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Deep Sixed

Jack awoke to a warm bed and the sound of rain against his bedroom window. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a lioness's muzzle a few inches from his face. Lifting his head and focusing on the clock behind his bedmate, he wondered what had woken him, since it was only five past four in the morning. The snow leopard eased himself back down onto the mattress, snuggling closer to Shannon's warm feline form, and drifted back to sleep as the rain picked up force outside.

***

On the other side of the city, Chief Hoffman had also awoken for no apparent reason at roughly the same time. Climbing out of bed, he went over to the desk in the corner of the room and opened up the week's most recent cases. Flipping through the papers, nothing caught his eye, just the usual drunken and disorderly, vehicular misdemeanor, petty theft type cases. The only major cases that had landed on his desk were the murder of MediaWare's CEO, and the subsequent bombing of their corporate office yesterday morning. Wonder if this is part of some business deal gone sour... Trouble was there were no leads; no witnesses to the murder, no hard evidence from the bombing, nothing that could help Gary bring someone in. Â He'd keep catching flack from his superiors until he could produce a name, so with a muttered curse, he started getting ready for work an hour early. Thank God the wife is away, or I'd be catching three kinds of hell for this, 'perk' of the job.

Traffic was light this time of morning, so Gary made good time getting in to the station. He was at his office by four forty-five, and digging through his email and police databases in earnest. By the time the rest of his staff came in at six, he was no closer to a solution and decided he'd better take a break. He made a point of asking Shannon if she'd like to join him for a coffee, but she turned him down for a change. Odd, she never turns down a free coffee at this hour... The chief made his way to the café downstairs and ordered just one of the usual, drinking it in silence, mulling over this new turn of events.

***

Chris rolled out of bed at seven, as usual for a weekday, and was ready for work before remembering he'd quit. Well, if I'm up, there's no sense in wasting the day away. He phoned Jack to be sure he was awake, grabbed Andy's car keys, and hit the road. The roads were still plenty wet from the early morning rainstorm, but he still made good time. Twenty minutes later, he was drinking coffee in the snow leopard's apartment, discussing the sting operation Jack was assigned to.

"So you're getting paid to be part of a gang, plus whatever the gang itself is paying you, and you're simply tasked with observation of their movements?"

"That's about it, of course it's a real pain trying to blend in and do all the gang-related activities and still keep a clean conscience... I guess it's gotten easier though, still can't get over some of the stunts they've pulled off."

Jack got up to pour another cup of coffee while he talked about the last major hit, a coordinated attack against a graphics design company. He hadn't been told what the reasons behind the hits were, but his job wasn't to question orders after all. "You know, I still need to get you a new car, seeing as how you were over here working with me when those thugs showed up..."

Chris chuckled a little and told the snow leopard that he could care less, since the car was getting old and having its fair share of problems. "I wouldn't mind a nice shiny new RX-8 though, just saying. No obligations but you seem to be feeling generous", the tiger said with a smile.

"Hmm, Mazda? I'll see what I can do for you, what color you want?"

"White exterior, black leather, black rims, racing stripes would be cool. You tell me what you can scare up though, I'm just happy with a new set of wheels."

"Alright, I'm sure I can accommodate that pretty easily, how about aftermarket tuning?" Jack finished the last of the coffee, and the two cats made their way to Jack's Mustang while they carried on about all the tweaks Chris wanted done to his new car.

***

Andy rolled out of bed much later than usual, around eight in the morning. She showered and gave the worst parts of her fur a quick brushing, not too concerned about looking good as this was her last day on the job. She checked herself in the bathroom mirror, decided she'd be okay for a stop at the office and a few errands, and slipped into a rather casual outfit of shorts and t-shirt. Making one last stop in front of the mirror, she realized just how thin the material of the shirt was. After the rain this morning, and more forecasted before the day was over, the tigress added a plain white bra to her attire. Not like people haven't seen a pair of 32Bs before, but why risk showing off in a bad neighborhood? Â Already running late, she skipped breakfast and was halfway into the garage before noticing her keys were missing. Â Muttering under her breath, she pulled out her cell phone, dialed one of her soon-to-be ex-coworkers, and arranged a ride in.

Half an hour later Andrea walked into the lobby of her work, where the guard greeted her a little more formally than usual. Â They'd been on a first name basis after a few weeks of her having the job, but this morning it was "Good morning, Ms. Cross" instead of the normal friendly banter. She knew immediately that something was up, "Morning Jenn, I take it they got to me before I got to them?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, guess with the mess in the news things haven't been going so hot for you guys... I'm going to need your access card and ID when you leave today, just toss ‘em on the desk if I'm not around. "

"No problem, I wasn't staying long anyways, just going to grab a few things from my desk and I'll be on my way. With that mess downtown and the practical shutdown of MediaWare's local office, they cut most of my team. Oh, I didn't just say that, right?"

"Say what?" Jenn replied with a little smile.

"Exactly, see you in ten minutes or so." Andy walked over to the elevators, swiped her card and headed up to her office on the seventh floor. She made her way over to her cubicle and started gathering up anything she might have left, like the half-eaten bag of chips, old coffee, digital photo frame, and a few boxes of pens. The pens might have been the company's, but they weren't going to notice, and she happened to like the plain, sturdy design. They wouldn't leak everywhere if you carried them in a coat pocket or purse at least, which was worth the extra few pennies. She threw out the coffee and chips, pocketed the photo frame, and stuck the pen boxes into a fresh trash bag to make them easier to carry.

As promised, Andy stopped by the guard's desk ten minutes later to drop off her employee ID cards and say goodbye to Jenn. Â On her way out, she yet again remembered she didn't have a car, and searched her pockets for a few bills to cover bus fare down to the residential shopping center. Luckily the center was within walking distance of her house, saving her the trouble of yet another bus ride laden with bags.

The tigress dug into her wallet for the house key and practically kicked the door open. A five-pound bag of potatoes plus a few steaks and assorted side dishes gets heavy after carrying it for a while, and she was glad to set everything down in the kitchen.

