An Awkward Situation

[Shadi]

OOC: Heather Andrews
27
5'9
Long dark hair and dark brown eyes
Athletic figure, kept trim with regular gym visits
coffee coloured complexion

Feel free to jump in, I'm looking for some police, mobsters and a mysterious helper, enjoy


IC: Sitting on the sofa I went over what had happened last night, god was it only one night ago. I had come home early from work to find my boyfriend in bed with some cheap tart called Peaches, I mean Peaches, what sort of name was that? and to top it all he'd been snorting coke again!

After a small bout of me completely flipping and throwing, amongst other things the pair of them out of the apartment I had packed his stuff and left it on the stairs for him to pick up. I couldn't believe it, after the last time he had promised me that it was all over with, he would stick to the straight and narrow, stop picking up anything with a pulse and leave the drugs alone and like a sucker I'd fallen for it.

He'd phoned a few times to say he was sorry and could he come round and talk and fetch a few things if I needed time on my own but I stuck to my guns, changed the locks and told him to go to hell, all he wanted was his stash, not to apologise and to be honest if I never saw him again it would be too soon.

There was only one small problem, it seemed his stash still beonged to someone else and that someone else wanted it back and to top it all there had been a car parked across the road all day and I was pretty sure it was the police or maybe even the FBI which meant I was in a whole world of trouble. I could hardly go to the police and say 'Hi, my ex has a stash and I don't know where it is but these mean gangster type guys want it back.'

Angry and confused, I decided to get some fresh air, there was a coffee shop a few streets away, I could sit in there and think things over. At least out in the open I was relativly safe. Grabbing my jacket from the hallway I headed out of the door, resisting the urge to wave at the occupants of the car as I walked past.

The smell of the shop hit me as I opened the door, wandering in I found a table near the back and ordered a strong black coffee. While I waited I looked around, checking out the other people, there were two young girls sat chatting animatedly and a guy near the front reading a newspaper. My drink arrived and I sat nursing the cup in my hands wandering what I was going to do next.

 

[Steiner]

Vincent

OOC:
Vincent Phillips
Average Height and Build
Brown hair and gray eyes.
Vincent dresses casually, but smartly. After all, he's a career enforcer with a name like "Vinnie" do you think he'll make things worse by dressing like a "wiseguy"?

Vincent walked into the cafe, pretty sure that his target had come in here. He was halfway into the door when he noticed the vice squad nark reading his paper near the window, obvious as hell - shit!

He couldn't back out now, anyway, that would be far too suspicious, and so he bellied up to the counter and ordered an espresso and croissant, taking them to the table next to the girl he'd followed in.

She was quite the looker, Vincent decided, and that was just too bad. The boss was sounding more and more like he wanted an example to be made, and if there was one thing that Vincent hated it was the idea of having to kill an attractive woman in cold blood over a penny-ante dealer playing silly buggers with a small stash. Sometimes, he reasoned, bad things happened to good people - it was the way of the world.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

OOC: Matt Danger, PI
About 6 feet, 200 lbs, Brown, Brown, mid 30's
Face has maybe seen a few too many fists, but not bad looking for all that. Looks like he's slept in his suit, and he could stand a shave, but looks like he'd clean up good. Takes off his shades and you see he's got the kind of eyes that have lost the capacity to look surprised. Somewhere between smart and suspicious.
He's got a trumpet case with him

IC: I'm sitting there at the bean bar down the block from her house, reading the Blatt and sipping a cup of cold coffee--my usual breakfast--trying to figure out how I'm going to get past the badge parked out front of her house, when: Well, look who's here! Now isn't this convenient as all hell?

I watch her come walking in, her hips moving like two babies fighting under a blanket, and see her park that delightful anterior at a table way in the back. Good looking skirt. Extremely good looking. Her old man must have indeed been baked out of his skull to blow her off for a a quick dip into old Lake Peaches.

But then if that stuff he'd been snorting was what I was pretty sure it was, there's no telling what kind of wack crap he might get up to. Just no accounting for taste, is there?

What I had to find out now was:
Number one: was that little stash of his back at her house what I was pretty sure it was? Or was it just plain street dope?
Number two: If it was this new Peruvian super-coke. did she know it? She didn't look much like a cokehead, but you'd be sirprised how many people don't look like it.
Number two-B: If she knew what it was did she have any idea of what it was worth?
Number three: If she did know what it was, who else knew, and what were they going to do about getting it away from her?

I was praying that Number one was going to be true, and all the others false. That would be the easiest for me.
Hell, as I looked at her I even hoped Number one might be false. Ahe looked like a really nice girl. Too nice for all this. Give her a break.

I was just about to get up and go introduce myself when in walks a rather slick looking dude, sits down and orders a capuccino and a croisant. For Christ sake. Why didn't he order a side of oysters rockefeller and som Dom Perignon while he was at it?
And damned if they didn't oblige him.

That weird order of his made me check him out a little closer than I might have, and there was something about his eyes that caught mine. Hard eyes, you know?

Hell. Not enough sleep and walking around with twenty grand in a trumpet case will do that to you. Suddenly everyone's a hit man. If the Big Boys wanted what she had as much as I thought they would, they wouldn't send a button man down here to whack her without finding out where it was stashed. And he didn't look like he was going to snatch her, not here, not now.

I picked up the case, walked past hard-eyes and went over to her.

Miss Andrews?" I said with my best boy scout smile. "Excuse me, My name's Danger, Matt Danger. Yes, I know, it's a silly name. That's what I trold my mother, but... Well, you don't know me, but I know your...er...ex boyfriend, and...
No, no, I wasn't exactly a friend of his, more a 'business acssociate'. In any case, I wonder if I could have a moment of your time. There's something I have to tell you that's very important. Maybe even a matter of life and death. May I sit down?"

