"Three days," Jeisa said. "All you had to do was leave."

"You're The Enforcer? The Red Dragon? You?" the man asked, lowering the fork to his plate.

It was the owner of the three attack dogs and the delicious milk. He had that ex-military look on him. Likely an officer of some sort. His body had filled out from his combat days, but his slightly soft, heavyset form sat well on him.

"Why is that always the first thing you people say?" Jeisa asked, exasperated. "Is it because I'm young? Or a woman? Ageism or sexism, what's your damage?"

"You really have no idea what's going on, do you?" the man said, getting up from the dining table.

"You're trying to get control of Weapons of Mass Destruction and I'm here to stop you," Jeisa replied, a little prickled at the accusation of ignorance. "I'm not the one on the wrong side of that equation. You are."

"I wish I could be there when you finally figure this out." He said.

"I wish you'd just left."

*

Once again, Jeisa couldn't go home after her assignment. As she pulled her helmet visor down and kicked back the stand on her matte black, lightweight sports bike, there was only one place she wanted to be. She rode to Cass' place, stopping outside the building, hoping she could think of a reason to go up and knock on her door. But it was late, and Cass had already made it clear where they stood, and that wasn't a place where it would be normal for Jeisa to stop by her house at two in the morning. She needed to leave!

However, as Jeisa leaned forward on the sports bike, appreciating the purr from the sexy beast of an engine beneath her, she looked up just in time to see Cass walking out of the apartment building. Cass walked quickly across the street, poised and confident, hair flowing free down her back and over her thigh length black jacket full of ornate buckles and cinched at her waist with a thick black belt. The jacket's V shaped opening revealed a red turtleneck stretch mini dress that went just past the jacket against her thighs. She'd finished the look with black, high heeled, mid-calf boots that hugged her gorgeous long legs beautifully.

Jeisa suddenly felt absolutely institutional in her black, practical motorbike safety jacket, pants and boots. The helmet hair didn't help either.

"No." Jeisa whispered to herself. "No, Jeisa."

She watched Cass step into a waiting Uber.

"No, Jeisa. Let her be. Just let her be."

It didn't surprise Jeisa to find herself following the cab. Cass made her crazy. Made everything crazy. But also made everything make sense. She was the ultimate personification of why Jeisa wanted, more than anything, to protect Wraith Hamlet. Cass calling this town home was why Jeisa would tolerate everything she had to do to keep it from falling to ruin. And why she had to follow that cab, first to some dingy hole-in-the-wall pawn shop then to the closed bar they were in now.

Jeisa picked up and tossed an empty beer bottle. It shattered on the hallway's floor. The man she was watching turned to the sound and walked toward it. Jeisa slunk past the doorway he was guarding and into the dark back room of the closed bar. Hiding behind a box tower of stocked canned food, she quietly watched as the two other occupants of the room looked at the contents of a solid looking backpack. Jeisa's eyes widened when she realised that the backpack was just a shell of a reinforced box that held two cases of dark coloured bottles inside.

"Ghost Horse Series, year 2008. Worth $5000 each. I'll give you both for $8000." said Cass.

"Six thousand." said the rough looking man. He wore a dark gray tailored suit with a fitted black dress shirt and black tie. He looked good, but he also looked like he was trying a bit too hard. Even from where she was, Jeisa could smell the strong, musky cologne he seemed to have showered in. He didn't have that suave grace that was needed to pull off the look he was going for.

"Seven thousand. That's it." replied Cass.

The man stayed silent for a moment that felt stretched out for far too long. When he reached into his pocket, Jeisa found herself halfway out of her hiding spot before she saw that he was handing her a thick wad of cash, not trying to kill her.

"Fine." said the man.

Cass pocketed the cash and walked away, escorted by the guard that Jeisa had distracted earlier, who'd just walked in. Jeisa waited for the musky man to leave so she could too. Before he did though, he made a call.

