We broke up to head for the rest rooms and the cars. I availed myself of the Ladies room discovering I had it all to myself. I did my duty then washed my hands and checked my makeup, lipstick and clothing. I took a couple of minutes to quickly brush out my hair again before I pulled out a scrunchie to put it up into a ponytail. I was beginning to love my rabbit fur jacket, it had been a good purchase, dressy but casual, not to mention - warm, even if I was out in the wintery cold. My ponytail hung down just enough to help the jacket keep the back of my neck warm but when indoors I would be cooler than if my hair hung down covering my neck and upper back. Ten of us piled into two of the rentals then headed for the airport while the other four guys George specified took the third rental car back to the Lodge to acquire our Armored limo before following us to the airport.

We arrived at the airport about ten minutes of eleven and everyone set off with their gear to their respective locations. Our snipers were in place less than fifteen minutes later and George coordinated with airport security telling them the good news that their training sessions had been approved by the “big boss” at no cost to them except for that of them providing for the housing and meals for the men they sent. We would provide our own during the times we came to train them on their home ground.

As we passed through the airport we managed to scare off several young punks who apparently made their living by preying on the tourists who came through the airport. One of them made a big mistake and was under arrest for assault which would begin after his broken arm was treated at the hospital. His pal was just shaken at having tried their shenanigans on a group that turned out to be heavily armed and combat ready. Sometimes I wished I looked a little more formidable, then again being thin and lithe had it’s good points too. The two newbies who had been tagging along with me had suddenly developed a new respect for my ability to put someone down.

We waited where we had a clear view of the runway approach and even though the weather was beginning to close in a little I managed to see the Gulfstream on its approach at around twenty minutes of twelve. I gave the team a “heads-up” on the command channel.
Our comms were the larger Motorola radios which offered us up to five point-to-point and three repeater channels which operated with our Motorola portable repeater packages. Those provided us a lot greater range since they could be placed on top of tall buildings when available, so we could carry on some long distance conversations. We could also conduct several unit to unit conversations while three simultaneous long range conversations were under way without causing interference. It was a nice system, and a little touchy since it was still very developmental according to Motorola. Very pricey, but nice. We sent two of the guys to Motorola for training in the operation and low level troubleshooting of the system. Each of the repeater units was suitcase mounted and just plugged into a normal power socket, or a car’s cigarette lighter if necessary. Each of them also had four hours of back-up battery built in so they did very nicely for most of our needs. George told me that one of the packages was up on top of a mountain in a room inside the building up there. It gave us coverage for a number of miles along the highway and through most of Vail. At the right spot in Eagle we could even hit it but that was a lot more iffy since the valley wasn’t straight from Eagle to Vail.
The five point to point channels were nationally protected and there were maybe two dozen Federal agencies who used similar systems on those same channels. It was a great system, there could be three channels in use and no interference problems important enough to mention.

Adding other groups or agencies to our system was easy too, so our ‘comms’ specialists told me. I guess that was true since we allowed the FBI to piggyback on two of the repeaters we were using in Denver last year. I didn’t understand the details but Comms told me that one of the FBI’s tertiary repeater channels was the same as one of the protected repeater channels we were sometimes allowed to use so he adjusted whatever it was in the each of the two cases which were on the roofs of the tallest buildings around and the FBI was in business. They were running nearly thirty agents and we were running twenty and no one knew the other was using the system, at least I didn’t. Pretty potent, but you get what you pay for. In that particular case with our agent’s units and our four repeater packages operating in Denver we had about $380K in equipment deployed not including the stuff which was prepared for use back at our main location South of Chicago. Yeah, I know, but I told you it was pricey. If we had the normal systems it would have cost us less than half as much. I don’t like to scrimp on equipment, that can get you into trouble when you really don’t have the time for it.

