Wednesday, September 3rd

2:19 am

Valle Luna, Az.

Erin laughed as a warm gooey noodle fell upon her chest. Her dark haired lover glanced down at the noodle and then swiftly stretched forward to suckle it up with her mouth.

"Mmm." Adams groaned with a grin while chewing. "Maybe I should just toss the bowl and eat right off of you."

"Be my guest." The blonde responded with a grin. "Although with all the eating you've done off me tonight, I would think you are full." She took the bowl of reheated stir fry from the dark woman and tried as best she could to pinch out some food with the chop sticks. With a silly grin on her face, she quickly tried to get the food to Adams before it fell upon the bed. The dark woman stretched out and allowed her lover to feed her, only able to get to a few noodles before the rest was caught in her hand as it slid through the chopsticks.

"Ugh. I'm terrible at this." Erin said as she watched Adams chew. The dark woman grinned and offered to feed Erin a noodle at a time from the pile she had caught in her palm.

"Now, now." She said calmly. "I told you it takes practice." She suspended noodle after noodle over Erin's tongue, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. "And I'll never get full of you."

Erin chewed the last noodle and felt her body heat up at the sound of the dark woman's words. Her rumbling tummy would soon settle with the food but she knew the butterflies would always continue as long as Adams was around to arouse her. Feeling content and nearly spent from love making, she glanced back down at the near empty bowl and set it aside.

She looked at the beautiful woman stretched out before her on her belly, propped up on her elbows. The dark woman seemed almost surreal as the flicker of the warm candle light breathed upon her rhythmically, like the soft steady breath of a sleeping child.

As Erin let her eyes play upon the nude skin of her lover, she found herself overwhelmed with emotion. Leaning forward from the head board of the bed, she cradled the dark woman's face in her hands and placed a lingering kiss on her warm lips.

"Mmm." Adams let out again. "That was nice." She said opening her eyes after the kiss. She grinned as Erin relaxed once again back against the head board.

"It was." Erin agreed, unable to move her gaze away from the dark beauty. It was nearly three am and as relaxed as she was from their hours of lovemaking, she wasn't yet tired. She reached over to the night stand for the bottle of red wine she had brought earlier that evening as a gift. Nearly empty, she refilled the single glass they now shared. As she sipped it, she eyed her lover once again lying amidst the rumpled sheets on the king sized bed.

"I wonder," She said aloud. "How many women have been in this bed?" How many women have sat where I do now, taking it your incredible beauty after love making?

Adams stared at her a moment, searching her face for hidden meaning. She pushed herself up into a sitting position before she responded.

"To be honest with you, I usually don't bring women here." She said, wanting Erin to know how truly special she was.

"You don't?" She asked, surprised.

"No, I don't. My past lovers were just that. Past." She said, holding Erin's eyes, needing for her to understand. "They didn't mean anything to me."

"Yet you slept with them." Erin confirmed, suddenly very curious about the night club owner and her sex life. It was hard to believe that someone who had loved her so passionately for hours on end could separate herself emotionally from the lovers she took.

"It was just sex."

"Just sex?" Erin asked, reliving how the dark woman had ravished her that evening, sometimes gently and tenderly, sometimes aggressively, but always with great emotion and passion. Maybe there was more to loving women than she understood. She knew for certain that she couldn't make love like that to a complete stranger just for kicks. But maybe that was just her. Maybe other women could do it. It was obvious Adams had done so.

"Yes, just sex." Adams confirmed as she saw the look of confusion on the blonde's face. "What we just had wasn't…" She was trying to explain, knowing she needed to, but it was difficult to find the words. "It was different with you, Erin." She finally managed.

"How so?" The blonde asked softly, watching her lover's sensuous lips, wanting once again to feel them beneath her own.

"I have feelings for you." The dark woman confessed. "What we just did…it wasn't just sex, it was so much more." She had never felt like this about anyone and what little feelings she had had for women she had never before spoke them aloud. Erin was different. The blonde made her feel comfortable and accepted and she knew she could speak her true feelings without fear of judgment or rejection or any of the other negative feelings that one can encounter when they open up to another human being.

Erin heard the words spoken so softly to her by the woman with the burning blue eyes. She felt her heart warm and swell in her chest knowing that she herself felt the same way.

