Casino Square was alive; the beautiful people were out tonight. This may have been a charitable event, but the great and the good still wanted to show off their diamonds and furs. Make a great show of their generosity. The Mercedes pulled up the hill and turned into the square, its occupant hidden by tinted window. The valet opened the driver's door and the driver got out.

The driver handed the keys to the valet, "Be very careful with this."

The valet nodded and took the keys and the driver walked into the brightly-lit casino. All of Monaco was here tonight. There was the prince, and his son, and over there the race drivers and the millionaire playboys. Everyone here was likely to attract the attention of anyone, in any crowd, but all the heads turned to the Merc driver. It made easier, easier to scan the crown of onlookers, tell which were dangerous, which were not. Those that were carrying, and those that looked how to use the iron under their tuxedos.

But all eyes were on the Mercedes driver that walked into the gaming room. Croupiers stopped dealing and looked up, security guards took notice. The figure slowly walked to the Baccarat table and sat before a man that was nursing a few meagre chips.

"I'm sorry said the man, I have little left to play with, miss? He looked up.

"Hunter," said the driver. "Varinia Hunter." She lit a cigarette, exhaling though her mouth and inhaling the smoke back through her nostrils. The man was nervous, very edgy. Varinia turned to the croupier, "Fifty thousand please."

"Oui, your highness," the croupier replied and handed over a stack of rectangular chips. Varinia slipped something between them, unseen by anyone.

"I can't compete with that," said the man sat opposite. He was sweating, he was scared, and Varinia knew she had to act pretty soon before the walls closed in.

"Don't be afraid, " I'm not feeling too lucky myself this evening. "I'll take your bet."

The croupier dealer and the man put in his chips, barely eight thousand, Varinia replied with the whole stack. The cards turned.

"Must be your lucky day," said Varinia, she caught the man's eye and looked towards the chips, which he quickly took. "Goodnight."

She stood over by the bar, watching the goons follow the nervous man. They didn't look too tough, rented muscle luckily, not like some of the hard-liners from the second directorate that the Russian's had been using recently. She smiled to herself, better these amateurs than some of Dzerzhinsky Square's finest ex-KGB bullyboys.

By now the nervous man would have read the note and was thinking about leaving. Heading towards the exit slowly, making it look as though he was going to cash his chips. Varinia caught the barman's eye.

"Your highness?"

"Vodka, straight up, with a twist." She lit another cigarette, trying to appear casual while she monitored the room. The faces that were obviously carrying were imprinted on her memory. Some of them were Casino security, but it was the Russians that worried her.

Something caught her eye. The waiter following the nervous man was carrying something else other than a tray of champagne; it caught the light and glinted. Behind him a heavy looking goon was watching with a knowing look.

"Shit," Varinia thought to herself. She thought they'd wait until they got outside to plan the move. That's what she expected, "Why inside, there are so many witnesses."

The endorphins rushed, she burst into action, the Sig Saur 9mm was in her hands in a split second and she drew a bead on the heavy dude, he seemed more dangerous than the water. There were screams as she unloaded two shots into his chest, the impact sent the man sprawling. He was obviously wearing a vest, but two overloaded 9mm rounds were going to knock the wind out of him, time enough.

Before the goon landed on the table behind him Varinia had put two rounds into the waiter's legs, he dropped instantly, the silver dagger skittering across the floor. Varinia made the ten meters to the nervous man before anyone else had drawn a weapon. She hoped the local security was good, if so they wouldn't think of firing among all the panic that had broken out now. Women screamed, people ran left and right trying to get out of the Casino.

She reached the nervous man and slammed into him, pushing him towards the waiter service door. There was no time for niceties. The Russians were tooled up now and they had no qualms about unloading in here despite the collateral damage. Paintwork and plaster exploded from the wall and doorframe as Varinia rushed her quarry through the door.

"Come on," she shouted. The nervous man seemed in shock; perhaps he had already resigned himself to his fate, so Varinia had to near drag him through the kitchen. Chefs and waiters darted out of the way as the strange duo headed for the fire exit.

The man stopped at the door. "Who are you."

