Roy chewed his pizza with gusto, chugged a few swallows of beer, then sat back, in a very receptive mood. "It’s amazing how sloppy Long really was." He said, with a nod to Cowboy. "Keaton told him to have the operation moved out of the vacated area, but Long didn’t want to lose a few bucks." Cowboy nodded her agreement. "He was a slime for sure." "So," Becky prodded, "the cops knew about Keaton’s man on the inside?" Roy nodded. "Practically from the first, but we couldn’t do anything about it until he actually interfered. Your call was just what we needed." Becky smiled and said "ka-ching!" happily. They all laughed. Roy slapped the table lightly. "I have something for you, Rally." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a laminated card. "You’re officially off suspension as of three days ago." He grinned. "Just had a few of the records backdated, so you wouldn’t be in any trouble for your escapades." Rally thanked him and took back the license with a grin. "What happened to the repulsively named Yu-Genics Labs?" Cowboy inquired around another bite of pizza. May coughed a little. Cowboy stared at her until the blonde blushed. "Uh, they had an accident." She glanced up at Ken, who seemed to be very busy with his beer. "Right, Ken?" He looked startled, then grinned. "Maybe." Becky’s eyebrows shot up and she laughed. "A small explosion, perhaps?" Neither Ken nor May would confirm this, but, May explained, they seemed to have some real safety issues there. Things like that can be dangerous. Roy nodded. "Yu-Genics won’t be developing any new products anytime soon." "But what about the guns Keaton was shipping out?" Cowboy asked. "You have to read the paper more. There was a terrible fire yesterday in the vacated area." Rally commented. "The Mayor’s office is thinking of suspending the program, since so many of the vacated areas don’t seem to be any safer. Arson, murder, rape…it’s all so grim." "Well," said Becky, "it’s not like they know about everything that went on." "Yes they do." Roy said. "The Mayor knows that Keaton was shot by Long – they found the gun, which was one of the new paper ones…they traced it back to the double murder." "How?" Rally asked. "You can’t get ballistics reports off a paper pistol, can you?" Roy made a face. "Long made a lot of mistakes. Including using unusual ammo. Plus he had a strange quirk." "He carved his victim’s names in the bullets he used to kill them." Cowboy interrupted darkly. "Little pervert got off on it." Roy nodded. He swigged the last of his beer and stood. "I gotta get back to the office. Thanks for dinner." He waved at everyone. Becky wiped her mouth and stood, as well. "Can I bum a ride? I need to get back and get some work done." Roy nodded and held out a hand to guide her to the door. Becky looked back over her shoulder. "Thanks for the dinner, Rally – but don’t think that evens us up. You owe me $750 for the info about the warehouse – I got bills to pay too." Rally reassured her offhandedly and ignored Becky’s scowls as she and Roy left. May also stood. "Ken and I have a date tonight." She grinned, "And tomorrow…possibly the next day, too." She tugged at Ken’s arm. He rose willingly and let the blonde drag him off. "We’ll see you later – much later." Laughing, May and Ken left the restaurant. When the door had closed behind them, Rally stared down at the table in front of her. Cowboy looked down at her and asked. "I feel like a little speed, don’t you? How about a ride? Your Cobra’s still in the shop…" she let the sentence linger. Almost as if to herself, Rally answered, "That would be nice." *** They had left the city behind and hit open roads. Cowboy opened up the throttle and fields were passing by at a dizzying rate. Rally closed her eyes and let the motion carry her away. The air buffeted her arms and legs, and robbed her of breath. Cowboy’s body protected her against the full force of the wind, but Rally wasn’t sure she wanted that. She could feel their speed climb, and the lazy, winding roads of the countryside became a grand prix course. Taking turns too low and too fast, Cowboy pushed her bike to its limits. Rally could feel her blood pound in time with the engine, feel the buzz that speed always gave her. Light-headed, she laughed out loud. Cowboy answered the unspoken thought. "It’s all good out here, ain’t it?" Rally tapped