By the time Andy had put away everything she didn't need for the night's dinner, the clock was ticking towards ten o'clock. Â She kicked her shoes off and settled onto the couch to watch TV for a while, figuring Chris would be back at some point with her car, hopefully in one piece.

***

Jack and Chris made for an unusual sight as they wandered into the downtown car dealerships looking for a tuner. Â Apparently the RX-8 didn't come in white at the trim level they were looking at, so it was off to a body shop, again.

Right now it was all about comparison shopping, to find the best deal on a reasonably new car from someone willing to cut a deal.

A salesman near the door immediately started towards them, the first time someone had done so since they started their excursion this morning. Maybe these guys get more furs through here or something, or they're looking to make a sale.

"Good morning gentlemen, can I help you with anything today?" inquired the salesman as he reached the two cats.

"Yes, I'm looking for a sports car, do you have any Mazdas available?" asked Chris.

"We just got a couple RX-8s and an MX-5 soft-top in a few days ago, blue and red on the RX-8s and gray on the Miata. Do any of those sound suitable?"

"Could we run numbers on one of the RX-8s? I've already driven one before, so no need for a test drive." Chris followed the salesman over to a desk while Jack browsed the showroom, stopping to check out an S2000, and moving on just as quickly. A few minutes of discussion later, the salesman showed the tiger a figure just over $35,000; which they haggled down to about $32,000 with tax and tags.

Right as the salesman finished his latest quote; Jack wandered back over and off-handedly said that the dealer across the street had the same car for $31 grand even. The salesman quickly called his manager over, looking flustered.

"Good morning sirs, I hear you're interested in one of our RX-8s? What do I have to do to make a sale right here?" asked the sales manager. Â Jack reiterated what he'd told the salesman, and five minutes later the manager had the paperwork printed up ready to be signed.

Half an hour later, as they wandered out to the new car, Chris asked Jack where he'd seen the better deal. "Simple, I didn't, but I know how salesmen think, and these guys wanted your business, so I made up a figure and forced their hand a bit. Â It works, obviously."

The cats split up, with Chris going back to the house to pick up Andrea and Jack returning to his apartment to formulate a plan for the night.

***

"Do I even want to know where you got the money for that?" Andy asked when Chris showed her the new car. "Nice seats, beats the Integra..."

"Glad you like it, still gotta get it painted though, don't care for the red much. That and it needs some aftermarket gear, but what car doesn't?" replied Chris, "Let's go get the 'Vette back from Jack's place, he's working on something for the night, not sure what though, he wouldn't say."

The ride over to the apartment complex was accompanied solely by the purr of the 232hp 1.3-liter rotary engine. The tigers pulled in next to Jack's Mustang and made their way to his apartment, chatting about possibilities for the night's dinner. Â They'd gone from dinner to speculation on Jack's intentions for the evening by the time they reached the snow leopard's door, and were greeted by a grinning, shirtless, feline.

"Busy?" queried Chris with a smirk and healthy helping of sarcasm.

"Nah, least not like that you horny bastard, come on in already, make yourselves comfortable. There's snacks on the table if you're hungry." Jack turned on his heel, grabbing a t-shirt off the kitchen counter as he walked past.

"So, what's up? Any news from the boss on what we're supposed to be doing?" Â This quip from Andy, in-between sips of root beer.

"Recon work, find out who the gang might be targeting next, what their objectives are, the usual spy-movie shit really."

Chris raised an eyebrow, "Jack, it's not like you to be cliché, something on your mind?"

The leopard rolled his neck, letting off a loud popping noise as it cracked. He also started popping his knuckles as he answered in the negative. "Back to business, I'm still waiting on your official paperwork, but you can both help me out right now, off the books. Chris, I need eyes on an apartment at the edge of the city tonight, think you could grab some binoculars and watch a window for a few hours?"

"Sure thing, any chance somebody's gonna get shot up or robbed or anything?" The tiger's flip humor wasn't lost on Holland, and he chuckled a little bit before again replying that there was no killing in the plans for the night.

"How about me? Anything for an out-of-work tigress to do these days, dangerous isn't necessarily bad either..." Even though she said it coyly, Andy meant business, and wasn't going to turn down an old friend's request over the risk of losing a few hairs.

Jack gave a half-heartedly wicked smile to her before answering, "Well, mind a few drinks at the Peak downtown to drown that unemployment vibe? See if you can get any info about the police investigation of yesterday morning's bombing. Â Maybe they've turned up something I'm not hearing at the meetings."

No one bothered to ask what meeting Jack was talking about, knowing that he had ties to a local gang that had the resources and possibly the drive to cause problems on the scale of the bombing earlier. Â Knowing it wasn't someone under his thumb worried him more than a little, as what other gangs in the area had access to that much plastic explosive or whatever they used?

The conversation quickly turned away from the night's work and drifted to cars, gambling, and other more trivial topics, with Chris arguing for new paint and new wheels on his car, and his girlfriend arguing right back that it was completely unnecessary. Jack heard about a couple of high-roller poker games down at the Water's Edge casino, which was more of a hole-in-the-wall with some card tables, cocktail waitresses, and bad lighting. The running joke was that they never fixed the lights so they could hire ugly staff and you'd never know the difference, whether there was truth to the statement still hadn't been determined, mostly because there'd never really been any 'cute' staff to begin with.

The cats decided to go eat around four, that way they'd have plenty of time to chat and relax before the evening's work started. Â Andrea somehow managed to twist herself into the backseat of Jack's Mustang, despite it being half-full of papers and other junk. It was only a short drive to the local diner, chosen mostly for the fact the food wouldn't kill you, and it was relatively quick service.

A guy who was probably in his mid-forties seated them, took their drink order, and left them to eyeball the menu. Ten minutes later, there were plates of steaming hot soup and sandwiches in front of each feline, chicken noodle and a grilled ham and cheese for both Chris and Jack, while Andy ended up with cream of broccoli and hot turkey.

***

"Jeez, you'd think they could learn to take a joke. Â We didn't leave that much rubber in their parking lot, now did we?" Â The leopard shifted in his seat a little bit and turned the radio down to make talking easier.