Varinia smirked, "Does it matter right now, all you need to know is I haven't shot you yet." With that she turned towards the kitchen entrance and emptied the magazine towards the door. The first Russian through the door caught one in the throat; his white tux turned crimson and peppered the man behind. It was too late for him too; he'd taken a bullet behind the ear.

"That will make them think," she grabbed the nervous man's arm. "Come on, carpark, hurry."

The Merc roared back into Casino Square laying a thick line of rubber as it headed down the hill towards New Hotel. The driver aids were not needed here, would take away too much of the Princess' advantage. She gunned the engine, letting it hit the redline before braking heavily for the hairpin and heading down towards the harbour.

The Russians had acted quickly. Someone must have radioed it in. There were two sets of lights behind the Merc and by the speed they were gaining they were obviously tuned for the job.

"M3s," said Varinia. She floored the throttle and switched lanes, driving into oncoming traffic as the chase headed towards the swimming pool.

"What?" It was the first thing he had said. He was numb with shock, expecting to die tonight and resigned to that.

"Doesn't matter," replied the Princess. She saw flashes in the rear view mirror, automatic fire. Idiots, she thought, very few people could hit a moving target with an automatic while racing through traffic. But there were casualties. A car must have been hit and crashed into the marina. Some lucky rounds hit the Merc, but that didn't matter, they bounced harmlessly off the tough Cobham/Kevlar panels.

But two carloads of armoured goons were dangerous, no matter how inexperienced. Varinia needed some clear road to take her advantage. She took a short cut through a side street and headed up hill, towards one of the roads that led up through the wooded hillside.

"You seem to know you're way around here," He was more alert now. Sensing that his life was coming back to him. He looked taller now; filling the battered frame that had feared a violent death this night. Handsome, Varinia thought, with some effort and woman's touch.

"I raced here in the Grand Prix last year," said Varinia, she yanked the handbrake and took the Merc squealing around the hairpin sideways. She switched off the headlights and flicked another switch. A green electronic version of the dark road ahead was projected onto the windscreen. Out here in the hills it was quiet, a chance to even up the odds.

Felix Kamarov had trained as a pursuit driver with the GRU and knew a good driver when he saw one, that bitch up ahead might know a trick or two, but Felix was confident. He was in the lead M3, tuned it himself and knew he could take the Merc. It wasn't easy to concentrate though, with Grishin's goon squad leaning out of the windows and rocking and rolling with their Steyr AUG assault rifles, like kids who'd never handled a firearm before. The bitch had switched off her lights, but Felix had driven this road before, know there was nowhere to turn off. He caught his headlights glinting off the Merc as they danced around the switchbacks, climbing at speed towards the overpass and the tunnel.

There was a flash from the rear of the Merc, could be the exhaust, or something else, Felix wondered.

The mine detonated under the lead M3s' engine block, its magnetic micro sensor had detected a significant amount of metal above. The charge was small, but the tungsten carbonate shell was diamond hard and built to shatter. All the soft parts of the engine, the pipes, the leads were shredded in an instant. The bonnet was thrown up with the force, breaking the hinges and shattering the windscreen. Maybe Felix could have recovered and stopped the car but he was already dead, perforated like the rest of the cars occupants by the deadly shrapnel.

The second car nearly didn't make it. As the fireball engulfed Felix's car it swerved hard around the conflagration and sped on up the hill. It closed on the Merc, careful never to stay directly behind, changing lanes every time the quarry move in front.

"This one's learnt his lesson Jack," she looked over at the man, the nerves seemed to have gone. Interesting, didn't seem phased by the high-speed chase. Just what had he been into before, could he be a company man?

"You know who I am?" he met Varinia's eyes.

"I know who you are Jack, the company sent me for you."

"That's great, they must have known I like…." He looked down at the red sequinned dress, admiring her legs as she worked the throttle.

She caught him looking and snorted, "Save the charm for later Romeo." Varinia slammed the car around a tight bend and dropped a gear, gunning the engine until it scream and racing up the hill. "Think I dress like this every day?"

