Back in Germany

Lani was out and about on the rather large property. Being the official keeper of the grounds, she went about throwing fertilizer on the grass. Her real intent, however, was to look for more clues of intrusion and surveillance.

Her compact USP9 hidden under her apron, and the two spare magazines in her waistband under a long shirt, she spent some time fertilizing the freshly blooded grass. Afterwards, she strolled around her vantage point to ensure that she hadn't left brass.

After running out of fertilizer, Lani went back to the garage and began organizing the tools. A van marked as a home repair company proceeded up the driveway. Lani knew that Michael would never call one of these companies, which meant that something was very wrong.

As the van stopped in front of the garage, a clean shaven man stepped out and looked at Lani with confusion. He was six feet tall, and was a minimum of 200 pounds. The other man who still sat in the van looked to be built the same, as were the four men hidden in the cargo space inside the van, clutching their MP5's.

The dogs were inside the house, walking back and forth frantically as they knew something was up, though they were taught not to get involved unless invited.

As for Lani, her huntress nature picked up on the pending hostility before the man had a chance to open his mouth. "Hallo kleines mädchen," the man uttered with such a horrible chechen accent that nobody could ever mistake him for a valid German, "ist dein Vater zu Hause?"

"You're at the wrong address," Lani said with boldness, in English, "Also, your Deutche is shit!"

The man chuckled. "Bad accent perhaps?" he began approaching Lani, stepping to the edge of the garage where she was now standing. "I'm told there's a plumbing issue that needs fixed."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm the one who'd be responsible for that," she said firm and slow, "The owner doesn't outsource my job."

As the second man began stepping out of the van, the first man lifted the bottom of his shirt and unsheathed a seven inch hunting knife, a bright reflective blade surface and a cheap wood grip. The man snarled as he reached his other hand towards Lani. mistake.

Lani quickly grabbed his wrists and squeezed with crushing pressure, shattering the bones in both his forearms. She followed up with a very strong kick to his lower abdomen. As he doubled over, she delivered one very powerful right hook, which caused the man's neck to crack and his skull to nearly break open.

The second man, startled at seeing what originally looked like a helpless child sized girl utterly destroy his very large team leader, reached back into the van for a handgun. He didn't have a chance to wrap his hand around the grip before Lani placed two rounds through the windshield and into his head.

As the shots rang out, the men in the back of the van scrambled to get out through the side and back doors. The men at the side door turned and began spraying fire in Lani's general direction.

Quickly laying on the ground, she shot out the ankles of the men who had stepped out. As they fell, she got back up and placed anchoring shots in their necks and foreheads. A step forward and up the front of the van, and she began shooting through the windshield into the back of the van. One more man fell dead as he caught the shots in his chest, shoulder and through his nasal cavity.

The last man fired wildly under the van in desperation, realizing that he was in over his head. Lani had already ran up the van and was on the back of the van while the man scrambled to reload his weapon. He didn't get the chance to finish charging his weapon before Lani had landed and grabbed his neck, applying pressure to the arteries and knocking him out cold while ripping the weapon from his hands.

The man awoke to Lani's expressionless stare. He was tied to a chair, smelling of some kind of fuel. He could see a zippo lighter in her hand.

"I know you're expecting some kind of interrogation," Lani said calmly. "I already know what you were planning." She opened the lighter and held it up. "Before I burn you alive," she said with a gradually emerging smile, flicking the lighter and igniting the wick, "You should know that the recording devices have been shoved up your ass!"

As the man watched the lighter get tossed on his lap, his eyes widened in terror. His abdomen and waist ignited first, which would mean that the fire would have to burn its way up his body to completely kill him. He tried to scream in terror and torment, finding his voice had no volume to it. His lungs were already feeling the fire that was burning inside his body. Wriggling and writhing about, he tried to thrash and make bigger movements but to no avail. He had been tied to a metal chair with tie-wire. He knew at this moment, as he caught glimpses of Lani who stood in front of him and watched, there was no delight in her expression. She was doing this for a purpose. Not to get information, not to dispose of him, not even to entertain herself. He was a message.

As she watched him burn, she waited for him to finish so she could be certain to confirm his death and ensure her message was readable;

You will not harm him.