"Liz?" She asked, feeling the dark woman reach out to lightly stroke her nude leg.

"Yes."

"Why did you forgive me?" She asked, suddenly feeling guilty and undeserving of such kind and gentle love.

"Forgive you for what?"

"For misleading you, for going undercover and letting you think I was interested in you."

Adams looked down in thought, her hand momentarily stilled on the blonde's leg.

"You were just doing your job." She looked back up. "You didn't know me. For all you knew I could've been the killer."

Erin sat in silence, staring into the wonderful blue eyes across from her.

"Besides," Adams continued. "You didn't tell them about Jay. And as risky as that was on your part, there must've been some reason why you did that for me."

The stroking started up once again and Erin shuddered under the gentle caress.

"I suppose there was." She said. "I think I've been drawn to you all along."

"The feeling is mutual." Adams cooed as she leaned in to kiss her.

"Tell me something else, Ms. Adams." Erin demanded lightly as their lips parted.

"Anything." Adams offered.

"When you made love to all these other women…"

"Oh God." She declared, dropping her head in her hand.

"Did you allow them to make love to you?"

Adams raised her head and peeked at Erin through the fingers that she held over her eye. She watched as Erin came forward from the head board to sit directly across from her.

"Because…" Erin said, pulling the dark woman's hand away from her face. "I'm still waiting my turn." She reached out and lightly caressed her, starting at her shoulders, leading down her arms to her hands.

"I've never really let anyone do it."

Erin looked up from her lover's hands to her blue eyes. The words had been said so softly she almost hadn't heard them.

"Never?" Erin gently probed, shocked.

"I always got off more or less by giving."

Erin just stared at her, completely dumbfounded. "Will you…let me?" She asked, wanting more than anything to physically lavish the dark woman with the same pleasures she herself had been overwhelmed by not long before. Every time Adams had brought her to orgasm, she had then tried to do the same in return. But Adams had been too much for her physically, and the dark woman had easily wrestled out from underneath her to once again dominate her and bring her to yet another powerful orgasm

Adams stared into the warm green abyss of Erin's eyes. She could feel the blonde's fingers awakening her sensitive and starving skin.

"I'm not sure if I can." She confessed, truly wanting to, but not able to know how her body would react. She had always been highly sexual and it had never taken very much for her body to climax. The blonde turned her on so easily and she felt so much for her, that she feared she would come the second she allowed her to touch her. But the real question was whether or not she was finally willing to give the control she so desired to another human being. Was she ready to let someone love her? Physically as well as emotionally?

"Then we are quite the pair." Erin said, offering her a smile. "Because I have no clue what I'm doing and I'm not sure if I can either." She laughed a little, hoping it would help ease her lover's guarded state. But Adams didn't laugh, she just sat looking at Erin with vulnerable blue eyes.

"It won't take much." She whispered, holding Erin's hand. "What I feel for you is so powerful, it nearly does it on its own."

Erin nodded, and moved in to kiss the dark woman before the tears had a chance to well up in her eyes. Not in a million years did she think she could experience the emotion she was feeling for this woman. All her life she had read about love, first in fairy tales and then from the girly giggles of her school mates. When she met and married Mark, she had convinced herself it was love because it was like her parents, a partnership based on a friendship. It was what everyone did. They settled down and went about their daily lives. But it wasn't love. And she knew that now. She knew it because that was what she was finally feeling. Love.

"Lie down." Erin requested softly as she pulled away from the kiss. Adams stared at her a moment longer before she did as requested. Erin gazed down upon the nude woman in wonder as she lay on her back in the candle light. She ran her fingers up and down her body lightly, watching as her nipples gathered in a cluster of deep rose. "What would you like me to do?" She asked, wanting to give her lover the utmost of pleasures, but a little unsure as to what they might be. With all the wild stories she had heard about Elizabeth Adams, she hardly recognized the confident night club owner lying so vulnerable beneath her fingers. And then she remembered that the wild stories were all one sided. That Adams herself had rarely been touched and she suddenly knew that she probably had no preferences. She just wanted to be loved.

"Anything you want." She replied huskily from the soft pillow. "It won't take much." She could already feel her center tense and tighten in anticipation.

