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Subject: {ASSM} MB47 Tina Vasquez - Texas Ranger (5) by Rachael Ross (F/F, Police,  Rom, Drama)
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Note: Mixed Bag is a compilation of stories by Rachael Ross and
contains a Foreword and 65 chapters. It is being posted to ASSM
largely in sequence. See MB00 for a table of contents. All stories
copyrighted 2008 Rachael Ross all rights reserved. rache696@yahoo.com
visit my website at http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/rache/www/index.htm and see my
blog http://anarchyforbeginners.blogspot.com/ for additional
information. Thanks. -rr


Adults Only

Mixed Bag - Chapter Forty Seven



Tina Vasquez - Texas Ranger (Part 5)

by rache


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Story Codes: F/F, Police, Romance, Drama

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=




    "Vasquez," the ranger answered her phone just as she was locking
the evidence kit in the trunk of her car.

    "Hi Tina, it's Prescott," the forensic psychologist said.
"Anything new on your missing girl?"

    "Jeffrey, hey," Tina sighed, closing the trunk. "Nothing yet. What
have you got?"

    "Nothing much, I'm afraid," the man replied with an apologetic
shrug. "I went through some models, but we don't have much of a
profile on her. That makes it tough to predict."

    "Yeah," Tina agreed, walking back towards the college
administration building.

    "It's interesting though that the girl was missing before the
memorial service," Prescott said. "That doesn't really fit with what
we've got on her."

    "You think she'd want to be there?"

    "Yeah. In these kinds of circumstance, suicides generally tend to
be premeditated," the man explained. "It's not an impulsive act, it's
carefully considered and there's a logic to it."

    "A logic for the girl," Tina said, knowing all too well that logic
was a subjective term.

    "Well, yes, but it isn't an irrational act. That's what I'm
saying, there's a procedure leading up to the event."

    "Like the phone call to the sister..."

    "Exactly," Prescott agreed. "The phone call, setting affairs in
order. She'd probably want to prepare herself physically. Buying new
clothes, for example, is common. She would think of it as going away,
moving to another place where she could be with the person she loves."

    "But you're saying Lisa should have waited until after Barbara's
funeral?" Vasquez asked, pausing outside the building.

    "More than likely, yeah," Prescott said. "She'd want to spend as
much time with Barbara as she could and once the time was up, that's
when she'd need to take the next step."

    "As much time as she could, huh?" Tina frowned, trying to remember
something Emily had said over lunch. "What if..."

    "What's that?"

    "You were saying this morning that the girl would want a special
place," Tina said slowly, her thoughts coming together like a jigsaw
puzzle.

    "Right, that's the other red flag we have here. She's missing and
if she really killed herself..."

    "She shouldn't be," Tina nodded. "What if the special place was
with Barbara?"

    "What do you mean?" Prescott asked.

    "If she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Barbara and..."
Tina looked across the parking lot. "So far as she was concerned the
rest of her life was forever, so..."

    "Where was the deceased?"

    "Uh...A funeral home," Tina said, reaching into her purse for her
notebook. "I think, they kept the body..."

    "A funeral home would work," Prescott agreed. "A morgue would
probably repel the girl, but in a comfortable setting..."

    "Yeah," Tina nodded. "The body was released to McKinnen Funeral
Home Saturday evening. So presumably, what? Sunday afternoon, night,
uh...Monday...The girl could have gone there anytime and..."

    "Sure," Prescott said. "It would better explain why she wasn't at
the grave service. But if Lisa killed herself at the funeral home..."

    "It still leaves us with no body," Tina sighed and that was the
real issue. Without a body there was nothing. No suicide, no murder,
and most importantly perhaps, there was no closure for the girl's
family and friends.

    Vasquez didn't have any answers yet, she knew, just another
possibility that didn't really make a lot of sense. What motive could
anyone have to murder Lisa Thomas? She hadn't witnessed or even
suspected anything in the death of Barbara, her phone call to Emily
made that clear. If she'd killed herself, why would it be covered up?
To protect someone, obviously, but who and from what?


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    "I'm sorry, Detective. Dr. Moore has left for the day," Laura said
with an apologetic lift of her hands.

