The Wheels of Justice Turn

“Oh, put that down. You didn’t come all this way to shoot an FBI agent.” Tom was methodically putting on latex gloves. If he was afraid of the gun in Elisa’s hand, he wasn’t showing it.

Elisa was afraid though. What the hell was he even doing here!?

“You followed me. You’re following me.” She felt like shaking herself to pieces, but she kept it together.

“Yup,” he replied smugly.

“Why!?” she bellowed.

“Known associate of the target of an ongoing, high priority investigation.” As if that explained anything. Tom walked up to Elisa and put his hand out. “Gimme.” He retrieved an evidence bag from his pocket with his free hand.

With a sigh, she put the gun in his hand. It wasn’t like she had an escape plan as it was, but having this damn Fed here was about as close to a worst-case scenario as it got.

He calmly and expertly removed the silencer, unloaded the pistol, and put it in the evidence bag.

“So, uh, this is the part where I arrest you for ****,” Tom said, in complete control. “I don’t have to search you, right?”

Weird question from an FBI agent. “No, I don’t have anything else,” Elisa said weakly. She figured she’d have at least some time to get away. She didn’t even have time to leave the room. “You’re being awfully casual.”

“Your brother was an asshole,” Tom said. “Like, ten-out-of-ten, grade A scumbag.” He gently pulled her to her feet and turned her around. “You’re not going to see me crying that there’s one less dickhead like that in the world.” He sighed as she felt the handcuffs. “I mean… look. The reason you’re here is clearly very different than the reason I’m here. I might cry myself to sleep tonight thinking how you just corpsed my investigation, but it is distressingly obvious you had no idea what Jacob was in to. There’s pretty much no way you could have factored any of that in. But in general, him being dead? Cool.”

Did the Fed actually admit he was okay that her brother was dead? What the hell was going on here?

Tom turned her around, pulled out his dinky iPhone, and turned on his voice recorder.

“Elisa Strauss, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in proceedings. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present with you during questioning. If you do not have an attorney and cannot afford to hire one, a public defender will be appointed for you. Should you choose to waive your right to remain silent, at any time you may choose to stop answering questions until your attorney has been made present. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”

“Yes,” Elisa choked out.

“Having been read, and understanding your rights, do you still wish to speak with me?” He paused ever so briefly. “Say no, please.”

What? “What?” She actually said aloud.

“Decline to speak with me. Please.”

“Are you allowed to say that?” Elisa asked. What was this Fed doing?

“Please repeat after me. I wish to consult with my attorney…” Tom looked weirdly insistent.

“I wish to consult with my attorney…” she went ahead and repeated him. Elisa knew she was in way over her head.

“And I refuse to answer any further questions…”

“And I refuse to answer any further questions…”

“Until I have been allowed to do so.”

“Until I have been allowed to do so.” Elisa was beyond confused at this point.

Agent Tom put his phone to his mouth. “Ten-thirty-two-PM, suspect has invoked Miranda.” He then shut off his voice recorder and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Don’t cops normally not want me to lawyer up?”

“Okay,” Tom said, turning her around and moving her back towards the front door. “So here’s how it is. I don’t need a confession to get you on the ****. We have the gun, we have a reputable eye witness, to wit, me, and we have your DNA all over your brother’s house and body. You’re covered in GSR. You’re done.” The night air felt cool on her naked skin as he took her outside and towards an ugly Crown Vic. “So if I’m going to ask you anything at all, it won’t be about the homicide, it’ll be about my investigation, and I really don’t want to have that conversation without your attorney present.” Another pause. “You really stepped in it on this one. Good job!”

… Tom was a dick.

He looked over to someone who was clearly another agent, a Hispanic guy in an FBI windbreaker. “Hey, I’m gonna drive her back to LA. Can you stick around until LBPD’s CID gets down here? I want everything cataloged. And make sure that PD knows we have an ongoing interest in the case. They need to know which stuff is ours and which is theirs.”

“You got it boss.”

It turned out saying “my” investigation wasn’t a slip of the tongue earlier, Tom was apparently the Lead Agent, or at least somewhere high on the food chain. Maybe he was right. Maybe she did just stumble on something horrific. But what in the hell could that be?

Interestingly he put her in the passenger seat of the Crown Vic and not the back. Elisa watched as Tom circled the car and opened the trunk, then close it and get into the driver’s seat.

