John Wesley was everything but average. Having lost his soul mate and love of his life, he embarks on a ten year journey that will eventually bring her home. He will come close to paying the ultimate price only to be saved from the brink of death. What would you do for love?

John was glad to be out of the office, although, he could think of better ways to spend a Friday night. Witness protection wasn’t a job he liked and for all that it mattered he didn’t even like the system that allowed such a thing. Did people really believe that a person turned state’s witness wasn’t just as guilty as the people they testified against?

Laura walked across the stage and took her diploma graduating from Junior High School and looking forward to starting high school next year. Becky, her younger sister, stood in the chair next to John so she could see over the other people in the crowd.

From the end of the row a man grabbed Becky and took off in a run. John broke into a sprint chasing after them as the man carried her under his arm like a sack of potatoes. He made the staircase that went to the roof of the building and John took a sigh of relief, as once there he had nowhere to go.

The man looked over his shoulder as soon as he was on the roof and knew John was just a few steps behind. Still in a full trot, he let Becky go and that should have ended the chase. Another agent spoke in John’s ear piece that he would get Becky and John should continue the chase.

At the edge of the roof the man jumped landing on another just a few feet below and John did likewise. The chase continued and John knew it would soon be over. They were on the roof of the annex now and it was a small building. When the man ran to the edge, he spotted a tree limb that looked sturdy enough to hold him and jumped. Not to be outdone, John followed suit, but missed the limb that the man had his arms around. He did catch the man around his waist and the weight of both men was too much for the one man to hold on. They both went crashing to the ground and that is where this story really starts.

“Let’s face it, John, you’re lucky to be walking, much less be pain free,” Connie said, as she wrote on his medical file.

“Next you will remind me how lucky I am to still be a man and still have a job and so on,” he stated in a gruff voice.

“No, I wouldn’t remind you of what you already know. Try to help you with your denial problems? Absolutely,” she said, as she closed the file.

“I thought the Nile was a river,” he jokingly replied.

Connie was not amused as she turned on her heel and headed off to see her next patient. She had to make a call first as the director wanted an update on his condition. She wanted to make the call like any normal person would want a toothache.

“Noah Conner,” he answered the phone.

“Hi Noah, it’s Connie,” she said with a sigh.

“I take it you are not going to give me good news,” he said, as he leaned back in his chair.

“He won’t give up the cane, he can walk and get around. Thermal scans show the pain from his back radiating down through his hip and lower leg muscles, but until he is ready to do the therapy there isn’t much I can do for him,” she stated her case plainly.

“What about those secondary traits you told us might crop up?” He asked.

“So far the hormone treatments have kept that in check, but he can’t keep going the way he is,” she said in a chipper tone. “Do you have some sinister plan for him?” She asked.

“Not exactly, but what if those hormones had the opposite effect, I mean it has been known to happen, right?” He replied.

“Yes, if his body rebelled, he would soon look like one of the girls like it or not,” Connie said in an unsure tone. “Are you telling me you think that would bring him around and maybe change his outcome?” She added.

“Is there an avenue we haven’t been down?” He asked.

“At this point no, not really,” she replied.

“It’s several months down the road yet, but each year, when fashion week comes around, I let several of the women from the office work that detail. Think he could be ready by then?” Noah asked.

“Sure, the physical changes will happen fast in his condition, but getting his head to follow along could be a much bigger problem,” she said with a big smile.

“I’ll leave that in your capable hands,” he replied as he ended the call.

Friday, John was back at the medical building for his therapy and this time Connie was acting much different. Before she asked him to try and walk without the cane she offered him a back brace. It was actually a corset, but she didn’t tell John that.

After getting the corset as tight as she could, she took his shoes and had one of the other therapists add the heel lifts. When she asked him to stand and walk this time, he was almost pain free. In fact, he was pain free enough to walk without the cane. The corset held a lot of pressure on the inflamed nerves in his lower back and that was just the ticket or so she thought, based on the smile Connie saw.

The thermal scan, when he walked, showed only a slight amount of pain, so another heel lift was added and he walked the course again. Now he was pain free, two inches taller and his back was board straight, but pain free was worth it to him.

It was time for his hormone treatment so when Connie asked for his bare hip he knew what was coming. Connie wasn’t pleased to be doing something so underhanded, but the evidence so far was that it would work. She put as much female hormones in his hip as she figured was safe to and closed the cut with one stitch.

John was smiling and chatting to anybody that would talk to him and that had not been the case in over a year now. Connie explained that the tight brace would affect how much he could eat and he would likely lose some weight. Being tight to his body there was a good chance it would rub his skin raw in places and body hair only added to that problem.
When John left the building that day, he was walking free of pain and the cane that he so despised. Connie added the corset and heel lifts to the other list of things they had used for his therapy and that was done just as a matter of billing. She noted the hormones, but left out the fact that they were for the female gender. When she got to the why section of the form, she wrote complications from a fall.

John had gotten a promotion and was awarded a metal for his work that day. The man he had fallen from the tree with was dead and John was injured in the most unkind way. A steel rod, small as it was, had been driven in the ground to mark a new water line for the school. It pierced John at the groin and went in far enough to rupture his L-2 and L-3 disk in his back. The nerves in that area were a mess now and the reason for most of his pain.

It had taken four operation to save John’s penis and even now he would tell you it was not something you wanted to see, even in the bedroom. His balls were gone along with his prostate gland and he openly admitted that he wasn’t much of a man anymore.

Connie was his doctor and therapist and at times his only friend. He worked in the office on the days he could manage the pain well enough, too, and that wasn’t too often. They often carried on as if boyfriend and girlfriend. John could still talk that smooth male banter that often melted more than one girl’s heart. He had to bridal that now as even if it worked he knew he couldn’t follow through in the bedroom.

Back at his apartment he looked at himself hard in the mirror. The tight brace changed the way he stood and the heel lifts made him seem to be taller. The brace also changed his shape and while carried more than a few extra pounds these days, he wouldn’t have said he had a girlish figure. That would change soon and John’s attitude would have to change as well.

Friday morning when John walked in the building without his cane, people just stared in awe. Heads turned and people stopped what they were doing to see the once faltering agent seemingly back to his old self. Even Noah took notice as everything in the office seemed to stop all at once.

Nikki sat at the desk opposite of John and she stood to mark the day he returned without his trusted cane. Nikki was already eyeballs deep in checking out the designers and models for fashion week this year. She had worked that project last year and she figured she would again this year. She wanted to be prepared and know all she could as she had already been asked unofficially to be the lead agent this time around.

Over the years John had grown accustomed to her, often talking out loud to herself. Diana sat at the corner desk closest to them and often laughed when John would answer Nikki’s question without being prompted to. It wasn’t a laughing matter as he was right almost every time he did. On the occasion that he wasn’t, he would chide Nikki that she had to ask the right question to get the right information.

No one, save Noah, knew that John had a photographic memory. Never mind that he could speed read and type faster than anyone in the office. Couple all that with a 140 IQ and you can easily figure out why Noah wanted him back on the job. As a male or a female he or she was a one of a kind person.

To prove his prowess at the computer one day he went to a station that had a real fast printer. He typed two pages of a five page report and then hit the print button. He typed the last three pages before the printer could finish with no mistakes, I might add. Of course, that was years ago now and he had spent far too much time in the field to be happy at a desk anymore.

Nikki was the perpetually happy person of the trio and if you said she was average then you knew all there was to know about her. She was average tall, average build and so on. Diana came from a native American family and it showed in her coal black hair and dark brown eyes. She had a slightly smaller build than Nikki and often overdressed to compensate for that. Noah had put them together hoping some of John’s natural abilities would wear off on them. He was sure the girls had improved some over the years and John was a big reason for that.

John stayed for the full shift that Friday and when he stood to walk to the elevator the whole office applauded. It was the first time he had worked a full shift in longer than anyone could remember. Noah even added his hands to the applause.

The last thing Noah wanted to do was to bring down a good man, but his hand was set to the plow now. People and the powers that be above him wanted a productive agent or he had to be let go. So far he had cost the agency over two million in doctor bills alone. He hadn’t worked a case since the fall and that was not good for the agency.

John had just gotten in the door when the phone rang. It was Mark in the main office and the news was not good. John and Mark had graduated at the same time and were still fast friends. Mark was more of a computer geek than John but not by much.

“Word is, if you’re not back to being a productive agent by the end of the year, you get your walking papers,” Mark stated it flatly.

“Thanks for the heads up, but so far as I know our office has no active case to work right now,” John replied.

“That’s not true, but then it’s probably not a job you would want to be part of,” Mark replied.

“You’re talking about the red carpet deal for fashion week?” John replied.

“That’s it, and from what I can tell Noah and the office in whole are working the damn thing,” Mark stated, sure of himself.

“All the female agents are I am sure, but the men won’t be,” John sighed.

“Your name is on the list,” Mark said, then paused.

“I’m sure it’s a typo, but I will talk to Noah about it,” John said with a light laugh.

John spent the weekend out of the back brace as much as he could. His only other relief was to spend a lot of time in his hot tub and he did that on a regular basis. Monday morning with the brace back on he went straight for Noah’s office as soon as he was in the door.

“What the hell is my name on the fashion week job for?” John huffed.

“John, you’re the top agent in this office, your name is always at the top of any assignment we get. Check the records for yourself,” Noah added.

John was happy when he sat at his desk and pulled up all the active cases they had been given. Noah had spoken the truth, but it still didn’t seem right seeing his name on an assignment decidedly best suited for the ladies. Nikki and Diana tried to console him telling him that there were always some men that worked the back stage areas.

“You never know,” Nikki winked. “You might get to meet someone famous,” she smiled and then went back to work.

He hadn’t been pulled in and briefed so for now he pushed it off his mind. He had been tracking a mob figure for a while now and he had an alert that one had been shopping for plane tickets to New York. He was currently in Switzerland ducking a court summons to testify in a different case. John wanted this guy and really bad, as he was one that had his men try to take Becky.

John blamed this man for his condition at the time and rightly so. He was a low level lieutenant in the organization and under enough pressure he would crack and bring the whole thing down. John just wanted him alone in a room for a few minutes, that was all it would take.

Two months would pass before John noticed any of the changes in his body. It might have escaped his notice then had he not been standing on the scale some twenty pounds lighter than the last time he checked. He could take off the brace now and still be pain free for several hours and it was a sure bet the brace was reshaping his torso. Losing a few pounds was fine, but it seemed whatever he had lost did not come from his butt, hips or chest. If anything, they had gotten fatter.

As he lost the weight, John tightened the brace more and more and now some three months later he was asking Connie for a smaller one. Connie could easily see the signs of his change. His breast had some shape now and by his next visit he would need a bra. His hips were starting to show and his butt was rounding out quite nicely. Much of his upper body hair had fallen out and his legs now had hair only below the knees. He never had any facial hair to speak of and what he had now looked like peach fuzz.

Connie considered it a dirty trick, but she had little choice at the time but to try it.

“The only brace we have smaller than the one you have now is for a female. It will work just the same, but it has cups for the boobs that you don’t have,” she smiled.

John thought about it for a few minutes. His job was already on the line and he needed the pressure on those nerves to stop the pain. He hadn’t missed a day since he started wearing the brace, but that was no clear sign his job was not still in the balance. No one ever saw the brace, save him, so he decided he could get by with it while she ordered him a new one.

“Wow, this thing is pinching me.” John said.

“That’s just the underwire for the boobs. Let me show you how to stop that.” Connie said, as she scooped his small boobs into cups.

