In Plain Sight

by Sherryl Hancock

  Kieran sat with Memphis for an hour, making sure she was asleep before she left the room. She made her way back downstairs and decided she needed to make some soup for them for dinner that night. Oliver was nowhere to be seen. She decided to walk to the market for what she needed. An hour later, she was back with two bags of groceries and got started making potato soup. She had no idea how things were going to go at dinner, but she did know that she wanted to be where she was and that she wanted to help both of them in any way she could.

  Memphis came downstairs first and saw that Kieran was cooking. She reached over and picked up a piece of carrot, popping it in her mouth.

  “Smells really good,” she said, grinning even as she turned on the stereo.

  Kieran smiled. “Well, I hope you like it.”

  They chatted amiably for a while. An hour later Oliver came down, looking cautiously at Memphis. He reached past Kieran into the refrigerator for a beer, gesturing to Memphis with the bottle; she nodded and held out her hand with a grin. He smiled then, and handed it to her.

  When they all sat down to dinner, things were much more comfortable.

  “It gives your face character,” Memphis said, gesturing to the red mark still on Oliver’s cheek.

  “’Cause God knows it doesn’t have much?” Oliver said, grinning.

  Memphis grinned back. “I didn’t say that.”

  “But you would have.”

  “Yeah,” Memphis said, laughing, then her expression turned serious. “Sorry, man, I just lost it a little bit.”

  Oliver nodded. “I’m sorry too.”

  “How did you two meet?” Kieran asked.

  “I was trying to get Memphis to be in some ads for Diesel,” Oliver said.

  “Like a model?” Kieran said, looking at Memphis.

  “Well, yeah, more or less. She was fast becoming the hottest DJ in West Hollywood, and Diesel wanted her to represent their more butch lines, but she turned them down flat.”

  “I’m not a model,” Memphis said, taking a drink of her beer.

  “No, but you have a look,” Oliver said, “and that’s what they wanted. Still do, you know.”

  Memphis shook her head. “Uh-uh.”

  “So you met because of that?” Kieran said.

  “Yeah, it was not too long after the quake, and my place got totaled,” Oliver said.

  “That’s when I let him move in here.” Memphis grinned. “Biggest mistake of my life…”

  “Yeah, you know you love me,” Oliver said.

  “Even if you’re male,” Memphis said, curling her lip.

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

  “So this is your house?” Kieran was surprised by that. “It’s not a rental?”

  Memphis shook her head. “Nope, it’s mine. Got the mortgage payment to prove it.”

  “Wow,” Kieran said, looking around. “I imagine something like this is costly.”

  Memphis nodded as she took her first bite of soup. “Ohhh… you are so hired as resident cook.”

  Oliver tasted the soup as well and nodded vehemently.

  Memphis smiled. “Kier, this is awesome.”

  “Thank you,” Kieran said, smiling back.

  That night at The Club, Memphis had no idea she was being discussed. The group was out in full force because Remington, Quinn, and Xandy had reached out to everyone to be there to support Memphis after what had happened in Texas.

  “So exactly what did happen?” Cody asked, having sensed a somewhat kindred spirit in Memphis when she’d met her.

  Remington shook her head. “She went ballistic at Billy and stormed out of the arena. We were all worried, ’cause she wasn’t wearing even her usual hoodie. When we couldn’t get a hold of her, we called BJ.”

  “BJ got a hold of her, and said she was by some church, but then she hung up,” Wynter added.

  “Apparently some guy from a local Baptist church had come out and was trying to ‘save’ her,” Remington said, her tone indicating exactly what she meant.

  “Ay, dios,” Natalia muttered.

  “Been there, done that,” Tyler said.

  “Oh yeah…” Shiloh nodded and glanced at Harley, who rolled her eyes.

  “I got kicked out of school for it,” Harley said, winking at Shiloh.

  “Well, I guess this guy kept making the mistake of trying to put his hands on her, and she slugged him,” Remington said.

  “Ohhh…” Jericho and Kashena said at the same time; it was now clear what had gotten Memphis arrested in ultra-conservative middle America.

  Remington nodded. “Yeah.”

  “How’d the church guy know she was gay?” Jazmine asked.