“Not the back seat?” Elisa teased.

“Wow, you still have a sense of humor. Good for you!” So did Tom, obviously. “You’re not going to try anything, we both know you’re not going to try anything, so it’s better for me if I treat you like a human being and not just another perp.”

“Then do you mind taking the cuffs off?” Elisa asked honestly. “This seat hurts. The metal’s digging into my back.”

He thought for a minute. “I’ll cuff you from the front. I have to keep you somewhat restrained.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Turn your back towards me please.”

She rotated. True to his word, he pulled the cuff off of one wrist. Damn these things hurt.

“Put your seatbelt on, then put your hands on the dash. Do not try anything. You’d regret it.”

Elisa thought better than to try the nice asshole’s patience. She did as instructed. When she put her hands on the dash, he reached over and put the cuff back on.

“Let me know if you want me to lean your seat back so you can rest or something,” he said as he started the car.

“Can I lean it forward so I can suck your cock?” Elisa teased again.

That earned her a long look. “So you can bite my dick off and make a runner while we’re on the road? I’m gonna pass on that, thanks.”

And with that they were off.

“Where are we going?”

“FBI office in Downtown LA,” he sighed. “Sorry for the long drive. The conversation I need to have with you, local PD precinct isn’t going to cut it.”

“It must be bad if you’re apologizing to a girl in cuffs.” She paused for a long while as they got closer to the freeway. “Can you… tell me anything… about Jacob?”

Tom looked incredibly somber. “I’m sorry, I can’t. Not yet.” He sighed. “This is a sensitive situation. There need to be certain… protections in place, vetted by an attorney, for both of us before I can tell you who your brother really was. But, uh… let me put it this way. If it wasn’t for my ongoing investigation, I’d be seriously considering letting you go. He was that bad.” He sighed. “Then again, if it wasn’t for my ongoing investigation, he’d have been in jail years ago for the shit he’s pulled.”

Elisa tried to let that sink in as they drove. She had no idea. They sat in silence for a while.

“Hey Sarah, we have a situation,” Tom said out of the blue.

She looked over to see he’d put an older Bluetooth headset into his ear.

“Um, if you haven’t heard yet, Strauss is DOA.”

Elisa heard the loud “WHAT?” through the other end of the phone.

“Fucking… could you not do that, maybe?” Tom said, visibly recoiling from the sound. “I have a fucking thing in my ear and you’re screaming right into it. I like my hearing.” He straightened himself out. “No, I can’t put you on speaker, I have the suspect in the car… Yes, I got her… No, nothing like that. At least with what we have right now I’d be surprised… As sure as I can be. If they had him aced they sure went about it in a roundabout, fuckin’ convoluted way. And if they did set this up, from what I know, they have more pull than we thought. No, I’m reasonably sure this isn’t related to our investigation… I don’t, without a confession what can I actually say? I’m ninety-to-ninety-five percent sure we’re still live.” He gave a long sigh as the woman on the other side apparently gave a long speech. “I’d like to go back to the part where I have the suspect in the car. Look, let me book her—Yes, her… Yes, that ‘her’… Suspect. In. Car. I’m not answering that in front of the suspect! … Sarah, what the fuck do you want me to do about it, put her in the trunk? She’s cooperating. That’s good for us… Okay, Sarah, enough is enough. I was giving you an update, this isn’t the time. Can you meet me at the office in, like, two hours? … No, the fucking DC office. Yes, the Downtown office, come on… Look, I’ll buy them both a round next time I see them. You and I both know that this is important… Look, I know it’s late, sorry for interrupting family-fuckfest time, but maybe you missed the part where a principal in our investigation is on his way to the morgue. I owe you all a beer. Transmission received, okay? … Yeah, say hi to Connie and Edgar for me… Yeah, like quarter-to-one. … Great, thanks. See you then. Bye.”

He pulled the Bluetooth out of his ear and shoved it in his pocket.

“She sounds cute,” Elisa quipped. She couldn’t help herself.

“Fuckin’ lawyers, man…” Tom responded. “You, uh, you want me to put on the radio or something?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“What do you like?”

“Um, I don’t know. Hip hop?” Why was Tom being nice all of a sudden?