    "Did you tell him I was coming back?" Tina asked the secretary,
glancing at her watch and it was just after two in the afternoon.

    "I told him, yes ma'am. On his way out," the woman nodded. "You
can come back Monday morning and..."

    "Right. On his way out," Tina took a deep breath. "Who was he
meeting with?"

    "Excuse me?"

    "Dr. Moore," Tina said. "He was in a meeting when I was here
earlier. Who was he talking to?"

    "Oh, I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss Dr. Moore's private..."
Laura frowned.

    "Yes you are," Tina offered the woman a reassuring smile. "Just a
name, that's all."

    "Um," Laura reminded herself that this was a Texas Ranger who was
asking. "He was meeting with Coach Riles and Dr. Peterson."

    "Floyd Peterson?" Tina asked. "The coroner?"

    "Yes," Laura nodded. "Dr. Moore...He's not in trouble, is he?"

    "No," Tina shook her head. "I don't think so, but I do need to
speak with him. Did he say where he was going?"

    "No," Laura shook her head. "He didn't say anything, really."

    "Okay. May I?" Tina picked up a pen from a holder on the
secretary's desk and wrote her phone number on a yellow sticky.
"Here's my phone number, if Dr. Moore should return this afternoon.
I'd appreciate a phone call, okay?"

    "Alright," Laura agreed.

    "Where would I find Coach Riles?" Tina wondered. "As long as I'm
here..."

    "Oh. His office is beneath the gymnasium, near the old football
field," Laura said. "Out the east doors and to the left, just look for
the gym. You can't miss it."

    "Say," Tina paused on her way out of the office. "I was told that
Dr. Moore made the funeral arrangements for Barbara Welch...You wouldn't
happen to know about that, would you?"

    "Why yes," Laura cleared her throat. "I, um...helped. There was no
funeral though, just a memorial service."

    "Oh?"

    "Yeah. Barbara was, uh...she was cremated, so..." Laura shrugged. "The
service was there at Mckinnen's."

    "Cremated," Tina frowned slightly. "Who made that decision?"

    "Dr. Moore," Laura said. "After talking with some of the board
members, I believe. Why? Is it important?"

    "I don't know," Vasquez pursed her lips. "I was told that
Barbara's personal effects were released to Dr. Moore. Do you know
where they are?"

    "In his office, I believe," Laura shrugged. "There wasn't much.
Her clothes and purse, that's about all."

    "Could I take a look?"


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    Coach Riles was working in his spartan office when Tina knocked on
the open door. He looked up and felt his gut tighten and then flare
painfully. He hid his grimace well and reached into his desk without
thinking, removing a bottle of Milk of Magnesia and swallowing half of
it.

    "Coach Riles?" Tina asked, reaching into her purse.

    "Yeah," the man nodded, relaxing as the fire in his belly slowly
died down. "Goddamn ulcer. Who are you?"

    "Detective Vasquez, Texas Rangers." Tina held up her badge and
noted that Riles didn't seem surprised. "I'd like to talk to you about
Barbara Welch."

    "Welch," Riles waved his hand and Tina walked into his office.
"Too bad about her."

    "Did you know her well?" Vasquez wondered, taking a folding metal
chair opposite the coach's desk.

    "Well enough," Riles shrugged. He was a large man, robust and
approaching fifty. He had a hard face, red and deeply lined from a lot
of years squinting into the hot Texas sun.

    "When was the last time you saw her?" Tina asked. "Before the
accident."

    "Um, that morning," Riles said. "We had a...budget meeting with
Moore in his office."

    "Budget meeting? For the athletic department, you mean?"

    "Yeah," Riles nodded. "After the meeting, I didn't really see her
again until, uh...Saturday morning. You know."

    "Right," Vasquez nodded. "You have a key to the pool facilities,
is that right?"

    "Me?" Riles shrugged. "Of course I do. Why?"

    "I'm just wondering," Tina smiled and crossed her legs. "Did you
have your key with you Friday night?"

    "Uh..." Riles licked his lips. "I think I left my keys here, in my
desk. I don't really remember."

    "Your keys to the pool and..."

    "The facilities," Riles nodded. "What's this all about?"

    "What time did you leave the campus on Friday?" Tina ignored his
question.