Chris chuckled and made some remark about old people not appreciating the younger generations' sense of humor as he climbed out of the now parked car. "Well, thanks for dinner Jacky boy, but I think if you want us downtown for the evening, we'd best get going. Here's your keys back sweetheart." He reached into his jeans pocket and passed Andy a set of keys with a Corvette logo on them, then stuffed the loose pocket lint back in place before wandering back to his Mazda.

***

Jack Holland wandered into the abandoned store around six, after changing into some more comfortable clothing and taking a quick shower. Sure he was dealing with gangsters, but these were the kind of respectable gangsters you don't want to piss off by looking bad all night.

Stepping into the back room of the shop, he surveyed the room and picked out a few faces he recognized from earlier meetings, as well as a few recent additions he didn't know yet. All in all, there was a lighter turnout than he expected considering recent events, but all the key players were present. He took a seat between a well-muscled black gentleman with a few too many piercings and a slim little fox, both new recruits. Across from Jack was Teejay, a wiry old man with streaks of gray in his short brown hair, and to his left was the cell boss, a gruff wolf that went by Slick. The two of them together were the real authorities in the room, everybody else just acted as figureheads or tools to aid them.

"So, Jack, with you here I guess we can get introductions out of the way...then it's straight to business, I'm not sure how long we've got this hole for, but I'd like to get out sooner instead of later," Slick went around the table and gave a fast introduction of everybody assembled, and Jack found out the man next to him went by Othello, while the vixen to his other side was Jess. He didn't know nor care if those were their real names, as long as they answered to them and didn't do anything stupid the first few weeks on the job. No sense losing good talent to stupidity after all.

***

The RX-8's lights switched off as Chris parked at a meter across the street from the apartment building he was supposed to be watching. He fed the meter a few quarters and got back in the car, reclining the seat so he'd be comfortable, as he expected to be here a while. The room he was interested in was currently dark, curtains open. He figured whoever owned the place was out at dinner or some other evening activity. He turned the radio up and fiddled with his cell phone while he waited for something interesting to happen inside.

***

Walking into the Peak, Andy was glad she took the time to dress up slightly, as she'd guessed right on the kind of clientele the place got. Even up at the bar everyone had at least a shirt and tie, most were in full suits. Â The hostess asked her the usual questions about seating preference and told her she could take any open stool at the bar. Thanking her, the tigress wandered through the restaurant section and found an unoccupied spot a seat down from a rather attractive young guy. He couldn't have been more than twenty, and some of the tattoos made her think he might be a good place to start looking for information.

When the barkeep came over to take her drink order, she tossed a twenty on the bar, ordered a scotch on the rocks, and told the barman that the teenager's next drink was on her. She hoped that whatever he had in his glass was just Coke, but these days she knew that was nothing but wishful thinking.

She obviously spoke loudly enough for the young man to hear her, as he turned and asked if the seat next to her was free. Â Andrea smiled and told him that it was, for a price.

"Name it." The teen's voice was softer than she'd been expecting, he looked like a high school dropout or a thug, but with that kind of voice, he should look at acting.

"I need some information about a job; I just got laid off cause of that bombing yesterday. Know anything that might help me out?"

"You'll pardon me looking a gift horse in the mouth, but you sound like a cop. I've got every right to be here, and I'm drinking sodas, you can ask Gus over there if you don't buy it." He gestured towards the bartender, who was walking back towards them with a scotch in hand. Â She queried the bartender briefly on the youth's drinks and, satisfied they were indeed sodas, gave a slight smile to the boy and told him to continue.

"Well, not sure what you really want to know about, I've never held a steady job in my life really, still in college, and it's a little hard to keep good work and good grades. Well, good work, good grades, and not be shut in my room all the time...just wish some people understood that." The kid was sincere enough, but if she wasn't careful, Andy would be listening to his life story and that probably wouldn't get her closer to anything useful.

"Yeah, I've been there myself, it's no fun sometimes, just try as hard as you can, and if that's what you get, that's what you get. Â Learn to make the best of things really. Â You didn't happen to see anything about that explosion down here when you were at school, did you?"

"Say, now that you mention it, me and some friends were out filming some bike tricks when it happened, I've got the videos back at my apartment. If you're interested, I can take you back and show you?"

"You know, that would be great, if you're sure I'm not imposing on you. And you'll pardon me in turn for looking my gift in the mouth when I say I'm already spoken for. If you've really got those tapes, I sure wouldn't mind seeing them, and I can arrange suitable compensation I'm certain..." She let that hang in the air and finished her scotch, letting the cheap ring she was wearing for just this purpose chime on the glass as she put it back down.

"Ha, you're forgiven, not that you care I'm sure. Â I still get the feeling you're a cop, but no skin off my nose, you're just looking at some tapes of guys on bikes, right? When you're ready, let me know, I'll walk you over."

He seemed slightly surprised when the tigress slid off her stool and told him she was ready right now, but led the way out to the street just the same.

***

Chris was still relaxing in his car, keeping one eye on the window in the apartments, and one eye on the meter, as it was running a little low again. He finally noticed a light switch on in the room, but otherwise saw nothing out of the ordinary. He fed the meter again and kept his attention on the apartment now, waiting for something unusual. Now that there was light, he quickly picked out bedposts in the room, meaning that he probably wouldn't see anything useful from over here, since it was a bedroom. Â Granted, if Jack wanted to catch someone having an affair, maybe he would get the evidence he wanted.

***

So far, Andy's teenage companion had been true to his word, walking her the short distance over to an apartment complex. Â As they approached his room, the tigress instinctively tensed up, unsure of what might be on the other side of that door.

The youth opened the door and walked in, tossing his wallet onto the counter, and Andy stepped in behind him, shutting the door. Â Just as the door clicked shut, she saw a flicker of movement from the corner and her companion collapsed to the floor, blood soaking his shirt where a knife protruded from his side. Turning to face the assailant, Andrea felt something heavy strike the back of her head, and the world went black as she fell to the floor.