"I think…" Erin said letting her hand trail down to the dark strip of hairs. "That I would like to taste you." Adams shuddered beneath her and she clenched her legs together in response to the touch.

Erin moved her body down alongside the taller woman's as she carefully and gently urged her long legs apart. She could hear the bated breaths of her lover as she positioned herself between her legs and began to ever so softly kiss her inner thighs.

Her skin was warm and unbelievably soft and Erin found herself lost in a whole new world as she continued to kiss and taste her way along the strong legs. In the far off distance she could hear Adams grunting and sucking in quick lungs full of air, but she herself was so immersed in her new world that she hardly paid the sounds of pleasure any mind.

"Erin?" Adams rasped out, lifting her head off the pillow to look down at the blonde.

"Hum?" She said, looking up just as content as she could be, and not yet even to the most wonderful part of her new world.

"It feels so good." She breathed out. "You better hurry, I don't think I can last much longer."

"But I haven't even touched you there yet." She said, not anywhere ready for Adams to climax yet.

"Doesn't matter." She said, collapsing back down on the pillow.

Erin watched her in silence, unsure what to do. She looked down at the mound of clustered satin just below her mouth. As she breathed, she could see Adams respond. The woman was so sensitive and so ready that a mere breath alone would send her over. She knew she had to act soon if she wanted to have any fun at all. With her eyes riveted on her lovers face, she slowly and carefully extended her tongue to touch the tip of the dark woman's clitoris. Then, with slow deliberation, she began to lightly massage the soft cortex of skin. She didn't know what she had expected a woman would feel like under her tongue, but nothing could have prepared her for what she was experiencing.

The mound of flesh was soft yet firm, giving and twitching as she pressed the length of her tongue down upon it. She marveled at its warmth, reveled in its quick movements, devoured its pink satiny texture, almost red with bulby arousal. But what she found the most exciting and fascinating was not the heated silky skin under her tongue, but the reactions of Adams. With every wonderful manipulation performed upon the raised cluster of fabulous flesh, the dark woman let out strangled muffled cries of her erotic bliss.

Erin watched the woman intently, enjoying the splendid display of her powerful muscles rippling under the dampened skin of her torso as she coiled and stretched, jerked and twitched with every lick the blonde imposed upon her. Not ever had the young detective experienced such an erotic encounter, witnessed such an incredible display of raw pleasure with her at the helm, captaining the velvety voyage. The scenario was nothing short of miraculous and she knew she never wanted it end. She could bestow pleasures upon this woman for eternity and never tire.

As the dark woman writhed beneath her, she settled down more comfortably atop her, adding more weighted pressure upon her own tongue. She knew whether she wanted her lover to or not, the woman was dangerously close to climaxing. Savoring the feel and sweet taste of her, Erin swirled her heavy tongue all around the swollen bulby tissue, placing pressure on its edges while lapping at its center, driving the dark woman mad with intense pleasure.

As her own skin burned brightly with the lust and pleasure she was deriving from her panting lover, Erin braced herself as the stronger woman came beneath her, nearly bucking the young blonde right up off the bed. She could've never been prepared for the intensity, the sheer physicality of pleasing another woman. The reaction of her lover was so raw, so incredibly animalistic, and yet so intensely personal and intimate on every level. She did her best to hold on, to remain in her position atop the stronger woman's cluster of pleasurable tissue, but the dark woman was still convulsing and bucking so much so that when she finally did stop Erin could feel the swollen stinging of her own bruised and blood engorged lips from where she had tried to hold fast to her lover with her mouth.

She licked at her pleasantly tingling lips and lay between the dark woman's long powerful legs as she stilled, watching and listening to her breathe.

"Did I hurt you?" Adams asked, lifting her head to look down at the blonde who lay limp between her legs, her short hair tousled, her mouth dark and swollen from her heated feeding.

"Hurt me? Are you kidding? I've never experienced anything so incredible before."

The dark woman studied her for a moment while a crooked grin tipped her face.

"Come here." She finally encouraged softly.

Erin pushed herself up from the warm confines of the dark woman's legs and crawled slowly to her side, nestling herself in the piles of soft covers.

"Do you have any idea how good you make me feel?" Adams asked, gazing languidly into the blondes face.

