Part 19

Dawn Morrison regarded the woman walking next to Tiffany Ashton, wondering what had happened to Izabelle Delayney. The scars on her face were fairly new, as a physician she could tell, and her rigid stance as well as her obvious protectiveness toward Tiffany, created more questions than answers. She was tall and wiry, and she moved with a panther like grace, not unlike Joan in many ways.

“This is an excellent place,” Joan said, motioning to the beautiful scenery. “Away from the road, easy to see if anyone’s coming. Weather’s not too cold. Oh, and look, picnic tables and benches.”

Dawn had assessed the area Izabelle had taken them to. They’d driven for a little more than half an hour, Dawn and Joan following Izabelle’s Jeep in their rental.

“I thought as much.” Izabelle wrapped an arm around Tiffany as they sat down at one of the tables. “You cold, Tiffany?”

“No, I’m fine.” Tiffany rubbed her cheek briefly against Izabelle’s shoulder. “You?”

“I’m fine too.”

Dawn and Joan sat down across the table from them, Dawn flipping open her folder again. “We need to decide on a course of action,” she said, “and as far as I’m concerned, Izabelle’s deduction earlier was right on the money. We need to use the fact that we now have access to Tiffany to our advantage.” She looked up and saw Izabelle’s expression darken. “This is for her own safety, for her right to her inheritance, Izabelle.”

“Izzy or Delaney.”

“Excuse me?” Dawn looked up.

“The only person who calls me Izabelle is my grandmother.”

“All right, Izzy. As I said, we need to move while we have the upper hand.”

“The element of surprise.” Tiffany smiled at Izzy, the look in her blue eyes less worried now. “You know, like they say on ‘24’ when Jack Bauer shows up after everyone thinks his dead. Again. He’s been kind of dead for a long time, hasn’t he?”

“If you say so,” Izzy said, smiling faintly as she pushed a stray curl from Tiffany’s forehead. “I haven’t watched it as much.”

“That’s actually one of the things I’m working on,” Joan said while scribbling a few more notes on her pad. “Tiffany was in a bad car crash. How about if she was found dead?”

“W-what?” Tiffany flinched.

“If her enemies thinks she’s dead, they’ll come out of the woodworks and might show their hand, I mean.” Joan looked at Dawn.

“It would take some engineering and we’d have to get the boss to help us convince the local coroner…” Dawn bit down on her pen. “Not bad, Joanie. Not bad.”

“And if they think Tiff is dead, she’d be safer.” Izzy nodded, looking a little more relaxed.

“My thoughts exactly.” Joan regarded Tiffany closely. “You’ve already done a good job masking your appearance. If I’d come across you without knowing who you were beforehand, I wouldn’t have recognized you. If we add more makeup and give you colored lenses, and dress you down more, not even your mother would recognize you.” She looked thoughtful. “Now there’s a problem. If we choose this scenario, we need to get your mother and grandmother onboard. They’ll have to fake some real sorrow and mourning, perhaps at a fake memorial ceremony. We need to have an event like that to convince everybody that you’re really dead.”

“I don’t know if they’ll be able to. I mean, my mom, perhaps, but my grandma is old and a little frail. That’s why she lives with us.” Tiffany clasped her hands on the table. “I just don’t know.”

“Any other suggestions on how to proceed?” Joan looked around the table and Dawn went over her other options, none of them with the same potential as Joan’s suggestion.

“Not really.” Dawn thought quickly. “I think, to flush out the perpetrators, we need to have Tiffany write a will and date it back a couple of years. I want you to leave your estate to something that will drive them up a wall, like a nongovernmental organization or charity, or something along those lines. People do that, and they will probably think you’re sweet natured and charitable  enough to do something like that.”

“Sweet natured?” Tiffany wrinkled her nose. Then she smiled sheepishly. “You know what, I probably would do something like that, leave most of whatever I own to charity. How did you know that?”

“Lucky guess.” Dawn had to return Tiffany’s smile. I was nearly impossible to remain cool and strictly professional around this young woman. She radiated an endearing mix of innocence and compassion, and when you looked into her eyes, you couldn’t picture her saying a bad word about anybody.

