Authors: Radclyffe
“Isn’t that what she’s been doing all along?” Catherine had the clearance to be informed of procedural details, because in her capacity as a consultant to the police department, she often spoke with officers and their supervisors about classified information. She’d participated in some of Rebecca’s recent investigations. She knew Dellon’s role.
“This time she’s going undercover with one of the Russian women who helped hold the girls captive.”
“Why?”
“We’re supposed to get a line on the local organized crime syndicate, and Mitchell is the one going inside.”
“Well.” Catherine gave a pensive sigh. “That’s definitely aggressive.”
“I can’t sit on the sidelines, Catherine. I’m sorry.”
“No, I don’t suppose you can.”
“I just came from Ali’s office. She said—”
“What happened?” Catherine’s heart raced. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?”
“No, no. I’m fine. I just wanted Ali to take a look at me so she could clear me.”
Catherine blinked. “You voluntarily went to see Ali for an examination?”
“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” Rebecca shook her head. “Felt that way too.”
“What did she say?”
“She said I could work. And to be careful.”
Catherine moved closer on the sofa and laid her hand in the center of Rebecca’s chest. “I know you didn’t do it because you wanted permission.”
Rebecca laughed.
“Thank you,” Catherine whispered. She leaned closer and kissed Rebecca. “I know you must have hated that.”
“Not as much as I hate upsetting you.” Rebecca cradled Catherine’s head and kissed her back. “I’m sorry about all of this.”
“Don’t apologize. Just keep your promise to Ali and to me.” Catherine closed her eyes. “Would you mind just staying here for a few more minutes?”
Rebecca rested her cheek against Catherine’s hair and held her tightly. “I’ll stay just as long as you want me to.”
*
“Hi, baby,” Sandy said as she breezed through the door of the two-room apartment. She dropped a shopping bag on the single chair, shed her jacket, and climbed onto the couch, pulling up her short skirt so she could straddle Dell’s lap. Then she wrapped her arms around Dell’s neck and kissed her, giving her a little bit of a lap dance while she dueled with her tongue. “Mmm, you taste good.”
Dell clasped Sandy’s ass in both hands. A little bit of something covered an inch or so of the space between Sandy’s legs, but Dell didn’t think a scrap of satin that small could really be called panties. Otherwise, despite the cold, Sandy’s legs were bare. Dell got a mental picture of the wet spot she bet Sandy was leaving on her fly and was instantly totally stoked. She skimmed the cleft between Sandy’s legs with her fingertips and Sandy moaned, tilting her hips just enough so Dell could tease her from behind. Dell flicked one finger over the firm knot poking up against the soft satin and Sandy bit down on her tongue.
“Ow!” Dell jerked her head back and laughed despite the fact she’d been worrying about seeing Sandy all afternoon. “Jesus, what have you been doing? You’re so hot you’re going to shoot off like a rocket.”
“I met Michael for lunch and we went shopping,” Sandy whispered, licking her way around Dell’s ear. “It was so much fun.”
Dell dropped her head back, her mind going fuzzy for a second. “Shopping turned you on?”
Sandy bit her earlobe. “No, blockhead. I kept thinking about dressing up for you, and then I imagined you taking everything off me. Then I got horny.”
“So you want to give me a show?”
“Uh-uh.” Sandy dived in for another kiss. “Later. Now I want you to make me come.”
Dell massaged Sandy’s ass some more, encouraging her to keep circling in her lap. She wished to hell she’d known Sandy was gonna come home like this, because she would’ve been more prepared for her. “If you give me a minute, I can give you something to really ride on.”
“Just play with me like you were doing. All I need is a little bit.” Sandy nibbled on Dell’s lower lip and rubbed her breasts back and forth over Dell’s chest. “Come on, baby.”