"If it's anywhere near as good as you make me feel, then I do have some idea." She smiled back, truly feeling relaxed and wonderfully content.

Erin snuggled up close to her lover, wrapping her arms around her, loving the feel of her so near. She closed her eyes to sleep and felt her breathing slow and match that of her lovers, their bodies own sweet lullaby. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, or even if she truly had when the deep sounds of the Dobermans barking pricked her ears.

With the noise not yet quite registering, she lay motionless in her lover's arms, certain that the dogs would soon calm down and silence. It wasn't until Adams stirred beneath her that she opened her eyes and sat up, the barks resounded like thunder throughout the house and accompanied by a pounding at the front door.

Erin looked around wildly, her eyes trying to hone in on her dim surroundings.

"What's going on?" She asked as she watched her lover jump out of bed and into her jeans and button down shirt.

"I don't know." The dark woman hastily buttoned up her smoky gray shirt as her ears continued to try and decipher the alarm of her dogs. Her heart raced in her chest as her mind quickly tried to awake to her surroundings. She glanced up at the beautiful blonde sitting up in her bed. Even with all the commotion, the sight of Erin instantly warmed her heart and soul. "Whatever it is, it can't be good." She moved quickly over to the bed where she cupped the blonde's chin in her hand for a gentle kiss.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Erin said after the kiss. She bounded down off the bed and hurried into her jeans and black shirt. As they both walked out of the master bedroom and stepped into the hall, more pounding commenced on the large front door.

"What the hell?" Adams muttered as she stepped up to the door where her two dogs stood strongly, wanting the chance to get at whoever was on the other side. She looked to her side at her blonde lover as the realization of police presence sunk in. The red and blue lights from outside flashed and carouseled in through the windows and Adams felt the lump in her throat growing as the anticipation of dealing with them once again built up inside of her.

Erin stepped up beside her lover as she felt her own color drain from her face. Adams was right, whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good. She reached out and gripped the dark woman's hand in her own, making a silent vow to her that whatever it was, they could handle it together. She jumped as another series of pounding commenced.

"Police open up!"

Adams reached out and unlocked the door, holding Erin's eyes one last time before she pulled it open.

"Elizabeth Adams?" The gruff overweight detective asked, just as he had done countless times before.

"What's this about Stewart?" Erin stepped in front of her lover, making her way just outside the front door.

Stewart stared opened mouth at the two women, the shock of seeing Mac at the house apparent on his meaty face.

Erin looked past the dumbfounded man to the several other detectives inspecting the front of the large house. She stood still, the concrete cold on her bare feet as she watched the detectives shine flashlights in and around the dark woman's silver Range Rover.

"Mac, what the fuck are you doing here?" Stewart whispered to her in his wheezy voice. He had turned his back to Adams and he stood so close to her she could smell the thick stench of cigarette smoke clinging to him in an imaginary yellow layer of nicotine.

"Never mind my personal business." She proclaimed. "What are you all doing here?" She crossed her arms over her chest as a mental chill swept over her skin. She felt Adams step up next to her and they all three stood watching and listening as the numerous other police personnel scurried about the Range Rover wearing plain clothes and navy blue bullet proof vests with the word POLICE written in yellow across their backs.

"Detective." Adams stated, looking intently at Stewart. "I hope you have damn good reason for being here. And how the hell did you even get here?" She looked to her front gate and saw that it was pushed open all the way, as if it wasn't powered. Her fury was quickly rising and Erin could feel her own skin prickle at the tone of her lover's voice.

"Through the gate." The two women turned at the sound of Detective Sinclair's voice. The tall detective stood in front of them in shorts, sneakers and the same navy blue vest the others were wearing.

"You broke it?" Adams asked, her blue eyes flashing with anger.

"No." Stewart scoffed. "It wasn't even on your majesty. All we had to do was give it a push."

"Not on?" Adams glared at Stewart and then at Sinclair.

"Where were you tonight, Ms. Adams?" Sinclair asked as she turned off the flashlight in her hands.

"Here…" Adams started before Erin gripped her arm to silence her.

"She's not answering any of your questions until you tell us why you are here." Erin demanded, locking eyes with the new detective.

"There was a fire tonight, Mac."

