"Raph, Hector, thank you for coming," Carl greeted the men as they came into the police station. He then introduced the vet and his assistant to Sergeant McGinty and Officer Rodgers. Not very confident in the police and their ability to keep prejudice out of the investigation, Raph and Hector were hesitant. Carl read the signs and tried to put them at ease.

Raph took out his notes and the file on the cat. Using the desk calendar, he informed the policemen when each donation appeared and the amounts. Then Raph pulled out each packet of money, still wrapped up in their individual envelope or scrap of paper. Raph had put each packet in its own plastic bag.

"Raph, you would have made a great policeman. I've never seen such detail before," Carl commented. His fellow officers agreed. "So you believe the money is related to the stray that someone left."

"It's got to be. All our other 'patients' have owners who are all present and accounted for. This is a slow time for the clinic. The snow-birds and their pets are lounging on a warm beach somewhere. This cat must belong to a homeless person, or someone equally down on their luck."

"Snow-bird?" Officer Rodgers asked.

Hector chuckled then explained. "We're fortunate to have 'patients' who belong to Pittsburgh's upper class. Just before or right after the holidays, they fly south for the winter."

"Some of those animals have more frequent flyer miles than all of us put together," Raph continued. "We know our regular patients. This poor little girl isn't one of them." Raph opened the folder on Matty, tapping on it to make his point. Inside were pictures of the poor sickly, mangy animal when she first arrived on their doorstep. After a few weeks in their care, she was looking a helluva lot better. The men 'awed' and 'tsked' at the poor little creature, then composed themselves to get back to the matter at hand.

"Ed, what are the dates of the muggings?" Carl asked Officer Rodgers who pulled out his pad. Using the desk calendar they saw a pattern emerging.

"Looks like you received a donation within hours of a reported mugging," the sergeant observed.

"But there's a lot more donations than you have reports. The dates don't add up," Hector commented.

"Mr. Sanchez, some people don't report crimes," the sergeant began. "This donation was for nine bucks. Who's going to report being mugged for nine dollars? Most people would think it wasn't worth the hassle."

The five men nodded all in agreement.

"The amounts don't add up either," Raph added.

"If the perpetrator is hungry himself, he might have held back a buck or two to feed himself. That last donation, it was larger than the rest."

"Yes, one hundred and twenty dollars to be exact," Raph confirmed.

"The amount stolen was one twenty-three. The kid held back three bucks," McGinty revealed.

"Kid?" both Raph and Hector exclaimed.

"The last victim gave us a detailed description of the mugger. Said he couldn't have been more than fourteen," Rodgers informed them.

"Well that just rots! Where are this kid's parents?" Hector was becoming incensed.

"Hector," Raph began calmly to soothe his lover. "Maybe this poor child has no parents. We'll have to wait and see." Raph and Hector saw the officer and Carl exchange looks.

"What?" Hector asked.

"The kid used a knife," McGinty admitted.

Now Raphael became angry. "Just a minor detail you neglected to tell us. Is this because the victims were hit on or just off Liberty Avenue? I read the papers. I assume you left out a few details so that if you got a tip you could figure out if it was legitimate or not. But who cares if a few homos lose their money or get cut up. One less of us for you guys to deal with, right? Hector let's go," Raph said angrily as he stood to gather up his files.

"Dr. Angles," Carl stated more formally. "I know in the past the police department may have looked the other way when it came to crimes whose victims were gay. But I assure you, McGinty and Rodgers are good, honest cops. This won't be swept under a rug."

Hector patted Raph's arm to calm his lover. Raph sat back down.

"Guys, you know me; you know Debbie. I know you aren't regulars at the diner or at the club but you must know people who are. I'm being straight with you, excuse the pun." Carl was able to illicit a small smile from Raph and Hector.

"Like Rodgers said, we've got a good description of the kid. And now with what you've given us, we have a place to start. I'll be turning this all over to a detective," McGinty said.

"What will happen to the kid when you find him?" Raph asked with concern. He had grown up in a large family with many siblings and as the second son, he was put in charge of those siblings many times. But when he came 'out' his family rejected him. Raph missed his brothers and sisters, missed caring for children.