    "After football practice," Riles said. "About, oh...six o'clock
maybe."

    "But you didn't lock up?"

    "What? Uh..." Riles frowned, trying to understand what she was
asking and why. "Some of the players were going to work out, so..."

    "Okay," Tina nodded. "So the key to the pool was in your desk and
some players were working out...Where's that? A weight room?"

    "Weight room, yeah," Riles shrugged. "Just down the hall there."

    "That way?" Tina looked over her shoulder at the open door. "Who
were the players?"

    "I don't..." Riles shook his head. "I have forty three boys on the
squad, I'm not sure who was staying."

    "But someone was?" Tina raised her eyebrows and Riles nodded
reluctantly.

    "Look, if you're thinking one of my players might have had
something to do with Barbara..."

    "Why would I think that?" Tina tilted her head. "It was an
accident, right?"

    "Yeah," Riles nodded. "That's what it was, so these questions..."

    "I'm just getting all the facts," Tina shrugged. "Was Barbara
seeing anyone? Did she, uh...have anything going on with one of your
players?"

    "Welch?" Riles almost smiled but caught himself. "She played for
the other team, Detective."

    "The other team?"

    "A lesbian, you know?" Riles shook his head. "She was a real
dyke."

    "I see," Tina said slowly. "Did that bother you?"

    "It didn't keep me up at night," Riles said. "Kind of a waste
though. She was a good looking woman."

    "Right," Tina looked at the man and Riles didn't look away. "How
about your players?"

    "My boys? What about 'em?"

    "How did they feel about a good looking woman who played for the
other team?" Tina asked him. "Any resentment or jealousy..."

    "No," Riles shook his head. "If you're thinking someone on my
football team might have given the woman a little push..."

    "Where were you Friday night, Coach?"

    "I was with my wife," Riles stared at the woman. "I was home all
night."

    "Okay," Vasquez nodded. "And your keys were here...Do you know the
penalty for obstruction of justice?"

    "What?" Riles swallowed hard.

    "It's ten years," Tina said. "Conspiracy can get you more. A lot
more."

    "I think you'd better leave," Riles said slowly.

    "Sure," Tina nodded. "I think I have all the information I need
now."

    Tina stood up slowly, replacing her notepad in her purse as she
walked towards the door.

    "Oh, one more thing, Coach..." she turned around. "What were you
talking to Floyd Peterson about this afternoon?"

    "What?" Riles paled noticeably.

    "In Dr. Moore's office," Tina said. "The three of you had a
meeting. What was that about...the budget?"

    Riles didn't say anything and Tina turned after a long count of
ten to leave the man's office, taking a left. Some twenty feet down
the hall she found the weight room. It was empty for the moment and
Tina turned around to leave. She'd only wanted to see it and there was
something very wrong with Coach Riles. That had been obvious to the
Ranger from the moment she'd sat down. He might have an alibi for
Friday night, but it was a sure bet that at least one of his players
didn't.

    Like most crimes involving rape and murder, this had been an
inside job, as Mahoney liked to say. It was far more common for the
victim of a sex crime to know her assailant than it was to be attacked
by a stranger. Of course a lot of people knew Barbara, but Riles saw
her everyday, him and his players. The means was the Jacuzzi, the
motive...Tina wasn't sure, but money was always a good one. College
money? The department budget? It didn't seem likely but people had
died over far less in Tina's experience. It felt right and Tina had
good instincts, so she decided to pin that one on Riles too, just for
the moment.

    Opportunity? That was an easy one. Barbara's keys had been found
in her purse, locked inside the pool. The doors couldn't be locked
closed without a key, so whoever had killed Barbara had his own key.
Riles had been lying about leaving his keys in his desk, that had been
plain. The man never went anywhere without his keys, Tina thought.
Yeah, Riles was a good tree to shake and something would fall out of
it. He might not have killed Barbara, but he knew it wasn't an
accident and he probably knew a lot more than that.

    It felt good to have a real suspect list. Riles, Fiddler, Peterson...
and Moore? Tina frowned at that, recalling Helen's good opinion of the
man. Fiddler's secretary had shown the original files to the college
president before faxing them to Austin. If Moore was involved,
wouldn't he have tried to dissuade Helen? If he wasn't involved, why
was he meeting with Riles and Peterson? Why was the man avoiding her
if he wanted a Ranger investigating Barbara's death?


