Tasìa woke up with a stinging smack on her fanny.

"The hell!"

She peered up to see Annebél smiling wolfishly back at her.

"I saw you lying cozily with Jún-Jún. He had a lovely smile on his face. So, how did things go?"

Tasìa smiled back as she brushed the strands of hair out of her eyes.

"I made a little progress on my sojourn," Tasìa motioned with her hand just what she meant by that. "I actually had no intentions beyond keeping him company for the night, but when I realized I could go a little further, I chanced it. It was an all-around incredibly pleasant experience."

Annebél nodded her head.

"Good. Are you ready to get up and go? Get some coffee from the kitchen. I would like to head out in twenty so we can get you that motorcycle."

Tasìa stretched as she peered around the room.

"Where's Jún-Jún?"

"Soaking in the bathtub. He's a little drunk and out of it so I need to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't drown."

Tasìa realized she left her trousers in the living room by the couch. Opening the door to the hallway and turning the corner, Tasìa gasped.

She turned back around and poked her head into the bathroom.

"Annebél? I see you had a busy night."

"Good morning, Avellana," Jún-Jún said with a pleased grin.

Tasìa laughed at the awkwardness she was feeling.

"Good morning," she said in turn. "Are you feeling any better, Jún-Jún?"

He sunk to his neck in the bathwater.

"I truly feel as if I have turned a corner. I won't lie though, my eyes still burn. It's a dull pain now, not an intense one."

Tasìa reached her hand out and she stroked the hair on his head.

"Stay strong," was all she could think to say at that moment. In her defense, Tasìa had yet to have her coffee. Feelings of empathy even for a dear man like Jún-Jún were presently very touch and go.

"Avellana," he began. "Will you come back tonight? I would really like your company if you are not too busy."

Annebél threw her a haughty smirk. Tasìa pinched her on the thigh in turn.

"If tonight, it will have to be very late," she answered.

"I keep some very odd hours since this happened. I would appreciate it if you did. I'll shut up now. You had a question for Annebél."

Tasìa raised her head up and she nodded.

"Ah, yes, I do. There is someone on the couch."

"You did not wake her up, did you," Annebél asked in turn.

"No, of course not. She looked so peaceful that I did not recognize her face until I saw the lapels of that lavender dress peeking out from beneath her blanket."

Annebél turned to face Jún-Jún.

"Hey, you ready to get out of there? Avellana and I will be leaving soon."

Tasìa left to give them room to move around. She passed by the girl sleeping on the couch while walking on her tippy toes; the last thing Tasìa wanted to do was get involved with that matter given her cluttered schedule.

She flipped on the neoPalm. Felicité left a short message.

I'm checking out for the evening, but I have a gift for you. Be patient. The proxies covering our asses here on this hot potato are like the layers of a rose-tinted glass onion.

Tasìa clicked the link and she sat the mobile PA to the side.

She poured her coffee into a mug, and she prepared it to her liking, azúcar morena y leche.*

As Tasìa sipped at her coffee, she thought of Annebél's mysterious evening with wonder. In Tasìa's paranoid mind was a vision of the little downtown police station with its back wall blown out from being rammed by an explosives-filled Alfa Romeo HybrClydis and Annebél carrying the girl over her shoulder while shooting her way back out of the station.

Not likely. But was the truth any better?

Tasìa decided to focus her thoughts on one aspect of the puzzle. How the hell did Annebél make it back here if she blew the car up at some strategic location?

If that location was within reasonable walking distance, Tasìa would have heard the sound of the explosion in the middle of the night.

The bungalows were at the lip of the El Hoyo valleys. Sound coming from the nearby interstates would still carry and reverberate for miles around, waking everyone up who was asleep in the row houses.

Then it occurred to Tasìa: she went and got someone to help her.

It could explain why Annebél wasn't eager for Tasìa to help in the demolition. Did she recruit someone with whom Tasìa shared some bad blood?

Once again, preposterous. Her Avellana persona was belovéd by all.

Alright, Tasìa let's not get caught up in our own bullshit. Belovéd by a few, liked by many, tolerated by almost everyone else.

Then, it had to be someone Annebél did not want Tasìa to know she had an association.

Given the two of them were new acquaintances, Tasìa refused to delve into suspicion. This was Villa Marrón, not Esconda Vida, nor Ward Nueve. She made light of her speculation.

So, the plot thickens!

Tasìa heard the shuffle of Annebél's jeans approach.