James' Gulfstream finally pulled up to within 20 feet of us just as the limo and chase cars pulled onto the tarmac to close on the Gulfstream in preparation of receiving passengers and luggage. In less than a minute the door opened and the stairs dropped. James got out heading in our direction. As I watched I saw a dark-haired woman, whom I supposed was his wife, come down the stairs before she turned to help a three or four-year old girl down from the plane. The girl’s hair was a light brown similar to mine and, like mine, hers was also in a ponytail. I had her outclassed on length though.

James reached me, giving my hand a shake.

“Hi, Lynette. This the detail?”

“Yes. It is. This is George. He’s in charge of the detail and the one with whom you make any arrangements for things you want to do so we can place some men in position beforehand. I’m here, but I’m just along for the ride.”

I handed him off to George just as his daughter broke away from his wife to begin running toward us shouting, “Mommy, Mommy.”

James turned back, apparently in surprise, and both I and the other agents were searching for whomever it might have been who breached our security without so much as a “hello, who are you?” from any of my guys.

Just before the young girl crashed into me I realised what was coming and dropped down with my side to her. She crashed, throwing her arms around my neck as she held on for dear life, a stuffed doll which she was holding in one hand landed on my back with a thud. More quietly she said, “Mommy!”

This now had me confused causing my mind to go a mile a minute trying to decide why the child would be calling me “mommy”. Somehow two and two was not adding up to four. James began to extract her as her mother came over looking embarrassed. The little girl just held on tighter. Never underestimate the strength of a four-year old. They are just as capable of choking the life out of you as any adult, especially when they have you in a love lock. I looked at James then gave him a small shake of my head as I held the girl against me. He backed off as her mother began to apologize. James reached out and touched her arm, she looked at him for a moment as he shook his head. After a few seonds of the guys watching the big tough woman now being very motherly to a clinging child, George took charge. He started the ball rolling and got the guys in gear. They began to collect everything then stowed it in the rental car trunks while I continue to play nursemaid to the little girl who finally turned loose of my neck enough that she could show me her doll, Rebecca.

“Rebecca reminds me of a doll I had when I was a little girl.”

“What was her name?” a sweet little voice.

“Raggedy Anne.” I had rapidly searched my memory for any name which might do and that as a girl I might have had for a doll. Not an easy task as you could see.

“Cathy, maybe you should let Nana carry you now,” James suggested.

“No! Mommy!” and the arms locked around my neck again half choking me again as my mind tried to decide if I would have time to process this new information before I had the life choked out of me.

“It’s okay, James. Catherine may stay with me for now,” I replied, assuming Cathy was short for the Catherine to whom James was going to introduce me.

Her arms unlocked a bit and her small ponytail hit me in the face as Cathy turned her head to look at her Father, “Mommy’s back,” a smile on her face.

“Cathy, I need to put you down so we can go to the car, but I want you to hold my hand until we are in the car.” I cautioned her.
She cooperated and we were finally standing with her hand holding mine, Rebecca having been transferred to her other hand. The hand she was using to hold onto my fingers was like a vise. I made a mental note to check my fingers after she let go.

After we were in the car I took the time to ask, “I take it, Nana is her nursemaid?”

“Yes. Her mother ... passed on about a year after she was born.”

“She’s wonderful.”

“She’s a handful.”

I turned to her again, “Cathy, do you like snow?”

“It’s cold.”

I checked her and noted she was like ice even for having only been in the cold for a few minutes and bundled up on top of that.

“Jerry, could I have one of the blankets? I think they are under the seat back, near you.”

He leaned forward, pulling the seat back forward enough that he could reach into the compartment behind it. After a few moments he extracted a blanket. In moments it was on its way to me and I covered Cathy with it.

“Better? You should be a little warmer soon. Here move onto my lap and put your arms inside my jacket then I’ll cover you again.”
She moved to comply as I unzipped my jacket. Her hands were cold. After she was situated, I covered her legs and much of her body with a double layer of the blanket and she began snuggling. I held her close caressing her hair as she soaked up my warmth while mumbling to me, “You smell good, Mommy.”