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    Moore wasn't at his residence, a large house in the small section
of the campus set aside for faculty housing. An older Hispanic woman,
the man's housekeeper apparently, answered the door and she was
nervous when Tina identified herself as a police officer. Probably an
illegal, Vasquez thought, and no real help at all except to confirm
that Dr. Moore had been home on the night Barbara had died. Although
she had no idea where he might have gone, Tina hadn't really expected
to find him there and she moved on, finding Barbara Welch's small
house nearby. She used the keys she'd gotten from the dead woman's
purse to open the door.

    This was just a matter of routine really and Tina walked through
the quiet house slowly, taking visual notes and disturbing very
little. She knew the Sheriff's Department had been through the place
already and Fiddler would have removed anything obviously relating to
either Barbara's death or Lisa's disappearance. But anything less than
obvious might have escaped the sheriff's attention.

    "Hmmm..." Tina picked up a plastic shopping bag and found a receipt
inside, a small computer printed invoice from one of the local fashion
stores dated Monday morning.

    "A new dress?" Tina said to herself and she found the tags that
had been cut off on the bedroom dresser. A size four and Lisa had
spent eight-nine dollars on it, plus tax. A new dress for Barbara's
memorial service, Tina wondered, or because the girl was going away?
It fit in nicely with Prescott's analysis.

    A quick look through the dresser and twin nightstands produced
little of interest and more than anything else, Tina was hoping for a
note. That seemed unlikely though, given Lisa's phone call to her
sister, but still. People did like to leave something tangible behind
to explain why.

    Tina found it when she discovered a digital camera in the bedroom
closet. She turned it on, viewing the images on the tiny LCD while she
sat on the made-up bed. The entire house was clean and neat, except
for the tags on the dresser and the plastic bag she'd found. Tina
imagined that Lisa had spent much of Sunday making their home
beautiful one last time and that seemed incredibly sad.

    "Lisa," Tina sighed, finding the last picture in the camera's
memory.

    It was a photograph of Lisa and taken in that same bedroom, the
one she'd shared with Barbara. From the look of it, the camera had
been placed on the dresser and Lisa had used the timer delay function.
The girl was wearing a cheerful dress, sky blue with white lace and a
floral pattern in gold like her hair. She resembled Emily, but they
were different as well. Lisa was beautiful and very young, looking
into the camera with frail blue eyes and a soft smile playing at the
corners of her mouth. There was a serenity there, an acceptance on her
face that was unmistakable.

    Lisa was saying goodbye to her sister.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    "Nah, baby. I can't tonight," Mike was rubbing his girlfriend's
back through her sweater.

    "But you promised," Susan pouted. "Everyone's gonna be there."

    "Yeah, but something came up," the young man shrugged and let his
hand go higher, beneath the pretty coed's thick black hair.

    "I can make something come up too," Susan said softly, licking her
lips as she moved her hand from Mike's thigh to the lump in his jeans.

    "Don't start, baby...hmmm..." Mike massaged the girl's neck and she
was fine as hell, he thought. One of the hottest girls on campus and
Susan was always eager for his cock, at least she was when she wanted
something from him, and that made her a whore in Mike's opinion.

    "We don't have to stay at the party," Susan sighed, working her
fingers around the vague outline of Mike's stiffening penis. "We can
go to my place later. My roommate went back to Houston for the
weekend."

    "The whole weekend?" Mike shifted and looked around the campus,
but nobody was paying the two students much mind. They were sitting
off the commons, on the grass beneath a large oak tree.

    "Uh-huh," Susan sighed, giving the handsome boy her dark eyes and
turning slightly so she could reach for his zipper with her other
hand.

    "Be careful, Suzy," Mike grinned at his girlfriend as she unzipped
him slowly. "You're gonna get a reputation."

    "You don't want me to suck it?" Susan giggled, pulling Mike's semi-
hard cock free. She glanced around, but not because she was nervous.
"I hope someone sees us," she whispered. "I like it."