 

[CassieB]

OOC: Cassie Bernhart
Cassie was only 22 years old, but was quite experienced. She had spent two years in a local university after highschool, and was quite promiscuous. After dropping out, she was left with a lame office job, and a strong sexual hunger.
Short dirty blonde hair, green eyes. 5'7", 34C. Dresses sexy.
She ussually wears tight lowrider jeans, and undersized tops. Today was no exception, as she wore tight khaki short shorts, and a tight top that showed off her tummy.

IC:
Today was no different than any other, Cassie was in the coffee shop, alone, looking for someone to seduce. She was horny, and the outline of her nipples pressed against her nylon white top proved it.

Cassie sat at a table in the back, eyeing the rest of the room. There was an incredibly sexy woman at the next table. She couldn't take her eyes off the slightly older, slightly taller woman. Her gaze was interupted though, when a man sat down at the table.

Cassie winked at him playfully, and gave him the sexiest smile the young woman could muster. If they were together, maybe she could pull herself into that relationship. Even if it was only for a night.

 

[Steiner]

Vinnie choked as the paper wielding onlooker made his way to the targets table and introduced himself. From his easy line of patter there was no way he was a regular cop, and his introduction as a "business associate" of the targets ex-boyfriend (well, well, EX boyfriend was it? Interesting...) made him sit up and almost spill his coffee.

So the boss was right, not just paranoid, there WAS someone new in town, and this schmuck had sold out to them, taking some of the bosses brand new product with him. As he watched the two talking he realised that the man briefly established eye-contact with a woman towards the back of the joint. As Vinnie watched, she winked at the guy and delivered a smile that scorched the cheap formica of the table on the way over.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

The Andrews braod looked at me with surprise, but I didn't have an time to waste standing on formality. I pulled out a chair and sat down. The look she gave me told me that I was about as welcome as a case of VD.

"Sorry, Miss Andrews, but this is just too important to wait." I said.

But wait I did as I noticed this number at the next table. How I could have managed to miss her before, I have no idea. She was a young one, all legs and tits and lips, just busting out of her clothes, and she gave me one of those pouty wet smiles that all but said "Insert Dick Here".

I tired to ignore her but my partner downstairs noticed her and noticed her good. She was sitting on one leg and leaning over the table to give a shot down paradise alley, moving her shoulders slightly to rub her nipples against the table top. She made a cat in heat look about as sexy as Queen Elizabeth, and had it been any other day I would have beenb nuying her a coffee and knee pads no matter how beat I was.

But I figure it like this: A million bucks can buy you a lot of tail, whereas a quicky with Miss Over-ripe won't improve your financial situation much. So I told my gonads to chill. Business first. Then pleasure.

"Here's the short version," I said to the Andrews babe. "Your ex-old man took something that didn't belong to him. Took it from some very nasty characters who aren't happy about his taking it at all. It's not just that he took something that wasn't his, it's what he took that's got them so upset."

This piece at the next table is still squirming around like she's doing a lap dance, and I notice that she's not just looking at me, she's ogling Miss Andrews with that same look of dripping lust. That gives me a little jolt of juice down in the privates as I can't keep myself from picturing her on her hands and knees, her face between Miss Andrew's legs, while yours truly rides that tight little ass from behind. And I had the unmistakable feeling that that's just what she was thinking about as well.

Be still, my beating heart.

Anyhow, I was rattled, I guess. That's why I forgot to keep my voice down. No doubt the piece at the next table heard everything I said. Hell, I'd might as well have stood up and told the whole joint. Mr Discretion, that's me.

Andrews is still staring at me like I just fell in from another planet, her mouth slightly open, trying to figure out who the hell I am. This isn't going well.

"Look, Miss Andrews--Heather--your ex left a bag of dope at your place. Only it's not plain olf coke. Some bright boys in Peru have been working for years to make a more potent form of coke. A lot more potent. Well, they finally succeeded, and somehow your old man got his hands on it."
"Now look," I said, leaning towards her, "I don't much care about what your ex was doing. I'm not a cop. He was a small time dealer, and a bag like what he took would be maybe four, five grand. This stuff he took is worth one hell of a lot more than that."

She still looked blank.

"I'm talking seven figures, Heather, We're talking in the millions, you understand? Millions. People have already been killed over this stuff. Now, I don't want you to be added to that list. Understand?"

Sap! I should have noticed all the heads swivelling in my direction, but between the babe at the other table sucking slowly on her finger as she pumped it in and out of her mouth and Heather's open mouth with her full glustening lips, her tits looking at me like friemdly puppies just begging to be petted, it was kind of hard to concentrate.

"One more thing maybe you should know," I said. "This stuff has one unusual property that makes it really special."

"It's a very potent aphrodisiac."

It was so quiet in there you could hear the jaws drop. Toolate I realized that I'd just informed half the neighborhood about what was back at Miss Andrew's place.

I lowered my voice to a shout.

"What I'd suggest," I said to her, "was that we get back to your place and find that stash. I'm ready to give you twenty grand cash for your trouble which I suggest you use to get your pretty ass out of town and far, far away, and I'll take care of the rest. Otherwise, things are going to get very ugly very fast."

 

[Steiner]

Vinny's jaw just about hit the counter - if this guy was a nark then he was the worst damn nark that Vinnie had ever known.

"Jeez-US" Vinnie breathed aloud as the mook kept rambling on in what was a good voice for public speaking, but a lousy voice for clandestine drug discussions.

"I gotta get outta here - this guys either primo stupid, or else he's got a hundred police marksmen watching this joing."

 

[dr_mabeuse]

MaTT Danger, OOC

OOC: Oops. Didn't rewalize that I'd been made as a narc cop by Vinnie. I'm anything but a narc cop.
Sorry, Vinnie.

 

[Steiner]

OOC: Nope, you're not necessarily a Narc Cop, it's just what Vinnie might have thought you were!