I looked at James, one of my eyebrows raised as I gave Cathy a kiss on her forehead. “Thank-you baby. Just get warm while Daddy and I talk, Okay?”

“Okay.”

I looked at James, uncertain where to begin. Five more minutes and I still wasn’t certain what I wanted to say. By now George had the show on the road with our two snipers being picked up by the last car before following the rest of us who had started on ahead. They radioed that they were just starting out which meant they were four minutes behind us. Cathy was beginning to settle and soon she was fast asleep leaning against me.

Quietly, “How old is she?”

“Three, she’ll be four next spring.”

“You never remarried? No girlfriends?”

“No. Time just wasn’t there and I never found anyone whom I thought might want the job. It isn’t easy to be a Mommy.”

“Nor a Daddy.”

“No.” he replied somewhat hesitantly.

“Why me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you want me to meet your daughter?”

“That’s complicated.”

“I have two weeks to hear it. Don’t tell me I look like her mother.”

“No. It isn’t that. Your hair does, as you can obviously see,” he pointed to his daughter’s hair, “and you have a presence which marks you as different than most.”

“So I ask again, why me?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to see how she related to you. Apparently Cathy likes you, a lot. She’s a pretty good judge of character, but I think part of what interested me was your disclaimer in your conference room. That was a sneaky step. I’ll bet it takes a lot of people off guard so they believe it.”

“Believe it. I can prove it.”

His eyes opened in surprise, “You mean it’s the truth?”

“Yes, but I don’t exactly pass the information around. We can talk about this more in a private venue.”
He got the hint, “okay. If there is anything I can do, just ask.”

“One thing you can do, explain to Cathy about me and her Mommy.”

He smiled,”You seem to be doing a very passable imitation. She’s convinced.”

“And you?”

“I don’t believe it would be that difficult to convince me either.”

Bill chimed in, “Hey Lynn, are you going to go all domestic on us?”

I gave him a scowl, then lightened up, “Not planning on it at the moment, but I suppose anything’s possible. At least for the duration of this job I’ll be both a wildcat and a domestic.”

“Ralph will have a cow. The company will fall apart without your direction.”

I snorted in response and my little package moved in her sleep a bit then settled again.

“She’s a good traveler,” I mention to James.

“Not usually. She can be a handful. She just needs a woman’s touch, a mother’s touch.”

I looked down noticing I was still caressing her hair, holding her close, wrapped warmly. I kissed her forehead again adding quietly, “It’ll be okay, baby. Everything will be okay.”

She murmured quietly then settled again. When we reached the lodge, the car came to a stop which awakened Catherine. She cuddled tight again.

“We need to get out, baby. Don’t worry, I’ll be right here. Where’s Rebecca?”

She looked for her doll, becoming frantic for a moment in her search. It turned out Rebecca had become lost and dropped on the floor. We found Rebecca which allowed Cathy to be able to face the world again, her doll firmly grasped in her hand. I got out of the car, zipped my jacket then helped Cathy out of the car, zipping her fleece-lined coat before picking her up to carry her into the Lodge. I had James throw the blanket over her again to help keep her legs warm just before we walked in. We went up to the check in with me carrying Cathy, her head against my shoulder part of the time but her eyes alert and examining everything she saw. She seemed considerable older than just three.

James went through check in and the Lodge staff called me Mrs. Thompson several times even though James didn’t introduce me as such. He did tell them Cathy was his daughter, I suppose because I was holding her and we looked a bit similar, same hair colour anyway, they add two and two up incorrectly.

Cathy was hanging onto me like I was her lifeline. We went up to the rooms where I made a point of stashing the Nanny and Cathy in the room next to James as he was telling the bell hop otherwise.

I looked around finding my cases in the room, “Why are my things in here? They belong down in the far room.”