“Let me see if we get The Beat on this side. I know it’s in the other LA…”

---

The FBI office was nothing like how it looked on TV. It was small cubicles and old computers and some very tired people working on a lot of paper. It reminded her of the back of her old computer shop. She was booked by a LAPD sergeant, her mugshot was almost informally taken against a white wall, and she was lead to a small interrogation room. Tom was there waiting, reading that damn tablet of his.

“Have a seat,” Tom said.

She sat down across from him. “So what happens now?” she asked.

“We’re waiting on your attorney. My sister knows some really good ones, she’s sending over an old law school buddy for you.” He rolled his eyes. “And we’re waiting on Sarah, who really should have been here by now.”

“Maybe she kept going with the, uh, what did you call it? Family fuck-fest time?”

That actually got Tom to laugh. “Knowing her? Yeah. That’s possible. When she’s off the clock, the only thing she wants is her husband’s dick up her ass. I’ve seen them go at it during after-hours meetings.”

“And because I—”

Tom put his hand up and made a bizarre “Diidiirrrt” noise from his mouth. Elisa quickly stopped talking. “Nope. Stop riiiight there. Your lawyer isn’t present, so anything you say to me between now and then is inadmissible. If you’re planning on saying a damn thing about the events of tonight, please shut the fuck up.”

“Sorry, I just…” Elisa was trying hard to hold back tears. “I just… I need to say something…” She had an idea. “So what’s a prude world Fed doing on this side?”

That got Tom to relax again. “Heh. Actually, believe it or not, I’m from this side.” He smiled. “I get that a lot. The Sexworld has an interesting relationship with suits.”

“You don’t seem to care about sex that much. I mean, forget the suit. You just don’t seem like you’re from here, you know?”

“Yeah, growing up asexual in the Sexworld, that does a number on you.” He smiled at her. Genuine emotion. “I imagine growing up a sex-starved super slut in the prude world is similar in that regard.”

Now it was Elisa’s turn to smile. “Yeah, I guess it does. So you don’t… have sex at all?”

“I mean, with my wife I do, when she wants it. She’s got all sorts of boyfriends and girlfriends, but I mean, husbandly duty and all that.” This smile was a sad one. “I love her to ****. I’m just weird on sex. We get by.”

“You are the weirdest cop I’ve ever met.”

“You met a lot?” Tom asked sarcastically.

“You’re the first who didn’t want to fuck me.” She thought about the jerk city cop who woke her up that morning.

“Heh. Hey, you’re a cutie. I knew a lot of girls like you where I grew up. If I was wired like the rest of this planet, I’d be all over you in a hurry.”

“That’s sweet. I think.” She paused. “Is it?”

“It’s somewhere between sweet and creepy, which is appropriate for our relationship.”

There was a knock at the door. “Enter!” Tom called out.

A tall, bald, African-American man in a sexworld version of a suit, which was to say he looked like a male stripper, walked in. Open jacket, assless chaps, his dick swinging in the breeze. Only the briefcase indicated that he was actually a professional. “I’m Colin Massey. You must be Agent…”

“Let’s go with Slattery,” Tom replied, shaking his hand.

“Like the actor?” Elisa blurted.

“Oh, right, I gave you my name as Tom on the train didn’t I?” He paused. “Sure. I’ll borrow his name for a bit. I’m a fan.”

“I didn’t peg you for the Mad Men type,” Elisa continued. She was too nervous, she couldn’t help herself. It was like a Bad Joke Switch got flipped.

“Eh, I’m not really, but my wife loves the show. I liked him though. He was good. Him and the redhead.”

“Are you trying to claim the identity of an actor?” Massey asked incredulously.

“I think we can all clearly see that I’m not Tom Slattery the actor, I’m not claiming to be him, and I look nothing like the guy. Let’s move on.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’re not allowed to give a false identity in an official capacity,” Colin admonished.

“Unless my identity is not to be divulged in the course of a FISA investigation, under the order of a closed court on the Ninth Circuit District Court.”

That sounded bad. Elisa wasn’t exactly a law scholar, but that sounded really bad.

“FISA?” Even Massey sounded like that was bad. “Foreign Intelligence Security Act FISA?”

“Do you know another FISA?” Tom asked. “Yes, I’m operating under a FISA warrant.”

That also hung in the air. Holy shit, who was Tom anyway!?