With that done she finished tightening it and there was no question now that he needed some new clothes. Connie did her best to sell him on the idea of unisex clothes as his shape was not as manly as before. That was about as close as she was going to get to saying he had a girlish figure now. He gave her a sour look then got dressed and left.

John was not dressed to brave the New York winter when he left for his shopping trip that following Saturday morning. Hell, he hadn’t seen fit to make his way to the barber shop since the fall and he didn’t plan to today either. No, this was for some clothes that fit and then it was back home and back in the hot tub.

The first store he stopped at was for men only and it took all of five minutes to realize they had nothing that would fit over his hips and not be swimming loose at the waist. Another store just two blocks away, again a men’s only store got the same results. Dejected he walked a half block back the way he came to a store that boasted it was unisex.

Carol was the sales woman that helped him and she had to wonder if this was the man Connie had told her about. That had been over a week ago so she doubted it was him. The first pants suit she brought out for him fit like a glove, save that the shirt he offered was too loose. A second one, pinstripe like many the men would wear, fit great as well. Again, the shirt was a bit loose for his taste. She offered him some of the softer and lighter colors, but he deemed such as that women’s wear and passed on it politely.

Having picked five new suits the tailor walked out and marked the areas that needed to be altered. Carol was already figuring up her commission when John let it slip that his therapist had told him about the unisex stores. Carol decided to throw in the cream colored suit for free since she now knew this was the guy she had been told about. She even slipped in three pairs of her best pantyhose and a pair of her best high heeled pumps. She could only imagine him trying to walk in the four inch stiletto heels, what a sight that would be.

John went home smiling knowing that his new clothes would be sent to his apartment Monday afternoon. His second floor apartment didn’t have a great view, but for the price he could live with it. And on this particular day the view from his hot tub was rather nice. It was snowing to beat the band and it had started just as he got home. It could snow till morning for all he cared. The hot coffee and the hot tub were all he needed as the pain began to subside again.

He called Connie on Sunday and thanked her for the suggestion of the unisex clothing store. The other stores he had stopped at had nothing that even came close to fitting him, but he had found five nice suits at a unisex store and was happy to get them. Connie was polite and accepted his thanks although Carol had already told her about the whole thing.

Monday morning the whisper network at the office was working overtime. Nikki and Diana were going to be officially asked to head the project for fashion week. Of course, that would be after John had turned down the job as it were. Top agents always get to pick and choose on voluntary jobs. Noah didn’t bother asking John if he wanted it, he had already made his feeling pretty clear on the subject.

Late that day, when Nikki and Diana got the job, they asked John to stop at the bar and have a drink with them. They had done it for him so he agreed and they left about an hour early as was normal for a Monday. At the bar they all sat down with their drinks and tried to blend in with the crowd.

John had just finished his drink when Carol called to tell him that his clothes would be arriving late today what with the weather and all the new snow on the ground. He assured her that was not a problem and that ended the call. A second round was bought by Nikki and she and Diana talked about how fashion week was a fluff job, but at least they were out of the office.

John’s phone rang a second time and this time the girls saw his face go dark, as it were.

“I have to go,” he said as he stood and buttoned his jacket.

“Is something wrong?” Nikki questioned.

“Yes, according to my neighbor, the apartment building is on fire,” he stated as he headed for the door.

The girls grabbed their coats and followed him to the scene. By the time they arrived the building was fully ablaze and there was nothing left of his apartment save the ashes. Just before the last fire truck left, Carol’s delivery person arrived. The young man finally spotted John and gave him the garment bag full of new clothes.

Diana lived on the upper east side and offered John a place to stay till he could recover and find a new place to stay.

“Are you sure you want a pale face at your house?” John said with some surprise.

“I’ll muddle through,” Diana said with a grin as they got in their cars.

John wasn’t from New York and really knew very little of the history for the Big Apple. When they arrived at Diana’s place, he marked it with his GPS, sure he could never find the place if he didn’t.

It was beautiful older home that had money written all over it. John had known from the start that Diana came from money, but this was far more than he expected. Diana closed the door behind them.

“Welcome to my home,” she said with hands palm up. “I would appreciate a little discretion about it, as far as work is concerned,” she added.

“Sure,” John replied as she took him to one of the bedrooms.

John laid the garment bag on the bed and was looking around when Diana opened it and started to hang the contents up in the closet.

“And I thought I had nice taste,” Diana whistled as she checked the labels of the clothes. “I hope your girlfriend appreciates the money you spent on her,” she added as she hung up the first suit.

“Those are mine, I don’t have a girlfriend right now,” John said from the bathroom that joined the bedroom. “What made you think I had a girl?” John asked, now standing in the room with her.

“Donna Karen, Ann Kline, Roxy, these are all designer labels for women,” Diana pointed out the obvious to her.

John looked at the clothes as if in deep thought for a moment and then asked a fateful question.

“What is the definition of unisex clothing?” He asked, knowing these were the things he had tried on and picked for himself.

“Generally speaking, it is clothes that can be worn by either sex,” she replied.

“Well, then unless someone brought me the wrong order, those are mine,” he stated.

“Someone told you and sold these to you as being unisex?” She asked in a soft tone.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Then someone wants to see you dressed as a girl,” Diana stated.

“No, someone already did,” he replied still in thought.

“What?” Diana questioned as she wasn’t following his reasoning.

“Carol, the saleswoman at the store, she assured me these clothes were unisex,” he said, sounding agitated.

The last suit was the one he had rejected. It was cream colored and it just looked girlish to him. That wasn’t the only surprise Diana found as the box with the high heel shoes and the pantyhose were the last thing she found in the bag.

Being the nerd he was, John had the receipt from the store still in his wallet. After he had denied buying the shoes and pantyhose, he showed it to Diana as proof. At the bottom of the receipt she pointed out the added free accessories and complimentary suit.

“All in all that was a good deal considering you spent over two thousand dollars,” Diana said with a smile as she put the shoes in the closet.

Diana got on her cell and made two calls and two appointments for later that evening. She gave John one of those where do we go from here looks and then told him to get undressed.

“I’ll do no such,” he said in an indignant tone.

“Everybody already knows your manhood is a mess. We all know your back is all out of sorts as well. If you will trust me, just a little, we can maybe fix this and get some payback as well,” she smiled as she pointed to the bathroom.

John fumbled with the strings that laced the corset tight. He tried to tell Diana it was a back brace and had been his saving grace for the last few months. He could only have it off for a few hours before the pain would be so bad he couldn’t walk.

Diana informed him that was yet another lie as she knew a corset when she saw one and this one was for sure designed for a female. There was such a thing as a man’s corset, but it would look nothing like this she told him. John remembered that Connie had told him it was for a female after Diana had mentioned it. She had never called either of them a corset though.

Diana saw what Connie saw, the beginnings of a very female body. She pointed out all the things to John as she covered his legs and arms as well as his arm pits with hair remover. Having waited the appropriate amount of time, she sent him to the shower. John wasn’t surprised when she stepped out of the shower hair free and smelling as sweet as Diana did.

By now she was undressed as well and she gave him a housecoat while they walked to her hot tub. She offered him a shot of scotch which he gladly took before they stepped in the hot tub.

“You’re the first female that hasn’t seemed offended by my appearance,” he said in a soft tone.

“You mean your lack of most of your manly parts,” she said as she eased into the water.

“It’s not pretty and it don’t work, so you’re safe if that is even an issue,” he replied holding back his tears.

“If I didn’t feel safe you wouldn’t be here. It does beg one question,” she said as she sipped her scotch.

“Why I chose to keep my not working anatomy as opposed to having working anatomy like yours?” He asked the question for her.

“Yes,” she replied with a big smile.

“My father, I am an only child, and my mom is already gone. Dad will be soon enough and after that happens I will consider it. Till then I want him to be proud of his son,” I replied.

“So your choice wasn’t based on some macho bull shit that men are better than women, bla bla bla,” she replied still smiling.

“No, my father could be gone any day now and I just didn’t want his last memories to be of me becoming a female,” John replied, again holding back his tears.

Diana poured them another round of scotch. She wanted him relaxed as possible when the time for his appointments came. Two drinks at the bar and now with two generous shots of scotch in his system Diana could tell he was starting to feel better. The door bell rang and they got out of the hot tub as Diana went to get the door.

Mari and Bobby gave their sister a hug and then decided that John was their patient tonight. After the introductions, John listened as Diana gave them the run down on his condition. Maria and Bobby helped him to the room where the massage bed was and then got him on it face down.

“Maria is a specialist in pressure point massage and Bobby is the best chiropractor in town. If these two can’t get you back to normal, then it’s probably not going to happen,” she smiled.

In no time Maria found his inflamed sciatic nerves. When she first tried to work on it he all but jumped off the bed. It took most of an hour before she could actually work directly on the nerve without him moving to avoid her hands. When she finally got him to relax the muscles around the nerves, it was time for Bobby to do his part. When Bobby applied the pressure in the right place, his back began to pop, his hips lined up, and his shoulders as well. Maria worked on him for another half hour and then got him up and walking again.

He wasn’t pain free, but he felt better than he had in a long time. It was bedtime now and he walked without help to bed and got in. Diana talked with her brother and sister for a while and then they called it a night as well. They knew he would be sore come morning, but the pain would not be the same.

Around five the next morning Diana teased John out of bed with a cup of gourmet coffee. It was a sure bet, he thought, that she knew at least one of his weaknesses. He was moving slowly, but not limping as he made his way to the table. Maria, Bobby and Diana were already there.

“So how are you feeling this morning?” Maria inquired of John.

“My back feels like someone drove a truck over me last night, but the nerve pain I have been feeling is much less noticeable,” he replied.

“That’s great!” Maria chirped. “That means you’re on the mend, a few more treatments and you will be good as new,” she added with a big smile.

John gave her that, ‘if you say so’ look and drank some more of his coffee.

Diana called Noah and told him about the fire at John’s place and that they would go today looking for him a new place to stay. Diana knew Noah didn’t buy the excuse in a way, but there had been a fire and John did need a new place to stay.

The four of them sat at the table having coffee till John was well awake and then it was back to the massage table for a while.

While Maria worked over the sore muscles, Diana gave John his first real manicure, making sure his nails were clean and snag free. Bobby popped his back again, only this time it didn’t move as much. Bobby said that was good as it held some of the alignment from the night before. They all moved to the hot tub for a good soak and it was mostly for John’s sake.

Maria got out of the tub first and cooked breakfast for the group. When John got out of the tub, he was moving around pretty good and without any assistance.

After they had eaten their fill, Diana gave John the matching pedicure. His nails were still soft from being in the hot tub and it went pretty quick.

Around eight that morning Maria and Bobby left for their regular jobs.

“What now?” John asked when they were gone.

“First, let’s talk a little. I know you are working a different case than Nikki and I. Can or will you talk about it?” Diana asked.

“Sure, I am after Jerald Wayne, AKA Jerry, the fish, so named for the first man he killed and left hanging from a shark hook. He started in California as an enforcer for the mob, then made the mistake of marrying the boss’s daughter. They moved to south Florida to get away, as it were, and another mob boss took him in,” John paused and drank some of his coffee.

“His new boss was reckless and not afraid to get his hands dirty. He personally killed a man who didn’t pay back a very large loan and there were two witnesses to the crime. The man and woman that saw it had a three year old daughter, but they agreed to testify even knowing the danger. Jerry kidnapped the daughter and she hasn’t been seen since. It was done for leverage against the mom and dad and they didn’t testify,” John said sadly.