***

Jack's meeting was starting to deteriorate, with Slick and Teejay running out of ideas about who could have bombed MediaWare the other day, and the new recruits asking entirely too many questions. He finally spoke up for the first time since getting there, almost an hour ago, and told the greenhorns to shut up before something bad happened to them. He wasn't usually the type for threats, but him saying something was better than Slick pummeling someone that got on his nerves.

Thankfully, the recruits fell silent, and Teejay resumed speaking about possible motives for the other morning, including the chance that whoever it was just wanted to steal credit for the assassination as well. Â A chance to undermine Slick was a good motive, as long as it was another gang causing the trouble, which wouldn't be easy to tell unless and until there were more attacks. Jack leaned back in his chair and kept listening, as he sensed they'd be here a while.

***

Chris was starting to get bored again, as the light had been on for the past hour, but no one had come into the room or even opened the door. He grabbed his phone and answered a few texts he'd received earlier, adjusted his posture so that he wouldn't cramp up, and turned his attention back to the apartment. Â As luck would have it, he missed something, as there was a rather tall black panther fussing over something on the bed.

He pulled out his binoculars, but still couldn't see the bed from the angle he was at. Chris did however get a good look at the panther, and noticed he was tying what looked like pieces of towel to the bedposts. The odd thing was that they appeared to have weight at the other end, as they were held taught. Oh well, maybe his girlfriend is into that sort of thing, I'm not here to read that much into what goes on.

***

Upstairs in the apartments, Andrea's eyes slowly opened back up, and she shut them immediately. She took a few seconds to figure out if she had any lingering effects from the blow to the head, finding that she could only move her limbs about an inch in any direction, she turned her head and opened one eye just enough to see that she was bound to the bed with strips of fabric. Letting herself relax again, she found she was at least comfortable, the restraints loose enough to let her limbs rest completely on the mattress. The fact she was still clothed also reassured her slightly, figuring that she was probably just a hostage, as if whoever grabbed her had wanted to commit a sex crime, they probably would have already done it while she was unconscious.

"Well, I'm going to assume you're finally awake. Â Sorry about the nasty bump on the head, but I really didn't want you getting hurt." Â As Andy opened her eyes once more, she saw the source of the deep, rich voice to be a black panther sitting in a chair by the door to the room. Instead of replying, she idly flicked a paw enough to put tension on her bindings.

"Again, safety precaution, some people react rather poorly upon waking up from a blow to the head. Wouldn't do for you to smash yourself into the bedposts or something equally painful." The panther seemed rather unconcerned, which in turn began to worry the tigress lying in the bed. It's not like a hostage-taker to actually care about his victims, so what's this guy's deal? "Cat got your tongue, or is it me?" he inquired in a surprisingly level voice.

"Oh, no, just figured you'd be telling me why I'm being held, what you expect from whoever you're ransoming me to, and what will happen to me if you don't get the money by tomorrow night, or something like that. Perhaps I'm the one who's operating under false pretense here, so why don't you tell me why exactly I'm here?" Andrea gave her captor the exact same level voice, and didn't so much as twitch, even though her heart rate was climbing steadily.

"You seem almost used to this by now, makes me wonder what gang you're part of. Didn't see any tattoos or anything, not that I really looked that hard, guess I should." A slight grin appeared on the panther's face as he began to rise out of his chair.

"No gang, just a few too many spy movies. Â You won't be finding any tattoos either, so don't bother looking. You still haven't told me why I'm here, which has me quite curious as to your intent."

The easily six and a half foot tall panther was standing at the edge of the bed now, and he looked down into his captive's eyes as he spoke, "You're here because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Â I'm not one of those guys that thinks making up a reason somehow makes things 'cool' or empowers him. As far as ransom demands, all I want is for you to listen to what I have to say, and then, if you're good and don't cause any trouble, I'll let you go. Simple as that, alright?"

"Since I'm in no position to disagree, I'll go along with you for now. There's always a reason though, even if you won't tell me what it is. If you aren't planning to keep me here, could you at least untie me? People are generally more receptive to someone when they aren't tied to their bed." She cracked a bit of a smile at the panther as she said this, hoping to charm him a bit.

"I'll think about it. You do make a good point, but I think I can make an even better one. All I want to ask is that you don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong, and stop asking about that bombing. People who get nosy like that tend to end up dead or worse, and if I may be frank, you deserve better than that." The panther's smile had started to look a little disgusting to Andy, but she held her tongue, as there was no sense angering him. So far she'd been treated decently and didn't really want to find out what would happen if she pushed.

"Fine, let's say I don't keep after the bombing, I was only asking for a friend anyways. What happens then? You let me live my life and I never see you again?"

"Perhaps. Who's the friend you're helping out?" The panther's voice had taken on a steely quality, and it was obvious he was interested in her answer to that question.

"You wouldn't know him, just a friend. What's it to you anyways?" Upon hearing her reply, the panther leaned over and clawed a line into one of the bedposts, where Andy could clearly see it.

"Strike one, don't get to three, you won't be happy. Â I only ask because whoever it is must have a reason for asking about it, and I'd like to know that reason." Â His voice hadn't changed any, which raised the tigress' heart rate a few more notches.

"I'm still not going to tell you who it is, so you might as well move on. If you're done, I'll be leaving, can't say it's been nice."

"Two,"another line was placed next to the first, "and I'm not done yet. Since you don't seem inclined to talk about your friends, what about your job. Who'd you work for?"

"Little tech firm downtown, got laid off after that bombing you seem so interested in. Still looking for work now, and you're interrupting." Andy wasn't sure what had gotten her riled up, but she wasn't pulling any punches tonight, even though some part of her brain kept yelling at her to bite her tongue.

"Strike three, and I'm interested because I caused it, thank you very much. I want to know who's looking into it, and you don't seem like a cop, so I'm guessing your friend is a reporter. Oh well, he'll disappear just as easily as the last meddler." The panther took a step back from the bed, and his eyes were cool now, he looked like he was fairly displeased, but that didn't stop Andy from calling him a bastard for what he did.

"You're already on three, guess I have to get one of my men to wash your mouth out now. Hey Don, you want to come clean this kitty's language up for me?" Â He yelled that last bit into the other room, and Andrea heard footsteps coming towards the door.