"Get my money back. She's coming out now." he said.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket then pulled out one of the bottles, a smirk on his face as he studied it. Jeisa took that chance to slip out of the room. She found Cass and the guard waiting outside as Cass called for a ride. Jeisa calmly cut off the man that was sent to ambush Cass as he made his way to her and the driver. She incapacitated the man with a sharp jab to his windpipe to keep him from calling out then a quick round house kick that dropped him, all the while being lost in deep thought.

Every time she saw Cass, the girl was dressed to the nines! Maybe Jeisa could change how she dressed to get Cass to look at her in that sinfully sexy way that she looked at some of the guys at the Forest Service volunteer meeting.

After Cass had safely got into the cab and they'd driven away, Jeisa walked to her motor bike, ready to follow Cass' cab again.

Jeisa had never felt like this before.

***

"Who even goes camping in winter?" said Cass, as Jeisa drove them away from another Forest Services meeting, held on the night after the wine thing. They'd been given their assignments at this meeting and theirs was camp site cleanup and hiking trail maintenance.

"A snow bound camping experience sounds enjoyable. Cozy." Jeisa replied.

The truck was idling at a stop light. Jeisa stopped her head from turning to Cass. She had to consciously prevent herself from wanting to get lost in those green eyes every time they were this close. Instead, she let herself get lost in that earthy, spicy honey scent.

"Cozy?" Cass scoffed. "More like the recipe for ending up in a random online video about how a careless hiker died from exposure because they couldn't find the trail in a blizzard."

"I'd take freezing my ass off over being eaten alive by mosquitoes in summer," Jeisa said with a shrug. "One's falling asleep, the other makes you wish hell was real because it would be a real vacation in comparison."

Cass laughed and Jeisa almost crashed her truck at the sound. The wholesome, warm, sincere, joyful sound that made it feel like there was an exploding confetti gun in Jeisa's stomach. She loved that sound. Lived to hear it.

"So..." said Cass. Jeisa could feel her gaze. Again, she fought to keep her eyes on the road. No looking at those eyes. Those gorgeous leaf green eyes that she could let herself get lost in for hours. No. She had to focus on the road, or they wouldn't get to where they were going.

"So?" asked Jeisa, surprised at how unflustered she sounded.

"What's this thing you wanted my help with after the meeting?" asked Cass, taking out a small tube of gloss, pulling down the passenger sun visor to reveal the mirror, and carefully glossing her lips.

It took all of Jeisa's strength to limit herself to only one quick glance at the raven haired beauty. Her hair was in a crown braid today with a few strands artistically falling to the sides of her sculpted face, bringing out her eyes. Jeisa thought about her own hair. She had it in a messy ponytail that she hoped looked nice. It had taken her almost half an hour to get it to that I-just-did-this-in-two-minutes-but-it-looks-good look. She sighed inwardly. What was Cass doing to her?

"Jeisa?"

"Oh. Um... Laser tag." blurted Jeisa.

"Laser tag?"

"Laser tag."

"You need my help with laser tag?" she asked incredulously. Even while staring straight at the road, Jeisa could feel Cass' smile and gaze on her.

"Yeah." said Jeisa, forcing a cucumber cool look. "The 'Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wraith Hamlet' are having a charity event with some of their members, and I usually volunteer to help with their events, so, I signed us up as helpers."

"Wait, what...?!" started Cass.

"Here we are!" Jeisa quickly cut her off before she could object. She parked the truck and got out, waiting for Cass to follow her into the laser tag building.

*

"Still alive Jeisa?" Cass called out as she tried to look around one of the barriers in the dimly lit, obstacle filled room with random glow in the dark drawings and graffiti on almost all surfaces. Jeisa smiled. She'd managed to sneak up on her.

"Still alive," Jeisa replied, startling Cass who turned in surprise to face her.

Jeisa pulled on her laser gun trigger, taking Cass' final life, and winning the game for the blue team.

