He hurried out of the Durango and walked quickly across the street. Hoping he wasn't late, he walked through the doors of the dojo as he had so many times before. The dojo was owned by his best friend and partner but that wasn't who he was going to see.

Once inside, his ears were assaulted by the loud sounds of twenty bodies performing various karate moves in syncronicity. He scanned the group looking for her. Finally, finding her in the second to last row, he smiled, sure she had seen him too. .

She smiled back hesitantly, letting him know she had seen him but not wanting to anger her sensai with a lack of concentration.

He took up his position, leaning on the sensai's desk, watching the group continue for another 5 minutes as they were put through their cool down. Finally, they were done.

The girl broke free of the group, hurrying over to the desk.

"Hi Uncle Carlos!" she said with a smile that lit up her big blue eyes. "Are you here to see Trent...I mean Mr. Malloy."

"Trent is fine," she heard her sensai whisper. "As long as we're aren't in class." He looked at the tall, dark Hispanic man who had been his friend for more years than either cared to admit. "Hey Carlos."

"Hey Trent." Looking down at the pretty blond 11-year old standing in front of him, the smile returned to Carlos' face. "I am here to see if my favourite girl wants to come on a date with me. Your mom called and said she would be late coming in with your step-dad so I offered to take the prettiest girl I know out for dinner."

The girl began to blush. She had known Carlos for almost half of her life but lately her hormones had begun to notice how good-looking he was. "Well, I guess if I have to go out with an old guy, it might as well be you, Uncle Carlos." she teased, as she turned to go change. "I'll be right back."

Carlos watched as she headed into the dressing room. She is going to be as beautiful as her mother, he thought. He had known Margaret, Heather's mother for almost as long as he had known Trent. They had renewed their friendship when Margaret's first husband had been Carlos' partner just out of the police academy. Unfortunately, Richard Lopez' life had been cut short three years ago by a punk robbing a gas bar at four-thirty in the morning. Carlos had considered taking care of both Margaret and Heather a personal obligation ever since.

"I think this was a really good idea, Carlos." Trent's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "She is really coming out of her shell and I think she is a natural."

"Yeah? I'm glad. Maybe she can teach me a thing or two!" After a brief silence Carlos inquired, "What are you doing tonight?"

"Doing the bachelor thing. Jess has some conference or something."

A cloud came over Carlos face. He had been friends with Trent's girlfriend once but that had changed recently.

"Look, Carlos," Trent said, knowing what his partner was thinking. "You have to get over this thing with Jess. You have to let it go."

"She jeopardized two lives, Trent, including yours. I can't forgive that." At that moment, Heather returned from the change room. Carlos brightened instantly. "What do you think, Heather? Should we take pity on this poor man who is going home to an empty house and ask him to join us?"

Heather blushed again. Trent was almost as good-looking as her Uncle Carlos. She tried to sound nonchalant. "Oh, I guess," she said with a smile. The truth was she really thought both of them were a lot of fun.

**

TWO DAYS LATER

"Thanks, Mrs. Richardson. I'll walk up the driveway." Heather stepped out of the van and stood as the van pulled away. She had gotten a ride home from her friend's mom, just like she had for the entire school year, but she really didn't like to be dropped off at the front door. Mrs. Richardson always commented on the size of the house and how lucky she was to have Jason Henderson as a stepfather. Just because he played for the Cowboys, everyone seemed to be impressed by him. Heather still hadn't made up her mind, even though he had been married to her mother for almost a year now. As she walked up to the large house, she quietly wished they still lived in the small house she had grown up in.

As she reached the front door, Heather realized something was out of place. Finally it came to her; her mother's BMW was parked in the driveway. That's odd, Heather thought. Usually, her mother wouldn't be home for another half an hour. Opening the front door, Heather called out, "Mom? Are you home?" She was answered by a scream that sent chills to the very heart of her. "Mom!" she screamed as she ran to the kitchen. Another scream was cut short. Standing in the kitchen doorway, Heather looked into the face of her mother's killer.

**

The blue Corvette pulled up in front of the house, stopping in front of the massive oak door. "Do you have the bag?" Carlos asked Trent as they got out and headed up the walk.

"Yeah," Trent said. "It isn't like Heather to miss class. I was going to give it to her there but...oh well." The bag had contained Heather's ghi and equipment and had been left in Carlos' Durango two nights previously.

Carlos reached the door first and rang the bell. Inside the house a deep chime could be heard but no one came to the door. "Margaret's car is here," Carlos said, trying to see inside the window. Next, he tried the doorknob. It gave way easily. "She's probably out back, " Carlos said as he entered. He had been in the house numerous times but the opulence still gave him pause. He called out as he and Trent entered. As he continued towards the back of the house something gave him a chill that ran the length of his spine. He couldn't explain it, but he realized that Trent felt it too, when they exchanged glances. Together they rounded the corner, completely unprepared for what they found there.