A stocky man who reeked of cigarettes came into the room, and as he turned towards the tigress, she couldn't help but notice a rather prominent tattoo on his shoulder, as he was wearing a sleeveless top. The look didn't help his weight problem any, but the tattoo was something she filed away to tell Jack later. A stylized 'NS' made from the body of a serpent was something you didn't see every day, and it might be helpful.

"This who you're talking about boss?" The man obviously wasn't the brightest bulb, but she was more interested in why he wasn't carrying anything to torture her with. Â She didn't expect her captor to actually mean someone was going to wash her mouth out with soap and water, but this guy didn't look like he could do too much damage just punching her in the jaw. Â It also didn't make sense why the panther didn't just hit her himself, despite his relatively chivalrous ideals, she didn't think he'd balk at violence to get what he wanted.

"Yeah, I'm sure not the one asking for your services after all. Hurry it up already; I still need to see if she knows anything else worth my time." Â The panther sat back down in his chair by the door, apparently content to watch whatever was about to happen.

The man he'd called Don turned so he was facing Andy's head, and he reached up and undid his belt. Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Â This guy's got it coming to him alright. Sure enough, as soon as he got his belt undone, the punk's jeans fell down, despite his large stomach. His boxers followed, exposing a laughably small cock that he proceeded to try to stuff into the tigress' mouth.

She let him get his junk into her mouth and even gave it a couple licks, figuring she'd let him get an idea that she might be enjoying herself. Admittedly, if the guy's stomach wasn't slapping her in the face when he thrusted, and she wasn't tied up, she might not mind too much, but she wasn't some random gang member's bitch either. The punk pulled out and sprayed semen all over her face, forcing Andy to blink a couple times. She let her mouth stay open a bit, tongue hanging out, until the guy got the hint and stuffed his member back into her mouth. This time, she didn't bother licking, she twisted her head forward to make sure she had his ball sack in her mouth as well, and bit down as hard as she could while jerking her head back.

She got another spray in her face, this time of warm, red blood, and the thug screamed in agony. Serves him right, stick it where it's not wanted and lose it. She coughed a bit and let one of his testicles fall onto the bed near her muzzle, which was also soaked in blood. The panther stood up and slowly walked over to the bed, shoving the hired help out of the way in the process.

Andy spat the other one of the thug's testicles towards the panther when he was closer. "Here, have a ball, you could use a pair it looks like." Â She let the rest of the blood in her mouth drip onto the mattress, even though it had stopped absorbing it a while ago.

"You know, I'm beginning to regret my decision to let you live, especially after how you've been treating me and my men. If you like things rough, try this on for size..." The panther gave a contemptuous sneer and grabbed the man he'd called Don from the floor, holding his neck out towards the tigress before slitting it wide open with a claw. The blood sprayed freely over the cat's business suit, soaking her totally and completely. She could feel some of it on her skin underneath her blouse, and again tried to get out of her restraints as the hot rain slowed.

As one of the strips of fabric snapped, she brought the freed arm around and quickly cut her other arm loose. Using her still-bound legs as leverage, she snapped her entire body up into a sitting position, knocking the dead thug out of the way as she took a swipe at the panther standing over her. She got her claws into his leather jacket, but he slammed a paw into her face hard enough to drop her back to the bed in a daze.

From the pain, she guessed he'd broken her nose, but there was already too much warm blood on her muzzle to tell for sure. Â Her eyes snapped into focus just in time to see the panther reaching down with his claws extended towards her throat.

***

Chris wasn't sure what to make of what he'd just seen, but he knew the panther up in that apartment just murdered somebody, and if he wasn't mistaken, he saw whoever was tied to that bed try and rip into him soon after. He couldn't make a positive ID on the victim or the bed's occupant, but he shot Jack a text message about what he just saw. Here's hoping he gets that and knows what's going on, cause I sure as hell don't. He'd been asked not to call the police, but was very tempted to, especially after the panther roughed up whoever was tied into that bed.

***

Slick was fast running out of ideas and Jack was getting ready to call for an adjournment to save his comrade's dignity. Â Teejay had already excused himself for some reason or another, and the recruits were starting to get antsy. Â Jack's phone started buzzing for his attention, and after glancing at it quickly, he told Slick he might have a lead on who was responsible for the bombing.

The wolf quickly silenced everyone else present, and started asking Jack questions about whom it was and where he was getting his information. Jack answered as best he could without giving away too much, especially the fact he had asked someone to watch a known hideout of a rival gang without clearing it with Slick. With the meeting back on track, more or less, everyone settled back into their chairs, despite the relatively late hour of nine o'clock. Usually these things were two hour affairs, or even less sometimes, but if there was news, there was news.

***

"I'm going to enjoy every bit of this, especially after you ruined a perfectly good coat." The panther's voice was full of scorn and a hint of anger now, as he slipped a claw under Andy's business jacket and cut it clean down the front. Â Sliding it down over her shoulders, the panther started purring softly, a strange noise to hear coming from someone so large. He grabbed her blouse as he pulled her up to remove the jacket, and slit her top in the same manner, from the back this time, before allowing her to fall back to the bed. She tried to swat at him again, but was still too dazed to do much more than swing her arm wildly.

"Now, now, don't go getting all worked up; this shouldn't hurt...too much." The panther pulled her blood-soaked blouse off and cupped her breasts in his paws, kneading them slightly through her bra. "You know, you look good in red, you should wear it more often. In fact, let me go get some more dye." Â The chuckle the panther emitted as he left the room made Andrea's blood run cold, as the only other source of blood she could think of besides her was the teenager whose apartment this was. Â She hadn't seen what happened to him beyond the knife in his side, so there was a chance he was still alive at least.

The black feline's return confirmed her thoughts that the boy was still breathing, as he was being dragged in by his hair. Â It looked as if the hole in his side had been bandaged at least, and he was breathing regularly. The panther hoisted him up to where he could see the tigress he brought home, and Andy saw that he was crying. I can't blame him, not every day that you walk into your apartment and get a knife in the ribs.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't know there'd be people waiting. Can you forgive me?" The boy seemed genuinely scared, again, no surprise to the tigress. She tried to reassure him as best she could, knowing full well what the panther was planning to do. At least he can die feeling like he didn't do anything wrong, no one deserves this sort of treatment. She gave him the best smile she could manage under the circumstances, and as the panther's claws neared his throat, an idea struck her.