"Well, that all depends," McGinty began.

"On what?" Hector inquired.

"The kid's real age, whether he has a juvenile record, his home situation. Lots of things."

"Please keep us informed. I feel responsible. If the muggings are truly related to Matty, the faster the cat gets better, maybe then the muggings will stop," Raph said sadly.

"Dr. Angles, this is not your fault. You're another victim in all of this. But with the information you've given us, we have a better chance of catching this guy. And I have a feeling, considering who the latest victim is and his associates, the kid will be caught soon," Carl said with a smirk.

Now Raph and Hector exchanged looks.

"Are you allowed to tell me who the victim is?" Raphael asked.

"Brian Kinney," Carl said then laughed. Raph was shocked into silence; Hector just groaned. "Hunter is involved too. So have no fear. If the kid is a victim too, Hunter will advocate for him and protect him."

Carl's last statement made Raph feel a lot better.

"Thank you, gentlemen for coming down here. We'll have to take the money into evidence but I'll give you a receipt for it all," McGinty stated as Rodgers began to fill out a formal report, and record and mark each packet. An hour later, Raph and Hector shook hands with Carl and the officers then went home.

"So what do you think, Carl?" McGinty asked his former mentor and partner.

"Seems pretty obvious to me. I'll ask Debbie if she's heard about another lost boy on the street. Nothing happening on Liberty gets past her." Carl and the sergeant laughed.

"She would have made one hell of a cop too, eh Carl?"

"She probably would have. She cares about those kids, Adam. She really cares. I don't think she'll ever retire from the diner."

"I know when she'll retire," Adam McGinty stated with confidence.

"Oh, you know something about my wife that I don't?"

"I only know that she'll retire the day you retire from that club. You both care, Carl. Since the day you and Kinney took over that club, we've had no trouble. It's the cleanest place on Liberty. I know there's probably some light drug stuff going on in there but no one's OD'd, no fights, no riots. The pushers can't get in. Look, I'll admit that homo stuff gets to me sometimes but my sister's girl, my niece, I caught her going in. She's legal so I didn't have the right to stop her. So one day I had a couple of the undercover cops go in to check out the place."

"Adam, you could have come to me. I would have set you straight."

"I needed to find out for myself. So I asked if they'd go in and scope things out for me. I certainly don't fit." Adam and Carl had a good laugh. Adam was close to retirement too.

"Nope, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. So what did your hotshot cops tell you?"

"The place is clean, no Anita or whoever took her place. Even the backroom was clean and free condoms everywhere. Stay Safe posters in the men's room and clinic numbers for free testing. Officer Fielding said the same about the ladies' room. And that she had never seen such a lavish bathroom even in straight clubs."

"Yeah, Kinney really did a job on the place when he bought it. And he keeps it in good repair," Carl said proudly.

"The point is that caring people, the right people, have slowly transformed Liberty Avenue. And in spite of the ribbing I get for not giving up the Liberty beat, I like it there. I hope I've earned their respect. And I'll make damned sure that whoever replaces me down there will do the same."

Carl got a little choked up. The two friends and former co-workers remained silent for a few moments.

"Your sister's girl, do you have a picture? I'll keep an eye out for her." Adam took out his wallet, so did Carl. The old friends spent the next hour showing off their respective families.

 

*****

 

The bell above the door jangled and Michael looked up. It was Lacy Baldwin. He took a deep breath, plastered on a smile and opened his mouth.

"If it isn't my new partner," he said cheerfully.

"I'm glad you seem so agreeable to this whole idea, Michael," Lacy said carefully.

"Justin feels he can't continue with the comic, and he thinks you're the ideal replacement," Michael said smoothly. He wanted to make Lacy feel welcome. If Rage was going to continue she seemed like a necessary part of it.

"I thought maybe we should talk about this whole process," Lacy explained.

"I think that's a good idea. Come into the back office. We can talk and I can keep an eye on the store if we leave the door open."

"Sure," Lacy said following Michael into the office.

