A Dangerous and Cunning Woman

by Ethan Johnson

  “Nuh-uh. One of the people on the Fortunates site ran into Janet McBride at a restaurant and begged her to tell them, but she said to piss off. I can’t say I blame her, but man, this sucks!”

  “Totally,” Diane said. “Oh, Sapphire moved out. I can’t decide if that’s good or not.”

  “Good riddance. I never liked her.” Lyssa perked up. “Guess that means you get your own room now.”

  “Yeah. It’s weird being in here by myself. Maybe you could come over and keep me company.”

  “Don’t even joke about that. My parents are completely up my ass. I caught my mom the other day looking at a picture of me when I was little and crying on the sofa. Can you believe that? Sheesh, I like girls. It’s not like I killed somebody.”

  Diane didn’t like the reminder that Lyssa had both of her parents, or more to the point, that she knew who they were. She wondered if her own mother had a photo of her, and if so, if she cried when she looked at it too. She felt her heart sink at the thought and tried to shake it off.

  “No, yeah, I get you. I might could sneak you in here. This place empties out after 7 o’clock, usually. Come over, and I’ll figure out how to get you past the cameras or whatever.”

  “Leave that to me. Oh, Diane, this is so exciting! I can’t wait to snuggle up with you.”

  Diane looked at Lyssa’s smiling face and put her fingers to her lips once more. She resolved to take a thorough shower before Lyssa came over. She didn’t want any hint that Gabe had been getting close to her. “Me too. See you soon.”

  “Bye,” Lyssa said, blowing a kiss before terminating the chat. Diane tossed her tablet aside and headed for the bathroom. Lyssa wouldn’t be here for a few hours, but she wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

  She turned on the shower full blast and stripped down. She made a pile of everything she wore and stuffed it into a bag. She didn’t think she’d have time to do a load of laundry, plus her uniforms were provided by a service. She breathed a sigh of relief at the obvious solution: she would hide the bag in a vacant locker. Lyssa wouldn’t be going anywhere near it, and she could dispose of the evidence later.

  She stepped into the shower and let the water beat down on her face. Goodbye, Gabe, she thought. Lyssa’s the one for me.

  She figured if she repeated that enough times, she’d believe it herself.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Diane stood in the former school’s boiler room and waited for Lyssa to rap at an unmarked steel door. Unlike the new Panther Division facility, the re-purposed school had minimal security. Diane figured out a path that would take them past the fewest number of security cameras until they reached the blissful solitude of Diane’s dorm room.

  There wasn’t much foot traffic after academy sessions ended. Instead of dorm rooms or barracks, new cadets were being put up in two floors of a nearby hotel. The brass declared it would turn the business of housekeeping and housing over to the professionals, freeing up the division to focus on police work.

  Diane felt her days at the school were numbered, though nobody set a deadline to move out. Sapphire leaving could change that, she thought as she looked around the dingy and dirty boiler room. Construction on the new facility was far from complete, but once the building was finished she wondered how much longer they’d bother with the school. It served its purpose in their time of need.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock at the back door. Diane sucked in her breath and responded with a single knock. The agreed pattern sounded once more. Diane pushed the door open and Lyssa hurried into the boiler room. After closing the door, Diane brushed a cobweb from Lyssa’s forehead and kissed her. She smiled and said, “I missed you.”

  Lyssa nodded. “Let’s get out of this dump. It gives me the creeps.”

  “It is what it is. Come on, this way.” Diane ushered Lyssa from the boiler room and snapped the light switch down before pulling the heavy wooden door closed behind them. She was surprised nobody ever locked it but figured the division’s concerns lay elsewhere. Who was going to mess with a temporary police academy? The petty criminals that littered the city seemed content to wait for the police to come to them before taking their pot shots.

  Lyssa looked around nervously as they made their way through the lower level. Diane made her pause at the base of a stairwell and kissed her again. “Up we go. Don’t sneak around. Just act normal. If you look like you don’t belong here, people are going to notice. At least, I think they will. Sometimes I wonder if the cameras are actually hooked up to anything.”

  Lyssa nodded. “Normal. Got it.”