“But Mrs. Thompson, we thought ... ”

“First of all, I’m not Mrs. Thompson. My name is Stevens, I’m certain the members of the staff hare have heard my name at least once during the past few days.”

About this time one of my guys came along, “Hey boss, they’re putting the wrong stuff in your room.”

“We were just discussing that very thing, Bill. Weren’t we?” I looked at James as I spoke to the Bell Hop.

“And You,” I looked directly at James eyes, “had better explain right away to your daughter that I am NOT her mother... hair colour to the contrary.”

I walked out of the room and down to my own, only to discover my key would not unlock the door so it was necessary that I go downstairs to the desk to complain. I did so while borrowing one of my more formidable line backers from George that he could go down with me. The manager quickly understood, accepting the return of the key I had previously been issued and quietly handing me the proper key for the room I had selected.

Walking back to my room we passed the one now shared by Cathy and the Nanny... What was her name? Oh yes... Nora. Shared by Cathy and Nora. James and Nora were talking to a crying Cathy.

“But Daddy, you said ... ”

I stopped to listen to the muted voices coming from the room, which brought to a halt the two with whom I had been talking. Only Cathy’s voice was loud enough to easily hear through the closed door. She was obviously distressed.

“You said you would go up to Mommy so I would know. I want Mommy.”

I and my two line backers heard a small collision with the door, which quickly opened and a tearful Cathy charged into the hallway. She saw me and in moments was wrapped around me again as James and Nora exited the room in pursuit. My guys saw my eyes turn cold as I looked at James.

“You slimy, calculating, manipulative, egotistical bastard. You’re playing with her like a cat with a mouse. When this job is finished you better not plan on using our services again or a Mother isn’t the only thing this poor child will be missing.”

I crouched down to hold Cathy and softly explained, “Honey, your Daddy made a mistake. He thought I was someone else. You understand mistakes? Your Daddy didn’t LIE to you,” as I glared at him over her head.
“He just made a mistake and thought I was your Mommy. Where’s Rebecca? You didn’t lose her did you? She’ll be lonely.” I glared at him again.

“You’re not my Mommy?” More tears just under the surface and in her voice, breaking my heart.

“No honey. I’m not your Mommy, but why don’t you find Rebecca and come stay with me for a little while until you feel better? Okay? Maybe we can pretend I’m your Mommy for so long as we are all here.”

She went through several cycles of drawing away and hugging tightly back until finally, “okay. Can I bring Rebecca?”

“Go find her, I’ll wait here for you.” Cathy ran back into the room as I looked at James, “Don’t you even think it.”

After a minute of searching, Cathy returned and I took her hand leading her down to my room. As I passed Bill, “Bill, would you find the blanket we brought up from the car and bring it down to my room? Cathy hand is still like ice. Just come right in with it, don’t bother to knock.” He hurried off.

Somehow I needed to erase the damage James had done to Cathy’s trust. Bill, in the meantime was given the blanket by the Nanny who had it in the room she shared with Cathy. It was then that he then delivered his own message to James.

“You know, Mr. Thompson, the last time I saw that much anger on Lynn’s face, she pretty much decimated the bastard who caused it. I’d watch my P’s and Q’s around her for a while if I were you. You have a really strange way of showing you love your daughter.”

“Actually, I love her very much. I was hoping Lynn would like the job of being her mother.”

“Being in love and loving is a job to you?” Bill shook his head, “And her name is Ms. Stevens to you, MR. Thompson.” He and the agent who was helping him hunt for the blanket turned to walk away leaving James standing in the hall outside his rooms.

Meanwhile, I had a very unhappy child to console. We spent perhaps an hour with her sitting on my lap just being held close as I used tissues to wipe her tears. After the crying slowed, we went to the bathroom and I drew some warm water in the basin then took a rag to gently wash her face. I did a lot of talking, humming and just holding during that hour as I rocked her back and forth with the blanket wrapped around her. Some of her years of pain came out bringing tears to my face as well. Years of thinking her mother didn’t want her or that she did something to make her mother go away. She didn’t understand that her mother died. James never helped her to deal with the sadness and self-loathing she developed as a result. He and I were going to have another little talk, soon!

