Quinn led Jericho over to where Cat sat.
“Cat,” Quinn said, “this is Jericho Tehrani. Jerich this is Cat, she’s here with Jo.”
Cat moved to stand, noting that Jericho’s look flickered as she did, it caused Cat to smile warmly, extending her hand to the other woman, her eyes staring up at the sunglasses.
Jericho took Cat’s hand, reaching up to take her glasses off as she did.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jericho said, her smile wide.
Cat’s eyes widened, “Blue…” she said out loud, “Nice…” she added, smiling.
Jericho’s look wavered at Cat’s extremely direct flirtation, next to her Quinn grinned. She definitely liked Cat, she didn’t hold back, and it was exactly the kind of thing that Jericho needed at this point.
“Jerich is the new Director of the Division of Law Enforcement,” Quinn said in the silence that had ensued.
Cat looked surprised, then nodded, “I had heard Night had finally made a decision.”
“Night?” Jericho queried.
“Midnight and I are friends,” Cat said, “I was dating her niece for a while.”
Jericho’s eyes widened at that statement, “I see,” she said, then she canted her head slightly, “Wait, you’re Cat… Catalina Roche’?”
“Yes…” Cat said looking perplexed now.
Jericho grinned, liking the fact that she’d managed to shock the girl this time, “Midnight had good things to say about you,” she said, “In fact, she said that you were one helluva narc and she thought you might be interested in a SAS job.”
“SAS?” Cat asked.
“Special Agent Supervisor,” Jericho said, narrowing her eyes slightly, “I can see how you’d be pretty dangerous as a narc…”
Cat’s blue eyes looked back at Jericho, the look in her eyes saying ‘you have no idea’ and Jericho thought God help any drug dealer that fell for her! Male or female!
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” Cat said, smiling up at the Director.
“I hope you will,” Jericho said, her look direct.
“Cat?” Jovina queried from the back slider.
“I’m comin’,” Cat said to Jovina, to Jericho she winked, “See you inside, director.”
CHAPTER 4
Catalina lasted two days as the bodyguard to an ad exec from Virgin Mobile. He put his hands on her once too often, and she broke his hand. Driving home, she called Mackie from her cell phone.
“Hey Mackie,” she said, knowing he wasn’t going to be pleased with her, “I’m sorry, you’re gonna get a call from your guy at Virgin.”
“Okay…” Mackie said, his tone leading, “And what’s he going to say?”
Cat sighed, “He’s probably going to say that his wrist hurts, cause I broke it.”
“Holy shit! What happened?” Mackie asked.
“Well, he couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself,” Cat said, “And I did warn him.”
At his end, Mackie closed his eyes, chuckling to himself, “Well, alright then,” he said.
“I’m really sorry, Mackie,” Cat said, sounding like she truly was, “But ever since the attack in San Diego, I can’t handle any guy putting his hands on me, and I did warn him.”
“No, we’re cool, Cat,” Mackie said, “He was stupid for not listening. I’m sorry I put you in that position, I had no idea he was like that.”
Cat walked into the apartment, seeing that Jovina was out on the balcony on her laptop. Cat reached into the fridge grabbing a beer and walking out onto the balcony to light a cigarette.
“What are you doing home so early?” Jovina asked, glancing up at her.
“Done,” Cat said, her look closed.
“What happened?” Jovina said, saving her work and setting aside her laptop, reaching up to touch Cat’s hand.
Cat shook her head, and moved to sit down in the chair next to Jovina. Taking a deep drag on her cigarette as she twisted open the beer. Jovina watched as she drained half of the bottle.
“Talk to me, Cat…” Jovina said, touching Cat’s shoulder.
Cat looked at the bottle of beer, then looked over at Jovina. “He got handsy,” she said simply, then her eyes narrowed, “He won’t be using that hand for a while.”
Jovina looked back at her, her eyes wide, “You broke his hand?”
Cat shrugged, “His wrist, yeah.”