Erin watched as Henderson stepped out of the darkness to stand next to Sinclair. A giant flood light came to life behind the Range Rover, illuminating the front of the house.

"What's that have to do with Liz?" Her arms remained crossed defiantly over her chest as she studied the woman she thought was her friend.

Henderson inwardly cringed at the casual and familiar use of Adams first name. It was more than obvious now that Mac had something going with the shady night club owner and it pained her to witness it. Mac's presence there with the dark woman was like a slap in the face to her and everything she thought she knew.

"The house that burned was your former residence. Mark's house." She clarified, watching her face.

Erin took a small step as a wave of dizziness washed over her. "Mark's?" She asked in a near whisper. She felt the strong arms of her lover wrap around her for support just in time.

"Did anyone get hurt?" Adams asked, holding Erin upright while she studied Henderson's face.

"Like you give a shit." Stewart bellowed out next to her. The dark woman shot him a look of warning to which he quickly silenced his fat mouth.

"Luckily no one was hurt." Sinclair answered.

"This still doesn't answer why you are here." Erin said, regaining her strength and standing on her own once again. "If you came to tell me…" She knew it had to be more than them simply wanting to tell her. There were too many of them and they appeared to be searching for something.

"We have several witnesses who claim that a dark haired female was seen leaving the house in a silver Range Rover seconds before the fire started."

"So." Erin declared hastily. "It could've been anyone."

"We came to question Adams about an hour ago." Sinclair continued. "And upon our arrival we looked in her Range Rover through the back window and found accelerant."

"What?" Adams voiced out deeply.

"Several large cans along with rags and boxes of matches. That's when we called for back up."

"Bullshit!" Adams yelled out. She shoved her way past the women and made her way quickly over to her truck. She walked up next to several men, one of whom was taking pictures. She peered into her truck and stood completely rigid. Four red gasoline cans sat in a neat row along the back cargo space of her truck. She reached out and checked the latch. The door was unlocked. She never left her truck unlocked. She turned away from her truck as she felt the blood drain from her face. The men in the vest hurried to the open door, anxious for a better look.

"What is it?" Erin asked as she walked down towards her ashen looking lover.

"Something's wrong." Adams said, looking into her face but unable to focus. "Somebody put that stuff in there. And it's unlocked; I never leave my truck unlocked."

Sinclair approached before Erin had a chance to make sense of all that Adams was trying to say. "If you give us permission to search your truck and your property now…"

"No." Erin declared adamantly. "Tell your men to back off."

"We can't search her property without her permission, but we will continue to wait here and snap pictures of what can see until we get a warrant."

Erin knew the drill and she knew it was late. They were just biding their time until a judge granted them the warrant they seeked first thing in the morning.

"Call your lawyer." She said as she turned and looked up into the pained blue eyes of her lover.

"I need to just tell them the truth." Adams whispered to her, just wanting it all to be over. Someone was messing with her and endangering people's lives. If it wasn't Jay, then who? It had to stop. It had to stop before someone else got hurt. Namely, Erin.

"No." Erin said hastily, gripping her arms. "Call your attorney. They're going to want to question you about your whereabouts tonight. Don't say anything. If someone is setting you up then they've gone to an awful lot of trouble to do so. And the police aren't about to believe you no matter what you say."

"Where were you tonight, Ms. Adams?" Sinclair asked for the second time.

"She was here all night." Erin answered, truly afraid for her lover.

"Do you have any witnesses to back that up?"

"Yes, she does." Erin said. "She's got me."

Stewart whistled as her heard the statement. "Then how do we know you ain't in on it with her?" He questioned. "After all, it's you're ex's house that got torched."

"What about my gate?" Adams asked. "Don't you find it a little strange that it isn't working?"

"You probably cut the power to it." Stewart responded with a shrug.

"Why would I do that?" Adams asked confronting the overweight detective.

"Because by doing so you disabled the front cameras."

Adams turned to look at Sinclair. "Then it's obvious, someone did all this to set me up." Why couldn't they see it?

"Or you did it to cover your own ass, knowing full well the cameras would be seized by us for viewing." Stewart wheezed.

"If she went to all that trouble then why would she leave her truck out in plain view with the accelerant still in it?" Erin asked, facing off with Stewart.

