh Maguire is originally from the South and will always remain Southern at heart, she and her husband now live in Nevada. During her expatriate years she lived in St. Croix, Aruba, Thailand, Japan and three times in Saudi Arabia and visited many other countries.

Visit Kristie Leigh Maguire online at http://kristieleighmaguire.com.

About Mark Haeuser:

Mark began writing in 1997 after a trip to a local bookstore. After spending hours searching, he realized that no one wrote the kind of stories he wanted to read. He loved adventure stories and craved the kind of realistic action he had lived as a police officer. He decided to try his hand at writing his own books.

Drawing on his years of martial arts training, SWAT team training, and SWAT sniper training, he began writing the Battleground USA Series, an action/adventure series. He has published _Battleground USA - The Beginning_ , _Battleground USA2 - Las Vegas_ , and _Battleground USA3 - Lake Pepin_.

Mark has also published _The Protectors_ \- the first novel in The Second Coming Trilogy, _Hunters of the Shadows_ , _The Fourth Horseman_ , _Western Justice_ , and _Memoirs of a Rogue_.