After a few hours of running, rolling, shooting at enemies, and chasing after team flags, laughter mingling with the trigger button smashing of the laser guns and dings from the chest plates, Cass and Jeisa were saying goodbye to the 'Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wraith Hamlet' members who were heading out for pizza. The volunteer helpers had taken turns playing as Marshalls who kept the kids from cheating, but this last round they had all joined as team members, enjoying some of the action themselves.

It ended up being a lot more fun than Jeisa had imagined it would be, which was perfect to help her unwind from all the assignments she'd been on recently and exactly what she'd needed to get out of her head for a while. That Cass was here with her too was the cherry on top of an already beyond decadent cake.

"I haven't been to laser tag in forever!" hollered Cass in excitement as they walked back to the truck. She undid her braid and let her wavy hair down with a flourish. She couldn't stop smiling and Jeisa couldn't take her eyes off her. Cass twirled, then skipped a few steps forward. "That was freaking awesome, Jeisa!"

"I'm glad you liked it." Jeisa said with a little chuckle, drinking in Cass' excitement, letting it fill her up and drown everything else.

Cass stopped before they got to the car and turned to look at Jeisa. Jeisa didn't have a chance to escape that emerald-green gaze, but to be honest, she didn't want to. Cass looked amazing, with wisps of her open hair being blown around in the night breeze, the soft angles of her cheekbones emphasised in the soft glow of the streetlights and her thin lips curled into a wistful smile. She was looking straight into Jeisa's eyes. Jeisa wasn't sure if she was still breathing. She was especially uncertain of this fact when Cass shortened the distance between them.

"Jeisa, was this a date?" asked Cass, with a smirk that said she was enjoying the effect she had on Jeisa.

The vibrating phone in Jeisa's right pocket was loud in the silence. Silence that had been Jeisa embarrassing herself by forgetting how to put syllables together and force them up her throat. She quickly grabbed at her phone and looked down at the message. It was her father messaging her about the last assignment for the Red Dragon. He was asking if she'd forgotten her promise. Reminding her that The Enforcer was needed downtown.

Jeisa almost cursed, shoving the phone back into her pocket.

"Cass..." started Jeisa, looking back up at the raven beauty. She was still making an attempt at that thing called 'speaking', but this time it was because she was finding it difficult to accept that she had to end all this, and not just for tonight, but forever.

This ride was ending far sooner than she'd expected.

But it had to.

"Hey, don't take it seriously." Cass said, her voice softened with concern. "I'm just messing with you, Jeisa."

Cass gently backhanded Jeisa's arm, chuckled, then turned to keep walking toward the truck.

"Hey Cass?" Jeisa called out, suddenly fired by winds of defiance. She wasn't ready to let this end. Not yet.

Cass slowed down and turned to face her.

"Wanna go for a swim?" Jeisa asked, her lips twitching into a mischievous grin.

*

The forty-storey building was a mix of nauseatingly expensive office and residential space. It was one of those buildings that needed buzzer keys and other complicated electronic means to get in undetected, which was perfect for Jeisa. She parked the truck about a block away, then they walked over to the building. She made short work of the need for a buzzer by casually running her fingers over the intercom phone on the outside of the building and letting her technopath tendrils work to buzz them in.

They got into the elevator and Jeisa pressed the 'Penthouse' button with that same cucumber-cool, unconcerned look she'd had while sparking the intercom to get them inside. She was holding back her need to keep sparking only because Cass was there. Jeisa pulled out her phone as the elevator door began to close, then suddenly jumped out of the elevator.

"I forgot something in the truck." she said to Cass as the doors closed. "Don't worry, I'll meet you up there in five minutes."

Jeisa waited for the elevator to start going up before she called for another one. She made her way to the 29th floor and found the apartment she was looking for. The door needed an actual key. This would take a tiny bit longer to work than electronics. Jeisa pulled out a small leather satchel that she always had in her truck and had slipped into her pocket before leaving the truck to walk here. She used the lock picks to open the door. Once inside the apartment, she walked around and explored quickly and quietly.

