Cygnus gave a disgusted grunt, dropped the man onto the ground where he fell to his knees, and then slammed her knee into his jaw. ‘It’s “I don’t know anything,” moron,’ she told his unconscious body. ‘This is getting us nowhere. We’ve taken twelve drug dealers off the streets in two days, but none of them have ever met Ghostfire. None of them know who he is, or where he hangs out…’
‘On the plus side,’ Twilight told her, ‘we’ve taken twelve drug dealers off the street. The cCrack den in Churchton was particularly satisfying. I think I’ve been missing out concentrating on the Tonaldos.’
‘We need a lead.’
‘I know. We’ll hit more of them tomorrow. If we’re lucky we’ll push Ghostfire into doing something about it. And don’t forget the comic store on Friday.’
‘I haven’t forgotten. I’m picking up two boxes of glossies from Svetilo tomorrow. She’s had them printed with details on the calendar launch.’
Twilight grinned. ‘Great. Roger is going to be stoked.’
22nd November.
Penny landed in a small service alley at the back of the small block of shops carrying two large boxes full of glossy photographs of her. Turning, she spotted a small sign above one of the doors which said ‘Radium Comics. Service Entrance.’ She also spotted Andrea.
It was almost odd seeing the girl in normal clothes, if you counted black jeans and a black, cropped T-shirt bearing the words ‘Radium Comics’ in red letters as normal. Penny was used to the black catsuit, though the shirt was tight enough to suggest the shape of the bra under it so that was not that different. Except that she suspected Twilight did not wear a bra.
Penny shook the deliberation on her partner’s underwear choices out of her head. It was time to be Cygnus.
‘Want me to take one of those?’ Andrea asked, indicating the boxes.
‘They’re heavy.’
‘I’ll just get the door then. I was right, Roger’s stoked, and Zoe’s practically boiling over in anticipation.’ She stopped with her hand on the door handle. ‘Zoe’s the other shop assistant. She’s not quite as dumb as she acts.’
Penny gave her a grin. ‘I’ll try to remember that.’
Roger looked around as soon as the door opened, his eyes widening when he saw Cygnus strutting in, almost as though he had not really expected her to turn up.
‘You’re here! Awesome! Let me take those…’
‘They’re heavy,’ Penny said, but he had already grabbed a box. It dropped several inches as he took the weight.
‘Hey, wow, these things are heavy. And you’re carrying them like…’
‘She can lift cars, Roger,’ Andrea pointed out as she closed the back door.
‘Yeah… yeah, I know that. It’s just… You’re really slight, y’know? Slim, I mean, not all muscle…’ He blushed. ‘I’m yammering… We’ve got you set up on a table beside the counter. Plenty of pens and space for a box of these.’
‘Well, I hope I didn’t over-do the pictures,’ Penny said as she started for the door to the main shop floor.
A head capped with blonde hair poked through; it came with an enormous grin. ‘I don’t think there’s much danger of that,’ Zoe said.
‘I don’t know,’ Roger said, a little disconsolately. ‘I didn’t have much time to advertise…’
‘That’s why I suggested that Andrea post a few things on a few websites… They’re already queued up outside.’
‘Queued?’ Penny asked, blinking.
Zoe giggled. ‘Of course! God, if I looked like you do I’d have them queuing outside my house.’
‘All right then,’ Roger said, trying to put on a business-like demeanour, ‘let’s let them in before we have a riot.’
Penny had just managed to get sat down at the table when the first shopper was in front of her holding out a copy of the Ultranova comic for her to sign.
‘Could you make it out to Mike?’ the young man asked. He looked younger than she was.
‘Sure,’ she replied, making out the inscription.
When she looked up there were a dozen more behind him, all of them wearing cheesy grins.
~~~
‘It’s pretty intense out there,’ Zoe said as she handed Penny a mug of coffee.
‘Uh-huh. I’m not sure my wrist is ever going to be the same again. I’d better not take too long a break either.’