    "Oh, baby! I like it too," Mike pushed her head down to his lap
and sighed as he felt the pretty girl's mouth open for his cock. Susan
was good at sucking cock, very good and Mike's swollen prick wasn't
overly large in any case. She took most of him easily, wrapping her
moist lips around the shaft and sucking noisily.

    "Umph hmph!" Susan moaned, stifling a small laugh as she began
working her tongue around the boy's smooth cockhead.

    "Shhh...Just suck it, Suzy," Mike urged the girl softly. "What a
fuckin' slut!"

    "Mmmph?" Susan rolled her eyes at that, but she didn't stop
sucking. The quarterback of the college football team only had one
girlfriend and she was it, if that meant sucking his cock in broad
daylight and being called a slut while she did it? So be it. Everybody
was going to be at the mixer that evening and it would be embarrassing
if she had to go alone.

    "Are you...gonna take...me?" Susan breathed after several minutes of
sucking Mike's cock the best she knew how.

    "Don't stop!" Mike frowned, trying to push her back down, but
Susan wanted an answer. Stupid bitch.

    "Take me to the party and I'll keep going," Susan said, licking
her lips and squeezing the boy's swollen cock in her fist. "You can
cum in my mouth."

    "I told you, Suzy..." Mike sighed with frustration as much as
apology. "I have to do something."

    "Then I guess you can jerk off all weekend," Susan said, letting
Mike's cock go.

    "Susan! You can't stop now." Mike stared at her but the girl was
already starting to stand up. "Tomorrow night, I promise."

    "I want to go tonight, Mike! What kind of girlfriend am I?" Susan
frowned at him, watching the boy stroke his cock slowly while he sat
there. "Everybody will wonder if you're not with me!"

    "You're an awesome girlfriend! Come on," Mike smiled at her
hopefully. "Don't be mad. Tomorrow night we can do whatever you want."

    "I have to go," Susan sighed. "Call me if you change your mind.
Maybe I'll be home."

    "Susan! Aw fuck!" Mike scowled and then realized he was jerking
off in the middle of campus and grimaced as he forced his still hard
cock back into his pants.

    She was gonna be a sorry girlfriend pretty soon, Mike thought to
himself. What a bitch. If she wasn't so completely fuckable, he'd have
dropped Susan a long time ago. She was a total slut though. The girl
would do anything anywhere so long as Mike kept her on his arm and
introduced her as his girlfriend. Stupid cheerleader bimbo. Susan was
like all the rest, good for fucking and not much else.

    Yeah, Mike decided as he stood up slowly, next time they went out
he was going to get her fucked up and then fucked. A nice little gang
bang out in the desert. See how much the slut liked that. And after
half the football team had her, he'd dump the whore. Start a little
argument in the middle of the college commons, in front of a thousand
kids. He'd accuse her of being a slut and a whore and begging his team
to pull a train on her hot little ass. Everybody would know, Mike
would make sure of that. It wouldn't kill her, but she'd wish she was
dead by the time he was done. Susan was that kind of girl, desperate
to be popular and envied and all that shit.

    "Mike! Hey son, I need to talk with you," Coach Riles was walking
towards him and the young man smiled.

    Maybe that new truck the boosters had promised him had come in
finally. Between the eager girls and the enthusiastic fans, it was
pretty damn good playing Texas football, Mike had long since decided.
All the attention made the young quarterback feel like he was king of
the world and he put Susan out of his head as he walked over to see
what his coach wanted.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    "Can I help you find something?" Wanda Person asked the attractive
blonde, frowning at the words as soon as she spoke them. They sounded
so common and boring and not at all like the what the girl wanted to
say.

    "Hi," Emily smiled, thinking the salesgirl must have graduated
high school about ten minutes ago. "Uh...Wanda. I'm just looking."

    "Okay," Wanda bit her bottom lip and she'd actually felt a small
shock of excitement until she realized Emily had only read her name
off the tag she wore on her starched white blouse.

    Being a young lesbian in West Abilene wasn't a lot of fun. Wanda
figured she was about as far in the closet as a woman could be and at
eighteen the girl wondered if she wasn't cursed by her sexual
preference. It sure seemed like it, especially when she saw another
girl she was attracted to, like this one. It wasn't just the woman's
beauty, it was her east Texas accent and the way she moved, just a
little different than the local girls did. Wanda noticed things like
that, the little things, and she only wished she knew how to approach
a woman like that.