Michael had a pot of coffee made in the coffeemaker. "Would you like a cup?" he asked.

"Sure," Lacy replied feeling like they were getting off to a good start.

Michael poured them each a mug of coffee then he sat behind the desk while Lacy sat in the only other chair in the room.

"Where should we begin?" Lacy asked when Michael didn't say anything.

"I guess I should tell you that I wasn't in favor of having a girl draw Rage," Michael said looking into his coffee mug so that he didn't have to look into Lacy's eyes.

Lacy winced. She was afraid this might be Michael's reaction. "Then why did you agree to it? You did agree to it, didn't you?" she asked, wanting to be sure she had the correct information from Justin.

"I agreed … with some misgivings," Michael admitted.

"What misgivings?"

"I … I relied on Justin for a lot of the story ideas. We worked together on most of the issues. He said I could still bounce my ideas off him. He also said he'd contribute his own ideas whenever they came to him."

Lacy stared at Michael who refused to look at her. "Are you saying that I won't have any input to the stories? That you and Justin will decide all that, and all you want is for me to draw?"

"Well, um, yeah, I guess I am."

"That's not good enough, Michael," Lacy stated, deciding she had to speak up now or she'd never be able to contribute. "I was talking to Justin and we came up with a new character for the comic."

"A new character?" Michael asked in surprise. He looked at Lacy for the first time since they'd entered his office. "Justin didn't say anything about a new character."

"We came up with it yesterday when I was talking to him about drawing Rage. I think it's a great idea. So did Justin."

"So what's this great idea?" Michael asked. He tried to keep the sour look off his face, but anyone watching would see that he was not pleased by this turn of events.

Lacy could hear the tinge of sarcasm in his voice. Obviously he wasn't happy about Lacy contributing a new character to his precious comic. That's exactly what she had been afraid of. Michael didn't want her to have any real input. "Justin was explaining how you two came up with the idea for Rage. He said the first edition was based on his experiences, and maybe I should do something about street kids, since that's the experience that I come from."

Michael thought for a moment. "Yeah, that could work, but didn't Justin tell you that we have the next edition all worked out?"

"Yes, he did. He said I'd just be drawing the ideas you have come up with for this issue. He'll supervise to make the transition as flawless as possible."

"Yeah, flawless," Michael said skeptically.

Lacy ignored the comment. "The next issue after this one might be about the street kids," Lacy continued. "Justin and I threw around some ideas."

"Such as?"

"We talked about a female superhero."

"What? No way!" Michael protested immediately.

"You haven't even heard the idea, Michael," Lacy sighed.

"And I don't want to hear it either. Rage is about Zephyr and JT and … Rage," Michael said rather needlessly. "There's no room for a … a girl."

The derision in Michael's voice as he said the word girl made Lacy's hackles stand on end. "You are such a fucking bigot, Michael. You of all people should have an open mind."

"I have a fucking open mind. How dare you say that I don't?"

"I say it because you summarily dismiss my idea without even hearing it all. What's so horrible about including a girl? There are lots of lesbian girls who might like someone as a hero too." "

"Okay, okay, so what's the rest of your idea?"

"Are you prepared to listen with an open mind, or have you decided that this is a stupid idea?" Lacy asked.

"I'll listen," was all that Michael would concede.

"I thought we could call her Sateeena with three e's. She would be a gay hustler, kind of like I was. She could be androgynous at first. No one would know she was a girl until we're ready to reveal that. Justin thought maybe she should be attacked on the street and from that develop some kind of superpower. We haven't decided what that superpower would be yet. What do you think?"

Michael made a face. "I don't know," he mumbled. His eyes were glued to the floor.

"Obviously you don't like the idea." Lacy stood up. She should have known this would never work.

"Wait, let me think about this," Michael said. "It's all new and … different."

Lacy frowned. "Is there any point of thinking about it? I feel like I'm wasting my time even mentioning this. Maybe this whole idea of me working on Rage is really wrong."

"Don't be so hasty," Michael told her. "Let me think about this. It's a lot to get my head around."

