SS:TIE 004

Lotte sneers. “You guys need to relax.”

Rey grabs her by the hair and holds tight, forcing her to sit up. It’s all Rey can do not to bounce Lotte’s face off the table. She takes a deep breath and hands Lotte an envelope.

“You’re gonna take this,” she says. “And then you get the fuck out of Miami.” She addresses the others, still holding Lotte. “Anyone sees this stupid cunt after today, you kill her on sight.” Rey drags Lotte out of the booth and gives her a push.

Lotte straightens, face burning. She brushes herself off and leaves the diner. Rey watches her go, then turns to look at one of the customers who is watching. The woman goes back to her meal.

SS:TIE

The house is spotless and largely bare. Rey doesn’t bother with the lights, even though it’s dark. She sighs and pulls the pistol from the holster in the small of her back and lays it down, pausing by the sliding doors. The Atlantic is quiet tonight. Anyone else would be able to hear a pin drop in the silence of the empty house, but not Rey. She jerks the refrigerator open and takes out a beer, draining half of it with a grimace. She coughs and wipes her mouth. Beer helps, but nothing makes the tinnitus go away except music.

And she’s not in the mood to listen to music.

SS:TIE

Metal rings pop off the curtain rod.

“Hah!” Ro cries, arching her back as she clutches at the drapes. She’s bent over by the bedroom windows with Chica kneeling behind her. Chica ignores the noise and thrusts her tongue deeper into her wife. She has Ro’s underwear pulled to the side, and she yanks it down for better access, burying her face in Ro’s pussy.

“Baby!” Ro starts to reach back toward Chica’s head, but Chica’s finger tug the hood of her clit, making her shriek and almost fall. Chica gets to her feet and wraps one arm around Ro to turn her head for a kiss, still using her fingers on her from behind. Messy, sloppy, and tearful, Ro claws the curtains down as she cums.

Chica eases her to the floor, where she wipes her mouth and catches her breath. They sit together in silence underneath the window on the rumpled curtain, now stained with Ro’s juices.

Ro’s face is flushed with the afterglow, but her eyes are sharp. “What’s wrong?” she asks.

Chica gazes impassively at the bed, which is freshly made. “I don’t agree with some things that Rey’s done lately.”

Ro snuggles up. “Maybe it’s time to get out.”

Chica shakes her head. “She needs someone watching her back. I owe her that much.”

“I know you two went through a lot in the Army, but it’s been a long time. If there’s a debt for what she did for you back then, it’s paid. This isn’t worth it.”

Chica doesn’t reply to that. Annoyed, Ro glares at her.

“Baby, she is gonna get you killed or locked up,” the little redhead insists.

Chica glances over at her, her distraction obvious. “They’re my family.”

Ro’s eyes widen. “Then what the hell am I?”

SS:TIE

Sally pulls into her driveway and answers her phone. It’s Alison.

“No luck on the explosive, boss. Mostly mining companies buying the stuff, but we’re talking hundreds of sales every day in ten states.”

“If we isolate it to a…” Sally rubs her face. “Two-hundred-mile radius?”

“Still way too many sales, especially if they bought it a few weeks ago. It would take us a week just to do this week. Months of work to run down every ID.”

“Well, put someone on it. Maybe we get lucky.” Sally ends the call and climbs out of her car into the hot Miami night.

The lights are on in the bedroom. Sally drags herself exhaustedly into the house and drops onto the sofa like a corpse.

Tracy appears at the top of the stairs looking worried. Clutching her robe, she hurries down. “Are you OK?”

Sally slumps over and raises her thumb.

“Where were you?” Tracy asks.

“New case. Eastside.”

“The thing with the UPS truck and the bomb?”

“Yup.”

“Jesus. You didn’t want to fucking call me? Do you know what time it is?”

Sally groans and puts her feet up. “Nope.”

“You can’t keep doing this.”

“There was a body.” Sally stares at the ceiling. “They didn’t just kill her, they executed her. Some kid that grew up in foster care and dropped out. They just shot her to get at some money. It’s got to stop, Tracy. Richest country on Earth and we’re out here like a bunch of fucking animals.” She puts her hand over her eyes.

“This is what has to stop,” Tracy says, pointing at the floor.

Sally moans. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to call me. I want you to stop treating me like I’m your mother.”

Sally rubs her temples. “You didn’t seem to mind when I was your student.”

“This is what we’re doing tonight?”

“I don’t control when I catch a big case. I don’t control when they decide to waste some girl like trash, and I don’t control when I get promoted and half the department is watching my every move because god fucking forbid a woman clears anything on major crimes.”

It’s quiet for a minute.

“OK,” Tracy says finally. “I’ll keep doing your laundry. And I changed the sheets in the guest room.”

“Jesus.” Sally rubs her face, listening to the soft footfalls as Tracy goes back upstairs.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket. It’s Shelby.

Should Sally take the call or go upstairs after Tracy?