Cowboy on her right arm and gestured. Cowboy headed them that way, following progressively narrower roads, then at last a dirt path to a long, low airstrip in the middle of nothing. Both women climbed off the bike. Rally took the helmet from her head and looked down at it. "Was this hers?" She asked. Cowboy, who was stretching, looked over in surprise. "Uh, Lynda’s, you mean?" She shook her head. "It was left to me by a pretty little thing named Janie. She was little in every way but one." Catching Rally’s eye she grinned. "Her heart…you got a dirty mind." Rally grinned back. "I keep bad company. It gets to you after a while." She leaned back against the fence and stared up at the stars. They wheeled overhead and made her giddy. "I’m not used to this much space." Rally said. She could feel Cowboy lean against the fence next to her. "I didn’t realize how much I miss it." Cowboy commented softly. "At home all there is is space." "It’d crush me." Rally pushed off the fence and walked a few steps into the night. "I’d feel positively two dimensional under all that weight." Silence fell. After a few minutes, Cowboy shifted where she stood. "Rall, I’m going to have to leave soon…" Rally interrupted, turning to face the tall brunette. "Cowboy," she said, "shut up and come here." Cowboy stood to her full height and took three long steps. Looking down at Rally, she gathered the shorter woman in her arms and kissed her. This time, Rally didn’t hold back. She threw herself into the kiss with a passion that made Cowboy gasp. When Rally pulled away, Cowboy found herself breathless. Rally walked back to the bike and picked up the helmet once again. "You were right about something." She looked back at Cowboy. "You can’t live afraid." Rally shoved the helmet onto her head. "Let’s go home." *** It wasn’t what she expected. It wasn’t like losing control, nor was it the opposite. Making love was, Rally thought, just like a good session at the firing range. Blood humming, senses alert, body and mind functioning together. Cowboy was gentle and hard by turn, coaxing Rally, ordering her, teasing her, until any resistance she might have had simply disappeared. Every time Cowboy touched her, it was as if she traced shapes of fire along Rally’s skin. When the tall woman lowered her head to suck at Rally’s breast, sounds she couldn’t have imagined making were ripped from her throat. She found herself holding Cowboy there, trapping her, asking her to suck on her. Cowboy sounded content to do so, and for a very long time, but not long enough, stroked, squeezed and sucked on Rally, until she thought her blood would burst from her body. Pressing herself against Cowboy’s lean form, Rally gasped repeatedly as tongue brushed over sensitive nipples. Warmth, then coolness, as Cowboy lifted herself away, blowing lightly on Rally’s skin. Never before had she felt so hard, so hot. Rally ran one leg up Cowboy’s body, feeling smooth skin underneath her, trying to pull the tall woman closer. Cowboy began to kiss her way down Rally’s body. Rally was ready for her and wrapped her legs around the other woman’s shoulders. Cowboy brushed lightly at Rally’s belly, then drew her hand lower. She parted Rally, opening her, then lowered her head once again to lick and suck at Rally’s center. It was nothing like a good day at the range. There was no way that this sensation could be replicated. Tongue and fingers stroked her, electricity shot through her until, arcing her body with pleasure, Rally surrendered herself completely to Cowboy’s mouth and hands. Cowboy entered her, thrusting gently, deeply and Rally moved with her, finding a rhythm together. It wasn’t long before Rally could feel something build within her, her body raced to find it, as she pressed into Cowboy, feeling slick tongue glide across wet lips. Rally came silently but her body, rigid with tension, spoke volumes. Again and again, Rally could feel Cowboy on her and in her. Panting with raw desire, she kept Cowboy where she was until she was sated. When Rally once again realized where she was and with whom, she felt herself blushing. Unclenching her hands, she disentangled her fingers from Cowboy’s hair and loosened the grip she had with her legs. Rally noticed Cowboy’s bright eyes watching her and the blush deepened. Blinking, trying to control her breathing, Rally lay back, listening