 

[Shadi]

Heather

I sat at the table, my jaw almost at the floor thoughts spinning through my head. I had spotted the big guy walk in and had been on my guard, though to be fair I had been on my guard since my dick of a boyfriend had left, then the man by the door had walked over, introduced himself and started talked about the drugs like it was no big thing.

The whole shop had gone quiet, I was pretty sure everyone had heard the whole deal, I had to do something and fast. Looking round I saw a sign pointing out the back towards the toilets, there had to be a rear exit that way, at least I hoped there was, grabbing my bag from the floor, I stood up quickly.

"Look Mr Danger, I think you must have me mixed up with someone else, I have no idea who you are and if you don't leave me alone I will call the police!"

I turned away from the table dragging one of the legs with me. The table tilted and the drinks fell towards him, as I fled towards the back I could hear his shout of surprise. I pushed through the door knocking a member of staff over as I went, barely giving them a second glance I headed for the fire exit and prayed it wouldn't be a dead end.

Jackpot! I was outside, the alley ran out onto the street at both ends, without thinking I headed right and ran. A quick glance at the entrance showed it was all clear for the moment but I knew that wouldn't last so I headed home cutting down side streets wherever I could.

Slowing down I checked around before going into my apartment block, the car from earlier was gone I guessed they must have been following me. As I got to my door Mrs Devany who lived opposite came out of her apartment.

"Heather, have you got a minute?" smiling I said I always had time for her. "Just after you went out two men came in looking for Darren, they said they were police so I told them that I thought he had moved out, I hope you don't mind, you're not in any trouble are you?"

I took her hand and thanked her, told her not to worry, Darren was just helping them with enquries and as I was sure she knew wouldn't be around for a bit, excusing myself I went into my home and shut the door pulling the chain and dead bolt before walking into the living room.

In the kitchen I got a bottle of water from the fridge and sat at the counter. The Danger guy had known too much to be hoping for a lucky break and he didn't seem the type that Darren would hang around with, looking around I tried to imagine where he would have hidden his stash, millions, I ran the figure around my head for a bit. After an hour I had torn the pace apart, looking in all the obvious places and the not so ones as well, my search was a waste of time all I found was some cash behind the bed, though to be fair it was a hefty amount.

There were no real options, just about everybody knew what was going on except me and I had had enough, let Darren sort his own mess out I was leaving. I found my gym bag and packed a few things, nothing much as I didn't want people to know I had gone, it would keep them all busy for a while looking for me, picking up the cash I headed out the back window and down the fire escape, seemed I was leaving that way a lot all of a sudden.

 

[Steiner]

The woman froze up - staring at the big mook in stunned disbelief. So did more than a few others, I noticed. The proprietor didn't however, he'd sidled his down to the end of the counter where a phone was sat, for employee use. He picked it up and started dialing.

Well screw that.

Leaving my croissant untouched, I dumped a twenty on the counter and left by the front door - this was NOT my idea of a covert assignment. Perhaps I'd swing by the appartment to see if the fleeing woman would roust her no-good man and send him scarpering.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

Matt Danger, as smooth as a courderoy cheese grater, that's me.

I picked the coffee cups out of my lap and turned my best fecalophagous grin on the startled inhabitants of the coffee shop. "How clumsy of me." I said.

I saw the Andrews babe as she split for the back door, and also noticed hardeyes making a hasty exit out the front

Coincidence or connection?

Meanwhile the head honcho was getting on the phone to someone, and freom the way he was looking my way I didn't think he was calling his old lady to tell her what a fascinating day he was having.

Well I had really blown that. Shows what happens when you think with your heart instead of your head, and why it's a good idea to sleep at least a couple hours every three days or so.

Truth was, I was beat, and sick of the whole damned deal. If Heather Andrews wanted to take her chances against the Lima-Garbanzo cartel and the whole Luchesi outfit--and God knows who else at this point--what business was it of mine? I could take my twenty grand back to Lullo and tell him sorry, it didn't work out: the bitch doesn't want to deal. Collect my per diem and chill out for a couple of weeks while the geeks cut each other throats for their dope.

No doubt Andrews had beat it back to her crib. My car was outside; I could probably beat her there, but then what? "Oh excuse me, Ms. Andrews, I'm afraid I may have gotten off on the wrong foot..." Not likely. As my mother used to say, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Meanwhile there was that terribly tastey tart sitting there looking at me not knowing whether to laugh or applaud for an encore. I didn't know how much the rest of the patrons had heard, but I knew she'd heard plenty, and there was no doubt in my mind that she'd be telling her tale to all and any who would listen as soon as she could. Unless I could...er...reason with her.

And I'll be honest. Excitement like that tends to...well, excite me, and it didn't look bad on her either.

I stood up wiping the coffee off my trousers and she sat not five feet away, eyes wide, with an expectant look on her face. Her top was so tight I could see not only her nipples, but the circles of her aureolas as well. This was a girl who not only went around looking for trouble, but was quite capable of making her own in the rare case she couldn't get involved in someone else's.

I don't know what it was. The frustration or losing Andrews, the lack of sleep, the stupid trmpet case full of cash or her tank top full of fun, but I threw a twenty on the table, leaned over and took her arm in my hand. She was soft and warm and didn't resist.

"You seem to be up for some trouble." I said to her. "May I introduce myself?"

 

[CassieB]

Cassie stood from the table, glad that her favorite shirt had gotten a rise out of someone... Even if it wasn't the other woman. She could find some way to have fun with this man. He seemed attractive enough, and apparently knew where to get his hands on some fine coke.

She pressed her breast into his arm, smiling towards him.
"Im up for all sorts of trouble..."
Her voice then went into a whisper, as she put her face mere inches from his ear. She put her hand in the way, so others couldnt see her lips.

"Especially if you could help me get my hands on some of that special coke. You'd be my big hero..."
With her hand still in place, she stuck her pointed tongue into the mans ear, and wiggled it around a bit before pulling away. Her chest was pushed into his arm even harder now, as she started to walk outside.

