The older man stared at him and then looked from Jane to
JJ.  Tilting his head he was intrigued by
the Detective’s protective posture around the blond.

“No there isn’t, feel free to take a look if you like,”
waving his free hand toward the entry, “I have nothing to hide.” Turning his
focus back on Jane, JJ felt a shiver run up her spine at the intensity of his
glare.

“JJ, you good here?” Morgan was moving toward the entryway,
not wanting to ignore the noise he heard.

“Nodding her head, she kept her hand close to her gun and
watched as Jane spoke with the elder Rodriguez.

“You didn’t answer my question, what did you mean by ‘you’re
her’” Watching Morgan walk through the doorway she briefly wondered if it was a
good idea before turning her attention back to her question.

“You’re the girl Max dated right? The chick who’s a *****
now, like his ***** mother.” With a mocking tone in his voice, he watched as
the word ***** made her clench her teeth.
Smiling, “I’m right aren’t I.”

Jane did not like where this was going, the hairs on the
back of her neck were raised and all she could think of besides punching this
***** in the face was getting the hell out of here right now.

In her best police voice, she tried to diffuse whatever she
felt was happening, “Sir, I’m sure you must be tired,” ignoring his derogatory
comments, “we can come back tomorrow and speak with you.  JJ,” Jane motioned to the doorway, “call
Morgan, we’re leaving.”

Nodding, JJ walked out in front of her and called for
Morgan. “Morgan! Morgan come on we’re leaving.”

“Coming!”

“Why are you leaving?” Standing up, he walked toward the
women.  Jane stepped in front of JJ,
“sir, we can see ourselves out, thank you, like I said, we’ll just come back
tomorrow.”

“*****! What the…!”Morgan’s yell died out.

“Derek!” JJ ran out and Jane turned to follow when the first
blow struck.  The kidney shot brought her
to her knees and slammed her into the doorway. “*****…should’ve listened to my gut”. She tried to grab her gun when a kick to her back knocked her
forehead into the doorframe.  Facedown,
she felt wetness on her face as she tried to fight the darkness that was
threatening to take control.   The kick
to her ribs was accompanied by a harsh familiar voice, “***** *****” and was
enough to send her into the darkness she had fought against.