Michael followed her gaze and smiled. "You're not really worried, are you? I mean, it all gets a bit confusing to me still, but Phil does know that Jasmine is, well, more than Jasmine."

* 86 *

Justice Served "Oh, sure. Phil knows Jasmine is a transvest.i.te, just like Jasmine knows that Sloan is a lesbian and that Phil is a drag king. But that doesn't stop Jasmine from teasing Sloan, or Phil from l.u.s.ting after a s.e.xy woman like Jasmine. Sometimes one reality just gives way to another, don't you think?"

"Well," Michael mused, "I know that Sloan nds Jasmine attractive and that it confuses her at times."

Sarah tilted her head thoughtfully. "But you don't? Find Jasmine attractive, I mean. And you're a lesbian."

"Well, I think you're very attractive, and I love you as a friend, but...well-"

"I don't have a starring role in your fantasies?"

"Actually, no one does except Sloan. But that's just me. Sloan,"

Michael murmured, watching her lover grinning at something Sandy had just said, "is put together differently. She has a different kind of On b.u.t.ton than I do."

"And you're not bothered by that?" Sarah's tone was curious, not censuring.

"I can hardly be upset with her for something she can't help."

Michael met Sarah's eyes. "I trust her to put our relationship rst before casual attractions."

"I guess we're pretty much in the same place, then. Jasmine is more a good friend than a lover, although now and then..." Sarah shrugged. "We cross lines."

"Really? I've wondered."

"Well, there are times when I'm watching Jasmine get ready to go out or up onstage performing, that I get this overwhelming desire to just...ravish her." Sarah laughed self-consciously. "And then, when I do, right in the middle of it all...guess what I nd."

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Michael laughed as well and returned Sarah's hug. "I think sometimes we just have to accept things the way they are, even if they're not the way we think they will be. That seems to be the case more often than not around here."

"Mmm. Especially tonight." Sarah leaned near so as not to be overheard. "Mitch is certainly a surprise. The other guys look terri c, and I've known them all long enough that I don't think of them as anything other than guys, but Mitch...Mitch is the most natural-looking drag king I've ever seen."

* 87 *

RADCLY fFE "If I didn't know," Michael agreed, "I'd bet any amount of money that he's Dell's brother. The resemblance is there in exactly the same way it often is between brother and sister-similar features, but no confusion as to who is male and who is female."

"Fascinating, isn't it. His girlfriend is keeping a close eye on him too. She's a little cutie."

"Sandy." Michael smiled fondly. "She's very sweet and very capable. I also have the feeling that there's very little of life that she hasn't experienced."

"So, do you know what's going on?"

Struck by the serious tone in Sarah's voice, Michael felt a wave of apprehension. "What do you mean?"

"I just thought Sloan might have said something. Jason has been working nonstop since the end of last week, and I know they're close to wrapping up this big case. And Jasmine is somehow involved."

"And she hasn't said?"

"Oh, as much as she ever does. I'm just facilitating things down at the club, sweetie. Don't worry, I wouldn't ruin my manicure doing anything dangerous. "

"Why is it that Sloan says very much the same thing-minus the manicure, of course."

"Because we're just girls, and they're all big, tough superheroes?"

Sarah's voice held a hint of exasperation mingled with affection. "Even Jasmine."

Michael sighed. "I can see that Sloan and I are going to have another talk."

"Uh-oh. Did I just get her into trouble?"

"Oh," Michael said softly, "she'll survive. After all, she's a big, tough superhero."

v At the sound of Michael's laughter, Sloan tuned out the conversation with Ken and half turned in her lover's direction. It had been too long since she'd heard Michael's voice free from pain, and her heart tightened at the lilting sound. Michael stood arm in arm with Sarah, and the two were obviously sharing a private joke. At that instant, Michael met her eyes, and Sloan nearly staggered at the impact of her * 88 *

Justice Served lover's gaze. It was as if Michael reached across the distance between them and caressed her. It was always that way. No one ever touched her the way Michael did.

"She's...ah...incredible," Ken remarked as if reading Sloan's thoughts.

"Yeah."

"The rst time I saw the two of you at one of the shows, I gured it must be a mistake. You couldn't have gotten that lucky."

"Still can't believe it myself."

"So-it's nice of you to help Mitch out."

Slowly, Sloan searched Ken's eyes, appreciating the unspoken question. "He got pretty banged up."

"So Jasmine said. I remember him tearing out of the club that night. Funny, I thought I saw his girlfriend there earlier too. Of course, it could've been someone else, but she's so hot, she's hard to forget."

Sloan regarded Sandy, who still sat within the circle of Mitch's arms, chatting now with Dino. "I don't know every girl Mitch is seeing."

"He did mention he wasn't married," Ken said. "But if you ask me, she's got him by the roots. And he doesn't look like he minds."