“Yes, sweetheart. Your mommy got very sick and went away, it wasn’t your fault. Sometimes adults get sick just like children do. Sometimes people can become so sick that they die and go away. That’s what happened to your mommy even though she wanted to stay and take care of you.”

“Daddy told me mommy went away.”

“Yes, she did but she wasn’t given a choice. She was so sick the angels had to come for her even though she would have liked to stay with you. Where she went she can’t come back even if she wanted to come back to you.”

“Will I get to see her again? I don’t remember her very much. Just pictures Daddy has.”

“Some day. A long, long time from now. First you must grow up into a young woman and then have a family of your own. Eventually they will have other children and you will be a grandmother. Sometime after that you will be able to see your mother again.”
She seemed very solemn and gave that a lot of thought.

“Would my mommy be sad if I want you to be my pretend mommy?”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. Every little girl needs a mommy so she would be happy that you’ve found one. If your daddy gets married again then that person will be your mommy.”

“I want you to be my mommy.”

“I’m not exactly the best person for that, Cathy. I’ve never been a mommy before so I probably couldn’t really teach you a lot of the things a mommy should be teaching her daughter.”

She lowered her head to me and just sat there for the longest time. Tears were still slowly leaking from her eyes as she thought about everything. I continued to use tissues to blot her eyes every now and again. After we had been sitting in the room nearly an hour I asked her, “Are you hungry, baby?”

“Yes.”

“What would you like to eat?”

“A chocolate sundae?”

I smiled at her, “Oh, I like those too. We’ve been crying though, so it’s probably better for us if we put good food in our tummies. Maybe we could have a chocolate sundae a little later. Right now we need to put back the protein and vitamins our crying used up. Maybe a little meat and some vegetables so we won’t get sick.”

After a little thought she agreed, “Okay. Can I have a chocolate Sunday for dessert?”

“Come on. Let’s wash your face again then go down and see what they have that’s good to eat and which will keep us healthy. Maybe if we both have room afterward we could share a chocolate sundae.”

“Okay.” She agreed happily before beginning her search for Rebecca once again.

“I think she’s under the blanket, Cathy,” pointing at the thermal blanket which was piled in the chair we had been in.

She hurried back to the chair, moving the blanket around until she discovered Rebecca wrapped in the folds then she came back to hold my hand so we could go for some food. As we walked out of my room I grabbed my purse in passing. When we went by the door’s of the guy’s rooms I knocked on each door until one of them opened a few seconds after we had gone past.

Turning, I explained to the agent, “Cathy and I are going down to have some food. We’ve been crying and need to replenish our protein and vitamins.”

The agent caught on quickly, “Good idea. Tell you what, I’ll let the guys know then come down and join you in the dining room. They should have opened at two. James and the detail went out skiing about forty minutes ago. Nora is in her room and some of the guys are downstairs while a few are in town checking some things out. Do you want me to ask the Nanny if she wants to tag along.”

“If you could do that for me. If she needs a break for a while that’s okay, though. Thank-you.”

“No sweat. Lynn?”

“Yes?”

“If he gives you a problem, the guy’s all want you to know that we will walk with you.”

I smiled at him, “Thanks. That won’t be necessary. We will fulfill the terms of the contract with him to the letter. For Cathy, it will be to the spirit.”

“Gotcha. I’ll spread the word before I come down.” He touched his radio and I nodded my head in understanding.