 

[Shadi]

Heather

I wandered around for a while, too scared to stay in one place for long. After a while I found myself at a motel, it looked pretty sleazy but hey all the more reason for me not to be there. Checking in wasn't too bad, and I got a room near the back, the clerk had looked me over enough to give himself pleasant dreams for a week and it was all I could do not to make some comment, especially when he asked if anyone else was going to join me.

The room was plain and screamed of flat pack and to top it all had one of those beds that vibrated when you put a couple of dollars in it! stowing my gear which took about ,oh 2 seconds, I walked down the hall to the vending machines, getting some cold drinks and crisps I went back to my room deciding I had to make a plan of some sort.

The danger guy had been spouting some pretty amazing stuff about the worth of the stash, peruvian he'd said, best there was and an aphrodisiac to boot, no wonder people were looking for it. I had to make some tough decisions, the cops were out of the question, they would take it to trial and I didn't know anything that was worth dying over. I could speak to Darren but he had obviously lied to me so what would change that now?

This left me two choices, I could try and find out who the stuff belonged to, or I could find the Danger guy and see what he knew and how far he was willing to go. This whole thing sucked there was nothing I could do to prove to anyone I was innocent, I had been left to carry the can, hold the baby, which ever way you looked at it, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Deciding that action was better than reaction I found the clerk and asked him a few questions, namely where could I find a clothes store and which were the best clubs in town, I thought he was going to come in his pants when I hinted at wanting the best action around.

After some lateish shopping I came back and got ready for my big night out, before I changed I had a dialled directory enquiries and managed through luck more than judgement to get hold of Matt Dangers number. I left him a message saying where I would be and at what time, if he wanted to talk then he had better make it worth my while.

Standing under the shower it was all I could do not to cry, my whole life had been turned upside down in a day, all because I trusted a man, well that wouldn't happen again! Getting ready I looked at the clothes I had recently bought, a short, tight, black leather skirt, long enough to be barely decent but short enough to run in. The top was black as well, scoop neck with split sleeves held together with cord that ran through small silver eyelets, red knee high boots finished the outfit and to be fair I looked good, or at least my reflection in the mirror said I did.

After hiding my cash, I left the room and hailed the first taxi that came along, my plan for what it was worth was to try and play some games. The police had nothing on me, which meant they could do nothing, if it came to it I could plead the fifth or something but I knew it wasn't worth the hassle in the long run, I couldn't give them names and thats what they needed. The mob, or at least I guessed it was a mob or gang needed me to find the drugs, what they didn't know was that I knew nothing and as for Mr Danger well he looked desperate enough to do just about anything and if it came to it I could use him to make good an escape.

The cab stopped and I checked my makeup before climbing out, the street was packed, clubbers waiting to go into Club Zero, which I had been told was the place to be. Trying to look like I fitted in I strolled up to the doorman.

"Hey sugar, Darren said you could sort me out, Darren Taylor", I slipped him a twenty and as if by magic, he let me walk right on in. There must have been a thousand people in here, the music was thumping a bass line that was annoyingly catchy. Wandering over to the bar I ordered a vodka coke and looked around seeing if I could spot any likely characters.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

So it looked like I had myself a partner—at least temporarily. It didn’t bother me that she was up for some coke. It didn’t bother me that she was hotter than the devil’s own pizza overn either. Hell, there wasn’t much about her that bothered me at all. In fact, I like dealing with people when you know exactly what they want. No surprises that way.
We strolled out the back door of the coffee shop like old sweethearts and down the alley to where my car was parked.
“I’m Matt.” I said. “Matt ‘Fuck-up’ Danger.”
“Hi Matt.” she said, giving me that dreamy, half-challenging smile. “I’m Cassie. Cassie ‘Fuck-me’ Barnhart.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Well, I knew your middle name wasn’t “subtlety”.”
“Now tell me, Cassie,” I went on, “That lady I was talking to: do you know her?”
No, she didn’t.
“But you’d like to see her again, is that right?”
Oh yeah. She would like to see her again. She would like to do more than see her.
We got to my car and I opened the door. I had to give her the disclaimer.
“Look, Cassie. You’re a nice girl. I’d like you to help me out. Maybe we can keep your friend from getting hurt. But I’ve got to warn you: we’ll be dealing with some very very bad people. Killers. Gangsters. People who eat people like you for breakfast…”
At that she made an excited little squeal and licked her lips. I had to laugh.
“Okay. Get in. But no fucking around. Not now.”
She nodded and pushed her breasts out at me before she got into the car.
And she kept her word. For all of twenty seconds. Then she was on me like white on rice.
Hey, I like to think I’m as moral as the next guy. Okay, not that moral. I kiss on the first date. But this nymphet was all over me, and she was delicious.
She kissed me with a mouth that I could tell knew how to do a lot more than kiss, and that little tongue fucked into my mouth as if I needed a hint of what she wanted me to do to her. Her perfume made me dizzy and the way she moaned softly in her throat didn’t help matters any. Her breasts were hard and soft at the same time as they mashed into my chest, and she was all pure feminine hunger in my arms.
“Easy, Cassie! Easy!” I said, but she was already working on her knees in the front seat of the car, working on the buttons of my shirt.
It had been a while since I’d been with a woman, and my resistance wasn’t what it should have been, and when she went for my cock she found it rock hard and ready, which only made her moan more loudly.
“Wait!” I cried, pulling my lips from hers. “Wait a goddamn minute! Christ!”
That worked. She gave me a pouty look and sat back.
“Did you ever hear of such a thing as coming on a little too strong?” I asked her. “Jesus, do you have a mattress strapped to your back or something?”
That seemed to hurt her feelings, which made me feel shitty.
“Look,” I said. “You wanted some coke. Let’s go see if we can get some coke, and take things from there. Okay?”
That seemed to calm her down some, at least enough for me to drive over to Andrews’ crib and park across the street.
The cop in the car was gone. That was good.
I told Cassie to stay put and walked around the back. Her flat was oin the first floor left. I climbed the back stairs and peeked through the curtain.
And there she was, sitting on the counter drinking a bottle of water.
Christ on a fucking crutch! Are we all bozos on trhis bus? Didn’t she have brain number one? After what I’d told her she’s just sitting around waiting for the bad guys to come?
Or was she waiting for someone else?
Like her ex?
Like someone who knew where the dope was stashed?
I split down the stairs and stood there stupidly for a while, trying to figure out what I should do. I stand places stupidly a lot. It’s the secret to my success.
Finally I decided to pull the car around back. If he were coming or she were leaving, they would almost certainly go out the back.
Cassie was happy to see me. Apparently she’d grown bored flashing her tits at cars passing by, and when I told her we were pulling around back she smiled.
Long story short? We waited, we waited, Cassie groped, I gave in.
I figure Andrews split about the time my head was rolling on the back of the passenger seat as Cassie did wonderful things to me with her vaginal muscles. She was like butter in my hands and like syrup in my mouth and what the girl didn’t know in advanced love-making techniques she more than made up for in spine-tingling enthusiasm that had her moaning and crying and making the car rock on its springs.
Yeah, right there in the car. Like a couple of animals. I don’t even know how she got those jeans off without using paint remover, but when she did she was all hot flesh and moist and soft and hot breath in my ear and I didn’t have a chance. Her hair fell down in her face and the sweat dripped off her body while her tits bobbed in front of my face and she begged me for everything I had.
And that’s what I gave her, just about the time she was coming for the third or fourth time—hell I don’t know. I felt her buttocks tighten in my hands and her legs began to tremble. She closed her eyes as if she were concentrating on something very deep inside, which I guess she was, then she started to gasp, to pant, to howl. I slammed my hips up into her and held her there as I felt my cock twitch inside her, and then I was coming, blinding, hot, delicious blasts of pure relief, so much that at the end it started seeping out of her and back into my lap.
Okay. I’mnot proud of it.
And by the time I went up to her flat to check, she was gone.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