‘You can probably manage fifteen minutes before they start eating each other.’ The blonde giggled and Penny tried to remember what Andrea had said about her not being as dumb as she acted. ‘So… how come you know our Andrea?’
‘Well I don’t know her, exactly. We bump into each other at the Huntress’ Den sometimes. I know Red fairly well, she’s a bit of a mentor, I guess, and a friend of mine is dating her.’
‘Oh.’ Zoe seemed to contemplate that for a second. ‘I guess Andrea’s a perceptive sort of person…’ Penny frowned at her and she went on. ‘She just seems to know you better than that. She’s looking out for you. She knew when to fend off the horde to give you a break, and then she let you lift that second box. I bet Roger would have strained something to pick it up for you.’
No, Zoe was not as ditzy as she made out. ‘She knows what I can do. So does half the city since it was all over the news channels. I think Roger’s just being a gentleman and, let’s face it, I’m hardly a lady dressed like this.’
And like a switch had been flipped, Zoe was all blonde again. ‘Oh God, I’d kill to be able to pull off an outfit like that.’
Penny gave her a smile. ‘I almost died to be able to.’
~~~
‘All right,’ Roger said, heaving a sigh of relief, ‘Andrea, check the stacks in case any of them managed to hide in there.’
Penny laughed. ‘I don’t think they were that bad.’
‘Don’t kid yourself,’ Andrea said as she walked off into the rows of shelves, ‘I just about needed a crowbar to get the last couple out.’
Shaking her head and flexing her right hand, Penny thanked her altered form for its fast healing and looked around at Roger. ‘Think that was a success?’ she asked.
‘I’ll have to completely restock the current issues and we even sold some of the collectors’ issues. Yes, that was a success. If you ever get a comic of your own, you’ll have to come back.’ He looked thoughtful for a second. ‘Maybe with that partner of yours. I know she wears a mask all the time, but people do like the bad girl image. It’s amazing how well that kind of thing sells.’
‘I think it’s the black bodysuit,’ Zoe put in. ‘Sexy and dark.’
‘Twilight…’ Penny began just as Andrea walked back to the counter. ‘She’s a lot more private than I am. She made me agree to handle the press calls when we hooked up.’
‘You never look like you really enjoy them either,’ Andrea said. Her right eyebrow and the corner of her mouth twitched as she said it.
‘Enjoy isn’t a word I’d use. I think Twilight could use a little more publicity, myself. She does good work and deserves more credit for it.’
‘Well if she wants to stick to the shadows, surely that’s her call?’
‘Oh, it is. I just feel like I’m cheating sometimes. I’m the one that gets all the good press when she does half the work.’ Penny glanced at Zoe and Roger, who were watching the exchange like a tennis match. Zoe’s eyebrows were a little raised. ‘But, that’s how she is.’
‘Shame,’ Roger stated. ‘Well, thank you for coming, Cygnus. It’s been a real pleasure meeting you.’
Penny got to her feet and shook his offered hand. ‘Thanks for the chance to let people know about that calendar. It’s for a good cause and I know Svetilo was a little cautious about sales given the short time before Christmas.’
‘You got Ever to do it, didn’t you?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘I think I’ll buy a copy,’ the ex-musician said, grinning broadly.
23rd November.
‘Nice bikini,’ Bobby commented as Cygnus strutted
across to the hot tub in his house. ‘One of the ones from the shoot?’
‘Uh-huh.’ She slipped into the pool and the fabric went see-through as soon as the water touched it.
‘They photographed you like that?’
‘I was dry. Most of the time.’
‘Not that I’m complaining.’
Cygnus shifted across the pool, sliding up against him. Bubbles tickled her skin. ‘I’d noticed you weren’t. I missed this.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Svetilo didn’t entertain you?’
‘She entertained, but she didn’t… She made me realise there’s more to this than good sex.’
‘And I provide this “something more,” gatinha?’
‘Yes,’ she said, her voice soft, her lips hovering in front of his. ‘Yes, you do.’
~~~
‘Nice dress,’ Lena commented as Andrea strutted over to the couch. The mobster’s daughter had decided that the sex could wait a little; she wanted company as much as an orgasm.
