Неизвестный - 3. In Pursuit Of Justice

“No,” Rebecca said, her eyes meeting Catherine’s. “I’d do that for us.”

“Maybe someday,” Catherine said softly, stroking the edge of Rebecca’s jaw with her fingertips, feeling the muscles bunched tightly beneath her fingers. “Right now, I’d rather you just share your life with me, not change it for me.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever done that with anyone, but I’ll try. I swear to God, I’ll try.”

“Good. You can start in the morning.” Catherine slipped her fingers into the hair at the base of Rebecca’s neck and guided the other woman down on top of her. “But right now, I’d rather not talk.”

Rebecca slid her thigh between Catherine’s legs and leaned on her elbows, staring down into Catherine’s face. “I feel like part of me is missing when I’m not with you.”

Maybe it was her words, maybe it was the pressure of warm firm muscle against her nerve centers, but a surge of desire so powerful it caused every muscle in her body to tense wrenched a sharp cry from Catherine’s throat. She wrapped her calves around Rebecca’s leg and thrust hard into her, forcing the blood to pound faster through her already swollen flesh. Pressing her lips to Rebecca’s ear she whispered raggedly, “I don’t want to… think. Make it so I can’t.”

First, Rebecca kissed her until she couldn’t speak. Then she found her nipples, and teased them, tormented them, until she couldn’t breathe. Then, she touched her, stroked her, and finally filled her… until she couldn’t do anything except feel.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

THE PHONE RANG at 6:40 a.m. Rebecca groped for the receiver and fumbled it to her ear. “Frye.”

“You up yet?” Sloan asked, her never ending, nearly irrepressible energy practically palpable over the line.

“No. You been to bed yet?”

“Nope. But I’ve got something for you.”

Rebecca sat up in bed, and Catherine rolled over to rest her head against Rebecca’s stomach, wrapping one arm around her waist. Rebecca threaded the fingers of her free hand through the thick tresses at the base of Catherine’s neck. “Tell me.”

“LongJohn finally showed up last night, and he’s dangling bait in front of BigMac’s… nose. You’ll have to see the transcript, but basically, he’s offered BigMac a show. A live show.”

“Excellent,” Rebecca rejoined, her mind already prioritizing her day’s work. “I need as many details as you can give me. I’ll be over in an hour.”

“I’ll put the coffee on.”

Rebecca leaned toward the night stand to hang up the phone.

“What is it?” Catherine asked sleepily.

“Sloan’s got something for us.”

“I take it that means we’re getting up?”

Rebecca slid down into bed and settled Catherine into her arms. “We’ve got a few minutes. You can sleep a little longer.”

Catherine ran her palm along Rebecca’s ribs and down to the base of her abdomen, her fingers settling lightly in the cleft between Rebecca’s thighs. “I wasn’t thinking of sleeping. The last thing I remember from last night is feeling like my entire body had disintegrated. It was wonderful, but at about the point where my arms and legs disassembled, I think I lost consciousness.” She laughed softly, edging her fingers lower as she spoke.

Rebecca’s body had come to attention, and she murmured huskily, “Like I said, we’ve got a few minutes.”

Catherine pressed closer, her mouth against Rebecca’s neck. Teasingly, she murmured, “I might need a little longer than that.”

“Uhh,” Rebecca gasped as fingers closed around her length, “take all the time you want.”

If Sloan was surprised to see Catherine arrive with Rebecca, she didn’t show it. Hair wet from the shower, in a tight black T-shirt and black jeans, she met them at the elevator with a handful of printouts in her fist. Her eyes alight with excitement and the thrill of the hunt, she said, “Come on down to the conference room.”

Jason was there waiting, looking immaculate in a crisp white shirt and blended silk trousers. Grinning at them, showing not the slightest hint of fatigue, he said, “Looks like I might have a date this weekend.”

They all helped themselves to coffee and then sat down with copies of the most recent chat transcript.

Transcript Six - Excerpt

LongJohnXXX: Hey big man, wondered where you were

BigMac10: Looked for you earlier, but you were nowhere

LongJohnXXX: Busy arranging entertainment for some friends

BigMac10: entertainment? anything hot?

LongJohnXXX: sizzlin

BigMac10: live action?

LongJohnXXX: Next best thing—live on screen

BigMac10: oh man, how sweet

LongJohnXXX: turn you on?

BigMac10: you know it. Room for one more?

LongJohnXXX: could be- -not exactly an open house, you know

BigMac10: I understand, but I’ve got the green. No matter the price

LongJohnXXX: You know liberty place?

BigMac10: like my own backyard

LongJohnXXX: Cybercafe at 17th and market, Log on Sunday 7 pm

BigMac10: and then?

LongJohnXXX: then we’ll see-come prepared to party

“What does this mean?” Catherine asked. “Why does he want you to go to this cybercafe?”

“It’s a test,” Jason explained. “One, to see if I’m serious, and two, to make sure I’m not trying to trace him from my computer. I suspect he’s been logging on somewhere other than his house just to protect his equipment.”

“He’ll probably be there—in the cafe,” Sloan added. “Trying to get a look at Jason and see if he looks legit or like a cop.”

Jason smiled. “What do you think?”

“You don’t look like a cop—more like a choir boy,” Rebecca said seriously. Only the slight quirk at the corner of her mouth suggested she was teasing. “This looks good,” she added as she leaned back in her chair. “I’ll take copies of these and the CI reports to my captain this morning. We’ll have the necessary support and paperwork if we get to the point where we can move on this guy.”

“It’s far from a lock,” Sloan warned in an unusual show of reservation. “This guy is very smart. We’re not talking about amateur hacks making videos in their basement. The fact that he wants Jason to contact him from a commercial machine means that he’s aware that he can be traced. That shows a fair amount of sophistication.”

Jason nodded in agreement. “He’s been very careful so far not to spell anything out. Not once has he mentioned kids or ages or any details of what he’s offering.”

“Well have to talk about putting someone inside that café with you, Jason,” Rebecca said thoughtfully. “At the very least, we’ll need to be able to follow you so we can set up outside his house once you get there.” Glancing at Sloan, she asked, “How do we play this once Jason’s inside? Is there any chance we can put an undercover cop in his place? I can probably find someone who is computer literate enough.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Catherine interjected. “Not at this point. Jason and this man have a relationship. There’s a certain style of speech, a certain way of responding to verbal cues, that Jason has established with him. No one else is going to have that flow.”

“I agree,” Jason said. “Besides, we have no reason to think this guy’s dangerous.”

Rebecca didn’t necessarily agree. If this was an operation being run by the local organized crime syndicate, then anyone involved was capable of violence. The hierarchy within organized crime dictated that everyone, at every level, protect the integrity of the organization at all cost. “What about once he’s inside this guys place? How will we get the signal to go in?”

“Ideally, we’ll want to wait until they’re receiving the live feed,” Sloan explained. “I want as much information in that CPU as possible before we confiscate. Plus, it will preserve Jason’s cover if you bring him in with this guy, just in case we need to use him again where he’ll be visible.”