Free Love and Darkness (The Cause Book 2) by Randall Farmer Page A

Michelle Claunch was the first Focus who ran the Network, and a political opponent of both Suzie and Tonya.
    “There’s some infighting going on with the Arms,” Tonya said.  Arm Bass had used one of the Network’s friendly FBI agents to track down the Commander, in an attempt to kill her and Focus Daumarie of New Orleans.  Amy Haggerty, the Commander’s current boss, took offense and removed the traitor from existence.  In Lori’s words.
    “Infighting?”
    “I don’t know the details, but you know how it gets among us Focuses when tempers start running hot.”  Tonya shifted uneasily in the rickety wooden chair and wondered why Suzie had bothered to summon her here.  This particular issue was a distraction.  “Then double or quadruple the heat.  These are Arms, remember.  The idea of the Arms going through channels on an internal Arm issue is ludicrous.”  Tonya didn’t particularly appreciate being stuck defending the insufferable workaholic Haggerty, or any of the Arms for that matter.  If she never had to deal with another Arm in person, that would be a day to celebrate.
    “Freelancing’s simply anarchy.  The Council’s good at policing the Network.  The Arms should let us handle the Network problems.”
    Tonya nodded.  “I agree with you and I’m angry about it myself.  I’ve heard their point of view, though.  They think we’re too slow.”
    Suzie shrugged.  “Hotheads.  Idiots.  Well, what’s done is done, and the Network is Claunch’s problem.  If she can’t keep a leash on her people, I’m not going to shed any tears over them.”  Suzie paused.  “If you want to be useful, you could figure out how to re-establish your control over the damned Arms.  I’m not happy with the job Rodriguez is doing.”
    Arms represented power to Suzie, and Suzie wanted power in whatever form she could find it.  Tonya thought Suzie was dreaming if she thought she was going to regain control of the Arms, especially since Focus Lupe Rodriguez’s first Focus backer, Donna Fingleman, was yet another inner circle first Focus, and not one who often agreed with either Suzie or Tonya.  Unfortunately, little details like feasibility never interfered with Suzie’s dreams.  “Consider this a new job assignment.”
    “I’ll certainly do my best,” Tonya said.  And while she was working on that, she could throw snowballs in hell, too.  Tonya didn’t ask any questions about her new assignment, purposely leaving it as vague as possible.  Vagueness allowed more wiggle room on the impossible task, on any impossible task.
    Suzie reached over to a stack of manila folders that sat on the shelf behind her and grabbed the top one.  She dropped it on her desk with a coffee-can rattling bang and opened it up.  “Claudia Francher is running a chop shop dealing in stolen cars.”
    “What?” Tonya said, trying hurriedly to remember who the hell Claudia Francher was.  Tonya headed the Focus organization responsible for mentoring newly transformed Focuses, and as part of that, she monitored hundreds of young Focuses.
    “Why did I learn that from someone other than you?”
    Tonya closed her eyes and forced a juice pattern into being through the miasma of bad juice.  The effort felt as if she was driving an ice pick into her brain, but the pattern did allow her to summon up the memories of her notes on Claudia Francher.  Yes, she did know about Claudia’s chop shop operation.  Claudia’s mentor was an old friend of Lori Rizzari’s.  Lori swore her friend could be trusted.
    “Suzie, as far as I remember, Claudia was completely clean,” Tonya said.  Claudia was a young Focus up in Boston, competent and gutsy.  Tonya hadn’t passed the information on Claudia’s blackmail handles up to the first Focuses.  Protecting young Focuses from the first Focuses was one of the things Tonya did to advance the Cause.
    “You sure?” Suzie asked.
    Tonya nodded.  “I catch most of the information about