The next few days found nearly everyone, at one time or another, playing with Cathy. Hide and seek in the Lodge. Making snowmen, having snowball fights which somehow my guys always seem to lose. In general, they allowed her to have fun being a child. James, on the other hand, was allowed grudging support for his skiing, shopping, whatever. He and I went out skiing together on the beginners slopes for a couple of hours each of two days while Cathy stayed with the Nanny and a couple of the guys. I like to think my skiing was improving but somehow I still managed to find things on the runs which never seemed to bother anyone else. One thing though, Nicci was right. I was beginning to understand what I was seeing. By the end of the seond day James had me on one of the “easier” intermediate slopes and I was managing to scream my way downhill, that is, when I wasn’t laughing myself silly.

I tried to spend as much time with Cathy as I did with her father and we even went to town for dinner, James, Cathy and myself one evening. Okay, so five of the guys went along too. Cathy was coming out of her shell and had been telling me all about how she was going to get to go to school soon since she had passed some test or another which seemed to indicate she could handle first grade a little early. I wasn’t certain if she was still thinking of me as her pretend mommy or if she was forgetting herself when she called to me.

“Oh Mommy, come look at this pretty dress. Could I have it for when I go to school?”

How do you answer a question like that?

I gave it a try with, “Oh, that is a nice dress. I don’t know though, it might be a little much for school. You’ll be going out to play in whatever you wear to school and it would be a shame to get it dirty or ripped, wouldn’t it?”

She gave that a lot of thought before sighing and coming back to hold my hand as we continued to window shop. I think I could get used to something like this.

By Wednesday morning the little girl who had started out so sad was smiling and had special names for half or more of the team. If she wanted to go play in the snow there would be at least three, or more, who immediately began to bundle her up warm, ready to go out with her. I think she had never had so much fun. I sent one of the guys into town the first day to find a bookstore to buy a dozen or so storybooks we could read to her. Cinderella, Snow White, Pinnocchio, that sort of thing. He came back with them as well as a few which I’d never heard of or forgotten. When he returned he had nearly twenty books and for some reason there was always someone around who was ready to read with her. I was wishing there were some children around who were her age but most of the ones here were likely twelve to fourteen and despite her seeming maturity, the age difference would just be too much. I mused about that wondering how it could be that adults could be a better match for a three to four year old than would be other children who were older.

She and I had lots of talks, and she spent a lot of time clinging and hugging, pretty good hugger too. She would come back all tired from playing in the snow, crawl into my lap and fall asleep with me holding her. Sometimes I would even hum lullabies to her which had been hummed or sung to me by my grandmother. She was a very special little girl. We went shopping together and went up to the base of the ski lift so she could watch all the people who wanted to tempt fate as well as those who made it back down successfully. Fortunately the ones who didn’t return quite so successfully were quietly removed to the medical facility or the hospital and she didn’t see them so I didn't need to explain skiing accidents to her.

The day before we were due to return to the Chicago area I called Nicci. I hadn’t had any updates about our pending goings on and my sixth sense had gone into overtime.

“Hi, Nicci. Anything shaking?”

“Hi, Lynn. How's it all going there?"

"Much as expected. I'm doing a bit better on the slopes so you won't have quite so difficult a time bringing me up to speed there when we get back. Anything special going on that I should know about?"

"Not really. It’s been pretty quiet. We had a couple of specials called in but Ralph handled them. Something in Europe. He assigned three of our recent hires over there to each of them. He said if you called in to tell you it was something the major needed to check up on when she returned. Are you a major? And if so, in what branch of the armed services?”

“Uh. I’ll talk with you about it when I get back. If Ralph handled it, why do I need to get involved?”

“All I know is someone named Lucy wants you to arrainge a meeting as soon as you are available.”

“Oh joy. I hope Ralph told her that I’m tied up for the next week and a half.”

“I think so. You really need to talk with him as soon as you get back or give him a call. He said the secrecy lid is on the project and he needs to talk with you in our screened room, asap.”

“Great." which was actually anything but, "Okay, we’re coming back tomorrow but I won’t be able to talk with him right away. Maybe a day or so afterward. We’re pretty tied up. Let him know I’ll call him as soon as we can get together.”

