Motoko Fitzgerald smiled as she set the cards down, the Asian redhead looking very satisfied as she purred, "Read 'em an weep." Jack Scott blinked at her cards then sighed, tossing down her hand. Pushing her sandy blonde hair from her eyes she said, "Who would have thought a hostess would be a card shark?" Motoko's eyes twinkled with amusement as she asked, "What do you think we do, in between dealing with our clients?" "I hadn't thought of that," Jack chuckled. Her jeans and white T-shirt suited the slim young woman, hugging her body while leaving her plenty of freedom of movement. "I'm just glad we're not playing for money," she added. "I'd let you run a tab," Motoko suggested impishly. Rummaging through Jack's closet they had found a oversized sweatshirt and a pair of old jeans for her, much more comfortable than the clothes she had been wearing last night. They fit her well enough, but whenever Motoko bent over the loose shirt revealed a startling expanse of breasts and the jeans looked painted on her curvy hips and legs. Taken all together, it was not helping Jack concentrate much on her playing. "In fact..." Motoko started when Jack held up a hand to silence her. "There's somebody coming up the hall," Jack said as she reached to the table between them and picked up her pistol. "How do you know....?" Motoko blinked at Jack in surprise. "There's a squeaky floorboard in the hallway," Jack explained shortly. In a moment they saw a figure on the other side of the frosted glass and Jack called out before they could knock, "Yes?" "My name is Cole," she said as she turned the door handle and went inside, "and I hope to be of assistance to you, Miss Scott." Jack's eyes swept up over the woman, studying her intently. The black hair was a lovely mane on her head, then flowed smoothly over the catgirl's body in a thin layer of fur. Over that she wore pretty skimpy clothes, a short skirt and tight top, giving her a sexy, almost trashy look. Still, those golden eyes were dangerous, as was the muscle under the fur. "She works for Bannon," Motoko hissed softly to Jack. "Which doesn't necessarily make her a black hat," Jack answered mildly. Raising her voice she addressed Cole, "And how can you assist me, Miss Cole?" "I can think of so many ways I could... help," Cole purred as she studied Jack with a predatory look on her lovely face. Motoko frowned eve as she unconsciously moved closer to Jack, "I'd think she could find that kind of help on most street corners." "Dressed like that," Cole studied Motoko a moment as she cattily added, "you'd probably know all about that." Jack never understood why, when two beautiful women ended up in a room together, they just had to snip at each other this way. Still, as entertaining as it was to watch there was business to attend to. "I assume you're here on behalf of Bannon," Jack said as she cut off Motoko's return salvo, "state your piece, please." "Thank you for reminding me," Cole smiled faintly. Taking a breath and not incidentally making her breasts bounce under her shirt she said, "Yes, the mayor sent me, he wanted to offer his help in dealing with Miss Fitzgerald's situation." "Out of the goodness of his heart?" Motoko asked softly. "No," Jack said dryly, "because he quite reasonably expects that I think he could have made the threats, and wants to ease my suspicions." "True enough," Cole admitted, "but Bannon has no motive in doing this." "Oh come on," Motoko rolled her eyes. "She's right," Jack said as she gave Cole a hard look, "Bannon does have a motive. If he can blackmail Davidson into working for him he could use that influence to weaken the Shogun's defenses at a critical moment." "That's clumsy, chancy and too dangerous for Bannon to try," Cole said flatly, "my employer isn't that stupid." "I didn't think he was dumb enough to try screwing with the courier guild," Jack indirectly referred to her earlier run in with Bannon and his men, "but he did." Cole winced, "Point." Motoko clearly wanted to ask about what Jack was talking about, but she also was pretty sure Jack wasn't going to tell her. "For all we know," Motoko frowned, "Bannon could just want you close enough to take a shot at me when you get the chance." "Good," Jack murmured, "you're sounding properly paranoid." "As if I'd ever get a chance," Cole scoffed, "Jack is good, you know." Sadly, that was when all hell broke loose. The window facing on the street exploded inward as Jack tackled Motoko aside, glass scattering around the office while the flier hit the ground, gun at the ready. Still, Jack was faster, gun in hand even as she shielded Motoko and took a shot, slamming the flier out the window again with a bullet. "I hear people coming up the stairs," Jack barked as the half dragged Motoko to the door. "Shouldn't we try to defend here?" Motoko asked her as she followed Jack out of the office into the hallway. "No place to easily retreat from," Cole said as the followed them out, her eyes sweeping the long hall and ears twitching. "I am not starting a fight with my back to the wall," Jack said as she ran to the other end of the hall and the stairs there. From behind them they could hear the other stairwell door slam open and people begin running out. "There's gone," a man's voice yelled. "Then find them, you idiots," a familiar sounding female voice said, "search the whole floor, she can't have run far!" "Rose," Cole recognized the name almost instantly, not to mention the strong scent of the perfume the lady wore. "As in the Denman street enclave?" Motoko asked as they raced downstairs together, eventually reaching the first floor. "Yeah," Jack's thoughts raced as she continued, "though I doubt Wolf approved it. She's too busy digesting the territory they recently acquired to want to pull something like this." A figure lay slumped in the lobby, blood smeared on the side of his head. Cole moved over to check him, recognizing the building's manager, Mike. "He's alive, looks like someone got a bit enthusiastic knocking him out," she looked up at Jack with a frown. "He probably would have objected to them coming in," Jack said with barely controlled rage. Together they dragged him in behind the front desk then she studied her two companions. "I know somewhere we can go, but it's going to be dangerous," she warned. "You've protected me so far," Motoko looked at her trustingly, "I'll follow your judgment." "I'd call the boss for troops," Cole frowned, "but we're on the Shogun's territory. Ad I bet you can't ask him for help." "I could," Jack said, "but I don't think I'd be doing him any favors, since it would force him into a war with the Wolf." "And he'd have to go right through Bannon's territory to do it," Cole added. She studied Jack a moment, "Are we bringing Mike along?" "We can't, not where we're going," Jack said firmly, "besides, Rose has no reason to hurt him with us gone." Cole's eyes widened as she realized where Jack intended them to go, "You have got to be kidding." "They're basic charter is to help women in trouble," Jack said as they headed out to the street, "I'd say we fit the bill nicely." "Where are we going?" Motoko asked them patiently, having fallen a few steps behind in the conversation. "The Sisterhood," Jack shrugged. "Oh dear," Motoko whimpered.
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