"You know, since I highly doubt you're letting me out of here alive after all this, why not let the kid have a little fun first? Â What harm could it do you, not like a quarter hour either way makes much difference now, does it?" Upon hearing this, the panther lowered his claws again, and sneered at her.

"So you're saying you want me to let this little whelp fuck you, purely because you're not going to live through the night? Â I actually kinda like that idea." Â He released the boy and stepped towards the foot of the bed, where he cut the remaining bindings holding the tigress to the bed. The feline freed, he settled into his chair again, content to watch yet more cheap entertainment.

"Well kiddo, you heard him, what are you standing around for? Unless you've got something against furs?" She spoke with a touch of coyness and let her eyes do most of the talking for her.

"N-no, I don't, I just didn't think you were being serious is all", he stammered. "Are you hurt badly, or is that somebody else's blood, because I really wouldn't want to hurt you any worse."

"It's not mine, and as long as you stay away from my muzzle you'll be fine, besides, I'd enjoy a good fuck before our uninvited guest over there decides it's time for me to go on my merry way." She wasn't quite smiling again, damn the pain, but she meant every word of what she said. Reaching down, she found the zipper on her skirt, which had apparently jammed earlier. After tugging it once, she just flicked out a claw and cut the garment off, leaving her lying on a bloody bed, in an equally bloody bra and thong. "Like what you see boy?"

"Yeah, you're gorgeous; I just can't believe this is happening to tell you the truth." The teenager was obviously not used to seeing half-naked felines stretched out on his bed, but she didn't think that was quite what he was talking about. Â He took a shy half step towards the bed, and stopped again, just looking at her.

Andy decided he could use a little encouragement, so she rolled over, lifted herself onto her hands and knees, and flicked her tail at him playfully. Purring, "I don't think we've got all night, so if you want it, come and get it", she gave the teen a wink and flipped her tail up out of the way, giving him a good look at her ass.

Apparently, that was all the encouragement needed, as the youth stripped out of his shirt and slacks before taking up a position behind the tigress. He leaned over her back and whispered in her ear, asking where she wanted it. "I really don't care as long as you put something hard in a hole back there. Quit pussyfooting around and fuck me kiddo." This time she managed a smile, and gave the boy's face a quick lick before he straightened back up.

Feeling a little like a bitch in heat, Andy turned her head back over a shoulder to watch the young man strip off his boxers and slide her thong aside. She felt that last one more than saw it, from the cool air that blew by as he withdrew his hand. The slight chill was replaced by heat, as he slowly pushed his cock into her now wet pussy, going slowly and causing the feline to purr like a chainsaw from the pleasure. Once he was hilted all the way inside her, he slid back out and started thrusting a good half-foot or more of meat into her.

Andrea was quite content to let the kid keep up what he was doing, purring encouragement at him and occasionally letting loose a high-pitched meow when he hit something sensitive. Idly, she glanced over and saw the panther had a rather large bulge in his dark jeans, probably from watching her get rammed like a bitch. She noticed the teen behind her had picked up his pace slightly, and from his panting, it sounded like he was about ready to come. Deliberately, so the kid wouldn't think he slipped out, she dropped her hips and rolled to the side. "Not that I wasn't enjoying that, but why don't you lay down and let me do some of the work now, eh?"

"Alright, sure, I'm not stupid enough to turn down a horny tigress after all." He complied quickly, leaving his erection standing in the air. She'd been right, it was about seven inches, maybe a touch more, pretty impressive for a human at least.

Andy rolled back so that she was straddling him, and sat up, letting his cock fill her tailhole slowly, letting him enjoy it as much as she was. She'd chosen this position for two reasons, one was that she could control the pace of his cock in her ass, the other being the view of the panther sitting in his chair. Â He had his jeans down around his ankles and was pawing himself off while he watched the pair on the bed, which gave Andy yet another idea. Her jacket was still on the bed, and she surreptitiously felt around for her phone. Â Confident it was still there, she picked up her pace, letting her body get the best of her as she climaxed, squirting all over her companion's stomach, and letting loose a soft growl. Â Snapping her head down, she asked the boy if there was anyone else in the other room. Hope I'm quiet enough that that panther doesn't take notice. Getting a quick shake of the head for a reply, she lifted off his cock, flicked her tail over his balls, and sat right back down after forcing her tailhole closed. Â This had the desired effect of causing her companion to blow a load of warm fluids into her bowels, while yelling something incoherent. Least he's happy it seems, now to take some risks.

Waiting for the teen's cock to stop twitching, she leaned down so she was lying on his chest, faking tiredness. She again whispered in his ear, giving him short, pointed instructions. He tilted his head forward and gave her cheek a lick, which she took as an affirmative. Â She slipped her hand into her jacket one last time, grabbing her phone in a paw. Confident she could move quick enough to get between the boy and their captor; she rolled off him, shoved the phone into his hand, and pushed off the bed, aiming for the panther who was still rather occupied with his fantasies.

The dark-furred feline noticed her a little later than she'd expected, obviously too tied up in himself to notice a six foot ball of fur and claws flying towards him. She again grabbed his coat, sinking her claws in deep enough that it'd be a bit of work to get her off him. Further complicating matters was the fact that the panther still had his jeans around his ankles, so he couldn't move very well, but he was still managing to get more leverage than she could handle. The kid had reacted fast, to his credit he was out the door almost as soon as Andy had plowed into the larger cat, but it wouldn't help him if the panther threw her off now. Making a split second decision that she'd have plenty of time to kick herself over if she got out of this mess, she lifted her hips and forced herself onto the panther's massive organ.