  Diane’s room wasn’t far from the stairs. She resisted the urge to hold Lyssa’s hand in case someone was indeed watching the security footage. She made small talk with Lyssa in case anyone was listening. Once they reached her dorm room, she hustled Lyssa through the door and set the security latch. Diane turned around and was pressed up against the door by her lusty and passionate girlfriend.

  She found herself thinking back to Gabe. The look in his eyes as he asked if they could talk somewhere private. The first kiss they’d shared in nearly a year. The smell of him, the feel, the taste. Everything about Lyssa was… different. She wore a perfume that reminded her of bubble gum. Her wild hair tickled her nose as they kissed. Her lips were softer, fuller. Gabe’s body was firm, much more than when they met. She figured he’d been hitting the gym. Patrol work didn’t favor the weak and sluggish. She put her arms around Lyssa. She had put on weight since the last time Diane saw her. She squeezed handfuls of her that weren’t there before.

  Lyssa was never stick-thin, not that Diane cared. Or, she hadn’t cared before. Now she felt a pang of annoyance that Lyssa was slipping further into not only civilian life, but a too-comfortable life under her mother and father’s roof. Diane had ambitions of advancement and improvement. Did Lyssa feel the same? She wondered if she was only with Lyssa because she lacked a better option. Was Gabe that option? She wondered that too.

  Lyssa pulled off her top and threw it aside. “God, I missed you,” she panted.

  “Yeah,” Diane said, trying to sound convincing, “me too.” She pulled her own top off and threw it at Sapphire’s empty bed.

  Lyssa had missed her, she thought as they tumbled onto her bed. She pawed, she squeezed, she clutched, and she kissed with greater intensity as she worked her way on top of Diane, straddling her waist and unhooking her bra. Lyssa’s bare skin pressed against Diane and in turn, Diane began to forget about Gabe and doubts about her compatibility with Lyssa. She was being drawn into the maelstrom of passion and need. Gabe wasn’t here now. Lyssa was. This was where they’d had their first kiss. This was the bed where Lyssa once slept, back when they were fellow cadets at the academy, such as it was. Gabe couldn’t compete with their history, or Lyssa’s advancing tongue.

  Lyssa furiously unbuttoned Diane’s pants and yanked on the zipper. She paused to give Diane a questioning look. Diane smiled and nodded her consent. Her pants slid down her legs immediately afterward. Diane looked over at Sapphire’s old bed. It used to be hers, before Lyssa was kicked off the force. Everything was back to how it used to be. For a precious few hours, the night was theirs, along with a heaping load of privacy to enjoy each other without fear of exposure or disapproval.

  One thing hadn’t changed: Lyssa knew how to push her buttons. Diane felt an electric surge run through her as Lyssa worked her magic. Did Gabe have any idea how to please her? She didn’t care, she thought, as she let herself slide into a warm pool of erotic ecstasy.

  Later that night, Diane sat with her back to the wall, with Lyssa’s back pressed against her. Diane swept Lyssa’s wild hair from her neck and kissed it. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to find a tablet preparing to display the latest Fortune and Destiny episode. Lyssa’s hands rested on her lap instead. Diane frowned and put her arms around Lyssa.

  “It’s too bad we don’t have any stories to watch,” she said.

  Lyssa sighed. “I know, right? I gue
ss we could watch one of those classic episodes, if you want.”

  Diane groaned. It wasn’t the same. Nothing was, and not in a good way. She didn’t think immediately after sex was the best time to talk to Lyssa about her doubts about their relationship. She opted to bask in the afterglow for now and push off the uncomfortable discussion to another time. “Yeah, alright, fine. I just wish they’d show a bunch in a row, instead of single episodes from all over. It’s too hard to follow, and I get anxious not knowing what happened next. I mean, I know Alexa makes it through okay, but some of these people are there one minute, and gone the next.”

  Lyssa snagged the tablet from Diane’s desk and swiped her finger across the screen. “Whoa, an ARCTURUS G-200? Moving up in the world! When did you splurge on this thing?”

  “Oh, Sapphire gave it to me. My fellow officers broke my other one when I was locked up.”

  Lyssa shuddered. “I still can’t believe they did that. Locked you up, I mean. You just did your stinkin’ job! At least you got out. Is anyone still giving you crap?”

