Later in the evening as Carmen and Felica are heading back to their hotel room. Carmen looks at Felica. “How did you hook up with this group?”

The whole entire time, she was there listening to the team being sent to the greenhouse to scout out its security system. She watched everyone and how they behaved.

“Working on the Blue Lace case. They have been shutting down the manufacturing and distribution of the drug. So, instead of us stumbling and interfering with each other’s operation. We decided to combine our resources and work together. Sparrow has her agents in certain cities where they learned where the manufacturing was taking place.”

“Did you notice how they were looking at me and you?” Carmen noticed how some of the women were looking at them.

“I noticed. Some of Sparrow’s members are lesbians; I don’t have a problem with that. Some of my relatives are lesbians, as you well know.”
Felica was thinking about her cousin Wildfire and her wife.

“I know. It’s just something I’m not used to. I appreciate what Sasha did for me and my daughter.”

“From what she told me, your daughter was being used as leverage to make you do what Don Franco wanted you to do,” Felica remembered the
briefing she got from her cousin about Carmen.

“Among other things. I can’t believe the people who I thought were my parents turned out to be false. They trained and taught me to be a highly trained thief from when I could walk. Even the experiments they conducted on me to improve my body to be physically perfect were to serve their purpose.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Carmen.” Felica looked at Carmen as she sat next to her in her BMW.

Carmen pulls out the locket hidden under her outfit and opens it to look at the picture of her daughter. A daughter she was forced to have after the doctors impregnated her with an egg they had taken from her and fertilized it with Don Franco’s semen. They wanted the child to have her abilities but be loyal to Don Franco.

Now she didn’t have to worry about her daughter being used as leverage against her. Her daughter was protected and safe. She could spend as much time as she liked with her daughter.

Felica noticed Carmen looking at the locket with a picture of Carmen’s daughter. Sasha, Blaze, and her daughter Robyn had rescued the little girl from Don Franco’s estate in Brazil. The men there learned what happens when you piss off women who could control and generate fire.

Sparrow’s Mansion:
Sparrow gets with Dove and the twins. She saw Felica and Carmen leave just a few minutes ago.

“I take it everything went fine?” Sparrow looks at Dove since she is the one most people ignore on missions.

“Grace and Falcon will go in before Felica and her assistant Carmen. Between the four of them, we should be able to get a good idea of what the
greenhouse grows and its security system. Just in case, I’ll outfit them with our standard surveillance equipment.”

“I take it you and the twins are going to be parked nearby to monitor everything?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t leave them without some backup. Hawk and Scout will be parked nearby just in case we need them. Felica said she’d have her people nearby as well.”

“Good. We need to find out about that plant. D. Bannon can find anything on it.”

“I thought all the different plants and such have been categorized.” Dove had a puzzled look on her face.

“There is still a lot we don’t know about. Are you going to stay here tonight or head out?” Sparrow knew Dove liked moving around.

“I’ll stay here tonight. I will review the surveillance van and ensure it has everything we need for the job.”

“All right. I’ll have Smanatha prepare a room for you.” Sparrow figures Sam already knew they were going to have guests.

“Thanks.” Dove turns and starts walking towards the multi-car garage.

Sparrow watches as Dove walks away. She still couldn’t get over that Dove was stuck looking like she does. She felt sorry for Dove because people wouldn’t take her seriously because she looked young.

Sparrow spots Jinx playing with the puppy Samantha gave her outside in the backyard. Jinx’s recovery was coming along, but she still had a ways to go. The poor girl had been sexually abused by people she trusted.

She finds Samantha in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone. Samantha was another person her mother rescued from a life of abuse. Samantha had been made to feel ashamed for being born a girl. Her parents had emotionally and verbally abused Samantha since she was a child. They made her feel unloved and unwanted.

On top of that cruelty, Samantha’s parents forced her to bind her chest and dress like a boy. They cut her hair short and made her wear only male underwear and clothing. They would also inject large qualities of testosterones into her body. Any time she showed any feminine traits or did anything that wasn’t manly. Her father would tie her down and whip her on her buttocks with a thick leather belt until she bled.

The testosterone injections damaged her body chemistry, but luckily her mother managed to fix some of the damage to Samantha’s organs. However, Samantha will never be able to have children of her own. Samantha’s father injected so much testosterone into her body while she was young. It damaged her ovaries and made her sterile. He also removed her uterus at a young age. He would have removed her breasts, but he and his wife liked abusing her over how small they were.

“How’s dinner coming, Sam?” Sparrow stops at the center counter and smiles at Samantha.

“It’s coming. I thought everyone might like meatloaf wrapped with bacon, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans and for dessert. I will make an upside-down pineapple cake with brown sugar.”

“I can’t wait to try the meatloaf. I’ve never had meatloaf wrapped in bacon before.” Sparrow wonders what it will taste like.

“I think you’ll like it. How did the meeting go?” Samantha stayed out of what Sparrow’s team did.

“It went well.”

“Good. Is this case related to the Blue Lace case?” Samantha looks at Sparrow’s face when she asks the question.

“I don’t think so, but there might be some connection. I have a gut feeling that the two might have a common thread/connection.”

“Well, you know what your mother would say. Go with your gut feeling.” Samantha had learned a lot from Sparrow’s mother.

“Thank you for reminding me of that.”

“You’re welcome.” As a playful smile appears on Samantha’s face.