The Merc crested the hill, landing in a shower of sparks. The M3 drew up alongside. There was a rictus grin on the face of the driver, must be a real girl hater, she thought. A passenger in the read levelled his rifle at Varinia and squeezed the trigger, there was a flash and the M3 dropped away behind, peppered by the ricochets from the Merc's armoured glass.

It drew close again, the driver waved and blew a kiss, then dropped behind again. Varinia was concerned now. She oversteered around the final bend and headed towards the tunnel. It was blocked.

"Maybe we could go around," Jack offered, some nerves returned.

"Too late now."

There was a truck blocking the tunnel ahead. Five men stood looking back down the road towards the Merc. They wouldn't be able to see it, but pulling those kinds of revs everyone in the valley would be able to hear it. Two of the men were carrying RPG-7s and looked like they knew how to use them. Varinia's Merc had the new electronic pulse armour, said it was good against the RPG's copper shaped charge, but two, on the front grill. It wasn't worth the risk.

Varinia flicked a switch and a crosshair appeared on the ghostly electronic windscreen projection. A tone sounded from the stereo speakers, beeping at first then emitting a steady high-pitched whine. Jack knew what was coming; he hunkered down in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest.

One of the RPG men fired, the rocket was a bright flame a hundred yards ahead, and Varinia pushed the Merc harder, redlining in top gear. The grenade hit the front of the Merc and shattered, some pieces making holes in the paintwork, but no explosion. Varinia had closed enough distance to reach the rocket before its safety system had disarmed. The Merc headlights dropped, Jack's night vision was ruined as the bright rockets dazzled his view, he looked across to Varinia, and she'd shut her eyes.

"Holy shit," said Jack. "You gonna open your eyes?"

"Not yet," Varinia replied.

The rockets struck the truck in the cylinder block and petrol tank, breaking the chassis in half and lifting it high into the air. The goons were thrown clear, two into the mountain wall, the others into the valley below. If these three were still alive they'd have a final introduction to the joys of free-fall.

Varinia opened her eyes just as the Merc passed under the flaming truck, which still looked as if it was heading for orbit.

"Damn, " said Varinia, looking at the rear view mirror. The second M3 had made it under the truck two and was closing fast. It looked like they were going to throw caution to the wind now. A man stood in the sunroof; he looked like he had a LAW, a simple disposable anti-tank rocket. Nothing flashy about that piece of kit, and no safety devices to spoof.

Both cars roared out of the tunnel at over a hundred miles per hour. It was make or break. Varinia had to keep Jack alive at all costs, she knew what her orders were, she was expendable that was part of the job. She wondered if this strange handsome man was worth the price, the company thought so, that's why they had sent her.

The road was straight here as it dropped towards the valley beyond. No chance of dodging a rocket round a bend here. The needle climbed through one-fifty, the engine screamed. Varinia took a breath. She pulled her 9mm from the cup holder and used the muzzle to hit the button for the electric windows.

Jack nearly smashed his head on the window as the Merc spun. Varinia had grabbed the hand brake and put the car into a spin, she was caught a little off guard and couldn't find a shot on the first turn. The spin was shredding the tires enveloping the Merc in smoke, had to get a shot on the next turn or she would be blind. The bonnet swung round again as the M3 came through the smoke, ramming speed.

The first shot hit the guy with the rocket, he dropped the weapon and clung to his shoulder, lucky to still be alive. The M3 driver took the second round in his left eye and was dead before the car hit the barriers. It ran right over one of the concrete bollards, which tore the petrol tank open. The M3 looked like a comet as it dived the thousand feet down to the valley below, trailing a flaming tail behind it.

On the next rotation Varinia caught the wheel, there was just enough left in the tires and they bit the road, grabbing as much grip as they could. The Merc straightened up and roared down the road leaving the wreckage and chaos behind. The sun was rising over the hills, casting an orange glow over the forest as the day begun.

"So this is the end, it's over?" Jack smiled, catching Varinia's eyes, steel-blue, serious and dangerous yet very beautiful.

"This is just the beginning Jack. The game isn't over yet by any means." She threw him a knowing glance, a flash a beautiful smile. "But don't worry. I always get my man."