“That’s how Jerry works now. You get in trouble and need some witnesses to not testify, you call Jerry,” John added.

“You figure it was his men that went after Becky, the day you were injured?” Diana said, as a question.

John didn’t reply and didn’t see the need to, she was right and he didn’t need to confirm it. There was a long silence between the two and it was clear that Diana was plotting just what she would say and how.

“Okay, change of subject. Are you aware that the agency didn’t expect you to return to work as a man?” Diana asked.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. They did push the idea of the sex change operation pretty hard,” he replied.

Diana opened her laptop and let him the see the mass E-mail that had gone out after his injury. It laid out the rules for dealing with him as a female and even had his new ID and badge number. John would be erased from the system and June would be backdated to the time when John started with the agency. For all to know it would be as if John never existed. There were several pages of E-mail and when he was done reading he was to some degree shocked at it all.

“You showed me this, why?” He asked.

“Come with me,” Diana said, as she offered her hand.

At the end of the hall there was a room that Diana had converted to a makeshift gym. Mirrors lined one wall and she stopped with John in front of them.

“Take off your housecoat,” she stated as hers hit the floor.

John wasn’t floored when saw that he and Diana had almost had the same body shape. His body was feminizing itself from the lack of male hormones and he had been told this could happen. While John took in what he saw, Diana started talking again.

“You’re becoming one of us like it or not. You are going to need some help, everything that you know about being a man is going to change and faster now than you might have imagined. I’ll help you, I’ll teach you all that I know from twenty years of being a woman. Your part is to learn and not buck me every step of the way,” she paused, as if to see what his answer would be.

“You are right, and I can see that now, but I won’t have the operation before my father passes on,” he stated flatly.

“You don’t have to have the operation to become a woman until you are ready. In the mean time, you still need to learn what it is to be a woman. It’s a whole different world when you start trying to dress and act and be the woman you look like,” she said.

“I’ve never dressed like a woman even as a joke or a gag. This could be a much bigger job than you might think,” John said in halted voice.

“The first part of that is being willing to at least try,” Diana replied. “By the way, how is the pain?” She added as if it were an afterthought.

John hadn’t thought about the pain he had been feeling for the last year. His mind was on other things and he wondered if what he saw in the mirror was truly a sign of things to come or if this was where the changes had stopped.

“It’s not nearly as bad as it has been. It mostly feels like sore muscles now,” he replied to the question.

After a nice dinner that Diana cooked, they both headed off to bed. Diana didn’t have the luxury of being off the next day unless she wanted to start burning her vacation and sick leave days. She had already planned the day out for John with Maria and Bobby, of course, after a day of TLC from those two, John might wish he had gone to work as well.

Chapter 2

Diana hit the door for work the next morning with her purse tucked tightly under her arm as she made a bee line to Noah’s office. She had that determined woman look on her face and his secretary just buzzed her in with a smile.

“Nikki and I want John on the team,” Diana said, even before she said hello.

“Well, now that that is out of the way, good morning and do have a seat,” Noah replied softly.

“I know you want John back and I know he needs to be productive or be gone,” she replied, and “good morning, sir,” she added.

“Do you know who John Wesley really is, Diana?” Noah said calmly.

“I know he’s been with us for the last seven years and he has made more than a few cases as well. Past that, no, I don’t really know him.

“Well, let me give you something to think about before I or you really make a decision. John was born into an average family, but he kept company with a girl that shared his birthday. She came from a very wealthy family, originally from England. I’m going a ways back but you will understand just listen,” he paused.

“The young girl’s parents witnessed a murder and agreed to testify even though it was mob connected. There were threats against the family and John was never far from the young girl’s side, even at thirteen years old he deemed himself her protector. Lisa Ann, that’s the girl name, said that John was her soul mate and swore they would always be together,” Noah paused again.

“Then the day came when two men snatched Lisa Ann. According to the news, as well as the bystanders’ firsthand accounts, John Wesley pulled both his shoulders out of socket trying to pull the car door open and save Lisa Ann. Medical records proved that to be true later and John’s family was well rewarded for his attempt to save the girl,” Noah paused and looked over the folder at Diana, who just sat there with her jaw hung open.

“The family posted a five million dollar reward for the safe return of Lisa Ann and it has never been claimed. Afterwards, John went off the rails for a bit, became a troublemaker in high school, but he still aced every course he took. From high school he became a Marine for four years and was then recruited to the CIA black op’s division,” Noah paused to look over at Diana whose face now had almost no expression.

“He got nothing but top marks as a Marine and the CIA, as much as they will tell us, pretty much says the same. He’s an expert shot with a pistol or rifle, top honors in hand to hand combat, two black belts in the martial arts and all was well till about ten years ago. He went off the rails in France for two weeks, he was out of contact with the world,” Noah paused and now it was as if she was waiting for the punch line.

“Go on,” Diana urged, “he found her, he found Lisa Ann.

“His commander was about to write him off as KIA then just as he left the unit he suddenly returned. When his commander demanded a reason for his absence, he produced a picture of a girl holding a newspaper dated from the day before, according to John this was ‘his’ Lisa Ann,” Noah stopped and put down the file.

“What! That’s it? End of story?” Diana sputtered.

“Oh, no. The French police, as well as Interpol and every national airport, were given her picture, but till today she still has not been seen,” Noah paused again.

“Now you know most of what I know about John Wesley Banes. Safe to say if he wants you dead, you are dead. Likewise, he has no terms for surrender. He will look for Lisa Ann as long as there is air in his lungs. If working fashion weeks suits his needs, he will do it, so if you think you can tune him up for that, he’s all yours,” Noah stated.

“Do you still have the female Id you had made up for him?” Diana asked.

Noah turned in his chair and got a file from one of the cabinets behind him and passed it to Diana. “Anything else I can help you with today?” He said with a smile.

“I assume June gets the same clothing stipend as the rest of the female agents get?” Diana smiled, as she paused at the door.

“Of course,” Noah smiled back.

Diana went to her desk and brought Nikki up to speed on the events so far. She knew John’s apartment had burned and very little after that. Of course she knew about John’s medical problems, but she never imagined that she would see him looking anything like a real female. Diana assured her at the rate his body was changing he would soon have no choice and she had decided to help him through it.

At her house John started his day with a deep tissue massage followed by yet another adjustment by Bobby. Maria coaxed John into a leotard and tights to some aerobics, as well as some Yoga, now that his body had started to loosen up and relax a little. It was lunch time before John realized he hadn’t worn the brace all day, and what pain he was feeling from the nerves in his hip and back were much less than before.

Maria and Bobby both had that easy going nature, never pushy, but always ready to explain why they asked you to do the things they did. Maria looked very much like her sister, Diana, only she was a little smaller overall. Bobby didn’t look like a body builder, but the way he popped John’s body and adjusted his back it was a sure bet he was stronger than he looked. He had a lot of that native Indian look to him, much more that Maria and Diana and he seemed a bit moody at times. It made John wonder if he was helping only because his sister had asked him to.

Almost as soon as Diana was out the door Noah, called Connie and brought her up to speed as well.

“I’m sure the fire and police people have no clue how the fire started, but then I am equally sure you do,” Connie replied. “You can’t push him like that and heaven forbid if he decides to push back,” she added.

“You did say your friend Carol sold him several female suits. I saw no reason not to add a new maybe more female suited apartment as well,” Noah said with a smile. “I think it might be time for that voice coach you were telling me about,” Noah stated and then ended the call.

Noah seemed almost pleased with himself when he ended the call. He had been told from day one that John came under his command to keep him on a short leash. He had done his best and still John had managed to kill at least one man for every year he had been there. Of course, most of them made the mistake of coming after John to kill him. At his best John was never an imposing looking man, computer nerd best suited him for a general description, but that was so far from the truth that nobody would ever believe it.

Matilda was the first best choice for a voice coach and Connie called her just after lunch. She had just graduated several students and said she would be pleased to take John on for her usual fee, of course. Matilda was like the ultimate blond bombshell, but smart didn’t begin to cover who she was. Picture the prettiest California beach babe you can conger up then multiply that by a factor of ten and you will be close to how beautiful and smart she really was. If it wasn’t pretty, sexy or outright girlish, it didn’t exist in her world, and she knew how to use it all to her favor. Connie gave her the address to Diana’s place and told her it might be best if she just dropped in later that afternoon.

Diana got home just in time to give Maria and Bobby a hug before they went home. John was still sitting at the kitchen table in the leotard and tights Maria had talked him into wearing, when Diana came in and sat down.

“So how was your day?” Diana asked in a chipper voice.

“Different to say the least,” John replied as he took a sip of Scotch.

“Well, it’s official. Now you are on the team with Nikki and I or so said Noah,” she added as she got herself a shot of Scotch.

“Paint me surprised, I figured he would laugh you and me both out of the office,” John said with a big grin.

“Well, it did come with some strings attached,” Diana said in low tone. “He waited till I had what I asked for, then just before quitting time he gave me two weeks to bring June to his office,” she stated flatly.

“That’s pretty typical of Noah. He always wants you to believe you got just what you asked for, then almost as a afterthought, he will add some all but unobtainable deadline or some such thing,” John replied as he got another shot of scotch for both of them.

There was a knock at the door and Diana went to answer it. John was a bit nervous not sure if Diana had a boyfriend, he wondered if he should hide the bedroom. That was not the case and now they were joined by Matilda Matthews.

John sized her up as beautiful in a flash. He was even more nervous now as he stood to shake her hand.

“My name is Matilda and for the next few weeks I will be your voice coach. It is my understanding that you will be undercover as a female for some time, so I have been asked to help you train your voice and teach the proper way to speak as a female,” she stated, never looking away from John.

John just stood there for several seconds before he offered her a seat. She spoke very plain and proper and that was just the beginning of the things he noticed about her.

“My current schedule will make me available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after five in the evening, would six in the evening here be suitable?” She said, again never taking her eyes off of John.

It was if she was looking through him with her dark blue eyes. She didn’t blink or look away not even for a second and it put John on edge. Almost before he realized it he had agreed to see her, and in short order she stood to leave. John had no clue she was also a hypnotist and she had already planted the seeds that would have him talking and acting like the ultimate girl in no time.

Diana saw the control Matilda had used on John and just how easily she had done it. For her part Matilda had likewise sized John up as an easy subject. His voice wasn’t in the lower register to start with so bringing up his tone to something fitting for a female should be very easy, she decided as she drove home.

Maria had already fixed dinner and John had eaten with her and Bobby earlier. Diana warmed up her plate and she and John passed the evening with small talk. Diana had brought home his laptop as he had requested her to and he looked through his e-mails while she ate her dinner.

His informant told him the Fish was still watching the legal notices for information on the trial of his friend. He had let it be known that he wasn’t coming back to the states till it was over or until the state dropped the case. To John that meant that Lisa Ann and her family were still in the line of fire. Nothing short of a mobster’s death in Florida and the arrest of Jack, the fish, would have them free of harm and he knew it. Lisa Ann knew it too and she wasn’t about to put her family in harm’s way.

Wednesday, John pretty well had the house to himself. He worked out in the gym with some free weight as he could feel his muscle tone slipping away. He wasn’t sure why, but he decided that it had to be hormone related as the outline and overall size of his boobs just seemed to get bigger by the day. As the time for his meeting with Matilda drew closer he thought long and hard about how he should dress and present himself in general. This was not normal for John in any way.