“So, does Tiff go into hiding?” Izzy asked.

“No,” Joan said slowly. “We need her to once and for all to make a positive ID on who the players are without putting her in jeopardy.  We’ll rig the place where we’ll do the memorial with enough surveillance equipment for her to be able to see the faces of all the attendees. Once she identifies them it will give us enough leverage to obtain warrants to install listening and tracking devices  on our suspects. We’ll be able to tap their office and home lines as well as their cell phones, Blackberries, and so forth. ”

“Just like in ‘24’,” Tiffany whispered to Izzy. “Told you.”

***

Tiffany watched the two agents walk to their rental car and she felt overflowed with mixed emotions. She knew they were there to protect her and make sure they caught the bad guys, but she couldn’t quite ignore an eerie feeling in her stomach.

“A penny for them?” Izzy took her hand as they entered the Jeep. “Tiff?”

“I’m all right.” Tiffany lifted Izzy’s hand to her lips and kissed her fingertips. “You have become involved with such a mess through me, haven’t you?”

“We’ve been over that. I’m in this, just as much as you are, good and bad.”

Something in Izzy’s voice, something wistful, yanked Tiffany out of her melancholy mood. She kept Izzy’s hand against her cheek. “I know, Izzy. I know you’re loyal, amazing, and wonderful.” Her own words moved her so much, she had to blink a few tears away. “So, we’re going back to our tent, huh?”

“Yeah. Dawn gave me one of her spare cell phones. She says it’s never been used, and only she and Dawn have the number. It came with a car charger so we can leave it on.”

“Good. I feel better if we aren’t completely cut off.” Tiffany leaned in for a kiss, but was unprepared for Izzy’s passionate response. She wrapped her arms around Izzy’s neck when she felt the tremors running through Izzy’s wiry form. “Goodness, Izzy,” she murmured against her lips. “You take…my breath away…”

“And you are so pretty, so gorgeous, and I haven’t kissed you for real for so long. Or it feels like it was long ago, anyway.” Izzy tipped Tiffany’s head back over her arm and devoured her mouth.

Whimpering, Tiffany allowed Izzy any access she might desire, feeling content and aroused at the same time.

“I’m sorry.” Izzy shifted and slowly let go of Tiffany. “This is hardly the place for lovemaking.”

“Then step on it. We better get back to the tent and the conjoined sleeping bags. I want you.” Tiffany watched the effect her words had on Izzy. Her knuckles whitened as she placed the gear in to drive and turned the Jeep around. “That’s more like it.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you know just how to drive a woman crazy?” Izzy said between clenched teeth.

“No. Well. Not in so many words.” Tiffany tried for her best angelic smile.

“I bet.” Izzy shot her a feral grin. “You’re such a tease.”

“I may be a tease…” Tiffany nuzzled Izzy’s neck as far as her seat belt would allow her to reach. “But in the end…I deliver.”

Izzy muttered something resembling a prayer as she drove back toward their hideout.

***

Everything looked like they left it. Izzy quickly checked her traps, consisting of fine fishing line, which she’d pulled between the trees. She had also arranged drift wood in a pattern close to their tent, and it was also undisturbed.

“You look pleased.” Tiffany sneaked in under Izzy’s arm. “And I’m cold, so could I interest you in a bath?”

“A bath?” Izzy coughed. “In the lake? Are you crazy?”

“No, well, yes, but no.” Tiffany smiled brightly. “I had a great idea on the way back here. I really want to wash up, especially since I’m pretty, well, horny.”

“Tiff!” Izzy couldn’t believe how candid Tiffany suddenly was, but she also knew that a person could act out of character after intense stress.

“Well, anyway,” Tiff gestured. “I saw that you have some metal buckets in the back of the jeep. Why don’t we boil some water in two of them, and mix with some cold water until it’s just right, and…wash each other. We can do it in the tent, with the big towels and blankets ready. I’ll scrub your back, Izzy?” She winked seductively, managing to look like a sexy little elfin. “What do you say?”

“I’m saying you have your moments there, Tiff.” Izzy pulled the girl she’d come to love more than her own life closer, and kissed her tenderly. “Let me get the fire started.”

