Matilda was sleeping when the door slowly swung open and someone came
inside. The person had on a set of pink pumps over white nylons. The pumps
were the same color as the dress that came down to their owner's knees.
"Matilda?" the visitor said. "Are you OK?"
Matilda turned her head from the window and smiled. "I'm fine."
"I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted those imposters to get the
message."
"Imposters?"
"*Stephanie*, *Jessica* and *Jaqulin*," the other said with venom.
"They are the nicest women you could ever meet," Matilda said.
Her visitor laughed with a voice to deep for the way he was dressed.
"That's just the thing, my dear sister," Bryan said. "They aren't women. They
are all men and at least one of them is a cop.."
"I… I…," Matilda stuttered. "I didn't know."
"Of course you wouldn't know," Bryan said as he twirled the hair in
his long brown wig. "I did. A transvestite knows these things."
"What do you want now?"
"I don't need your help anymore," Bryan said as he turned to the door
to leave. "I have what I need." He started to pull the door open when Matilda
stopped him.
"You aren't going to hurt anyone, are you?"
"Now would I do that?" Bryan said sarcastically then he opened the
door and left.
Matilda was staring at the ceiling when Mark entered. "Good morning,
Matilda," he said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Terrible," she said then burst out crying.
Concerned, Mark put the chart down on a nearby table. "What's wrong?"
"I've done something terrible," Matilda said. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure," Mark replied as he smiled. His smile faded as he listened to
what she wanted him to do.
"That's enough of that," Mark said as Amanda laughed at his attire.
Mark wore a pink dress that went to his ankles with a pair of the flats that
Amanda had gotten for Steve on his feet. A curly gray wig peeked out from
under the pink hat, which had a veil to hide his mustache, and he wore lovely
white gloves on his hands--and Amanda couldn't control her laughter.
"I'm going with you aren't I?" Amanda asked with a pasted on straight
face.
"I should have…," Mark began when he was interrupted by someone
entering.
"Amanda, I need your requisition form for last week," Norman began.
"Oh, I didn't know you had company."
Amanda cleared her throat to keep herself from laughing. "Norman,
this is Stephanie's, uh, mother."
"That is quite enough of that," Mark said as he pulled his hat and
wig from his head. "It's just me."
"What kind of joke is this, Mark?" Norman asked as Amanda burst out
laughing and crossed to the other side of the room where she could control
her laughter.
"Steve is undercover in a women only apartment building, and I have
to take an important message to him," Mark replied.
"Which means…," Norman said as he went pale.
"Which means," Amanda put in. "That the tall lovely Stephanie is our
very own Steve Sloan and his partner in crime is our very own Dr. Travis."
Norman went even paler--if it were at all possible for him to do
so--and turned to leave. "I'm not feeling very well," he said as he left the
room.
Amanda and Mark looked at each other and shrugged.
Steve was dressed in his green power suit as he looked out the window
of the room at Chez Felicity. The 25-year-old Bryan Carter had been a dead
end simply because he was 10 when Felix had been attacked. He hadn't even
thought of that until Jesse had pointed it out to him. He was making stupid
mistakes in his hurry to find the chief and his brother before Bryan Carter,
the right Bryan Carter, could hurt or kill them. A knock on the door
interrupted his thoughts and he turned to watch as Jesse got up from where he
and Jack had been discussing the clues to open it.
Amanda came in followed by a woman with a veiled hat on her head.
"What do you want, Amanda?" Steve asked.
"Stephanie's *mother* needs to talk to him, uh, her," Amanda told
them.
Mark took off the hat. Steve tried for all the world not to laugh,
but with Jack and Jesse on the verge of tears, it was all he could do to stop
himself. He reminded himself silently that it was a rather serious situation,
and put on the look of seriousness.
"It must be important for you have gotten dressed up just for me,"
Steve said despite the snickers from the peanut gallery. "So, *mom*, what do
you have?"
Mark pulled a slip of paper from his matching purse. "Only Bryan
Carter's address."
Steve took the slip and looked at it. "Where did you get this?"
"Matilda," Mark replied. "It turns out that she is Bryan's sister."
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