Around four thirty he got in the shower and washed and conditioned his hair, he checked for stubble from the previous hair removal and he was still clean as a whistle. With his hair rolled up in a towel he put on the corset being careful not to pinch his boobs. He opened a pair of stockings and tried to copy the moves of the girl in the video he had watched earlier. He sat the high heels by the bed and got the gray suit from the closet deciding from memory that it was the one he had liked best.

He pushed his penis, such as it was, down and back between his legs letting the pantyhose hold it in place. He slipped on the blouse first and was surprised that his boobs were big enough to show through. The pants were next and now that they were tailored they fit like a second skin. He tucked the blouse in, much like a man would tuck in the tail of his shirt, then buttoned the pants and closed the belt tight.

He sat at the foot of the bed and put on the high heels, rather amazed that his foot went in so easily with the pantyhose on. With the ankle straps secure he stood and tried to balance on the shoes that felt like stilts to him. He realized quickly that he had to keep his back straight to balance at all. He walked and wobbled the length of the bedroom before he got accustomed to not looking at his feet. Once that set in, and he realized that when he kept each step center to his body it was a big plus, he began to gain some confidence.

He moved to the bathroom where he took a dryer to his hair just using his hands to fluff out the natural curl he normally hid with a ponytail. He wasn’t about to try his hand at makeup, although, Diana had brought him a starter kit home. No this was enough and maybe even too much for his first official class with Matilda.

Diana arrived just as he had finished with his hair. John had already prepared dinner and when he realized she was home, he headed for the kitchen thinking she would be there.

The tap of a second set of high heels alerted Diana and she stopped half way up the stairs to see who it was. She watched as John came down the hall from his bedroom and she was shocked to see him in a new suit and wearing the high heels. John continued on towards the kitchen so Diana came back down to join him.

Matilda was due to be there at six and John wanted Diana to have time to eat before she arrived. Diana entered the kitchen as straight faced as she could, she didn’t want John to know how shocked she was to see him dressed like he was and wearing heels to boot.

There wasn’t much small talk before they sat to eat. Diana did compliment him on the suite for Matilda’s first real visit. John thanked her as he would for any compliment, but he didn’t want to start a conversation about wearing girl’s clothes so he left it at that. After some small talk about work when they finished eating, Diana excused herself knowing Matilda would arrive at any minute.

Chapter 3

John answered the door and invited Matilda in. She followed him down the hall taking notice of his uneasy gate in the heels he had on. It seemed clear to her for the female clothes and the shoes he could barely walk in that he was at least willing to make the effort to be and look like a female.

“Thank you,” Matilda said, as she took the chair he offered. “I understand that you will be using the name June for your female persona?” She said, in a questioning tone.

“That’s correct,” John replied, his voice going up a notch just from being nervous.

“You sound a little nervous so let’s cover those issues first,” she said, as she laid out two small tape recorders to record the session. “What about going undercover as a female concerns you most?” She asked.

“Well, being discovered as a man would be about the worst thing that could happen, I guess. Not being accepted as what I appear to be would high on the list as well,” he added.

“So you have given all this some real thought? Is there more or are those two things the big hurdles as you see it?” She asked in a easy tone.

“Hair, makeup, actually walking in high heels, the list goes on, trust me. Getting past the first two I think would make the others much easier to deal with, well, that and getting my voice to match as well,” he said, remembering that she was actually a voice coach.

They talked for an hour or so and John tried to be as open and honest as he could with her. When they were done she gave him a short but pointed speech.

“You have to understand first that we are all mind, spirit and body. Your spirit is like your life force and for the most part it’s just along for the ride. Your body tells your mind who you are based on the rules or standards of what society says is right. You are about to set out to break all the rules. Your body may fully well believe that it is male and now you have to convince it that it is actually female. When the mind begins to register the change, it does something like a status check. It wants to know what changed and how and why along with a million other questions. Are you following me June?” She paused.

“Sure, I see what you are getting at,” replied John.

She reached in her tote and got a very real looking set of silicone breast and gave them to him. “I want you to wear these twenty- four seven till I say otherwise. There is an adhesive with them that will make them secure to your chest. Real women have breasts twenty-four hours a day and for now I want you too, as well. Understand this about training the mind, I am not trying to embarrass you or anything like that,” she said, as she judged his reaction for a moment.

She then gave him a set of three DVD’s that she asked him to watch at least once before they got together again. “I understand you have been in a lot of pain since the fall so I also want you to have this CD. All you will hear is what sounds like a very angry thunderstorm for about one hour. It should help you with the pain as well as helping you sleep,” she added with a smile.

John promised to do as she asked, and then the meeting was over. Diana had sat at the top of the stairs and listened to the entire conversation. The old house had great acoustics and from the top of the stairs you could hear anything that happened on the lower floor.

Diana waited for the sounds of Matilda’s car leaving the driveway to go down and talk with John. She listened as if it was the first time, while John told her all about the meeting. Diana offered to help him with getting the breast glued on and in the right position and he gladly accepted. John told her the rest of what Matilda had said, as she glued and placed each breast according to the directions. As soon as the glue was set John let the breast settle into the cups of the corset. With his blouse and jacket back on they went to the living room and watched the first DVD.

Diana was stunned more so than John as the DVD covered female clothing for every occasion. Not just dresses and skirts but what a woman should and should not wear underneath. It was a two hour DVD and covered everything down to the last detail as far as female clothing was concerned. When it ended, even Diana felt as if she had learned a few things. She and John both were looking forward to watching the next DVD.

By now it was bed time and Diana knew tomorrow was another round with Maria and Bobby for John. Maria would call near the end of the day and tell her how John was coming along. When John got to the bedroom and undressed, he felt the full weight of the breasts for the first time. He put the CD in the player beside the bed and turned down the volume so it wouldn’t disturb Diana then lay down.

During the night, his mind was bombarded with suggestions that he was becoming a she both mind and body. He would now feel lost without the breasts attached to his chest and anything other than female clothing would not look or feel right on her. She would now desire to wear makeup and to learn all she could about becoming a woman in general.

Unfortunately for John, the player was set for repeated play so John was bombarded with these suggestions for the full time that he slept. There was also a suggestion that he learn to ignore the little aches and pains that came with being a woman.

Thursday, John was rather chipper as Maria and Bobby put him through the paces like they had on Tuesday. He never complained and did everything he was asked to do. Maria only reported his unusually happy mood and beyond that all seemed the same to her.

After dinner, when Diana got home, they sat and watched the second DVD. This one covered in great detail all there was to know about the deportment of a lady. More than once the narrator said, this or that was proper for a lady, she never said girl or woman, it was always a lady. Posture was covered in great detail as well and close to the end Diana realized what was going on. John was being programmed to be a lady or to at least know how to be one.

On Friday again John had the place to himself. He had listened to the CD every night just as Matilda had asked him to. He had a few sore muscles from the workout yesterday, but it didn’t bother him to much as he sat and watched the last DVD.

This one was all about makeup and hair styles. John was really drawn into the video as his mind soaked up the information like a sponge. Proper nail care was covered almost as a footnote, but nothing was left to chance. Since he had time he re-watched the first two DVD’s and more of it stuck with him this time than before.

John dressed much the same for Matilda as he had last time. He walked with a smoother gate now and even noticed the difference. When Matilda arrived with her stylist in tow, she was surprised that John so willingly accepted the idea of a full makeover. Sharon did her part well giving John a full set of acrylic nails and the pedicure to match. His hair was trimmed and style and his eyebrows were thinned and arched just enough to look feminine. Last but not least both his ears were pierced twice and the starters were left in along with the aftercare information she would need.

John hardly noticed that as he spoke with the girls his voice seemed to naturally go up till he sounded just like one of them. In fact until Matilda compliment her on the soft rather sweet sounding voice she was using she didn’t notice at all. The compliment didn’t suddenly make her voice drop either. If anything, it kind of set her voice there, as what would be normal now.

From the time that Matilda arrived until June walked her to the door, her mind was almost blank about what had happened. When Diana told her that the makeup looked rather natural on her, June had no memory of putting on any makeup and had to move to a mirror to see for herself. Indeed, she was wearing makeup, although, for the life of her she had no memory putting it on. The face and body she saw in the mirror was all female and the manicured nails and freshly permed hair just added to that look.

Diana had had a long day at work and headed off to bed early as June decided to watch the DVD’s again. She sat up all night watching them and drinking coffee. She did get a short nap, but when Diana got up she did as well. June knew Diana loved to shop and she mentioned it was suppose to be a nice day and that June needed almost everything to fill out her wardrobe, the shopping blitz was on.

Diana picked a mall just north of where they lived as nobody there was likely to know who they were. This would be the first time June had been out in public and Diana feared embarrassment as bad or worse than John did. John had already felt his body and mind go on autopilot the night before with Matilda and Sharon, and he suspected as soon as he found himself surrounded by the women at the mall the effect would be the same.

John was dressed and ready to go before Diana actually decided just where they would go. He wore the cream colored suit as to him it was the most feminine of the clothes he had to wear. Pantyhose and the high heels were the only truly feminine things he knew he had on, save that he touched up the makeup from the night before and brushed his hair back as it had been as well.

What he saw in the mirror looked very much like a woman to him, but he was very unsure if that was what other people would see. Over the past few days he had decided that indeed his body was becoming that of a female and soon he would have little choice but to look like one.

As they made their way to the mall, Diana engaged June in what she considered girl talk. Surprisingly, June openly talked with her about fashion as well as hair styles and other feminine topics with all ease. June informed Diana that the DVD on fashion said every woman would eventually develop her on style and taste, then added that what she would like would not be the same as what Diana liked.

Diana agreed and told June that no matter what she bought to wear, she was the one that had to wear it and be comfortable in it. June just smiled when they parked in the lot and she felt her body go into autopilot. John knew he wasn’t fully in control of what would happen that day, but what better way was there to test his theory.

John had already decided that the basics came first, bras, panties, shoes, and the likes would be a good starting point. The most expensive stores the mall offered would be Sacks Fifth Avenue and Victoria’s Secret and he decided to make Sacks his first stop.

With some directions from Diana he bought about two dozen pairs of their best panties and they were all one size smaller than he really was. Bras were another story and a helpful sales woman measured her correctly before she started picking through what was available.

Diana was surprised that he had picked out so much satin and lace. It was a sure bet June knew quality clothes when she saw them and she really went for all the best stuff. She bought a handful of skirts and blouses in the basic colors and styles that most women would have, then paid the bill and they headed for Victoria’s Secret.

There were more surprises to come for Diana. June went for all the sexiest stuff that Victoria’s secret had to offer. Garter belts and stockings were high on that list and she bought several. She bought the full line of stockings from nude to jet black and all the colors in between. In the shoe department she stayed with open or peep toe shoes that were solidly made, but three inch heels were the shortest she bought. Two pairs were six inch heels and Diana just knew she would never wear them for any length of time.

Diana could tell June was starting to get tired and it was almost dinner time so she was feeling it as well. After June paid the tab at Victoria’s Secret they started for the car for the third time with both hands full. June spotted a specialty shop by the entrance and wanted to stop and look. Diana went ahead to start the car and get it warmed up for the ride home.

Inside the shop June was greeted by an older woman who had a pleasant smile and was very nicely dressed. June had already spotted the custom made corsets and explained to the women she had recently had some back problems and was looking for something restrictive enough to help keep her back straight so that it wasn’t an issue.

Ms. Hill was her name and she showed June several corsets that were designed to do just what she had asked for. Sadly, all she had at the present time were stem waist corsets and the only one that would fit June had a three inch stem waist. The funnel shape from the bust to the waist was clearly visible and June had to ponder it for a few moments. She decided that if she didn’t try to wear it with the lacing fully closed she could probably wear it and not have to deal with the back pain. She took it and that was her last purchase for the day.