So the Andrews babe had split while I was having my jollies with Cassie and that seemed like about it for my involvement in this things, when I heard a sound that always makes my stomach flip around: sirens. Police sirens, and the sqiawk of emergency vehicles. Getting closer. Getting really damned close. Coming right towards me.
It happened so fast the I was still by Andrews' back door when I saw the lights all converge at the front of her place. Two, three cop cars, a couple of ambulances, all came screeching to a halt, cops jumped out and ran into the building. I saw Pat Murphy, the lieutenant from the fifth district, getting out of his unmarked car. Something was up.
I walked over and joined the crowd of cops and called over to Murphy, who was talking to a uniformed man in the middle fo the crowd.
"Mey, Murphy!" I called.
He looked up. He didn't look happy to see me.
A few months back I'd helped him out when one of his kids got into a marijuana rap, and Murphy owed me a rather big one, so he couldn't ignore me now.
"Danger." he said walking over. He looked at me as if I were something he'd just stepped in. "What the hell are you doing here?"
I ignored his question. "What's going on?" I asked him.
He didn't want to answer, but like I said, he owed me.
"A lady got herself dead."
My heart stopped beating for a moment.
"Her daughter found her. Name's Devany. Just called it in." he said.
The name didn't mean anything to me. At least it wasn't Heather, but the fact that it was in Heather's building was certainly no coincidence.
"What happened?" I asked, trying to sound merely curious.
Murphy nodded his head for me to follow. I went up the front steps and into the little hallway where the mailboxes were. There was a flight of stairs going up to the flats, and on the floor surrounded by cops and paramedics was the late Mrs Devany.
She was dressed in a housedress, slippers on her feet, hair in rollers. She waslooking at the ceiling through eyes that saw no more. From the position of her body it looked like she'd fallen down the stairs.
"Accident?" I asked.
"No doubt." he said sarcastically. He gestured to a cop who rolled her body slightly to the side. I saw a pool of blood.
"This was in her back." he said, showing me a long, thin screwdriver. "She must have fallen on it backwards, right?"
He watched me for a reaction but I kept a poker face. He gestured me to follow him up the stairs.
The doors to both flats on the first floor were open. The one on my right was Heather Andrews'. I assumed that the other belonged to the late Mrs Devany. He led me into Heather's place. As I walked in the front foor, I could see where the frame of the door had been ripped out to defeat the locks. The bite marks of the screwdriver were all over the shattered wood. It must have made a hall of a noise to do that. Enough noise to make Mrs Devany come out and see what was going on. She must have seen, tried to run back into her flat, and taken the screwdriver in the back.
Murphy watched me as I came into the front room. The place was swarming with blue uniforms and crime lab people.
"You turning musical?" he asked, indicating the trumpet case I was still carrying.
"Yeah. I find it relaxing."
He grunted, then got down to business.
"You know who's place this is?" he asked me.
I shrugged. "Why should I?"
"It belongs to a girl named Heather Andrews and, up till a few days ago, her main squeeze, a dude named Derren Smith, small-time coke dealer."
"So?" I said.
A unifrom man came up to him and said something in a low voice and Murphy scowled. "Well keep looking." he said.
He turned back to me. "We were all set to come down on this guy, Had the warrants, the evidence, surveillance, all set. It wasn't a big deal, but we were all set to go. Then all of a sudden we get a call from high up. Way high up." he gave me a significant look, " 'Call it off' they said. No bust. No surveillance, '
'Call it all off right now. Pull your men back, tear up your warrants. The whole thing never happened' they said."
Murphjy took a stick of gum from his pocket and started to unwrap it.
"We just recalled our stake-out man not two hours ago." he said. "Kind of funny, ain't it?"
I tried to act dumb. "What do you make of it?"
He shrugged. "I'm just a low-level looey. I don't know what goes on up above my head, where the big boys feed. But someone wanted us off this case right away. You know,sometimes we get called off things like this when the Feds want to get involved. But as I look around, I don't see any feds, do you?"
I didn't answer. None was needed.
He didn't have to spell it out for me. I know something of how a cop thinks. He thinks like this: We're called off the case but there's no feds. Someone upstairs must want to get to either Smith and Andrews, or they want to get into their place without any cops around. But Smith and Andrews here. Therefore, someone wanted to get into their place. Conclusion: there must be something very valuable in their place.
"So did you find anything?" I asked him.
"Would we still be looking if we'd found something?"
I nodded.
"Do you know what you're looking for?" I asked.
"There's been some word on the street about some new, kick-ass type of coke coming through. It might be that. I don't think it's a winning lottery ticket."
That's Murphy's idea of a joke.
"Okay," I said. "But this break-and-enter was a very amateur job. The kind of things a kid would do. Heavy hitters would have used a bit more finesse, don't you think?"
He shrugged. "They got in, I know that much."
And who uses a screw-driver to kill someone?
The Jamaican gangs for one. The asians too, for that matter. They tended to be especially ruthless and I-don't-give-a-fuck in their choice of weapons.
"There's nothing here. Lieutenant." a cop said, coming into the living room with the porcelain top of a toilet flush tank. He turned it over and showed Murphy the underside. There were two strips of duct tape still attached, but whatever they'd held was gone.
Good guess, I thougt. That's just where I would have looked too.
Murphy looked at me giving me his blank face. "So now you know what I know." he said. The interview was over.
I started to leave.
"Hey, Danger," he called after me. I turned and he said. "We're even now. Paid in full."
"Right."
"And Danger? You don't want to get mixed up in this. You don't want to be in the middle when the big dogs start to fight over their bones."
I just looked at him for a moment, then I left.