“My client is being held as a foreign agent? Is that what you’re saying?”

No. No, no, no. What? They thought she was a spy!? No way.

“Ah, shit,” Tom said, taking his glasses off. He pulled a cleaning cloth out of his pocket and started cleaning them off. “I may have slipped up a bit. Please close the door? I have to read you two in on this much now.”

Massey quietly closed the door. He looked pale as a ghost, which is incredibly impressive for a black man.

“No, your client is not under FISA investigation, though she was surveilled as part of the investigation,” Tom said. “Miss Strauss did, however, allegedly **** someone who was.”

“My brother was a foreign agent!?” Elisa blurted. What the hell did she do?

“Not… exactly? Look, I’d love to tell you more, but we’re still waiting on AUSA Sarah Shepherd to get here. I really can’t divulge anything pertinent to the case until then. This is her show, not mine.”

“I see.” Massey took a seat next to Elisa.

“You guys want some coffee while we wait for her?” Tom asked.

“Yes. Please.” Elisa said.

“Thank you,” Massey added.

Tom reached over and opened the door again. “Probie!” he called out.

A young-ish agent with a mop of brown hair walked in. “Yes sir?”

“Three coffees. You know how I like mine.” Tom indicated to Elisa and Massey. “How do you guys take it?”

“Um, black, please,” Massey said.

“Same,” Elisa added.

“Two black, one with a metric assload of sugar.”

“Yes sir.”

The “probie” left the three of them, and Tom explained to Massey the details of the case. Elisa’s movements over the last week were laid bare. Tom explained in shocklingly specific detail her entry into Sexworld, her trip to Vegas and time in the group room, buying the gun from Santino, the follow team apparently losing Elisa when leaving Vegas, and only picking up the trail again when Santino admitted that Elisa had bought the gun for her brother. She instantly regretted saying that to him. He described in detail the conversation that Elisa had with her brother before killing him, and even admitted that the whole thing was caught on video since Jacob was under video surveillance, and yes he had a warrant for that which the mysterious Sarah would provide upon her arrival. It took a while for Elisa to realize that her coffee was sitting in front of her in a Styrofoam cup, she hadn’t even noticed, she’d been so fixated on her failures being presented for the whole world to see.

“So there are three options on the table,” Tom concluded. “Option one, you go to trial. We’re going to request a closed court and sealed records on that, don’t fight me on this. That’ll be thirty-five-to-life served in most likely San Quentin. Chino if you’re lucky. There’s an outside chance of the **** penalty, but seeing how vile the victim was, how sympathetic your client is by comparison, I gotta be honest. Even with the premeditation, a Needle is unlikely. I don’t see a jury going that way. And let me be clear, if you argue with us on the closed court thing, I’ll see to it your client does her time in the prude world.”

The **** penalty… at least Tom was trying to defuse that one. The man was brutally honest, even about his dishonesty. Whatever his real name was.

“Option two, and we’ll detail out exactly what this means once Sarah arrives… where the hell is she?... Anyway, we’d be asking for cooperation from your client in our case. Now I can’t officially offer an agreement, but somewhat off the record, we can offer Manslaughter One, five-to-fifteen in a minimum-security facility. She’ll probably do three of that. So she’s out by her thirty-third birthday.”

“And if my client doesn’t know anything?” Massey asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when Sarah gets here.”

“And option three?”

Tom looked directly at Elisa to answer. “You agree to cooperate, and then try to go the other way and inform the people we’re after.” Tom’s face looked incredibly serious. “If that’s the case, then she’s on the hook for the entire criminal conspiracy. Every body her brother dropped, every body his associates dropped. We will seek the **** penalty, and we will see her incarcerated in a Supermax until her execution.”

“Every body my brother dropped!? What… how many people did he kill!?”

“Directly? As far as we know, only your mother.” Tom paused, as the weight of the fact that the cops knew about Jacob this whole time sunk in. “Indirectly? Shit, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but you deserve to know. We believe he organized at least three targeted hits, and we have him on the hook for over a dozen Felony Murders.”

Elisa felt crushed. She knew her brother was awful, but he killed that many people! He was a monster.

She cried and bawled and screamed. She was completely blindsided.

“Define felony **** in this instance, Agent Slattery,” Massey said. Even he sounded terrified at what Elisa had bungled into.

