Неизвестный - 5. Justice Served

“INS has them…Immigration and Naturalization Services.”

Mitchell lifted her hips and felt Sandy push back, the start of a slow, steady thrust-and-press that was going to make her awfully hot, awfully fast.

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“So they’ll do what? Send them back to wherever they came from?” Sandy turned her hand around and slid her Þ ngers lightly down the cleft between Mitchell’s legs, barely touching her. A feather-light caress.

“Jesus.” Mitchell caught her breath, struggled to focus. “I don’t know. They’re here illegally, but they’re victims too.”

“Even Irina?” Sandy asked, her tone casual. She stilled her movements but kept her Þ ngers resting against Mitchell’s sex.

“Yeah, I think so. I can’t see her having set up any part of that operation.” Mitchell rolled her hips and turned onto her back, unseating Sandy in the same motion. She caught Sandy as she started to topple onto the mattress and pulled her down on top of her body.

“What’d you do that for?”

“I gotta see your face if we’re gonna talk about this stuff.” Mitchell opened her thighs and settled Sandy’s hips between them. She kept an arm curved around Sandy’s small waist. “And you know what you were doing was gonna make me crazy.”

“Maybe,” Sandy said with a small smile. “But it relaxes you too.

And then you don’t notice when you’re talking about stuff you don’t want to talk about.”

Mitchell raised her head and caught Sandy’s mouth in a hungry kiss that deÞ nitely made her forget what she’d been talking about.

When she dropped her head back to the pillow, her body was buzzing.

“Pretty smart.”

“Is she under your skin?” Sandy asked quietly.

“Not the way you think.” Mitchell looked directly into Sandy’s eyes. “I don’t want her. I don’t love her. But I feel…sorta responsible for what’s happening to her.”

Sandy rolled her eyes. “Jeez, rookie. You didn’t put her on that ship or force her to shoot those videos or make her train those girls, or whatever she did with them.”

“I know. But…I connected with her. And I used her.”

“Most cops wouldn’t care about that.”

“Rebecca would.”

“Yeah yeah.” Sandy stretched out full-length on Mitchell’s body and nuzzled her neck. “And so do you.” She caressed Mitchell’s chest, her abdomen, the tops of her thighs with slow, soothing strokes. “So

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you’re going to keep asking around, and I suppose you’re probably gonna go see her.”

“I don’t know. I’m sure the feds will keep them here until they Þ nd out everything they can about the smuggling operation. The girls probably know something about the local organized crime operation too.” Mitchell caught Sandy’s hand and pressed it between her thighs, keeping her Þ ngers over Sandy’s. “There’s probably nothing I can do to help them.”

Sandy eased a Þ nger on either side of Mitchell’s Þ rm clitoris. “But you’re going to try.”

“Yeah,” Mitchell said, a hitch in her voice. She squeezed Sandy’s Þ ngers hard around her. “Probably.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Mitchell’s belly was on Þ re.

“I know you gotta.” Sandy slicked her tongue over Mitchell’s lips, darted inside her mouth, and teased at her with quick ß icks. She matched the movements with her Þ ngertips between Mitchell’s legs.

She watched Mitchell’s eyes glaze over and her eyelids ß utter nearly closed. “And I know you’re mine.”

Then she proved it.

v

Rebecca turned her head toward the door as a shaft of bright light cut across the room. “I thought you were going to go home and get some sleep.”

“I was. I did.” Catherine crossed to the bed, leaned down, and kissed Rebecca. “I couldn’t sleep.” She stroked Rebecca’s cheek with the back of her Þ ngers. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” Carefully, Rebecca inched toward the opposite side of the bed and patted the space beside her with the hand that did not have the intravenous line attached. “Want to stretch out?”

Catherine kicked off her shoes, then unbuttoned her suit jacket and draped it over a nearby chair. She’d showered and changed when she’d gotten home. At the moment, a few wrinkles were the least of her worries. Taking care not to jostle the bed, knowing that Rebecca’s headache must still be brutal, she eased down beside her lover. She grasped Rebecca’s hand, entwined their Þ ngers, and leaned her cheek

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lightly against Rebecca’s shoulder. “I always have a hard time falling asleep when you’re not beside me.”

Rebecca brushed her lips over Catherine’s hair. “I know. I’ll try to get home earlier from now on.”

“Now there’s something to look forward to.” Catherine closed her eyes and sighed. “Is this investigation over?”

“Our part of it. For now,” Rebecca answered quietly. “We’ve exposed the human smuggling operation, crippled the Internet pornography ring, and freed some of the victims. We’ve taken a respectable chunk out of organized crime, but it takes more than this to break its back. We’ll gain ourselves a few well-positioned informants within Zamora’s organization, and that will help us in the future.”

“Just one chapter in the book,” Catherine murmured.

“Yeah,” Rebecca agreed. “That’s what police work is all about.

The story never really ends.”

Rebecca closed her eyes, and together, they slept.

• 306 •

About the Author

Radclyffe is the author of numerous lesbian romances ( Safe Harbor and its sequels Beyond the Breakwater and Distant Shores, Silent Thunder; Innocent Hearts, Love’s Melody Lost, Love’s Tender Warriors, Tomorrow’s Promise, Passion’s Bright Fury, Love’s Masquerade, shadowland, and Fated Love), as well as two romance/

intrigue series: the Honor series ( Above All, Honor; Honor Bound, Love

& Honor, Honor Guards) and the Justice series ( Shield of Justice, the prequel A Matter of Trust, In Pursuit of Justice, and Justice in the Shadows).

A 2003/2004 recipient of the Alice B. award for her body of work as well as a member of the Golden Crown Literary Society, Pink Ink, and the Romance Writers of America, she lives with her partner, Lee, in Philadelphia, PA, where she both writes and heads Bold Strokes Books, a lesbian publishing company. She states, “As an author, I know how much more it takes to ‘make a book’ than just adding a cover to a manuscript. Done with respect and love for the craft, creating a book is a never-ending joy. As a publisher, my mission is to provide that experience to every author at Bold Strokes Books.”

Her upcoming works include selections in Stolen Moments: Erotic Interludes 2 from Bold Strokes Books, After Dark from Bella Books, Hot Lesbian Erotica from Cleis, the next novel in the Honor series, Honor Reclaimed (Dec. 2005), and the romance Turn Back Time (Feb.

2006).

Look for information about these works at www.boldstrokesbooks.

com.

Other Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

Course of Action by Gun Brooke. Actress Carolyn Black desperately wants the starring role in an upcoming Þ lm produced by Annelie Peterson, a wealthy publisher with a mysterious past. How far is Carolyn prepared to go for the dream part of a lifetime? And just how far will Annelie bend her principles in the name of desire? (1-933110-22-8) Justice Served by Radclyffe. The hunt for an informant in the ranks draws Lieutenant Rebecca Frye, her lover Dr. Catherine Rawlings, and OfÞ cer Dellon Mitchell into a deadly game of hide-and-seek with an underworld kingpin who trafÞ cs in human souls. (1-933110-15-5) Rangers at Roadsend by Jane Fletcher. After nine years in the Rangers, dealing with thugs and wild predators, Sergeant Chip Coppelli has learned to spot trouble coming, and that is exactly what she sees in her new recruit, Katryn Nagata. But even so, Chip was not expecting murder. The Celaeno series. (1-933110-28-7)