There was a hidden safe in one of the walls of the living room. Jeisa sparked open the electronic lock, enjoying the lick of energy that coursed through her when she did, only stopping when she heard rustling from the apartment's bedroom. She berated herself. This was getting out of hand. But she didn't have the time to think about it now.

She opened the safe door. This was a warning trip, not a killing assignment. Maybe the Red Dragon would take something from the safe. However, the safe held only one thing. A deep purple velvet jewellery case, about ten inches long and half as wide and as thick as a good paperback novel. Jeisa had seen this before. In the safe of her first target – the Wraith Hamlet Police Captain. Or was this another case? Did they all have one? Jeisa hadn't searched the second dog-lover target's rented space long enough to see if he'd hidden a similar case.

She was slipping up!

There were only two possibilities here. Either this was the same exact case as the one she'd left behind in the safe hidden in the den of the Captain's suburban home, or each of the targets owned a similar case. Whatever the truth was, there was a significance with this velvet case and Jeisa should take it. However, not only was this not a part of her mission here today, but she also had Cass waiting for her a few floors above, and there was no time to take the case, run to her truck and then get back to the Penthouse without it seeming thoroughly suspicious.

Jeisa closed the safe door, making the gamble to leave the case behind in the hope that it was nothing important enough to affect their mission. Besides, her warning missions had always been about taking something simple that would be missed and replacing them with her father's origami dragons that held a stark warning written inside. The simpler the item she pilfered, the more it messed with the one being warned. Like a deck of cards or a bottle of milk from the refrigerator.

The buzz from working her technopathy on the elevator and the safe, as well as the amazing night she was having with Cass, was making Jeisa reckless. She noiselessly glided into the master bedroom, where the rustling had come from. The man was sprawled on his stomach across a king-sized bed, his naked form barely covered by the thin peach coloured silk bed sheet. The room was lit up only by the subdued glow of street lighting through the glass doors that had the blinds up. The man's straight, silky, shoulder length hair, pooled like dark ink across the stark white pillowcase. Once she was certain he was dead asleep, Jeisa pulled her attention from him.

Her eyes fell on what looked like an organisation ring of some sort - a class ring maybe? - on the side table. She would take that. She dug into her pocket and found the origami dragon to replace the ring. The man didn't even twitch. The dossier she'd read on this target showed that this man would probably enjoying filleting her flesh millimetre by agonising millimetre to death if he woke up to find Jeisa, but she didn't care. She wasn't scared. Not even close. Not while all she could think of was the gorgeous girl waiting for her at the Penthouse suite for a midnight swim. That had her heart doing the jack hammer dance.

Jeisa slipped out of the apartment, called the Penthouse elevator, and went to find Cass.

The pool was incredible. It was an outdoor terrace infinity pool, open to the crisp night air. The warm water jets were on, and a thin steam cloud kissed the water's surface. The pool sat with one of its edges right at the building's edge. The Wraith Hamlet metropolis was spread before it, decorated with intricate patterns of stark white, soft orange and bright red twinkling car lights and dark asphalt lit up in the muted glow.

"What are you doing?" asked Cass, watching as Jeisa pulled up her pale blue jumper hoodie to reveal her slightly cropped solid blue camisole. She then pulled off her multicoloured striped socks, undid the button and fly of her black skinny jeans and pulled them off too, revealing a pair of boy shorts, same colour as the camisole.

"Going for a midnight swim. You coming?" replied Jeisa with a cheeky grin and wink. She took a few steps to the edge of the pool and dove in, hardly causing a ripple.

Jeisa came up for air just as Cass began to strip off her clothes. She trod water as she watched. Cass unzipped her jungle green microfibre sports jacket and shrugged it off. She had a simple gray tee beneath it. She pulled the T-shirt over her head. Her navel had a pale gold stud that gleamed. The black sports bra she had on held a hint of lace on the edges. She tugged on the draw strings of her black track pants. They slid down to reveal a pair of black bikini briefs. She kicked off the pants then slowly peeled off her lurid pink ankle socks. Jeisa couldn't look away and almost swallowed a litre of tepid, salty, pool water when Cass cannon balled into the pool, laughing all the while.