  “Seriously, babe?” Dakota said. “How does everyone know I’m gay? Or Cody?”

  “Well, yeah,” Jazmine said, “but Memphis has a girlie look to her too. It could be kind of a skater thing…”

  “Well, the tatt on her arm pretty much removes all doubt,” Quinn said.

  “What tatt?” Zoey asked, looking lost.

  “Uh,” Jericho said, “you haven’t seen her tatt?”

  Jet grinned. “It’s pretty fuckin’ awesome.”

  “It is beautiful,” Fadiyah agreed.

  “I agree with Jet on the fuckin’ awesome,” Skyler said.

  “You’ve seen it?” Devin asked her wife.

  Skyler nodded. “Yeah.”

  As if she knew her tattoo was being talked about, Memphis, who was setting up in the DJ’s booth, took off her black hoodie and laid it aside. The tattoo was on full display on her right arm.

  “Holy hell,” Dakota said. “You weren’t kidding—that’s fuckin’ awesome!”

  “That is pretty cool,” Cody said, grinning.

  McKenna narrowed her eyes at Cody. “Forget it.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “It’d blow your cover, babe,” Lyric said to her daughter.

  “Oh hell,” Cody said. “Didn’t think of that.”

  “There is a version where it’s on someone’s ribcage though…” Quinn said.

  McKenna narrowed her eyes at her. “Thanks for nothing, Ireland.”

  “With a name like McKenna,” Quinn said with a wink, “I’m thinkin’ yer Ireland too, lass.”

  “Not the bratty half,” McKenna shot back.

  “Okay, girls, don’t make us separate you,” Savanna said, grinning at her daughter-in-law and Quinn.

  “So, did I hear right though, that she got hurt in custody?” Catalina asked, getting to the part that she found even more offensive than the attempt at gay conversion.

  Remington pursed her lips and nodded.

  “Fuckers said she tripped,” Quinn practically spat. “I coulda fuckin’ shown them a thing or two about trippin…”

  “Yeah, and we’d have been bailing you out next,” Rayden said, shaking her head.

  “What did they do?” Dakota asked.

  “She had a bruise on her cheek when we got her out,” Remington said.

  “Okay, but…” Cody said, catching Dakota’s thinking.

  Both Dakota and Cody had suffered sexual abuse at a young age, and they both had an extreme overprotective streak for anyone they perceived as one of their own. They both felt a kindred spirit in Memphis, although neither of them could put their finger on why.

  “I asked her, and she said that nothing else happened,” Remington said. “In fact, what she did say was that if ‘that’ had happened, we’d have been hearing about a couple of dead cops.”

  “Whoa…” Catalina muttered. All the cops at the table nodded in agreement with her sentiment.

  “She was dead serious too,” Remington said. “So I’m thinking those hick cops were lucky they didn’t try that.”

  “Or she is.” Jericho exchanged a look with Cat and Lyric, who both nodded gravely.

  “Anyone know where she’s from?” Savanna asked, looking over at Memphis.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Anyone know the story with he
r friend?” Jet asked with a grin, nodding toward Kieran.

  “Nope.” Remington shook her head. “This is the first time I’ve even heard the name.”

  “She’s cute,” Quinn said. “In a very English way.”

  “I think she’s sweet,” Xandy said, smiling, “and I heard that Memphis got her a job with BJ yesterday.”

  “Oh-ho, babe—holdin’ out on us,” Quinn said. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “I didn’t know who Kieran was till Memphis introduced her when we got here, babe. I wasn’t holding out on you, promise.” Xandy leaned over to kiss Quinn.

  “Is she actually from England?” Jovina asked.

  “She sounded like she is,” Shenin put in.

  “Think she knows anything about where Memphis is from?” Raine asked.

  “I think she can move,” Natalia said, seeing the way Kieran was moving as she talked to Memphis.

  “I think you’re right,” Jazmine said, focusing on the girl.

  “Do you two ever think about anything but dancing?” Jet asked with a black eyebrow raised.

  “No,” Jazmine and Natalia answered together, even as Dakota and Raine shook their heads, both grinning.

  “How often do you get woken up in the middle of the night with a new move?” Dakota asked Raine.