Diana and June talked a mile a minute on the ride home and Diana praised her for not breaking her female persona. She also expressed her surprise that he had bought the most girlish stuff the stores had to offer. June countered that if she was going to have to dress like a woman she wanted to look like one as well and comfort was high on her list as well.

At home, together they unpacked the car and started arranging June’s new wardrobe. Everything that could be hung in the closet was and then drawers were selected for her panties, bras, and garter belts and stocking all separate and easy to find. Diana’s jaw nearly hit the floor when June showed her the corset she had bought at the last minute.

“Even the corset I have on now doesn’t keep enough pressure on my lower back to stop the pain,” June said, adding that she was hurting even then.

“You do realize that this is a Victorian style corset and if you wear it a lot your body will conform to this shape,” she said, as she pointed to the nearly nothing of a waist.

“Can we discuss this over some pizza while we soak in the hot tub?” June replied, with a grimace as the pain was shooting down her leg by now.

Diana order a pizza to be delivered and started the hot tub as June started to undress. By the time she walked to the hot tub it was if her right hip and leg were on fire the pain was so strong. Diana fixed them both a glass of scotch and then she undressed and joined June in the tub.

June took two very strong pain pills that she wasn’t suppose to mix with alcohol. That and the swirling hot water soon had the pain down to a steady roar which she considered manageable. The pizza arrived pretty quickly and after they ate, June and Diana both felt much better.

“I realize the corset may look extreme to you, but if you had my back pain to deal with, I think you would change your mind,” June started the conversation again.

“I was under the impression that the work Maria and Bobby have been doing with you was helping with that?” Diana said in question.

“It helps for sure and I wouldn’t want to stop working with them. Thing is after a few hours if I am up and about a lot the pain always seems to come back,” June stated sounding sad.

“Bobby tells me there is a lot of deep tissue muscle damage and the only real way to make the pain stop will be a lot of exercise. The question now is how to keep you out of pain so you can exercise,” Diana stated.

“The pain pills work but only for a few hours. The only lasting relief I have had has been the corset and now that I have lost some weight it isn’t tight enough to really keep pressure on my back and the pain at bay,” June said, over a fresh glass of scotch.

“Noah gave me all the needed Id for June so you can go back to work come Monday, if you are up for it?” Diana said, just to see his reaction.

“I had thought I would wear the new corset Sunday and see if it is strong enough to keep the pain in check. If it works, I figured I might as well go in and let the people in the office make fun of me. You have to know they will,” he stated as if it was a foregone conclusion.

“A few might,” Diana said with a smile. “However, Noah laid down the law pretty good, anybody that refuses to work with you or gives you grief about your status as a female gets a written reprimand. That goes on the permanent record, so I don’t see too many people getting out of line,” Diana said with some bravado.

“I’m a geek that nearly got himself killed watching a little girl. Now to top that off I am a girl. You think every man in the department isn’t going to jump on that,” June stated as if to have the last say on the subject.

“I will only say that if you do as well on Monday as you did today at the mall there shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to say anything,” Diana said, deciding she had said enough.

“Thanks for the compliment, but we will see come Monday,” June replied.

June and Diana watched the last DVD together as she hadn’t seen it and then headed off to bed. June put the CD in the player and hit the play as she laid down, hoping the pain would not come back before she fell asleep.

Sunday morning June awoke just as the pain pills were wearing off. She sat at the foot of the bed looking at the new corset, trying to decide for herself if wearing it to mask the pain was the right thing to do. In a manner of speaking, she saw it as her only hope for any real relief, other than the pain pills that he wasn’t supposed to be taking to start with. They were a schedule three narcotic and out of bounds to on duty officers.

June slipped the corset liner in place first, as Ms. Hill had said it was a must for the corset to tighten evenly. Ms. Hill had told June that once it was tight bending over at the waist was out of the question, she would have to stoop or bend at the knees to pick up anything.

June took a pair of off black stocking from the drawer and rolled them up her legs, while the corset was still loose. She attached the stockings to the garters then made sure the corset was in the proper place, just as Ms. Hill had told her too. She then started to tighten the lacing in back.

Once she had the lacing as tight as she could pull them behind her, she looped them over the knob of the bathroom door and used her legs and body weight to tighten it even more. She mainly worked the excess lacing from the lower part as this added to the pressure on her back. Soon it was tight enough that the she felt little if any pain at all.

She tied a bow and pushed the excess lacing up under the garment at the V of her back bone. A black bra was next followed by a black camisole. She picked the black leather skirt which she had really like in the store and a pull over sweater with an open neck to finish the outfit for the day.

The skirt had some stretch at the waist and once she zipped it on the side it fit like a second skin. The lace at the top of the camisole just was hidden by the collar of the sweater and now June looked herself over in the big mirror on the back of the door.

The corset did not show through her clothes and for that she was very happy. The panties had fit rather tight and she had suspected there would be a line for all to see. That was not true either and the panties were tight enough to conceal what was left of his manhood.

She went to the bathroom and took off the remains of her makeup from the day before. With careful attention to the details she tried her hand at it for the first time from scratch. It took two tries before June was satisfied that she had done a presentable job with the makeup. She again looked herself over in the big mirror and was at least pleased that she didn’t look like a scarecrow.

She had waited to the last to decide what shoes she would wear. She had two pairs that were black, the one pair that were given to her with the new suits, and the other pair she had bought herself. As she looked at the pair of shoes she had bought, she wondered what had possessed her to buy such a high heel. At that moment she couldn’t tell you just how high they were, just that they were one of the two pair that were the tallest of what she had.

Her stocking clad feet slipped right in the shoes and she fumbled a little with the ankle strap, not being accustomed to her new longer nails just yet. When she stood, she was very shaky to say the least, but she noticed right off that the last of the pain she was feeling just went away. She just stood there getting her balance and enjoying a little bit of heaven once again as she was pain free.

“It won’t last John Wesley, enjoy it while you can,” June said to herself out loud.

June walked the distance of the bedroom several times adjusting her gate, as the skirt was tighter than she had thought, and the high heels pretty well forced her to as well. She smiled the whole time telling herself it was a small price to pay to be pain free. She further justified what she thought, telling herself that a person would have to live with pain 24/7 to even begin to understand what a gift it was to be pain free.

She paused again at the mirror and smiled like she hadn’t in some time. For the first time in almost a year, he/she could walk and move as she pleased and not be in some pain. Happy didn’t begin to express how she felt at that moment.

As she headed for the kitchen, the click of her heels on the hardwood floor in the hall alerted Diana that she was coming. Diana turned so she could see down the hall and was shocked beyond words.

June looked like she had just stepped off the runway. She moved with grace and an ease that Diana had not seen so far. It took a second look for Diana to realize she was wearing the six inch heels and that was not what shocked her. There was no limp, no look on her face that said she was in deep pain. This too was something Diana had never seen and her smile would have lit up radio city music hall all by itself.

June paused long enough to give Diana a hug and then went straight to the coffee pot.

“You’re looking good this morning and moving pretty good, too,” Diana said, expressing her surprise.

June moved away from the coffee pot, but didn’t sit down. Diana got a refill as she had already had her first cup. Then as if looking for some flaw she looked June over closely for a second time.

“You can have a seat?” Diana said, as if she was unsure.

“Yes, I could sit if I wanted, but right now and for the first time in a long time I can stand pain free,” she stated flatly.

Diana smiled and tried to share the moment with June. It had been a long uphill battle for her for quite a while now, and if the corset and high heels made her feel that good then who was she to argue with success.

“I can only imagine how good you feel right now, but if you don’t sit at some point your feet are going to really hurt later on,” Diana stated sadly.

“Right now that would be a small price to pay,” June replied, with an even bigger smile.

June took a slow stroll around the house almost seeing it for the first time, considering she wasn’t distracted by the pain like before. It was a truly beautiful home and Diana had furnished it well. It was nothing like what he had grown up in as a boy, but it was still very nice. By the time she finished her stroll it was time for a second cup of coffee.

The heels had started to pinch her small toe just a bit, but considering the pain she had been in before, it was like a mosquito bite and easily ignored.

June sat down this time at the table with Diana and for the most part the corset kept the worst of the pain at bay. Diana ribbed her a bit asking if she could have gotten the corset any tighter.

“I didn’t actually check to see how far I got it closed, I just pulled it till it was tight enough to stop the pain,” June said, with a smile. “Or most of it anyway, it didn’t truly stop till I stood in the heels,” she added.

“Now that you are sitting?” June asked.

“There’s some pain, but nothing an aspirin wouldn’t fix,” she stated, not smiling like before.

“The question is can you dress like that every day, just to be pain free?” Diana said. “A few hours in those heels and my feet would be killing me, never mind that that corset has to feel like it’s cutting you in half,” she added.

“Trust me Diana, that is small beans compared to the pain I would be in otherwise,” June said, almost as if Diana had insulted her.

Diana went to her bedroom and got dressed. June was eating the last of her toast when she returned and not smiling nearly as big as before.

“How about a test run to see if you last the whole day dressed like that?” Diana asked.

“Sure, what would you like for us to do?” June shot back.

“Grab your purse and meet me at the car, I know just the place to go,” Diana said with a smile.

June quickly changed over to her black clutch with a gold shoulder strap and in just minutes they were out the door. Diana headed for the Hamptons as there was a mall there that was huge and lot of people used it as a place to walk for exercise during the cold weather. If June could do a lap or two around that place, work would be a cake walk.

June’s back was board straight from having on the corset. It made her breasts stick out even more than she would have liked them to, but again she saw it as a small price to pay. Of course her feet would be hurting if she stood and walked to excess in the shoes she had on, but that too was a small price to pay. She was starting to realize that nobody really understood the pain she was in most of the time.

Diana parked in the back forty as it were, leaving them a good distance to walk just to get inside the mall. It wasn’t really cold that day and she walked in lock step with June as they headed inside. Diana already knew one lap around the mall was the same as walking one mile, she was betting June wouldn’t make it even half way.

Not only did June walk the whole mile, twice Diana had to stop and slip off her modest three inch heels. June’s feet were hurting, but she wasn’t about to let Diana know that. After yet another stop so Diana could slip off her shoes for a few minutes, they headed back to the car and then home. June had passed the test according to Diana.

June still wore the shoes right up till bedtime and she watched all the DVD’s again from the start. June knew well enough that repetition was the best way to learn anything. They headed off to bed at about the same time and June took the heels off then for the first time. Having sat to watch the DVD’s her feet weren’t hurting like they had been.

It had been such a good day for her that she had forgotten to take the pain pills. She made a faithful decision that would set the tone for many a night to come. She had worn the corset all day and felt no ill effect from doing, could she sleep with it on as well, she wondered. She undressed to her corset and then set the alarm for five in the morning. She put the CD on to play and snuggled in for the night.

She awoke just minutes before the alarm would have gone off and turned it off. Unlike most mornings in her recent past she was clear headed, not suffering from the effects of the pain pills that she hadn’t taken the night before. The corset didn’t seem as tight, but the pain he felt when he sat up was nothing like it had been before. She didn’t check the gap in the back of the corset before she took it off, getting it closed all the way wasn’t her goal. She quickly got in the shower as the hot water was second best for relieving the pain for any length of time.

She didn’t give wearing the corset and high heels a second thought, although, she knew she would have to see Connie before she went to work. She wasn’t thinking so much about how the corset changed her shape when she tightened it as much as she dared that morning. June had much more latitude in the way she dressed for the office than John would have had and she decided the same outfit she had worn the day before would be suitable.