Just as she'd guessed, the panther suddenly got a lot more interested in her than in the naked youth that had run from the room. Â He obviously didn't realize she'd transferred her phone yet, and if she could help it, he wouldn't know for a whole lot longer. Disengaging her claws from his jacket, she reached back and unhooked her bra, letting it fall away and expose her B cup breasts to the feline she was busy occupying. Â Well, arguably, it was him occupying her, but bad sexual jokes aside, she was actually enjoying this a little too much. Throwing her arms around the panther, she started looking for a wallet or phone, any sort of ID that might help her out later. The black cat was pumping into her for all he was worth, which made it slightly hard to focus on anything besides yet another orgasm that was wracking her body, but she forced her thoughts back to information gathering. Â If she got lucky, he'd load her full of raw DNA evidence, but she had to make sure she got out alive to turn it over to the authorities. Failing a massive load of semen, a cell phone would be just as good, especially with Jack being with the FBI. It should be fairly easy to reverse the number and get a name for the owner, or just harvest it for numbers and other connections he might have. From what that guy had said to him earlier, Andy gathered he was a gang leader or something similar, meaning he'd have plenty of dirt on other members that might help the cops out.

Realizing her mistake too late to correct it, she remembered the panther's jeans were around his ankles, so her chances of finding a phone on his bare ass were pretty slim. He threw his head back and nearly roared as he climaxed, filling the tigress currently bouncing on his cock full of seed. Acting quickly, Andy again improvised, leaning back as far as she could, hopefully causing the panther a good bit of pain as his erect penis was bent backwards. She flicked a paw at his throat to distract him, pushed off his cock, and grabbed at his jeans. She came up with a phone in her paw, as he'd stupidly kept it on a belt clip. Kicking viciously at the other feline's groin as he attempted to stand, she rolled towards the door even while disabling her captor once more. Sprinting towards the hall door, she heard a gunshot and saw part of the doorframe disappear in a cloud of drywall and wood splinters. Hooking a paw onto the edge of the remaining frame, she turned a quick corner towards the stairwell, never slowing or looking back to see if her captor was following her.

After a few flights, she figured if he was following her, she'd have noticed him by now, so she ducked out onto a random floor, hopefully near the bottom of the complex, and started looking for a room that was open for housekeeping or similar. Fortunately, she found such a room almost immediately, ducking into it, she shut the door behind her quickly, and started looking for a wardrobe. Finding it empty, she tried the bathroom, and lucked out, finding an oversized terrycloth bathrobe that would not only keep her covered, but also keep her warm in the cool night air. Ripping a long strip from one of the towels, she tied the robe shut at her waist, and then added the final adornment of the black cloth she just cut. Anyone taking a casual glance at her would see nothing more than a tiger coming home from a rather rough martial arts practice. Add in her unnaturally tall stature, and she figured most smart people would leave her alone. The ones that didn't, she could handle, hopefully.

Before leaving, she punched in a number on her new phone and coordinated a meetup with the guy she'd help escape earlier. Â Fortunately he hadn't gone far, he knew some people that would put him up for the night. Setting out with a purposeful stride, Andy slipped the phone into her robe and let herself out of the apartments. The night air was cool enough to clear her head as she walked, and she kept her head low for a few minutes, until she was well away from the apartment complex.

Checking the address, Andy walked up a couple steps and rapped on the door. Her unwitting accomplice answered the door, fully clothed once again, and she motioned for him to step outside for a moment. "You got my phone?" she queried the young man.

"Yup, right here, and I grabbed a couple bottles from inside, thought you could use something after the night's excitement." Â He produced her cell phone from a pocket, which she took gratefully, followed by a Coke and a bottle of deep yellow liquid. Taking the second bottle from him, she unscrewed the cap and sniffed at it. Â Satisfied it was decent scotch; she took a long swig and smiled at the teen standing in front of her.

"I won't ask where you got that from; consider it my way of thanking you for tonight. Let's get out of here, unless you have other plans?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead settling into a slow jog towards the store Jack was supposed to be at.

***

Teejay had returned just after Slick started questioning Jack, which was probably for the best, as he kept Slick from getting too aggressive and causing problems for everyone present. Many of the new recruits had already left, having been dismissed an hour earlier. The ones that were still at the meeting had a genuine interest in the goings on of the gang, which bode well for their intentions.

"Alright, well, I think that's all we're going to find out off a tip like that, thanks for the info Jack, good to know we can count on you." Teejay rose from his chair, signaling adjournment, finally, at a little past eleven. Â Slick grabbed his notes from the table and exited out the back door, while Teejay and Jack elected to take the front door for a change. The recruits that were left followed Slick out the back, not that it really mattered which way they went.

As they stepped out onto the street, Jack and Teejay both noted the chill in the air. Teejay zipped up his coat, while Jack just started walking towards his car. Teejay followed, wanting to chat a bit longer now that they were out of the meeting. Just as Jack was reaching the car, he glanced up and saw a white tiger and a young man jogging towards him. As they got closer, he recognized the white tiger for Andrea, causing him to drop his own notes in surprise.

"Hey, what in the world are you doing out here at this time of night, and what's with the robe? Picking up martial arts on the side?" Jack retrieved his notes and waited as the pair approaching him stopped and slowed their breathing enough to speak.

"Something like that, look, we could use a ride, and I need to talk to you about some things I found out tonight. This guy you're with in the know?" From her voice, you could hardly tell she'd just jogged nearly a mile of the urban jungle spread around them. Her partner, however, was quite a bit more winded than she was, partly because of his wound, and partly because he wasn't in quite as good shape as herself.

Jack quickly answered that yes, his cohort was on the inside and could hear whatever she had to say. "I wouldn't mind an introduction of course, who's that strapping young lad you've got tailing you? The guy I'm with is Teejay, but you might already know him from somewhere else, work party perhaps?" He attempted to clue her in that Teejay was with the gang, not the feds, but whether Andrea got the hint wasn't obvious. Not too big a deal, as there was really nothing she could say that wouldn't help both of them at this point.

Turning to Teejay, the tigress extended a paw. Â "Andrea Cross, pleasure to meet you. I'd love to introduce my companion, but I don't even know him that well myself yet." Â Teejay took the offered paw and shook it, then turned to the youth and queried him for a name.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, name's Ray, Ray Black. The pleasure is mine." He first extended a hand to Teejay, then Andy, shaking with both.