"Maybe she got a little tied up with her accomplice." He mocked shaking his fat head at her. "I always heard that lesbians like to fuck a lot. Maybe you two just couldn't wait…"

"You son of a bitch!" Erin took a step towards him wanting to beat the shit out of him right there on the spot. Adams clamped her strong hands down on the blonde's shoulders stopping her before she reached him. "Shh. Easy now. It's not worth it." The dark woman whispered in her ear from behind, trying her best to calm her lover down.

"We're going to need you to come downtown with us for questioning Ms. Adams." Sinclair stated as Henderson watched in silence from a distance.

Erin turned to look up into the dark woman's face. She wanted to scream into the night at the injustice she was witnessing but she knew it would do no good. She placed her palms on the taller woman's chest.

"Go." She whispered. "But promise me you won't say anything." She pleaded as she looked up into her eyes. "I'll find a way to make them believe."

Adams kissed her lovers forehead as she shook her head in silent agreement.

……. …….. ……… ……… …….. …….. ……… ……… ……… ……..

"You two looked pretty cozy earlier." Henderson said as she watched Erin pace outside the interrogation room. The younger detective snapped her head up to glare at the writer, but the comment did not stop her maddening pace.

She glanced down at her watch and noted that they had been questioning her lover for the third time for a better part of an hour. Since arriving at the station a little after four that morning, the detectives had taken turns questioning them both in regards to their whereabouts around the time of the fire. Even though she herself had confidently declared that she and Adams were together all evening and at the house in the hills, the detectives merely smirked before they dismissed her claim along with the alibi, having already made up their own minds.

She shoved her hands down in her pockets as she waited. To her knowledge Adams hadn't said a word to the police other than her whereabouts. But it still didn't explain the lengthy time in questioning her. If she wasn't saying anything then why was it taking so long?

"This isn't right." She said looking up at Henderson. "She was with me all night. They have no grounds to hold her for this."

"They do." Henderson calmly said. "Sinclair just told me that they got the warrant to search her property. The first thing they found was a pair of boots in the Range Rover that matched a print left at the fire. Not to mention the cans of gasoline and kerosene, which were both used in the fire."

"That's not possible." She breathed out. "Someone is setting her up."

"Who?" Henderson asked, her face remaining expressionless.

Erin shook her head. "I don't know." Jay? She thought to herself. But why would she?

"I think you do know, Mac." Henderson stated. "You see, I believe you when you say that Adams had nothing to do with this fire. The evidence found…it's all a little too easy for me. But I do think you're hiding something for her. Question is…what? And why?" She walked away leaving the young blonde to stand alone and ponder her words.

Erin looked up as the door to the room opened. Two of her colleagues poured out, followed by Adams. The dark woman was handcuffed and Erin sucked in a quick breath at the painful site.

"What's going on?" She demanded to her male colleagues.

"They've arrested me." Adams said in a surprisingly calm manner. "They said they found some things that tie me to the fire."

"But you didn't do it." Erin proclaimed in a high pitch. "They won't listen to me." She looked around at her former friends, wishing someone would hear her and release her lover. But no one met her eyes, they all just kept walking forward like mindless heartless robots, leading Adams to a holding cell.

"There's a way to prove it." Adams whispered to her. "I just didn't know if you would be willing to show them."

"What…" Erin said. "I'll do anything, just tell me."

"The tapes." Adams whispered. "The security tapes from my house. The ones in the back of the house hopefully weren't damaged or drained of power. If they were working, they should have us on them."

"Ok." Erin said, ready to go and get them as quickly as possible.

"Wait." Adams declared a little louder. "Watch them first. And if you still want to use them, give them to Cynthia. She'll handle it."

Erin shook her head quickly before lightly kissing her lover just before she was led away.

…….. ……… ……… ……… ……… ……… …….. …….. ………. …….. …

Erin stood waiting once again at the police department. As she waited, she looked around at the place once so familiar to her. A place where she had spent countless hours pouring over files, following up leads or doing mindless paperwork. All of it an attempt to distract her from her lonely, mundane life, her unhappy marriage. Now the place felt foreign to her, almost uncomfortable. She tried to sit down but found that she couldn't stay still. Her nerves were edgy, stabbing her internally as she waited for the word on her lover.