She stood at the bathroom vanity to do her makeup and she almost rushed a little so she could finish dressing and put on her heels. As she sat at the foot of the bed and closed the ankle straps, a smile was already starting to form on her face.

She walked into the kitchen that morning even more perky than she had the day before. She had breakfast with Diana and informed her that she had to go see Connie before she went to the office. They had a standing two week appointment and today was the day. They exchanged hugs and then June was out the door.

I’ll stand aside for now and let June tell her own story first hand if you would. Bear in mind that she is modest and often bashful.

Chapter 4

I wasn’t happy that I had to see Connie before I could go to work. It was all I could do to keep it together when it was just Diana and myself. The office would test my nerves to the last degree and the sparring match that I knew was coming with Connie wouldn’t help matters.

Just getting in my Porsche to drive downtown turned out to be a trick, I had to get in butt first and even then I lightly bumped my head on the door frame. Knees together I swung my legs in and then straightened out my skirt so I could work the pedals to drive. This being a woman shit was already getting to me, and I felt like Connie would see right through me.

I arrived at ten till seven and, trust me, nobody saw Connie this early in the morning save me. I walked in and blew past Dottie at the receptionist window like I knew what I was doing. Her eyes went wide as the glasses she had on and her jaw all but hit the floor as soon as she realized it was me. Three steps down the hall I saw Connie walking towards me and she was making good time as she did. I suspected she was running late and had came in the back entrance.

Connie ducked into her office about two steps ahead of me and tried to ask as casual as she could. That lasted less than a minute when she looked at her appointment book and realized just who was standing at her desk.

“John!!” Her mouth flew open and her eyes locked on me as if I was an alien.

“Yes,” I replied in the sweetest voice I could muster.

“Holy shit!” She said, as she stood and started walking around me as if inspecting a prize bull or some such thing.

“Walk with me to the lab,” she said, when she recovered from her shock.

I was first out the door and I knew she was watching to see if I would limp like before. I could have easily favored my right leg and hip, but I acted as if I was as good as new. She had me walk through the thermal scanner twice and did it with no fuss.

“Satisfied?” I asked after the second pass.

“I believe what he scanner tells me, just not what I see with my own eyes,” she paused.

“What, you think I can’t see the writing on the wall?” I replied.

“Considering that I have been pointing this out for some eighteen months now, no not really. I just have trouble with the idea that you have finally accepted it,” she stated.

“Well, you have seen it now with your own eyes. Think I could talk you out of that return to full duty pass now,” I said with some sarcasm.

“You’re going to the office dressed like that?” She questioned.

“Is there some reason I shouldn’t or can’t, that is where I work when I am not in the field,” I replied as she stifled a laugh.

“Be my guest just make sure you take a baseball bat with you. Come on back to the office and I will sign your release,” she sighed and then walked behind again just to see if I would limp.

If I limped I wasn’t 100%. If I wasn’t 100%, then I got desk work and nothing else. Right now if I never saw a desk again that was fine by me.

Connie signed my work release, but our standing appointment still stood. I would see her again in two weeks and I was sure the next time would be much harder than it was this time.

I never much cared for elevators and our offices were on the third floor so that was six flights of stairs I had to climb. Thankfully, I wasn’t hurting and it was almost fun to make the trip. I walked in the office and went straight to Noah’s office to give him the medical folder that had my release Connie had signed.

A few heads popped up and I got a few not so welcome looks, but save that everybody just seemed too busy to notice who I really was. Noah took the papers then gave me back my gun and shield.

“I am glad you decided to take Connie’s advice for a change,” he said, trying to engage me in some conversation.

“Well, the writing was on the wall so to speak and fighting it at this point seems rather moot,” I replied, again sounding as sweet as I could.

“I will be pleased to put you back on the active board and Diana and Nikki have asked for your assistance on the fashion week project,” he added.

“I will be glad to assist them in any way I can,” I replied, keeping it short as I could.

Before he could say anything more Connie called and Noah sent me on my way. It wasn’t till I sat down at John’s old desk that the tongues began to wag. The news that John was now June traveled the office at light speed getting back to Diana almost before June was seated. Nikki barely looked up long enough to say hi to me and that was about it.

Nikki looked at her computer for a second and then back at me again. A smile broke across her face and she and Diana exchanged high five.

“The Three Musketeers Ride Again,” Nikki and Diana said in tandem.

I just looked at them as if they had both lost their senses. Then Diana explained that before I came along they worked with another female at the same desk.

Like always, the first thing I did was check my e-mail. I had a great informant and much as I had suspected, Jack the Fish, still hadn’t booked a flight back to the states. We both knew he would use any event to cover his travel plans as that always stretched any security patrols to the max. I made it a lot easier for a body to slip through undetected.

I told my informant that I had a plan that might change all that and to pay close attention over the next few weeks. It might take some time for it to work, but I was pretty sure it would have the desired effect.

What I needed was a legal notice placed in the paper that would make Jack the fish think it was safe for him to come home. His adopted daughter followed fashion week all over the world and there was no reason to think she wouldn’t come here. She was born in England but the United States was her second home and she was as citizen as well.

I made an outline of what I needed and spelled out the reasons for it as clear as I could. Just before quitting time I passed the printed request on to Noah personally, so he knew that it was something important. He would call me in his office tomorrow and read me the riot act for trying to work a cold case, but that was ok, I had a much better reason than Jack the Fish to be doing it, he was just a bonus.

By the time Diana and I got home we were both pretty well beat. It wasn’t till she reminded me that Matilda would be here at six that I went looking for a second wind. There was one cup of coffee left over from this morning so, I figured the shot caffeine might get me through the meeting. Diana took a snack bar from the kitchen and went to her bedroom leaving me to fend for myself.

I wasn’t really hungry and before I could decide on a snack Matilda arrived. She seemed rushed for some reason almost blowing me down as soon as I opened the door to let her in. This meeting started almost like the very first one save we skipped the introductions.

She again asked me what it was that concerned me most about my transition into womanhood. Not exactly the same question she had asked before but close enough. I gave her almost the same answers and she seemed perplexed that nothing save my appearance had seemed to change. My voice slipped into a lower register than she liked and she cautioned me about even a minor slip as the voice was a dead giveaway.

Having spoken at length with Connie now, she had made me a new CD, that was more targeted to the nerve pain I was dealing with and she asked me to exchange with her if I would. She assured me it would sound no different than before, but I should be able to sleep without the pain pills. She only stayed for about thirty minutes and she was out the door almost as quickly as she came.

I went to the living room and channel surfed till I found a classic western that I like so I watched it. Unlike most women and Diana, even the thought of kicking off my heels and getting comfy didn’t cross my mind till it was almost bed time. As I had for several nights before I put the CD on to play and then stripped down to the corset to see if I could sleep in it for a second night.

I slept straight through and when I sat up the next morning the corset actually felt a little loose. I did a quick touch up on my makeup and brushed my hair back into place. The black pants suite was already laid out as I had decided on it last night. I was dressed before I decided to tighten the corset up a little so I backtracked and got it tight again.

I assumed this was still the break-in period Ms. Hill had told me about, as she had told me it might seem to get loose on it’s on till it was broke in. That was not exactly true in my case, it was my body giving and moving to conform to the shape of the corset. I really had no idea that a person’s body would change shape so easily.

The black suit fit like a glove and actually looked good on me as it were. I tried the lower heels that I had gotten with it, but the pain persisted. The higher heels seemed to make me stand a certain way and for whatever reasons the pain went away just that easily. The weather was supposed to be “sloppy” today so the warmth of the pants would be a good thing.

Diana rode with me to work and she seemed surprised that I took the stairs. Noah called me into his office before I ever made it to mine.

“Do we have an open case on Jack the Fish?” He asked staring at me.

“Not here in this office, but he is on the most wanted board,” I replied.

“What, number twenty or twenty five?” He huffed.

“He’s moved up since you last checked. He’s number fifteen now,” I stated. “We could close the books on some twenty murders and at least as many kidnappings if we could just get him back in the U.S.,” I added.

“Like he is going to come home and confess all his sins suddenly?” Noah replied, but then said he would forward the request.

“Thank you sir,” I said and then headed for my desk.

Over the next few weeks, save for Matilda’s visits, Diana and I kind of got in a rut. When Matilda wasn’t there, Maria and Bobby were and now they were putting Diana through the same workout with me. Whatever Diana did I had to do double, she used ten pounds weights I had to use twenty and so on it went.

I could tell my breasts were getting bigger each time I took the fake ones off to clean them. My visits with Connie continued and she soon realized they were getting some size to them as well. She gave me a smaller set of the fake ones so as my real ones got bigger I looked as if I was still the same size. Connie had told me I wouldn’t get any bigger than what my mom had been and later I laughed about that one. My mom wore a 36 double D cup, so the not very big comment didn’t really apply.

Connie never asked me to take off the corset and I was sleeping it in almost every night. I took it off to shower or spend some time in the hot tub with Diana, but other than that I had it on almost all the time. Two months had passed before Diana asked me again if I could get it any tighter. That night I used a second mirror to look at the lacing in the back and was surprised that it was fully closed. That explained why all my clothes had seemed to get bigger and bigger at the waist.

It wasn’t till Diana suggested that we do some more shopping and find me a good tailor that I realized just how sloppy lose my clothes were. Fortunately, I knew where to find a good tailor and I called Carol that night. She hadn’t been busy of late and she was glad to loan me her tailor for a few days. For a fee of course, nothing comes free in New York.

Diana and I shopped all weekend and my new shape wasn’t so easy to find clothes for. My elongated waist garnered more that few odd looks and comments. I did manage to find enough clothes to have something to wear while Charles, my new tailor worked on the things I had.

When Charles saw me in my corset panties and bra, there was a fleeting moment of shock. He asked but one question and that was if I wanted my clothes to actually fit me at the waist. Diana spoke up for me, saying simply that of course I did.

He set up his equipment in the room we called a gym and took my measurements about three times, wiping his forehead each time he did followed by a large sigh. Since I wore the skirts and dresses most of the time he started with them, the suits could wait till the last to be done.

I had thought some of the men and most of the women were looking at me strangely from time to time. I had realized that I had a pin-up girls figure or how strange that looked these days. Diana had already mentioned that she knew no woman that would wear such a corset or be as dedicated to it as I had been. It wasn’t a matter of comfort or style to me, it was simply a means to an end and that was to be pain free.

Charles almost seemed to lock himself away with his work, as Diana and I had to take him some food or he wouldn’t have stopped to eat. The following weekend he pronounced he was done and I paid him with cash. He had one final request and that was to actually see my elongated waist one more time before he left. I happily raised my blouse so he could see it, he said thank you and then left.

Diana convinced me to spend some quality time out of the corset that weekend. I so seldom had it off, I didn’t feel all that different when I did, so I agreed. With the proviso that if I started hurting I could put it back on. Diana offered me a new leotard as a present that weekend as we had taken to buying each other little gifts from time to time.

I put on a pair of sheer pantyhose and then stepped into the leotard. I realized right off the French cut leg openings and I thought they were rather cute even on me. I bent over at my waist and put on my canvas tennis shoes and joined Diana in the gym.

It wasn’t till that very moment that I saw my new shape in whole. The corset was off, but my three inch stem waist was well defined. My stomach was as flat as my back was straight and I knew then why everyone was looking me so hard lately. From the side I looked almost deformed, but straight on or from the back I had curves.