Jovina cleared her throat, shaking her head, Cat never ceased to shock her.
“I’m sorry,” Jovina said, not sure what else to say.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cat said, “I just now find myself out of work again.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Jovina asked.
Cat shrugged, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said.
“Even money-wise?” Jovina asked, “I mean, I can help if you―”
“I’m fine, Jovi,” Cat said, her tone even.
Jovina looked back at her, surprised by Cat’s mood.
Cat drank the rest of the beer, and finished her cigarette. She noticed that Jovina had gone silent. Taking a deep breath, Cat blew it out slowly. Turning in her chair, she reached over and touched Jovina under the chin.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “It was a shitty day.”
Jovina nodded, not looking at her. Cat moved to stand, moving to kneel in front of Jovina, taking her hands and looking into her eyes.
“I’m really sorry, Jovi,” she said, her blue eyes searching Jovina’s, “I just can’t have anyone trying to pay my way anymore. I need to do things myself, okay?”
“Okay,” Jovina said, nodding.
Later that evening, Cat and Jovina were just sitting down to dinner when Cat’s cell phone rang. Picking up she answered.
“Catalina, it’s Jericho, I have a favor to ask.”
“Ask,” Cat said, glancing at Jovina as she handed her a beer.
“I’ve been asked to be a Grand Marshal at L.A. Pride this coming weekend, but I want to ride with the Dykes girls… I need backup.”
Cat grinned. Jericho wanted to ride with the Dykes on Bikes, a true tradition at the LGBT Pride parades. The Dykes on Bikes were women who road motorcycles, but they were more than that. They were a group of women that supported women motorcycle riders and the LGBT community as a whole. They were known throughout the country and even the world at large.
“What do you need, director?” Cat asked.
“Willing to ride bitch for me?” Jericho asked.
Cat chuckled, “I didn’t think I’d ever hear that kind of offer,” she said, grinning widely.
“I can’t watch everything, I need you to watch my back,” Jericho said, “Are you willing?”
Cat considered the request, knowing there was no way she could say no. “Absolutely,” she said, finally, nodding at her end.
“Fantastic,” Jericho said, “I’ll call you as soon as I have details. Thanks, Cat,” Jericho said, the last very seriously.
“You got it,” Cat said, smiling, disconnecting a moment later.
“What was that about?” Jovina asked.
“Jericho wants me to ride with her at Pride this weekend.”
“With her?” Jovina asked, her look pointed as she emphasized the word ‘with’.
Cat noted the tone, and looked back at Jovina, her look challenging, “Bitch,” she explained.
Jovina’s chin came up slightly, and Cat narrowed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.
“I don’t like it,” Jovina said.
“I don’t care,” Cat replied.
They stared at each other across the table, neither of them giving an inch. After a long couple of minutes, Cat rolled her head, stretching her neck. She then stood up and walked out of the room. Jovina sat down at the table, staring unseeingly at her plate of untouched food.
A few minutes later Cat emerged from the hallway, she’d changed her clothes, and put on a jacket. Walking over to the hall table, she picked up her keys, her cigarettes and lighter and walked out the door without a backward glance.
Jovina couldn’t believe it, she’d never had someone just walk out like that.
Four hours later when Cat hadn’t come back, and she wouldn’t answer her phone, Jovina was worried. In desperation she reached out to Jerry asking her if she could get ahold of Kana. Within ten minutes Jovina got a call from Kana.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Jovina said.
“It’s okay, Jerry said it was about Cat, what’s going on?” Kana said.
Jovina blew her breath out, “She and I had a fight, well, it wasn’t really a fight, we just disagreed on something, but she walked out. She took her keys and she hasn’t come back and I can’t get ahold of her. It’s been like four hours, I’m worried, I just want to know she’s okay.”
Kana was silent for a moment, then she said, “How well do you know Cat?”
“I’ve known her since we were kids,” Jovina said, her tone defensive.
“Okay,” Kana said, her tone conceding, “but how long has it been since then?”
