“We’re patrolling the red-light district tonight,” he said from behind the mask. “Is that going to be all right with you? Protecting strippers and whores?”
The implication underlying Stardust’s questions raised Mike’s hackles. He forgot his own olive branch from seconds before to snap back. “I was there when Strong said where we’d be patrolling, and I read the mission brief. Did I give any indication that I had a problem coming here?”
“No. But there are plenty of folks who keep their disdain for sex workers hidden. That’s not the kind of guy I want watching my back.”
“Like I said. I don’t have a problem with the area, or the people working here. A job is a job. And I’m not a hypocrite to enjoy watching exotic dancers while judging them for their job choice.”
“So, you did enjoy watching me dance.”
Mike’s shoulders stiffened at the question and the slight change in Stardust’s tone and posture: a hip slightly cocked to the side, chin canted low. How could anyone go from surly to flirty that quickly? “I meant dancers in general.”
Stardust stared at him, those golden eyes watching him closely. Mike stared back, refusing to give in and admit that he’d enjoyed Stardust’s performance. Or that he’d replayed it in his head multiple times while imagining that Stardust was dancing for him alone. Stardust tilted his head to the side, continuing to stare for several seconds. Mike stood still, outwardly calm, while on the inside his heart pounded so hard, he could hear the rush of his pulse in his ears. Finally, Stardust shook his head, making the end of his braid swish past his hip once as he broke their tense face off.
“Okay. I’ll work with you.”
Mike relaxed slightly. “I didn’t realize I had to pass a test first. And you did tell the lieutenant that you would work with me.”
“I know what I said. And I meant it. I just wanted to be sure that I could trust you out in the field.”
“And do you trust me?”
“I trust you to do the right thing. That’s enough for now.”
Mike sucked in a breath through his nose but didn’t say anything in response. He was going to end up with indigestion if he kept swallowing things down with this man. For now, he let it go.
∞ ∞ ∞
They walked through the entertainment district, down both dark alleys and well-lit streets. Music thumped from the clubs and businesses they passed, revelry spilling out into the parking lots every time a door opened on an exiting group. There didn’t seem to be any issues, or more precisely, nothing that wasn’t already being handled by the bouncers and club security.
Stardust looked at the man beside him out of the corner of his eye. He’d been a bit of an asshole when asking him how he felt patrolling the Playground. But he needed to be sure he wasn’t teamed up with someone who might end up doing more harm than good. Especially since he was giving off Call of Duty: Black Ops vibes in the outfit he’d chosen. It wasn’t exactly a style that would engender trust in the bright and shiny Players of the Playground.
Although, Stardust had to admit that Zielinski looked pretty damn sexy in the all-black gear. His broad shoulders easily carried the tactical vest he wore over his torso, and the defined muscles of his biceps were perfectly outlined by the thin material of his shirt. With arms like that, Stardust had to wonder why Zielinski always seemed to wear shirts that kept them covered. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make out the beefcake’s chest or abs behind the vest. But the cargo pants he had on were tight enough to show off his thick thighs, and allowed Stardust to check out the muscled curves of his ass whenever Zielinski managed to get a few steps ahead of him. Stardust grinned behind his mask. It’d be a waste if an ass like that had a stick of the not-fun variety shoved up it.
After several minutes of walking in tense silence, his partner for the night asked him a question.
“Have there been any more muggings since the one I witnessed?”
“Yeah. There was one the next day actually. Another that I heard about right after it happened and then one on my night off that I didn’t learn about until two days later.”
A short, low whistle came from the big man as he shook his head. “That’s a lot of muggings in a short period of time. Is that normal for this area?”
“Nope. Several years ago, we took measures to take back and clean up the red-light district. Crime happens, but not this often or with this type of regularity.”
“We? The ACG?”
“No. We reclaimed this area long before the ACG came on the scene. By we I meant the sex workers. This is sort of a for us-by-us part of town.”
“How did you—.”
“Help!”
The frantic scream pierced the night, immediately grabbing Stardust’s attention.
“Hold that thought.”
They sprinted toward the panicked cry, Stardust’s speed easily keeping pace with the taller man’s longer strides. In the back parking lot of one of the smaller clubs, they came upon an ugly scene. The man he recognized from the previous alley attack was trying to rip a bag away from a woman, while she valiantly struggled to hold on to it. The man switched tactics, grabbing her by both arms to slam her up against the wall of the building behind them. Her head went flying back from the force of the blow. There was a sickeningcrackof bone against brick as her head hit the wall, and she went limp in the mugger’s grip.
“Assess the scene, see if there’s anyone else-”.