    Emily had just spent two hours at the local beauty salon, not for
any real reason except she had the whole afternoon and nothing to do
but wait for Tina. To make herself attractive for Tina, Emily reminded
herself happily as she browsed the lingerie store. Her mind was never
far from Lisa, and Emily's fears tugged at her heart like a stone, but
it didn't change the fact that she was in love, real love for the very
first time. The circumstances were unfair and gave Emily a sense of
guilt, but life does go on, for better or worse, and the woman was
determined not to mourn her sister until she had no other choice.

    "We, uh...We're having a little sale," Wanda offered after five
minutes of watching the blonde's deliberate browsing.

    "Oh?" Emily smiled at the girl and Wanda was pretty enough. A
little too much makeup maybe, but the girl's auburn hair was nice,
long and wavy around her open face and soft hazel eyes. Emily couldn't
help but see the interest in them and it surprised her because it was
so apparent.

    "Yeah," Wanda nodded quickly, nervously, and stepped around the
counter. "The red tag items are twenty percent off."

    "Okay," Emily smiled and the girl blushed slightly. "Thank you."

    "Sure," Wanda cleared her throat and now she was stuck standing
there with nothing to do. She bit her bottom lip.

    "I'm looking for something green," Emily said, only because she'd
been through what Wanda was feeling and understood it all too well.

    "Green?" Wanda blinked as the woman's blue eyes found hers. "Um,
like a night gown or..."

    "Something sexy," Emily tilted her head. "A little...naughty, you
know?"

    "Oh," Wanda looked away and her cheeks were pink. She could all
too easily imagine the blonde in something naughty, something green
and sexy and...

    "Like a camisole maybe?" Emily asked, thinking the girl was a
little too self-conscious to be selling lingerie. "Do you have
anything like that?"

    "Yeah." Wanda looked around as if she was lost for a second. "Over
here. I don't think they're on sale though."

    "That's okay," Emily shrugged, following the salesgirl and noting
the way Wanda's round butt moved beneath her beige skirt. If it
weren't for Tina, Emily might have made a little pass at the girl, but
she was more than content to look and be amused by young Wanda's
obvious fluster.

    "Uh, here..." Wanda held out her hand, gesturing towards a selection
of camisole and tap pants on cushioned hangers.

    "Oh, these are nice," Emily decided, going through the rack and
pausing at a set in emerald green. "Hmmm...Do you think I could try this
on?"

    "Oh! Yeah," Wanda nodded quickly. "Um, but you have to leave your,
uh...panties...on."

    "Okay," Emily laughed lightly as the girl could barely get the
words out. She wondered if Wanda was like that with all of her
customers or if it was something specific about Emily herself that was
tying the girl's tongue in knots.

    Wanda frowned as she watched Emily disappeared into a changing
booth, pulling the curtain closed behind her. Why was she acting so
silly? It wasn't the first time though. Wanda had struggled through
high school not to make a fool of herself in front of her female
friends and classmates. It wasn't that the girl didn't have any self-
control, or that she was obsessed with having sex or anything. Wanda
was just easily excited and nervous in the presence of someone she
found attractive, and by the time she was eighteen that was just about
any girl she had an opportunity to talk to.

    Knowing what her problem was didn't make the girl feel any better
though. Wanda waited outside the changing booth, feeling like a
sixteen year old with too many hormones, but unable to do anything
else. The store didn't do a whole lot of business anyway and some of
the locals thought that opening a store specializing in underwear was
kind of silly, considering the size and mentality of West Abilene. So
Wanda really had nothing better to do than wait for Emily, half-hoping
and half-dreading the adolescent fantasy that the woman would ask her
into the changing booth for a little help with her lingerie.

    "I like it," Emily said about ten minutes later, exiting the booth
fully dressed and holding the sexy lingerie on its hanger.

    "Good," Wanda smiled, trying to hide her disappointment at not
getting just a little peek at the woman while she'd changed clothes.