  Diane thought about Goodwin, and squeezed her eyes shut to force him out of her mind. “No, not really. People forget after a while. Plus, they’re coming around to the fact I didn’t do anything wrong. Some guys hear ‘cop killer’ and they don’t care what the facts are. Fortunately, Kenner has my back. Oh, that reminds me, he has a side mission for me. Speaking of moving up.”

  “Oh? What doing?”

  “I… can’t tell you. I probably should have kept my big mouth shut.”

  “Ooh, super-secret missions? Does it involve ripping that stupid moustache off Griggs’s stupid face?”

  Diane smiled. “I wish. Maybe I can fit that in there, as a bonus.”

  Lyssa tapped at the tablet a few more times. She blew a low whistle. “Whoa, you have InTelNet on here? I’ve been wanting to check that out. Maybe later. Here we go, today’s classic episode is from, ugh, back when Janet McBride–I mean, Alexa–was seriously watered down. Also, if you hated Chet Franklin before, he’s in way too many scenes. Some stupid storyline where he tries to find some fancy goblet before an ultra-evil conspiracy does. They tried to get more men to watch the show. Bleah! They have their own crap. Leave our stuff alone. And take Chet freakin’ Franklin with you.”

  “I don’t know,” Diane said, “Chet Franklin is kinda growing on me. I like the action.”

  “Oh, God, don’t encourage them. Romance! Deception! Betrayal! Fancy dresses! That’s what we’re here for.”

  “What’s wrong with action?”

  Lyssa shifted and turned sideways. She looked Diane in the eye and said, “Nothing at all. Depends on what kind of action.” She kissed Diane, then turned back to the tablet. “Oh, wait. What’s this thing?”

  Diane peered over her shoulder. “Hm? I’ve never seen that before.” A pop-up window titled INCOMING SECURE CALL appeared. Diane directed Lyssa to hand her the tablet. She tapped the ACCEPT button and to her surprise, Sapphire’s face appeared in a rectangular window. Diane squinted at the screen and said, “H-hello?”

  “Oh, good, you’re home,” Sapphire said. “Hey, I hate to bother you, but I think I left something behind. Can I pop in and grab it?”

  Diane looked over at Sapphire’s empty bed. She couldn’t imagine what she could have overlooked in such a small space. She shrugged. “Well, this isn’t the best time.”

  “Are you alone?”

  Diane smirked and held the tablet at arm’s length, bringing Lyssa into the frame. “Nope.” Lyssa wiggled her fingers and said hello.

  Sapphire huffed and rolled her eyes. “Figures. Okay, can you love bunnies cover up while I stop by? It will only take a second. It’s important. Just unlatch the door first so I don’t have to see anything I’m not interested in.”

  Diane pulled the tablet back toward her. “Okay, fine. When are you coming over?”

  “In a few minutes. Is that alright? Seriously, I wouldn’t be bothering you if it wasn’t urgent.”

  “No, it’s cool. I’ll unlock the door now. See you soon.”

  “Thanks. I owe you one.” The call terminated, and the Fortune and Destiny loading screen appeared.

  Diane handed the tablet to Lyssa and made her way to the front door. She flicked the security latch and padded back to bed. Lyssa lifted the covers and welcomed her back with a kiss. “Hey, we should really mess with her.”

  Diane pulled back and gave her a questioning look. “Mess with her, how?”

  “She’s so uptight. I think she’s a total prude, really. We should make out when she comes in. She’ll get really embarrassed and we can have a good laugh about it.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Yeah, she’s uptight, like you said, but we don’t need to rub her nose in our relationship. It’s not like she’s made a thing about us being together. She’ll just buzz through, then we can be as nasty as we wanna be.”

  Lyssa kissed the tip of Diane’s nose. “You’re right. That idea was stupid. I don’t know, I’m just so happy to be here, it’s making me crazy and stupid.”

  Diane smiled. “You’re not stupid.”

  Lyssa pouted. “So, you think I’m crazy?”

  “Huh? No. You’re not crazy.”

  “So, you were lying when you said I wasn’t stupid.”

  Diane’s jaw dropped. Where was this coming from? She shook her head vigorously and stroked Lyssa’s cheek. “No, no, sweetie. I would never lie to you. You’re awesome, and pretty, and you make me very happy. Honest.”