"Sure,"Lacy said rather sarcastically. "How long do you think you'll need? Till Hell freezes over?"

"Lacy!"

"I'm sorry, Michael, but this is pointless. Find someone else to draw Rage." She stomped out of the office and slammed the door of the comic book store behind her as she left.

Michael stood and started to follow her. Then he changed his mind deciding that she needed to cool off and he needed some time to think about this new development. How could Justin tell Lacy she could create a new superhero, and a girl superhero to boot? How dare he? Michael was getting more and more angry the more he thought about it.

Justin was bailing on him, and now he was making arbitrary decisions about who should draw the comic and what the content would be. And then he was just going to walk away from it all. He'd leave Michael with a girl to work with and a new female superhero that he hated already.

"Fuck!" Michael said out loud. "Double fuck!"

The bell above the door jangled and he looked up expecting to see Lacy returning to apologize and tell him that Rage was his comic, so he had final say about what was included in it.

Instead of that there was a kid who headed for the rack of the latest comics. Michael sighed and watched the boy rifle through the new comic books. "Handle those carefully," Michael admonished the lad.

"Sure, sure," the boy replied and kept on doing exactly what he was doing before Michael spoke to him.

 

*****
 

"Justin, it's Lacy."

"Hi, Lacy, what can I do for you?" Justin asked. He wiped his paintbrush on a cloth and dropped it into his can of dirty brushes. He walked across the sun porch and flopped down in the chaise. He needed a break.

"You can find someone else to draw Rage," Lacy said bluntly.

"Why?" Justin asked sitting up straight. "What happened?"

"I went to see Michael this afternoon. He was a complete ass! I … I walked out on him."

"Shit! What did he do?"

"He said that he didn't want a female superhero. He said I didn't have the right to make such a decision and neither did you."

Justin could hear the impending tears in Lacy's voice. "Fuck," he muttered. "He just flatly refused?"

"Not exactly," Lacy admitted. "He was very hostile to the idea at first. I … I called him a bigot. He acted like girls were so far beneath him."

Justin couldn't help himself and chuckled. "You called him a bigot?"

"Yeah."

"Good for you."

"You're not mad at me?"

"If he did what you're saying then you responded appropriately. If you're going to work with him, he has to know that you're an equal. You don't want him walking all over you, do you?"

"Absolutely not!"

Justin smiled. "So how did you leave things with him?"

"I wanted to tell him to shove Rage up his ass, but he would have enjoyed that too much," Lacy said bitterly.

Justin laughed. "You got that part right."

"I told him to find someone else."

"And that's it?"

"He said he would think about my ideas, but I know he didn't really want to."

"So you called his bluff. That's good."

"Bluff?"

"Yeah, Michael thinks Rage is his baby. He never liked my input in the beginning either. This was a power play on Michael's part, and you didn't let him get away with it."

"But I walked out on him, told him to get another artist."

"He'll think about your ideas and maybe try to find another artist, but that will be nigh unto impossible."

"It will?" Lacy asked.

"I meant it when I said you were the best person for the job."

"So what should I do?"

"Wait."

"Wait?"

"Michael's always been a little slow on the uptake. Give him a few days and I think you'll find he'll come crawling to you."

"You think so?"

"I'd bet money on it."

Lacy laughed. "Fuck! I thought I really blew it."

"You handled it exactly right."

"Who knew?"

"You did. You followed your instincts and that was the right thing to do."

"Thanks, Justin. I appreciate your guidance."

"You're welcome."

"Maybe Sateeena should have the power to hammer bigots into the ground with the force of her personality," Lacy said sarcastically.

"Well, one bigot in particular," Justin laughed.

"Zephyr," Lacy said icily. She sighed. "You really think Michael will call."

"I expect I'll hear from him first, but I'll stick up for you, not that you need anyone to stick up for you."

Lacy laughed. "I like the sound of that."

"Just be patient. It'll all work out."

"If you say so."

"I do," Justin replied. "I'll talk to you in a couple of days."

"Okay," Lacy said before hanging up the phone.

Justin leaned back on the chaise and waited for Michael to call.