Framing Felipe Read Free Page B

something
of
a
monthly
gig
for
them.
    This
time,
though,
they
were
prepped
for
war.
Sarah
had
made
a
lot
of
contacts
in
the
    mountains
in
recent
months,
and
like
Dana,
she
had
a
psychic
gift
that
occasionally
came
in
    handy
for
investigation
work.
She
could
compel
people
to
talk.
The
best
Doc
could
tell
was
    that
she
made
something
in
other
people’s
brain
chemistry
shift.
They
became
calm,
    compliant.
They
felt
like
unloading
their
thoughts
to
her
was
a
damned
good
idea.
That’s
    how
she
found
out
the
bears
weren’t
just
content
with
retaliating
against
the
cats
    anymore—that
they
were
itching
to
strike
unprovoked.
    The
were-‐cat
leader,
Billy,
couldn’t
prove
it,
but
he
was
pretty
sure
the
bears
were
    responsible
for
his
grown
granddaughter’s
disappearance.
    “Anything
important?”
Patrick
nudged.
    “No.
It’s
the
boss
lady’s
new
rule
as
of
last
night.
I’m
supposed
to
check
in
frequently
    when
I’m
working
alone.
She
has
to
hear
my
voice
or
she
won’t
believe
it’s
me.”
    That
new
fear
of
momma-‐bird
Dana
had
activated
during
the
undercover
assignment
    Sarah
had
just
come
out
of.
Sarah
had
made
a
stupid
mistake
and
lost
her
phone.
A
    bartender
at
the
strip
club
she
was
infiltrating
found
it
and
handed
it
over
to
his
boss
one
    night
after
closing.
Sarah
knew
the
boss
had
been
suspicious
of
her
for
a
while,
asking
her
    all
kinds
of
questions
about
her
past,
saying
she
was
too
smart
to
be
a
strip
club
waitress.
    She’d
held
her
tongue
at
the
time,
and
made
sure
to
temper
her
vocabulary
in
future
    interactions
with
the
guy.
    Anyhow,
he
didn’t
get
much
from
trawling
her
phone.
The
only
number
programmed
    into
it
was
the
Shrew’s
answering
service,
who
had
been
instructed
to
answer
calls
with
a
    very
vague
greeting.
Her
boss
had
tried
having
another
female
employee
call
and
put
a
    message
through,
disguising
her
voice
to
mimic
Sarah’s,
but
Dana
hadn’t
fallen
for
it.
If

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
11
–
Holley Trent

    Sarah had called,
she
would
have
only
said,
“I
need
someone
to
turn
the
lights
off
at
my
    place.”
That
was
their
standard
verbiage
for
“I’ll
be
out
another
day.”
    Sarah’s
boss
at
the
strip
club
had
offered
her
phone
back
a
couple
of
days
later…for
a
    fee.
Sarah
refused
to
pay
it,
and
was
thus
out
of
the
loop
having
missed
four
call
attempts
    from
Dana
who’d
been
in
touch
with
the
agency
who’d
contracted
Sarah.
They
were
ready
    to
act,
and
couldn’t
get
in
touch
with
Sarah.
So,
Dana
freaked,
thinking
perhaps
the
guy
had
    dragged
Sarah
into
his
back
room
and
subjugated
her
like
all
the
rest.
And
that’s
what
    Sarah
was
there
to
find
out—if
the
guy
was
trafficking
sex
workers
from
Central
America.
    The
answer
was
yes.
    “Any
luck
with
your
guy?”
Patrick
asked,
drawing
Sarah
out
of
her
reverie.
    She
blew
some
air
through
her
lips,
and
turned
to
scan
the
the
temporary
arena
where
    a
spotlight
shone
down
onto
an
open
podium.
Calliope
music
piped
through
the
speakers,
    and
the
crowd
clapped
and
whistled
their
encouragement.
The
show
would
start
soon.
    “I
couldn’t
get
in
until
this
evening.
Matinee
was
sold
out.
I
did,
though,
talk
to
a
couple
    of
the
set-‐up
guys
outside.
Couldn’t
get
much
information
out
of
them.
They
didn’t
know
    much
about
the
Castillos,
or
if
they
did,
they
didn’t
want
to
share
it
with
me.
I
got
a
program
    and
I
see
now
that
the
Castillos
are
identical.
Fabian
is
around
here
somewhere,
according
    to
a
clown