Jovina paused, she knew what Kana was saying, that she didn’t know this Catalina. She didn’t like to have to admit that she didn’t know this Catalina much at all.
“Too long,” Jovina said, sadly.
At her end, Kana grimaced, sensing the girls’ unhappiness, “Look,” she began, her tone gentle, “Cat has been through a lot in the last three years or so. She’s probably not the same as you remember. What you do need to know about Cat is that she’s used to doing things her way, and her way isn’t always the smartest way.”
Jovina drew in a deep breath, “What are you saying?” she asked.
“I’m basically telling you that you’re right to be worried,” Kana said, “but that Cat is just like her namesake, she’s all feline and she always lands on her feet. I will see if I can get ahold of her, and I’ll call you back, okay?”
“Thank you,” Jovina said, relieved that Cat obviously had good friends who looked out for her.
Cat answered her phone on the third ring, seeing that it was Kana and not Jovina again.
“Hey, K,” she said, her voice sad.
“Hey baby girl,” Kana said, smiling at her end, “Where you at?”
“Home,” Cat said.
“In San Diego?” Kana asked.
“Yeah…” Cat said, her voice trailing off and Kana could almost feel her eyes narrowing.
“Don’t get like that,” Kana said, “She’s worried about you and she got ahold of me.”
“Like you don’t have anything better to do, right?” Cat snapped.
“Hey!” Kana said, her voice sharp, “Taking care of my friends is my top priority, little girl, so I’m glad she called.”
Cat was silent on her end, taking a long drag on her cigarette.
“So how far into the bottle are ya?” Kana asked then.
Cat’s eyes trained on the bottle of tequila in front of her, “’Bout half,” she said, grinning.
“Uh-huh,” Kana said, grinning as well, “Just make sure you stay there, okay?”
“’Kay,” Cat said, her tone sounding very young suddenly.
“Want me to come by?” Kana asked.
Cat was silent for a minute, part of her wanting to cry and say yes, the independent part of her yelling no!
“Catalina…” Kana queried.
“I’m fine, K,” Cat said finally, “You worry about Palani and that baby right now.”
“I can worry about more than two things in my life, baby girl,” Kana said.
Cat smiled sadly at the endearment, tears sliding down her cheeks as she did. “I know,” she said simply, to keep Kana from hearing that she was crying.
Kana heard it anyway, and grimaced. It killed her to hear Cat in such misery. Kana knew for a fact that Cat brought some of the misery on herself with her ways, but she also knew that Cat needed to do things the way she did to protect her heart.
“I could help you finish that bottle…” Kana said, her voice persuasive.
“No, K, it’s okay. I’ll probably crash here soon anyway,” Cat said, sounding more normal.
Kana didn’t say anything for a long moment, debating arguing with the girl, but she knew if she pushed too hard, Cat would push back harder and shut down. That wouldn’t be productive in the slightest.
“Okay,” Kana said finally, “You call me if you change your mind.”
“Ten-four,” Cat said, then hung up.
At her end, Kana hung up hoping that Cat wasn’t lying to her and would at least stay where she was and not drive. Making a decision she called Kyle Masterson, and asked him to put a car on Cat’s house, and to inform her if Cat left the house. Kana had seen Cat on a destructive path enough times to anticipate some of her more dangerous practices. Kana sincerely hoped that Cat would know that, and would therefore, do what Kana had told her and not leave the house. It didn’t hurt to be safe though. That was the beauty of the family Midnight Chevalier had built around her. There were always people there to catch one of them when they fell.
What Kana did see as a bright spot in the current situation was that Cat was obviously pretty unhappy about fighting with Jovina and that meant the girl meant something to her.
Kana had seen Cat go through so much with Elizabeth and Sable Sands and neither of the women were really good for her. They both wanted Cat on their terms and Cat just wasn’t going for that. Kana hoped that maybe Jovina was a different situation that might allow Cat to fully live and love again. It was something. Kana made a mental note to start checking on Cat up in LA. She also wanted to meet this Jovina face to face and see if she could figure out what was happening there.