“Jacob Strauss was, in the course of his criminal activity, directly responsible for the condition of several individuals who have since expired,” Tom replied. “We have a direct line from his actions to their deaths. If not for Mister Strauss, they would still likely be alive.”

“That sounds more like Depraved Indifference Homicide.” The look on Massey’s face was one of intense determination. It didn’t seem like he much liked what he was roped into.

“Either-or. Sarah thinks Felony **** would be easier to prosecute, but start throwing Criminal Conspiracy charges in there and who knows. Whatever, she’s the lawyer.” He sighed. “Not like it matters now. We’re gonna have to call this a paper clearance.”

“Paper… clearance?” Elisa barely recognized her own voice.

“Investigation abated due to the untimely **** of the suspect.” Massey shook his head.

A beautiful blonde woman walked into the interview room, wearing a professional bright red suit and skirt. She looked right out of the 80s. Her blouse was unbuttoned far enough to show a lot of cleavage, but unlike most Sexworld outfits, her tits were not actually on display. Too bad, it looked like she had some big ones. “Sorry I’m late.” She bent down and kissed Tom on the cheek.

“Where the hell were you?” Tom asked, frustrated. “We’ve been waiting forever.”

“Somehow the 405 was a disaster at one in the morning. Truck jackknifed. I called Hanley at the desk, I told him to tell you.”

Tom looked back towards the interrogation room door. “So whose cock was he sucking when you got here?”

“Phillips’ cunt, actually.”

Tom facepalmed. “Can we borrow that pretty Korean receptionist from your office? She at least knows how to take a call, even while her mouth is busy with other things.”

“You should try her mouth, Tom,” Sarah teased. “You might loosen up a bit.”

Tom just playfully flipped her off.

“I’m Colin Massey with Bernhard and Partners,” Elisa’s lawyer said, standing to extend his hand.

Instead of shaking it, Sarah took his hand and brought it up to her lips. “Sarah Shepherd, AUSA.”

“Charmed,” Massey added. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“How long until they’re going at it in the conference room?” Elisa found the strength to joke. Somewhere.

“Fifteen minutes, maybe,” Tom almost groaned.

“We could always start now,” Sarah said lustily. She and Massey were already getting close to each other, her long, delicate fingers snaking around his dick. “Get it out of the way.”

“Maybe we can get the gag orders out of the way first?” Tom said, clearly frustrated. He took a swig of his coffee. “My daughter is already on my ass to help her with SAT prep, it’s nearly two in the morning, and I’d like to get some sort of sleep tonight.” He sighed. “Besides, there’s no way I’m sending her to booking without some sort of plan in place. Come on Sarah, slut it up later, I need you in Lawyer Mode.”

Sarah took a breath. “To be continued.” And just like that her presence changed. With an adjustment of her shoulders and the look on her face, Sarah Shepherd became the biggest presence in the room. “Miss Strauss, I’m Sarah Shepherd, Assistant US Attorney. You’re being charged with the **** of a suspect in an ongoing investigation, and a conspirator in numerous criminal enterprises. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she choked out.

“Special Agent… Slattery,” Sarah was still clearly getting used to the name. “Do you feel there is enough evidence for a successful prosecution?” She clearly already knew the answer, this was in part for show.

“Yes, we have airtight physical evidence including video and audio recordings of the homicide,” Tom replied professionally.

“Miss Strauss, my office is willing to offer you a drastically reduced sentence in exchange for ongoing cooperation with this investigation.” Sarah reached into her tote and pulled out a large bound document. There must have been a hundred pages! “This is a confidential informant agreement, witness security agreement, and non-disclosure agreement. This document details what duties you would be expected to perform for us, and what you would not be allowed to do.”

“I’ll need to review that,” Massey said.

Sarah pointedly looked at Tom. “The conference room is this way,” Sarah quipped.

“I’ll remain here with Miss Strauss,” Tom added.

“If you think you’re going to use this as a way around Miranda, Special Agent Slattery—”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Tom interrupted. “I’m the one who instructed your client to invoke Miranda in the first place. I’m not going to ask her anything probative, and even if I did it wouldn’t be admissible. You were brought in to represent your client to the best of your ability, and right now that means reviewing that document so we’re all prepared for the offer.”

“Then we should remain here and review it together,” Massey said.

