The last stall in the tiny restroom was closed and Parker could hear sniffling coming from the other side. "Can I come in?" asked Parker. When she didn't get an answer, Parker stepped into the middle stall and stepped up on the toilet. "Please don't shut me out, Em."



"I don't know what it's going to take for you to start treating this like a threat? It doesn't seem fair that I just found you and someone's trying their damnedest to kill you, and you treat it like it's fan mail."



"Open the door for me a second, please?"



Emily reached over and unlatched the door. The size of Parker's body seemed to fill the opening when the door swung back and hit the wall. Not caring for how clean the floor was, Parker kneeled in front of the upset woman and cradled her face in her hands.



"I can't live in fear, Em, it's not who I am. While nothing of this magnitude has happened before, I won't let it change the person I am inside. To do that would mean that I'd have to walk away from you, and no one can ask me to do that. As long as they're intent is set on me, I don't have to worry about you, and I want to keep it that way. I love you, and I know you worry, but this is not going to beat us or me."



"You can't promise that." Emily looked at her like she wanted to believe what Parker was saying, but the tears won out.



"I can and I will. I promise you, baby, this creep with the snake ink is not going to get near me. The right to get in and stay in my personal space is reserved only for you."



"Is it wrong to want you to be careful?" asked Emily.



"No, and I promise I'll start to check our my surroundings more carefully. If this idiot went through all the trouble of milking some deadly snake to pen me a letter, I'm thinking they bare a little more caution on my end. Come on before your salad gets cold."



"It's a salad, Parker, it's supposed to be cold." Emily accepted the hand up, but appreciated the hug she got more when she was on her feet.



"Yeah, but I'm thinking Alfredo's turning over in his grave when he sees what a congealed mess my fettuccini has turned into."



"Sorry, Logan," said Emily when she made it back to the table.



"I understand what you're going through, Emily, don't worry about it. This case is confusing in that there are plenty of gay athletes out there, I don't understand why this guy is so fixated on Parker. The only explanation is that she maybe makes the papers a little more than the others with her life off the court."



Emily stabbed into her salad and looked up at Parker with an arched blonde brow. "Those days are over, detective, I can promise you that. Otherwise she'll be making the papers for another set of reasons."



"It was bound to happen," said Parker.



"What's that, honey?" Emily asked reaching over for Parker's hand.



"I've gone from being the Hugh Hefner of the courts, to henpecked so fast I'm having a case of whiplash."



Logan laughed at the confession, but the lovesick look on Parker's face let him know she wasn't too torn up over the development. "To bring you two up to date on our investigation, besides the venom laced ink, the letters contained no fingerprints and the stationary can be found in thousands of stores across the country. The guys over at the FBI did agree to work up a profile on our stalker and see where exactly we should be concentrating our efforts. I keep saying he, but in reality this could be a woman."



"Well if part of the profile turns out to be throwing drinks on Parker for any reason, you may have your work cut out for you," said Emily. Logan looked at her like he didn't understand and Parker was looking at her through blue slits.



"Happens that often, does it?" asked Logan with the same teasing tone Emily had used.



"You can count me out now since I'll let you know my whereabouts when the notes where sent since I'm guilty of doing it myself once. There's that and the fact I'm terrified of snakes." Emily leaned over and kissed Parker's cheek trying to get of the pout that she had helped put there.



The group spent the rest of the meal talking about Logan's tennis game. Emily decided to go out and buy a racket and try to learn the basics. With any luck she would be able to talk Parker into playing a slow game with her on that great court she had at home. Their new friend gave them a ride home with a promise to keep them informed on what both the NYPD and FBI discovered in the investigation.



One of Emily's neighbors shook her head at the pilot who was teasing Parker unmercifully as she tried to unlock the front door. The fear that had prevailed earlier in the evening had vanished as Parker had done everything she could to clear Emily's mind of the current threat.



"Hurry up, honey, I have a promise to keep," said Emily as her hands went under Parker's shirt.



Parker jumped a little when the small hands hit a ticklish spot causing her to drop the keys again. "If you don't behave you're going to have to get naked out here in the hall."



The lock finally relented and Parker picked Emily up and felt the strong legs wrap around her waist as Emily hung on for the ride to the bedroom. Emily was biting Parker's bottom lip softly trying to rile her up for what was to come. It felt good to feel the bed under her and Parker on top of her when they reached the end of their walk through the apartment. Then one little sound stopped them both cold.



"Emily, don't move, honey." Parker looked up slowly and saw the lump right next to Emily's head under the sheet. Neither of them had noticed it when they walked in so caught up in each other, and even if they had studied the bed the spot that was now moving looked like a fold in the sheet.



"Parker, what is that?" The rattling got louder and Emily felt like if her heart beat any faster it was going to start shaking the bed.



"It's either a really big vibrator that's motion controlled," started Parker.



"I don't own a vibrator," whispered Emily trying to control her laughter at Parker's pitiful attempt to cheer her up right then.



"Then my second guess is it's a rattle snake."



"What're we going to do?"



"Lock your legs around my waist and slowly bring your arms around my neck," instructed Parker.



"Why?"



"Baby, I love talking to you, you know that, but having long conversations in a bed with a pit viper is not my idea of a hot time." Parker watched as the snake uncoiled and slithered closer and the rattling got louder.



They moved as a unit off the bed and toward the door with Emily hanging on for dear life. The last thing Parker saw was the fangs that had broken through the sheet inches from where Emily's head had been. Whoever had done this had gone too far now, and she hoped she was armed with her tennis rackets when the bozo finally did decide to come out of hiding.



"Wait here," ordered Parker when they had reached the living room. She had to get rid of the snake before the damn thing crawled off somewhere in the apartment and laid eggs or something. It was a long shot, but she had seen too many movies in hotel rooms around the world not to want to take the chance. Parker unzipped her bag and pulled out one of her practice rackets.



"You can't leave me here all by myself, I'm coming with you. Can I borrow a racket?" asked Emily. Parker pulled another one out of the bag and handed it to her shadow. "This is the first time you've let me touch these things," said Emily grasping it with two hands.



"Make a mental note for the future. If there's any type of dangerous critter in the room, please don't hesitate to come out swinging."



The rattle was visible when they got back into the room, but thankfully the dangerous end was still caught up in the bedding. Parker didn't have a lot of experience with reptiles, but whoever this one belonged to must have fed it well it was so thick. The first swing Parker took made the rattle stand almost ridged before it started in over time again. She kept at it until there was a visible bloodstain and the damn thing wasn't moving any more.



"I bet that guy Steve Irwin would have me beaten if he had witnessed this," said Parker.



Emily shivered thinking about the whole thing as she clutched Parker's racket to her chest. "How do you think it got in here?"



"Aren't rattle snakes indigenous to New York City?" asked Parker.



"Only on Wall Street, honey."



"Touché, pretty lady. Are you ok?"



"I have to admit that I should be more freaked out with the fact there was a snake in my bed, but having you here made it all right. You make me feel safe, Parker." Emily dropped her racket and ran to Parker for a hug. "It's kinda creepy that someone we don't know was in here though."



"Yeah, cause that puppy was too chunky to slither under the door. Let's call Logan to come and do whatever needs to be done and then check ourselves into the Plaza. Maybe I can have the thing skinned and made into a headband for the finals."