Diana measured me with the corset off, and I was 36, 20, 37. “I know women that would kill to have a figure like that,” she stated, as I still looked at myself in shock. “Are you hurting at all?” She asked, thinking my body had to be in shock as well.

I had felt my ribs flex out a little as soon as I got the corset loose. I told her no, that I wasn’t hurting, just a little shocked that my waist looked so stretched and tiny at the same time. I hadn’t recovered at all when my cell phone rang and it was not good news. At last my father had given up and passed away. He was eighty five, as far as I was concerned if he was ready to go, and he was, he had earned that.

I took the news of his death much better than the image I saw in the mirror. I asked Diana if she would fly to Florida with me to settle my father’s estate and she gladly said she would. The funeral would be on Monday, so if Diana and I took the red eye tonight we could spend Sunday at the estate, and return Monday after the funeral and I did my thing with the lawyers. We called Noah and took Monday and Tuesday off just in case we didn’t make it back in time to be rested on Tuesday.

We packed just enough for three days as we could do that in a carry on, and not have to wait for our luggage when we arrived. I paid for both tickets and we left at just after two in the morning. We would land just after six thirty, and William knew we were coming so he would be there to pick us up.

Diana was about to learn my best kept secret, but I didn’t want to do this alone. Had Lisa Ann been home, I would have thought nothing of it, but that was not the case right now.

We napped off and on as the turbulence was really bad that night. I had been in worse, but that was years ago. It had the makings of a beautiful cool south Florida day when we landed. We both stopped at the ladies room to freshen up a little and then headed for the passenger pick up area.

I spotted William right off, standing at the ready beside dad’s old Rolls Royce. For fun as it were, I walked up and kissed his cheek which surprised him to no end. “Ride me gently,” I said, knowing my father had said that to him a million times over the years.

He had to look at me for several seconds before reality set in. He quickly opened the door for me and Diana and we were headed for the estate while Diana tried to gain her composure.

“Do you have any idea what this car cost?” She said in a soft voice.

“Indeed, I was there when my father bought it,” William’s eyes went up even more so than Diana’s at my reply. He had to know I was John now despite what his eyes told him.

When William stopped us at the front door, I had to caution Diana to stay put till William opened the door. He would be offended if she rushed him. Once he opened the door, Charlotte and Cassie, our maids, stood at the door waiting for William to bring them our bags.

I gave Charlotte a hug and asked if she would fix us the traditional breakfast and a large pot of coffee. We had been on the plane all night and were famished.

“My pleasure,” she replied as I started the tour for Diana.

Our first stop was my childhood bedroom where she got to see all the pictures of Lisa Ann and myself. There were no pictures of us apart as that never happened unless we were asleep. Diana giggled like a school girl as I walked her through the estate. Diana wasn’t poor by any means, but her whole house would have fit in the east wing of my estate. To say she was in awe and felt a little out of her element would be a grand understatement of what she was feeling right then. She had never treated me as if I was a lesser person for not having money like she did, and now suddenly the shoe was on the other foot.

I treated her no differently than she had treated me and the staff catered to her just the same as they would to me. We had a grand breakfast with all the trimmings and all the coffee we wanted. Diana gave herself the tour of the west wing while I explained to the staff how it was that John had become June. Not the full story, of course, and becoming a female wasn’t a done deal although it was pretty close and would be done soon enough. William and Charlotte would continue to take care of the estate as before and when it was safe I would return to stay.

Now that the staff at least had some idea of what was happening, I took Diana for a walk down to the beach. We sat on a bench father had made for Lisa Ann and I when we were still just kids. Almost every evening we would sit together and watch the sunset.

Diana opened a can of worms when she asked about all the pictures in my room of Lisa Ann and I.

I had to use great care as I told her about my soul mate. I didn’t know how much she knew or if she knew at all that I had found her once. I was cautious to never admit to loving her, as Diana would believe that my emotions would cloud my judgment. I would have her back and soon if my plan went well. Having Diana know that she was like family to me could work in my favor when the time came. Seeing that I was holding back about Lisa Ann she asked about my family.

I answered all of Diana’s questions and when she realized that I was a billionaire I thought she would faint. I could tell she was tired and sleepy so I sent her off to the guest room with Charlotte and a large cup of hot cocoa in tow.

I had other things to do and precious little time to get it done. The mobster that had caused Lisa Ann to be taken was having a party at his home tonight. I took my old car from the garage and headed for the storage locker I had rented years ago. Inside it was my sniper rifle and enough rounds to make sure Lisa Ann and her family were never threatened again. The old GTO still ran like new and in nothing flat I parked about a block away from his house.

I had bought the apartment building I was standing on for just this purpose. From the ledge I could sight my rifle and drop Tommy right where he stood, from this distance nobody would even hear the sound till the bullet struck home. I had waited three hours for the chance to take out Tommy clean. According to my source his son was soon to take his place and when they stood together close enough for two kills with one shot I pulled the trigger. The 308 whispered in my ear and then I saw both of them hit the ground together as their chest exploded. I slid down the steel hand rails and was on the ground and gone before the call went out to 911.

Early the next morning it was all over the news. Mobster Tommy Fallon and his son had been shot while hosting a party at their home. The police seemed baffled at the moment as they had two dead bodies, but only one bullet. The news anchor mused that it sounded like a professional hit to him, then went on to the next story.

I sent an e-mail to my informant that step one of my plan was in play. Almost as a side note I mentioned that Tommy Fallon and his son had both been killed during a party at their home or so said the news this morning. I wanted the e-mail to sound casual as my informant would be pleased to know it.

I got very little sleep that night and I had no remorse for what I had done. Lisa Ann was the love of my life once you understood that everything I did and had done would make sense. Lisa Ann loved me with equal measure and the two weeks we had been together in France she had proven that to me several times.

From that time till now, it was like an international chess game. Every move I made was calculated for cause and effect. My one and only goal was to get Lisa Ann home safely to her mom and dad. I had given her my word that I would make it happen and she knew I never went back on my word.

Father’s funeral went off as well as he had planned it and it wasn’t lavish by any means. I introduced Diana to several members of the Rothschild family, as well as the Fords, and several other well known families of wealth. John Wesley Champion had been reported KIA and his last name changed to Baines per his request. It wasn’t till he signed his real name that Diana realized who he really was.

June flew them back to New York on the C-4 that his father had bought him long ago. Diana sat in the co-pilots chair and was amazed at the grace with which she flew the plane. When they landed in New York, June made Diana swear that she would tell nobody about what she had seen and now knew. She knew June meant business and agreed to keep his/her secrets.

They took the shuttle back to her car and then made the drive back to Diana’s place getting there just after seven that night. They took Tuesday off anyway and Diana wondered if now he would give in and have the final operation. She danced around the subject and I told her it was high on my to do list now that dad was gone.

I saw Connie that following Monday and told her to schedule the operation any time she was ready. I even signed all the consent forms she had been pushing in front of me and then just walked out of her office. Connie had no clue why I was so happy, and nobody knew how close I was to having Lisa Ann home.

Connie sent me an e-mail later that day that it would take several weeks to get the surgeon that she wanted to use and at best I would get a forty-eight hour notice. I replied telling her that was fine with me and let it end at that.

Almost that same hour I started an e-mail exchange with the attorney general in Washington D.C. He asked more than a few questions, but the gist of it was why print the retraction in the legal notices and what would this accomplish in the long run?

It took several e-mails to explain it in detail like he wanted it. The idea was that now that Tommy and his son were dead, if Jack thought it was safe, too, he would come back to the U.S. to pay his last respects to his boss. The mob was big on respect and Jack was mob all the way.

Fashion week was two months away now and our preparations began in earnest. The park near the garment district was once again selected as the sight for the festivities which meant we needed a lot of bodies. And two extra if what I had planned happened as I hoped it would. The retraction was printed in the legal notice section about a week after the attorney general and I had swapped e-mail.

A week later my informant told me that Jack had book a flight back to the states and would arrive two days before fashion week ended. I was even given the AKA name he was using. After I got that e-mail it was like everything went into full speed ahead. Now, suddenly, my operation would be done exactly one month before fashion week started. To me that wasn’t a lot of recovery time.

When the day came, the doctor doing it said this would be a walk in the park after everything else I had been through. He figured I would be down for a week, maybe two, if I worked through the pain as it were. Doctors tend to embellish everything so I prepared for the worst just the same.

Diana stayed with me till the last minute and said she would be there when I awoke. Nobody understood my change of heart about becoming a girl and they understood even less when they realized I was having facial surgery and breast implants as well. It would all happen at the same time effectively removing the last traces of John Wesley Baines from the planet. Diana and a trusted few would know the truth but that was where it ended.

I felt like I had been hit by a train the next day. Taken on the whole it wasn’t near as painful the operations I had already had on my back, and that was saying something trust me. True to his word I was down for a week and spent the next week adjusting to the feel and look of the new me. Indeed, there was no trace of John left and I rewarded the doctor well for his work.

Nobody knew that Connie was my first cousin or that she had done a great deal of work behind the scenes getting me what I had asked for. I rewarded her as well and she smiled ear to ear when it came in cash.

As I adjusted to my new body, it became really clear to me that women. if they chose to, could live a pampered life. All of my clothes were soft and comfy, save the corset, and for the moment I was actually looking forward to living the rest of my life in such finery. Granted, the high heels weren’t great fun, but they did give a girl’s legs that look. Not sure how else to say that part. I hadn’t had the time to really tune in to all the little things like the feel of stockings on my legs, but I was looking forward to the time when I could.

As fashion week got closer, I pushed myself to get back to normal or as close to normal as I could. Jack would be here soon and payback was a bitch, named June. I would see him suffer at the very least, assuming I could stop myself from outright killing him just because. He was the last move on the chess board and once I had him it was safe for Lisa Ann to go home. She could do it and not bring her family back into harm’s way. My informant sent me an e-mail as soon as they were on U.S. soil and told me where to find Jack and his wife Brenda. They had brought a body guard so getting to them would not be an easy thing to do.

I now had no choice but to bring Diana further into my confidence. I reminded her that I had found Lisa Ann in France and then listed off the men I had killed or arrested to clear the path for her to come home. Diana was shocked to say the least, but she listened with rapt attention.

I handed her my CIA pass to the back gate of the airport and a picture of John and Lisa taken in France. Tonight I get her back, but it depends a lot on you. Jack the Fish is at the Hilton in the garment district. Lisa Ann won’t be far away as he keeps her on a short leash since I took her in France.

This ear piece will let you hear everything that happens tonight and when Jack tells us where she is, you get her and go to the airport. The C-4 will be fueled and ready when you get there and nobody will question this pass.

“She doesn’t know me, what if she refuses to go?” Diana said with a worried look.

“Just tell her that John Wesley sent you to collect Cricket, you tell her that and she will go without question,” June stated as if it were fact.

June was almost down to tears so Diana just agreed to do as she was asked. She could tell it was all June could do to keep herself together. Tonight was the end of ten years of hard work and June would have the last word.

Had she been honest with Diana, June had more aches and pains that carters had liver pills. She was too close to the end to stop now and she would see Lisa Ann get home or die trying. On that same note she already knew where Lisa Ann was, she had been the best informant a man could ask for.

The Porsche was full of fuel when June left her in the parking lot with Diana. She told her once again that once she had Lisa Ann she stopped for nothing till she was at hanger twelve where the C-4 would be waiting ready to go. You don’t stop moving till you are on the plane, she added just to make sure Diana understood.