  “All the time,” Raine said, smiling over at Natalia.

  “Me too,” Dakota said. She didn’t look too put out by that fact.

  “Okay, who’s gonna ask her?” Jovina said.

  “Get the lawyer,” Gray said, grinning at Sierra.

  Sierra grinned back. “Oh, sure, only when I’m useful.”

  “You’re always useful, babe,” Kashena assured her wife.

  “More so when someone needs to be interrogated,” Sebastian said, grinning at his best friend’s wife.

  “I thought that was a cop job,” Ashley said.

  “Yeah…” Sierra said, giving her wife and Sebastian an openmouthed look.

  “That wasn’t our job,” Kashena said.

  “Nope,” Sebastian added.

  Sierra narrowed her dark eyes at both of them, aware she was being snowed.

  Kieran noted a number of looks in her direction from Memphis’ friends. Memphis had explained that she really only knew Remington, Wynter, Xandy, and Quinn, but had met everyone else a few times and that they all seemed nice. She walked back over to the group and saw that they were all watching her expectantly.

  “What?” she said.

  “What do you know about Memphis?” Sierra asked, smiling.

  “Oh, I don’t know much about her at all, other than what Oliver has told me.”

  “Oliver?” Sierra asked.

  “Memphis’ best friend,” Xandy put in.

  “Great.” Sierra shook her head at the other girls. “So has Oliver by chance told you anything about where she’s from?”

  “No, nothing like that,” Kieran said.

  “Well, hell,” Kashena said, grinning.

  “Call off the law dog,” Quinn said.

  Sierra threw Quinn a dirty look. “Hey!”

  “Sorry,” Quinn said, winking at Sierra.

  “So how do you know Memphis, exactly?” Lyric asked, and was elbowed by her wife for it.

  “Sorry, Kieran,” Savanna said. “My wife forgets she’s not always a cop.”

  “You are a police officer?” Kieran asked, her eyes wide.

  “A few of us are.”

  “Who?”

  Catalina, Jericho, Raine, Rayden, Kashena, Sebastian, Jet, Cody, and Harley all raised their hands.

  “Wow, all of you?” Kieran looked both impressed and shocked at the same time. Do you all work for the same place?”

  “Department, and yes.” Jericho nodded. “We’re all part of the Department of Justice, just different sections.”

  “Which sections?”

  “LA Impact, Meth Labs,” Cat said, pointing to Raine, who nodded.

  “LA Impact, Money Laundering,” Sebastian said.

  “TRACE,” Lyric said, pointing to Cody as well, who inclined her head.

  “LA Impact, COID,” Kashena said.

  “Me too,” Jet said.

  Harley grinned. “Department of Justice in general.”

  “Division of Law Enforcement,” Rayden said.

  “Over all of us,” Lyric said.

  “Department of Justice,” Jericho said.

  “Which part?” Kieran asked.

  “She’s the director,” Rayden said. “My boss.”

  “Wow.” Kieran shook her head in awe. “And what does TRACE do?”

  “We deal with human trafficking,” Lyric said.

  “Does that happen a lot? I mean, here in America?”

  “More than you’d ever believe,” Cody said, glancing over at Dakota.

  “Hey, I trafficked myself, thanks.” Dakota’s eyes were narrowed, but she was smiling.

  “And what was… COID?” Kieran asked Jet.

  “Cover Operations and Informant Development,” Jet said. “I develop snitches.”

  “And what do all of you other ladies do?” Kieran asked, thinking that the partners of these police officers had to be fairly brave women.

  “We’re dancers,” Natalia said, nodding to Jazmine.

  “They own a studio,” Dakota said.

  “Built by you,” Jazmine said.

  Dakota smiled. “Parts.”

  “So you do construction?” Kieran thought Dakota seemed awfully slim for that kind of backbreaking work.

  “No, I’m a contractor. I basically organize the people to do the work.”

  “Oh, I see.” Kieran smiled, then looked at Sierra. “And Quinn called you law dog…”

  “Lawyer,” Sierra said, smiling.

  “The head of the criminal division for the State Attorney General’s office,” Kashena supplied.

  “Oh, my…” Kieran said, her eyes widening. “You’re American Indian, aren’t you?” She grimaced as she realized that might have sounded rude.

