Chapter 1

Detective Lillian Rush woke up to find a filthy bum kissing her on the lips, while he pounded brutally into her cunt. His hands moved freely over her naked body. She lay there too weak to fight the filthy stranger off her, as she moved her head back and forth, trying to evade his tongue and lips, while getting her bearings back.

She was in an alley, behind a large green trash dumpster, was her best guess, from what she could see in the dark alley. She tried to think of how she got here, and how this had happened to her. Her mind was a haze, unable to remember exactly what the last thing that she remembered was. What the date was? Where she had been? Every question her mind formed, she found herself unable to answer.

Looking back, we can see what happened to Detective Rush, from the sounds of last week's big hit song.

A tip had come in that could help her solve a seven year old multiple homicide. Detective Rush had been eager to open the Cold Case, and dug right in trying to solve it.

A female waitress had recognized one of the two henchmen, who had entered the bar the night of a double killing, in the alley behind it. The investigators from before had handled the case like a mugging gone wrong, assuming that the two victim's had been held up in the alley, resisted, and were murdered. Then ballistics matched the bullets to three other homicides in New York City, but then the case went cold.

The waitress had seen one of the men from that night, when his mug shot was shown on the local news, after being charged with the execution style murder of a low life pimp. Lillian had begun reviewing the files from the previous investigators, but found little information there, that hadn't been investigated before.

Lillian had trouble convincing her lieutenant to allow her the resources to pursue the case the way that she wanted. The lieutenant had pointed out the perp was already in custody for murder, and four of the five victims had been found to be two bit pornographers. No one cared about this case, then or now, and the apparent perpetrator of the crime was surely going to get life in prison already. He allowed her to pursue the leads locally as she wanted, as long as she didn't waste any of the other detectives time, but when she asked to got to New York, he balked.

Three days into her investigation, and she had no new leads or theories, but was finally able to get the perp's lawyer to allow her to question him under his watchful eye.

She wasn't happy about how the integration was set up, as the perp had already gotten out on bond, somehow putting up the half million dollar bond. His lawyer was one of the best in Philly. She met the lawyer in his office, where she was told the way the interview would be conducted, when she finally would go into the conference room. She was shocked by the perp's cocky attitude.

He had been seen by two credible witnesses pulling the trigger, and was apprehended with the murder weapon, less than a hundred yards from where the shooting had taken place. But he acted as though the interrogation was a minor inconvenience, in an otherwise normal day. Lillian knew he had a clean rap sheet, but had been investigated several times for other homicides. It was a general consensus that he was probably a well paid mob hit man, but no one had been able to make anything stick.

She had been given half an hour to interrogate him, but nearly every question that she asked him, the lawyer responded to, or told her that his client refused to answer it. After just ten minutes of questioning Johnny Lister, he said one thing that did catch her attention. After getting annoyed by her insistence, that he answer her questions, instead of listening to his lawyer, he joked to the lawyer "Man Fass would sure like breaking this one, she's pretty strong willed." Lilly quickly scribbled the notes of his comment on her pad, witch put a worried look on both men's faces. The lawyer then immediately called an end to the interview, five minutes early, as he was tired of her\ repetitive questions.

Lilly went back and reviewed the cold case files in them she found that the name Fass kept getting brought up in the two men's conversations at the bar the night they were killed. The waitress couldn't remember about what, but she did remember that name, as well as a few others.

Lilly looked farther into Johnny Lister's past, and after hours of digging, she found her man Fass, a New York business man, who had funneled money to pay for Lister's million dollar attorney, as well as a long time financial contributor to Lister's bank account.

Fass was clean, as far as she could tell. He owned several companies and was a powerful man in New York's business and political scene. He kept a low profile, and made sure that his name stayed out of the papers. Lilly scheduled an appointment with his secretary, before she went to her lieutenant to ask permission to go to New York.

Her lieutenant was angry, but after looking into her bright blue eyes, he relented, and agreed to allow her to take the trip, he insisted that she take her partner with her, and that she contact the NYPD before she left.

She made the call, but found her New York counter-part even less interested in the case than her lieutenant. He told her that she was free to look into anything that she liked, but that she better not be "pissing in his pond". As far as help, well he could, if "she needed someone to hold her hand in the big city". She kept her cool as she listened to a fellow officer belittle her. She kindly informed him that she would be fine, and that she was merely giving them a courtesy call, that she would be following leads on an investigation in his city.

She had kept all the details of her investigation to herself, as her lieutenant had been so cold to the idea of her working this case anyway. She had done all the work on her own so far, having been told that if she did pursue it, not to waste anyone else's time on it. She met Valens in the garage, he had been out of the office most of the day.

As they headed out of town, he began telling her his troubles with Elisa and how he was worried about her. Lilly felt his pain, and insisted that he go back to her, telling him that she was just going to talk to business acquaintances of her suspect, and that there was no danger, or need of him to tag along. She insisted that he stay and take care of his personal issues, telling him that she'd be back tomorrow, and if she needed help, she had already called the NY detective working the case. She then dropped him off at his place, as she left town, not thinking twice about it, or bothering to tell her lieutenant.

She made the trip to New York and found Mr. Fass's office with an hour to spare before her appointment with him. She noted from her file that he owned the restaurant down the street, and took the time to check the place out. She was surprised to see the large number of single men who entered the restaurant, each alone, and each seeming to be in a hurry. They all seemed like regulars, as they conversed with the valets in a friendly, familiar manner.