Before Sloan could formulate an answer to that, Ken continued, "I've known Jasmine a long time. All the Kings have. Whatever she's into, we're there. Just so you know."

"Thanks. I appreciate that. Before you leave, I want to give you a couple of numbers to call. Just in case...you ever need to."

"That would be ne. Now," Ken said with a slow smile, "I'm going to go invite the very beautiful Michael to one of our shows. Front-row seats, this time. Courtesy of the Front Street Kings."

"You guys are dangerous," Sloan complained.

Ken raised a brow and shrugged insouciantly. "We have to maintain our reputations."

Sloan watched him walk away, appreciating that they had gained another ally in the underground warfare to come.

* 89 *

* 90 *

Justice Served

CHAPTER TEN.

Wednesday Well, h.e.l.lo," Catherine said with a smile. "You look much better than the last time I saw you."

Mitch.e.l.l hooked her cane over the arm of the chair in front of Catherine's desk and settled into it, keeping her left leg straight as she did. "Thanks. I feel a lot better too."

"How's the leg?"

"Pretty much healed. The st.i.tches stay in for another week, but,"

she indicated the cane with a tilt of her chin, "no more crutches."

"Wonderful." Catherine eased back in her chair and crossed her legs. As was her habit on the days she saw clients, she'd dressed conservatively in a two-piece taupe brushed-silk suit and low heels.

Mitch.e.l.l's le, unopened, was centered on her desk blotter. "Are you still at Sloan and Michael's?"

"Probably for another day. Then I'm going back to my...

apartment."

"The one in Sandy's building?"

"Uh-huh."

"Does that mean that you're going back to work as well?"

Mitch.e.l.l shifted in the chair and studied the knees of her black chinos, which she'd worn with a white, open-collared oxford shirt and black loafers for her day of doctor's visits. "Well, I can't go back to work until I'm cleared by you."

"What about Dr. Torveau?" Catherine asked, showing no reaction to the subtle evasion. "Has she released you to work?"

"Not in so many words," Mitch.e.l.l admitted. "She said I could do anything I wanted except ride my motorcycle and lift weights."

"Anything? That's excellent."

Mitch.e.l.l brightened and sat up straighter.

* 91 *

RADCLY fFE "Do you think she meant physically subduing a suspect?"

Catherine's tone was mild, her eyes kind.

"She didn't mention that, exactly."

"But you did talk with her about the kinds of things you need to be able to do in the line of duty, right?"

"I told her about most of it." Mitch.e.l.l's voice was pitched low.

Catherine said nothing.

Mitch.e.l.l sighed. "Actually, I told her about working with Jason on the computer traces."

"Rather sedentary."

"I didn't say I had a desk job..." Mitch.e.l.l raised her eyes to Catherine's. "Not in so many words."

Catherine nodded.

"But I might have let her think it was...mostly...a desk job."

"Why did you let her think that, do you think?"

"Because I want to get back to work." Mitch.e.l.l forcefully enunciated each word, as if the importance of what she was saying couldn't be overemphasized.

"I know you do. But why tomorrow and not a week from tomorrow?"

"Because this is my big chance, and I don't want to miss it."

"Big chance. Tracking down the rest of the Internet p.o.r.nographers?"

Mitch.e.l.l shook her head impatiently. "No. I mean, that's part of it. But that's not...that's not what I'm going to be doing." She leaned forward, her hands loosely sted. "I'm going to be working undercover.

That's a big deal for a detective. Especially a rookie detective like me.

I'm going to be going after the intel that could break this case. Not just the p.o.r.nographers, but maybe the whole prost.i.tution ring. It's big, and the lieutenant is putting me right in the middle of it."

It's big and it's dangerous and you can't wait. Catherine had worked with police of cers long before she'd fallen in love with one, and she'd rarely seen one who didn't live for the excitement. Rebecca, she believed, thrived on the hunt, and although that drive was instinctual, her deeper motivations were philosophical. Rebecca sought justice. She wondered what Dellon searched for. "Why is it good?"

"Are you kidding me? This is a chance to really do something. To put away some of the sc.u.m who use girls like they're disposable-to be * 92 *

Justice Served wadded up and tossed in the toilet after they've come in th..." Mitch.e.l.l colored and looked away. After a second, she said quietly, "Sorry."

"For what, Dellon?" Catherine asked just as quietly.

"Look, it's my job. This is an important case, and I want to do my job."

Catherine considered the unanswered question and then decided to let it pa.s.s for the moment. She'd learned in their previous sessions that Dellon often revealed more in what she didn't say than in anything she might if pressured. And the young detective was pale and shaking, a vivid reminder that she had been out of the hospital less than a week. "I know how much the job means to you. But you understand my concern for your safety."

Mitch.e.l.l nodded. "If I get Dr. Torveau to sign off for me to resume active duty- real active duty-will you clear me to go back too?"