"Avellana, why are you holding your finger up in the air like a cartoon villain?"

Tasìa giggled.

"I don't really have a good answer for that."

Annebél shook her head, but then suddenly jerked it to the side as something caught her attention. She stared down at the neoPalm.

"Avellana, dear. Who is that man?"

Annebél's tone was a curious one. Tasìa glanced up to see that the brawny redhead's pupils had grown tiny.

On the screen was a soldier's profile. It was her target, F-150. The accompanying picture was more than a decade old. There was a name beneath the picture.

Todas Las Facciones Unidas (TLFU).

Lieutenant Colonel Álvaro Cerén Sol.

I now have a name, Tasìa thought.

She grimaced. Annebél watched her patiently, though her fingers clenched at the back of a long chair as she waited for an answer.

"Who is that, you ask? Someone in dire need of divine retribution. I have a hacker friend searching for him."

Annebél cleared her throat before speaking.

"He's regular army, then? That makes so little sense. He always behaved like either a mobster or spook. I assumed the latter because the Javierras would stay the hell away from him whenever he showed up."

Tasìa's own face drew up tightly. The paranoia she suppressed a moment ago was leaking through.

So many synchronous connections between the two of us.

"I take it," Tasìa began. "You know this piece of shit from your days back in Asunción?"

Annebél nodded.

"He was a player in the scene back at the Sweet. He dressed conservatively, but he kept a crew that looked like monied ultrapunks. Total gearheads. He may still operate there. At least he did before I split."

Tasìa leaned forward against the other side of the chair Annebél clutched.

"I am meeting someone tonight with some information I need. Chances are what he has to tell me will lead me to Asunción. If it does, will you go with me?"

Annebél eyed the picture once more.

"It's going to be a dangerous expedition isn't it?"

Tasìa nodded. "Likely, very. One more thing, being from Asunción, and so many little connections between the two of us are starting to add up, would you happen to know of a lawyer by the name of Tatiana Kutuzova?"

Annebél gasped. "Woah. Small world. Her kidnapping was why so many of us went underground. She worked to expose the people and organizations behind the Premie Harvest. Why do you ask?"

Tasìa now felt anxious to get on the road. She looked out of the window just to make sure Raúl's Volvo was still out there.

"Are we taking Raúl's car?"

"Yep. There are travel mugs up in that cabinet if you want to bring some coffee with you. So, about that question?"

Tasìa nodded. She folded her arms together.

"There's a question I need to know. Who brought you home, last night?"

Annebél appraised Tasìa as if for the first time. She then stretched her neck, peeked past the living room and down the hall.

Her voice was low and whispery when she answered.

"You are a very clever girl, Avellana to ask that. True, as you must have figured out, I was reluctant to have you come along. I needed the expertise of a demolition professional because I am not one, but someone very close to me is."

After preparing her coffee to go, Tasìa turned around and she raised her eyebrows, archly, towards Annebél.

"This person would be... .? Trust me, my own answer to your inquiry will be worth your while."

Annebél opened the screendoor and she motioned Tasìa to the porch. Tasìa followed.

Once outside, Annebél blurted out her answer.

"Sachmilli Cuervo. There, now are you happy, mon petite démon?"

Tasìa was confused for a moment. She asked.

"Why would you keep that from me? What's the big deal?"

"You could not be there. I owed him a favor in turn, and that always means a good fucking. Raúl is my boyfriend, but Sachmilli is, what you might call, my sugar daddy."

As they walked over to the Volvo, Tasìa could not help but giggle. She could not imagine Sachmilli still being sexually active given his age, but Annebél was entirely sincere.

"Hey, he is a much more satisfying fuck than you can imagine."

Tasìa leaned against the side panels used to replace a set of backdoors on the small sedan. She waved her hands dismissively.

"No. No. I really don't need to."

"Perhaps," Annebél began, "when we get your sojourn rightfully set forth, you can join us when Sachmilli and I are together."

Annebél guffawed as Tasìa cringed to the very notion.

"Oh, my sister, you are most twisted," Tasìa exclaimed.

They both entered the car.

"So, now that I have answered your question ..."

Tasìa stared out of the front car window. There was so much that she was going to have to reveal. She let out a deep breath and shrugged.

"It's a long story, but to start. Tatiana Kutuzova is my aunt. Her father, the general, has tasked me to find her."

Annebél started the ignition. She gave Tasìa a side glance with low cast eyes.

"Your name is not really Avellana, is it?"