“Great!” Tiffany rushed toward the Jeep. “I’ll get the buckets.” She opened the car Izzy saw her struggle to get the heavy buckets out. “Goodness, they’re heavy even without water in them.”

Izzy quickly got the fire started and rushed down to the water to help Tiffany carry the water. Soon they had plenty of hot water, which she carried over to the tent. “There we go, Ms. Tiffany,” she said, her voice now huskier and darker, as her lover was already divesting herself of her clothes.

“Mind if we take pieces of the towels to use as wash cloths?” Tiffany held up a blue terrycloth towel.

“Not at all. Good thinking.” Izzy tore off two squares of fabric, and soon she was sliding a soapy washcloth along Tiffany’s naked upper body.

Tiffany’s nipples puckered and her blue eyes darkened as Izzy slowly rinsed off the soap. “Oh, goodness, Izzy.” She pulled the towel around her shoulders and lay down, pushing off her jeans and underwear. “Want to do the rest or should I…?”

“Try to stop me.” Swallowing hard, Izzy lathered the washcloth and ran it along Tiffany’s legs, in between them, gently brushing against her sex. Izzy’s breath caught in her throat when Tiffany spread her legs. She cleaned her gently, but worked fast so she could finally hold her close.

“My turn.” Tiffany tied the towel around her and dipped the other washcloth in the second bucket. She wrung it out and glanced over her shoulder at Izzy. “Hey, get undressed.”

“Oh. All right.” Suddenly flustered, Izzy pulled her t-shirt over her head, feeling the cool evening air against her skin. Her nipples were already painfully erect from having looked at, and touched, Tiffany, and now they tingled almost unbearably.

“You’re so beautiful.” Tiffany ran the wash cloth along Izzy’s body. “I could look at you all night, darling.” Slowly she washed all of Izzy, only pausing long enough for Izzy to take off the rest of her clothes, and to occasionally dip the washcloth in the bucket. As soon as she was done, Izzy put the buckets outside the tent, and zipped close the door.

“Tiff.” Izzy stared at the stunning sight before her as she turned around. Tiffany was stretched out on top of the sleeping bags, her legs slightly parted, and with her arms reaching for Izzy. Feeling as if she was coming home, Izzy covered Tiffany’s body with her own, and when Tiffany’s legs wrapped around her hips, Izzy knew it was true. ”God. Oh, God.” Izzy buried her face against Tiffany’s neck.

”What’s up? Something wrong?” Tiffany stroked Izzy’s back. ”Tell me. Talk to me.”

”No. No. I just want you so much. You’re…you’re everything.” Izzy realized what she’d allowed to slip and held her breath.

”I feel the same way. You’re all I care about. I want you too. More than anything.” Tiffany answered so readily, so without pretence, Izzy relaxed marginally. She was throbbing now, so turned on and so full of love Tiffany, she was afraid she’d come at the first touch.

”Please, Izzy. Touch me.” Obviously echoing similar thoughts, Tiffany rubbed herself against Izzy. ”Take me?”

”You sure?”

”Yes!”

Izzy pushed a hand between them and gently ran her fingers through Tiffany’s wet folds.

”Now. Please. I need to be yours.” Tiffany wrapped her arms tightly around Izzy’s neck. ”I need you to make me yours?”

”Mine.” Slowly, Izzy pushed two fingers into Tiffany, the silky tightness nearly becoming too much for her. Tiffany’s body pulsated against her, around her, and she knew this was a pivotal moment for her, for them both.

”Izzy. Oh, Izzy. Yes, yes.” Undulating, Tiffany trembled violently.

”Come. Just let it go, sweetie-girl. Just let it come,” Izzy whispered hotly in Tiffany’s ear.

”Izzy!” Tiffany went rigid and her inner muscles clenched tightly at Izzy’s fingers, pulling her farther inside.

Izzy held her lover tight, wanting nothing but to ride the storm with her. ”There you go. I have you. You’re mine. You’re mine, Tiff.”

”Yours,” Tiffany whispered. She looked up with tearful eyes. ”Izzy…”

”Yes.” Izzy kissed Tiffany’s pink, trembling lips.

”Izzy…I love you.”