*  *  *  *  *

Ivar Cousin was running two blocks behind Sergi, gaining fast.  He wondered why Sergi continued to follow Eve and Sabrina.  Ivar accelerated as he saw Sergi moving cautiously and with utter stealth as he got nearer.  He saw Sergi move behind Sabrina.  Ivar was astonished when he saw her throw her arms up in the air.  It looked like an impulsive movement, because she immediately put them down again.  He had the disquieting notion that the man was threatening her with a gun.  Ivar started running faster. 

Ivar watched Eve walk around the front of the car.  She was obviously following Sergi's orders because he had his gun in Sabrina's ribs.  Even from a block away Ivar could see Sabrina trembling.  Sergi had his arm around her now, and had pulled her close to him, as though she was a great friend that he had accidentally met up with.  No one would be able to guess what was happening.

Ivar moved forward until he was about twenty feet away and ducked behind a tree.  He was completely at a loss.  He couldn't shoot Sergi in the back, and couldn't figure what the man could possibly be up to.  It looked like he was going to abduct the two women, right here in the open, using their own automobile.  Ivar was close enough to hear them.

"If you hurt her, I will kill you,"  Eve was saying in a conversational tone.  She didn't sound very threatening and she looked so beautiful and fragile it was almost comical.

"Put out your wrists,"  Sergi said to Eve.  He had not moved the gun from Sabrina's ribs, but let go of her as he pulled handcuffs out of his pocket and snapped them, one handed, onto Eve's wrists. 

As Ivar watched he knew how painful it was when someone used the cuffs like that.  They had to be broken open with great force.  Eve didn't even wince as he slashed them on her.

Ivar was afraid if he threatened Sergi with his own gun that he might pull the trigger and kill Sabrina.  He had to create a diversion.  He did the only thing he could think of.  Ivar had not practiced his mimicking ability for years, but he growled ferociously and loudly from behind the tree.  It accomplished the desired results.

Sergi visibly started and turned his head at the sound of a mad dog about to attack.  He searched the area behind him with his eyes for just a moment.  It was enough time for Eve to take action. 

Ivar, who had been planning to rush forward and disarm Sergi, was stunned to see Eve, standing in front of Sergi, growl fiercely herself and lean forward fast as a snake and bite him in the neck.  She took out a large chunk of flesh and then turned her head and spit out skin, muscle and blood.  Sergi yelled shrilly and covered the wound with his free hand.  Since he was concentrating on his wound, Eve brought both of her cuffed arms down on top of the gun, whacking it away.  She was so fast that when the gun discharged it didn't hit anyone.  Then Eve pulled her arms apart sharply and broke the handcuffs in two.

Ivar's brain was telling him that handcuffs were made of steel.  They could not be broken in half like that, no matter how strong a person was.  There was blood on Eve's mouth.  She had looked, for a moment, like an enraged animal.  It was so shocking he was immobilized. 

Sergi was holding the side of his neck and gazing in shock at his broken hand.  He slowly sank down to a sitting position. 

At least she had not bitten into his jugular vein, Ivar thought, or blood would have been pulsing out of Sergi's neck. 

Ivar watched as Eve went to the side of the jogging path to pick up the gun.  She stuck the gun in the side of her shorts with the barrel sticking out.  She walked over to Sergi and looked down at him.

"He'll be all right.  I think we should leave now.  Before we attract attention."

Sabrina looked stupefied.  She walked woodenly over to the car, and taking a roll of paper towels from the back seat, handed a bunch to Sergi.  He immediately tried to staunch the blood dripping from his neck wound.  Then she walked over to Eve and wiped the blood off of her mouth.

Ivar watched Eve and Sabrina get into the car and drive off.  Ivar had no doubt who had broken the Steinbrenner brother's legs, now that he had seen Eve in action.  She was a very dangerous woman.  He had visions of her biting into Sergi's neck and breaking his hand with one violent blow, and he had another of her laughing and talking with him after the movie they had seen the night before.  He didn't know if he could call her as he had promised.  She was a very disturbing and dangerous person. 