‘Thanks, I thought so,’ Andrea replied. In truth she had never paid so much for holes in her entire life. The stretchy fabric mini-dress came with holes and slits all over the place. Designer cost money, even when the principal design element had been using as little cloth as possible to cover a body.
Lena might not have wanted sex immediately, but her hand slid over Andrea’s thigh as soon as she sat down. ‘The guards downstairs didn’t bother you tonight?’
‘Nope. They seemed kind of… relaxed, actually.’
‘Poppa’s called off the dogs for a while. Seems Cygnus and Twilight are after the opposition he says he doesn’t have.’
‘That’s got to have him pleased.’ Andrea slipped an arm around Lena’s shoulders, leaned over and kissed the side of her neck.
Lena shivered. ‘He is. I’m just pleased he’s letting you come over more often.’
Andrea flicked the tip of her tongue over Lena’s earlobe. ‘So am I,’ she purred.
‘S-stop that. We’re watching TV and having a drink b-before we do that, remember?’
There was another flick of the tongue. ‘Does that mean I can’t tease you while we watch? You’ve been stroking my thigh all this time.’
‘Nuh-huh,’ Lena replied, grinning. ‘I tease you, you get wound up so much you steam, you don’t get to touch me.’
‘That’s mean,’ Andrea said, grinning, ‘but I like it.’
~~~
‘I could get used to this,’ Cygnus said. She was lying in Bobby’s arms on a mat beside the hot tub and the sex had been everything she had thought was missing with Dom.
‘I’d have thought you were used to it by now,’ Bobby replied.
‘It’s a turn of phrase. Like, “I wish this evening would never end.” Which I could also live with.’
‘But the evening always comes to an end,’ Bobby replied. ‘Everything ends in time, gatinha. We must make the best of what we have while we can.’ His fingers trailed down her stomach and she gasped as his touch made her muscles tremble.
‘How… how d-did you intend to m-make the most of now?’ she stammered.
His fingers moved lower, began a slow rotation. ‘I should have thought, my gatinha, that that much was obvious.’
~~~
‘I think I could get used to this,’ Andrea said. Her dress was now under her armpits and her arms were wrapped around Lena as they lay on the couch in front of the largely forgotten TV.
‘We’ve been doing this long enough I’d have that you’d already be used to it,’ Lena replied. Her voice sounded a little drowsy. Andrea began to circle her right nipple with a finger.
‘I mean you being more assertive. You usually let me take the lead. You often want me to take command.’
‘Poppa says I should learn to put my foot down. Of course, he won’t let me admit I’m a lesbian, but… That’s really distracting, y’know?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘I think he… um… I think he’s worried that if Uncle Jonny takes over… uh… he’ll make trouble for me.’
‘I thought David Junior was going to take over the business?’
‘David’s being really stubborn about not. I don’t blame him.’ Lena was sounding less drowsy, but she was starting to pant instead.
‘Your father’ll be running things for years.’
‘I hope so… oh… I really hope…’ She trailed off into a moan and Andrea got down to the business of keeping her client happy. She wanted her exhausted tonight; Twilight had plans.
24th November.
Lena was asleep, very soundly asleep in fact, when Andrea slipped out of bed and padded into the bathroom. Her bag was waiting for her there, and she slipped a penlight from it before concentrating and sliding through the shadows to the other end of the building where David Senior had his office.
The room was dark. She had waited for silence to descend upon the apartment before making her move. Turning on the light, she walked over to his desk and began to search.
In truth, she was not expecting to find too much. She was expecting locked drawers and everything put away, which was why she had never tried this before. With tools, she might have been able to circumvent the locks, but while any girl might carry a small torch in her bag, lock picks would have raised suspicions.
The desk was big, solid, and old. She thought it might have been oak and she was not entirely surprised to find a .357 Magnum revolver in a holster mounted under it. She slipped it free and found a well-maintained, but old, Smith and Wesson Model 19 Combat. The four-inch barrel reduced muzzle velocity and increased recoil, but Tonaldo was probably not worried about that in the confined space of his office.