“Can do.”

“Anything else happening?”

“Nothing special. OH!”

“Oh? I hope this is a good ‘oh’ and not a bad ‘oh’.”

“Yes. The first checks from our West coast tenants have started to arrive. How do you want them handled?”

“Just the standard ledger stuff. Finance has all the details. Give them to her and let her keep track of it all. Tell her to hold the checks and deposit them at the start of each week. That way we can track it all a bit easier. I don’t want them handled the same way as our protection clients. I’d like to keep them separated even though the funds will still go into the common account.”

“Okay. I’ll let her know. Anything else?”

“Not from this end. See you in a day or two.”

“Okay Lynn. Take care.”

“Thanks, Nicci. See you.”

The next day we flew back to Chicago. From there Cathy and the Nanny would continue on home while the rest of us stayed with her Father so he could do his thing at the University and at the convention. There would also be some relaxing time at one of our “safe” houses. There would be myself and eight of my agents on the Gulfstream with James, Cathy and the Nanny. We would be met at the airport by our at home team. The remainder of my guys would check us all out of the lodge, return the rental cars and then ride back in the limo. James was still in the doghouse with all of us. I think he was trying to make an effort but he didn’t know how to just be human. When we were debarking near Chicago, Cathy was hugging everyone and she was still smiling. A couple of the guys promised to send her photos of at least one of the snowball fights, plus the snowmen and the time she rode “Mr. Bear” around the downstairs of the Lodge as they searched for Rebecca who was conveniently hidden under his coat until finally she was placed out on one of the chairs like she had been sitting there just waiting for Cathy to come back and reclaim her.

I was about to go out the plane’s door when she latched on to me, hugging me hard, “I wish you were my Mommy.”

That brought more tears to my eyes. I hugged her back, “If I ever have a little girl, I wish she could be you, baby.”

We smiled and hugged some more before she let go, a very grown up little girl. I kissed her on the forehead and we shared a look before she said, “Bye, Mommy.”

I nearly fell out of the plane since the tears in my eyes were making it difficult for me to see the few stairs. I thought about the past few days and decided if it had just been Cathy I would have taken her home in a heartbeat. Unfortunately the package of shit that she called ‘Daddy’ was far from my idea of something I wanted to allow in my house. The whole three days, he didn’t play with or read to her once that I know of. When this job was finished, he and I had some talking to do and he’d better be able to listen.
We got to the “safe” house then I caught a ride to my own home, called Nicci to check on the happenings, before telling her I was off to collect my gowns and stuff.

After I picked up and paid off everything I returned home, took a nice bath and gave my hair a good cleaning. The adhesive on the breast forms needed some touching up before I could begin to dress for this evening’s activities.

The plan was to arrive at the safe house about five which I felt should give us plenty of time. Just to be obstinate I was wearing the Green gown and my nice new Emeralds. I practiced sitting down and rising up a few times just in case there was some trick to a long gown that wasn’t obvious over that of a shorter skirt. The only thing I discovered was that my outside Beretta dug into my low back when I leaned back in the chair. That and the inside Beretta banged my legs a bit painfully if I sat or got up too quickly.
After ten minutes I also discovered I didn’t tighten the belt band properly on the petticoat which held the five pounds of hardware so I needed to adjust it a bit. I hoped I wasn’t going to need the ladies room. All this stuff would be a bit of a bother.

All characters in this work have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relationship whatsoever to anyone or anything bearing the same name or names. The characters contained herein are not even distantly inspired by any specific individuals known or unknown to the author. All incidents described or alluded to within this work are pure invention. No affiliations, involvements or gender assignations due to the use of any images contained within this work are to be implied, intended or inferred.

Cover image copyright Maps.com and shown for clarification of area in which the story evolves.

DUTY CALLS, L.J. Stevens Vol. One Copyright  © 2012 USA, Earth by R. A. Dumas.

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