"Okay, let's see what we've got, here." Jack finished the rest of the coffee he'd taken when they left Machiko's office, got out and took a quick look around. He spotted several people looking out the windows of the admin building, staring at his monster hearse. He chuckled and walked around to the other side of the car as Taura got out.

She pointed off to the right. "Corona's already here. Must be nice to have wings."

"Yeah." Jack turned and found Corrie standing at the bottom of a set of stairs in front of one of the larger buildings. She'd probably arrived several minutes ago.

Four people sat on the steps. Two draconids, a male with a humanoid face, long black hair and bronze skin, and a female with brown skin, cyan hair, a beak and horns. Two human teenagers, a blond guy and a chunky girl. Each draconid seemed to be paired up with each human, the male cuddling with the plump girl and the female sitting a few steps below the blond guy, resting her head on his chest.

Jack and Taura waved at Corona and jogged across the parking lot.

She greeted Jack with a kiss and nodded at the others. "This is Clyde, Andraste, Adonis, and Katrilla. They witnessed the whole thing. Or most of it, anyway."

"Hi," they mumbled.

"Hi." Jack raised an eyebrow at Corona. "So, what have you found out?"

"They were in bed -- Clyde in Andraste's room, Katrilla in Adonis's -- when the intruders busted in."

"Andi heard a commotion outside," Clyde said with a sigh. "We took a look into the hallway, and these assholes -- they looked kinda like a SWAT team, wearing armor and helmets -- were roughing Cassie and Fido up. Then they turned on us."

"Cassie and Fido?" Taura said.

"Cassie's one of my friends. She told us about this place and we all came here last night." Clyde nodded over his shoulder. "Brent and Maxine are still inside, and Mitch took off before the shit hit the fan. Oh, and Fido is Cassie's boyfriend. A German-shepherd type."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

Adonis shrugged. "Sometimes humans come here looking for sex."

Jack stared at him for several seconds. "What the hell kinda place is this?"

"I know what you're thinking," Katrilla muttered. "It's not a brothel. And we're not perverts."

Jack shrugged and waved a hand at Corrie. "She's my girlfriend, so I'm not gonna judge you on that. But it does seem a little weird to go to a place like this to get laid."

Katrilla frowned at him and Clyde blushed.

"Several people were assaulted," Corona went on, "including Adonis, Andraste and Clyde. Fido, Cassie and one other person were dragged out of here and haven't been seen since."

"Tiamat's the other one," Andraste said. "She's one of the admin assistants here. She kind of looks after us."

"She took a couple of the goons down before they knocked her out." Clyde shook his head. "One of them said she was the other one they were looking for."

"So they came here just to get those three people?" Taura said.

"Looks that way." Andraste sighed. "I thought they were coming after all of us, but they only took Fido and Tia. And Cassie, too, but they didn't knock her out or restrain her."

"Why were they singled out?"

"I bet Cassie's dad had something to do with it," Clyde said. "One of the goons said her dad wanted to have a talk with her just before they took her with 'em."

"Great," Jack grumbled. "The one person who may know what the hell's going on, and she's probably in jail."

"Actually, no," a voice called out from behind them, "she's right here."

Everyone turned as a girl with chrome skin strode toward them from a red Mustang. She looked about the same age as Clyde and the rest.

"Cassie!" Katrilla jumped up and smiled. "Are you okay?"

"I'd be fine if I weren't more pissed off than I've ever been in my life." Cassie stormed up to the stairs, stopped, and planted her clenched fists on her hips.

"Why? What happened?"

"I just finished a nice, long screaming match with my dad." Cassie shook her head slowly. "I can't believe it. He's the one who had Fido arrested! He pulled some strings and now Fido's in prison! There wasn't even a trial, they just threw him in a cell." She sobbed and raised her fists as if she wanted to pummel someone.

Clyde and the others stared at her with dropped jaws. Jack and the girls exchanged a quick glance. Jack turned back to Cassie.

"He's not just in jail waiting for trial? They sent him straight to the slam?"

"How can he be put in prison without being tried, convicted, and sentenced?" Corona said.

"I don't know how my dad did it, but Fido has a conviction on his record. He was supposedly convicted of raping me, even though he never got anywhere near a courtroom. Can you believe that? We're lovers, and he was charged with rape!"

Jack shook his head. "Jesus Christ."

"I'm doing what I can for him." Cassie sniffled. "But I don't think it'll be enough."

"How'd your dad pull this off, anyway?" Jack said.

"He's rich and connected." Cassie crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "When you have as much money and influence as he has, whatever you say becomes the truth."

"Great." Jack sighed. "Does he work for one of the megacorporations?"

"No, but he's had dealings with them and he has a few politicians in his pocket. He was born wealthy."

"Here's an example of what this guy can do." Clyde pointed across the street. "There was a news van parked over there. They'd been interviewing the residents and staff here for several days, gathering info for a big special they were planning to stream on all the major services."

"They wanted to show humans what we're really like," Adonis said. "Since most chimeras live here and in only a few other big cities around the world, most humans don't know much about us and have a lot of preconceptions. These guys wanted to clear a few things up."

Clyde nodded. "They were handy, so I told them what had just happened. They started to interview us on camera, then suddenly the plug was pulled. I guess one of them sent an update to their boss, and about twenty minutes later, the guy called back and told them to pack up their equipment and leave. And now they're gone. The whole project's probably been scrapped. How much d'ya wanna bet that Cassie's dad had something to do with it?"

"It could also be the people who broke in here last night, or whoever their handlers are. They wouldn't want anyone finding out what they did." Taura exchanged another look with Jack and Corrie.

"Well," Corona said, "tell us everything that happened, in detail. Taura can record it with her computer and we'll take it to our boss. She might be able to pull a few strings of her own. And if she can't, we have some friends who might be able to get your story out there."

"I don't see how," Clyde muttered. "If they're reporters, they'd probably be shut down the same way this news crew was."

"Well," Jack said with a smirk, "our friends don't work for the media. They're independent -- they do it for fun in their spare time -- but they have quite a few subscribers. You could tell your side of the story, get the information out there so people will know what happened. You up for it?"

"Hell, yeah." Cassie nodded. "Just tell me when and where."

"Same here," Clyde said.

"Yeah, me too," Andraste added, and Katrilla and Adonis nodded as well.

"Okay, good. I'll check with Otto and Shakira when we're done here, and let 'em know what's up. If they want to go ahead with it, we'll set up a meeting. First, though, would you mind going over the whole thing for us?"

"I'd be more than happy to." Cassie squeezed between the two couples and sat.

"Thank you." Taura took her computer out of her coat pocket and traced one of her big fingers along the top surface, and the device beeped softly. Her hands shook, but she seemed to be more in control of herself now that she had something big to focus on. "You said there were others with you. Brent, Mitch and Maxine. We'll need to speak with them, too."

"Brent and Maxine are inside somewhere," Cassie said, leaning forward and clasping her hands together. "Good luck finding Mitch. He vanished last night, and none of us knows where he is." She frowned. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with it."

"Why is that?"

"Well, he tried to force himself on Tiamat last night and she kicked his ass. He's such a narcissistic bastard, I bet he couldn't take the humiliation. Probably went crying to someone about it, told 'em who was here, and when my dad found out, he went nuclear."

"I see." Corona let out a slow breath. "We'll definitely have a talk with him once we find him. For now, though, we'd better see the others."

"Right." Taura sat on the steps below the others. "Shall we get started, then?"