What surprised her more was that the drawers were not locked and the first thing she found was a ledger of some sort. Opening it she discovered that it was more like a schedule book, giving dates and places, but nothing about what the meetings actually meant. The meaning was clear enough, though; some of the entries were scored through in red, and most of those were drug shipments Twilight had stopped arriving.
According to the ledger, the family was making hay while the sun shone. There were more shipments planned in the next couple of weeks than was normal. She frowned; was Ghostfire worth letting them get this much merchandise into the city?
Turning out the light, she ported back to the bathroom. She would talk to Cygnus about it on Monday. Maybe they should try to stop at least one or two. That might make Tonaldo think twice about keeping up the catch-up shipments.
25th November.
Alfred Leighton was looking far less happy than he usually did, and while he was inwardly moderately jovial he usually looked fairly dour anyway. June looked up as he walked out of his office, one arm in his coat.
‘June, I need Thorpe’s notes on DeWitt Imports. The man’s come down with a cold so I’m going to have to cover for him.’
‘Penny transcribed them, sir,’ June replied, smiling. ‘I can have them printed in a minute.’ She turned to her computer and tapped through to their document management system.
Leighton sighed. ‘I don’t know what we’d do without her. No one else can understand his scribbles.’
June grinned. ‘And there are those funny little doodles he does…’
‘Doodles?’
‘Yeah. Penny thinks he does them when he’s got nothing to note down. She doesn’t transcribe them, obviously, but…’ June blinked, stopping in mid-sentence as it hit her. The doodles. ‘The notes are coming out on the printer now, sir,’ she said, her fingers continuing to move over the keyboard.
‘I correct my former statement,’ Leighton said as he pulled the papers from the tray. ‘I don’t know what we’d do without Penny, and I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘Have a good meeting, sir,’ June said, not looking up as he walked out. She was sure she had found something, and now all she needed to do was find out if it was useful.
~~~
Twilight dropped to the balcony outside Pen
ny and June’s apartment as silently as she could. She had got a message from Cygnus over UltraNet that they needed to meet, and it had to be there. It was an odd request, but it had been marked urgent, so here she was.
She tapped twice on the glass and the window opened. Penny ushered her in. Not Cygnus, but Penny, complete with spectacles. She held the curtain aside to let Twilight through, saying nothing until the window was closed again.
‘Glad you could make it,’ Penny said. ‘You know June, right?’
‘We’ve met,’ Twilight replied, nodding to the slightly nervous-looking brunette sitting bolt-upright on the couch.
‘Well, June’s cracked the case.’
Twilight raised an eyebrow; not an easy thing to spot under the hood, but June could tell she was doing it.
‘I don’t know about…’ June began. ‘I mean, I found… It’s just a list of properties really…’
Twilight unclasped her sword harness and curled up on the floor in front of June. ‘You know, considering you spent a week wearing a smile and some dental floss while some guy snapped your picture, I’d have figured you for more confident.’
‘I don’t do this detective stuff. I could be wrong…’
‘It sounds good to me,’ Penny said, sitting down beside June, ‘but I thought you should hear it and see what you think. You’re more… detectivey than I am.’
‘Okay,’ Twilight said. Then she paused. ‘You haven’t told June who I am, have you?’
‘Of course not,’ Penny replied. ‘She knows you’re my… emergency contact, but your identity, and anything else I know about you, that’s for you to tell.’
Twilight nodded and pulled off her mask. ‘If I ever did need to come tell her you were broken in a gutter somewhere, I’m not going to do it dressed like this. I’m Andrea, pleased to meet you. Now what’s this secret you’ve uncovered?’
‘Okay,’ June said, ‘you know that Cygnus originally came to you with the information about DeWitt Imports? The company we work for took over their account auditing.’ Twilight gave a nod. ‘Well, the partner whose notes she found mention of them in, he leaves these doodles scribbled in the margins sometimes. There have been a couple of weird eagles and then there was this one we couldn’t work out, but it looked like a ghost with fire shooting out of it.’
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