"Its Lieutenant Duma." I state flatly to Madam as I take a seat at the table, taking in the files and paper strewn all over the place, "Your office is as messy as ever." As much as I hate to admit it, Madam knows me from way back. Further back than I would like. Part of that knowledge includes me being a Yellow Rose. There would be no point beating around the bush with her.

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant Duma." Madam says not in the least put out, "How may I assist you today, then?"

"Last night, a Don Kuat came to your club and started messing with one of your bouncers." I question, "I want to hear about what happened."

Madam smiles thinly as she responds, "My staff had already talked to the Militia about this. Am I in trouble, Lieutenant?"

"Not yet." I grunt, leaning back into the cheap leather chair with my diary and pen ready, "Just covering all the bases."

"I don't think there's anymore light to be shed on this case though." Madam shrugs, "Kuat came here accompanying Jas, my brother in law."

"You mean Jasvinder Krishnan?" I interrupt.

"Yes. Everyone calls him Jas." Madam nods, "So anyway, Kuat starts hassling one of the bouncers and after that just sort of hangs around. A group of bouncers disappeared around the time Kuat and Jas left Loveless. The next thing I know, the Militia is on the phone telling me that some of my staff got killed in a fight."

"Your bouncers say anything about looking to settle scores with Kuat?" I ask, taking notes all the while.

"No. Of course not." Madam says with a plastic smile. I roll my eyes inwardly. Knowing Madam, she was the one who sent her goons after Kuat in an attempt to teach him a lesson in humility. From hard earned experience, I know that Madam is one vindictive bitch. The problem now is that the lesson has backfired spectacularly.

"You said Kuat was hanging around the club." I raise a point from the Militia's investigation report that had been bugging me, "What was he doing anyway?"

"Taking in the sights. Maybe admiring the talent?" Madam suggests, "Kuat might have swung the same way as Jas."

I roll my eyes, "Try again. I know for a fact that Kuat's not gay."

"Then I have no idea what Kuat was up to." Madam replies, "From what my staff told me, he just hung about and didn't really do much."

Damn, its looking more and more likely that Kuat really just suffered from a psychotic break. He started causing trouble at Loveless for no real reason and then went on to over escalate when Madam decided to retaliate. I purse my lips and start on a different line of questioning.

"Kuat had been chaperoning Jasvinder right?" I query, "I remember the Militia's report saying that they arrived at Loveless together."

"Yes." Madam nods, "That night I met both of them just outside the club actually."

"Then why did Jasvinder come here then?" I press, "Witnesses say that you and 'Jas' disappeared into the VIP room while Kuat was out on the dance floor fiddling his thumbs."

Madam gives me a mysterious smile at this question, "Lieutenant Duma, whatever it is you're thinking, it didn't happen. Jas is family and I would never tempt him away from my brother."

"The two of you just talked?" my lips moving upwards in a fake grin of my own, "About what?"

"Family. Life." Madam shrugs, "The usual things in laws discuss with each other when they have some privacy to themselves."

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"Right." I draw the word out, not bothering to hide my sarcasm, "And in laws usually visit each other's workplaces to bitch and whine about life. That's what you're telling me?"

"Its what happened." Madam says calmly, looking at me straight in the eye.

"OK." I nod, accepting Madam's explanation while getting up from my seat. Seeing this, the woman rises from her own chair as well to see me off. As Madam approaches me, I abruptly whirl about, grabbing her in an arm lock before slamming Madam's face against the table. The puffed up pimp gasps in pain as she blubbers in outrage. I ignore the babbling and strengthen my grip on Madam's arm.

"You know what I think really happened that night?" I whisper into the woman's ear, "Jasvinder came here to talk business with you, and he brought Kuat along as muscle. Am I right?"

Please. Please. Please. Say something that I can use, I frantically plead in my mind. Anything that casts some doubt on Don being a garden variety psycho. I forcefully pull Madam's head upwards by her hair and slam it down once again on to the table.

"Someone wants to be sent to the Garden." I snarl threateningly.

"Loveless has a deal with you people!" Madam gasps in pain, "We pay our dues every month!"

"Well done, you." I snort, "What's the second part of the deal? You forget about that? Need a reminder?"

"I-I-I get to run my information brokerage ..." Madam stutters before her voice trails off.

"And you rat on the degenerates that are your clients, whenever we ask you to." I finish for her, "So get to it."

"I can't!" Madam protests, "Jas is family!" I merely roll my eyes and yank her head upwards again for another face planting session.

"Alright! Alright!" Madam shouts hurriedly just before she slams face first into the desk again, "Just promise you will leave Thomas out of this."

"Thomas?" I ask, not recognizing the name.

"My brother. Jas's husband." Madam explains, "So its a promise?"

"Whatever. Spill." I mutter in annoyance while releasing the woman from my grip.

Madam rubs her arm and gives me a hurt look before talking, "Jas wanted to know about the Leader's consort. Where he stayed in the Inner Citadel. How to access his residence. The consort's travel plans and schedule. That sort of thing." I blink in surprise at this piece of news. It was certainly not what I was expecting.

"What did you tell Jasvinder?" I ask, my mind focusing on the investigation like a laser.

"I told him I didn't have that kind of information." Madam murmurs, "That I needed time to run his questions through my sources."

Interesting. Very interesting. Anything that has the potential to harm the Leader or her family is classified as a national security threat, given far higher priority than a simple murder of a citizen. This is a golden opportunity for me to shift the focus of the investigation from Kuat to Jasvinder. And the best part is, neither Holt nor the Garden can object to me letting the Kuat case fall by the wayside. Not unless they want to explain their disloyalty towards the Leader.

"Keep me informed if Jasvinder contacts you again." I say in satisfaction and turn to leave the office for real this time.

"Olivia." Madam asks hesitantly, "Do you still hate us for what happened all those years ago?"

I pause mid stride, but a lump in my throat prevents me from answering.

"Piotr made it back to his village you know?" Madam continues, "He stays there for good now and is married with children. They named their daughter after you."

"I don't want to talk about it." I reply, my back still turned to Madam.

"You did a good thing." Madam says, "Piotr wouldn't have survived if not for you."

I don't bother responding and storm out of the office, slamming the door behind me and stalking back to the waiting room where Holt is surrounded by Madam's menagerie of animal people.

"You done?" I ask Holt as she laboriously takes notes from one of the beast men she is questioning.

"A few more minutes." Highest Scorer answers in a fluster, "I need to organize all of this."

"I'm going to the bathroom to freshen up." I inform, "We're leaving once I get back."

....

I turn the sink's faucet on to full blast, dousing my face in the cold water. I should have never lost my temper at Madam. Its the stress of my current situation affecting my better judgment. But all that doesn't change one thing.

Madam was right.

"No. She wasn't. Keep quiet." I whisper back to the treacherous voice in my head.

You did do the right thing that day. A family lives because of you.

"It ruined my career. You ruined my career."

Pity for another is easy to feel. But true compassion always extracts a price.

"Keep quiet." I repeat with an edge in my voice, "I won't say it again."

You helped when no one else would.

My head snaps up in a fury and I stare straight into the mirror above the sink. But I don't see my own reflection. Instead there is the visage of a hooded old woman, badly scarred by age and rough living.

"SHUT UP!" I shout, temper exploding as my fist flies out and smashes the mirror. The apparition disappears with the shattering of glass.

Leaving only a broken, familiar reflection mingled with the blood dripping from my hand.