Free Red Hourglass by Scarlet Risqué

soft meow and began to purr.
    “Oh dear, look at those dark circles around your eyes.” The White Queen came around her desk and sat down in the chair next to mine. “You haven’t been sleeping well, have you? What’s troubling you?”
    “The police … the sirens. I’ve killed a lot of men. Sometimes I can still hear their screams. I’m afraid of getting caught by the police. … And what if the rest of the mobsters come after us?”
    “Lovey, the mobsters were bad, bad men.” The White Queen took both my hands in hers. “You and Mimi did a good job getting rid of them. The police are greatly indebted to us now … more so than usual. The mobsters are our enemies, but the police are our friends. Life is about trades, darling.” She looked down and began rubbing the insides of my palms with her thumbs. “I have an arrangement with the police. I offer them things that are much, much more valuable than the small favors I occasionally ask of them. And I settle everything else with the police commissioner over tea .You needn’t worry about these things, but if the police ever arrest you, you’ll be released as soon as I speak to them. Mama takes care of her girls. You know that, yes?”
    “Yes Mama … but … we were almost killed when the mobsters found out that we’re your agents.” I pulled my hands away. She was squeezing them a bit too hard. Mimi and I had taken out seven mobsters without any help. If Vanus hadn’t found us immediately afterward, I would’ve died.
    “I’m sorry that happened, but it couldn’t be helped.” The White Queen stood up. She pick up her cat and held him up to her face. “My lovely little puss puss.” She tried to kiss him with her thick, wet lips but he struggled wildly until he escaped her grip and ran under a table.
    “My dear Janet,” said the White Queen in a soothing voice as she sat down behind her desk. “You’re a highly skilled agent. You’ve been trained to protect yourself, and that’s exactly what you did with the mobsters. And Vanus was looking out for you … she got there in time. Darling, life, by its very nature, is full of many perils. Now, can we put those evil men behind us and look to the future?”
    “Yes Mama.”
    “Excellent. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that you’ll be staying here for the next six months. You’ll be far away from any danger as you train for the next assignment.”
    “What will I be training for?”
    “Secretarial work.”
    “Secretarial work? I know nothing about that. Are you sure I’m the right agent for the job?”
    “My dear one, of course you’re the right agent for the job. We’ve employed an administrative specialist to teach you everything you need to know about secretarial work and then some. But I’d also like you to join martial arts and knife combat classes … to keep in practice. The specialist has set up an office downstairs for training. You’ll both live here in the mansion for the duration of the course.”
    “What’s the mission?”
    “You’ll be going undercover at Wilmar Enterprises,” said the White Queen. “I need you to get inside information.”
    “Why?” Most of my previous missions had been pretty straightforward—a single target, find out his daily habits, and then get rid of him. I had no clue about going undercover long-term, never mind working full-time in a big company.
    “Their rapid growth is decimating established inner city communities. Mom and pop businesses and longtime renters are losing their leases as Wilmar buys up entire city blocks and throws them out into the streets. How are those people supposed to make their livings? Where will the people who lose their homes live? Large-scale, corporate gentrification is bad for the people we’ve vowed to protect. We need to identify Wilmar’s investors, and then we must figure out how to stop the inhumane expansion of their empire at the expense of ordinary people’s lives.”
    “I understand,” I said.