  Lyssa’s pout broke into a grin. “Aww, that’s sweet. I was just messing with you. Since, you know, your girlfriend Sapphire was off-limits.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.” A soft knock sounded at the door. Diane rolled onto her left side and said, “Speaking of. It’s open.”

  The door opened hesitantly, and Gabe entered, dressed sharply and clutching a small bouquet of flowers. He looked at the array of women’s clothing strewn around the room and followed the trail to Diane’s bed. He dropped the flowers on the floor at the sight of Diane cuddled up with Lyssa. “I-I can talk to you later.”

  Diane’s stomach bottomed out. Lyssa sat up slightly and cocked her head. “Gabe? What are you doing here?”

  He looked at Diane sadly as his shoulders slumped. “Making a terrible mistake. Good night.”

  Before Diane could speak, Gabe shuffled out of the room. Sapphire bumped into him at the door and gave him an odd glance. “I said cover up, you two.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “What’s his problem?”

  Diane pulled the sheet up to her neck and looked at the flowers. “It’s… complicated.”

  Sapphire pulled a drawer open and felt around. “Huh. I could have sworn it was in here. Fine, I’ll check at home. Again. Sorry to bug you.”

  “N-no problem. See you, Sapph.”

  Sapphire gave the women a stiff wave and left the room. Diane put her hand to her forehead and fought back tears.

  Lyssa tapped her shoulder. “Complicated, how?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The following morning, Diane sat in her patrol cruiser with her partner Officer Hendricks and fumed. Her magical night with Lyssa had been ruined by the unexpected arrival of Gabe. Lyssa accused Diane of cheating on her, which she vehemently denied. Lyssa pointed to the discarded bouquet as damning evidence to the contrary. Diane argued that Gabe hadn’t gotten over the fact that she had moved on. He just didn’t know who she had moved on with. Now he knew. If anything, Diane said, Gabe was at fault for assuming she was interested.

  The fight went on for what felt like hours, ending in an uneasy truce. Lyssa spent the night in her bed, but Diane suspected she did it only because she couldn’t disturb her parents in the middle of the night coming home from who knows where. Lyssa’s kiss goodbye wasn’t the least bit passionate; it was more of a quick peck as she hurried to catch a bus home, or as close to it as she could get.

  Fine, Diane thought darkly, let her go home and pout. I’ve got work to
do. The thought was more mean-spirited than she had intended. In that moment, she felt Gabe wasn’t the real problem. They should have been fighting about Lyssa’s inability to land a job, she mused.

  Hendricks glanced over at her. “You’re awfully quiet today.”

  “Sorry. Just figuring some things out. Personal stuff.”

  “That’s cool. I didn’t mean to leave without you yesterday. They told me you’d be a while, and to take Gunslinger out and give him some pointers.” He smiled sheepishly. “I meant Goodwin.”

  “I know who you meant,” Diane said. “Lots of parking tickets, then?”

  “No, we saw some action over on Fifth. Some bozos were harassing some chick. Five on one. The girl was terrified.”

  “How would you feel if five guys threatened you?” Diane shot him an annoyed glare.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” he said. “Anyway, there were two of us. They had knives. We had guns. I got one of them right here.” He patted his sternum. “Goodwin winged one when they scattered. Judging from the blood trail, the guy jumped into a canal. He’s probably racked with dysentery.”

  “Says you.”

  Hendricks smirked. “Whatever. One less goofball screwing up our streets. I probably could have taken my guy down without killing him, but I think your influence is rubbing off on me.”

  “Well, you did take him out with one shot. I’ll take the credit for that, if you won’t.”

  “Anyway, Goodwin’s going to be alright. He’s got no shortage of confidence. That’s 80% of the ball game, right there.”

  “Aim is the other 80%,” Diane said.

  “Huh? That doesn’t add up.”

  “Neither does calling him ‘Gunslinger’ when you got the kill.”

  “Oh, that’s just a nickname. You know how it is. Sooner or later, everybody gets one.”

  “Really?” Diane turned to him. “What’s mine?”

  Hendricks gulped and put both hands on the wheel. “I, uh, don’t remember. ‘Rookie,’ I think. I’ll get back to you on that.”