“Okay, babe.” Dell cupped one of Sandy’s small firm breasts and rubbed the tight peak through the thin cotton tank with her thumb. She watched Sandy’s eyes until they clouded and her lips parted in a soft, surprised
oh,
and then she edged two fingers between Sandy’s legs from behind and circled her clit. Sandy shuddered and gripped Dell’s shoulders. Dell tried to make it last, because she loved to watch Sandy’s face get all dreamy and the little frown line form between her eyes when she was getting ready to come, but Sandy was already there. She gave one sharp cry and collapsed in Dell’s arms, her flesh pulsing sweetly beneath Dell’s palm.
“You’re so hot,” Dell whispered as she kissed Sandy’s neck.
“Mmm.” Sandy stretched and pulled one leg over Dell’s lap so she could curl up in her arms. She rested her head on Dell’s shoulder and rubbed Dell’s chest lazily. “You do me so nice.”
“Shopping, huh? We’re going to need bigger closets.”
Sandy circled Dell’s nipple with her fingernails, scratching lightly at the tight black T-shirt covering it. Dell took a sharp breath and Sandy smiled with satisfaction. “So I went to Michael’s office today. She said I could try the job for a little while. If I didn’t like it…” Sandy shrugged. “No big deal.”
“Yeah?” The lump in Dell’s throat made her sound hoarse. Sandy’s teasing had her nerves jangling, but she wanted to talk. They needed to talk. “When are you going to start?”
“Monday, probably.” Sandy nibbled on the side of Dell’s neck. “She said I don’t have to come in until ten in the morning.”
Dell’s brain was a little slow because most of her blood was hammering between her legs, but she finally put it together. She grasped Sandy’s hand and moved it away from her breast. “You’re going to try to do this job
and
still work for Frye? Why?” She couldn’t keep the edge out of her voice, and felt Sandy stiffen. “There’s no reason for you to be out on the streets anymore.”
“What did you expect?” Sandy sat up straight, her chin thrust out. “Do you think I’m going to all of a sudden become someone else? Just because I’ve got some new clothes and a day job?”
“No, Jesus.” Dell clenched her hands by her sides as Sandy hopped off her lap and stalked across the room. “That’s not what I meant.”
Sandy picked up the bag of clothes, tossed it inside the tiny closet next to the door, and slammed it closed. Then she spun around, her arms folded beneath her breasts. “If you wanted a girlfriend you could take home to meet your family, you should have picked someone else.”
Dell jumped up. “I never said that, San.”
“Then why do you want me to take this job so much?”
“Because I want you to be safe,” Dell yelled. “Is that so hard to figure out?”
“Hey!” Sandy yelled back. “Get over yourself, rookie. I never asked you to worry about me. And I sure as hell never asked you to look out for me.”
Before Dell could say anything else, Sandy yanked open the door and stormed out. The walls rattled as the door crashed shut.
Dell yanked her hand through her hair. “What the fuck was that?”
*
Sloan ignored the muted whir of the hydraulics as the elevator ascended. A few seconds later, a faint whoosh indicated the doors had opened, but she kept on scanning the data scrolling on three screens. The click of heels on hardwood floors pierced her concentration and she spun on her chair. Michael was smiling as she wound her way through the labyrinth of desks and equipment.
“Hey,” Sloan rose, “what are you doing here?”
“Looking for a dinner partner.”
“Really? A little early, isn’t it?”
Laughing, Michael propped her briefcase in front of the bank of computer monitors and laced her arms around Sloan’s neck. Then she kissed her. “It’s after seven, love.”
Sloan frowned. “It is?” She checked the room, realized she was alone, and vaguely remembered Jason saying he was leaving. Dell was gone too. Hours ago, now that she thought of it. “Am I late for something?”
“No, but we could be if you’re not all that hungry.” Michael traced the muscles in Sloan’s shoulders through the cotton shirt she wore. “I was going to suggest that we walk over to Old City and grab something for dinner, but if you have something else in mind…”
“I do now,” Sloan muttered, nipping at Michael’s lower lip before she kissed her more thoroughly. She was always ready for Michael. “The team is going to get pretty busy pretty soon. Maybe we should have dinner. You can tell me what’s happening at the office.”
Michael leaned back in Sloan’s arms, smiling softly. “Now
you
want to talk about work?”
“I want to talk about you. What do you say?”