June pushed back the tears as she got out of the car. She put the brass knuckles on her right hand and then slipped both hands into her jacket pockets. She casually climbed the outside stairs to the second floor looking for room two ten.

As she got closer, she saw the man standing watch at the balcony railing. He was close to one of the columns and that was good for what June had planned. She put some spring in her step as she got close and, when he looked at her and then turned his head, she punched him right below the jaw. His head bounced off the column and she quickly broke his wrist taking his gun in the process.

Diana watched from the safety of the car as she cuffed his other had to the balcony rail. June told him if he called out for help she would kill him on the spot and he believed her.

Jack opened the door to go out and have a smoke only to meet the same brass knuckles that his guard had. He landed flat off his back and June stomped his knee to dislocate it making sure he didn’t get up. Brenda moved towards her to intervene, but June rabbit punched her and she sprawled across the bed hitting her head on the headboard of the bed. Brenda would not be a problem for a few minutes anyway.

June threw a pillow on the floor to soften the blow and then took Jack’s arm by the wrist, she placed her foot in his arm pit and used her whole body like a lever as she fell to the floor. Jack cried out in pain at the top of his lungs as his shoulder dislocated and his wrist broke almost at the same time. Diana was hearing everything just as if she was standing there.

“Where is she?” June said through her clinch teeth.

“Fuck you,” Jack replied.

June broke his little finger and asked the question again.

“Where is she?” June said, even more intense than before.

“She who?” He screamed, as she broke his ring finger just for the pleasure of it.

“Lisa Ann, you call her Bethany, but I know who she really is,” June said, as her spit flew across the room.

His next finger was ready to snap when he yelled out three ten.

Diana lurched from the car in a full run to get to the room. A beautiful blond woman answered the door and Diana showed her her badge requesting that she come with her.

“Am I under arrest?” She asked.

“No, but you really need to come with me now, quickly,” she added, as she listened to June deal with Brenda.

“I don’t know you and I am not leaving without an explanation,” the woman said in a huff.

Frustrated, Diana had almost forgotten what June had told her to say. “John Wesley sent me to collect Cricket,” she just blurted it out all at once.

The woman burst into tears the second Diana stop speaking. She ducked back in the room and grabbed a young boy that Diana just knew had to be John’s son. He was the spitting image of the young John Wesley she had seen in the pictures. Save her purse, the woman left everything in her room and in second they were on their way to the airport.

June was standing over Jack explaining that two young women would be by soon to make the arrest legal. Unless he wanted more punishment like he had just gotten, he had a lot of confessing to do. Brenda had moved behind her with a long fingernail file made of soft steel. Just as June was ready to leave, she plunged the file between her legs ripping a gash down the side of her newly created vagina. It was a reflex and her backhand caught her at the Adams Apple crushing it so that she couldn’t breathe.

June took a towel and placed it between the crease of leg and the side of her vagina. It was bleeding a good amount, but now she had to get to the airport. She had precious cargo to deliver and a little scratch wasn’t going to stop that.

She took the keys to Jack’s rental and called in for backup. Everyone was down and medical assistance would be needed at the scene. That was the last radio call June would make for the FBI.

She made her way to the back gate of the airport and then flashed her pass and went on to hanger twelve. The ground crew had the plane ready to go just as June had requested and she boarded going directly to the pilot’s chair. She turned on the intercom so she could hear Diana as she knew Lisa Ann would want to know how this all happened.

As soon as the light said the door was sealed, he headed for the runway. The tower cleared her for takeoff telling her the weather was good and the traffic was light. June smiled as she moved the throttle forward and felt the wheels of the plane leave the ground.

The first thing June heard was the voice of a young boy asking his mom if he could use the bathroom now. Lisa Ann assured him it was ok and then looked at Diana as if asking for an explanation. Diana told her she was just doing as she had been asked to do and knew nothing about nothing.

“Well,” she smiled, as she tried to hold back the tears, “if John Wesley sent you to collect Cricket than he must surely trust you. My name is Lisa Ann Astor. I was kidnapped about thirteen years ago now. John Wesley tried to save me twice, once the day it happened and about ten years ago in France,” she paused to close the seatbelt for her son.

He held me as I cried knowing I couldn’t go home and put my family in danger. He held me again when he somehow got a secure line so I could tell my parents that I was alive and that John had found me. He gave his word that day he would get me home somehow, and now it would seem he has done the impossible once again.

She caressed the face of the boy that was her son, and Diana could see the love she had for John. She wondered if John knew he had a son, but she wasn’t going to ask.

There is a five million dollar reward for you as soon as we arrive. My parents posted it soon after I was taken, but rest assured they will pay without question.

“I had little to do with getting you home, John Wesley should get any reward,” Diana said, before she thought about it.

“He wouldn’t accept it, all John ever wanted was my love and I gave it to him years ago. John had been the love of my life since grade school. From day one he let it be known that I was off limits and any boy that had the guts to could challenge him anytime. He walked me to school every day and carried my books home in the afternoon. If another boy so much as teased me, John was in his face a split second later. I can’t tell you why he was that way over me, but he was from the first time we met,” she paused and just gazed at her son.

“John told me he loved me before either of us knew what it meant and he hasn’t changed a bit, I would guess. It wasn’t love at first sight for me, but over time I realized that a person such as John Wesley came along only once in a girl’s life. After that we were attached at hip, my mom used to say. Dad called me Cricket since I was so small when I was born, he said he could hold me with one hand, and that was what John eventually called me. That’s how I knew I would be safe with you.”

The tears flowed down her face like a river and her son tried to hold her as best he could. It was clear to Diana now that the love they shared was the love that would last till long after they had left this earth. Even just listening to her talk about John, Diana could feel the loss she endured. John was so close all these years and yet so far that they could not be together. Once they were on the ground, Lisa gave her John’s original CIA laptop that she had used all these years as his informant.

“Everything you would want to know about John Wesley can be found in here,” she said as she walked down the stairs of the plane.

Diana followed her down the stairs to the open arms of her now much older mother and father. She found her composure long enough for her parents to give me the reward.

“John Wesley got me home Momma, John got me home,” she sobbed as her mom and dad openly cried tears of Joy.

June sat in the cabin now with the blood soaked towel between her legs. She had done what Lisa Ann’s parents could only dream of, and she watched and cried her own tears as she knew she would likely never be able to see her again. She introduced them to her son as John Wesley Jr. and that told Diana all she needed to know.

Diana watched till the car was out of sight and then turned back to the plane to check on June. By now she had passed out from the loss of blood, but Diana called an ambulance and soon she was headed for the hospital.

A reporter with a sharp eye had watched from a distance as Lisa Ann was returned to her parents. He reported it even before June made it the hospital, adding that a person he didn’t recognize on sight had been taken by ambulance from the same plane as Lisa Ann.

It took less than an hour for the Miami Dade Hospital to go into full lock down, and only the best surgeon was even allowed to see June. These people weren’t stupid with Lisa Ann all over the news and June coming in right on the heels of that report they knew what was coming.

It took less than thirty minutes for William and Charlotte to arrive. David and Irene Astor were close on their heels and Lisa Ann, along with her son, were soon sitting in the waiting room with Diana.

It took ten stitches to close the cut left from Brenda’s nail file and three pints of whole blood just to get her blood pressure anywhere close to acceptable. For now she was in a coma and it would be nothing short of a miracle if she made it through the night.

Diana didn’t have the heart to do it so William pulled the Astor family to the side and explained about what had happened to John. He didn’t know the full story as it were, but he felt sure by now John was really June. There were no tears left for Lisa Ann to cry when June went into repertory failure around two in the morning. They brought her back, but had to shock her four times to get a steady heart beat.

The doctors told us all then it was just a matter of time. There seemed to be no way she could hold on much longer.

As best she could to a ten year old boy that would never understand, Lisa Ann tried to tell John, Jr. that June was really his father, he was in bad shape but true to his word, as always, he had gotten them home and they should be forever thankful for that.

With a face that only a ten year old boy could make, he asked the doctor if he could see his dad. There was nothing more the doctors could do so he let Lisa Ann and John, Jr. go in to see her.

John climbed up on the bed and rested his head on her chest, then promptly fell asleep there. Lisa Ann wouldn’t make John, Jr. leave the room and she stayed till John, Jr. awoke on his own.

June’s condition was listed as stable after she had made it through the night. The doctors were not optimistic by any means and William and Charlotte seemed to grieve the most.

Diana got to listen as Lisa Ann told her mom in more detail all the things John had done to get her home and see to it that they were safe. She left out several murders and others things a family like the Astor’s would not have approved of. In reality, John had taken care of her most of his life. He saw to it that she had anything she needed and almost everything she wanted. By her own estimate, John had spent several million dollars on her and John, Jr. over the years.

William and Charlotte stayed at the hospital that day. The Astor’s took Diana home with them and treated her as an honored gust. She was fed and given a hot shower and then a very comfortable bed to sleep on till she awoke on her own. Lisa Ann gave her a change of clothes before they headed back to the hospital.

It would be a long night and Lisa Ann almost regretted leaving John, Jr. at home. She talked about John Wesley all night and Diana almost felt like she knew who he really was by morning. This day repeated itself for most of a week before the doctors gave June any hope of survival.

“She has made it this long and we never expected she would make it through the night. Her heart beat is much stronger and the fluid is drying out in her lungs so there is some hope,” the doctor said just before he went home for the night.

It was just after seven in the morning on Friday when William and Charlotte arrived and Lisa Ann and I were about to go back to her place for some sleep. A nurse taking food into her room alerted Charlotte and she asked why take food to someone in a coma.

Five of us made a mad dash to the door and there sat June upright in the bed as if nothing had happened. In a way, to her nothing had happened. So far as she knew, it was the next day, not a week and two days later.

Lisa Ann asked for the room and the rest of us were glad to let her have it. She and June had a lot of catching up to do. It took only a few hours before June was dressed and ready to leave the hospital. They can’t keep a patient against their will and June was ready to go.

William and Charlotte took her home and Diana went along just in case she was rushing things. June was not happy that Lisa Ann had been told the truth about what had happened to John. June had wanted to leave her with her memories of John intact. Now she knew about June and June knew about John, Jr., this was not the happy ending John had envisioned.

Diana stayed for another week before she headed back to New York. In the end it was John, Jr. that brought the lovers back together as he refused to not have June in his life. He was, eventually, given the Champion last name and in time he would inherit all of June’s wealth. Lisa Ann passed away just after she turned eighty years old and two days later June passed away as well. John, Jr. only got the full story about his father one time from June just after he turned thirty years old.

I have told the story only twice now and if you haven’t guessed by now, yes, my name is John Wesley Champion, Jr.

It might seem like a footnote to the story by now, but do you recall Jack the Fish? Nikki arrested him and after a visit to the hospital to take care of some broken bones and such she sat with him to take his confession.

At first he confessed to the murder that got him his nickname and to taking Lisa Ann and said that was all. Nikki faked a phone call to June saying she should come question Jack herself. She ended the call and then explained that June was the woman that had came to his motel room.

Sweat broke out on his forehead and he feverishly wrote his own confession. He had killed some twenty odd men, and taken ten children over the years. The idea that June might come back to torment him was more than enough to get a full confession.

Nikki closed the books on all the murders and seven of the ten children, not including Lisa Ann, were returned to their parents. Nikki never understood and was never told the real story. Soon after she retired she said ‘it was as if some force of nature just dropped it all in my lap’. The case, when it was all done, had made her a star in the FBI. I would have to agree with her in a way, it was a force of nature that dropped it all in her lap. It’s called love and John Wesley.