Eve looked at Sabrina as they drove up Doheny toward Sunset Boulevard.  Eve thought she could drive.  It appeared simple, and Sabrina did not look well at all.  She was still shaking and tears were running out of her eyes.  Eve thought it might be because she had bitten the evil man with the gun, but she hadn't had much choice.  It had been necessary to immobilize the man quickly and effectively.  She had rapidly gone over all possible options and decided upon the least expected way to hurt him enough so that she and Sabrina could get away.  If she had threatened him with her arms or legs, he might have shot Sabrina.  Also, Eve knew that Ivar was behind a tree.  He would have heroically tried to save them.  Ivar might have been shot. 

Eve was sure she had been in total control of the emotions during the whole incident.  Anyway, the Russian agent had shot Stephen as he sat helplessly in his wheelchair.  Eve felt totally justified. 

Eve explained exactly why she had behaved as she had, and thought that Sabrina was calming down.  Especially when she told Sabrina that it tasted nasty to have skin and blood in her mouth, until Sabrina drove straight through a red light.  Sabrina seemed to be totally oblivious to the cars honking at them.

Eve looked at Sabrina with concern and wondered if she was in a state of emotional disturbance.  Eve touched Sabrina's forehead, but it was not clammy or cold like a shock victim's.  She seemed to be breathing fine.  She was just trembling.  And driving very slowly.  Cars were getting mad at her.

"Will you teach me to drive?"  Eve asked.

"Yes."

"Now?"

Sabrina pulled into a parking place on Sunset Boulevard and they traded places.

"I have watched a lot,"  Eve said, to reassure Sabrina.

"You don't have a license.  Of course you can always use mine.  No one could tell the difference."

As Sabrina was thinking about how to teach someone to drive, Eve put the car in Drive and pressed the accelerator very carefully.  The car shot into traffic.  She moved the steering wheel, got the feel of moving right and left, and then rapidly started weaving through the heavy traffic. 

Driving was fun. 

No wonder there were so many cars.  It was wonderful to be able to move so fast just by pushing the little pedal.  She was enjoying herself so much she didn't see the look of sheer terror on Sabrina's face. 

Eve wondered why cars drove so slowly.  She noticed that most people were considerate.  They were quickly moving out of her way.

"Eve?"

"What, Sabrina?"

"Do you know how fast you're going?"

"Eighty,"  Eve said smiling.

"The speed limit is thirty-five.  You'd better slow down.  We might get a speeding ticket."

Sabrina was about to warn Eve about the power brakes, but she was too late and they spread rubber over twenty feet.  Both women were hurtled forward into their seat belts.

"The brakes work real well, don't they,"  Eve commented with satisfaction as she began a more sedate pace down Sunset.  "I love to drive cars."

"Good,"  Sabrina muttered.  "Did you notice that we were almost kidnapped, right out in the open? In the light of day?"

Eve nodded.

"And the man had an accent?"

"Russian." 

"How do you know?"  Sabrina asked. 

"I saw the movie 'Russia House' last night.  I recognized the accent."

"We aren't safe anywhere.  The Russians and the Americans and the Japanese want you."

"Where shall we go?"

"Home."

They drove in silence until they got to Sabrina's condominium.  When they got to the lobby Sabrina decided they needed a hiding place.  She walked over to Jack, the security guard, and asked him if there were any more apartments in the building for rent.  She explained she wanted to rent one for Eve.

Sabrina had to sign a years lease and put down a security deposit.  She hoped she would be able to sublet the apartment after the emergency situation was over.  It was pretty expensive.

During the next hour, Eve and Sabrina moved clothing and a supply of food and syrup into the little studio apartment on the floor above Sabrina's apartment.  They used the stairs so that no one would see them.  When they made their final trip and were surveying the place, Eve asked Sabrina if she could stay there tonight.

"Sure."

"Oh, Good.  Good.  Good.  Good."  Eve punctuated each word with a jump that took her to the ceiling.  "My own place!"

Sabrina laughed.  Eve looked pleased as a three year old with her first doll.  "I didn't know you wanted to live alone."

"Doesn't everyone want their own place?"

Sabrina thought back to her years at the orphanage, where she had slept in a dorm with twelve girls when she was little.  Then, during her teens, there were three other girls in the same room.  She had longed for her own place and some privacy.  Eve had those memories, and probably her own longing for independence.

Sabrina nodded and smiled at Eve, not wanting to take any of her enthusiasm away.