Jack introduced himself to the new arrival, shook quickly, and motioned them into his Mustang. Teejay and Ray rode in the back, with Andy taking shotgun so she could talk to Jack more easily. She recapped the night's events, skipping the gratuitous sex scene, but otherwise telling Jack pretty much everything, finishing with pulling out the phone she lifted from her assailant.

Teejay piped up from the back, "Hey Jack, mind if I take a quick look at that thing, see if I see anything useful on it? Â If this guy is anybody worth our time, I'll let you know." At Jack's okay, he reached up and snatched the phone off the center console. While he busied himself looking through it, Jack questioned Ray about his life, specifically any issues he still had with it.

"Well, can't say you seem like a bad kid, cause you don't. Since it sounds like your place isn't the most livable right now, why don't you crash on my couch for the night, we'll figure out what to do with you from there. Â Besides, I'd like to have you around for an impromptu meeting I'm calling tonight." Jack pulled his cell out and speed dialed Chris to clue him in on what was up.

***

Chris awoke to a stiff back and his cell phone ringing. He answered it while mentally yelling at himself for falling asleep on the job, as it was almost a quarter past eleven.

"Hey Jack, what's up? Nah, didn't see too much, just a crazy panther beating on somebody, like I said in my last message. No, I'm at the address you gave...what? I've been watching the wrong joint this whole time? Shit, dude, I feel horrible. You're not mad? Haha, well, I won't complain, emergency meeting at your place tonight you said? Â Sure, of course I can be there, can you give me a rundown now? Alright, well, I'll see you when I see you. Ciao."

Hanging up the phone, the tiger slammed his keys back into the ignition, kicked the clutch to the floor, and started the car.

Driving back as fast as traffic permitted, Chris made it to Jack's apartment in record time. Helped that he might have also broken a few land speed records at the same time, but there weren't any cops out for a change. He parked next to Jack's Mustang and nearly sprinted up the steps to his apartment.

***

Jack, Andy, Ray, and Teejay were all clustered in his living room, watching some late night comedian and chatting about the night, what little of the meeting that could safely be talked about, and the phone Andy had lifted.

The tigress had grabbed a quick shower upon getting in, mostly to get the blood out of her fur before Chris showed up and freaked out. Ray had already cleaned up at his friend's place, so he stayed out with the guys talking. Â Her nose was definitely broken, but it'd heal quickly, she hoped.

A knock at the door interrupted Jack's yell at the comedian on the screen, as he went to answer it, he got ready to fill Chris in the moment he stepped inside. Sure enough, the tiger was standing outside, waiting impatiently to hear some news, be it good or bad.

"Come in, please. Sorry to worry you, but I didn't exactly have time to say much on the phone. A car full of people usually precludes extended phone conversation." As Chris followed him back to the living room, Jack grabbed another beer from the fridge and told Chris to help himself.

Obliging, the tiger grabbed a Heineken while saying hello to his girlfriend. Taking a seat between her and some new kid, he popped the top on his drink and introduced himself to the people he didn't know. Receiving introductions from the two new faces, he shook hands with Ray and stood for a quick fist bump with Teejay.

Andrea got his attention and gave him the full scoop on the night, finishing as the clock rang half-past the hour. Reactions were decidedly mixed over her raunchy little plans, with Ray blushing so red Jack was worried his head would explode, Teejay and Jack laughing, and Chris giving her a hug and promising not to say no just because he took a shower, as long as she'd stop screwing any random guy she met. He was laughing as well, and eventually everybody was in on the act, even Ray, still beet-red.

He then turned and looked Ray in the eyes, and very seriously told him, "If you survived her in bed, you'll go far with women. Â I mean that." He burst out laughing again as he finished, lessening the impact of his delivery, but Ray smiled and laughed with him, electing not to comment on anything specific.

Jack and Teejay covered a few specific things about who might have been behind what happened to the pair earlier. Teejay had dug up a name and number for the owner of the cell phone, hopefully the panther that had instigated everything. He cloned the phone onto a spare SIM card, and tossed the original to Jack to take care of. After he left, Jack set the phone on the counter and told Chris he'd be calling it in first thing in the morning, see if the feds knew anything.

Hearing this Ray seemed to get a little nervous, turning to Andy and saying, "I knew you were a cop, why didn't you just say so?" Andy and Chris tried to reassure him quickly, as he appeared slightly ill. Upon calming him, Andy told him she wasn't officially on the books yet, and neither was her boyfriend. He seemed a little too relieved at this news, which prompted Jack to question him a little more harshly than he had before. He eventually dug up the fact that the youth on his sofa was an ex-gang member, some group called the East Exxes. This reminded Andy of a detail she'd forgotten earlier, and she told Jack about the tattoo she'd seen on the hired gun, the stylized 'NS'.

Jack's face said there was something he recognized about it, but he wouldn't talk with Ray in the room. Chris walked him back into the bedroom, and made sure he wasn't going anywhere, before returning and querying Jack again.

"It's the insignia of the NorthSide gang, one of our rivals, heavy hitters, and no one to mess with lightly. That's how we lost our last cell boss, in a fight with those guys. They're nasty, tough, and have resources rivaling ours most of the time. We stay away as best we can most of the time. Â The fact that their leader apparently orchestrated that bombing the other day doesn't bode well at all. Â Anyways, I'll talk to Slick and Teejay about it tomorrow, when the sun is up. I'll get the boys in blue poking at that phone as well; see if we can track down this punk panther that gave your girl so much trouble."

"Well, alright, sounds like a plan to me, just keep us in the loop, would you? Chris isn't going to be happy until we track this guy down and rip out his throat probably, so it might be best to talk to me." Andy gave a weak

smile and stood to go, joined by Chris as the clock tolled midnight.

"It's getting late Jack, I think we're gonna go home and get some well deserved rest. Let me know if you get anything useful off that phone, alright?" Â Chris and Andrea made their exit, while Jack went to retrieve the youth and toss him on the couch before crashing himself.

END

In memory of the real Andrea Cross, Jan. 1989-Nov. 2009, R.I.P.