Jess Drake noted the name on the door and smiled slightly, 'Guess this is it.' A bell rang out as she went into what amounted as a reception room, unattended at that time. 'Well that's careless,' she thought, nearly tempted to play with the computer on the desk. Just the a young man came out of the next room, hurrying to the desk as he tried to put his best 'professional' face on. "Welcome to Yamazaki Investigations, how can I...." he trailed off in surprise, gaping at her. 'Surprised 'em, good,' Jess fought back a grin, realizing that she had spotted their tails without tipping them off. "I understand you've been asking about me?" Jess Drake asked him casually, standing there dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt. "Uh, boss?" Tom called out worriedly. In a moment a lovely Asian woman and a brown haired girl strode out off the inner office to reinforce him, even as Jess looked them over thoughtfully. "So," Jess asked them all coldly, "why were you following me?" "I'm sorry," the Asian woman said calmly, "I can't name my client." Jess smiled slightly, studying the three nervous figures standing there, "Why did I know you were going to say that?" "My name is Lucy Yamasaki," the Asian woman bowed just slightly, "I suppose you wouldn't be willing to answer some questions?" "Boss!" the brown haired woman blurted out worriedly. "It's all right, Rose." Lucy kept her eyes firmly fixed on Jess as she said, "she plays by the rules, mostly." 'She's done her research,' Jess thought. A dangerous smile teased her lips as she purred, "It's the mostly that you need to concentrate on." Rose moved fast, smoothly pushing Lucy back as she bared her teeth at Jess, "Don't you dare threaten her!" Jess blinked at seeing the unique mystic aura that suddenly crackled to life around the younger woman, 'A werewolf?' Keeping her voice calm she said, "Down, puppy." A flashed smile, "I'd hate to have to neuter you." "Don't even think about it," Tom said firmly, his hand carefully moving towards a ominous bulge under his jacket. "Break it up," Lucy barked, putting herself between Jess and her two associates. She glared at the two of them, "You two did the research on Drake, you should know better." "Yes boss," both chimed in after a moment, looking remarkably sheepish. Lucy looked at Jess then she gestured towards her office and asked, "Would you care to talk about this privately?" "Thank you," Jess kept her voice mild. 'Sounds like they've bought into my reputation,' she thought, reflecting on the two investigators outside. Lucy sat behind her desk even as she waved Jess over to a seat, "As I said before, I cannot name my client. However, I can assure you that the investigation was prompted by a personal matter, not by a rival or business matter." 'Well that's something,' Jess thought. She could guess at a few possibilities who could have hired Yamazaki, one of which made her feel distinctly uncomfortable. Just the idea that Alice might have asked for a investigator to look into her background made Jess squirm, especially considering the lack of faith that represented. "I suppose you wouldn't be willing to answer a few questions and make my job easier?" Lucy quirked an eyebrow. "I'll answer," Jess said mildly, "I can't promise that my answers will help much." Lucy took a moment to collect her thoughts, then she asked, "Why is it my people can't find anything on you before you came to the city a few years back?" "Been having a rough time?" Jess asked, her eyes faintly amused. She relented a bit, "Check the obituaries." Lucy opened her mouth to say something, then shook herself as she made fast note on a sheet of paper nearby. "If you are legally dead," she studied Jess, "how are you able to manage? You own a business, the licenses...?" "It's not all that hard," Jess said with some amusement in her voice, "especially when dealing with bureaucracies." Deciding that she'd given these investigators enough of a hint Jess got up, stretching as she said, "One other thing." "Yes?" Lucy looked up with interest. "I did some looking into Yamazaki Investigations and you," Jess said quietly, "turnabout is fair play, after all." She smiled at seeing the nervousness appear in her eyes and continued, "You tend to play in the gray areas, and I know all about some of the... more dubious business ventures that you're involved in." "None of which are illegal," Lucy said flatly. "But which could do a lot of damage to your reputation if they came out," Jess countered as she walked over to the door. Taking the door handle in hand she warned with a smile, "If you hurt anyone connected to me, I'll have to take steps." "Understood," Lucy's voice was frosty as Jess left the room. Jess strode into the outer office, noticing both Tom and Rose hanging about the door. She smiled faintly, looking at Rose thoughtfully as she said, "By the way, I noticed a shadow the last couple of nights." Her voice dropped to a deadly purr as she warned, "If I catch you following me again, I'll cut your tail off." Striding by them she was out in the hall in a moment and Jess paused for a second, listening. "Do you think she'll do it?" Tom squeaked. "Hell yes," Rose whimpered. Jess grinned, heading out into the street. It was times like this, after dealing with a stressful moment that she wanted to have either a drink or a smoke, but she knew both of them were a bad idea. She walked over to the waiting yellow taxi and climbed in the battered car as she smiled over at the driver, "Just in time." "Aren't I always?" the saucy redhead said with a grin from the driver's seat, turning the key to start up the engine. "Thanks Amy," Jess sat back with a sigh, letting herself finally relax. "Can you take me back to the shop?" "Of course," she pulled out into traffic and away from the office building as she said, "and it's Amaterasu, remember?" Jess rolled her eyes, "Amaterasu is a lot harder to say than Amy." "Names describe both form and function," Amaterasu said mildly as she expertly drove them across the bad side of town, "as you should well know by now, miko." "True," Jess studied her thoughtfully. "You know, you were introduced to me by Diana and Circe over at the Daughters," she mused, "and it occurs to me that it may not be a coincidence that you're named after a Japanese sun deity." Amaterasu just looked amused, "I take the Fifth." "I could have guessed," Jess rolled her eyes. 'I wonder how many forgotten deities live among us,' she thought wryly, 'humanity entirely unaware? Of course I never realized either, until Diana and friends revealed themselves.' "Are you going over to the Daughters later," Amaterasu asked, weaving through traffic and eventually reaching the tattoo parlor, "or maybe over to Sisterhood Books?" "Does everyone at the bar know about Alice and I?" Jess asked with a sigh, rolling her eyes as they finally parked. "I think the word's gone around," Amaterasu admitted as she put the brake on, "you did have your fight in the middle of the bar." "Gah," Jess made a face as she fished around in her wallet for some bills, "I hate being the topic of rumors." "Considering your rep," Amaterasu said while she calmly counted out change, "I'd think you'd be used to it." "That's all related to my work," Jess answered her quietly as she got out of the taxi, "it's never been over anything personal." "Guess so," Amaterasu acknowledged. She smiled, "Either way, good luck!" "Thanks," Jess waved as she pulled out, then walked over to the tattoo parlor.
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