After observing the restaurant for half an hour, she went back to his office, and wondered around the lobby, until her appointment time. She checked in with the receptionist seven minutes early, but was kept waiting for over fifteen minutes.

Her interview with Mr. Fass was as fruitless as her interview had been with Mr. Lister. He claimed to have no knowledge of anything, including even knowing a John Lister. He insisted that he paid thousands of people several million in payroll each month, through his various companies, and couldn't possibly know most of them. He seemed to look over her, as though looking over a puzzle. He moved his eyes over her body, taking in every inch of her.

The strangest part of the interview came at the end, when he asked Lilly if she had a husband, stating that he hadn't seen a ring. She blushed and told him no. He then asked about boyfriends or a significant other. She brushed off the question, not even bothering to answer it, instead taking the opportunity to ask about his restaurant down the street.

He told her yes it was his, but more for a tax write off than anything else, and offered to call ahead, and have a table reserved for her. She declined his offer, and excused herself from the meeting.

She got on her cell phone, and called her lieutenant as she left the office. She told Lt. Stillman that everything was fine, and that she was going to get a bite to eat, then head back, telling him that she would see him in the morning.

He was angry when he found out that she had gone alone, but seemed to calm down when she told him that it had been a dead end, and that she was afraid that she would have to drop the case, having not been able to find any new information. This confession seemed to ease her lieutenant's anger, and he told her how happy he was to hear that, telling her to drive safely.

Although Lilly had told her mentor, Lt. Stillman that she had run into a dead end, she just didn't feel right about the whole thing. Driving by Mr. Fass's restaurant, as she was leaving, she decided to have her dinner there. She pulled up and was greeted by a valet immediately. He gave her a claim check, and pulled the car away, around the block.

Inside the doors, she noted the placard which stated that the restaurant was for members only. She was surprised when the statuesque brunette seated her without any question. She was told that the special included a glass of wine, which she refused. She had never been asked about a membership, or any other questions, other than if she would be dining alone.

She was allowed to dine in peace, and found the food quite good. The restaurant had only about four other tables occupied, and she took note that the one man that she had seen enter before her, wasn't one of the other diners. She nursed her food, taking her time to finish. She had observed, like any good detective, as several men entered, and proceeded down the hall labeled restroom, but didn't return.

She waited until another man entered the restaurant, and headed down the hall. She looked around, making sure that no one was watching her, and then headed down the hall, after the man herself. She entered the hall just in time to see the man turn at the end of the hallway. She crept along behind him silently, looking around to make sure that no one saw her.

As she turned the corner, she thought that she saw the wall move about three quarters of the way down the hallway. But walking down the hallway herself, she found it to be a dead end, having no doors in the hallway at all. The man had apparently vanished into thin air.

Lilly knew better, and after checking the hallway to make sure that she was alone, and hadn't been followed, she began feeling the wall, where she thought that she had seen movement only moment ago. She found the secret door in under a minute, and drawing her gun, she slipped in the darkened hallway beyond the door.

She hadn't seen the tiny holes in the ceiling, nor had she noticed the miniature cameras in the smoke detectors and emergency lighting equipment. She felt her way down both sides of the darkened hall, unaware of the fact that her every movement was being observed. After searching both sides of the hallway twice, she found the second secret passage, leading to yet another hallway. This hallway contained two doors, one on the side, and one at the end.

She crept towards the doors, her weapon drawn, when she heard the movement behind her. She spun around to see a uniformed guard, with a firearm trained on her.

"Freeze! You're trespassing! Put your weapon down, or I'll be forced to shoot!" the guard yelled at her.

She heard the other two doors open, and slowly turned her head to see two more guards with weapons trained on her.

"Look, I'm a cop. I'm going to reach into my purse, and get my..." she began.

"Drop the weapon now, or we'll be forced to shoot! DO IT NOW!" a guard behind her screamed angrily.

"Okay, OK! Just stay calm. I'm putting my gun on the floor." she said in a calm voice, trying to relax the men with their weapons trained on her.

She placed the gun on the floor and stood up straight.

"Okay, now I am going to show you my badge. I'm just going to reach in my..." she began to explain.

"Don't" the guard in front of her yelled. "Put you hands behind you head, and lace your fingers together. If you're really a cop, you'll know the drill." he demanded.

Lilly knew she was on private property, and out of her jurisdiction, as she placed her hands on her head, as she was ordered to do. Within seconds, a metal cuff was locked over her left wrist, which was pulled down forcefully behind her back. Her right wrist was twisted down to join it, and cuffed in place next to it. With guards on either side of her, holding her arms, the guard in front of her lowered his weapon, and approached her.

"Look, if you'll just look in the inside breast pocket of my jacket, you'll find my identification. I was just looking for the restroom, when I stumbled into the dark hall. I thought that I heard something, so I started to investigate." she said, as she tried to explain away her presence.

"We'll see. The halls are labeled private, no trespassing, and the only thing I've heard in them is you lady." the guard in front of her said, reaching for her chest. Lilly was shocked, but said nothing when he groped her breast, before pulling her wallet from her jacket's pocket. Her eyes conveyed her anger to him, as she glared at him.

"Detective Lillian Rush, Philadelphia Police Department. You're kind of far from home, aren't you detective." he asked her, thumbing through her ID.

"I'm here investigating a homicide." she answered in a commanding voice.