To that end, Kana made a couple of calls, including one to Mackie, hearing what had happened with Cat and the person she was supposed to be protecting.
“Did she seem okay with it?” Kana asked Mackie.
“Yeah, she seemed okay,” Mackie said, “But I’m not totally convinced of that. She mentioned the incident in San Diego.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Kana said, nodding at her end.
“I’m sorry, K, I had no idea that this guy would pull that shit,” Mackie said, feeling bad that things had gone so badly.
He’d hoped to help Cat out, not cause her more damage.
“Don’t worry about it Mackie, you can’t know everything.” Kana said, grinning.
“My wife tries to tell me that all the time…” Mackie said, grinning too.
“Listen,” Kana told him.
“Oh, I should tell you that the new Division Law Enforcement director called me for Cat’s cell phone number, I gave it to her, I hope that’s okay.”
“Know what she wanted it for?” Kana asked.
“She said it had to do with work,” Mackie said, “Which considering what just happened, I thought it might be good.”
“Could be,” Kana said nodding. “I’ll call her.”
A few minutes later, Kana dialed Jericho’s number. She answered on the first ring.
“Tehrani,” Jericho said, her tone distracted.
“Director, it’s Kana Sorbinno,” Kana said.
“Hey,” Jericho said, surprised by the call, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just doing some welfare checks,” Kana said, grinning, knowing the other woman would get that.
“Who you checking on?” Jericho asked.
“Catalina Roche’,” Kana said.
“Okay…” Jericho said, her tone curious.
“I know you got her number earlier from Mackie, I just wanted to ask what it was about.” Kana said.
At her end Jericho was amazed at how connected all of these people were, the reach they had never seemed to end.
“Well, I asked her to be my back-up at the LA Pride parade,” Jericho said, “Is that a problem?”
“No,” Kana said, shaking her head, “Just trying to get the whole picture here and not willing to piss off the subject of the picture while I’m at it,” Kana said with a grin.
Again Jericho was surprised, “So,
what’s the story there?” Jericho asked, easily sensing that Kana was more involved than just as Midnight’s bodyguard.
Kana hesitated, trying to decide how much to share with the new director, but the fact was, Midnight had enough confidence in this woman to put in her in charge of a very important program. Midnight never trusted easily, so Kana was sure she could trust this woman too.
“Well, the fact is, Cat’s very special to me,” Kana said, “She saved my life, well, my heart I should say, and I’m always trying to repay the favor.”
“So what can I do to help?” Jericho asked.
“You’re doing it,” Kana said, smiling at her end, “Cat needs something to focus on right now, she’s reeling from being made a month ago.”
“Holy shit,” Jericho said, knowing exactly what that meant, and how extremely dangerous that would be, “And she survived it.”
“Well, she killed the guy,” Kana said.
“Good,” Jericho said simply.
Kana grinned at her end, Jericho was a cop’s cop, and it was no wonder Midnight liked her.
“I’m gonna come up for Pride,” Kana said, making a quick decision, “I want to see where things are up there and meet this girl Cat’s seeing.”
“Jo,” Jericho supplied.
“You know her?” Kana asked.
“She’s a friend of a friend,” Jericho said, “Little bit possessive.”
“Hmm,” Kana murmured, “Any other impressions?”
“Seems really into Cat,” Jericho said. “Could be mutual, hard to tell.”
“Yeah, Cat plays things pretty close to the vest,” Kana said.
“She flirted with me like there was no tomorrow,” Jericho said, grinning.
“Well, she is a flirt,” Kana said, grinning, not surprised that Cat would flirt with the good looking director, “But she also uses that to push people away from her.”
“Like Jo,” Jericho surmised, “That makes sense too.”
“Yeah…” Kana said, her voice trailing off, “I’ll see you in a few days.”
“You got it,” Jericho said.
They hung up then.
Turning Tables (WeHo Book 3) Page 7