So let's see: we've got the Peruvian drug cartel involved in this, we've got at least two mafia families, we've got the Jamaican and/or Asian street gangs, and now we've got the cops too. Have I left anyone out?
What bothered me the most was the cops though, because I had a feeling that Heather would be heading for the presumed safety of the police as fast as those long legs would carry her, not knowing what she was getting into at all.
But what could I do? She hadn't given me a forwarding address. She might be anywhere. Murphy was right. It just wasn't my business.
Cassie wasn't in the car. Just as well. That's just what I didn't need right now.
I drove over to my place, stripped off my clothes and just stood under the shower for a long, long time. My only chance at finding Heather would be if she called my office. There's a good chance she would remember my name, and I'm in the book, for all the good it does me.
I got dressed, stashed my trumpet case after giving myself a cash advance, and took out the Glock that I carried inside. I don't like guns, They scare me. But sometimes they're good for scaring other people too, This seemed like it might be one of those times.
I drove down to the edge of downtown, stopped in downstairs at Wong's Oriental Garden and picked up some food, then went up
to the office. No messages on the machine.
I ate sitting at my desk, trying not to think about Heather Andrews. I'm very good at that. I didn't think about her eyes, didn't think about the way her lips looked with that expression of surprise on them, didn't think of the way she ran out of the restaurant; a girl who could take care of herself. Or so she thought. And I sure didn't worry about what was looking for her out there, and what they'd do to her when they found her.
I checked my machine to make sure it was on. I lied down on the old, beat sofa in my office and fell asleep, still not thinking about her.

 

[Shadi]

Heather

Everyone was having a great time, or so it seemed, I knocked my drink back in one, call it dutch courage. The place was full of people from all walks of life, There were guys just out for the thrill of the chase, girls up for a good time, couples trying to impress each other groups of friends doing the same.

I caught the barman and ordered another drink, I didn't belong here and truth be told I had no idea what I was trying to achieve, I just wanted out.

Laughing softly to myself I remembered the time Darren had bought a couple of De Niro movies, Goodfellas and Casino, he honestly thought that was how it all worked, you made your bones with the family and they helped you get away with murder. Even the great Don in Godfather had steered away from drugs, maybe that was a lesson to be learned.

One more drink and I would put my plan into action, the ocassion called for a Black Russian and the barman served me with flair. As he placed the drink in front of me I called him close, "Is Vinnie here?" I asked, lets be honest, gangsters were always called Vinnie, or Frankie, I had to get one of them right.

The barman pointed towards the main stage, I could see two guys standing there, one looked kind of familiar. "The guy on the right is Vinnie but he's doing something for the boss. I'd wait till later if I were you." The barman winked at me then started serving someone else.

Glancing at my watch I saw it was nearly midnight, my message to Mr Danger asked him to meet me here at 12, I'd give him half an hour and if he didn't show I was going to have a word with Vinnie. My reasoning was simple, I had something everyone else wanted and I wanted rid of it, I was happy to give it up or back either way was fine but I had no idea where it was.

I needed to find it and I had to get some help, this was real fly by the seat of your pants stuff and I hoped luck was on my side.

 

[Steiner]

Vinnie's reception back at the club had NOT been warm, although the boss had been willing to accept that he'd done the smart thing by not getting involved. So the lady had done a runner - well, she wouldn't stay hidden for long. As a nominal punishment, however, Vinnie was on security at the club tonight - the boss though, had spoken to him privately in what everyone else thought was a bollocking from hell, and told him that he appreciated a smart operator. All he had to do was suck it up and do this punishment gig, and everyone would forget the failure - especially himself, the Don.

So when the barman sent a note back by one of the waitresses to let him know that a lady was out front asking about him, the LAST person he expected it to be was Heather Andrews. If he HAD expected it to be her, he would have had something put in her drink, or had a couple of guys on either side of her, as it was he just walked up behind her and said.