  Sierra smiled. “Yes, I’m from the Kumeyaay tribe. Kashena and Rayden are also Indian.”

  Kieran looked at Kashena, thinking she looked nothing like the American Indians she’d ever seen.

  Kashena saw the confusion on Kieran’s face and grinned. “I’m only half.”

  Then Kieran looked at Rayden and once again saw someone who was very definitely American Indian, even more clearly so than Sierra, with her delicate features. Rayden looked like an Indian warrior. Her eyes widened visibly.

  Rayden smiled. “Black Wolf, from the Cherokee tribe,” she said, inclining her head.

  “Oh.”

  “And she’s a pilot,” Rayden said, nodding to her wife.

  “Gray Black Wolf.” Gray smiled as she extended her hand to Kieran.

  “You’re a pilot?”

  “Yes, for the Department of Justice.”

  “Is that how you two met?” Kieran looked between Rayden and Gray.

  “No, we met in Iraq.” Gray glanced at Rayden. “She was a Navy SEAL, and I was an Air Force pilot.”

  “You were in the military?” Kieran was more and more shocked by these women.

  “Yes,” Gray said, grinning. “So were a few people here.”

  “Who?” Kieran glanced around the group.

  “Army,” Skyler said.

  “Air Force,” Shenin said, nodding to Tyler. “Her too. We still are.”

  “Marines,” Kashena said. “Remi too,” she said, grinning at Remington.

  “Army, too,” Sebastian said.

  “Me too,” Jet said, smiling at Sebastian and Skyler.

  Kieran shook her head. “I will never keep all of this straight!”

  “What you need to know is to keep your computers away from Devin and Harley,” Remington said, grinning at the two women. “Keep your childhood traumas away from Cody, McKenna, and Savanna—they’re all shrinks.”

  “I’m not a shrink,” Cody said, narrowing her eyes at Remington. “I j
ust have my doctorate—I don’t have the medical degree. They do, though.” She pointed to Savanna and McKenna.

  “And you’re their daughter?” Kieran asked, pointing to Lyric and Savanna, who nodded.

  “The only true medical professional here is Fadi,” Devin said, smiling at Fadiyah.

  Fadiyah inclined her head.

  “She’s a nurse,” Jet told Kieran.

  “Oh, and if you want to know anything about the history of women in law enforcement, you ask Zoey, ’cause she’s the queen there,” Cody said.

  Kieran nodded, smiling at the way the women tossed the conversation around like a beach ball.

  “And do not even begin the conversation about whose car is faster,” Jovina put in.

  “Mine,” Harley said.

  “I don’t think so,” Quinn said.

  Harley grinned. “You never proved it.”

  “You never showed up for the match.”

  “You never told me where.”

  “Good God, you two!” Kashena said. “Just have the fucking rematch already!”

  Everyone started to laugh. Kieran found that she really liked these women. They were a very dynamic group, but they were also very obviously closely intertwined and clearly looked out for each other.

  “So what’s going on over here?” Memphis asked. She’d seen that Kieran had been talking to the group for a while.

  “Did you know how many of these people are law enforcement officers?” Kieran said.

  Memphis grinned, glancing at Cody, Lyric, and a few of the others. “I know some of them are.”

  Everyone in the group who was law enforcement held up their hands.

  “Oh, more than I knew.” Memphis looked surprised.

  “And military or former military,” Kieran said. Again, they raised their hands obligingly.

  “Quinn should count too,” Remington said. “You were Irish Republic Army, right?”

  “IRA?” Kieran looked concerned.

  “Not that one, love,” Quinn said with a smile.

  “Okay, well, I’m gonna grab a shot before my set,” Memphis said.

  “Nope, let us get that.” Remington held up a finger to a waitress, who walked over with a shot for Memphis.

  “That’s Casa Noble, but you gotta do it right,” Jet said, winking at Memphis.

  “No hands, mate,” Quinn said, grinning.

  Memphis widened her eyes as the quite busty waitress slid the long cylindrical shot down between her ample breasts. Memphis grinned, looking somewhat embarrassed, but she nodded. Kieran watched the proceedings closely.