After swimming and playing for a while, Jeisa found some towels for them and brought one to Cass.

"I'll run our laundry and make us something to eat," Jeisa said as Cass walked into the towel she was holding out for her.

Cass smiled and shimmied out of her underwear while keeping the towel up, then she walked over to her other clothes, collected the lot, and handed them all to Jeisa.

"I'd love a quick shower," Cass said, standing much too close to Jeisa to not know the effect she was having on her.

"Down the hallway, second door on the right," Jeisa breathed, having taken a quick house tour while searching for the towels.

"Thanks. See you soon." Cass said with a wink before walking away.

Jeisa stood there in a towel robe for many long seconds, running that last phrase through her fried mind. See you soon? In the shower? Or the kitchen? It took far too long for Jeisa to choose to believe that Cass had been talking about the kitchen.

Definitely the kitchen.

Right?

This kitchen was incredibly well stocked. Jeisa found some frozen chicken thighs that she defrosted in the microwave, cut into bite sized cubes, then seasoned using spices from one of the best organised spice drawers she'd ever seen. She drenched the cubed chicken in paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, Cajun spice, lemon juice, avocado oil, salt and pepper, let it marinade for a while as she sliced some button mushrooms, minced garlic, onions, green peppers and half of an orange scotch bonnet, in case Cass wasn't that into spice. She then fried the spiced chicken, the mushrooms and the veggies and made a cheese sauce with some cream and spices, while cooking some lasagna sheets on the side.

She layered the saucy filling with the pasta sheets, topped the whole thing with a healthy dose of cheese, then placed it in the oven just as Cass walked out of the shower in a towel robe. Her midnight black hair fell over the peach robe in layers, down to just below her tail bone. Jeisa wondered what it would feel like running her hands through it, then stopped because she was being incredibly inappropriate and fanning the fuel of desires that would make the eventual crash into that tragic brick wall ending of this ill-advised ride even more devastating.

"It'll be done in a few minutes," Jeisa said to Cass, setting a timer on her phone and handing Cass a bottle of water. "I should be out of the shower by then."

"Don't take too long," Cass said, settling into the cloud-like L-couch and switching on the TV. "I'm starving!"

They spent the next few hours enjoys the creamy chicken lasagna, some red wine, and some terrible trash TV, all while talking about everything and nothing. Jeisa cleaned the kitchen and everything they'd used, ran their towels and robes through the washer and dryer and then finally offered to take Cass home about an hour or so before sunrise.

"I had a really fun night, Jeisa!" said Cass from the passenger seat, after Jeisa had found a parking spot outside her apartment building.

"Yeah, me too." Jeisa replied. She couldn't get the picture of Cass' body out of her mind, which also meant that she couldn't get the stupid grin plastered on her face to go away. That belly button stud had been her undoing.

"Your place is amazing." said Cass.

"Oh. I don't live there." said Jeisa.

"Just house sitting?"

"Nope."

"Friend's place?"

"I actually have no idea who lives there."

"So, we just broke into the penthouse suite of one of the most luxurious apartment buildings in Wraith Hamlet, for dinner and a midnight swim."

Jeisa shrugged. "We left everything clean."

"Oh, right. Cleaning the dishes and running the towels and robes that we used through the washer and dryer, and then folding them up definitely makes it all okay."

"We also cleaned out the dryer's lint catch." replied Jeisa with a straight face. "And I made a note of all the groceries we used to send over a shopping box to replace it all."

Cass looked at Jeisa for a few seconds and then laughed. A full, lung powered, belly laugh.

"I cannot believe we just did that!" she gasped. "How did you know there was no one up there?"

"I didn't." replied Jeisa, grinning stupidly.

"You crazy son of a biscuit, Jeisa." whispered Cass, settling back into the passenger seat, chuckling.