"Well I don't know YOU, but it seems...." and then he realised how wrong he was.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

Ah sleep, that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care...
Or some damned thing.
I slept so hard I felt just about human when I got up. It was dark outside, and quiet. And the light on my answering machine was blinking.
I fired up the computer while I played back the message. Just one, but it was Heather. She wanted me to meet her at midnight at the Graffenberg Spot, a big, noisy Meet-rack/Urban blasting zone that wasn't far from me.
That was smart. A nice, crowded place like that would keep us relatively safe. If she'd wanted to meet me in some deserted building I would have had to think about it long and hard.
I got on the PC and went to the Police Bulletin site, looked through the city-wide alerts for the last twenty-four hours, and there she was: Heather Andrews, detain for questioning re homicide and narcotics felonies. It was an old picture, her hair was shorter. It showed her with a good-looking guy. Must have been Darren in happier days. (With a slightly sick feeling I realized the picture must have been taken by the cops from her flat. Maybe while I was there with Murphy. Cops have no sense of decency.) The alert also said that if apprehended, the officer should notify Sgt Kopp of Special Unit 5. I had no idea who or what Special Unit 5 was, but I didn't like the sound of it.
Funny there was no notice out on Darren Smith himself. Did they have him already? or had something else happened to him?
I didn't have time to look through the Unidentified Bodies Found section. Besides, I really didn't want to know at that point.
I got my jacket, turned off my office lights, then crept back to the window in the dark to see who might be crawling out of the woodwork.
Sure enough, I saw two kids step out of a dark doorway down the street and start strolling towards the door of my building. Kids? Looked Oriental. Could be members of the Ghost Shadow gang. They ran the heroin business in town. I don't know.
I went down the back stairs and checked the alley. Clear as far as I could see. I got down to my car without getting killed. Thank the Lord for small favors.
At this point I had no plan, no ideas, no nothing. I was juist kind of opposed to seeing Heather get her fingers cut off one by one just because she didn't know where her boyfriend had hid his dope. My only plan was to convince her somehow to get out of town until this whole thing straightened itself out, and to convince her before someone else convinced her to turn herself in to the police or any other of the various bad characters who wished to do her serious harm.
I got to the G-spot and found an almost-legal parking spot not too far away from the door. The bouncers checked me in and I joined the mob.
Inside it was all pounding bass and strobes and flashes of light. It was like being in the head of someone who's getting electroshock therapy. Some people just know how to have fun.
A double Jameson's helped a bit and things actually started to make sense, and I tried to look around the room with a minimum of chalance. Right.
Bang!
She stood out like a wolf in a pack of ragged dogs, like a tigress among alley cats. I mean, the people there were dressed to impress, but she was like trying to hide a diamond in crushed ice. At least that's how she looked to me.
Her back was to me. She was talking to the barman,one foot up on the brass rail, her legs in red leather boots that looked like they'd been sprayed on. Above that she wore a leather skirt the way it should be worn, like a second skin. I could see the wonderful valley that separated her buttocksm and I wondered how it was possible that you could fall in love with the crack of a girl's behind.
As I ogled her--yes, ogled is the right word--she turned to where the barman was pointing to the bandstand and I saw her profile. She wore some kind of top with a scoop neck that was held together by black laces over her shoulders. The contast of the laces on her coffee au lait skin was wonderful to behold. And very S&M. A girl after my own black heart. I could imagine the strain those laces must be under to keep her all in like that when her body obviously was crying to get out. Just cut one of those laces and...
One of the guys on the bandstand looked familiar to me, but i couldn't quite place him. Someone I'd seen recently... but where?Anyhow, he jumped down and came up behind her as she was reaching for her drink. I watched.

 

[Shadi]

Heather

Ordering another drink, I sipped it slowly, the first couple had already hit the spot but I needed to stay pretty clear headed. So far so good, I hadn't noticed anybody really suspicious, apart from Vinnie and his crew but to be fair those types always looked suss, even when they went to church.

The place was hot, dark and loud and I needed to keep drinking, I made a mental note to get a bottle of water with my next round and reached for my glass. As my fingers grasped it I heard a voice behind me, "Well I don't know YOU, but it seems...." I turned around, that was it, he'd been in the coffee shop earlier.

Mustering up as much false bravado as I could I looked him straight in the eye "Ah, you must be Vinnie, this won't take long, I can see you're busy. I believe I have something you want." I studied his face for some sort of reaction, he was good, nice even hard stare, not a flicker, I carried on. "Now I want to get rid of this stuff and I could always go to the cops but I don' see why I should waste everybody's time. I can really do without all this hassle so I feel I should give it back to it's rightful owner. Seeing as you seem to be in a position to help me out, how about we come to some sort of arrangement that would benefit everyone.

I took a long drink, holding his eyes with mine over the rim of the glass, "Oh, and just to let you know, I have a few insurance policies in place." I turned my eyes away and raised my glass towards the end of the bar. A couple of men looked at me with smiles and raised eyebrows, they were out on the prowl and looking for some action. I hadn't spoken to any of them but it looked like my bluff would work.

 

[Steiner]

Vinnie smiled "That piece of shit boyfriend of yours leave you up shit creek, huh, lady?" he looked around.

"Listen, insurance, well that's just smart. Why don't we take a seat somewhere more private and work something out? I can tell you, the boss will be VERY happy to have his property returned, and so far as I know, nobody has a personal beef with you. Yet."

Vinnie extended an arm towards a door in the back of the bar that was marked "Private: Staff".

 

[Shadi]

Heather

I looked in the direction he was pointing, 'a nice quiet chat out of the way, yeah right' I thought to myself, if I could get him somewhere else I might stand a chance of coming out uninjured but I had to give him something worth bothering with.

I leaned in towards him, "Much as I would love to spend some time with you right now, I think it would be better if we met up tomorrow, I mean it's not like I'm going anywhere in a big hurry and I'm sure you would find me if I did." I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer so I could whisper in his ear "Anyway, why should your boss be the only one to get a piece out of this, isn't there something that you want as well?"