“I’d prefer not,” Tom replied. “While she has the right to face her accuser, there is information pertaining to the rest of the case in there that I don’t want the suspect to have access to, in case she refuses the offer. I’m trusting you, Mister Massey, to inform your client.”

“I don’t like this,” Massey continued.

“Extraordinary situation.” Tom shook his head. “Look, you have me on camera saying she didn’t waive.” He pointed up at a domed surveillance camera. “If I do try to induce a confession, you have me up to my balls when Discovery rolls around.”

“Mister Massey, we wouldn’t have involved you in the first place if we were trying to do an end run around the system,” Sarah added. “You may not trust Tom, but you said yourself my reputation precedes me. I don’t want a tainted case. Trust that.”

Massey finally nodded. “Lead on, Miss Shepherd.”

The two lawyers left the room, leaving Elisa with the eccentric “Special Agent Tom Slattery.” She felt weirdly comfortable with him, as odd as it was to say.

“They’re gonna fuck, aren’t they?” Elisa found herself asking.

“Ohhhh yeah. Probably more than once. You should get comfortable.” Tom shook his head. “That girl’s incorrigible. Like, she’s slutty by Sexworld standards. She’s had sex with everyone I know. If she hasn’t boned ‘em yet, she makes it her mission, y’know?” He took a moment. “She’ll get to you before tonight’s over with, I guarantee it.”

“Even you, Mr. Asexual?” Why was Elisa teasing the FBI agent? Did she snap? Did she lose her mind?

Tom laughed. “Yeah, she’s one of the few who has. Ages ago, back during law school.”

“How did you two meet?” Elisa asked. Shut up, girl! Just shut the fuck up! Don’t piss off the guy who was not ten minutes ago threatening the **** penalty!

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you…” Tom said, a mirthful smile on his face.

“Not like my day can get any more fucked,” Elisa replied. “Tell me a story. Come on.” Forget it. Convincing herself not to be stupid at this point was clearly a lost cause.

He chuckled. “Fine. Back when my twin sister and I were in law school, Sarah sponsored us as prospects into the Grim Guardians Motorcycle Club. She was the Costa Mesa Chapter President.”

“Bullshit!” Elisa blurted. “A biker turned FBI agent? Come on!”

“Told you you wouldn’t believe me…” Tom was grinning ear to ear. “Policing isn’t… what it is on the other side. Street level crime is low in the sexworld, but when it comes to major shit, gangs or whatnot, there’s maybe a handful of investigators who could find their own ass with both hands and a search warrant. Not like policework on the other side is sunshine and rainbows or anything, but over here it’s a total mess.

“So Sarah went and recruited True Believers, right? People who wanted to make a difference. That was the Guardians mission statement. They were the club that when they offered protection, they offered LITERAL protection, not just a shakedown. If the cops couldn’t keep the streets free of the bullshit, then we would.” He sighed. “The Bureau recruited me out of the Guardians, Sarah went on to become the kickass lawyer you see before you today, and my sister… well, someone had to take over as Chapter President, and I guess that was her calling. She’s a Guardians lifer.”

“Holy shit.” No wonder Tom didn’t act like a cop. She shook herself out of it. “Come on. Tell me about you and Sarah. How did she get you to actually fuck her? I need to know.”

Tom closed his eyes hard. “What is your obsession with my sex life?”

“’Cause I’ve seen everyone’s dick I’ve met in this world except yours. I’m just so damn curious about you.”

“Sarah had a tradition when you fully patched,” Tom said. “She wanted her tribute.”

“A tribute of jizz.” Even Elisa was smiling.

“Well with the guys, yeah.” Tom smiled. “She had a different method for the girls, but in the end it all came out the same. A whole lot of orgasms.” He shook his head. “She wanted us to cum everywhere. Hands, feet, tits, mouth, pussy, ass… she even got me to jack off in her hair in front of everybody. The trick was, like, I’m me, so I’m not attracted to her at all. It took me thirteen hours to get the required number of cumshots. Still a club record. Which meant we became fast friends because I also hold the club record for getting her off the most number of times.” He looked solemn for a moment. “When the FBI came to offer me a spot at Annapolis, Sarah was happy for me, but I could tell she was pissed deep down because that meant her best friend wouldn’t be in the club anymore. Her Sergeant at Arms was leaving. And then I went to the prude world to learn how to actually be a cop, and I actually made the mistake of telling her I felt more comfortable on that side.” And then he smiled again. “So when Sarah got this investigation, she knew exactly who she wanted as her lead agent. And you know what? Damn I missed her. It feels so good to be working with her again, even in a different context.”