She had gone back to Adams house in the hills to retrieve the security tapes only to be turned away at the door by her colleagues. The house had been under siege with police personnel searching every last inch of the expensive property, convinced that Adams was their girl. She had at first pitched a fit and demanded entry but when her former friends threatened to arrest her for interfering an investigation she had walked away fuming.

With her temper boiling, she had then placed a call to the dark woman's lawyer, Cynthia and informed her about the tapes. That had been the last she had heard until an hour ago when Cynthia had called her, letting her know that she had possession of the tapes and that they did prove that Adams was home at the time of the fire. The attorney said that she was to show the police the tapes proving her alibi and that they in turn would be forced to release Adams.

As she waited now she paced and watched her feet. She didn't know what was on the tapes, but obviously it had to be something pretty convincing, otherwise they would've been able to keep her lover. She knew that she and Adams had spent a great deal of time that evening in the pool and then later in the spa. A door opened and she stopped walking and looked up. Several male detectives walked past her, eyeing her the whole way. She heard their snickers and laughter, but refused to look away from them, wondering what it was all about.

"Hey Mac." She turned as J.R. walked up from behind. "Are you crazy?" He asked. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" He scoffed as he looked past her to the male detectives. "Because you and Adams are the hottest thing out there right now."

"What?" She asked confused.

He cupped her elbow and led her further away from the stares and the snickers. "The tapes, man. It's all over the department. Everyone's dying to see the Mac and Adams pool porno."

Erin nearly collapsed on the spot. "Oh God." She said as she felt J.R. hold her up. That was why Adams had been reluctant to release the tapes. That was why the dark woman had told her to watch them first.

"Did you see it?" She asked, wondering who all had.

"Nah." He shook his head. "I tried like hell though." He teased.

"But everybody knows." She said, meeting his eyes.

J.R. shook his head. "Fraid so."

She sighed and finally took the seat she had been avoiding. She dropped her head into her hands.

"There is good news though." He said taking the seat next to her. "That video is one hot little get out of jail free card."

"It better be." She remarked, looking up and over at him. Two more men walked by, both of them staring openly at her.

"Is that her?" One asked. "Man she is hot." Came another remark.

"Hey, fuck face!" J.R. yelled out. "You gotta problem?" He stood, puffing out his chest like a pigeon. The two men walked quicker, eager to get away from the crazy man with the accent. "That's what I thought." He called after them. "Fucking assholes." He said under his breath as he sank back down into his chair.

"You ok?" He asked her, as he rested his arm around her slumped shoulders.

"Just fine." She said, sniffling back a tear. "Can't you tell?"

"Hey, it's gonna be alright." He rubbed her back slowly. "Look at it this way…porn pays a hell of a lot better than police work."

She couldn't help but laugh at him. She was too tired and overwhelmed by the situation to do much else.

"See? I told you it would be ok."

"Thanks J.R." She said, rubbing her burning face. "You're a real pal."

"Don't mention it. Now, I gotta go get to work. But the next time you girls wanna make a video…call me. I heard the sound on that thing was terrible." He jumped away from her as she swung at him.

She stood and watched him walk away. With her face heated with embarrassed blood, she shoved her hands down in her pockets and waited patiently for a few more minutes before the door opened once again. She looked up at the pale, drawn face of her lover as the dark woman walked into her arms with Cynthia close on her heels.

"I was so worried." Erin said into her shoulder.

"Why did you do it?" Adams asked, pulling away. "The tapes…your co-workers…I didn't know they were going to be so graphic…"

"I didn't know." She admitted. "I didn't get a chance to view them, they wouldn't let me."

"Oh my God." Adams said, suddenly very angry. "Cynthia…" She started, ready to lay into her attorney.

"It's not her fault." Erin declared as they started to make their way out of the building. "I told her to go ahead, no matter what."

"Are you insane?" Adams asked, having seen the tapes herself. If her present situation was different, the heated scenes taped in the pool and the spa would've definitely turned her on.

"I think I may be." Erin replied, laughing a little with nerves. "They were that bad huh?"

Adams wrapped her arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer as they walked. "Let's just say that you are one hell of a responsive lover, Erin Mackenzie."