to her heart pound against her ribs. When at last Rally relaxed, Cowboy lifted herself on her elbows and leaned her head on Rally’s thigh. She smiled, a smile Rally hadn’t yet seen on her face. A lover’s smile, she thought with some surprise. Rally reached forward and stroked Cowboy’s face gently. "Well?" The Texan asked, after a long pause. "As bad as you feared?" Rally smiled. "Worse." She leaned forward and kissed Cowboy, tasting herself on the other woman’s lips. Rally lay back down and Cowboy joined her, holding the smaller woman in her arms. Rally laid her head against Cowboy’s chest. She could hear Cowboy’s heart, beating loudly. "How long will you stay?" Rally asked, her mouth muffled slightly against Cowboy’s skin. She kissed what she could reach without moving, and brought a hand, almost hesitatingly, up to stroke Cowboy lightly. She traced shoulder and upper arms, sliding down to ribs and carefully, gently began to stroke Cowboy’s breast, pulling herself close. Kissing around the nipple, she allowed her tongue to linger, then stroke across it. Rally smiled at the noise Cowboy made. Cowboy sighed happily. "As long as you want, Rall. I don’t have anywhere I particularly have to be…at least for a while." She leaned down to capture Rally’s mouth with her own. "Then stay – for a little while." *** Fall was fading and winter wasn’t too far away. Business was brisk again, both in the shop – and in the streets. Rally found that she had stopped looking up hungrily every time a motorcycle whined its way by her. She sighed. Cowboy had been gone a few months now and life was returning to its normal craziness. Good and bad, she guessed. The door chime rang and an express messenger walked in. "This is Gunsmith Cats, right?" The messenger looked around. "Like the sign outside says," Rally said dryly. "I, uh, got a delivery for a, uh, R. Vincent." The messenger looked as if he expected to be sent away. "Can you sign for it?" Rally waved him over. "Sure, I’m R. Vincent." The messenger sighed wearily. "Sign here." Rally signed the form, waited for a receipt and took the package from the messenger. He looked at her, gave the store a glance again, shrugged and left. Rally looked down at the package she held. Unmarked, except for the address and the postmark, which read Reno, Nevada. Rally held the box up and gave it a small shake. She gazed at the box, and ripped away the paper wrapping. Underneath the packing material lay a gun. Rally’s heart leapt into her throat. Reaching into the box, she pulled out a SIG P-210-4…her breath became rasping. Had something happened to Cowboy? She looked at the gun carefully. Some wear and tear on the trigger, it needed a good cleaning, but no major damage. Who had sent it? She saw a corner of paper sticking out of the barrel and extracted it. The paper unrolled and Rally read the note. Hiya, darlin’! I hope I didn’t scare you with this little trick. To be honest, I was noticing that baby here was looking kind worn. I can’t think of anyone else I’d trust to clean her up, so…if you don’t mind… Rally grinned. "I’d be honored, Cowboy." I also thought you should know, I plan on swinging by to pick it up again in person. Figure sometime around the new year. I’ll pick you up, say, around 5. Sorry – I crack myself up. I’ll see you real soon, Rall. C. Rally folded the note, and stuck the SIG back in the box. "Yeah Cowboy – I’ll see you again real soon." *** Notes: While all the gun info in this story is accurate, it may not be complete, or even relevant. The Ducati M900 Monster really can do over 200 mph without strain. It is, by all accounts, *the* bike to die on. ;-) OTOH, I have been informed that it is unlikely to go over 200 mph with two passengers. Oh well. I don't see the Cobra doing 150 on any American road *I* know, either, so we'll call it even. There is, in truth, an Industrial Street and Alleyway Vacation Program in Chicago, but the corruption (and the individuals) in this story is completely fictitious. I’m sure the politicians in Chicago are as upstanding as those in my own hometown. "Cock and lock" – one can set the safety with a bullet chambered. Sonoda claims it is specific to the CZ75, but I've been told that many modern guns have it. There was something else I wanted to note, but I’ve forgotten what it was. ;-)
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