“Wow… that’s really sweet. Like, not joking, really sweet.” She thought a moment. “I’m surprised you two didn’t get married.”

“We almost did,” Tom admitted. “We talked about it. She knew what I was about, and it’s not like I’m jealous or anything, she can fuck who she wants. And boy, she does.” He smiled sadly. “But it never would have worked. I love her, but not, like, romantically. I ended up getting married to an old friend from my club days, and we have a wonderful family and four wonderful kids, and it just works. It’s hard, but it works.” He paused. “Why in the name of holy fuck am I telling a suspect any of this?”

“I could tell you about my family,” Elisa countered.

That one earned a hard look. “I know enough about your family, thanks.”

Fuck. Oooh, she blew it. “Sorry, I meant… shit.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I get it. Sort of.” He shook his head. “Look, and I can’t believe I’m saying this to a **** suspect, but I like you. You have an edge that I admire, and you’re going to need that edge. And when your lawyer comes in, you’re going to have some decisions to make. I’d like you to cooperate. I think we’d work well together.”

“All this was to butter me up, huh?” Elisa teased one last time.

“Is it working?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

They talked about her time in the army mostly while they waited for Sarah and Massey to return, which they eventually did. Massey came in with a slick dick and a hard look. Sarah looked far less impeccable than she did when she came in, her blonde hair cascaded down her back, and almost as long as Elisa’s own. Her coat was left in the other room, and her blouse, while sadly buttoned up, had their sleeves rolled up revealing full-sleeve tattoos on both arms. Elisa could see the outline of nipple rings under the sheer white blouse, and she thought she could see some chest tattoos under her sizeable boobs as well. Elisa was starting to believe that the put together prosecutor was a hardass biker bitch after all.

“Mister Massey?” despite her freshly fucked look, Sarah was back to hard and serious.

“Miss Strauss, I’ve looked over the documents in detail—”

“While balls deep in my lawyer,” Elisa interrupted, earning looks from the whole room.

“Quite,” Massey continued. “They’re offering five to fifteen years in a minimum-security facility if you plead guilty to Manslaughter in the first degree, as well as… there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. They want you to go undercover in your brother’s crew.”

She knew it. There was no way they’d offer a deal for information she didn’t know, unless she was expected to go out and get it.

“What’s minimum security prison like?” Elisa found herself asking, tears welling up in her eyes again.

“It’s like a group room. You like those.” Tom replied. “There are rules, like any prison system, there are a number of the usual prison pitfalls, and there are rehabilitory obligations to be available for parole like work release. But sex is pretty much a constant.”

Sarah moaned lightly. “She really likes those,” Tom added

“I spent some good times in those rooms when your sister and me would ride out to Nevada for club meetings.” Sarah was already starting to lift up her skirt.

“Not now, woman!” Tom admonished. “Get back to the case at hand, or I swear I will titty twister you!”

Sarah playfully stuck out her tongue at him before once again getting back to Lawyer Mode.

“Won’t… won’t Jacob’s crew come after me? For retaliation?” Elisa had to admit that was something that was scaring her.

Tom shook his head. “They tend to recruit from the people who’ve wronged them. It breeds loyalty, like their recruits owe them something. Which is why we believe this operation has a chance of success.”

“You came together with this deal quickly.”

“We had… actually planned to offer it to your brother,” Sarah said. “And to be honest with you, Tom and I agree that we’re more comfortable offering it to you than him.”

“I believe I called Jacob Strauss an ‘asshole’ several times over the last few hours,” Tom quipped. “You’re… well, you’re also an asshole, there’s the whole premeditated **** thing, but you’re much less of an asshole. You have a shot at maybe turning your life around. Jacob did not.”

This was a terrifying, impossible situation. The bikers-turned-cops wanted her to go undercover for a chance to save herself from a lifetime in jail. She never thought she’d have the chance, but from what Tom and Sarah were saying, Jacob was running with some dangerous people. Was it worth it? Should she take the deal?