“I say I love you.” Michael grasped Sloan’s hand. “Let me take you to dinner, and then we’ll come home and you can do unspeakably wonderful things to me.”
“I think I can handle that. I’ll just grab my jacket.” Sloan slid from Michael’s grip and started toward the conference room.
“Don’t forget the benefit this weekend,” Michael said casually. “If you’re not too busy, I’m counting on you to be my date.”
Sloan spun around. “What?”
Michael started, her expression confused. “I’m sure we talked about it. The Women’s Business Association is one of the sponsors for the mayor’s outreach program. There’s a fund-raiser this weekend?” She frowned. “I know my memory’s still a little patchy, but—”
“You can’t go,” Sloan said flatly.
“I don’t understand.” Michael searched her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Sloan turned her back and started for the conference room again.
“Sloan,” Michael called after her. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you can’t go.” Sloan shoved open the conference room door and stormed inside. The room was dark and she didn’t bother to turn on the light. She grabbed the nearest chair, lifting it a few inches as she thought about throwing it somewhere. Anywhere. A red haze of anger blurred her vision and her ears rang as if someone had fired a round right next to her head.
“Darling,” Michael said from behind her.
“Don’t turn on the light,” Sloan said, afraid for Michael to see what was in her face. Fury and fear and foreboding. And a terrifying sense of impotence, as if things were spinning out of control and she was helpless to stop them.
“You’re starting to scare me.” Michael rested both hands gently on Sloan’s back. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” Michael wrapped her arms around Sloan from behind, rubbing her palms over Sloan’s chest. Sloan’s body was so tight it felt as if she might snap like a high-tension wire breaking in the wind, lashing anything in its path. Michael might have been frightened if she hadn’t known with every fiber of her being that Sloan would never hurt her. She leaned her cheek against Sloan’s back. “I love you.”
“Then just trust me on this, Michael.”
“I do trust you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t need to understand you.” Michael kissed the side of Sloan’s neck. “I have to go to this, darling. I’m giving one of the introductory speeches.”
“Get someone else to do it.”
“I can’t. I have a job, too, Sloan.”
“God damn it, Michael,” Sloan barked, spinning around, breaking Michael’s grip. “It’s just a job.”
Michael backed up, the light from the main room falling across her face, etching her shock in stark chiaroscuro. “Where is this coming from?”
Sloan knifed around her, not letting their bodies touch, and stalked out of the room. She picked up speed as she hit the elevator button. What could she tell her? That she had an irrational fear that Michael would be drawn into the evil that was a daily part of her life, that the deadly depravity would find her, would take her. The roaring in her head made it impossible for her to think. Or to explain.
“Sloan,” Michael called, but the elevator doors had already closed behind her. Michael sagged against the table, trying desperately to understand what had just happened. Trying to dispel the cold, distant expression in Sloan’s eyes. Sloan had looked at her as if they were strangers.
Michael waited in the dark, praying for Sloan’s return. As the night and the aching silence stretched on, she finally went upstairs alone.
Mitch sat alone at a table in the back of the darkened room, nursing a beer and watching the performance onstage at the Troc with only half a mind. Sandy hadn’t come home before he’d had to leave. He kept thinking of the new clothes abandoned on the floor of the closet, and wishing he’d had a chance to see Sandy model them. Wishing he hadn’t pushed so hard, because he knew Sandy hated to be pushed. Sandy didn’t talk much about her life before the streets, but it didn’t take much imagination to figure out she’d been pushed around a lot when she was a kid. Why else would any teenager leave home to sleep in a flophouse and sell the only thing that belonged to them just to survive another day. Sandy was tough, she was smart, and she could take care of herself. Mitch knew it. He loved that about her.
“Fucking coward,” he muttered. Him, not Sandy. He was afraid he’d lose Sandy, just like he’d lost Robin. But he lost Robin because Robin had walked out. Robin had been ashamed of them. Mitch dropped his head back and closed his eyes. Yep, he’d blown it. One thing Sandy was not, was ashamed. Sandy had more pride than just about anybody Mitch knew. “Asshole.”