Had I really just said that? man was I getting brave, or was it stupid? What I wanted was to see the P.I, I reckoned he'd be more help but just in case I had to have a back up plan. If I could get Vinnie away from his boss, maybe, just maybe I might be able to convince him to cut some sort of deal with me, after all this stuff was worth an absolute fortune and as far as anyone knew Darren and I were the only people that could get hold of it and if I knew that weasel he would have skipped town at the first sign of trouble so that left me to deal with it all.

I was bothered by the fact that I would have to play the two guys against each other, it's not something I would ever normally do but I could see no other way, one of them would be able to help me out and if I had to 'shake a little booty' in the mean time then it was a small price to pay.

 

[Steiner]

Vinnie narrowed his eyes as Heather made her proposition. To himself he thought, "Yeah right lady, I'm going to cross the most powerful man in the city over a piece of ass... I must have used new "Retardo" hair gel this morning, if that's how dumb she thinks I look."

Outwardly he smiled and said "Sure, sure thing, babe. Tomorrow it is."

Yeah sure I'll let you walk out of here without any kind of check on where you're going!

Vinnie headed back to the bar and got one of the waitresses to send in Lenny. Lenny was a regular in the bar who did odd jobs for the family from time to time. When this Heather Andrews left the bar tonight, Lenny would make sure that Vinnie found out where she was staying.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Matt Danger

There were two bars in the place, and from the one I was at I had a good view of the guy as he got down from the bandstand and came up behind Heather. She gave him a bold, almost challenging look, then pulled his head close and whispered something in his ear. The way she did it made me think that maybe there was something between the two of them. I couldn't see the guy's face when she did that, but I could pretty much figure what mine would have looked like had she done that to me.
When he turned away from him I saw his face again and remembered. It was the guy from the cafe that morning; the guy who'd been at the counter: Hardeyes.
I quickly turned away and watched them in the mirror behind the bar, keeping my shoulders up and my face down, but there was nothing else to see except for the discreet glance she shot his ass as he walked away. Her eyes flicked down there the same way a man's eyes flick down to a woman's chest when he thinks she's not looking, appraising the goods. Apparently little Heather wasn't quite the ingenue I'd been thinking she was.

So they were together? That made a lot of sense. That would explain why he'd been at the cafe with her, maybe backing her up. Maybe they'd already arranged to sell the dope and the cafe was where they were going to meet their buyer. Until yours truly screwed everything up for them, of course. No wonder she'd run. And he had too.
And then what? Well, she would have gone back to her place, maybe called him, taken the dope and split, and they would have met up later. Meanwhile, between the time she left and the time the cops came someone had tried to break into her place and killed Devany.

Maybe.

But something about that little scenario bothered me. Maybe it was the fact that they didn't make such a cute couple. If he was a tough guy, he wasn't a two-bit tough guy like Darren had been. Tough guys who look like tough guys don't scare me much. It's the ones who look like businessmen or science teachers you've got to look out for. And that's the way he looked: nicely dressed, clean, efficient. Maybe it was something in the way she'd looked at him. I just couldn't feature them as a team.
And then if they were together, why had she asked me to meet her here? What did she need me for if she had the dope and an old man and was arranging a buy? I didn't think it was to apologize for dumping coffee in my lap that morning.

Let me reiterate: my involvement in the whole mess was nil at this point . I could have turned and walked out right then and there with no flies on me whatsoever. If she'd really needed to get a hold of me, well, she apparently knew my number and her finger wasn't broken. She could always call.
And all my instincts told me to bail out. There was too much going on and there was too much at stake and there was just too much I didn't know. Sure, I could have used a piece of that million that would come of selling the super-dope, but I also had rather come to enjoy being alive and taking my food through my mouth rather than through a IV tube. I guess I'm funny that way.

But I'm also a curious son of a bitch.

You know, we all go around wearing masks, and masks on masks, and disguises on top of those. All of us fumbling around like blind men in a dark room playing treasure hunt, looking for something, bumping into each other, stepping on each others' toes, pushing and shoving. Sometimes you just get tired of it. You want to see what's really underneath those masks. Not necessarily so you can win the game, but just so you can catch a glimpse of a real human face once in a while. Just so you can know that the game's still worth playing.

Isn't that beautiful? Cut it out and file it under "Things to Forget".

The roar of the club came back into my ears at that point, the pounding bass, all the voices yelling to be heard. The spots of light from the disco balls sweeping across the faces and bare skin and making everything look surreal. Everywhere I saw open mouths, laughing, drinking, talking. The air was thick with noise, the smell of smoke, liquor, perfume and hot bodies.
I called the bar man over.
"You see that woman over there in the red boots?" I yelled in his face. He nodded and cocked an eyebrow knowingly. I pushed a twenty in his pocket. "Send her over a drink. Whatever it is she's drinking. Tell her it's from me. Can you do that?"
He nodded and took the bill out of his shirt pocket, looked at it, and put it in his pants pocket.

Now let's see what's what.

 

[Shadi]

Heather

I watched Vinnie walk away, so far so good it seemed but I wasn't sure if he would be completely taken in by my act. I looked around Mr Danger should be here by now, if he was going to turn up at all but I hadn't spotted him yet.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see who it was, the barman was tryng to get my attention, "Excuse me miss, the gentleman over there would like to buy you a drink." He was pointing towards the other bar so I took a look in that direction. The P.I was stood there, nearly hidden by the shadows. I wondered how much he had seen and had to assume he'd been there for all of it.

I ordered a coke and slowly walked towards the other bar, I had a lot of questions for Mr Danger but I didn't want him to think I was a complete idiot and he would be the best person to help me find the dope.

As I walked I looked him over, bit rough looking but he had honest eyes. Mentally I slapped myself, honest eyes, christ, what will it be next! Reaching him I grasped what little composure I had left "So do you always buy drinks for girls you hardly know?"
I smiled demurely at him and leant back against the bar, waiting to see how or if I could get him to help me.