    "Well..." Emily glanced around. "I guess this is all I need. Can you
ring it up for me?"

    "What? Oh! Yeah, sorry..." Wanda apologized. "Cash or charge, um..."

    "Cash," Emily nodded, handing the hanger to Wanda and following
the girl to the register.

    "Okay," Wanda kicked herself, wondering why she couldn't at least
try to have a real conversation with the woman, but she couldn't think
of anything to say.

    "It's hard isn't it?" Emily said softly, drawing Wanda's big hazel
eyes up from her cash register.

    "Um what?" Wanda blinked at the blonde woman.

    "It's okay," Emily offered the girl a reassuring smile. "I know
what its like. Do you have a...friend?"

    "A friend?" Wanda was suddenly frightened and her cheeks burned as
she realized what the woman meant, what this attractive blonde knew
about her.

    "Someone special?" Emily asked gently.

    She'd been through it herself as a teenager and then with Lisa,
and Emily remembered how hard her little sister's first crush on
another girl had been. Like the world was ending because the girl
couldn't possibly love Lisa back. Where was her sister now, Emily
wondered and then pushed the thought away as she focused on the
salesgirl in front of her. It must be really tough in a town like this
and life was so unfair sometimes.

    "No," Wanda swallowed hard.

    "You'll meet someone," Emily promised her, knowing in her heart it
was true and hoping Wanda had the patience for it.

    "Are you, um..."

    "Yeah," Emily nodded. "How old are you?"

    "Eighteen," Wanda replied and her heart was going fast. "I've
never, oh...never mind..."

    "What?" Emily asked, watching as the girl blushed and looked away.

    "I just never met anyone else, you know?" Wanda looked up then,
searching Emily's face. "Sometimes I think, uh...there is nobody else."

    "Like you?" Emily asked. "You're not alone; there are a lot of
girls out there."

    "I hope so," Wanda sighed and then giggled nervously. "I mean..."

    "Yeah," Emily laughed lightly. "I know. You're a pretty girl, it
just takes time. At least you have a cool job, right?"

    Wanda smiled, looking down as she rang up the woman's purchase.
She wasn't sure if she really felt any better or not, but she felt
something different. She was pretty. The blonde, who was beautiful by
anyone's standards, had told her so. Maybe she was hitting on her,
Wanda thought and that was a split second of panic. But no, the tone
of the woman's voice, the look in her eye, it was friendly, even
sympathetic, but not like she was interested.

    "Yeah," Wanda made a little face. "It's pretty cool sometimes. How
did you know about me?" the girl asked as she folded the lingerie into
a cardboard box. "Is it really, you know, obvious?"

    "Hmmm..." Emily smiled. "Kinda, yeah, but that's okay. Next time
some girl might be in here shopping for you."

    "For me?" Wanda blinked and then laughed, rolling her soft hazel
eyes and wishing desperately that were true.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


    "Peters," the man said and Tina smiled at the sound of his voice,
as if he was impatient with the interruption and that was always a
good sign.

    "Hi, this is Detective Vasquez again. Busy?"

    "Heh! Always. The drowning victim, right? What can I do for you
this time, Detective?"

    "I'm going to over-night a couple water samples to you this
afternoon. Do you work weekends?"

    "Uhhh...I reckon I do," the young man chuckled. "Let me guess,
Jacuzzi?"

    "Yeah," Tina agreed. "I want to know if they're a match with the
sample from the dead woman's lungs."

    "No problem," Peters replied. "I can use the overtime. Just put
priority on the lab request."

    "Right," Tina agreed and she was leaning on the Fed-Ex counter,
filling it out while she spoke to him. "Hey, I'm putting my phone
number on here too. The results go to Austin, but I'd appreciate a
call once you know something."

    "Sure," Peters agreed and it wasn't that often an investigator
actually called him, he was rather enjoying it. Lab work wasn't bad,
but being reminded that it actually meant something was pretty cool,
the young technician thought.

    "Great," Tina finished. "I really appreciate it."

    Ten minutes later Tina was looking at her watch. It was almost
four and she decided it was still early enough.

    "Excuse me," she asked the woman working the counter. "Where would
I find the McKinnen Funeral Home?"



To be continued...

-- 
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