"Great." She said, feeling herself flush with embarrassment once again.

"I'm so sorry." Adams offered, feeling incredibly guilty about the whole situation. They headed out into the warm night air and she cringed as she thought of how much Erin had suffered throughout this whole ordeal.

"Don't be." The blonde said looking up at her. "At least the tapes freed you, that's all that matters."

"You're unbelievable you know that?" The dark woman asked, as she opened Erin's car door for her. "Sacrificing yourself like that for me."

"I…" Erin started but then stopped.

"What?" Adams probed gently, cupping her face in her hands.

"I love you." She confessed softly, looking up into the bright blue eyes of her lover.

The dark woman heard the words as she searched the green eyes with her own. With her heart bursting forth with swelling warm light, she leaned in and placed a gentle lingering kiss on Erin's lips. And as she pulled away she held her eyes.

"I love you too."

………… ……………. ………………….. ……………… …………….

Henderson stood watching one of the security tapes alongside Sinclair. They were watching the one that alibied Adams and Mac. A scene of the back yard alone. The cameras in the front had been purposely damaged, ruining any taped footage from the front of the house. She and Sinclair were alone in one of the department's conference rooms watching the heated tape in silence.

"Well, what do you think?" Sinclair asked as she stepped forward to stop the tape, freezing an image of Mac climaxing against the dark woman in the spa.

"Christ I don't know." She admitted feeling almost sick at the spectacle on the television. She didn't know what nauseated her more, the incredibly passionate way in which the two made love or the fact that she was standing there watching it, invading the privacy of two fellow human beings. One being her former lover, and the other being her friend.

"I was hoping to get some insight from you. Since you know them both personally." Sinclair ejected the tape and slid it back into it's folder.

Henderson stood in silence, swallowing back the bile in her throat.

"Well?" Sinclair asked. "Do you think they've been intimate all along?"

"I don't know." She said rather shortly. "The only thing I've seemed to gather from this tape is that Adams and Mac were home while the fire was set. They were home and they were making love. What the hell else am I supposed to get from it?"

Sinclair stopped and stared at the writer with her mouth slightly agape. "I'm sorry." She said. "I thought you said you knew them both pretty well. One of them intimately. I thought…"

"Yeah well you thought wrong." She snapped back not letting her finish. "You want the truth…I'll give you the truth. I don't like Adams. On a personal level, the things I've known, I think she's scum. But that being aside, I will tell you this. I've never known Elizabeth Adams to bring a lover to her house. At least not more than once. I've also never known her to care about anyone other than herself. And not to mention the tender way in which she makes love to Mac on that tape, I've never known her to do that either." She paused getting her breath before she glanced back black television. "There's something there between them. Adams has changed." She looked back to the new detective before continuing. "But if you think for a second that that in any way implies that the woman is a murderer or an arsonist who tries to kill an unborn baby, you're dead wrong. At most, you've got yourself a very intimate, very private interlude between two women who obviously care about one another."

Sinclair stood watching her, holding the tape. "Ok." She finally said. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now, do me a favor. Make sure that tape stays locked up. The department, at the very least, owes Mac her privacy."

"You got it." Sinclair replied as she watched Henderson get a hold of her swaying emotions.

"There's something else I want you to do for me."

Sinclair placed a hand in her pocket. "Sure."

"I want to meet your source."

"You can't." The detective with dirty blonde hair stammered.

"Why not?" Henderson was pushing the new detective, needing for this all to be over once and for all.

"Because she's in hiding." Came the reply.

"Why?"

"Because Adams tried to have her killed." At once Sinclair looked down, obvious that she had said more than she had intended.

"It's Kristen Reece isn't it?" Henderson continued to push, convinced that she had just broken the handsome detective.

"I can't say." Sinclair managed, looking back up.

"You just did."

Henderson made her way purposely to the door of the conference room.

"Where are you going?" Sinclair asked.

"Alabama." She said, turning to look over her shoulder.

"Alabama?"

"I'm going to find go out what it is that Adams and Mac are hiding."

"How can you be sure they're hiding something?"

"I know them both remember? Besides…if you won't share your source, I have no choice but to go do some investigating of own."

"When will you be back?" Sinclair called out after her.

"When I know something."

part 10

Return to the Academy